Transcript - CNN: Piers Morgan Interviews Donald Trump on Piers Morgan Live - June 1, 2011 | Factba.se

Piers Morgan

00:00:00 - 00:00:18 (18 sec)

Will he or won't he? Donald Trump says he could run as an independent. The question is: is he serious? I'll ask him tonight. And what about that pizza summit with Sarah Palin? What are they talking about? And I'll ask him about Anthony Weiner and that TwitPic. What does Donald Trump think of it?

Anthony Weiner

00:00:18 - 00:00:27 (9 sec)

Somebody got access to my account. That's bad. They sent a picture that makes fun of the name Weiner. I get it -- you know, touche. [End Clip]

Piers Morgan

00:00:27 - 00:00:36 (9 sec)

Also tonight, the case everyone's talking about. The Casey Anthony trial. A mother charged with an unimaginable crime: murdering her own 2-year-old.

Unidentified Male

00:00:36 - 00:00:46 (10 sec)

She told me that she had not seen Caylee in 31 days. [End Clip]

Piers Morgan

00:00:46 - 00:01:11 (25 sec)

Who is lying? Who's telling the truth? And what really happened to Caylee? I'll ask two people who know this case better than almost anybody else: Nancy Grace and Dan Abrams. Also tonight, politician, journalist and the host of one of America's most outrageous TV shows, Jerry Springer talking frankly about politics, about fame, about celebrity, and about scandal.

Piers Morgan

00:01:11 - 00:01:38 (27 sec)

This -- live from Hollywood -- is Piers Morgan Tonight. Good evening. How does the phrase President Donald Trump sound? I suspect it sounds pretty good -- especially if you're Donald Trump . His pizza summit with Sarah Palin is putting his political aspirations firmly back in the spotlight. Now, the big question is, will he run for president or not?

Piers Morgan

00:01:38 - 00:01:41 (3 sec)

Donald Trump joins me now on the phone. Donald, how are you?

Donald Trump

00:01:41 - 00:01:44 (3 sec)

Piers Morgan

00:01:44 - 00:01:48 (4 sec)

So, tell me about pizza gate with Sarah Palin. What was going on there?

Donald Trump

00:01:48 - 00:02:20 (32 sec)

Well, she's a wonderful woman who I've gotten to know over the years. She called and said she was in New Jersey doing her bus tour that I've been seeing and reading about. And she said, let's get together. And she came up to the apartment. And we then went with our families to a pizza place. She said, let's have some pizza. And we did. I guess the press saw that and went a little bit crazy.

Piers Morgan

00:02:20 - 00:02:37 (17 sec)

Well, look, you two are the biggest box office stars in the whole race for the White House. Neither of you have declared your intentions. What I couldn't work out is -- this is no accident -- I couldn't work out whether I should be leading in my head towards Sarah Palin trying to persuade you to run or you trying to persuade her to run.

Donald Trump

00:02:37 - 00:02:38 (1 sec)

Piers Morgan

00:02:38 - 00:02:39 (1 sec)

Donald Trump

00:02:39 - 00:03:09 (30 sec)

It was a very interesting evening. I actually asked her, I said, You know But she's certainly got a following. And people like her. And I like her. And she's really a woman that loves this country beyond everything. And she did mention to me that, you know, since -- and there's a whole vast array of reasons. But since I got out, nobody's bringing up some of the most important issues that I was hitting on hard.

Donald Trump

00:03:09 - 00:03:28 (19 sec)

And as you know, the day before I got out, they came out with a poll that showed I was leading the race in terms of the poll. But I sort of had some other things going along. And frankly, I was very, very disappointed with the Republicans, between what they did with lame duck -- the lame duck session was ridiculous.

Donald Trump

00:03:28 - 00:04:15 (47 sec)

They really -- I mean, Obama really made a comeback because of the Republicans. They brought $38 billion down to $30 million in cuts, and Paul Ryan's plan is absolutely outrageous in terms of not only what it represents, because, number one, it doesn't really balance the budget, but the timing of it, for him to just go and sit down and -- in that very new and powerful seat and come out with this plan that's going to, in my opinion, cause the Republicans to have a total catastrophic election. They were going to win tremendous, tremendous numbers of seats.

Donald Trump

00:04:15 - 00:04:20 (5 sec)

And now I think they have a good chance of losing tremendous numbers of seats. So -- [Crosstalk]

Piers Morgan

00:04:20 - 00:04:25 (5 sec)

I mean, what is very interesting, Donald, about this, is that today we've seen this big falloff from the Dow.

Donald Trump

00:04:25 - 00:04:26 (1 sec)

Piers Morgan

00:04:26 - 00:04:32 (6 sec)

The economy appears to be tanking again. People are talking openly about a fall into another Great Depression.

Donald Trump

00:04:32 - 00:04:32 (0 sec)

Piers Morgan

00:04:32 - 00:04:36 (4 sec)

It seems to me that this is a pretty serious time for America.

Donald Trump

00:04:36 - 00:05:09 (33 sec)

Well, it's a serious time. And it's a very, very scary time in terms of the economics. And I'm somebody that's very good at that. And, you know, I was talking very strongly about that. But I was talking about it from the Republican perspective, and when I was looking at the moves, whether it was the lame duck or the $38 billion, or, frankly, Paul Ryan's timing. Not even so much the plan. The plan I think is terrible, but the timing of this plan. Why did he have to do any plan? Let Obama come out with a plan. And then criticize it or make it happen in terms of the way you want it. But for him to come out with this plan was just --

Piers Morgan

00:05:09 - 00:05:15 (6 sec)

Can I ask you a couple of quick -- let me ask you a couple of quick questions, here, Donald, because everyone wants to know.

Donald Trump

00:05:15 - 00:05:16 (1 sec)

Piers Morgan

00:05:16 - 00:05:22 (6 sec)

Would you ever consider running as a running mate to Sarah Palin? Is that something you would ever consider?

Donald Trump

00:05:22 - 00:06:11 (49 sec)

I don't see that happening from either of our standpoints actually. And, you know, again, I'm looking at what's going to happen. And I have very much my eye open. You know, I told you about these three events and there were other events that I've seen from the Republicans. And then on top of that, as you know very well -- I mean, you're the all-time expert on Celebrity Apprentice But I very much have an eye on -- if they pick the wrong candidate and they very well might do it, I have my eyes wide open.

Piers Morgan

00:06:11 - 00:06:23 (12 sec)

And that would seem to me, Donald, to be saying quite clearly that if you don't like what the Republicans do in terms of their nominee, you might be very seriously tempted to stand and run as an independent.

Donald Trump

00:06:23 - 00:06:51 (28 sec)

And to add to that, I think the answer would be yes and also I'd have to see the economy doing very poorly, which it has a very good chance of doing. If the economy is doing poorly, and if the Republicans pick a stiff -- and they very well might -- I would absolutely have my eye open. Not that I want to do it because I love what I'm doing. I do it really well. And I love what I'm doing. But if those two circumstances happen, I have my eye very wide open.

Piers Morgan

00:06:51 - 00:07:07 (16 sec)

Now, let me turn to the other big story, which is this extraordinary tale of Anthony Weiner and Weiner-gate. The last time I had him on my show was in a fairly lively debate with you actually. What do you make of this?

Donald Trump

00:07:07 - 00:07:48 (41 sec)

Well, I was a little surprised by that debate, because, all of a sudden, he comes out of nowhere and starts going crazy. And, you know, I've known him over the years. And I learned a lot about him that night. I was absolutely shocked. I mean, he was -- I found -- to be almost unstable. And I watched this today because I was watching between pizza- gate and Anthony Weiner -gate. I found Anthony Weiner -gate to be a terrible situation. He obviously knows it's him. And the way he's handled it is either lying or incompetent. And either one is unacceptable. So, he's either incompetent or he's lying.

Donald Trump

00:07:48 - 00:08:06 (18 sec)

Now, it was him because otherwise he would have said, it wasn't me. You know, he's almost trying to say, I don't know it's me. Now, who would not know that's him? Who would not know a picture in that rather terrible position was or wasn't taken? I mean, you know those things. So, he's really -- I mean, his answers --

Piers Morgan

00:08:06 - 00:08:08 (2 sec)

I want to get --

Donald Trump

00:08:08 - 00:08:08 (0 sec)

Piers Morgan

00:08:08 - 00:08:15 (7 sec)

We're getting into difficult territory here, Donald. I mean, would you 100 percent recognize yourself in a similar image?

Donald Trump

00:08:15 - 00:08:30 (15 sec)

Well, I'd know if somebody had a picture of me, you know, in that position and wearing those clothes. And I'd say, you know, yes, that's me or it's not me. And he sort of indicating that it is him and it's a pretty bad picture.

Donald Trump

00:08:30 - 00:08:43 (13 sec)

Let's not kid ourselves. Then, all of a sudden, that gets sent over to some young woman who's at this point saying, oh, gee, she was surprised to get it. I mean, I think he's handled it horribly.

Donald Trump

00:08:43 - 00:08:59 (16 sec)

I think he's made what could have been a small story into a very, very big story. And then, you know, he comes out with this whole crazy excuse that he really doesn't want to go much further. It was just a joke. I don't think that's just a joke. And I think it's pretty bad when a congressman gets hacked into.

Piers Morgan

00:08:59 - 00:09:07 (8 sec)

Yes, I mean, he obviously gave a lengthy interview to Wolf Blitzer earlier, which when I was watching it, it seemed to raise more questions than it answered.

Donald Trump

00:09:07 - 00:09:25 (18 sec)

I watched a couple of those interviews. And I think they were total catastrophes for him. I think it really brings into question whether or not he can ever run for mayor of New York. And maybe whether or not he even keeps the position he's in right now. He's handled it very, very poorly.

Piers Morgan

00:09:25 - 00:09:43 (18 sec)

Well, we've asked him to come on. Hopefully, he will, if he's watching this, open invitation. Let me move on very quickly, Donald, to one at story I think you've probably got an interest in, which is the Schwarzenegger scandal. You know the Schwarzeneggers well. What did you make of that?

Donald Trump

00:09:43 - 00:10:08 (25 sec)

Well, I was very surprised. I know them both very well. And I've always thought they were a relatively happy couple. I have used the word relatively because I've seen many so-called happy couples only to find out the following evening And, you know, I always thought that they had a very kind of a special relationship. And I was very surprised to see this happen. I think I was a little surprised at his choice. And I think that the whole thing is very sad actually.

Piers Morgan

00:10:08 - 00:10:15 (7 sec)

And, finally, Mitt Romney is apparently going to be announcing that he's running for the White House tomorrow. That is the informed wisdom. What's your reaction to that?

Donald Trump

00:10:15 - 00:11:01 (46 sec)

Well, I don't know him at all. He seems not to resonate. And, you know, as you know, when I got out, and NBC made me an offer that at some point I couldn't refuse, knowing that I could always, you know, look over shoulders and see what happens. But when I got out, I was beating everybody, including him, in the polls. And it was sort of an interesting thing. He doesn't seem to resonate. He's been running for four years. He's been running really for six years and longer. And you would think he'd be doing a lot better in the polls than he's doing right now.

Piers Morgan

00:11:01 - 00:11:11 (10 sec)

If he emerges, Donald, final, if he emerges as the Republican choice, as their nominee, would that make you more or less tempted to run as an independent?

Donald Trump

00:11:11 - 00:11:20 (9 sec)

Well, I'd have to see how he emerges. I'd have to see how it's working out. And I'd have to hear some of his opinions on very big issues.

Donald Trump

00:11:20 - 00:11:40 (20 sec)

Like the fact that many, many countries, including China, South Korea, and others, are just ripping this country apart, OPEC. Even with the big, you know, downdraft today, oil is so high. And in my opinion, this downdraft, you know, they don't talk about it, but it's caused also by OPEC and the high oil prices.

Donald Trump

00:11:40 - 00:12:04 (24 sec)

We cannot continue to pay prices in the hundreds for a barrel of oil. We can't do it. So I really think a lot of it has to do with oil. And if you remember, the last time we had the big -- the big crash, oil was up to $148 and $150 a barrel. But we're getting up there. And the same thing is happening. So, don't underestimate the power of oil.

Piers Morgan

00:12:04 - 00:12:07 (3 sec)

Donald Trump , as always, provocative -- thank you very much indeed for joining me.

Donald Trump

00:12:07 - 00:12:09 (2 sec)

Thank you very much, Piers.