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Don Lemon Tonight

Chaotic Day for Donald Trump; Republican Presidential Nominee Refusing to Back Paul Ryan and John McCain; Hillary Clinton Has a 9- Point Lead Over Trump in Latest CNN Poll. Aired 11-12a ET

Aired August 02, 2016 - 23:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DON LEMON, CNN HOST: This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon.

The Republican presidential nominee is refusing to back Paul Ryan and John McCain. He calls Kelly Ayotte weak. Today, he has also kicked the crying baby out of his rally, made a joke about the Purple Heart, insulted President Obama and told an interview where he doesn't think he went too far when he called Hillary Clinton the devil.

[23:00:01] And it weren't over yet. It was a busy day for the Republican candidate.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton has a 9-point lead over Trump in the latest CNN poll, but as we have all learned in this election, say it with me, anything can happen.

Two pieces of breaking news tonight that we need to get to, we have learned in just the last hour that Trump campaign sources are telling CNN's Dana Bash that the campaign is frustrated with their off-message candidate and prominent Republican Meg Whitman tells the "New York Times" that she will not only vote for Hillary Clinton, she will raise money and tell all of her friends to do the same.

Jason Carroll has the latest on the chaotic day for Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After days of turmoil, increasing concerns about Trump's rhetoric, yet another stunning development, Donald Trump, the Republican Nominee, saying he's not ready to endorse the Republican Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan. Trump telling the "Washington Post", "I like Paul, but these are horrible times for our country. We need very strong leadership. We need very, very strong leadership. And I'm not quite there yet. I'm not quite there yet."

If that language sounds a little familiar, it is.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI) SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I'm just not ready to do that at this point. I'm not there right now.

CARROLL: It's nearly the same words Ryan used when he first declined to endorse Trump. Trump also say he's not supporting Senator McCain in his primary bid in Arizona, "He has not done a good job for the vets and I've always felt that he should have done a much better job for the vets. So I've always had a difficult time with John for that reason, because our vets are not being treated properly".

Trump did not stop there. He also took aim at Senator Kelly Ayotte, calling her a "weak and disloyal leader New Hampshire." While out on the trial today, Trump steering clear of a different controversy, involving the family of a slain Muslim-U.S. soldier, Humayan Khan, who was awarded a Bronze Star and Purple.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: A man came up to me and he handed me his Purple Heart. I always wanted to get the Purple Heart.

[Laughter]

D. TRUMP: This was much easier but I tell you, it was such an honor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: The Purple Heart is awarded to those wounded in combat; swift reaction coming in from Hillary Clinton tweeting, "this from a man who says he sacrificed for our country." Clinton pointing to Trumps response to Khan's father, who criticized the GOP nominee during the Democratic National Convention, saying Trump had not sacrificed for his country.

Amid the bipartisan backlash to Trump's comments, Trump's son, Eric today, insisted in an interview with CBS that his father has apologized to the Khan family.

ERIC TRUMP, SON OF DONALD TRUMP: I think he has, by calling them a hero.

CARROLL: Donald Trump trying to keep his focus on Clinton, hammering his Democratic rival on trade, immigration and her ability term limit prove the economy as well as her character.

D. TRUMP: Here's a woman who's a total thief. I mean, she's a total crook. She's got a bad temperament. She's got a temperament of a loser.

CARROLL: But Trump getting sidetracked during his remarks by a crying baby.

D. TRUMP: Don't worry about that baby, I love babies. I love babies. I hear that baby crying, I like them. Actually, I was only kidding. You can get the baby out of here.

[Laughter]

CARROLL: Trump's rhetoric and his off-color comments continuing to be a concern to GOP leaders. Republican Congressman Richard Hanna becoming the first to say he will support Clinton, writing in an Op- Ed, "While I disagree with her on many issues, I will vote for Mrs. Clinton."

Jason Carroll, CNN, Ashburn, VA. (END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Here to discuss now, CNN Political Analyst Patrick Healy, a "New York Times" Political Correspondent and Philip Bump of the "Washington Post", Political Reporter. Thank you, Gentlemen, for joining us.

Let's talk about an unconventional campaign. I mean, Trump is - he's, you know, thrown out every single political playbook; he's attacking a gold-star family member; booting out a baby from a rally, he said it was a joke; refusing to endorse Paul Ryan and McCain. I mean, has a candidate ever put out so many fires at one time?

PATRICK HEALY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST AND "NEW YORK TIMES" POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: No, I mean, this is Donald Trump for better or for worse. I mean, he has no real self-editing function. I remember I interviewed him last month right after the FBI report came out and I said, well, is this going to be your message? Are you going to just sort of nail this over and over again? He said, looking I can only talk about it for five minutes or so and then it gets boring. People at a rally don't want to hear that. You can really only talk about this five minutes and people won't pay attention.

You know, a conventional Republican candidate would be taking, you know, some of these vulnerabilities, missteps by Hillary Clinton and driving that message over and over again. Instead Donald Trump is, in that litany of distractions that are in no way appealing to undecided voters.

LEMON: Of stirring up the base and the people who already support him but not necessarily people who are undecided. As I was saying to you guys in the [23:05:02] break, in the beginning there was -

[Laughter]

LEMON: In the beginning there were so many Independent voters, and so many people who were receptive to Donald Trump's message, and I'm hearing from many of those people now, I just can't do it because he won't stay on message. He keeps saying things I cannot agree with.

PHILIP BUMP, POLITICAL REPORTER, "WASHINGTON POST": He also won't run a campaign; right? I mean, if you look at what happened over the course of the convention, Hillary Clinton clearly got a bump out of the conventions, but that's in part because the Gallop has been polling people for decades. This is the first time they saw people look at the convention and find the candidate less appealing afterward. The convention was a blown opportunity.

He's not doing any TV advertisements. NBC had new data out today which shows Hillary Clinton and her allies are spending tens of millions of dollars. His allies are spending less than a million and he's reserving no TV time. He's not running a real campaign. He's not doing real outreach, and I'd point out that he did in the aftermath of the FBI thing was he spent five days arguing about this Star of David tweet. Like, that was the thing he did in the aftermath of the FBI -- HEALY: And now he's caught up in, you know, the issue with the Khan's.

LEMON: With the Khan Family. Okay, so does he realize that he's losing right now, that he's losing ground? Everyone around him realizes he's losing. According to Dana Bash, she's reporting that Trump's campaign staffers, including Paul Manafort, right, who is his campaign manager, are incredibly frustrated with him saying they "feel like they are wasting their time." That he's so far off message that they feel like they've lost control. Did they ever have control of this campaign?

HEALY: I don't know about Phillip, but every time I talk to him, the first thing that he brings up are the polls and how great the polls are and sort of cherry picks that. So I think in his own mind he is still Donald Trump the winner.

LEMON: He talks about the polls all of the time, but let's just be honest.

HEALY: Right.

LEMON: The polls are not electoral, and that's where the election is.

HEALY: Absolutely.

BUMP: And he's also losing in the polls, we'll point out.

HEALY: No, absolutely; but he also regards these debates as potential game changers but in his mind he views -- and this is where his people are a little nervous right now, that if the election is a referendum on Hillary Clinton, he wins. If the election is on a referendum on Donald Trump, he loses.

So from his point of view, he needs to be making it all about Hillary Clinton and he's not. The question for his campaign, why they're so nervous, --

LEMON: It's all about him. Why isn't he getting it? Seriously, is it always all about him? He can't make it about Hillary Clinton?

BUMP: Yes. The "Washington Post" (Inaudible) had a great interview with him today and there was actually a part where he stops the interview in the middle of it to watch himself on television. He's very invested in what he, as a candidate, is doing and far less invested in what the actual campaign is doing.

LEMON: So if you guys were - I mean, how do you think that Paul Manafort feels right now? Do you agree that he is -- that not only he, but there are members of this campaign that are extremely frustrated right now and maybe they're considering throwing in the towel; who knows?

HEALY: I don't think they're considering throwing in the towel. I think they see him as someone who wants -

LEMON: They feel like they're wasting their time.

HEALY: They're frustrated. They're frustrated, but once they - they feel like these debates will be potential game-changes and that ultimately you get him in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida and at some point sort of give him, you know, more focus, it might work. Don, these are rough dog days.

LEMON: Okay.

BUMP: I would just say very quickly, the Republicans who are signing on to this, the people who are normal party activists, who have come out and worked on campaigns before, or worked with the Republican Party, I'm sure they're feeling frustrated because this is not a campaign that is running in the way that a political campaign runs; and for someone who is used to political campaigns, that has got to be annoying.

LEMON: Think about all those people for, it's not a better term, who sort of held their nose and said, okay, I'm going to endorse you, like a Paul Ryan, like a John - I'm sure it was not easy for them because Paul Ryan wasn't onboard at first. John McCain had been attacked; and now he's coming out saying I'm not there with John McCain. I'm not sure about Paul Ryan, saying good things about Paul Ryan's competitor who is on tonight. So is this disloyalty - this is not loyalty at all. Imagine how they must be feeling.

HEALY: No, I think it's very - I'm sure it's very frustrating for them but Paul Ryan has said from the get go, and people around him have said, he's thinking about the greater good of the party; and if Paul Ryan were not to endorse -

LEMON: Well how can you trust someone if you say, hey, listen, I'm going to support you and we're going to work together on this and then he goes, no; I don't know if I'm going to do it? How do you trust someone?

HEALY: If you hooked up Paul Ryan to a lie detector test and put that question to him, you know, he may bob and weave, but what he wants is a House majority; and if he destabilized things and all these Republicans stay at home or some vote for Hillary Clinton, he would lose some seats.

LEMON: But aren't they on the road to that now if this continues the way it is, with Donald Trump; aren't they on the road to --

BUMP: Certainly if the polling trend continues the way it's continued over the past week after the Convention, yes; and I think that's the key question. If it becomes apparent that Donald Trump cannot win this election, I think you'll start seeing a lot more defections. You'll start seeing a lot more people who are running for House or Senate seats bail on Donald Trump because they want to preserve their own skins.

I think, for leaders, the question is, is Donald Trump the next President of the United States? if so, I'm not going to be cross him because my base will [23:10:02] be with him. But if Donald Trump clearly is not going to be the next president, that loyalty goes out the window.

LEMON: I'm wondering if more people now, when you look at Meg Whitman, when you look at Kelly Ayotte and you look at others coming, Chris Christie's former aide, whatever, top aide saying, you know, we have to - this is about country now. This isn't about party. Ted Crus did that two weeks ago at the convention and everybody sort of looked and, hey, what are you doing. Maybe he's right; here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: IF you love our country and love your children as much as I know that we can do, stand and speak and vote your conscience; vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution!

[Applause]

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: I mean, what a difference a week and a half makes; right? I mean, geesh.

HEALY: Right, and there were high-fives in Brooklyn at Clinton campaign headquarters the night that that happened. I mean, Don, I can't really believe what's going on with Donald Trump. I mean, they were so prepared for this, kind of, like, conventional, you know, war of attrition, going after her untrustworthiness, all of her vulnerabilities and, you know, today, she went to a funeral of a close friend and now she's raising money out in Colorado. She's, from her point, flying high.

LEMON: How do you - how do you get this close and squander this opportunity for people who wanted real change? I mean, we still have 100 days out till the election, but if it continues on this trend, how do you get this close, very real possibility of winning and then squander it; because many people believe that the Khans, it's not the thing that will break in but it was part of the floodgate to open up and give Republicans cover to come out and say I can't do this.

BUMP: Obviously the timing with the Democratic Convention plays a role in how this thing looks like it's source of spiraling, but I think we have to remember that Donald Trump is very much a function of a very weird moment. There's a very weird backlash against the Republican establishment that's been going on for about six years now. Donald Trump himself is a very charismatic, very well-known person that was able to take advantage of that, very big field. He - we talked, during the course of the primaries, about how he had this ceiling of support, which turned out really, not to be the case, but it seems very much like it is the case now, that there's about 40- percent of the vote that will go for him; and the question is can he do anything to actually get past that?

LEMON: Do you think he really wants to win?

BUMP: I do. HEALY: I think so. I think he's a winner. I think he wants to beat Hillary. I don't think he wants to be beaten by her, by the Clinton's, by a woman. I don't think that he wants that to happen, but I think Phillip is exactly right; I mean, his people aren't going to leave him.

BUMP: Right.

HEALY: I mean, they're not sort of saying, Donald, you know, we voted for you to be the change guy and how could you screw this up for us. I think they think this is great. He's taking it to these various people.

LEMON: That would be great but he's not winning -

HEALY: It's the undecided voters -

LEMON: He's not winning.

[Cross Talk]

HEALY: Think about it this way, though. Donald Trump is, in effect, the leader of the Tea Party right now.

LEMON: Right.

HEALY: It's less about the Republican Party and more about the Tea Party. The Tea Party's motives have never been to create a - to do a strategy that gets you -

LEMON: They're a non-establishment -

[Cross Talk]

LEMON: This is President Barack Obama's strongest denunciation of Donald Trump yet; listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Yes, I think the Republican Nominee is unfit to serve as president. I said so last week, and he keeps on proving it.

This isn't a situation where you have an episodic gaffe. This is daily, and weekly, where they are distancing themselves from statements he's making. There has to come a point at which you say this isn't somebody I can support. There has to come a point at which you say, somebody who makes those kinds of statements doesn't have the judgment, the temperament, the understanding to occupy the most powerful position in the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: He's making it easy for Democrats to have some ammunition to use this against him. HEALY: Absolutely. That's such a powerful statement, coming inside the White House from the President of the United States, saying - using words like "on a daily basis" and he's almost inviting Democrats, Republicans, Independents to say, okay; imagine Donald Trump is standing here, where I am, saying these things on a daily basis. Is that what you want? It's very powerful.

LEMON: So I said this a couple weeks ago; I said, the next thing that's going to be said, you know, it's rigged. It's a rigged system. Then he's going to say the general election is rigged -

HEALY: Right.

LEMON: -- and the debates are rigged.

HEALY: Right.

LEMON: You wrote about that today because he's sitting himself up for two outcomes: either he wins or he loses, and he lost because someone stole it [23:15:01] from him, and he didn't just lose it on his own.

BUMP: Right; my colleague, Dave Waigle (ps), has a great walk-through of why this is so exceptional to have, get out ahead of this thing and say this thing is going to be rigged. We just heard some totally inaccurate numbers about the level of voter fraud, which you corrected. There is almost no in-person voter fraud. This is not a real problem, but it is a political problem. It's a political winner for the Republican Party, which is why they seized on it.

I do just want to say one thing on the unfit comment. It's important to remember what we saw at the conventions, which is we saw Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama all stand next to Hillary Clinton and say this person can be president. We did not see any Republican presidents stand next to Donald Trump, and I think what Barack Obama said today reinforces that as well. Neither of the Bushes are standing by him. Mitt Romney, who was the candidate last time, also isn't stand big him. I think that plays a role, too.

LEMON: We saw hardly none, if any, of the establishment standing, even at the convention.

BUMP: This is true.

LEMON: Thank you; I appreciate it, both of you coming on. When we come back, women and children first. You heard what Donald Trump had to say about sexual harassment. Well, you heard him have a crying baby kicked out of his rally. What's next for the candidate? Who knows.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Donald Trump talked about what he would want his daughter today if she were sexually harassed. Well, now Ivanka herself is speaking out. Here to discuss now is Lisa Bloom, the Legal Analyst for @@.com and CNN Political Commentator, and Trump Supporter, Kayleigh McEnany. Good to have both of you on. [23:20:01] Yesterday, in speaking about FOX News CEO, Roger Ailes,

resigning over sexual harassment allegations, Trump told "USA Today" columnist Kristen Powers that if it was his own daughter Ivanka who was sexually harassed, he said this: "I would like to think that she would find another career or find another company, if that was the case."

Well, today his son Eric Trump defended his position. Let's take a listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC TRUMP, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: There is no question that obviously it should be addressed and it should be addressed strongly. We all run a company; my father runs a company. We take this -- that is an absolute o go anywhere and that's very much the case. I think what he is saying is Ivanka is a strong, powerful woman. She wouldn't allow herself to be objected to it and, by the way, you should certainly take it up with human resources, and I think she definitely would as a strong person. At the same time, I don't think she would allow herself to be subjected to that, and I think that was the point he was making and he did so well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So where people are taking issue to is the part, Kayleigh, is "wouldn't allow herself to be subjected to sexual harassment." Do you agree with that? It seems like he's saying a woman chooses if a man can sexually harass her.

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND TRUMP SUPPORTER: No, this is really parsing his words. What he was saying, and it was very clear to me, and I think most viewers when they saw that, is she would not be subjected to that because she would go to H.R. and ensure that action was taken, and ensure that it didn't happen, and perhaps maybe legal action if it came to that.

LEMON: That's not exactly what he said.

MCENANY: Yes, he did.

LEMON: He said, one of the options was to go to H.R., that was one of the options; that's not exactly -

MCENANY: He said I would not allow -- she would not allow herself to be subjected to that. Anyone should go to H.R.; that's what Ivanka would do. She would go to H.R.

LEMON: But it did happen to her. She did not go to H.R. She wrote about it in her book, in 2009, where she said - first of all she said she was taking a new job and that she had a new dream that she was with her boss; that she had an anxiety dream; "walking through the construction site with my new boss when one of the construction workers whistled to me, a scenario she had experienced in real life many times before on her father's construction site, but in those cases the workers never realized I was a bosses daughter and they apologized profusely when they found out." So, it had happened to her before; she did not go to H.R.

MCENANY: She accepted the apology, which, you know, she was being gracious in doing that. But let's point out this is such a contrived controversy. In fact, Donald Trump was asked as a father, what would you recommend to your daughter? Any father would suggest, my father would certainly suggest, hey, if you're in this scenario and someone is being physically aggressive towards you, remove yourself from the situation.

Should any woman have to endure that? Absolutely not. But as a parent who has concern for your child, I would advise my siblings to get away from the situation, get away from an aggressive boss.

LEMON: Not everybody can afford to get away from an aggressive boss because they have to make ends meet. A lot of people live paycheck to paycheck. Lisa, is that what you got from the Donald Trump statement, and from Eric Trump?

LISA BLOOM, TRIAL ATTORNEY: You know, what's so amazing, from Donald Trump and Eric Trump and Kayleigh, is we're all forgetting about the third option, which is enforcing your legal rights. You don't have to run away, if you're sexually harassed. You don't have to have your billionaire daddy help you start another career and you don't have to just take it.

The other alternative is that you actually stand up for your rights either via an attorney, as Gretchen Carlson has so bravely done recently, or you go to H.R. You complain; you keep copy in writing, and hopefully that does it. If it doesn't be then you go to an attorney.

I've represented women and men who were sexually harassed for almost 30 years and every one of them is a brave, strong person. This idea that strong people don't get sexually harassed is just completely offensive and ignores the reality for working women in this country every day.

LEMON: Let's listen to "FOX News Tonight." Ivanka was on "FOX Tonight" and here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVANKA TRUMP, DAUGHTER OF DONALD TRUMP: I think it's -- sexual harassment is inexcusable in any setting. I think harassment in general, regardless, sexual or otherwise, is totally inexcusable and if it transpires, it needs to be reported and it needs to be dealt with on a company level. We have a very strong H.R. team at the Trump Organization who is equipped to deal with these issues if they arise.

You hope they never arise. You hope they have a culture in which they don't arise but when they do, it needs to be dealt with swiftly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Should that have been the answer from the beginning? MCENANY: No, because here's the thing, and here's the problem with, by the way, with what Lisa is saying: we're conflating two issues. She's talking about the legal matter and she's absolutely right. There's a zero tolerance policy for sexual harassment. You should report it to your boss and the person, the harasser should be dismissed. She's correct about that.

He was asked, as a father, and what Lisa is saying, let's get to the root of what she's really saying. She is saying there's one right answer for a father to give his daughter, stay in the situation and report it to H.R. There's not one right answer. If your daughter is being sexually harassed, or son, because it can happen to males to, you should have the option to say get yourself out of that situation. If you have the means to do so, that is great. Try to find another job. Get away from a sexual harasser. That should be an option, too. There's not one right answer, Lisa.

BLOOM: It's completely tone deaf to say find another career. You know, a lot of women -

MCENANY: Or company, I said.

[23:25:01] BLOOM: Let me finish. You know, I went to law school for three years.

MCENANY: So did I.

BLOOM: I enjoy being a lawyer. I don't want to find another career. I don't want to go to med school. I don't want to work in fashion. I want this career; and women don't have to choose between their dignity and their job. This is not the 19th century. We have rights and we're entitled to enforce them, and that is the advice that he should give to his daughter.

By the way, this interview was in the context of Roger Ailes. It was in the context of Donald Trump saying he was standing up for his friend, Roger Ailes, who, according to reports, has sexually harassed 25 women at this point, that we know of.

MCENANY: Well you're entirely mischaracterizing his statement. You're referring to finding another career. He said, or find another company. By the way, I went to law school for three years, too. That doesn't take away the empathy that a father has for his daughter, and the concern for physical aggression can turn to something --

BLOOM: Nobody talked about physical aggression; they talked about sexual harassment.

MCENANY: Which can turn to physical aggression, I think we can all agree with that.

BLOOM: Listen, Kayleigh, I would stand up for your right. I would stand up for Gretchen Carlson's right, even though she and I differ politically on a lot of issues, to have the career and the job and the company that you choose. You should not have to leave, and none of my clients should have to leave, simply because they are sexually harassed. That is 19th century thinking. Sometimes I wonder if Donald Trump -

MCENANY: Everyone agrees with that -

BLOOM: -- is aware that women have the right to vote, that we have rights now, that we don't have to just slink away.

LEMON: I think it's important here, since Gretchen Carlson was the one who was the impetus behind this. It was her lawsuit that was behind this, that all of this was coming out. She was a former FOX News host. She filed a lawsuit against Ailes alleging sexual harassment and here's what she says about Trump's comment. She said, about Eric Trump's comments, "It's sad, in 2016 we're still victim blaming women. Trust me, I'm strong."

So she's saying it's not as cut and dry as just walking away and getting another career. I'm sure Gretchen Carlson would like to be in her job right now, but she, unfortunately for her, she is not.

MCENANY: It is not victim blaming; that is not what Eric Trump was doing. Everyone, Eric Trump, Donald Trump, me, Lisa, we all agree sexual harassment is inexcusable. No woman should have to leave her job, but a father looking at his daughter can say get away from the situation and that is an acceptable answer and you can't tell me that a father can't --

BLOOM: No, it's not an acceptable answer. The acceptable answer is the perpetrator should find another job.

MCENANY: Sure.

BLOOM: Let the perpetrator find another company. Let the perpetrator find another career and you, my daughter or any woman you have the right to have your job and not be sexually harassed.

LEMON: Can someone like Ivanka Trump, politically, because Donald Trump faces a deficit when it comes to women; can Ivanka clean this up for him or is this like everything else that is just going to, you know, fade into the back pages after a while? Kayleigh?

MCENANY: I will -- there's no controversy here, that's the thing. I think most viewers, when they watch this and read the context of Trump's comments, he doesn't disagree with everything Lisa has said. His company has a zero tolerance policy for sexual harassment. We just heard Ivanka describe -

BLOOM: They're required by law to have that policy.

MCENANY: So he agrees with everything Lisa has said, and people are trying desperately, they parse his every syllable to find something wrong with what he said.

LEMON: It wasn't just that; it was also the clean-up, too. It was also Eric Trump's comments, and both of them were seen, quite honestly, to most people who have a brain that they're somewhat victim-blaming in this statement.

MCENANY: No; listen, Don, there's no -

LEMON: -- you should move and take another job? If I was discriminated against I wouldn't want another job. I would want to be taken care of in the job that I have.

MCENANY: Eric didn't say that. Eric is saying exactly what Lisa has said, which is that the woman should go to H.R., she should report it, she shouldn't stand for this. That is what Eric said, and because you're parsing one word, the word "allow", that's just irresponsible. It's irresponsible on your part, Lisa, to take him out of context. I think it's sad and viewers can see it.

BLOOM: What's the could be text? I would love to talk about the context. Donald Trump calling women dogs, pigs, saying that Megyn Kelly was menstruating and that's why she asked him tough questions? Saying that women, you've got to treat them like [blank] a word I can't say on cable news? He has a long history of misogyny, of making highly offensive remarks about women. That is the context. This isn't just a one-off where he's been a terrific feminist his entire life.

For to you say that Donald Trump would agree with me on this issue of sexual harassment 100-percent, boy, I would love to see Donald Trump himself say that or somebody from his campaign say that because I seriously doubt that.

MCENANY: Well, you're deflecting and engaging in character assassination of Donald Trump because the facts are not on your side, and viewers can go read his comments --

BLOOM: I'm telling you his words out of his own month.

MCENANY: Okay, well, you are deflecting from the issue we are talking about because the facts are not on your side, because what Eric Trump said -

BLOOM: You raised the issue of context; that's the context.

LEMON: Yes.

BLOOM: Long history of misogyny.

LEMON: Thank you.

BLOOM: Multiple accusations of sexual harassment against him.

LEMON: Thank you both.

MCENANY: Thank you.

LEMON: Kayleigh, stick around. When we come right back, the Republicans who say they're voting for Hillary Clinton, is Trump giving up on trying to unify his own party?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [23:33:43] DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Is it too late for Donald Trump to unify the GOP? Is he even trying? Back with me now Kayleigh McEnany, and then joining me Bakari Sellers, CNN Political Commentator and Hillary Clinton Supporter; also, CNN Political Commentators Ana Navarro and Angela Reis.

So, it was a big day for the Republican. New York Representative Richard Hanna became the first GOP House member to say he'll be voting for Hillary Clinton, and then tonight during the show, Meg Whitman came out, the former Hewlett Packard executive, saying that she is going to vote for Hillary Clinton. Here's what she says. Let me pull this up.

She says, "As a proud Republican, casting my vote for president has usually been a simple matter. This year is different. To vote Republican out of party loyalty alone would be to endorse a candidacy that I believe has exploited anger, grievance, xenophobia and racial division. Donald Trump's demagoguery has undermined the fabric of our national character." Then she goes on to say, "Therefore, I have decided to support Hillary Rodham Clinton. It is clear to me that Secretary Clinton's temperament, global experience and commitment to America's bedrock national values make her the far better choice in 2016 for President of the United States. In a tumultuous world, America needs to be kind -- needs the kind of stable and aspirational leadership Secretary Clinton can provide. I urge all Republicans to reject [23:35:00] Donald Trump this November."

Those are pretty strong words. Ana Navarro, what's your response to that?

ANA NAVARRO, CNN COMMENTATOR, via satellite: Look, I know Meg Whitman. I was with her about two months ago. I heard her express this; frankly, I heard her express it to Paul Ryan, in front of 300 other Republicans.

It's a very difficult time, Don. I almost feel, when I'm waking up in the morning, that I'm reading political obituaries. Hardly a day goes by when I don't receive a Facebook post or an email or read an Op-Ed from some friend of mine. This week alone, I read an Op-Ed from Carolyn McCain, John McCain's granddaughter, who has always voted Republican; from Maria Carmelos, Chris Christie's top aide, who has always voted Republican; from Sally Bradshaw, Jeb Bush's top aide, who has always voted Republican.

Add to that people like Mark Salter, a chief of staff to John McCain; add to that Lionel Sosa, who has been doing P.R. for Hispanic, for Republican candidates for decades and, you know, the bottom line is Donald Trump is bleeding Republicans because when we look at what he's saying, we don't recognize the party that we have loved for so many decades.

When I see a military mother getting booed at a Trump Rally, I don't recognize that. Do you think that would have ever happened at a Reagan event? Do you think Ronald Reagan would have not stopped it; nipped it at the bud? So he is bleeding Republicans and he doesn't seem to give a damn. LEMON: But those -- but this is Republican establishment and how many of them, let's just say 15 or 20 denounce -

NAVARRO: But, guess what, though?

LEMON: Does that affect his standing in the polls? NAVARRO: No, no, no. Look; I can tell you this much: I can name you 30 Republicans, off the top of my head in Florida, who are not going to vote for him. Member, George W. Bush won Florida by 534 votes. It is a swing state. Maybe New Jersey doesn't matter. Maybe California doesn't matter. Maybe New York doesn't matter; but when you get to the swing states, and for each one of these Republicans that you are hearing about in public, I assure you, Don, I assure you, there are dozens of others that are also feeling the same way, and maybe we don't know their names. Maybe we don't know their profiles -

LEMON: Let me let Kayleigh get in because, Kayleigh, how much longer, to Ana's point, Florida is a swing state. A very important state. How much longer can he sustain this kind of damage?

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well all of the names that Ana mentioned, they're political operatives. They're part of the political class, or they're Washington insiders. I can guarantee you all of the names that she mentioned, do not have thousands of people following them in them making their every move. The point is Donald Trump ran again the political class, he ran against the political elite. I'm not surprised to see the political elite reject him; but I do think the voters, who, by the way, you look at primary and caucus states, their anger was registered in all of the polls 50-percent plus, they felt betrayed by the GOP establishment. So I don't think the GOP establishment that they feel betrayed by, is going to determine who they vote for in November.

LEMON: The question that I've been asking, Bakari, is this the beginning, when it comes to the Kahn family, so of opening up the floodgates? Does this give other prominent conservatives, and maybe not so prominent conservatives the cover to come out and say, you know what; I just can't deal with this anymore?

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER, via satellite: Well, I think your very close. It's somewhat of a permission strategy. I think that's what the word we've heard come out of Brooklyn quite often, that the more and more Republicans you have come out and say that they disavow Donald Trump, they repudiate Donald Trump, that even that one word is even more important, which is I unendorsed, or disavow, Donald Trump, which we haven't heard from John McCain; which we haven't heard from Paul Ryan; which we haven't heard from Mitch McConnell. If those words start to come out, then that may open the door.

It's a very, very narrow path for Republican to get to 270 votes. So to Ana's point, it's very important that he consolidate the conservative base before he goes out there and tries to make new ground.

But, let me just douse a little bit of cold water on this whole theory about Republicans leaving. Democrats still have to work for every vote because we are still 97 and 98 days away, and we have three very important debates coming up; and although I don't believe Donald Trump can outdebate anybody, I do remember that Mitt Romney did show up in the first debate and outdebate Barack Obama. So anything is possible.

LEMON: Okay; what about the timing of this Angela? If you look at the timing Hillary Clinton is coming off of a convention bounce and you have this timing and you have the people in his campaign telling our Dana Bash that, you know what; we're frustrated. We're think that we're, you know, working, doing all of this in vein. Our efforts are wasted. What about the timing in this? Is he playing right into the campaign's hands?

ANGELA RYE, FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS, via satellite: He very well could be. I think that part of what you're seeing is someone who continues to be baited. You also saw Jan Brewer come out earlier today to saying that Donald Trump is not experienced enough not to be baited. We saw at the convention last week, in Hillary Clinton's acceptance [23:40:01] speech she said, Donald Trump, do you want someone who can be baited with a tweet - you can't trust someone who can be baited with a tweet to be the commander-in-chief.

We continue to see this over and over again, and he continues to demonstrate, just like we talked about earlier, why these editorials continue to come out, saying that he does not have the judgment and he is not fit to be president. These un-endorsements, as Bakari talks about, are still few and far between, and that is why the President said what he said today in the East Room, saying it not enough for you to condemn his remarks. It is time for you to do more than just talk about what he's doing wrong and condemn his remarks. It's time for you to say that you cannot endorse this candidate.

LEMON: When we come right back, the youngest heckler ever, I think; and what to a baby at a Donald Trump rally. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Talk about going where no candidate has gone before, Donald Trump had a crying baby kicked out of his rally; sorry. Back with me Kayleigh McEnany, Bakari Sellers, Ana Navarro and Angela Rye. It's true; it actually happened.

Ana, so we have seen Trump kick plenty of protestors from his rallies, but [23:45:01] today he actually booted a crying baby from an event after initially saying the baby and the mother could stay; watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: -- the biggest in the world; a Chinese bank.

Don't worry about that baby; I love babies. I love babies. I hear that baby crying. I like it!

[Applause]

TRUMP: I like it; what a baby. What a beautiful baby. Don't worry. Don't worry.

They have ripped us to shreds, ripped us absolutely to shreds.

Actually, I was only kidding. You can get the baby out of here.

[Laughter]

TRUMP: That's all right. Don't worry. I think she really believed me that I love having a baby crying while I'm speaking.

(END VIDEO CLIP) [Laughter]

RYE: This ain't funny, Don. This is not funny.

LEMON: That is funny; come on, you have to -

RYE: It's bad.

LEMON: -- laugh from crying.

RYE: Cry baby.

NAVARRO: Go ahead, Don baby; ask your questions.

[Laughter]

LEMON: Ana, I mean, usually a politician -

NAVARRO: I'm too damn sober to answer.

[Laughter]

LEMON: Usually politicians kiss babies, they don't kick them out of events?

RYE: Right.

NAVARRO: Most of them wish they could. Listen - look -- listen. I think what you saw there was Donald Trump hamming it up for the crowd, hamming it up for the camera. Remember, this is a TV personality. This is a reality TV show host. If you can follow his stream of consciousness, my respect to you; frankly, I can't.

Now, I do want to go back, though, to something Kayleigh said in the last segment. You know, when you dismiss, when you deride the names I mentioned as Republican establishment, Republican -- Washington insiders, I think you're doing the entire Republican Party a disfavor.

Let me just tell you, Sally Bradshaw is in Florida. Lionel Sosa is in Texas. Maria Carmelo is in New Jersey. Some of these folks were helping elect Republicans in those states when it was really, really hard, when you, Kayleigh, were in Pampers, sucking your thumb. Some of them are so old, they were doing it when I was in Pampers, sucking my thumb. So I owe them a debt of gratitude and respect because they were in the trenches. They have been loyal GOP soldiers and they should be of great concern to anybody trying to lead this party; and as the Nominee that so many of these loyal, loyal Republicans are deciding to leave because they'd rather leave than vote for this man.

LEMON: Kayleigh, do you want to respond?

MCENANY: I don't appreciate bringing age into this. Contrary to what anyone may say, Millennials are still allowed to have opinions that are respected; so that's first. But, secondly, there is a reason why anger among GOP voters. There is a reason voters feel betrayed by this Party; because we elect people, we send people to Washington, who change when they get there. They're pro - of they're for building a wall and then they get to Washington and then they're pro-amnesty. People feel betrayed.

They are told one thing by the Party, when Donald Trump gets to 1237 we're all going to be on board. Then he gets to 1237 and there's an effort to change the rule.

LEMON: What about the substance of her argument, just because there's change, there are people who have been fighting in the trenches, on both sides, and they should be respected?

MCENANY: They're allowed to have an opinion; I don't disrespect them, but I think they're contributing to the problem Republican voters have where they don't feel respected. There's an effort to squash the will of the people and elevate the will of the politicians.

LEMON: Hang on, Kayleigh; let me just - opinions --

NAVARRO: I think most of the Republicans and veterans understood that in order to win an election --

LEMON: Ana, hold on. Ana, Ana.

NAVARRO: -- you have to get to -

LEMON: Ana, I'm talking here; Ana?

NAVARRO: Got it, Donald; go ahead. Knock yourself out.

LEMON: Everyone is allowed to have an opinion but when I think that experience and people who have been in the trenches deserve respect, it's not just about an opinion, whether they did something wrong in the past or they did something right it goes beyond that. Yes, you can respect those people. Yes, they can have an opinion, as you said, but you should respect the people who have fought so that you could be the Republican conservative that you are and able to sit here and support Donald Trump.

MCENANY: Do you know who also deserves respect, though, is Republican voters because Republican voters been told they made a bad choice, they're ignorant, how can you elect this person? That is the person being sent to Republican voters' every time people belittle the nominee, and it has happened from the get-go, when people made fun of him; they said he could never make it; he defied all odds, got more voters than any nominee in presidential history. And do you know who deserves respect? Donald Trump deserves respect and the people who put him there deserve respect.

LEMON: Okay; go ahead, Bakari, and then I have to get to a break.

SELLERS: My good friend Kayleigh, what she fails to realize is that yes, Donald Trump deserves respect, but to whom much is given, much is required and Donald Trump also has to give that same respect. Donald Trump began this process by disrespecting every minority group that you can think of, and just this week he disrespected Gold-Star families.

NAVARRO: And the baby.

SELLERS: I understand that on the campaign trail - I understand on the campaign trail you can make mistakes, you can have faux pas, you can have slip ups but you can also say I'm sorry. I apologize. The fact that Donald [23:50:01] Trump is not man enough to even apologize, means that there's many people like the ones that Ana's talking about that just won't give him that respect because, in their eyes, he doesn't deserve it.

MCENANY: We can say the same for your nominee, Bakari, who just this Sunday lied and said the FBI Director condoned her whole story and said she was truthful, when, in fact, she was not. So an apology, coming from Hillary Clinton, isn't worth much when she follows it up with lies after lies after lies, which the "Washington Post" ranks as, in fact, lie.

RYE: There are a lot more rankings for your candidate.

SELLERS: That was an awesome pivot.

RYE: That was a great pivot, but there are a lot more -- check those Pinocchio's for Donald Trump. He has a whole lot more.

LEMON: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Thanks to my very feisty panel, but we want to end on a happy note. Donald Trump taking a licking for eating finger lickin' chicken with a fork. CNN's Jeanne Moos reports on the flap over how to eat fried chicken.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Every so often we're treated to Donald Trump food tweets. Remember the I love Hispanics taco bowl and then there was the McDonald's aboard his private plane Instagram followed by a KFC tweet, in what may or may not be the same seat; but it is the knife and fork that have folks dropping their cutlery and manhandling the chicken.

[23:55:01] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who would do it with a knife and fork?

MOOS: Donald Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump does? Oh, my God! You've got to eat it with your fingers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my hands; yes. I'm a man.

MOOS: Well how would you eat it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With my hands.

MOOS: We all know that Donald is a neat-knick, a germ freak, so why should critics stick a knife in him for using a knife and fork on KFC? Maybe because this is Trump's second cutlery faux pas. The first was when he took Sarah Palin out for pizza.

["The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" Clip Plays]

MOOS: Okay; maybe it is not as weird as eating a Snickers with a knife and fork as characters on "Seinfeld" did. The practice spread.

["Seinfeld Clip plays] MOOS: And why stop at eating KFC with a knife and fork?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really you should just inject it directly into your artery with a needle; like this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just use your hands and then use the grease off of your fingers to keep the comb-over in place.

MOOS: There are no do-overs when candidates eat in public.

HILLARY CLINTON (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I learned early on not to eat in front of all of you.

MOOS: After Hillary resisted eating cheesecake, Stephen Colbert taught her how to do it.

["The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" Clip Played]

MOOS: Colbert used both a fork and his hands, straddling the issue like some cheesy politician.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Now I'm hungry; Popeye's after this. That's it for us tonight, thanks for watching. I'll see you right back here tomorrow night at 10:00. Good night.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)