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Trump, Clinton Shift into High Gear on Labor Day; No deal on Syria as Violence Escalates; Mayor Bill Peduto Talks to Tim Kaine. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired September 05, 2016 - 10:00   ET

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


[10:00:00] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I am Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, hard at work on Labor Day, both candidates now shifting in the high gear as they zero in on eve battleground states like Ohio. With just 64 days until the election, Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton are in the homestretch and they certainly know that. Clinton's running mate, Tim Kaine and Vice President Joe Biden both addressing the Labor Day parade in Pittsburgh today. And in Detroit, Bill Clinton, marching in a parade trying to court union workers. Hillary Clinton also trading in her private jet for a much bigger plane, she debuts that plane today. It will have enough room for her traveling press corps and for the first time since July 31st. Mrs. Clinton will sit down with a reporter and answer questions face-to-face. As for Donald Trump, his campaign now struggling to get on the same page when it comes to his immigration policy. We're covering all of the angles with our team of political reporters. But let's begin with CNN senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar, good morning.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you Carol. Well, it is a big day in the Clinton campaign and certainly for the press covering her as they're boarding the plane there in Westchester County, New York, for the first time going to be on the same airplane with the candidate. From April when she launched, last April, launched her campaign, up until now, the press has traveled on a separate airplane from her. Being on the same airplane often means that the candidate will come back and talk to reporters. So this is something certainly that is welcomed by the press. Whether she's going to talk to reporters today, we're not sure but certainly it would go a long ways -- or at least a short ways, it would go a ways, I would say, towards some of this criticism, since she hasn't had a press conference since last December. But it's also a big day for Hillary Clinton because it's Labor Day. And this highlights some of the issues that she has been having with white working class voters. Her past support for NAFTA and her past support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but things didn't go over well during the primary in key labor states. Bernie Sanders taking a lot of those votes and note that today, he is campaigning for the first time solo for Hillary Clinton with two stops in New Hampshire. Although he did have this to say on NBC's "Meet the Press" about the Clinton Foundation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNIE SANDERS, UNITED STATES SENATOR: Well, I would certainly suggest that as President of the United States, she should seize all operations, all contact with The Clinton Foundation.

CHUCK TODD, MEET THE PRESS HOST: Does that mean shutting it down or just not being involved? -- Can you truly have it?--

SANDERS: At the very least - you know, at the very least, she should not be involved, at the very least.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So not saying that the Clinton foundation should completely shut down, Carol, but saying that Hillary Clinton needs to cut ties there. During the primary process, he was very critical of Clinton's ties to the Clinton Foundation while she was Secretary of State. The foreign donations she had received and this gave fodder and still does to the Trump campaign. You have Jason Miller, a spokesman for Donald Trump saying, when Bernie Sanders and "The New York Times" because the Ed board did talk about this. Saying that the Clinton Foundation, present an unacceptable conflict of interest. It shows just how badly compromised Hillary Clinton presidency would be. And talking, Carol, to Bernie Sanders supporters in the past, a lot of them harbor some of the same concerns as Trump supporters when it comes to this conflict of interest but Bernie Sanders trying to throw some support behind Hillary Clinton. She really needs it with those progressive voters and also with young people.

COSTELLO: All right. Brianna Keilar reporting live from Washington for us this morning, thank you. Donald Trump, also heading to Ohio today. He's expected to attend the Canfield Fair, one of the biggest in the state, that's in Mahoning County near Youngstown. Trump's appearance already stirring up controversy though. The county Republican Party, the Mahoning County Republican Party, now selling simulated bricks. As part of a fundraiser, their goal in true Trump style, help make - help build a makeshift wall with one donation at a time. In the meantime, Trump's immigration policy is back in the spotlight, as his supporters struggled to get on the same page. CNN's Phil Mattingly has more on all of this for us this morning. Good morning.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. When it comes to immigration policy, the wall is not in question. That is the one area where Donald Trump and his advisors are all in agreement on. The area where they're not, is on deportation. Donald Trump initially said he was for immediate deportation of all 11-plus million undocumented immigrants in the country. He has walked back on that. How he looks at it now, according to his speech last week, was as a matter of prioritization. Criminals would leave first. Then those with visa overstay. Now, that's about 6 or 7 million, which means there's about 4 million left over on average. What will he do with those? That is TBD. This is what top advisor, Rudy Giuliani had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, DONALD TRUMP ADVISOR: Donald Trump as he expressed in one of his interviews recently, will find it's very, very difficult to throw out a family that's been here for, you know, 15 years. DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: They will have one route and one route only. To return home and apply for re-entry like everybody else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:05:16]

MATTINGLY: So, Carol, as you see, not a lot of hedging from Donald Trump there, but a very different message from Rudy Giuliani. And the reason is this. This is an incredibly complex issue. It's the issue that is snagged comprehensive immigration reform for years if not decades up to this point. The Trump campaign is trying to figure out how to hedge themselves on this as they deal with this issue. Now, this is all coming along the lines of Trump's minority outreach. We saw him in Detroit over the weekend reaching out to African-American voters, actually in a predominantly black church. Changing would have been the strategy up to this point, where he would talk about his outreach, but mostly in front of white audiences. Now, a lot of members of the church that were interviewed by the media said he was well received, it was a good appearance. But the question becomes how does he continue to follow that up? One thing we do know, he is doing a follow it up, Ohio. Going to Canfield, as you know that this state fair. Why does this region matter? This is in Northeast Ohio. This is the voter profile Donald Trump has been targeting all election long. --

COSTELLO: He's going back to his safe zone.

MATTINGLY: He's going back to his safe zone but this is an area that is traditionally Democratic, traditionally blue. 6,000 Democratic voters changed their registration to Republican in Mahoning Valley, in this area during the primary. The Trump campaign thinks this is a place where he can make gains. That's why he's in Canfield today.

COSTELLO: All right. Phil Mattingly, thanks so much. So with summer coming to a close, it's open season for a big political push. Who's got more ammo? With me now is Keith Boykin, Democratic strategist and a Hillary Clinton supporter, CNN political commentator and Donald Trump supporter, Scottie Nell Hughes and Jackie Kucinich, CNN political analyst and Washington Bureau Chief for "The Daily Beast." Welcome to all of you.

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST AND WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF FOR THE DAILY BEAST: Thank you.

COSTELLO: OK, so Jackie, both candidates will be in the State of Ohio. Hillary Clinton surrogates are all over the place. They're in Pittsburgh, they're in Ohio, they're all over. -- I'm sure Mr. Trump will send out his surrogates as well. A winning strategy for both candidates?

KUCINICH: Well, the rust belt is just going to be incredibly important this election. And we've seen this again and again. And each candidate has a different goal here. But it's interesting. You don't see some of the traditional states that are at play. At this point in the election that we've seen in other years, it appears that Virginia and Colorado are not going to be in play because they seem too far gone for Donald Trump at this point. So it does become about Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, we're going to see then there a lot, particularly targeting blue collar voters who might be on the fence who may, -- as Phil was saying, who may have been Democrats and now Republicans, some of the sort of never Trump voters that are still floating out there, Hillary Clinton is making a play for. But -- I think voters in those states can expect not only the candidates there frequently but also quite a few ads in the next couple months.

COSTELLO: I know, because -- Mr. Trump's kind of made an ad about Hillary Clinton is pouring money into - to ads for Ohio. So I always hear from my mother at these times and she saying, you know what, I'm going crazy. But, hey, it works for candidates, so it's a necessary -- weapon in their arsenal so to speak. So Keith, you saw that Hillary Clinton unveiled the new press plane, right, it has room for the press corps to fly around and she's going to sit down with David Muir later when she arrives in Cleveland for a one-on-one interview. She hasn't done that since July 31st. So are we seeing a new, more open Hillary Clinton?

KEITH BOYKIN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST AND A HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: I think we've seen a disciplined Hillary Clinton throughout the campaign unlike Donald Trump who can't stay on message for a day. I've worked on a number of presidential campaigns in the past. I know traditionally around this time of year, around Labor Day, when the public starts to focus, the candidates start to get bigger planes and the press travels with them, that's part of the campaign approach at this point.-

COSTELLO: But normally it happens much sooner than it happened this time around.

BOYKIN: Well, actually, it usually happens right after the convention but the conventions happened earlier this year so it's not surprising that we'd be seeing it around Labor Day. But regardless, I mean, Hillary Clinton is in an advantageous position going into Labor Day. We have the polls showing that she's leading in most of the battleground states. She's leading in the national polls.-

COSTELLO: But her lead is much narrower.

BOYKIN: Yes, but she has a larger lead than President Obama had over Mitt Romney in 2012 at this point. And you also have to take into account where President Obama ended up in 2012. He ended up with 332 electoral votes. That means if Hillary Clinton can basically keep President Obama's coalition together, she could lose Florida, she could lose Ohio, she could lose Virginia, all those three states combined, and still win the election. Still have enough electoral votes. Not that I encourage her to approach that strategy. But -- I think she's in a good position now. She's where she needs to be. And Donald Trump, you know, he's got to do a lot more than show up at a black church two months before the election and expect people to take him seriously.

COSTELLO: Well, he is going to be in the State of Ohio today, Scottie. He's going to be in Mahoning County. He's going to be talking to blue collar workers. We think he's going to go to the Canfield Fair. We'll have to keep an eye on that. Is Mr. Trump concerned that Hillary Clinton has a slight lead in Ohio?

SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well, actually the guest made an excellent point there. If you look at the polls from 2012, you ended have an end-result was still Barack Obama winning. I think this is why you're seeing a different type of approach of Donald Trump to his campaign

[10:10:16] all year long especially now in his final sprint. He is doing things differently, what Republican Party has done in the last two election cycles, because they haven't worked. And I think he will make a trip - you know, I hope he makes a trip to the fair. Who doesn't love to get some corndogs and a big gulp on Labor Day? But the best thing about Mr. Trump, the people are forgetting about advertising, is that every time a person in America opens up their paycheck, they realize that what has worked the last eight years might not be working for them. We had a horrible jobs report. -- Only 151,000 jobs were added --

COSTELLO: Well, I don't think -- I'm just watching -

HUGHES: -- the labor participation rates -

COSTELLO: Right it wasn't horrible, it was just below expectations. -- We're looking at Hillary Clinton getting out of her car to board her brand new plane, and she's going to be heading to Cleveland, Ohio. Let me ask you this. There's Mrs. Clinton, going on board that plane. So Hillary Clinton is going to Cleveland, Jackie, and Mr. Trump is going to Youngstown, Mahoning County, and he' going to be talking with largely people who support him. Mrs. Clinton is going to be talking largely to people who support her in Cleveland. Is that really where these candidates ought to be going?

KUCINICH: Well, I don't know -- especially Mahoning County, I mean that is a very, as Phil said, it's somewhere that has been a Democratic stronghold. I think, if I remember it correctly, Obama won there by 63%, -- something along those lines, the last cycle. So he really -- he's trying to make inroads with some disaffected Democrats. Again, as Phil noted who switched their registration. Now, Cleveland is a little bit of a different story. There are Republican pockets of Cleveland. And they're more moderate Republicans. So, there could be a little courting. It's not necessarily talking to the same crowds that support them. And they are trying to nibble around the edges of the other's coalition.

COSTELLO: Got you. I'm just paying attention to these pictures, as you can see, before Mrs. Clinton boards her brand new plane. Let me ask you this, Keith, because she is going to sit down with David Muir, from ABC. -- But there are more than a few voters and of course the press who want her to hold a full-on press conference and take question after question and answer concerns that voters have about these e-mails because we got new information over the weekend. People want to know what's up with that. Is one sit-down interview with a reporter enough? BOYKIN: Well, Carol, I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you. I've been traveling the country. I've not heard a single voter demand that Hillary Clinton hold a press conference. I think that's what the media are asking for. And to portray that as though that's the voters' saying that I think is not exactly correct.--

HUGES: --You don't think voters don't want her to answer questions?

BOKYIN: I think voters want the candidates to talk about the issues. They want to know, what you are going to do to create jobs, continue the recovery we have going. What are you going to do to expand health care coverage, the people who haven't -- got it yet?-

COSTELLO: And they don't want to know about the handling of confidential or classified information?-

BOYKIN: I think the voters are focused on the issues. I think the media is focused on these fake controversies. Yes, we can talk about -- we can spend the whole campaign talking about controversies--

COSTELLO: These aren't fake controversies, just to be clear.-

BOYKIN: Well, yes, they are. Or we could talk about here -- I'm in Florida right now, where Donald Trump paid $25,000 to the Florida Attorney General, Pam Bondi, as some sort of hush money, apparently to prevent him, -- prevent her rather from investigating his Trump University. So there's a lot we could be talking about but the public wants to talk about the issues.

COSTELLO: OK, Scottie, last word then I got to go.

HUGHES: Let's just remember this press - is still press people that have been approved by the Hillary Clinton camp. It's not like she's going to have an open press conference. And unlike what -- Tim Kaine said yesterday, there is a difference between an open press conference and select questions one on one.

COSTELLO: All right, I have to leave it there. Keith Boykin, Scottie Nell Hughes, Jackie Kucinich, thanks to all of you.

KUCINICH: Thank you.

COSTELLO: As we continue to watch Mrs. Clinton get on her plane at the Westchester Airport and of course she'll head later for Cleveland. Let's watch, as we head to a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:15:16]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: No deal on Syria. Just hours after the U.S. and Russia tried and failed to reach an agreement on a cease-fire, a series of deadly explosions rocked the country, killing at least 40 more people. The two governments discussing a possible end to the violence on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in China.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have had some productive conversations about what a real cessation of hostilities would look like. That would allow us both, the United States and Russia, to focus our attention on common enemies like ISIL and Nusra. But given the gaps of trust that exist, that's a tough negotiation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COTELLO: All right. Nic Robertson has been following the cease-fire efforts. He joins me now live from London. So what does President Obama mean that there are these gaps in trust when it comes to what's happening in Syria?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol, there's a real perception that Russia is following a military strategy on the ground. They want to take territory on the ground before they will get into a real political deal. The reason was there was a certain amount of expectation you would get a deal at the G-20. The Russians played it up. President Obama, John Kerry, both more skeptical because the Russians' key objective at the moment is taking Aleppo. They came close to surrounding all the rebels there earlier, about a month ago, and then the rebels broke free. Then in the past couple of days, the Russians took control with Assad, of the streets of Aleppo, encircling the rebels again. But the perception really is that until the Syrian government, with the backing of President Putin in Russia has control of Aleppo they're not going to get

[10:20:16] into those real talks. I talked this morning to the Syrian opposition, and they say that this is a - disastrous situation. They told me about an area just outside Damascus, 45,000 people in that area, the government - the Syrian government has been in there saying hand over the 66,000 men you have here, the deadline is tonight. The opposition was saying -- they were telling the people of that town, don't worry, they'll be a cease-fire, a general truce by the G-20. Now there isn't. The 45,000 people in that town have a deadline looming over them tonight.

COSTELLO: Yes, and we all know civilians are being killed in this conflict. So the major disagreement between -- like Russia wants to protect Bashar al-Assad, right, that's its major mission, over fighting ISIS, let's say. The United States' main mission is fighting ISIS. To get the terrorists out. How can -- can there be a middle ground between those two things?

ROBERTSON: Well the middle ground is a cease-fire, and then the opposition can start pulling themselves back from the front lines, and it makes it much clearer where ISIS is. Russia, -- Russia wants a cessation ultimately in Syria. It just wants it on its terms. And the reality here is, Russia has the military forces in play on the ground and in the air in Syria and the United States doesn't. So Russia is able to dictate the terms of when and where that cease-fire will happen and when and where the peace talks will begin. There is common ground -- but it is essentially at the moment only when Russia wants it.

COSTELLO: Nic Robertson reporting live for us from London. Thank you. Coming up next in the "Newsroom," Vice President Joe Biden, stumping for working class votes. Hitting down on Trump over the minimum wage. Plus, Senator Tim Kaine wrapped up a meeting with the Mayor of Pittsburgh. We'll talk with the mayor next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:25:16]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is Labor Day and both candidates are going all in. This is the day the presidential election starts in earnest. As one political type put it, "You ain't seen nothing yet." Both candidates will be in Ohio later today accelerating their push for middle class voters who feel they've been left out in the cold. Hillary Clinton's running mate, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, is in Pittsburgh along with Vice President Joe Biden. Two buzzwords from Biden's speech, unions and wages.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Does anybody think there would be a minimum wage without union workers? -- I really mean it. Not a joke. They would not exist, guys. Where's it come from? It comes from people who understand what it's like to look across the table in the bargaining room and know that the guy on the other side really doesn't respect you. Know that there's so many people like Trump who look at us like we're not their equal. I'm sick of it. I have had it up to here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Pittsburgh is an interesting choice since that city has rebounded from the days when Steel was king. It is a thriving city now, despite what both candidates call unfair trade deals. One person who helped rebuild the economy and transformed the city was Bill Peduto, the Mayor of Pittsburgh. He also met with Senator Tim Kaine this morning. Welcome, sir. Welcome, Mr. Mayor, thanks for being here.

BILL PEDUTO, MAYOR OF PITTSBURGH: Good morning and happy Labor Day, Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, Happy Labor Day. We're both laboring on Labor Day. -- Can you tell us what you said to Tim Kaine this morning?

PEDUTO: Well, you know, it was really a gathering of not only labor leaders and elected officials from throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania but an opportunity to engage both the vice president and hopefully number 48, the senator with the challenge that we have. - There's a reason we're called the keystone state, let me put it that way. -- This election goes through Pennsylvania. In Southwestern Pennsylvania, we have a challenge to be able to win it. And if we can win Southwestern Pennsylvania, we'll be able to deliver the state.

COSTELLO: You're going to try to convince the Trump supporters in Southwestern Pennsylvania to vote Clinton. I wanted to talk this morning though on how you helped transform Pittsburgh's economy as opposed to other rust belt cities. Because we hear a lot from both candidates on how to ease the pain of these middle class voters, and one way both talk, is these unfair trade deals. They're killing American manufacturing. Is that what killed manufacturing in Pittsburgh? And why has your city rebounded, even though we've had these trade deals or at least one trade deal in place, which is Nafta?

PEDUTO: Right -- you know, the downfall of heavy industry actually happened at the end of the '70s, in the early '80s. Nafta coming in -- in the early '90s was basically the final nail in the coffin. Despite that, we still have a very abundant advanced manufacturing economy within Southwestern Pennsylvania. Maybe not as much within the City of Pittsburgh, but what really brought back Pittsburgh was 30 years. I jokingly call it the overnight success story that took 30 years. It was 30 years of suffering that reinvented an economy. It was dreamers and planners back in the 1980's creating one of the first supercomputing centers in the world.