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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Clinton Losing Ground to Donald Trump in Polls. Donald Trump Speaks in Baltimore. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired September 12, 2016 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:02] CHRISTINE BRENNAN, SPORTS COLUMNIST, USA TODAY: ... then, of course, that some of the players, as you pointed out, who did what they did. But, I think for most sports fans after that, it all about the game. But this -- once again, another story that leaves the sports pages, that leaves the field to play and moves into our culture in a fascinating way.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Yeah, because you and I just finished talking about Ryan Lochte, and it wasn't about swimming.

BRENNAN: Right.

BANFIELD: So let me ask you this, Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner actually came out with Matt Lauer and said, "I support our players speaking out on issues that need to be change. I think when our players speak out and feel strongly, it's a good thing for us."

So that makes me think that that's kind of cart blanch for all of the players to do whatever they want and I sort of go back to the Ray Rice moment where he laid out his girlfriend in an elevator on video and nobody took a knee. There were no grassroots on the field protests about that. And I sort of wonder, is this just sort of, they can pick and choose whatever affects them personally?

BRENNAN: Well, that's a great question. I think with the case of Ray Rice, that's discipline, of course, as we all would agree that, you know, domestic violence and violence against a loved one or anyone is terrible. So, that was a matter of player behavior.

Right now what the NFL has said its policy is, Ashleigh, is that players are encouraged, are asked to stand for the national anthem. They're not told to stand. So, of course, as Roger Goodell has kind of threading the needle and I think why he is doing that at point in this conversation. Roger Goodell saying, "But, of course, I completely support them and they have the right to do what they want with the first amendment."

We're also seeing it, of course, women's soccer, Megan Rapinoe, seeing in a little bit in high schools and colleges. So it's not just the National Football League, although, it clearly started there. I think it would be interesting, it's kind of like stay tuned.

A month from now if this is growing then I think some of these leagues may look at this in a different way. Will the NBA also deal with this? Will the NHL deal with it? You see what I'm saying it's not just the NFL -- so if the NFL goes often so goes the nation in sports and I think that might just be the tip of the iceberg, if that -- if this starts to becoming like that.

BANFIELD: All right. So you'll have to come back. Make sure your schedule is clear. Christine Brennan, always good to see you, thank you.

BRENNA: I will. Thank you.

BANFIELD: Thanks Christine. Coming up next, even before this weekend's deplorable, basket of deplorable remarks and pneumonia, the revelation of Hillary Clinton was sick.

Mrs. Clinton was losing ground to Donald Trump in the polls, even falling behind in some of the polls. So coming up next, the latest numbers from some key battleground states, and why even as they're close they actually speak real well for her. We're going to give you the horse race in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:36:55] BANFIELD: The polls, most of them, are showing a tightening race, not jut nationally but in several swing states as well. According to a new "Washington Post" ABC poll, survey found that Hillary Clinton's lead among likely voters is at 5 percent nationwide.

In the meantime, Clinton and Trump are deadlocked in four battleground states. And remember, that's critical because this is a state-by- state race. It's not a popularity contest. Among those battlegrounds states are New Hampshire and Nevada. Two states that Democrats have won in most recent presidential elections.

And according to an NBC News/"Wall Street Journal" poll in New Hampshire, Clinton is narrowly in the lead. In Nevada among likely voters, Trump holds the race for the (inaudible) there. This as Clinton has succeeded in putting Trump on the defense in two historically red states.

In Georgia, Trump leads Clinton by just two points. Same story in the border state of Arizona, Trump is up by just a couple of points there.

I want to break this all down with our brain trusts. Back with us, CNN's Senior Political Analyst Ron Brownstein, CNN's Political Commentator Errol Louis and CNN National Politics Reporter MJ Lee.

So MJ, I assume when you jumped on this campaign you weren't going to expect to see some swing states, the battleground states polling like this?

MJ LEE, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: That's right. No question about it that that polls are starting to tighten, including the battleground states. After the Democratic convention, Clinton did get a bit of a lead and held on to that lead for a good while.

But I do think that when the Clinton campaign is looking at the map and they are looking at the map closely, because at the end of the day on Election Day what they need to do is reach that 270 magic number. They have every reason to feel confident at least for the time being, I think especially when they see states like Georgia, or Arizona, being so tight. They do know that that doesn't bode as well for Hillary -- for Donald Trump rather.

BANFIELD: Yeah, I used to talking about Ohio and Florida and Pennsylvania. I not use to talking about Georgia?

LEE: Yes.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, Georgia and Arizona are never going to be the first 270 for the Democrat.

BANFIELD: Right.

BROWNSTEIN: If she wins Georgia and Arizona, she is making the rebel bounce.

BANFIELD: But she's making work for it, right?

BROWNSTEIN: She is like ...

(CROSSTALK)

BROWNSTEIN: Well, look, I mean ...

BANFIELD: You got to put some of your resources towards those states if they're getting tight?

BROWNSTEIN: The striking thing about this election is that it is -- I've covered nine. It is the most tumultuous, the most turmoil, the most stuff going on every day by far, but yet, there is a lot of consistency and stability in the way the electorate is dividing.

If you look at an ABC/"Washington Post" poll, Donald Trump is up by 28 points among non-college whites. That's virtually identical to Mitt Romney's advantage over President Obama in 2012. Hillary Clinton is up by 52 points among non-white voters. That is also virtually identical to President Obama's lead over Mitt Romney.

Try to -- the big difference, the key focus (ph) of this race is that Hillary Clinton is leading among college-educated white voters, white collar, white voters.

BANFIELD: Yeah.

BROWNSTEIN: No Republican nominee in the history of polling (inaudible) has ever lost those voters and as long as Clinton retains that advantage in most of the key battle ground state like Pennsylvania, like Virginia, and Colorado, which are now largely off the board, the combination of those college whites and how minority's trend makes it an uphill climb for Donald Trump.

BANFIELD: I'm glad you brought that up, because this whole minority outreach that Donald Trump jumped on to a couple weeks ago, that "Washington Post"/ABC poll showed whether it was working or not.

[12:40:06] And I'm just going to give you some really broad strokes here, but when they were asked if Donald Trump is or isn't biased against women and minorities, 60 percent of American said he is.

BROWNSTEIN: I think 74 percent of minorities said he is in that poll.

BANFIELD: And I could break you the demographics down, but I think the most important one was the one you mentioned and that that was who the message many people say it was aimed at, how they took at those college educated whites. 57 percent of college educated whites said Donald Trump is prejudiced. So that may not have been working, that whole minority outreach.

But, Errol, to you, since here in New York, in New York just saying, Hillary Clinton had a fund-raiser in New York. Usually the sound by them that's pay (ph) for you is, you know, filmed on an iPhone, or it surreptitious, like Mitt Romney's 47 percent comment, but this happened in full view of cameras rolling. Secretary Clinton knew cameras were rolling and she said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump supporters into what I call the basket of deplorable, right? The racists, sexists, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, you name it.

But that other baskets of people are people who feel the government has let them down. The economy has let them down. Nobody cares about them. Nobody worries about what happens to their lives and their futures, and they're just desperate for change. Those are people we have to understand and empathize with as well.

(END VIDEO CLIIP)

BANFIELD: So, Errol, that latter part is not getting the headlines. It's that former part about being in a basket of deplorable that's getting all the headlines. And maybe the biggest headline is that she's not apologizing for saying it. She's just apologizing for making it "half" of the supporters.

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, that's right. You know, honestly, that's I think the only word that one could really object to. I mean, the reality is there's an important dynamic. She's made big, broad speeches about this in the past. It's not as if she was talking out of school where you needed to catch it on a cell phone camera.

There is an element of extremists that have made their way into mainstream politics. It is a very difficult and delicate question, how and when and why do you exclude certain people from the mainstream? She really was really talking about that.

I mean, it's up to other people generally to do that. It's not really for a presidential candidate to do that, because if she wins she'll have to be everybody's president, including the president of the deplorable. Everybody is entitled to ...

BANFIELD: Glad you said that. I have a little tweet on that, too, but not before I preface it by saying, prolific writer Conrad Black in the National Post actually use the words, "He has sewn up the "Archie Bunker" vote."

And to that end, there's this tweet from Obama back in 2012 that was retweeted by Donald Trump. "Yes, you heard me right. Barack Obama was retweeted by Donald Trump because in 2012," he was referring to Mitt Romney when he said, "We need a president who is fighting for all Americans not one who writes off nearly half of the country."

Ron, that was referring to Mitt Romney's 47 percent and now it's referring to the half of the deplorable.

BROWNSTEIN: It is never a good idea for a presidential candidate to impugn the motives of the people who are voting for the other side.

BANFIELD: Right.

BROWNSTEIN: It's just categorically not a good idea, but it is telling and revealing that she has not completely backed off and apologized. And I think the reason for that is our policy is a fundamental dividing line and our politics now is more culture than class.

And if you look at the Democratic coalition, it is comprised primarily of the groups that are most comfortable with the demographic and cultural change that we are living through as a society, millennial, minorities and those socially liberal college whites and they view Donald Trump as that post poll shows as a unique threat to those values and I think they actually want to see Hillary Clinton standing up and defending that vision of an inclusive America.

So I think it is -- it was a mistake to phrase it the way she did and it was inevitable that she was going to back off. But it is -- I think also revealing that she is not fully apologizing because it is precisely those issues that knit together the modern Democratic coalition.

BANFIELD: Maybe it's the Donald Trump factor double down. Don't apologize, double down. Guys, I have to leave it there. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it, Ron Brownstein, MJ Lee, and Errol Louis.

Coming up next, I can only describe this as one of the most disturbing police photos I've ever seen and maybe you'll feel the same way.

Two adults in a car, passed out, strung out, on heroin and it's even more shocking when you realize that in the backseat is a car seat with a toddler in it. Fully awake, wondering, what's going on?

The upsetting image and what it says about America's heroin epidemic and maybe more importantly, why the police said we are so not sorry for releasing that picture.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:48:45] BANFIELD: A fair warning here. You're about to see upsetting photographs. Two adults who are passed out in a car with a child seat in the back, and in that child seat, a child.

These photographs were posted on the city of East Liverpool, Ohio's Facebook page and the purpose was to drive home the devastating effects of heroin addiction on people, communities and children.

Look at that. That is driver James Acord, unconscious behind the wheel. Slumped beside him in the passenger seat, Rhonda Pasek and in the back seat a 4-year-old boy strapped into his car seat. We've blurred his face.

Police say that James Acord was weaving erratically between lanes. This happened Wednesday, right behind a school bus. During the traffic stop, James ended up like that, passed out, right in front of the police.

Ohio is dealing with this. Not just these two people. They are battling a drug epidemic there. Authorities have reported at least 24 heroin overdoses in Akron, Friday night, just Friday.

Dr. Drew Pinsky, the host of HLN's "Dr. Drew," he joins me now on the phone. It is hard to look at those pictures, Drew, but in a sense, is that just the medicine everyone needs?

[12:50:04] DR. DREW PINSKY, HOST, HLN'S "DR. DREW": Well, yeah. I mean, listen, Ashleigh, that -- the data you quoted was just for one city in one state. This epidemic is throughout the United States and when we quote these spectacular data of the prevalence of the opioid addiction, this is what it looks like what. This is what we're talking about. This is what those numbers represent.

What's more shocking to me than these pictures is that people are shocked by these pictures. This is business as usual for an opioid addicts and it's interesting even in the post the police brought up, they said, "We just thought you needed to know and see what we see all day, every day." This is what the numbers are in real life. Every number you see represented in the opioid epidemic in this country looks like this couple.

BANFIELD: So, Drew, hold on for a moment because the Attorney General of that state, Mike DeWine is kind enough to join me now live from Columbus.

Mr. Attorney General, thank you for being with me. I'm very sorry to show the pictures in your state.

MIKE DEWINE, OHIO ATTORNEY GENERAL: Thank you.

BANFIELD: I am sure that you probably feel much like the city that posted those pictures that this is exactly what people need to see in order to see how awful it is. But I wonder if you think we are we past the shock and that sadly we falling into some kind of national malaise about this? DEWINE: Well, you know, if we had eight people in Ohio killed every single day in a terrorist attack, or just one day, you know, we would be up in arms and we would be concerned about it.

So I think you're right. There is sort of acceptance of these deaths. But, what we're seeing in Ohio and in many states, I know, is that this is penetrating every single group. You know, there's no economic group that is free of this, this problem. Race, sex, age, it's unlike any epidemic I've ever seen, because it's everywhere.

It's more likely to be in rural areas than in this in our cities, and also more likely, frankly, to be in our suburbs than it is anywhere else. And the battle we fight is, first to get people to recognize wherever you live, you have, in your community, a heroin/opioid problem. The second thing we have to do is really have a grassroots effort.

What I've seen in Ohio and what I've been encouraging is for communities to hold town hall meetings. We're doing one tonight for example in Bexley right here in Franklin County where we try to bring people together to, number one, recognize that we have a problem. But number two, say, look, we're not going to put up with this in our community anymore.

We've had a real change in culture. Back when I was a County Prosecuting Attorney, in the late 1970s, heroin was something that was only with a few drug addicts. It was not prevalent. You would not find it in rural areas. You would not find it in the suburbs. Today, it's everywhere.

BANFIELD: Mr. Attorney General, thank you for your time. I have to leave it there. This could end up being a national election issue as well. Thank you, Sir, and thank you to Drew Pinsky.

I want to go right away to Baltimore, to the convention center where one of the candidates for that election is speaking live. Let's listen in.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ...endorsements, I can tell you. My special gratitude to General Ashenhurst and General Hargett and to each and every one of you, thank you very much. Thank you, guys.

The National Guard of the United States has defended this nation at war, kept our citizens safe at home and rushed into danger wherever it has threatened our people. Our debt to you is eternal.

Yesterday was the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The National Guard was sent to assist in the aid and recovery, and these are serious, serious bad days for our country. The recovery efforts at ground zero in New York City, and I was there, and I know what you went through.

Since 9/11, there have been 780,000 members of the National Guard deployed overseas, including those with multiple deployments. Right now 10,000 members of the National Guard are in Iraq, Afghanistan and many other countries all across the world and doing an believable job.

Members of the National Guard come from all walks of life. Work it every kind of job imaginable, and juggle 1,000 different challenges as they raise their kids, serve their states and answer the call of duty for their country. I am given the honor to serve as your president, which I think will happen, but we're going to soon find out. We hope.

[12:55:04] And if it does happen, I will pledge to give you the resources, the equipment, and the support you need and deserve, and that you're not getting. You will have a true and loyal friend in the White House, whether you vote for me or whether you vote for someone else, I will be your greatest champion. I will not let you down.

I am running to be a president for all Americans, and I've been especially humbled to have the support of so many of our men and women in uniform. All Americans, you know what I mean.

All across this country I've met so many incredible members of both our military and law enforcement community. There's nothing I've enjoyed more than the time I've spent with our service members, police officers, and also our firefighters and paramedics. These are incredible people. They embody the goodness and decency of our country.

I was thus deeply shocked and alarmed this Friday to hear my opponent attack, slander, smear, demean these wonderful, amazing people who are supporting our campaign, by the millions. Our support comes from every part of America, and every walk of life.

We have the support of cops and soldiers, carpenters and welders, the young and the old, and millions of working-class families who just want a better future and a good job. These were the people Hillary Clinton so viciously demonized. These were among the countless Americans that Hillary Clinton called deplorable, irredeemable and un- American. Nobody's heard anything like this.

She called these patriotic men and women every vile name in the book. She called them racist, sexist, xenophobic, Islamophobic. She called half of our supporters a basket of deplorable in both a speech and an interview.

She divides people into baskets as though they were objects, not human beings. Hillary Clinton made these comments at one of her high-dollar fund-raisers on "Wall Street." She and her wealthy donors all had a good laugh. You heard them. They were all laughing. Good, good, solid laugh. They were laughing at the very people who pave the roads. I mean, and these are the roads that she with all of her security drives on.

Paint the building she speaks in and importantly all of the other functions. I mean, if you think all functions in life, including this auditorium and its maintenance, Hillary Clinton is an insider supported by powerful insiders, attacking Americans who have absolutely no political power.

Hillary Clinton spoke with hatred and derision for the people who make this country run. She spoke with contempt for the people who thanklessly follow the rules, pay their taxes and scratch out a living for their family, a hard-earned living, too.

While Hillary Clinton lives a sequestered life behind gates and walls and guards, she mocks and demeans hard-working Americans who only want their own families to enjoy a fraction of the security enjoyed by our politicians.

After months of hiding from the press, Hillary Clinton has revealed her true thoughts. That was her true thoughts. She revealed herself to be a person who looks down on the proud citizens of our country as subjects for her rule. She views it as her rule. Her comments displayed the same sense of arrogance and entitlement that led to violation of federal law as secretary ...