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Trump Sees Slump In Some Post-Debate Polls; Machado States Trump Insists On Discrediting Women; Trump Foundation Not Cleared For Donations; Clinton Campaign Courting Millennials; Investigators Hoping To Interview Hoboken Train Engineer. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired September 30, 2016 - 13:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

We start with the U.S. presidential election. There are just under 39 days to go until Election Day, and, today, Donald Trump is focusing his attention on Michigan. He has a campaign event there this afternoon and just moments ago he paid a visit to the Gerald Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, stopping in the replica of the Oval Office, stopping in there.

For Hillary Clinton, the day is devoted to Florida, another important swing state. She just wrapped up a campaign event in Fort Pierce where she called for a greater commitment to service and organizations like the Peace Corps.

We're also counting down to the next debate in the presidential race. In four days, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, they face off in the one and only vice presidential debate.

In the days since the first presidential debate, Donald Trump has spent a good amount of time defending past statements about a former Miss Universe. And overnight, he took to Twitter to keep up his attacks on her and Hillary Clinton.

Our Political Director David Chalian is joining us right now from New York. David, the issue first came up at the debate. Hillary Clinton brought up Alicia Machado's name. Talked about names that Donald Trump had called her, like miss piggy. But now, Trump, himself, is fanning the flames. What's the latest?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: He is, indeed, Wolf. He just can't seem to resist engaging in this battle, sort of stepping into the trap that Hillary Clinton laid for him at the debate. Take a look at his 2:00 a.m. tweet storm this morning. This was overnight, in middle of night. Here's what Donald Trump was tweeting at 2:00 in the morning. First, wow. Crooked Hillary was duped and used by my first Miss U. Hillary floated her as an angel without checking her past which is terrible.

That was followed by this tweet. Using Alicia M. in the debate as a paragon of virtue just shows that crooked Hillary suffers from bad judgment. Hillary was set up by a con. And then this one. Did crooked Hillary help disgusting check out sex tape and past Alicia M. become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate?

So, Wolf, clearly, Donald Trump not wanting to let this perceived slight, the fact that a former Miss Universe now is going after him in part of the campaign. He's not letting that go by.

And Hillary Clinton is noticing. She had her own tweet storm in response to Donald Trump this morning before she took the stage in Florida. Take a look at what she said. She said, this is unhinged even for Trump. A few notes. That was followed by the next couple of tweets. What kind of man stays up all to smear a woman with lies and conspiracy theories? And then, finally, from Hillary Clinton. When something gets under Donald's thin skin, he lashes out and can't let go. This is dangerous for a president, Clinton says.

BLITZER: Yes, David, it's also fascinating. All of this Twitter war going on as some new polls are coming out in key swing states. Polls, scientific polls, taken after that first presidential debate.

CHALIAN: That is right, Wolf. It's almost universally good news for Hillary Clinton in some of these really critical states. Take a look here in Florida, where Hillary Clinton is today. There's a new Mason Dixon poll out, and it shows she has a four-point lead, 46 percent to 42 percent, Gary Johnson down at seven percent.

In New Hampshire, the four electoral votes there. There's a new WBUR poll. Again, seven pints there, 42 percent to Trump's 35 percent to Johnson's 13 percent.

And finally in Nevada where Donald Trump had been leading or tied. Take a look at this. Hillary Clinton now, in a New Suffolk University poll there, has 44 percent, a six-point lead over Donald Trump's 38 percent. Gary Johnson down at seven percent.

Wolf, Florida and Nevada, those two states, we have as real remaining true battlegrounds. And right now, these two polls today showing Hillary Clinton with a slight edge there. If they were to fall into her camp, there would absolutely no path for Donald Trump to win the White House.

BLITZER: Yes, I'm sure she's encouraged by these numbers. As we all know, poll numbers go up and they go down. Right now, they're going up for Hillary Clinton.

Thanks very much, David Chalian.

Let's get some reaction now from the Trump campaign. Joining us, the former Georgia Congressman Jack Kingston. He's a senior adviser to the Donald Trump campaign. Congressman, thanks very much for joining us.

JACK KINGSTON, SENIOR ADVISOR, TRUMP CAMPAIGN: It's good to be with you, Wolf. BLITZER: All right. So, let me get your reaction. I know Donald

Trump closely follows these poll numbers. He must be pretty upset today looking at three key battleground states and Hillary Clinton's numbers going up, his numbers going down.

KINGSTON: Well, I think what we know is that this is a jump ball and it's going to go back and forth for the next 30 days. And we were prepared for it.

[13:05:00] Keep in mind, there are states like Michigan, like Pennsylvania, like Virginia and Colorado which we were told it's all over. There's no pathway there. And yet, in each of those four states, we're very, very competitive.

And I think that you're going to just see these polls slide everywhere, because it's interesting when you think about who hasn't made up their mind about this election by now? And yet, there's still people out there who are undecided.

But one of the polls we watched carefully is right track, wrong track. And that number is still as high as 70 percent. And for people who want change, people who want the sluggish economy to end and reduce their tax burden and regulation, they're going to break for Donald Trump. Because they know Hillary Clinton has had 30 years to do these great and wonderful things she's promising to do and she hasn't done it. She hasn't even been part of the solution.

So, we still feel that we're very optimistic. And it's going to be very, very competitive. We're going to see slippage back and forth but we feel good about Florida, today in Michigan, and yesterday in New Hampshire. We had huge numbers.

Our rallies consistently are larger than Hillary's. The excitement factor is for us. And she's getting propped up by everybody in the Democratic establishment. We understand that. It's not a bad move.

But the reality is, America knows Hillary Clinton. And I don't see a lot of things breaking in her way.

BLITZER: But remember, Bernie Sanders had bigger rallies than Hillary Clinton did, yet he lost that Democratic nomination.

Let's talk about the real uproar that has developed. Alicia Machado, the Miss Universe, she released a statement this morning on Instagram. Let me read it to you. The Republican candidate and his campaign team are again generating attacks, insults and trying to bring back slanders and false accusations about my life. All of these in order to intimidate me, humiliate me and destabilize me once more. Through his hate campaign, the Republican candidate insists on discrediting and demoralizing a woman which is definitely one of his most terrifying traits.

Why is he continuing to bring up this whole issue of Alicia Machado? What -- why does he think it's necessary, four, five days after the debate to be tweeting in the middle of the night about her? KINGSTON: Well, I think what happened is Hillary Clinton kicked up that sand hill the other day, or that ant hill if you will. And then, Donald Trump, as you know, he reacts. But he's reacting on Twitter, which is totally different than what he is saying on the campaign trail. Well, he's on the campaign trail and he's --

BLITZER: It's not -- let me interrupt, Congressman. What's the difference if he makes a public statement on Twitter or he makes a public statement at a rally or in response to a reporter's questions? These are all public statements by the Republican nominee for president of the United States. Should a president, a presidential nominee, be tweeting or making any public statements about a sex tape that apparently doesn't even exist, involving a former Miss Universe?

KINGSTON: Well, as you know, Wolf, when Donald Trump gets pushed, he pushes back. And I think in this situation, the Clinton folks have a lot of treatment of women in the past that if Hillary Clinton wants to go there, then I think that it's only natural that the Trump campaign's going to go there as well.

BLITZER: But let me interrupt once again, Congressman, because you've been in politics for a long time. There are aides that he has, supporters that he has, supports he has that can certainly go ahead and make these kinds of statements. But is it, quote, "presidential," for the nominee, himself, to be making these kinds of accusations?

KINGSTON: Well, I think that what's going to happen, you'll see it more and more in the next few days, just as you did yesterday in New Hampshire, is he's going to talk about taxes, the economy. He's going to talk about NAFTA. He's going to talk about crime in Chicago. And I think this thing is going to die down, unless the Clinton campaign keeps it up. And we cannot compete with them when it comes to the sleaze factor.

But, you know, when you're a private citizen and somebody attacks you, and this was a total setup, then your reaction is to push back which is what has happened.

But, again, when it comes to the substance of his message, what you're seeing on the campaign trail is, let's improve this economy. Let's make America great again with better trade deals, with stronger national security. Let' re-do NAFTA and that's what he still is spending most of his time about.

BLITZER: Well, and you -- and you make a fair -- you make a fair point. When he talks about those kinds of issues, he does seem more presidential and his numbers clearly go up. When reading a script from a teleprompter, very disciplined, speaking about policy issues. But when he tweets in the middle of night about Miss Universe, whom he called miss piggy and all that kind of stuff. That certainly doesn't help him. I assume you agree.

KINGSTON: Well, I think there has been some outrage because -- and I don't know Ms. Machado, but I've seen many of the interviews with her. She's not a very credible witness, you might say. And so, I think it's far more important for us to be talking about jobs, and trade deals, and national security, and the Clinton foundation which was not even brought up during the debate the other night. And I think all of those issues are something that's relevant to the people.

[13:10:07] I think, for example, talking about five people in the Clinton staff who now have immunity from the FBI, it almost seems like the FBI is --

BLITZER: I think you -- I -- that's a -- those are all fair points. Donald Trump had an opportunity in that 95-minute debate to go ahead and raise those issues. He didn't. He was focusing in on other issues. And a lot of his aides, at least privately, say he missed some good opportunities to go after Hillary Clinton and score some points.

Let me -- we're almost out of time but a quick question on the New York state attorney general's office saying the Trump foundation may not necessarily have filed the right certification as a charity in New York state to actually solicit donations, coupling that with the tax issue, his refusal to release tax returns. Does it make Donald Trump seem like he doesn't play necessarily by the same rules that the rest of us do?

KINGSTON: You know, the Trump Foundation has done a lot of good for a lot of people. The New York attorney general is a partisan. He's a donor to Hillary Clinton. She has referred to him as one of her main supporters. And he is using New York tax dollars to go after Donald Trump and inject in this political race. And I think that's abuse of office.

He certainly had no problem with the Clinton Foundation not disclosing who their donors were. He let them slide on that. So, I think, in terms of where that's coming from, if other attorneys' generals were jumping in on some of these issues which he claims is an issue, there might be a pattern there. But the reality is this guy is a Clinton shill and everybody knows that.

BLITZER: But do you know if the Clinton found -- if the Trump Foundation did file the right papers, the certification papers, in order to solicit donations?

KINGSTON: Wolf, I believe that they have complied by the New York laws. And it seems very odd that, suddenly, the New York attorney general who has been in office for a while, suddenly decides that this is something that was overlooked. The Trump Foundation plays by the rules. They have self-reported when they've made mistakes. They've done a lot of good for a lot of people.

But, again, this is the same attorney general who doesn't even worry when the Clinton Foundation doesn't file all the -- all of their disclosures. And so, you know, unfortunately, somebody like that who's a partisan can use tax resource -- taxpayer resources to get involved in politics. And I think it's a sad thing. I think it's abuse of office. BLITZER: All right. Well, let's see if that proper certification was

filed. We'll continue to check that.

Jack Kingston, thanks, as usual, for joining us.

KINGSTON: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Up next, the Clinton camp courting millennials. Our own Dana Bash shows us what the Democratic presidential candidate is doing to try to win over the young supporters who backed her former rival, Senator Bernie Sanders.

And investigators are hoping to speak soon with the engineer of that passenger train in Hoboken, New Jersey that crashed into a platform, killing a woman and injuring more than a hundred people. We'll have an update on what they're learning right now. That's coming up.

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[13:16:45] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hillary Clinton is fighting for a critical segment of voters that she's struggled with in the primary against Bernie Sanders, millennials. Her campaign is out in full force trying to win over these young voters. Our chief political correspondent Dana Bash has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a volunteer with Hillary from North Carolina here in Pitt (ph) County.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At field offices and 280 college campuses, millennials work the phones for Hillary Clinton.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was wondering if you'd like to come out and do some voter registration or a phone bank with us this weekend.

BASH: Young voters fueled President Obama's wins. He got 60 percent of 18 to 29-year-olds in 2012. A demo that was nearly 20 percent of the vote, and now could be growing

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Young people could represent 25 percent of the vote.

BASH: Team Clinton is putting such a premium on millennials, they hired youth directors in key battleground states. Lillie Catlin runs North Carolina and says social media is key.

LILLIE CATLIN, NC YOUTH VOTE DIRECTOR, CLINTON CAMPAIGN: You know, we can't necessarily knock on every dorm, or students vote every - move every year. And so it's, you know, having those kinds of conversations, but through our text lists or through Twitter.

BASH: Still, polls show Clinton is under performing with millennials, so the campaign is deploying high profile surrogates. Bernie Sanders is lobbying his army of young supporters.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is imperative that we elect Hillary Clinton as our next president.

BASH: Chelsea Clinton is hopscotching college towns.

BASH (on camera): Why has it been so hard for your mom to do that, to get people your age to get behind her?

CHELSEA CLINTON, HILLARY CLINTON'S DAUGHTER: Well, Dana, thank you for including me in the millennial demographic. I'm just at the older end.

If we think about the younger millennials, we think only about 55 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds were even registered to vote at the beginning of 2016. So that says to me, we just need to be doing a better job collectively on making the case of what's at stake in this election.

BASH (voice-over): At East Carolina University in North Carolina, we heard why it's been so hard.

BASH (on camera): What is your experience in getting your friends on the Hillary Clinton train?

ANNIKEN WILLIAMS, VICE PRESIDENT OF COLLEGE DEMOCRATS OF NC: Well, it's been pretty difficult, especially because a lot of young people, especially at ECU, were for Bernie Sanders.

BASH (voice-over): One Sanders supporter challenged Chelsea directly, saying the primary was rigged for Clinton.

ZACHARY PATE, STUDENT, EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY: What moral ground does Hillary Clinton have to stand on to continue running as the Democratic nominee?

C. CLINTON: I would hope, as someone who clearly is a passionate supporter of Senator Sanders, that you'll listen to him directly and not rely on me to make the case.

BASH: He really came to protest and walked out holding a sign for Green Party Candidate Jill Stein.

BASH (on camera): You don't really think Jill Stein can win, do you?

PATE: I think that we're going to establish party power and relevance for the Green Party by doing what we're doing.

BASH (voice-over): Losing millennials to third party candidates is a dire concern for Clinton.

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: If you vote for someone other than Hillary, or if you don't vote at all, then you are helping to elect Hillary's opponent.

BASH: For some, that's working. Erick Jenkins was a Sanders delegate who told us Clinton's college affordability plan convinced him. ERICK JENKINS, STUDENT, EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY: Leveling out the

cuts in colleges and states and also making the federal government match it fourfold.

[13:20:00] BASH: But stroll through campus, it's clear Clinton has work to do.

BASH (on camera): Who are you going to vote for?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jill Stein.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hillary Clinton.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm undecided.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And our chief political correspondent, Dana Bash, is here with us, along with CNN politics reporter Eugene Scott and CNN political analyst, the author of "How's Your Faith," David Gregory.

So, Dana, a new poll out from Bloomberg, asked voters under 35, millennials, if you will, Clinton has 40 percent of the vote, Trump, 36 percent, Libertarian Candidate Gary Johnson, 11 percent. What do you make of those numbers?

BASH: That is exactly why the Clinton campaign is working so hard specifically to target these millennial where I was in North Carolina other states with high percentages of young voters, Colorado, Pennsylvania and others, because they're not just worried that they will, you know, not get registered and so forth. They're worried that these voters are actively going to go to the polls with what they consider a protest vote, which is Gary Johnson. And so some of the students I spoke to down there are actually talking to their friends over and over trying to convince them the kind of thing we heard from Hillary Clinton on her plane yesterday, that a vote for Gary Johnson or Jill Stein is throwing away your vote.

BLITZER: As a vote for Trump, they say -

BASH: Right.

BLITZER: They say as well.

Eugene, a Pew study, and you've done a lot of work with millennials, say that millennials right now are the most Democratic, political Democratic, capital d, of any generation. Slightly more than half, 51 percent, of them identify at Democrats or lean Democratic. In all your reporting out there, why is she having so much trouble getting their support?

EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Well, I think a lot of people in the millennial generation were originally with Bernie Sanders. And Bernie Sanders was very effective in communicating why they should not support Hillary Clinton. And so now she's in a position where she's having to respond to all of those attacks. I think what's really helpful for her in the situation is now Bernie Sanders is saying that the candidate that's presently running that is most in alignment with my values is Hillary Clinton. And he's hoping that those people who were onboard with him originally will come over to her.

BLITZER: It could be a huge asset if he actually goes out there and does a lot of work for her.

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Wolf, I am a millennial, and -

BLITZER: You were one.

GREGORY: I was. It's been a long time.

BASH: You were around during the switch.

GREGORY: I can see the millennials.

BLITZER: Yes.

GREGORY: I think what's really important is that because the negatives are so high, and I'm teaching a course this fall actually up at Tufts University where I'm dealing with a lot of young people on the election and - and the media. And it's so interesting, the trust deficit in big institutions, including in politics and in government. And so I don't think that there is an overwhelming feeling that they have to be engaged, that they have to be involved.

Unlike 2008, when a lot of young people felt that there was - this was a singular moment in Barack Obama's candidacy, they don't feel it about Hillary Clinton. And I do think there's a lot of condescending to these people, like to younger people. Even Michelle Obama saying, look, if you do this, if you vote for anybody besides Hillary Clinton, you're throwing your vote away. I don't think anyone likes to feel that way. She's got to find her own pitch to voters to say, look, you've got to get involved. You have to be with me. And here are some of the reasons why, even if you, you know, don't think I'm perfect. Because getting them engaged and to want to be part of the process is something that I think is harder this year than it was say in 2008.

BLITZER: But, Eugene, you've spoken to a lot of these millennials. How will they feel? Let's say it's a close election and they vote, let's say, for Jill Stein or Gary Johnson and in the process help Donald Trump win the election, because the argument is, if you don't vote for Hillary Clinton, you're going to help Donald Trump. Do they want Donald Trump to be president of the United States?

SCOTT: Well, no. The millennials overwhelmingly who are supporting one of the two major party candidates are supporting Hillary Clinton, but they don't think if Donald Trump wins that it will be their fault. They thinks it will be the fault of Hillary Clinton not reaching out to them and addressing the issues that they think are most important.

I think one thing that's really interesting, we're seeing Gary Johnson do really well with some millennial voters. I'm wondering, if the Clinton campaign is going to start being more aggressive and attacking the Johnson candidacy, hoping to attract millennial voters to her.

BASH: And one - and one thing that I found in talking to a lot of these voters on the - the campus at ECU was those who were Bernie Sanders supporters and are still not on the Clinton train, is that Sanders, during the primary, said, don't let anybody tell you who to vote for. That is something that I heard repeated back to me when I said the - I posed what you did, which is, Bernie Sanders is out there this week with Clinton in New Hampshire saying, please, vote for - vote for Clinton. And the response by these people who are not yet on board with Clinton is, he told us not to listen to people like that, even him.

BLITZER: Next Tuesday night, the vice presidential debate. One and only vice presidential debate. Pence and Kaine. You know, there's going to be a lot of interest in that, but certainly not at much interest as a presidential debate, but it could be important.

GREGORY: It's always important. Look, these are - we have to remember that these are people who have to be qualified to be president in the voters' eyes, and that's an important part of voting for the ticket. I think you - you'll have two professional politicians who know the issues pretty well.

[13:25:02] I think, in the case of Mike Pence, what's going to be striking is to see to what extent he twists himself in knots trying to stay onboard with the top of the ticket. And I think he's compromised himself a number of ways in trying to defend Donald Trump. And it's such a strange fit. And I think that's - that's what I'll be looking for, to see to what extent he's going to stand by him.

BLITZER: And, Dana, Mike Pence is doing what his boss, Donald Trump, apparently didn't' do, he's rehearsing and practicing.

BASH: Exactly.

BLITZER: For weeks and weeks he's been gearing up for this debate.

BASH: He's got a stand-in for Tim Kaine, the governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, and has been working for a long time. I talked to him about this when I saw him at the Reagan Library a few weeks ago in California and he said, I feel so much - he said, frankly, pressure to do well. I mean he said it's because he's doing it for Donald Trump and he feels the need to contribute and not hurt the cause.

But I totally agree with you, David, they have so many differences on policy issues. It's going to be interesting to see if he answers the question of - on whatever policy issue it is, based on his own views or what Donald Trump's views are.

GREGORY: A lot of people will come away - I remember Cheney-Lieberman back in 2000.

BASH: Yes.

GREGORY: A lot of people saying, whoa, these guys should be running for president. I do think these two, who know a lot, who have a lot of experience, I think will leave a lot of people with positive impressions. But the wildcard is the distance from Trump (INAUDIBLE).

BLITZER: Yes, I assume it will be very policy oriented between these two politicians.

GREGORY: Yes.

BLITZER: These vice presidential candidates.

Guys, thanks very, very much.

Coming up, NTSB investigators in New Jersey hit a road block. They're having trouble downloading critic data from the event recorder of that passenger train that crashed yesterday. What that means ns for the investigation. The latest information we're getting, right after this.

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