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Trump's New York Times Interview Examined; Latest Polling Discussed; Trump Had Faulty Mike at Debate; Outrage over Wells Fargo Fake Acocounts Continues; Show

Aired October 01, 2016 - 11:00   ET

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


[11:00:04] CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely. And thank you for sharing your time with us this morning. We are always grateful.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: So much more ahead in the next hour of Newsroom. We are turning it over to our colleague Fredricka Whitfield just a few feet away.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thank you so much it's been a while since been just ...

BLACKWELL: In the studio together.

WHITFIELD: Were 10 feet of each other.

BLACKWELL: Yeah.

WHITFIELD: Yeah. Its good to see you.

PAUL: You too.

BLACKWELL: Likewise.

WHITFIELD: Good to be in the same with you.

PAUL: Have great afternoon.

WHITFIELD: All right, you'll have a great day. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

All right. It is 11:00 on the East Coast. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. "Newsroom" starts right now.

All right, Donald Trump ramping up his attacks on Hillary Clinton. Threatening to focus on her husband's sex scandals heading into the next debate. Previewing his future attack lines. Trump told the New York Times "She's nasty, but I can be nastier than she ever can be." This as Republican leaders urges Trump to get back on message after his widely panned debate performance and after a late night or shall we say early morning. Twitter rampage where he ripped into the media and a former miss universe. For more on this, I'm joined now by CNN's Chris Frates. So Chris, Trumps latest comments are coming to wide ranging interview with the Times. Is this simply a prelude to what's to come in the next presidential debate? What do we now just eight days away?

CHRIS FATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right Fred. Well, I think, you know, it's also Trump just trying to get back on offense here, right? He had a really bad week this week. Remember he had his widely panned debate performance. Allegations that he called a former miss universe miss piggy after she gained some weight. And Trump has been dogged by these bad headlines and really on the defensive all week long.

In this New York Times interview, yesterday Trump really did go on the attack. He called Clinton nasty, but he said he can be nastier. He also seemed to be rethinking his support of Clinton, should she end up winning the White House in November. Remember at the debate on Monday, he said he would absolutely support her.

Now he saying "We're going to have to wait and see how this election plays out." And Trump is also back on the attack hitting Clinton for what he says was her role in her husband's sex scandals. Here's what he told in New York Times. I want to pull up this quote he said "Hillary Clinton was married to the single greatest abuser of women in the history of politics. Hillary was an enabler, and she attacked the women who Bill Clinton mistreated afterward. I think it's a serious problem for them and it's something that I'm considering talking about more in the near future."

Now this is not the first time we've hear Trump use this line of attack. He used it last December after Hillary Clinton called him a sexist. But, you know, its effectiveness has really being questioned whenever he's used it. Especially says it could alienate some women. He's going for -- the women vote. He's trying to do that. This could alienate those folks.

So, you know, after this bad week, we'll see if he can kind of reverse some of these poll numbers that are going in the wrong direction.

Fred, also important to point here that Donald Trump himself has been asked. What about your indiscretions? You know certainly he had in a one of the biggest affair in tabloid history when ended up being with Marla Maples during his marriage with the Ivana. And he said why don't talk about that. I don't talk about that but Bill Clinton was president and that was a big problem.

So also, you know, kind of opens himself up there for attack on this they are trying to use against the Clintons. Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Chris Frates, thank you so much. We shall see. So let's talk more about this with CNN Presidential Historian Tim Naftali and Errol Louis, a CNN Political Commentator. Good to see both of you gentlemen.

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Pleasure. WHITFIELD: All right, so Tim you first. In addition to policy stance voters measure a candidate on charisma. So if Donald Trump does indeed get nastier during this debate, smart political move?

NAFTALI: No, not a smart political move at all.

WHITFIELD: Wouldn't he know that and wouldn't people around him know that? So then, why move forward in that direction potentially?

NAFTALI: Fred, well, OK. Fredricka, we don't know. We're not next to him. But I can't imagine any political operative, any professional political in this country suggesting to their candidate that the candidate tweet in the middle of the night. So, clearly Donald Trump does things that his advisers don't want him to do.

WHITFIELD: Yeah.

NAFTALI: His problem is not charisma. He's charismatic. He knows it. People know it. His problem is he has to do something that most politicals don't have to do. He has to prove that his competent as a political leader. That means actually being more restrained, a little bit more boring actually than he would normally be. That's his challenge. Hillary Clinton is the opposite. She's been demonstrating a better sense of humor and more charisma.

His is, is to actually look restrained in presidential, which means, that you can have fun, you can go over board in case but you know when pushes comes to shove, you're serious. He hasn't proven that. So, going nastier I think is a tremendous error on his part. We'll be back in mid-October -- I mean Mid-August when he attacked the Gold Star family. His got-- his number is going to go back to what they were assumed in August if he starts going nasty.

[11:05:07] WHITFIELD: Yeah. So Errol, not of us are next to him. But his staying out in the open to the New York Times that he is likely to get nastier because he's capable of such. If his advisers are telling him don't do this. I mean, he essentially, you know, showing the cards and saying this is what he's going to deal with and deal to Hillary Clinton come eight days from now with that debate.

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That's right. That's the competitive side of Donald Trump. We've seen it in his business life. He's talked about it in his books. We've seen it in his political life during the primary season in particular. If you hit him, he says he will hit you back harder. And it's a credo that he really lives by. And it doesn't really matter to him as far as I can tell in his public life what the consequences will be. That is part of his persona. That is part of what brought him a lot of success in the primary process and certainly in his business life.

So, I wouldn't expect him to necessarily change at age 70 with six weeks to go before the biggest day of his life. But-- yeah, I think Tim is exactly right. It's got to be especially frustrating to his aides because there's so much early voting going on, Fredricka that, you know, every day is Election Day. This is not something that's going to building up to some big climax in many, many states. There are people who are voting right now.

And so, if he loses a new cycle or he has a bad week, that's the way we talk about it. But the reality is he's losing lots of votes every time there is a bad new cycle or a bad week.

WHITFIELD: So Tim, how might you expect that Hillary Clinton and her team are preparing for this potential onslaught knowing that Donald Trump comes with, you know, his own baggage in terms of infidelities. And then here he is potentially going to bring up Bill Clinton's infidelities. Is it your guess that her advisers will say stay away or, you know, no, indeed you need to respond to this?

NAFTALI: Well, you know, it's a phenomenal that's a great question. And I can imagine that Bill Clinton would love to say something. I suspect that what she'll be counselled and I think she knows this already is that the more restraint she shows the better.

Remember, what we're seeing here is something quite remarkable. We're seeing a man of a certain generation attacking a woman because her husband was unfaithful to her. I mean, the optics are horrible.

WHITFIELD: Yeah.

NAFTALI: I mean so she -- this makes her and she was the victim. And so I would suspect that her advisers are reinforcing her own preference of just staying quiet and letting Donald Trump make a fool of himself.

WHITFIELD: And then Tim, there is the back drop, potentially. There's 2,000 adult video for "Playboy." And here we have seen this clip with Donald Trump in it. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It means beauty and let's see what happens (inaudible).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So it's called an adult video. You know, you're not going to see anymore than that as far as we understand with Donald Trump in it with the champagne et cetera and the whole "Playboy" image, Errol. But and, you know, it makes everybody kind of squirm. But this is where we are in the presidential race. This is the kind of stuff that is now in the forefront of polity.

LOUIS: It's sleazy.

WHITFIELD: Yeah.

LOUIS: It's cheesy and sleazy. And even "Playboy" doesn't do centerfolds anymore. So, you know, everybody has kind of moved on. Hugh Hefner is trying to sell the "Playboy" mansion and so forth. So, you know, I don't know that it affects Donald Trump other than that this core question that he still has not manage to answer. The poll shows there are lot of people who don't think that he has the temperament or the qualifications to be a decent president. This does not help him look more presidential.

WHITFIELD: And then there was a response to that video. A statement coming from the Clinton camp saying this if we can put that up on the screen. "There's been a lot of talk about sex tapes today and in a strange turn of events, only one adult film has emerged today and its star is Donald J. Trump."

And so while talk about, you know, smart strategy in the realm of Donald Trump, one has to wonder is it even smart for Hillary Clinton's camp or Hillary Clinton to respond it all to keep all of this alive? To you, quickly and then Errol, you quickly.

NAFTALI: No, no. Let Donald Trump sink Donald Trump.

WHITFIELD: All right Errol.

LOUIS: Yes, if they make him back into a reality star, as people like him as a reality star. It's not clear that they like him as president. It really hurts him.

WHITFIED: All right, stay with us. There's much more to talk about. The hits keep coming. There is so much material out there. Tim and Errol, I appreciate it.

Straight ahead, redemption for Trump? The debate commission says his mike was defective.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[11:10:07] TRUMP: I mean working that microphone was a hell a lot more difficult that working crooked Hillary Clinton. That I can tell you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. We're going to have so much more straight ahead in the Newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, live pictures right now. You're looking at Longwood University in Virginia, where in just three days. The first vice presidential debate will take place. This Tuesday night Hillary Clinton's running mate Senator Tim Kaine and Donald Trump's running mate Governor Mike Pence will face-off. Be sure to watch the vice presidential debate Tuesday night. CNN's coverage starts at 4:00 p.m. eastern time.

All right, meanwhile, we're learning that Donald Trump's mike, his microphones, was defective during Mondays face-off with Clinton. The presidential debate commission admitted that yesterday the issues were at hand with the microphone. It affected the sound in the debate hall. Trump told "the New York Times" that he got distracted by that saying "I spent 50 percent of my thought process working the mike. How can I stop the show if I had 100 million people watching."

Trump spoke about this in Michigan last night. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It was just announced by the commission that holds the debate that Donald Trump's microphone was defective as I have been saying. I mean working that microphone was a hell of a lot more difficult than working crooked Hillary Clinton. That I can tell you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, CNN's Senior Political correspondent Brianna Keilar is live from us now from Washington. So how was it that the mike a distraction from him? We're not talking about an ear piece but the mike.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's unclear. And at first and some people are wondering if it is. I should say that. But I want to first say that when you're talking about a debate at this level, everything should be working the way it should.

[11:15:03] So what were understanding from some people is that, it was harder to hear Donald Trump inside of debate hall than Hillary Clinton at times. The question is would that really have even been something that Donald Trump would have notice?

We talked to our producers who were there in the debate hall, Fred, who are even at the back of the debate hall in up pretty and they said, you know what, we could hear Donald Trump. But at the same time, the issue was for the crowed inside. Were they able to hear Donald as well as they should have? Of course, they should have been able to.

So, you hear the debate commission saying that there was an issue. And that is certainly a failure on their part. But what about the people watching. The millions and tens of millions of people watching on TV? I mean, it was very clear that there were no issues for them.

So, the outstanding question here is how would Donald Trump really have even known if there was this audio issue inside the debate hall? How would that have been really a distraction for him? Or was that someone later saying "Hey, you know what, couldn't hear you as well as I would have like to inside the debate hall.

But I think if you look at the polls. He did poorly. People thought 2- 1 they thought Hillary Clinton won this debate. And we are also seeing some of these other language about where he's trying to kind of explain what happened or insisting that he did. But first he just insisted that he did really well. And now he's seems to be making a bit of an excuse.

WHITFIELD: OK. So we heard from Donald Trump last night and his response to this admission from the commission. When is Hillary Clinton and her camp saying?

KEILAR: Well, I think Hillary Clinton had said the day after the debate anyone who's complaining about a microphone that isn't working is having a bad day. So, I think they feel like this is him trying to pivot away from that. But, you know, certainly for folks who were following Donald Trump, they're going to believe him, you know, and so they think that it sort of feeds into his idea that this is rigged. But the Clinton campaign, Fred, is really responding to the tweets that Donald Trump sent out the night before last. The first one about 3:00 in the morning. And Hillary Clinton, well, her team, I should say, putting out a tweet of their own. Where they say for Hillary Clinton. "It's 3:20 a.m. as good a time as any to tweet about national service."

So this takes you to a link on medium. Hillary Clinton talking about national service. Let's show you. a quote of somewhat she said, there she said. In talking about where Donald Trump said "I alone can fix it." Meaning the broken system. She said "That's his way. One person getting supreme power and exercising it ruthlessly, it's why he admires dictators like Vladimir Putin so much. But that's not how change happens in American. It's never just about one person-not even someone as powerful as the president."

So, her campaign is loving that he's going after Alicia Machado. But there is also realizing that, this is an election that's getting pretty darn depressing. And that's not something that inspires people to go out to the polls. So trying to swing around, make it a little bit more positive and talk about national service. We saw her do that yesterday in her event. The question is can they do that? Because right now it just seems so much like a mud-slinging contest between these two candidates.

WHITFIELD: Yes, just barely over 30 days away.

KEILAR: So close. Yeah.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, very close. All right, Brianna Keilar, thank you in Washington.

All right, meantime, more outrage now surrounding Wells Fargo bank. Following fallout over fake accounts. The company has accused of illegally repossessing now 400 military member cars. This as Congress calls for punishment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[11:18:29] REP. MICHAEL CAPUANO (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Who cares? We'll pretend to be sorry, we'll fire some workers and we'll get through this. You know where I heard that before? The guys who ran Enron.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. More fallout for Wells Fargo. The Illinois state treasurer's say he's cutting billion of dollars worth of business from the bank. This comes as we learn Wells Fargo illegally repossessed cars of more than 400 military members.

Earlier this week, CEO John Stumpf defended his bank before lawmakers in Capitol Hill. After it was revealed that Wells Fargo had opened millions of fake accounts.

CNNMoney correspondent Cristina Alesci reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNNMONEY CORRESPONDENT: Dennis Singleton was a soldier preparing to go to Afghanistan in 2013. That same year, Wells Fargo had repossessed his car. It was against the law. But Wells Fargo did it anyway. And Singleton wasn't alone. The Department of Justice has charged Wells Fargo with illegally repossessing 413 vehicles own by members of military members. 413. As a result, Wells Fargo has been fined $24 million. But Singleton never got his car back. Received no compensation and his credit was destroyed.

Wells Fargo told CNNMoney that it reached out to Singleton, but it hasn't heard back from him. It's just a latest scandal for the bank embroiled in controversy. There's also the up to 2 million unauthorized accounts opened by Wells Fargo employees to meet unrealistic sales targets set by management. Whistleblowers were even punished for calling the banks ethics line.

KEVIN PHAM, FORMER WELLS FARGO EMPLOYEE: I was felt out of place. And I always -- I've tried my best to do with the right thing. I'm not perfect. And eventually got to the point where my, you know, the mental stress that came from this, you know, reduced my production to zero. I took it to my district manager. Basically I was accused of making excuses for my performance and trying, you know, throw my colleagues under the bus.

ALESCI: Can CEO John Stumpf survive the fallout? Many in Congress say no.

VOICE OF SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN, (D) MASSACHUSETTS: You should resign. You should give back the money you took while the scam was going on and you should be criminally investigated by both the department of justice and the Security and Exchange Commission.

REP. STEVE PEARCE, (R) NEW MEXICO: You have kind of shirked around and said the board can do anything it wants anytime. I sir, think you had to submit a resignation and your board cannot hold off action on that.

REP. DENNY HECK, (D) WASHINGTON: Frankly, I don't personally see how you survived. But the truth is, it's not your survival that I am concerned about.

ALESCI: What is concerning? A mega bank with a potentially corrupt culture leaving victims in its wake. Wells Fargo is ditching the sales goal that lead to creation of the ghost accounts. As for Stumpf, he is still hanging on despite growing opposition.

WARREN: It's gutless leadership.

ALESCI: Cristina Alesci, CNNMoney, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP) [11:25:09] WHITFIELD: All right, straight ahead, a Donald Trump surrogate has a message for his candidate. Stop tweeting at 3:00 in the morning. We'll talk about that next in the CNN Newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, hello everyone. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield

All right, so this week Donald Trump's public feud with a former miss universe became a major distraction for the Republican candidate. It certainly not the first time that Real Estate Tycoon lashed out at someone who was criticizing him.

As CNN's Sunlen Serfaty explains, it's all part of a pattern that started long before Trump entered the political ring.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump's penchant for public feuds didn't start with his foray into politics. They have been part of his persona as long as he's been in the public eye. One of his earliest squabble was over 30 years with author Graydon Carter. A few Trump carry's on to this day. Carter was the editor of Spy magazine in the 80s and referred to Trump as a "short-fingered vulgarian." Trump have never let it go.

Listen to Carter this year on MPR.

GRAYDON CARTER, AMERICAN JOURNALIST: He'll send me pictures, tear sheets from magazines. With a gold Sharpie, he'll circle his fingers and in his handwriting say, "See, not so short. And I know it just gives him absolute fits.

SERFATY: Marco Rubio baited Trump with it during the debates prompting this over the top response.

TRUMP: Look at those hands. Are they small hands? If they're small, something else must be small. I guarantee you there's no problem. I guarantee you.

SERFATY: And who could forget Rosie O'Donnell. That feud still going strong after a decade. It all started in 2006 when O'Donnell lamb lambasted Trump as a hypocrite for almost taking the crown away from them, Miss USA pageant winner Tara O'Connor. After tabloids reveal her drinking and using drugs. Something that Trump finally publically forgive her for. But invoke O'Donnell iron for the man known as Playboy.

[11:30:012] ROSIE O'DONNEL: There he is, hair looping --

SERFATY: Trump immediately doubled down.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Rosie O'Donnell is disgusting. I mean, both inside and out. You take a look at her she is a slob. She talks like a truck driver. SERFATY: It's a feud that lingers today with Trump actually mentioning O'Donnell during the first debate.

MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS HOST: You called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals. Your Twitter account --

TRUMP: Only Rosie O'Donnell.

SERFATY: For a campaign desperate to modulate their presidential contender, Trump's consistent feuds and his inability to let go of them has proven even more problematic. The thin-skinned business titan going after Fox debate moderator, Megyn Kelly, back in March after Kelly brought up past derogatory remarks he had made against women.

TRUMP: There was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her -- wherever.

SERFATY: In July, he continually clashed with the Khan family belittling the parents of Humayan Khan, a Muslim Army captain killed in Iraq after they spoke out against him during the Democratic National Convention.

TRUMP: His wife, if you look at his wife, she was standing there. She had nothing to say.

SERFATY: When it comes to those twitter outbursts, his preferred way of needling his enemies, he had this to say to David Letterman.

TRUMP: The Twitter thing, the tweeting thing does get you in trouble. You say things and you think it is cute and smart and it comes back to haunt you.

SERFATY: Advice from the past that many are hoping he'll take now. Sunlen Serfaty, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, let's talk more about all of this. Let's bring back CNN presidential historian, Tim Naftali, and political commentator, Errol Louis.

OK, so Errol, you first, I mean, that really just kind of underscores what Donald Trump's pattern has been. But for somebody who even said in the "New York Times" that he has the potential of getting nastier.

He is also revealing that he has real vulnerabilities. So how would it be that an opponent would not want to take advantage of that?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think the Hillary Clinton team is going to try and exploit his weakness and make no mistake. It is a political weakness to get distracted by attacking Rosie O'Donnell. Rosie O'Donnell is not on the ballot in 50 states.

Rosie O'Donnell is not running for president, he is, and with a shrinking amount of time, the calendar is not his friend. It is at best a distraction and a way to put his foot in his mouth, cause a lot of controversy and alienate voters, and it's the last thing he needs to be worried about.

WHITFIELD: So Tim, you know, while it's a real political weakness as Errol puts it, it can also potentially back fire for her opponent in this case, Hillary Clinton if she seizes on it?

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, look, you know, I mean, we saw this in the debate. That Hillary Clinton and her people choreographed a slow ever increasing effort to push his buttons like water falling on a stone. The first time they went after him about his father, he responded, but he wasn't that angry.

She kept at it increasing pressure and then he really lost control. I think they understand him very well. I do not think they are going to go down the rabbit hole with him.

WHITFIELD: It was advantageous as we saw in this debate because many polls show that she kind of, you know, she won. She did well by holding it together and he unraveled. Now we're eight days away from the next debate.

Both sides know of the potential neither one of them can count on things unraveling nor you know, gaining strengths, depending on which way you look at it again. You know, is this kind of water under the bridge now and they have to move on and start anew or?

NAFTALI: No.

WHITFIELD: OK, this is a springboard for what's to come?

NAFTALI: Remember, Errol made the point that voting has started. There are votes that people are voting. Trump's people have to make clear to him that he can't afford too many more bad election cycles or bad media cycles. Again, for Hillary, just letting Trump be Trump is to her advantage.

WHITFIELD: OK, so last night, Newt Gingrich, a Trump supporter, weighed in on this controversy, particularly as it pertains to Donald Trump's Twitter habits. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I think what Trump's got to understand is he's either got to sing I've got to be me or he's got to learn a new song, I've got to be president. They're not the same song. He's got to become much more disciplined.

For a while there I thought he had really turned a corner. This last week I think has been frankly a lost week, a week which has hurt him, which has shaken his own supporters, and you can't tweet at 3:00 a.m. in the morning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:35:12]WHITFIELD: So Errol, is it realistic to expect that Donald Trump can be anything different? More than 30 days away from the general election and what he exhibited his style is?

LOUIS: Well, there is no particular evidence to think that he suddenly going to change his campaign style. It is an interesting kind of curiosity in this election that you have people like Newt Gingrich sending him advice that would have been better delivered face-to-face through the media. We've heard over and over again --

WHITFIELD: What does that say?

LOUIS: Well, it says the advisers have a hard time to get him to sit down and focus in the traditional way, but he is very much attuned to media so they just pass their messages through various shows. It is a very odd kind of a thing to sort of telegraph your true thoughts like that, but I thought his critique was spot on.

WHITFIELD: All right, so Tim, now you have so many newspapers that are really breaking with tradition endorsing a candidate for president. Not that newspapers don't do that, but these particular newspapers have never really done it.

And so now we are talking about earlier in the week "USA Today" with some real terse language. Now today "The San Diego Union Tribune" saying Trump's campaign is an entertaining show calling the candidate Donald Trump vengeful, dishonest, and impulsive.

So you know, how potentially impactful can this kind of language from these newspapers be?

NAFTALI: We're not sure yet because we don't know the extent to which people follow newspapers. I tell you one thing. It shows you that the issue of competence is more important to these -- and character is more important to these newspapers than political philosophy.

Donald Trump is failing the character and competence test for those newspapers. If he is failing it for those newspapers, he must be failing it for independents and those who haven't yet made up their minds.

WHITFIELD: All right, so this morning on CNN -- on Michael Smerconish's show, he spoke with a former "Philadelphia Inquirer" reporter. She described an experience with the presidential candidate, Donald Trump, this way back in 1988. She was on this morning talking about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER LYNN, FORMER REPORTER, "PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER": I was working in the Wall Street office of the "Philadelphia Inquirer" and I got a phone call. The woman said hold for Mr. Trump and then Mr. Trump began to yell at me. He told me I had shit for brains. He told me I worked for (inaudible) newspaper. He said what (inaudible) was I writing. I was stunned. He hanged up.

He called my boss in Philadelphia. He treated my boss to the same sort of rant, but he then added that he referred to me as the "c" word. A word I will not use, Michael, because in my opinion it is the worst word in the English language to refer to a woman.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So Errol, how do you respond to that in terms of yes, wow, in terms of just add that to the mix now.

LOUIS: Yes, add that to the mix. I mean, the reality is he has done so many strange things with reporters. He's referred to reporters as scum on the campaign trail in front thousands of people.

He is well known for the prank where he would call newspaper reporters and clearly him and some of them were recorded, but say that he was somebody else speaking on behalf of Donald Trump. He's played so many different games with the press.

In some ways this just gets added to a long, long list. I think though, you know, going back to your issue about the endorsements, the editorial endorsements especially from conservative newspapers.

I think it gives reporters on staff at those papers and others a little bit of permission to sort of do a little bit tougher reporting than they might have otherwise done.

If it is clear the editorial board which doesn't control the news staff, but saying he is erratic and not truthful. He contradicted himself over and over again. They are giving story lines to reporters that they are going to probably follow-up on.

WHITFIELD: All right, Tim, you get to punctuate this. Look, there is nastiness and meanness to Mr. Trump's interactions with people he doesn't agree with. There is so much evidence, it is overwhelming. If he gets elected, the amount of meanness in the White House will reach the same level it was when Richard Nixon was president.

WHITFIELD: All right, Tim Naftali and Errol Louis, good to see and hear from both of you. Appreciate it. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:43:10]

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. This week in Atlanta, music artists, John Legend and Dave Matthews are performing at the Many to Cross Rivers Music Festival. The shared goal to help promote harmony and tolerance in America despite political, racial or cultural differences.

Helping to bring all of them together, legendary actor, activist, and singer, Harry Belafonte. Before we talk about this project that he helped bring about, I asked Belafonte face-to-face who endorsed Democrat Bernie Sanders during the primary, who he is backing now?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRY BELAFONTE, ACTOR, SINGER, ACTIVIST: It is safe to say Hillary Clinton. I believe that I'm almost 90 years old and I lived through many elections during the 20th Century. I think America sits at its most critical space I've ever known our country to be.

I think it is one thing to flippantly dismiss Donald Trump as some phenomena or peculiar phenomena. I think Americans take it very seriously. I'm not as concern about him and the distortions of his character as I have about the fact that obviously 13 million people have declared themselves committed to his ideology and committed to his philosophy. That's a big number.

I've spent many years in Atlanta with Dr. King and the civil rights movement.

WHITFIELD: You mentioned Dr. King, you were inspired by him to be involved in the movement. So when you look at young people today who are part of a movement, there have been many evolutions of human rights and civil rights movements over the course of the years. You are seeing instead some of the movements and protests turn violent. What are your impressions of what you are seeing today?

[11:45:08]BELAFONTE: For us to have come to a place where all the lives that were sacrificed in getting voting rights and to get accommodations for black people to have greater participation in our constitutional construct.

Something went wrong and I think that we have lost traction, we lost vision. I think that America is in a regression. We are going back to behavior of the past.

WHITFIELD: How do you see this election potentially making a direct impact on the kind of climate and tension that we're seeing particularly as it pertains to race relations in this country right now?

BELAFONTE: Well, I think America clearly has given a choice. What Hillary Clinton represents and what Donald Trump represents. I don't think there's any ambivalence between the two ideologies.

WHITFIELD: Let's now talk about the Many Rivers to Cross Festival, which brings you here to Atlanta. First, the evolution of this festival and in part, it begins with the musical artist, Prince, we sadly lost him this year. He asked you. He really challenged you. How can we get musicians to play a role in helping to send a message of human rights?

BELAFONTE: His first interest, he was looking at a career shift. He wanted to know what to do with the rather impressive platform that he possesses. He said I don't know enough. I've been really living in my own little space and doing my thing. He came to me for my point of view. He went to Baltimore and in Baltimore seeing the discontent in that community caused him to write a song. The very last album he did.

WHITFIELD: This was just last year. Fairly recent?

BELAFONTE: That's right. It's called "Baltimore." That was the beginning of a trajectory that he was on to write songs that involve himself in things. WHITFIELD: You are challenging musicians in their songwriting, aren't you?

BELAFONTE: Artists are the gatekeepers of truth. We are in fact civilization's moral compass and radical voice. If artists abandoned their capacity to instruct and to inspire that was a big part of our power and how do we instruct?

We shall overcome. We sing songs and speak to issues that inspire people and help lift our communities to a better place to live.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Harry Belafonte. He said that he's reminded by the echoes of his friend and mentor, Dr. King. One of the greatest gifts from the Constitution is the vote. Belafonte is hoping Americans will use their vote to speak to differences in a democratic and peaceful way. We will be right back.

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[11:51:57]

WHITFIELD: All right, 38 days and counting until voting day. Tonight, "Saturday Night Live" is making its return to the election cycle just hours from now, the late night show is set to unveil, Alec Baldwin as their new Donald Trump.

The idea coming from another SNL alum, Tina Fay. Senior media correspondent and host of "RELIABLE RESOURCES," Brian Stelter has more.

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BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Live from New York, it's almost Saturday night as "SNL" prepares to raise the curtain on its 42nd season, it's Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton versus Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump.

This year SNL actually pushed its season opener until after the first debate. Now, the sketch everyone is waiting for could help shape the narrative of this election. Will there be Trump sniffles? Vigorous chugging of water? Jokes like that can breakthrough in a powerful way.

DEAN OBEIDALLAH, "THE DAILY BEAST" CONTRIBUTOR: These things go to define people and inform them. So I think comedy could be the key to winning this election.

STELTER: As Election Day nears, left leaning "late night" host like Seth Myers and Sam (inaudible) are ratcheting up their anti-Trump jokes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hillary Clinton used a secrete device to boost her debate performance. We have a picture of it right here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't snort your way through the debate like Jean Pierre's (inaudible).

STELTER: Pointed comedy can turn off some viewers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm aware that probably happens.

STELTERS: But it impresses other viewers. During election years, people need to laugh. Some past "SNL" impressions are unforgettable like Tina Fay playing Sarah Palin.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can see Russia from my house.

STELTER: And Will Ferrell's George W. Bush. The portrayal of Al Gore was devastating.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would put it in what I call a lock box.

STELTER: And who can forget Chevy Chase as a bumbling Gerald Ford.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No problem.

STELTER: Last year, McKinnon's Clinton impression helped win her an Emmy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I cannot wait to be your next president, if I'm elected, of course. Not getting ahead of myself of course. In private, I have been president for 15 years.

STELTER: And Darrel Hammond took on Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jeb, you are a nice guy, but you are a lightweight. I know for a fact that you pee sitting down.

STELTER: Both candidates also appeared on the show, something we could see again later this season. Tonight, political junkies are eagerly awaiting "SNL's" take on the first debate to see if the not ready for prime time players can once again make a mark on the nation. Brian Stelter, CNN, New York.

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WHITFIELD: All right, so much straight ahead in the newsroom so stay with us.

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[11:55:00]UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wanted to take a break from my full time career and write things on Facebook to fly down her and lend my support to the next president of the United States, Donald J. Trump.

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WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield --