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Trump To NYT: I Can Be Nastier Than Clinton; Minority Voters Key For Clinton In Battleground Florida; Hospital Bombed Again In Rebel-Held Area Of Aleppo; Trump and Women Voters Examined; Third Graders and the Election; Looking at Failed Presidential Bids; CNN Hero. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired October 01, 2016 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:03] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right, new information coming in this hour. Donald Trump is digging in and amping up his attacks on Hillary Clinton in the days leading up to the second presidential debate. He's threatening to focus on Bill Clinton's sex scandals.

He told "The New York Times," quote, "She's nasty, but I can be nastier than she ever can be." This as Republican leaders urged Trump to get back on message after his widely panned performance, which Trump blamed partially on the microphone saying it commanded 50 percent of his thought process.

We should note the Commission on Presidential Debates has said there was an audio issue in the debate hall. Trump also trying to shift the focus from an early morning Twitter rampage where he ripped into the media and a former Miss Universe. The Clinton campaign quickly pouncing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I mean, really, who gets up at 3:00 in the morning to engage in a Twitter attack against a former Miss Universe? I mean, he hurled as many insults as he could. Really, why does he do things like that? I mean, his latest Twitter meltdown is unhinged, even for him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, let's bring in Rebecca Berg, a CNN political analyst and a national political reporter for "Real Clear Politics." Good to see you. And Jay Newton-Small is a Washington correspondent with "Time" magazine. Good to see you as well.

OK, so Trump addressed this situation about the microphone at a rally in Michigan last night. This is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: 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, can I tell you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, so ladies, Rebecca, you first, how much of an issue is this, especially given the more than 80 million people outside of that debate hall didn't complain or didn't seem to have a problem hearing either one of the candidates?

REBECCA BERG, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, "REAL CLEAR POLITICS": Right. So the problem for Donald Trump in using this as an excuse, Fredricka, is no one watching on television heard or any evidence of this problem. It was purely in the debate hall as the commission said.

So it sounds to the casual observer like Donald Trump is making excuses for a less than optimal debate performance. It's difficult to square with the other message we've been hearing from Donald Trump's campaign and the candidate himself.

Which is that he blew Hillary Clinton out of the water in this debate and was the clear winner and so it's difficult to have that message on one hand and at the same time, Donald Trump making excuses for why he might not have performed his best.

So it's a little bit inconsistent to hear from him in the days following the debate and the fact that he is raising this issue at all just keeps the focus on his debate performance instead of looking ahead to the next debate or moving on to a more favorable message for his campaign.

WHITFIELD: So Jane, is it a potential distraction instead of the candidates focusing on what is next? Now the questions that will continue to be asked to Donald Trump and others, which is how would you know whether the microphone was really faulty if the debate audience is the one that would be listening to you, no complaints from them. How would that distract the candidate himself or herself?

JAY NEWTON-SMALL, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, "TIME" MAGAZINE: This has been a really big problem for Donald Trump as a candidate is his discipline. He cannot seem to let things go. He feels that if he's being maligned or he's being unfairly attacked, he's like a dog with a bone.

You saw that over the summer with the gold star family, the Khans, and he kept going at it and going at it long after he should have let it go. Even this week, with Miss Universe, that 3:00 a.m. early morning Twitter rampage against Miss Universe.

That was the day after you had a deadly train derailment in the northeast and all the cable networks and media coverage moved away from the Miss Universe controversy and he brought it back himself with that Twitter rampage and gave it another day or two, arguably, of life.

That's been a real problem that Republicans on the Hill feel that he isn't disciplined enough. He doesn't know when to give things up. He doesn't when to move on and he doesn't know how to redirect the message to attacking Hillary Clinton and attacking the very serious problems that America faces today.

WHITFIELD: And again, you know, even in the "New York Times" article today, Donald Trump in an interview promising that there will be more of going after Hillary Clinton by way of, you know, her husband's transgressions, Bill Clinton's.

[12:05:10]Really not making promises about what kind of policy discussions he's hoping to direct. So, you know, Rebecca, should anyone believe or expect that debate number two will be too different from what happened, what was on display on debate number one?

BERG: Well, certainly, Donald Trump's advisers are out there in public interviews essentially pushing him, urging him to prepare for the next debate to bring a more high minded sort of discussion to that debate.

Newt Gingrich on Fox News last night was saying that if Donald Trump were to run this campaign at a higher level, he could win. Instead, he's giving into some of his worst impulses and as Jay said not exhibiting the sort of discipline that you would want or expect from a presidential candidate.

WHITFIELD: We have that Newt Gingrich sound. Let's listen to it right now.

(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)

WHITFIELD: All right, so Rebecca, continue your thoughts. So he's getting advice from people who want him to excel, but it doesn't seem as though he has taking it.

BERG: Right. Well, he didn't tweet at 3:00 a.m. early this morning, so maybe small signs of progress. Maybe he heard Newt Gingrich out on that point. But it's really remarkable that we have a situation where the top advisers, top surrogates to the Republican nominee for the presidency are trying to send these messages to him through cable news. Because they feel like that's the best way to get through to him. To say it's unusual, I think maybe doesn't make the point sharply enough. It is perhaps unprecedented what we are seeing here.

WHITFIELD: Yes, for sure. Jay, last thoughts on this?

NEWTON-SMALL: To say that you keep seeing him course correct and especially when it comes to appealing to women voters, which is what he really needs to do right now. That's the last swing set of voters that he can appeal to. He's not going to get Hispanics or African- Americans.

He's trying to get female voters. Every time he does this, goes to "The New York Times" to say he's going to bring up Bill Clinton's infidelities or bring Jennifer Flowers to the debate, his campaign tries to course correct him.

And you see Kellyanne Conway saying that's not going to appeal to female voters bringing up infidelities, bringing up problems within one's marriage. You need to move away from this and he can't to resist kind of always coming back to the base.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jay Newton-Small, Rebecca Berg, thank you so much. We are going to see you again momentarily so stick around.

Also coming up in the NEWSROOM, Hillary Clinton is in Florida trying to convince minority voters that she is the best choice on November 8th. We'll take you to Florida to see how that message is playing. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:11:14]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. This is just in to CNN. The Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson releasing a statement in response to recent cyber hack attempts.

He says, quote, "We urge states to take full advantage of the robust public and private sector resources available to them to ensure that their network infrastructure is secure from attack.

He continues by saying quote, "Before November 8th, I urge state and local election officials to seek our cyber security assistance," end quote.

So far 21 states have contacted Homeland Security, but Johnson is hopeful more will seek the services. This comes on the heels of FBI Director James Comey saying that scams show would be hackers, quote, "poking around," end quote, voter registration systems.

All right, Hillary Clinton is struggling to attract white, working class voters in several key battleground states. So that makes the minority vote in those states critical for Clinton's path to the White House. Florida is vital for victory. In the latest, Mason Dixon poll there, Clinton is ahead by just four points, but among African-American voters in the sunshine state, Clinton is trouncing Trump, 92 percent to 1 percent. She's been campaigning hard there and the voters are listening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have become the silent majority. We don't pout. We don't shout. We show up at the polls.

JOYCY LACOMBE, UNDECIDED VOTER: I think that often transparency, I felt more with Barack. Maybe it's cultural, I don't know, but I definitely felt the transparency more.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That authenticity and likability?

LACOMBE: Yes. I think she's trying, you know, but, you know, natural is natural. We are listening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, joining me right now, the mayor of Miami Gardens, Florida, Oliver Gilbert, who is a Clinton supporter and Leslie Wimes, the founder and president of the Democratic African- American Women's Caucus. All right, good to see both of you. So, Ladies, first.

I'm doing great. So Ladies first, Leslie, you heard that undecided voter talk about the lack of enthusiasm that didn't exist for President Obama. Why is it such a battle for Hillary Clinton to inspire voters?

LESLIE WIMES, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, DEMOCRATIC AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN CAUCUS: Well, first of all, Hillary Clinton isn't present in the African-American communities in Florida and because she's not present, we don't believe her.

We don't have that enthusiasm for Hillary that we have for Barack Obama and because that enthusiasm isn't there, it's definitely not going to show at the polls.

WHITFIELD: What do you mean by that isn't present particularly when you talk about, you know, some of her campaign stops, most recently in two years, where she is seen in a variety of circumstances with a variety of people, African-American, Latino, et cetera. So what do you mean in that respect?

WIMES: Well, Hillary thinks that because Barack Obama and Michelle Obama are telling us to vote for her that that's all it takes. I mean, she's not present in the communities. There is no knocking on doors. She's not engaging with the African-American community. She's going to have to do that.

Because if you remember, she has a trust issue. If she's not letting us know that she has earned our vote or that she deserves our vote, she's not going get our vote. She doesn't have the luxury of being Barack Obama and because she doesn't have that luxury, it's not going to transfer to the polls. I mean, she has to get 90 percent of the African-American vote. Right now, she's not getting that.

WHITFIELD: OK. So Mr. Mayor, why don't you respond to that? Because I mean, at least we can recall most recently with Hillary Clinton. When you talk about knocking on doors, I don't think you are seeing any presidential candidates doing that anymore.

[12:15:08]You know, but we did see Hillary Clinton at HBCU campuses particularly in the primaries. She was at the NAACP convention. So, Mr. Mayor, respond to that and then explain why it is that Hillary Clinton is having a hard time, I guess, feeling comfortable that she has secured the African-American or non-white vote.

MAYOR OLIVER GILBERT (D), MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA: Now, let's be clear about something. Hillary Clinton, the secretary is going to receive more than 90 percent of the African-American vote. I represent the largest African-American city in the state of Florida, 110,000 residents, over 60,000 voters.

When they go to the polls to vote in November, when they start voting by mail and when they go for early voting, they are going to vote for Hillary Clinton. We have to deal with the idea of political relativity.

Barack Obama's election, his candidacy was historic thing for us. It was personal. We haven't seen the type of ownership. It has to develop in a different way.

So you see that with the outreach. You see that with the president coming in town. You see different surrogates. You see that with her coming in town.

But ultimately, it's not just that we are with her, we are all together is probably more the message. This has to be our campaign. I don't know any more motivation that people need to vote than actually paying attention to Donald Trump.

So, if you are not motivated by Hillary Clinton, if you're not motivated by the president of the United States, who said this would be a personal up front to his legacy.

You are motivated by somebody who has an exceedingly high low opinion of you and very comfortable saying it over and over and over again. So, I appreciate that everyone is saying, hey, we are all anxious about this election.

We are anxious. I appreciate that because it's very important. But, from my perspective, what I'm going to do is talk less and work more because when I volunteer for Barack Obama, it wasn't his campaign, it was me going door-to-door to my neighbors, making sure they were going to vote, it was my pastor doing it.

WHITFIELD: So it's interesting. We heard there can't be a presumption for either candidate that they, you know, have earned or will get the African-American vote and particularly for the Democratic candidate because you have the first African-American president in the White House there should be no presumption.

In fact, it was, you know, the first African-American governor of Virginia, Doug Wilder, who said, recently, that -- and it was his criticism to Hillary Clinton that there was a presumption and it shouldn't be a presumption to secure the African-American vote.

So Leslie, when you hear from Hillary Clinton or she is rolling out her plan, you know, for a national service and she said in large part, she's been dedicated to African-Americans, to women, to children from a very early stage. She's also just most recently tried to reiterate some of that in this way.

WIMES: Fredricka, I want to --

WHITFIELD: Let's listen to what Hillary Clinton had to say. Hold on, Leslie. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: It's easy to surround ourselves with only those who think like us, talk like us, look like us, read the same, you know, news as us. That's understandable, to an extent.

But it comes with a cost because it magnifies our differences, which then makes it harder to put those differences aside when our community or country needs us.

There aren't many places where people of all ages, all races, all backgrounds, all beliefs come together in common cause, but service is one of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, Leslie, now continue your thought.

WIMES: I want to address what the mayor said. We have not forgotten that it was just eight years ago when Hillary was running against President Obama that he addressed some of the issues that Hillary had in the past, even Michelle.

It was not that long ago when Michelle, herself, said how can you run the White House when you cannot run your own house? We haven't forgotten those things.

We have not forgot the things President Obama said about her back then. So she has to come and really address the things she said in the past. Her rhetoric today does not equal her record in the past.

WHITFIELD: OK --

WIMES: She has to come, wait, wait, wait, let me finish --

WHITFIELD: -- is that happening from Hillary Clinton she has to answer to that? Mr. Mayor, since you are an advocate of Hillary Clinton. Do you see she has to do that?

GILBERT: Yes, I do. Look, when -- I love when people do this, they want to bring up what was said. What's being said right now and let's remember that elections don't happen in a bubble. It's not like we choose Hillary Clinton or we get or we get or we get Barack Obama. It's not -- hold on. Look, it's not about whether we can choose Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. That's not what it is. That's not where we are.

[12:20:10]WIMES: But you keep bringing up what Barack Obama is doing and that has to be a reason to vote for her. I'm saying she has --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: We can't hear when both of you are talking. One at a time. Mr. Mayor, finish your thought and we are going to be out of time for now. Go ahead.

GILBERT: I think it's interesting that this isn't a choice between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. I was a Barack Obama supporter. This is -- this is a choice between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Donald Trump has an exceedingly low opinion of black people. You make him president. You insult Barack Obama and you really hurt the community. You hurt the country. You are a black person. It's not whether we are going to vote for Hillary Clinton, it's how many of us vote.

WHITFIELD: All right, we will have you back. We have 38 days to go before the general election. We'll have you both back. This conversation is a big, broad conversation. We need to continue it. Appreciate it. Mayor Oliver Gilbert and Leslie Wimes, appreciate it. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. In Syria, the largest hospital in the rebel-held part of Aleppo was bombed earlier today for the second time in four days. The bombing comes as some 10,000 government troops are gathering outside Aleppo. They are apparently preparing for a final assault on rebel fighters in the city.

[12:25:07]Meanwhile, there appears to be decent in the White House over the handling of the crisis in Syria. In an audio recording obtained by CNN, U.S. secretary of state, John Kerry told a group at the United Nations that he wanted a more forceful intervention against the Assad regime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: More people in the administration who have all argued for use of force and I lost the argument. I have argued for it. I stood up. I'm the guy that stood up and announced it.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: Kerry also criticized Congress for not authorizing a vote to strike more heavily against Assad's forces. Let's talk more about all of this with CNN global affairs analyst, Kimberly Dozier in Washington, and senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman in Baghdad now.

So Ben, you've been hearing from source inside Aleppo about this hospital bombing and now that coupled with the Secretary Kerry sound that he expressed some disappointment that more intervention hasn't happened. How do you suppose that will be received?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think this is confirmation to the people left in the Eastern part of Aleppo. About 250,000 in the rebel controlled areas that the United States, at this point, is effectively incapable of doing anything to help them.

We spoke to people involved with that hospital and other residents of Aleppo today. They say that hospital, the M-10 as it's known, which is run by the Syrian medical -- American Medical Society, that it was hit by two barrel bombs, two cluster bombs and a missile.

One person in the hospital was killed, several were injured. That hospital, which is the largest surgical hospital in Eastern Aleppo is now out of order. It is no longer functioning.

There are only about 30 doctors left in Aleppo itself. What we are hearing from these hospitals is disturbing. For instance, this M-10 hospital, they were telling us that a few days ago, they received 160 people who were injured in these Syrian government airstrikes.

They essentially have to set up a system of triage where if somebody is too badly injured, they have to leave them to die because they are so short of staff, of medicine and of medical supplies.

They said that about 1,500 people are wounded, being treated in Eastern Aleppo. Many of them will die because they cannot get out of the city for proper medical treatment.

WHITFIELD: Kim, you have this deterioration and then you have this audio, really revealing the frustrations from the secretary of state who says, you know, he advocated for one thing, but, you know, he was outmanned, so to speak by others on which way to go.

So, how, potentially, you know, damaging or how much of a distraction might this be for, you know, the U.S. commitment or the U.S. point of view on what to do with Syria?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, this completely undermine Secretary Kerry shows how he has been essentially emasculated by a White House that doesn't want to commit more forces on the ground.

It doesn't want to engage more directly against the Assad regime. So you have him explaining to these Syrian refugees, I'm sorry, we can't help you. We'll help fight against ISIS and al Qaeda because they've declared war on the U.S. We'll keep negotiating on your behalf, even though the Syrians and the Russians haven't kept faith with any previous negotiations in the past. I'm telling you, you have to put your faith in some sort of future U.N. brokered vote and Assad is really afraid of that.

People on the ground in Aleppo are afraid of Assad's barrel bombs. The only way I'm hearing that military officials in the coalition think you could stop what Assad is doing is to somehow threaten his military operations.

Either by bombing his runways or declaring some sort of no fly zone or saying to the Russians and Assad we are putting American advisers in with some of these forces that we have been supporting covertly on the ground inside Aleppo. They are in these locations. If you bomb there, you are bombing us.

WHITFIELD: OK, thank you so much, Kim Dozier. Ben Wedeman, appreciate that. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:33:06] WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much for being with me. I'm Fredrick Whitfield. Hillary Clinton is in the Battleground State of Florida this weekend while Donald Trump is heading to Pennsylvania where he will be campaigning tonight and Trump is not backing away from the controversy over former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado. He tweeted, just yesterday, "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."

Meanwhile, Trump is facing a deficit of support among women voters. A poll, this month shows that only 17 percent of women think Trump shows a lot of respect for women. I want to bring in CNN Political Analyst Rebecca Berg and she's also the National Political reporter at "Real Clear Politics" and Jay Newton-Small, a Washington correspondent with "Time" magazine and author of the book "Broad Challenge. How Women Are Changing the Way America works".

All right, welcome back to both of you.

REBEcCA BERG, POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, so Rebecca, you first. If polling shows that it's a challenge, is it even a greater challenge particularly after this week of the early morning tweets of Machado and now the release of video showing his interaction with her whether it be while she was at a gym working out or whether it was side by side and then, you know, him, saying it's a fraud and she says no it's not. How much of a problem is all of this for Donald Trump?

BERG: Well, it's a pretty profound problem because it reinforces some of the concerns that many voters, especially women voters already had about Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton and her campaign have been working really hard to remind voters or potentials voters about some of the comments Donald Trump has made about women in the past. But present evidence, current statements are a lot more impactful for many voters than past statements. Because you can shrug off something Donald Trump has said in the past but say, you know, maybe he has changed or evolved or matured.

[12:35:07] But if he continues to attack women in the present tense, it becomes very worrisome for many voters and they're less able to sort of rationalize past comments he has made and they become more troubling in the present terms.

WHITFIELD: Since, Jay, we already know that Donald Trump is kind of threatening to turn the tables, meaning, you know, threatening whether be in this debate. He said that, you know, reiterated in "The New York Times" article and he said it way back when, during the primary season, you know that Hillary Clinton is the enabler, you know. And she is a bad image for women. And now he is threatening to bring up her husband's marital infidelities and in a way, saying how she was complicit, you know, in a very bad image for women and treating -- and the treating of women. Why does he think that is going to be effective?

JAY NEWTON-SMALL, "TIME" WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the challenge is that it's probably not going to, Fredricka. Look, women voters are very powerful. They've swung every election since Ronald Reagan. They make up 53 percent of the electorate and they vote on average in presidential elections, 10 percent more than men do.

So if you can just swing women voters, you can swing the election. And that's certainly in the last three weeks or four weeks, it really since been August has been the Trump Campaign's path is to really focus on bringing out particularly white women to the polls for Donald Trump. He remain suburban married white women tend to remain the last 10 of undecided bastion in this race.

And what -- so what you've seen is him reaching out, for example, to African-Americans, not necessarily to actually get African-American votes but to convince urban white women who don't want to vote for a racist that he's not actually racist. But the problem with this current line of attack is that suburban married white women don't particularly like talking about infidelity. They don't like seeing it. They don't like, you know, they don't want it to be a topic of the presidential campaign. And so it's a real turn off for them to have this become a major issue of the campaign. So the threat that he's going to now bring that up in the next debate, I think it's a very potentially dangerous one for a campaign that has been so single- mindedly focused on appealing to these women and yet that's an issue that really puts them off.

WHITFIELD: And then there's this new Trump campaign ad to try to appeal to women voters. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVANKA TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S DAUGHTER: The most important job any woman can have is being a mother and it shouldn't be taking pay cut. I'm Ivanka Trump, a mother, a wife and an entrepreneur.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: OK. So, Rebecca, why from Ivanka and not his wife Melania?

BERG: Well, interestingly, Fredricka, we haven't seen a lot of Melania on the campaign trail. She hasn't really been involved to the extent that you might accept that ...

WHITFIELD: And isn't that odd? Pretty odd?

BERG: It is ...

WHITFIELD: Inside two months away from general election as minority ...

BERG: It is ...

WHITFIELD: ... want to get to know the potential first lady?

BERG: It is very unusual especially in the historical context of the role of a political spouse in a presidential race. Usually, you do see them out on the campaign trail. Bill Clinton, obviously is a little bit unusual in his own right and so his role has been diminished for their own strategic reasons on the Clinton campaign. But Ivanka has kind of taken that role while Melania has not been on the campaign trail. And she's done a fairly decent job of it. It's been a little uneven. We saw her "Cosmopolitan" interview a few weeks ago where she got a little bit testing.

WHITFIELD: Ivanka.

BERG: Exactly. And so that was not her best moment. But for the most part she's been able to validate her father in a way that his remarks about women haven't necessarily been able to do. But at the same time, you also have this tug from the Clinton side. They put together a very powerful ad with young women and girls set to, I guess the background music of Donald Trump.

WHITFIELD: Hearing the language -- yeah. So then ...

BERG: It comes about women.

WHITFIELD: So then Jay, you know, while Ivanka is a very, you know, positive force in a very appealing to so many that Melania Trump isn't playing that kind of role. Does it send the message of, you know, not getting the complete picture of what the complete package would potentially be with Donald Trump in the White House?

NEWTON-SMALL: It certainly it's unusual, but though not unprecedented to have a candidate's daughter to be out on the campaign trail a little more than his wife. For example, Teddy Roosevelt, his wife passed on soon, very early into his political career. His daughter Alice was his main surrogate.

But it is unusual that she's still alive and she's not playing a major role in this campaign. And I think that there is some, if you are trying to appeal to suburban, married women who are mostly older, frankly and most young women are not voting for Donald Trump. So you're looking to appeal to older women. Melania could potentially could be a turn off. I mean she's a former model. She's not relatable as a character to them whereas Ivanka, the younger woman who they might look at as their daughters themselves, someone their daughters, they would like their daughters to be.

[12:40:06] She's a lot more relatable as a character. And so therefore, I think the strategy there is to try to put forward somebody who is likable and appealing to these women.

WHITFIELD: Yeah. All right. Jay Newton-Small, Rebecca Berg, thank you so much ladies. I appreciate it.

NEWTON-SMALL: Thank you.

BERG: Thank you Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up. The election according to third graders. Their tips for the candidates and why they say this election is complicated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY TUCHMAN, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you know we have a presidential election coming up?

KIDS: Yes.

TUCHMAN: And who's ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very complicated.

TUCHMAN: It is -- but who's running for president? Tell me.

KIDS: Trump and Hillary Clinton

(CROSSTALK)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: After a presidential election, all attention is focused squarely on the winner but what about the loser? CNNs Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger tells a story that has never been told before in her special report, Almost President, The Agony of Defeat. Four former candidates, Mitt Romney, John McCain, Michael Dukakis and Walter Mondale open up about their successes and failures in running for the highest office in the land.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor, can you give ...

GLORIA BORGER, CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Governor?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... us a word.?

MITT ROMNEY, (R) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What's difficult is going into a campaign and becoming extraordinarily focused day after day, speaking to large groups of people, getting to know individuals one-on-one, learning their experiences, dealing with the media. That's what's difficult ...

[12:45:03] BORGER: Dealing with your mistakes.

ROMNEY: Dealing with your mistakes that that's what's difficult. One of the interesting things about campaigns today, unlike probably 25 or 30 years ago is that everything you say is being recorded.

BORGER: You try to become the perfect candidate.

ROMNEY: Don't make any mistakes. Be perfect. And the funny thing is, everyone says, you know, be spontaneous. You know, don't act like you are being crafted. You just got to be very, very careful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, so CNNs Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger joining me now. So, Gloria, it's interesting to hear a candidate say that it is difficult. That's the challenge ...

BORGER: Yeah.

WHITFIELD: ... to just be normal like this is an ordinary day on the campaign trail.

BORGER: Yeah, it's really hard for these candidates because as Mitt Romney was saying, you're under the microscope every minute. And what was interesting to me, all of these candidates, in reflection, were pretty honest about the mistakes that they had made, Fred, that -- not on the larger issues. You know, John McCain still says he did the right thing in picking Sarah Palin, but he said to me, you know, after I messed up with the debate, I go back to my room and I would replay it in my mind and I would blame myself and blame myself and he said, you know, that's just something candidates do.

WHITFIELD: So did they reflect on these things with ease or did it take them in a role arm twisting on your part to say talk to me about your vulnerabilities, talk to me about the high points.

BORGER: You know, I think that -- the interesting thing about people who lose, is that they're pretty reflective about why. Politicians, generally as you know are not the most reflective people in the world.

WHITFIELD: Yeah.

BORGER: And given the time and the distance, I think they were all able to kind of open up and reflect about what it is that really went wrong. And the stunning thing to me is that even Walter Mondale who is now 88 years old and in great shape didn't forget a minute of the campaign, didn't forget a moment of his difficult debates with Ronald Reagan. And they all kind of see it as a moment in their lives that they would, first of all, do all over again and secondly, Fred, they're not over it.

WHITFIELD: So, because they do it all over again really speaks to they don't necessarily, I guess, harbor on any regrets.

BORGER: Well, I think they, you know, they have regrets that they didn't win because all of them to a person believe they would have made a better president than the one that got elected. But, they like to look back on it and think they made mistakes. I mean Mitt Romney talks about the 47 percent remark. But they all believe that they ran the best campaign they were capable of running, it just didn't turn out the way they wanted.

WHITFIELD: All right. Gloria Borger, thank you so much.

BORGER: Sure.

WHITFIELD: Look forward to seeing all of it. And of course you can see "Almost President, The Agony of Defeat" right here on CNN, 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:51:59] WHITFIELD: All right, now for a look at this week's CNN Hero. Back in the '80s, Ishe Deselle decided to sell everything, buy an apartment complex and help house the most vulnerable homeless citizens. Now, he organization is housing more than 7,000 Houston's homeless.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISHA DESELLE, FOUNDER OF TURNING POINT CENTER IN HOUSTON: When you're older, living on the street, it's a very scary place. You are much more vulnerable. The people who are in between the ages of 50 and 62, society, views them as too old for working and too young for social security. They need help. It's like you don't exist and that's wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Wow. To learn more about her story, visit CNNheroes.com.

All right, there has been a lot of name calling in this year's presidential race. A lot of which some parents may not want their kids to hear or see. But we did talk to a bunch of third graders in Georgia to get their take on the latest debate. Here is Gary Tuchman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: At the Woodward Academy in College Park, Georgia, we talked to some 8 and 9-year-old third graders. Thank you for inviting us to your school.

KIDS: You're welcome.

TUCHMAN: It's nice to meet all of you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

MAYA STOREY, THIRD-GRADER WOODWARD ACADEMY: Me too.

TUCHMAN: Do you know we have a presidential e lx coming up?

KIDS: Yes.

TUCHMAN: And who's ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very complicated.

TUCHMAN: It is complicated but who's running for president? Tell me?

KIDS: Trump and Hillary Clinton.

TUCHMAN: Trump and Hillary Clinton. Which one is the man, which one is the woman?

KIDS: Trump is the man and Hillary is the girl.

TUCHMAN: Who's the girl?

RIVERLY CARR, THIRD-GRADER WOODWARD ACADEMY: Yeah, Hillary is the girl ...

TUCHMAN: OK.

CARR: ... and Trump is the boy.

I know about a little bit about tboth of their stories, a little because Trump has a wife and she's like a model, kind of. And then Hillary's husband or father was the president.

TUCHMAN: Well, her husband, Bill Clinton. So she would be the second president Clinton.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.

TUCHMAN: What's the first thing you think the president should do?

HUDSON BICKERSTAFF-DAVIS, THIRD-GRADER WOODWARD ACADEMY: To make announcement that everything like houses and stuff was half the price for a whole month.

TUCHMAN: Half the price for the whole month. That's good. Who agrees with that?

CARR: No. I think ...

BICKERSTAFF-DAVIS: No, half price cars, half price house. Half price everything.

TUCHMAN: What do you think, Lexi, about the candidates yelling at each other?

LEXI BLANCHARD, THIRD GRADER WOODWARD ACADEMY: I don't really like it when they just do that.

TUCHMAN: Why don't you like that?

BLANCHARD: Because I don't like violence.

TUCHMAN: They haven't touched each other, which would be inappropriate or punched each other.

BLANCHARD: It's screaming violence.

TUCHMAN: Screaming violence?

BLANCHARD: Yeah, that's what I mean.

TUCHMAN: Did you hear they just had a debate?

KIDS: Yeah.

TUCHMAN: And what did you think about the debate? Did you watch any of it?

BICKERSTAFF-DAVIS: I thought it was torture.

TUCHMAN: Why was it torture?

BICKERSTAFF-DAVIS: No, I just -- all the screaming.

TUCHMAN: I'm going to show you this video. I want you to watch and tell me what you think when we're done.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It was totally out of control. I said there's a person with a temperament that's got a problem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Secretary Clinton.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Woo, OK.

TUCHMAN: Did you see the little shimmy of her shoulders? What did you think of that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cool.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think she's right. Where it says that ...

[12:55:05] TUCHMAN: You feel like what?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right, kind of boogey.

TUCHMAN: Boogey?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tango, boogey.

STOREY: Boogey, awesome. Boogey awesome.

TUCHMAN: Time to boogey at the debate. What advice would you give Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton if they're at this table?

STOREY: If they were sitting here, I would say stop interrupting people and follow the golden rule. If you interrupt the other person then you probably will get interrupted when you are trying to say something.

CARR: It's just that, basically just like calm down like take a time- out, like talk in a room like that's quiet.

TUCHMAN: So your feeling is if Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were here, you would say take a time-out?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, like just like ...

TUCHMAN: Chill?

CARR: That they relax.

BICKERSTAFF-DAVIS: Take a chill pill. Just take a chill pill.

TUCHMANL: Thank you for inviting us to your school.

KIDS: You're welcome. You're very nice.

BICKERSTAFF-DAVIS: You look nice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks to Gary Tuchman and the kids at Woodward Academy in Georgia.

All right, coming up in the CNN "Newsroom", police in California release video of a fatal officer-involved shooting. The result, protests.

Then, Wells Fargo under fire again. This time, Wells Fargo illegally repossessed this man's car along with dozens of other military veterans' vehicles. The legal fallout and what this could mean to you, coming up. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I do cherish women. I love women.