Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Nominee Tax Law; Hurricane Matthew Now Hitting Haiti; Vice Presidential Debate Tonight. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired October 04, 2016 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:31:16] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm live in Farmville, Virginia, the site of tonight's big vice presidential debate.

And you can feel the excitement in the air at Longwood. The VP debate top of mind here, but there is also talk of taxes and whether Donald Trump can weather a very bad week. Trump insists all the trash talk about him though is just a distraction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: While, my opponent focuses on small, petty things, we are discussing the vital issues facing our country and our people.

And she'll do everything she can to distract from the issues and her enormous corruption and criminal conduct. A campaign of distraction funded by Wall Street investors.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: For her part, Clinton is keeping up the pressure on Trump's taxes, even saying legislation might be needed for future candidates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: And then in a category by himself, there's Donald Trump. Well, you may have heard that he has long refused to release his tax returns the way every other nominee for president has done for decades. You can look at 40 years of my tax returns. I think we need a law that says, if you become the nominee of the major party, you have to release your tax returns.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: With me now, Trump senior advisor Sarah Huckabee and Sally Kohn, CNN political commentator and a Clinton supporter.

Welcome to both of you.

SALLY KOHN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Nice to see you.

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, TRUMP SENIOR ADVISER: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Nice to see you both.

So, Sarah, do we need a law requiring candidates to release their tax forms?

HUCKABEE: Look, if that's what the people are demanding, then they could certainly pass a law. But if anybody's responsible for there not being one, it would be Hillary Clinton, somebody who's actually been in government, who's had the opportunity to create and pass laws.

Donald Trump has never been a politician. He's a businessman. He's been creating jobs while Hillary Clinton's been creating laws. If she doesn't like the ones on the books, she should be looking in the mirror and pointing at herself as the only person in this race to blame.

COSTELLO: She has a point, Sally. So, the Democrats and the Republicans already in office --

KOHN: (INAUDIBLE) Sarah, no, no. First of all, she hasn't been president. Second of all, Hillary Clinton, along with other Democrats, have supported tax reform that make the very, very wealthy pay their fair share, like all hard working Americans, and the party then has opposed those reforms is the Republican Party.

The larger issue here is that Donald Trump seems to have a pathological ability to try and attribute to others that which he himself is responsible for. So he accuses the Mexican judge of racism or Hillary Clinton of race baiting. He accuses her of being a distraction or her not having any focus on policy. I mean, at a certain point, the American people have to just be laughing and going, but wait a second, you're the guy who keeps dividing us, who keeps launching these race-based attacks. You're the guy who, when pushed -- when asked, doesn't have answers to basic policy.

COSTELLO: But -- but isn't -- but isn't there a good argument, (INAUDIBLE), that Donald Trump is a businessman. He's acting as a businessman, right? And business men use these -- the taxes to their advantage to make money. And that's just the American way, isn't it?

SANDERS: Well, here's the real point. Donald Trump has followed the law. I mean, I guess I don't understand why, Sally, my question is, have you volunteered to pay more taxes when your accountant comes back and says, here's what you owe? I certainly didn't. I don't know anybody in America who says, you know what, I just don't think that that was quite enough. Let me -- here's another extra 10 percent just because. That's not how America works.

They follow the law. Donald Trump has followed the law. And, again, the only person in this race that's had any hand in creating or passing any legislation is Hillary Clinton. If there's any person that we could blame in this process, she's the only one. It certainly isn't Donald Trump. He's followed laws that Hillary Clinton, frankly, has helped create and pass.

[09:35:12] KOHN: All right, first of all, you do sound like Mr. Trump when he sort of -- when Hillary said in the debate, you know, well, let's just blame me for everything. He said, OK. I mean, come on. Let's be reasonable.

SANDERS: She's been in government for 30 years and has nothing to show for it.

KOHN: She -- I mean she was secretary of state. I mean she wasn't passing laws for the last -- so, you know, but -- but separate point from that. Let's go back. First of all, there are questions as to the legality of what Donald Trump has done. His private foundation, which you start a private foundation in order to make charitable donations with your own money and, therefore, get a tax donation. Well, he was raising money, according to the attorney general of New York, it looks like illegally, getting money from others. He hadn't contributed to his own private foundation since 2008. He was having people who owed him money and his business give money as a tax donation to the -- to the foundation that he could then write off, even though he wasn't actually contributing to his own foundation.

So I've got to be honest, you know, first of all, whether he was within the law is at this point highly questionable. And, second, I think hard working people can look at the way Donald Trump has behaved in his business, in his tax dealings, in his charitable dealings and say, we deserve better.

COSTELLO: And I will -- I will only add to that -- I will only add to that, Sarah, before you answer, that we have this new CNN/ORC poll out. It shows 80 percent of Republicans say it is a civic duty to pay income taxes. And most people do want Donald Trump to release his taxes because they now wonder, right? What else is in there? Is he hiding anything?

SANDERS: Look, again, Donald Trump has followed the letter of the law. If people want him to do something differently, then we should reform the system, which he wants to do, and somebody who understands the system far better than anyone else because he's been operating under it for so long as a businessman, as a very successful businessman. Again, Hillary Clinton has created these -- helped create laws, not fix the system. She's had a chance. She's done a horrible job.

KOHN: Unbelievable.

SANDERS: You mentioned that she was secretary of state. If you don't want to talk about her time as a senator, let's talk about her time as secretary of state. Every relationship we have at this point, our allies don't trust us, our enemies don't fear us. She's been a failure there. She's been a failure as a senator. And we have to move in a different direction. One of the most important polls I think that we've ignored --

COSTELLO: OK.

SANDERS: Seventy percent of Americans want change. The only person in this race that brings change is Donald Trump, and nobody can deny that.

COSTELLO: OK, last word, then I've got to go, Sally. KOHN: You -- you want to blame her for everything she's done and

everything she hasn't done and everything she's just been in, you know, alive during. Listen, this is very simple. I think Hillary's record of, you know, 20 plus years working on behalf of children and families stands for itself, unlike Donald Trump's record, of very clearly only working for himself, even still in this campaign.

But, look, if you think there's nothing for him to hide, if he thinks there's nothing for him to hide in those tax records, why not release them? Every other presidential candidate ever has. So if he's proud to have not paid any taxes, if he's proud of his business losses, then release your taxes. This seems very simple to me.

COSTELLO: OK, I have to leave it there. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Sally Kohn, thanks to both of you.

Still to come on the NEWSROOM, Hurricane Matthew is a monstrous storm now. It's hitting Haiti. And by the end of this week, it could be heading to Florida.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:42:30] COSTELLO: All right, I want to take you briefly to the state of Florida now because the governor there, Rick Scott, is expected to hold a news conference at any moment now. He's going to talk about the hurricane that's now bearing down on Haiti. That hurricane could cross over eastern Cuba later today and then, of course, it could hit Florida, but we don't know quite yet.

This is a very serious storm. It now has sustained winds of 145 mile per hour. It's the worst storm to hit Haiti in 52 years. So far it's killed three people there. Now, cruise ships are changing course and two U.S. governors are declaring states of emergency after the latest forecast show that storm shifting closer to the U.S. coast by the end of this week.

This is what category four Matthew looked like from the International Space Station yesterday. Ominous, right? Meteorologist Chad Myers is keeping an eye on things this morning.

Good morning, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

This 145 mile per hour storm slammed right into the southwestern peninsula of Haiti. Now, I suspect this storm has lost significant intensity, at least for now. Hurricane hunters are out there flying into it, but I think probably our advisory will be probably close to about 120 to 130 coming up here at 11:00.

But what do we have here? This is what Haiti experienced earlier today. Gusts of 175 miles per hour. It's moving to the north at 9:00, moving away but making landfall at about 7:00 in the morning as a category four hurricane with higher gusts.

The change from yesterday is that the storm has turned left. It's what we expected because the models in that 20 to 48 hour forecast, which is where they're the most accurate, was turning the model to the left, turning the storm to the left. And then now we have to wait for that turn back to the right. Notice what's happening up there, what could possibly happen is a U.S. landfall as a significant storm.

How significant? Well, here it is making landfall here. This is how close a category three hurricane could be by Friday morning, or maybe -- I'd say call it Thursday midnight because that's 2:00 a.m. But a 120-mile-per-hour storm making an approach to the U.S. If it turns any farther to the left, the left side of the cone is all the way to Orlando or Tampa. If it turns right and away, then we get a big miss and just big waves.

But, Carol, this is a storm to watch. This could be the first major landfall hurricane in a very long time for Florida, the Gulf Coast or anywhere in the U.S.

COSTELLO: All right, Chad Myers reporting for us. Thanks so much.

[09:44:54] Still to come in the NEWSROOM, grab your backpack. Tonight's political spotlight heads back to school. So what exactly do the VP hopefuls need to do to excite a student-filled crowd. We're talking the youth vote 101, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: As you can hear, the anticipation is building here in Farmville, Virginia. Longwood University the backdrop for tonight's faceoff. And the audience, filled with students from that school, getting the chance to watch history made, in what many are calling one of the most vicious elections in presidential history.

So when it comes to some voter, even acting senators, the struggle to call either candidate a role model is real. Case in point, Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire.

[09:50:10] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you tell them to be like Donald Trump? Would you point to him as a role model?

SEN. KELLY AYOTTE (R), NEW HAMPSHIRE: I -- well, I think that certainly there are many role models that we have. And I -- I believe he's -- can serve as president. And, so, absolutely, I would do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So Kelly Ayotte was in a debate and she's fighting to hold on to her Senate seat. And later in the night she took that all back. She wrote in a statement, quote, "I misspoke tonight. While I would hope all of our children would aspire to be president, neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton have set a good example and I wouldn't hold up either of them as role models for my kids."

With me now is W. Taylor Reveley IV, the president of Longwood University. Welcome, sir.

He brought his fan club with him. I love that. I do.

Before we dive into the role model question, it's pretty amazing that you guys scored the vice presidential debate. How did you do that?

W. TAYLOR REVELEY IV, PRESIDENT, LONGWOOD UNIVERSITY: It really is wonderful. And you can feel the excitement all around on campus. And, you know, we've been working at this for a year. There are about 100 places all around the country that were -- that put their name in the hat. And we made it to the finals. And then, here we are. Here we are.

COSTELLO: But the students approached you and said, hey, Mr. President, why can't we have a debate.

REVELEY: So I teach a course on the U.S. presidents each fall and it was two years ago in the classroom we were talking about the debates and discussion turned to whether we might ever do it here. The idea lodged in my mind and two years later big doings on campus.

COSTELLO: Awesome. OK, so students will hit -- fill the debate hall. In fact, you gave up your ticket so yet another student could sit in and watch history in the making. What do you hope they take away from this debate?

REVELEY: I really do hope the thing they take away is 90 minutes of a real exchange of ideas, a real measure of civility, some real substance. Those have all been in a little bit short supply in the wild and crazy year (INAUDIBLE).

COSTELLO: You heard Senator Kelly Ayotte, you know, during the debate in New Hampshire. She's debating, you know, her Democratic rival and she says, yes, Donald Trump is a role model. And then later, after social media reacted in kind of a vicious way, she said, I take it back, neither candidate is a role model. So what do you tell your students about role models and presidential candidates?

REVELEY: Yes, so what students are really looking forward to is, this is the first presidential election that they get to vote in. And very body dreams about the day they get to vote for president for the first time. 2016 is a hard year to see that dream fulfilled. But I really do think that on stage tonight there are two people who are experienced, thoughtful, articulate, public servants.

COSTELLO: So is there a sense among students that these two vice presidential candidates should actually be the two people running for president?

REVELEY: I don't know if I'd go that far, but you could flip the ticket to some advantage.

COSTELLO: Well, have you heard much support for either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump on campus?

REVELEY: No, I -- millennials, and I think this is somewhat specific to Longwood, but also generalizes across the country, very interested in public affairs, not necessarily as drawn to the parties, in my experience, to partisan public affairs.

COSTELLO: So let me ask you this, after this election is over, will we see a real shift in how presidential candidates play politics in the public arena? Will we see a shift away from these kinds of candidates and will a whole new generation take over? What's going to happen?

REVELEY: This is the first election where millennials and gen-x form the majority of the potential electorate. And I -- I do think 2016 is exceptional in all sorts of ways. And I do expect that when we get to the next cycle, which will come sooner than we think, that things might have a more normal rhythm to them.

COSTELLO: By normal, what does that -- I don't even know what that means anymore. What does normal mean in our political arena?

REVELEY: I think that what we're going to see tonight is a real example of what the future can hold. I really think --

COSTELLO: Even though these are two longtime politicians and America seemingly wants a change from the old, throw out the old, usher in the new?

REVELEY: I think what's right beneath the surface and that there is a real appetite for, is that substance. And what's become hard is to convey it. And I think the country is still relearning some of the habits of the art of discourse in this social media age. And I think that any new medium changes the dynamics. TV did it. Radio did it. And I think we'll be acclimating to social media soon enough.

COSTELLO: I have your predictions. I'm writing them down.

[09:55:01] Thank you, Mr. President, for stopping by.

REVELEY: Thank you.

COSTELLO: We appreciate it. And thanks for your -- thanks for your hospitality.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM in the next hour, Mr. Trump makes controversial comments about our troops and PTSD and Vice President Joe Biden strikes back. More of CNN's exclusive interview with Joe Biden, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:04] COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. We're live here in Farmville, Virginia, where Vice Presidential Candidates Mike Pence and Tim Kaine face off tonight for their first and only debate. Thank you so much for joining me.