Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Donald Trtump Releases Video Apology for 2005 Comments on Women; Hurricane Matthew Latest. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired October 08, 2016 - 01:00   ET

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


ANNOUNCER: This is CNN "BREAKING NEWS".

[01:00:36] PAULA NEWTON, CNN BREAKING NEWS ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Paula Newton in Atlanta. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. We start with a new bombshell in the race for the White House. Donald Trump apologized just a short time ago for lewd comments about groping women that were caught on tape in 2005. Now that footage just surfaced on Friday causing a widespread uproar. Now, it's the first formal apology that Trump has issued for anything throughout his entire campaign. And here's what he had to say.

DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've never said I'm a perfect person nor pretended to be someone that I'm not. I've said and done things I regret and the words released today on this more than a decade old video are one of them. Anyone who knows me knows these words don't reflect who I am. I said it, I was wrong and I apologize. I travel the country talking about change for America, but my travels have also changed me. I've spent time with grieving mothers who've lost their children, laid-off workers whose jobs have gone to other countries and people from all walks of life who just want a better future. I have gotten to know the great people of our country and I've been humbled by the faith they placed in me. I pledge to be a better man tomorrow and will never, ever let you down. Let's be honest, we're living in the real world, this is nothing more than a distraction from the important issues we're facing today. We're losing our jobs, we're less safe than we were eight years ago and Washington is totally broken. Hillary Clinton and her kind have run our country into the ground. I've said some foolish things but there's a big difference between the words and actions of other people. Bill Clinton has actually abused women and Hillary has bullied, attacked, shamed and intimidated his victims. We will discuss this more in the coming days. See you at the debate on Sunday.

NEWTON: That was Donald Trump just about an hour ago, and as you just heard he said, "I said it. I was wrong and I apologize.", and you're going to see now what he is apologizing for. "The Washington Post" obtained video from 2005 long before Trump became the Republican Nominee for President. In it, he talks off camera about trying to have sex with a married woman. Now, we're going to run that full video now but we have to warn you, the content is graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILLY BUSH, THE BILLY BUSH SHOW HOST: Right. She's still very beautiful.

TRUMP: I moved on her actually. You know she was down in Palm Beach. I moved on her and I failed. I'll admit it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa.

TRUMP: I did try and (BLEEP) her. She was married.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's huge news there.

TRUMP: No, no, Nancy. This was -- And I moved on her very heavily in fact. I took her out furniture shopping. She wanted to get some furniture. I said I'll show you where they have some nice furniture. I took her out furniture. I moved on her like a bitch, but I couldn't get there, and she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she's now got the big, phony tits and everything. She's totally changed her look.

Bush: Sheesh, your girl's hot as shit. In the purple.

TRUMP: Whoa! Yes! Whoa!

Bush: Yes! The Donald has scored. Whoa, my man!

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Look at you. You are a pussy. Maybe it's a different one.

BUSH: It better not be the publicist. No, it's her. It's -

TRUMP: Yeah, that's her with the gold. I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful - I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything.

BUSH: Whatever you want.

TRUMP: Grab them by the (BLEEP). You can do anything.

BUSH: Yeah those legs, all I can see is the legs.

TRUMP: Oh, it looks good.

BUSH: Come on, shorty.

TRUMP: Oh, nice legs, huh?

BUSH: Oh, get out of the way, honey. Oh, that's good legs. Go ahead.

TRUMP: It's always good if you don't fall out of the bus. Like Ford, Gerald Ford, remember?

BUSH: Down below. Pull the handle.

TRUMP: Hello. How are you? Hi.

ARIANNE ZUCKER, MODEL AND ACTRESS: Hi, Mr Trump. How are you?

TRUMP: Nice seeing you. Terrific, terrific. You know Billy Bush?

ZUCKER: How are you?

BUSH: Hello, nice to see you. How you doing, Arianne?

ZUCKER: I'm doing very well, thank you. Are you ready to be a soap star?

TRUMP: We're ready, let's go. Make me a soap star.

BUSH: How about a little hug for the Donald? He just got off the bus.

ZUCKER: Would you like a little hug, darling?

TRUMP: OK, absolutely. Melania said this was okay.

BUSH: How about a little hug for the Bushy? I just got off the bus.

ZUCKER: Oh, bushy, bushy.

BUSH: Here we go.

TRUMP: Excellent.

BUSH: Well, you've got a nice co-star here.

TRUMP: Good.

ZUCKER: Yes, absolutely.

BUSH: After you.

TRUMP: Come on, Billy, don't be shy.

BUSH: Soon as a beautiful woman shows up he just, he takes off. This always happens.

ZUCKER: I'm sorry, come here.

BUSH: Let the little guy in here, come on.

ZUCKER: Yeah let the little guy in. How you feel now? Better? I should actually be in the middle.

BUSH: It's hard to walk next to a guy like this. Yeah, you get in the middle. There we go.

TRUMP: That's better.

ZUCKER: This is much better. This is-

TRUMP: That's better.

BUSH: Now, if you had to choose honestly between one of us, me or the Donald?

TRUMP: No, no, no. That's tough competition.

ZUCKER: That's some pressure right there.

BUSH: Seriously, you had to take one of us as a date.

ZUCKER: I have to take the Fifth on that one.

BUSH: Really?

ZUCKER: Yep. I'll take both.

TRUMP: Which way?

ZUCKER: Make a right. Here we go. Right into days.

BUSH: Here we go. I'm going to leave you here.

TRUMP: Okay.

BUSH: (INAUDIBLE) my microphone.

TRUMP: Okay. You're going to -- Oh, you're finished?

BUSH: Yeah, my man, yeah.

TRUMP: Oh, good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to go do our shot.

ZUCKER: Oh, you want to reset?

NEWTON: Now, Trump's opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton is condemning his behavior, her campaign says it will press republicans to say if they still think Trump should be president despite those comments you just heard there. Now, shortly after this footage surfaced, Clinton tweeted, "This is horrific. We cannot allow this man to become president." Then later, she also tweeted, "Women have the power to stop Trump." Now, two high ranking republicans from Utah are among the first to withdraw their support for Trump, following the release of that controversial video, Now, Utah Governor, Gary Herbert said in a tweet, "Donald Trump's statements are beyond offensive and despicable. While I cannot vote for Hillary Clinton, I will not vote for Trump." And Congressman Jason Chaffetz says, "I'm out. I can no longer in good conscience endorse this person for president. It is some of the most abhorrent and offensive comments that you can possibly imagine." Joining me to discuss this is Republican Consultant John Thomas and Political Strategist Max Zilber. Buckle up, we got a lot to get through here. Let's start first with the apology which we just got in the last hour. I mean that was not an act of contrition. That was a statement, a declaration even of defiance. John, to you first, I know you deal in crisis management. How did he deal?

[01:07:16] JOHN THOMAS, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: Look, I think he -- it was a big revelation for Donald Trump. He apologized. And let's not forget he's done a lot in this campaign and never apologized. But this moment, he admitted he was wrong and he said this isn't who he is today and he's grown from that point and he's hoping to get back to the issues. Look, what can you say to a video like that other than apologize and try to move on?

NEWTON: Many people are saying many things about a video like that including -- I mean just before we get to you, Mack, I mean -- stunning. The speaker of the house, who was supposed to be on stage in Wisconsin with Trump later today, basically said that this was completely sickening and indicated that he would not be on the same stage. Mack, I mean, what do you say to the developments of the last 12 hours?

[01:08:07] MAX ZILBER, POLITICAL STRATEGIST: Look, Donald Trump looked like he had a gun to his head off the camera when he was giving that video speech. And if there was a gun to his head, it wouldn't matter because this campaign is dead already. When you have Mitt Romney saying that his behavior corrupts the country, when you have Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and even Reince Priebus, who's been a Trump defender from day one, standing up to condemn him in the strongest terms possible, it is over. And the biggest question now is how much will the shockwaves from this affect Republicans running for Senate and the House down ballot.

NEWTON: Yeah, in fact, John, Reince Priebus basically said that, "No, one -- you should never speak about a woman like that ever," and yet what we heard from Trump was actually doubling down on the sins of Bill Clinton. I mean, do you expect in what you heard this evening, I mean, there's comments right there, "No woman should ever be described in terms or talked about in this manner. Ever." That is quite clear, and you know, we are hearing from a large breadth of the Republican Party now, people who were going to support Donald Trump that they no longer support him. Of course, we're hearing from some of them on social media, some of them from our sources. I mean, John, in terms of the campaign itself, how do you get beyond this?

THOMAS: Well, Mack's right. Look, you're going to see a lot of defections in the coming 24 and 48 hours because a lot of a congress - members of congress and the U.S. senate are in self-preservation mode right now, and they should be, OK. But looking at Donald Trump campaign, I -- look tonight, obviously, what he said is reprehensible, but it's not a news flash that he's been demeaning to women before, and so, of course, these comments should never have been said, but just speaking crassly about the politics of it all, those who weren't with him and didn't like his temperament and personality before, I just don't think this moves the needle a lot in either direction. The problem is Donald Trump had to expand the tent, he had to bring in, particularly white women, into the tent to win this election and this tape certainly didn't do him any favors.

NEWTON: I mean, you're right about that in a sense that his base will likely sink well. I mean, look, they probably won't be surprised. They'll say we kind of expected that in private, he might speak a little bit like that, and it's not like Donald Trump hasn't been on radio shows speaking like that in past terms. I think what was so interesting here though was the commentary even from republican women saying that they were absolutely appalled, and actually using the word pervert and predator. I mean, absolutely unprecedented. Mack, I mean, if you're Hillary Clinton right now, I mean, you've got to confront this man on stage in two days. How do you play that?

ZILBER: I think that she has to stay back because if there's one thing that we've seen Donald Trump do over and over again, it's shoot himself in the foot when his other foot is already bleeding. If she stands back and lets himself emulate, this debate is going to go even worse from than the first one, just on the same way that the first time, back in the republican primaries, that he went down on the polls, he went out on the podium in front of everybody and said how stupid are the people of Iowa. He has the tendency to hurt himself more when he's flailing, and I see - I think we're going to see that on Sunday.

NEWTON: Yeah. And sort of -

THOMAS: It's more -

NEWTON: Go ahead.

THOMAS: It's more complicated than that because let's not forget there are allegations of rape out there against former President Bill Clinton so -

(CROSSTALK)

ZILBER: And against Donald Trump.

THOMAS: Well, I don't know. I mean,

(CROSSTALK)

ZILBER: The ones against Donald Trump were in a sworn deposition from his first wife.

NEWTON: Listen, it's true that both men have certainly disputable histories when it comes to women and they've had different accusations on one way or the other, but Bill Clinton isn't running right now, Hillary Clinton is running and - go ahead.

THOMAS: Yeah, that's right and it's complicated, as what I'm saying, this is a tight rope that Secretary Clinton has to walk because she did play a role in demeaning some of those women that accused Bill Clinton of rape and other things, so she lives in a bit of a glass house, so it's going to be fascinating to see how exactly she does handle it, because she has to be bring it up in the debate. It has to be brought up.

NEWTON: I think -

ZILBER: But (INAUDIBLE) the reality is - NEWTON: Go ahead.

ZILBER: The last time that the issues of Bill Clinton's infidelity came up in the '90s, Hillary Clinton's favorable ratings skyrocketed. I mean, I think that she couldn't be happier playing on this turf because her husband is not running for president, she is, and Donald Trump has infidelity and predator issues that dwarf those her husband.

THOMAS: Tell that to Juanita Broaddrick. No, no, no, no.

NEWTON: I want to get to kind of the implications of the campaign here and to do that, we're going to go through something that Jeb Bush tweeted today was, "As the grandfather of two precious girls, I find that no apology can excuse away Donald Trump's reprehensible comments degrading women." This is an interesting comment by somebody who's so held in very high esteem in the Republican Party but also because it was his cousin, Billy Bush, who was the person on that bus with Donald Trump. He also released a statement saying, "Obviously, I'm embarrassed and ashamed. It's no excuse, but this happened 11 years ago. I was younger, less mature, and acted foolishly in playing along. I'm very sorry." Perhaps Donald Trump couldn't take in some points from that unequivocal apology there, but in terms of how this will affect the Republican Party with congress and with the senate? I mean, John, if you're down ballot right now, we see it -- we see the tremors happening throughout the country already at this hour. What are you doing? Are you pulling further away from Trump? Is that what you would advise a state candidate to do right now?

THOMAS: Well, sure. I think republicans have to go on the record and disregard - and disavow these comments. But what's been actually remarkably interesting throughout this cycle is how little of coat tails Donald Trump has had on what we call the generic ballot. And I think that's largely because voters -- Donald Trump is new basically to the Republican Party, he doesn't necessary represent the brand even though he is at the top of the ticket. And so, I think, look, people down ticket are wise to make a statement and go on the record about this and time will tell but I suspect that while this will affect Donald Trump's future, I don't know that it will affect the balance of the houses.

NEWTON: Mack, does it put Hillary Clinton in a better position? You know there were, you know, there were states she was trying to turn and she's doing all that fundraising for her - I call her democratic colleagues right now. Do you think this pushes the democrats over the edge?

ZILBER: Absolutely. I think it pushes the democrats over the edge, but furthermore, I think it pushes two groups of republicans to her camp. The first is centrist moderates who support of someone like Mitt Romney. This is the time for them to stand up and be counted and realize that they're not going to be able to look their kids and grandkids in the eyes unless they switch over to Hillary Clinton today, this is their last escape hatch, and the other group is kind of be moving away from Trump on masses evangelicals. I don't think they move to Hillary but I think they either stay home or do a - some protest vote, third party. We may see a good result for Gary Johnson in Utah based on this Utah Republicans that's defecting.

NEWTON: And we'll see what happens there. OK gentlemen, stand by. We knew itw as going to take more than just a few minutes to get through this. We will get to it and some very interesting reaction as well from the vice presidential candidate on that republican ticket Mike Pence will get to that a little bit later on, but up next on CNN NEWSROOM, more on that following Donald's lewd comments about women that has surfaced on that video tape, stay with us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[01:16:50] RICHARD QUEST, CNN QUEST MEANS BUSINESS ANCHOR: I'm Richard Quest of the IMF in Washington, and these are the top business headlines. The Bank of England has opened an investigation into a mysterious crash in the value of the pound. The sterling fell six percent against the dollar in just two minutes. The cause of the flash crash is not known.

The president of the Euro group says the British government needs a reality check on its Brexit talks. Speaking to me here in Washington (INAUDIBLE) says, the U.K's vision of a post-Brexit relations with Europe are unrealistic. They urged all sides to calm down the rhetoric.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to find a sound base for future relations. I think if the warfare, the verbal warfare could be tuned down.

QUEST: Colombia's President Santos has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, and the finance minister says, the country's peace deal with FARC is not over yet. Colombian voters rejected the deal less than a week ago. Speaking to me on (INAUDIBLE) means business, Mauricio Cardenas said, "The prize will spur on the peace process." The peace process and the peace everyone have to be a reality. That's where the world community is waiting, and I think that was the message of the Nobel Peace Prize award today. You're up to date. Those are the top business headlines. I'm Richard Quest at the IMF in Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[01:19:22] NEWTON: We're turning now to our "BREAKING NEWS," Donald Trump is apologizing for lewd comments he made about women during an off-camera banter with an entertainment show back in 2005. Now, the video was released on Friday, and it's causing a widespread uproar. On the tape, Trump is heard bragging about trying to have sex with a married woman and being able to grope women because he's celebrity. Now, some republicans are starting to rescind their support for Trump following the release of that video. Earlier, U.S. Congressmen Jason Chaffetz of Utah told CNN's Don Lemon why she could no longer support Trump.

JASON CHAFFETZ, CONGRESSMAN OF UTAH: I'm out. I can no longer endorse Donald Trump for president. I - there's no possible way I'd vote for Hillary Clinton, but these are abhorrent, they are wrong, and to use a baseball metaphor, I got to call balls and strikes the way I see him. And, you know, my wife, Julie and I, we got a 15-year-old daughter. You think I can look her in the eye and tell her that I endorse Donald Trump for president when he acts like this in his apology? That was no apology, that was an apology for getting caught. Now, you can say that Bill Clinton did it, and did it worse. I mean, that should have been (INAUDIBLE) that it was the wrong behavior. So, I'm not going to put my good name and reputation and my family behind Donald Trump for president when he acts like this. I just can't - I just can't do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there anything congressman that he can say in this videotaped statement that is coming out at any moment that can change things for you or that can redeem him among the voters?

CHAFFETZ: I don't know. I don't know. But I worry that if - you know, it'd be naive to think if there's this and that sort of approach, you really think this is the only thing that's out there like this? I got to say, I played college football as a placekicker. I've been in a lot of locker rooms, this is not just locker room talk, OK? This was offensive and it was absolutely totally wrong and I'm not going to endorse him. Again, I'm not going to vote for Hillary Clinton. There's no way I'm going to do that, but I can't tell the good people of Utah that I endorse a person who acts like this. We all do silly, stupid stuff and try to make - you know, probably make jokes that are inappropriate, but this goes beyond that, and it's - and we - I think we should all stand up and say we're not going to tolerate this. Why can't we have a race to the bottom? Why can't we stand tall for high moral values? Because that's who we are as the Republican Party. And I can't endorse this person for president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think he should step aside?

CHAFFETZ: Well, I do wish that Mike Pence was at the top of the ticket, and I really do. I think not only his performance at the debate, but he is a person of high moral fiber. I did serve with him in the house for years. And I feel bad for the country, I feel bad for the Pences, I feel bad for Donald Trump's wife and his daughter. I don't know how he looks her in the eye and tries to explain this away. I - it's a tragedy. I don't know what the answer is, but having seen it and talked to my wife, and I just -- I can't endorse him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But do you think he should step aside? That was my question.

CHAFFETZ: Well, like I said, I wish that Mike Pence was at the top of the ticket.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mike Pence is -

CHAFFETZ: And we're going to have to figure that out at the - at the -- in the coming days and weeks, but it is tragic the way it is right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think that the House Speaker Paul Ryan should also retract his support for Donald Trump, Congressman?

CHAFFETZ: Well, everybody is going to have to figure this out for themselves. And, you know, I can only answer to myself and my wife, and I got to feel good about when I do it. I've - in the congress, I call out Democrats all day long for when they perform or do something silly and stupid, but this goes beyond silly and stupid. This is just intolerable. And so, I can only, you know, do what I see fit and maybe others will do the same, maybe they won't, maybe I'll get chastised for it, but I feel good in pulling back my endorsement. I just -- I have to do it.

NEWTON: The congressman there was certainly blunt and unequivocal. Utah's Governor. Meantime, Gary Herbert said in a tweet that he is also dropping his support for Trump. Now, we could see more Republicans distance themselves from Trump. Larry Sabato was the director of the Center for Politics at the university of Virginia. A few months ago when we should say that this was before the videotaped apology came out from Donald Trump. He weighed in on what this could all mean for Trump's campaign. Take a listen.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR POLITICS: It's one thing to imagine theoretically that someone is like this. It's another to be confronted with it. And this reality has had a major impact at least on the handful of swing voters and i think also on the democratic base that's motivated them.

NEWTON: And yet, if we talk about what it's going to do to republicans, we've now had paul Ryan, you know, basically - say, that he's sickened by this and that Donald Trump will not be at an event in Wisconsin. There were supposed to be sharing a stage for the first time. What is this doing to the Republican Party?

SABATO: The Republican Party is badly fractured, in fact, they're kind of like humpty-dumpty, and I'm quite sure how they're going to be put back together again once this election is there. But for the election itself the election itself, "It doesn't reflect Donald Trump's base at all. If you look at social media, you'll see the - virtually, every Trump supporter is defending Trump to the hills, they don't care. However, Donald Trump is in the low 40s. He needs another four or five percent of the vote to win. This is going to help prevent him from getting that four or five percent.

NEWTON: Yeah. And we've also thought that (INAUDIBLE) You know, at this impact, it's those swing voters that he desperately need to get? Is there -- did show that he was getting ever so slight, the kind of traction that he needed. And to Hillary, this was on a day when we've had more revelations about Clinton emails. Apparently, her speeches to banks have been leaked online, and they show something that perhaps especially about trade that she may not be so happy with, and you had what - it's completely obscured, ignored.

SABATO: It's totally obscured, and really, at the same effect, her days isn't going to defect at all. They're not going to be concerned about much of this. Why? Because the opponent is Donald Trump. And that's precisely why Donald Trump's face doesn't care about this new video tape, because the opponent is Hillary Clinton but, look who wins. Hillary Clinton is four or five points ahead of Donald Trump. So, if everything stays the way it is, even with these new revelations, Clinton still wins.

NEWTON: And we set this up going into an extraordinary town hall debate, really, on Sunday night here in the United States. I mean, how do you think the tone of that will now change?

SABATO: Well, we're certain to have some additional questions asked that haven't been planned on. The real question is whether the queries are made by the studio audience, they're supposed to be undecided voters selected by the Gallup Organization or will the two moderators ask about the videotapes and the WikiLeaks materials. I don't know how it will play out, but I know it will add to the spice of the debate.

NEWTON: And that was Larry Sabato there, and we were talking about the debate. Remember you can watch the debate right here on CNN, and it will be moderated by our own Anderson Cooper. Right now, I want you to stay here with CNN as we continue to cover this BREAKING NEWS story. Donald Trump has apologized for his crude comments about women. Is this a fatal blow to his campaign, or can he recover? We'll be right back with more from the political panel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:30:44] PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back now to our "Breaking News" coverage. I'm Paula Newton.

Donald Trump's camp is doing damage control after a leaked video of him was made public from 2005. Trump's microphone was on when he was caught speaking crudely about women.

Here's our Chief Political Correspondent, Dana Bash.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: At first Donald Trump released a very brief terse statement sort of apologizing for these vulgar comments and suggestions about actions that he could or would or should or had taken against women. But after the firestorm was so intense, the crisis mode was so furious inside Trump Tower and that the incoming they were getting from Republicans around the country was so intense not the least of which Paul Ryan, the House Speaker disinviting Donald Trump from an event in his home State of Wisconsin. Donald Trump aqueous (ph) and gave a statement on camera in his own words on his own terms.

Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I've never said I'm a perfect person nor pretended to be someone that I'm not. I've said and done things I regret and the words released today on this more than a decade old video are one of them. Anyone who knows me knows these words don't reflect who I am. I said it, I was wrong and I apologize. I've said some foolish things. But there's a big difference between the words and actions of other people.

Bill Clinton has abused women. And Hillary has bullied, attacked, shamed and intimidated his victims. We will discuss this more in the coming days. See you at the debate on Sunday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now that kind of straight to camera statement is incredibly rare for something like this and the fact that that was the mode and that was the medium that his campaign and he chose to use is quite telling. He didn't want to do a sit down interview with a reporter who was going to probe him. He didn't want to go before the press in a press conference with people who were going to pepper him with questions. He wanted to try to tamp down, do some damage control, say the words he never says, "I am sorry" try to get some credit for that and hunker down for 36 more hours before his debate performance. Very, very high stakes when he's going to have to answer to this another questions, but particularly this, standing across from his opponent for the presidency of the United States, who happens to be a woman.

Dana bash, CNN, Washington.

NEWTON: And back with me now to go through this, Republican Consultant John Thomas and Political Strategist Mac Zilber.

To the both of you just coming in here to CNN, GOP Senator Mike Lee who -- we have to say was not a supporter to start with. But he is kind of, you know, upping the ante here and saying that he would like Donald Trump to drop out of the race saying, "You, sir, are the distraction, your conduct is the distraction."

You know, I suspect guys that, look, what had been a whisper maybe for several weeks people are now going to start taking out that megaphone. And John, they're going to start saying look, we've got a pretty decent candidate here, let's write in Mike Pence for president.

JOHN THOMAS, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: A write in isn't going to work logistically. The ballots have been printed. You know, the party -- Donald Trump is the Republican nominee. It's too late for that. That's what the primary process was there to sort out. They chose Donald Trump and that's what we got.

Look, I think this might give another deep breath of oxygen to the Never Trump crowd. So I suspect we're going to see that over the next 48 to 72 hours. But we saw two big things from Donald Trump tonight after this tape broke. We saw he apologized and said he was wrong. Two things I thought we would never see before. These are big steps.

Now Trump is on the road to redemption. The questions is, can he get all the way there before Election Day?

NEWTON: Indeed John. Somehow I just can't see Hillary Clinton giving him credit for any of that on stage on Sunday night. I mean ...

THOMAS: I think you might be right.

[01:35:00] NEWTON: Yeah, Mac, I got to say though, is there a danger here for the Clinton campaign? You know, to get a bit too cocky about everything especially considering just today we had dropped her speeches to several banks. Apparently, they were leaked. No one from the campaign is denying that they were there, maybe made some questionable remarks to both the middle class, about trade and obviously there's that ongoing saga with the e-mails.

MAC ZILBER, PARTNER, JACOBSON & ZILBER STRATEGIES: Yeah. Well, I'm glad that you brought that up because if this tape didn't come out today we don't be talking tonight about the fact that the Russians again are hacking the Democrats to try to help Donald Trump get elected because they note that he's not going to protect our NATO allies, that he's not going to protect the Ukraine and that he's going to let Russia have basically unfettered access to Eastern Europe.

NEWTON: And yet you know that the campaign has that Achilles heel Mac. Every time she comes out and looks relatively strong she looks smug. There is a difference, Mac.

ZILBER: Yeah. Well, I mean, and the reality is that, if there were a normal GOP nominee, this would be a really tough race for the Democrats because it is tough to win three terms in a row. It's only been done once in 1998 by George H. W. Bush in the era of term limits. And the fact is Donald Trump is such a singularly flawed unfit and non-qualified candidate that the Democrats are in position to win three terms in a row which otherwise would be difficult no matter who the Democratic nominee would be.

THOMAS: Paula, I think the Clinton campaign is going to be incentivized to stretch out this video and story as long as they can because the longer it gets stretched out and covers its, number one, reenforcing the narrative that the Clinton campaign has been driving since day one.

And number two, we're not talking about her e-mails, we're not talking about WikiLeaks. And that's good for Clinton. So she's got to stretch it out. But like you said she can't go too far because she does live in a bit of a glass house on this issue.

NEWTON: But to be fair, so it's going to be too hard to stretch this out considering that the Associated Press started the week by basically saying that there is video and there evidence that he did speak like this on a regular basis on "The Apprentice" is just that people were sworn to secrecy -- legally sworn to secrecy and they couldn't say anything.

I want -- if you guys could just set up Sunday night though for me here. I mean Mac, first to you. You've got Hillary Clinton, you've got Donald Trump. How does Hillary Clinton even come out and address him? I mean, you know, they were fairly friendly and cordial in terms of body language during the last debate. ZILBER: I think that it's going to be difficult for her at the start. If we were calling the first debate, it took her 10, 20 minutes to figure out how do you deal with this singular force of nature?

The key is, you've got to give him enough rope to hang himself. Because eventually he's going to unravel if given enough chance to talk about his real vulnerability is on women's issues. And so I think that she's going to start out being cordial, genial, and isn't going to really start throwing the punches until 30, 40 minutes into the debate.

NEWTON: And John, I've got to put you on the spot here. Because this is your bread and butter, this is what you do in terms of advising candidates what they do in this situation. We're so used to in the media now, it's been literally more than a year of this. Every time Donald Trump has made a mistake, people count him out and then there he is again resurrected. What can he do during debate night?

THOMAS: Well, I think he started doing the right thing here. We call it in crisis management as hanging a lantern on the problem. You've got to own it. You've got to accept responsibility, disavow the comments and move on and shift the conversation back to your vision for America and why Hillary Clinton is an extension of the last eight years and Americans are desperate for a change.

This election is very simple. If this election is a referendum on Donald Trump, Donald Trump will lose. If this election is a referendum on the direction of the country and Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump will win. It's that simple. He has to shift the conversation back.

ZILBER: Right ...

NEWTON: Go ahead.

ZILBER: And the problem with hanging a lantern on the problem is that at this point Donald Trump is covered with lanterns. And a gaffe is most effective when it speaks to something that people already believe to be true about a candidate. And it'd be one thing if Donald Trump said I'll be a better person after doing this once. But this has been a pattern of saying things that are offensive to women, offensive to minorities. All ...

NEWTON: We'll have to hold it there for now. I will point out that he is still giving Hillary Clinton a run for her money even with all of that. Gentlemen, let's hold it there. I'm glad to say you guys will be back in the next hour with us because that has set a lot to mull over here. Appreciate it.

[01:39:16] In the meantime, we are covering Hurricane Matthew. Yes, it remains a threat to Florida and now that powerful storm is heading up the U.S. coast. We will give you the very latest from Georgia and South Carolina. That's just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: Hurricane Matthew continues to swirl off the southeastern U.S. pummeling the region with rain and strong winds. You know, this storm just will not quit. After killing hundreds of people in the Caribbean, the storm is being blamed for four deaths in Florida. It is also raised flash flood concerns there.

The National Weather Service has issued a warning for parts of Nassau County, north of Jacksonville. Authorities in Georgia and the Carolinas are now also preparing for the worse. Now, a Category 2 hurricane, Matthew will be offshore of those states in the coming hours.

We want to go straight to our Michael Holmes, he's in St. Augustine, Florida. Michael, you have covered this storm right from the Caribbean, now to the mainland United States. I there's been some severe flooding there in St. Augustine. But there's still more to come, isn't there?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, there sure is. This hurricane just won't quit. And we'll be talking to Derek Van Dam in a minute. He'll tell you that a Cat 2 is certainly a very formidable storm. I covered Hurricane Sandy back in 2012. We saw the damage that did up in New Jersey and that was only a tropical storm by the time it got to the coast. So, yeah, a lot of damage can still be done.

Yeah, we followed this one from Jamaica to Miami. We're in Melbourne, Florida yesterday and now we're in St. Augustine here in Florida.

This is a place that had a real problem a few hours ago. Not so long ago right where I'm standing the water was pretty much half a way up my calves from the storm surge. It's now disappeared and we're in the main part of the town a short time ago and it's pretty dry. It is going to come back a little bit with the tide but the storm surge is being a major issue.

This is a very historic city by the way, founded 450 years ago by a Spanish admiral. They called themselves the oldest city in America. And a very historic place. So they're very worried about that storm surge.

About 13,500 people lived here. There was a mandatory evacuation. Half of them did not go. And so they were stuck here during this flooding period. We heard the National Guard and police driving by all night helping people out inside. But it gives you a sense of what can happen when you don't take seriously that evacuation order.

[01:45:07] Electricity is still very much a problem in this particular county. Some 70,000 out of 82,000 are still without power. Throughout Florida, it's still over a million.

But when we were driving up from Melbourne earlier today here to St. Augustine, we saw really a line of utility trucks heading south to try to get that power back on for all of those hundreds of thousands of people.

But we're still getting buffeted here by wind and rain even though we're at the tail end of Hurricane Michael and we're going up to Charleston and Savannah and talking a little bit more about that with our correspondents on the line.

But first of all, I want to go to Derek Van Dam who's in the weather center to tell us about all of this, where it is now, what it's going to do, and that storm surge is going to be an issue a little bit further north of where we are isn't it?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. And Michael it is the storm that just will not give up. But, wow, let me put this into some context. We are so fortunate that this storm has only scraped the coastline because if it brought in the eyewall we would have seen considerably worse damage and worse storm surge than we actually saw. Even though this is still a formidable storm, as you've mentioned, the threat is not over. It certainly could have been a lot worse. Because what we're starting to notice as meteorologists is that the storm is losing its organization. It is starting to weaken and we expect this to actually be downgraded to a tropical storm more than likely within the next 36 to 48 hours. And that's according to a warning from the National Hurricane Center.

Speaking of the NHC, here is the latest 11:00 p.m. update. We're waiting for a 2:00 a.m. update but then still a category 2, 105 mile per hour sustained winds. It's located near the border of Georgia and South Carolina.

Let's look at the latest radar and give you a bit of perspective where the eyewall is. And by the way from all analysis of the radar signatures here we do believe that we have a high likelihood of a land falling hurricane. Keep in mind that the majority of the eye needs to actually cross land for that to officially happen, that has not taken place yet. But we do believe within the next, let's 6 to 12 hours, a land falling hurricane is likely but again, in a significant weaker state than what it was, let's say 24 hours ago. Not to say that this isn't a dangerous storm or a powerful storm. So we still want to take this very seriously considering that it is lashing the coastlines of the Carolinas and Georgia as we speak.

So, let's do a little analysis on the radar. Now, you see that big empty hole in the center of the storm, that is the eyewall. We have roughly 25 miles between the outer rain bands of that eyewall and land. So, basically the Hilton Head region could have a direct land falling hurricane here again within the next 6 to 12 hours. Remember, we see the strongest winds and the heaviest most intense rain right around the periphery of that eyewall.

So the threats going forward, certainly the storm surge, you can see some of the realized numbers that we have from Savannah to Charleston roughly running between 3.5 to 4.5 feet. Of course, we coincide that with high tide, we have the potential between 6 and 9 feet for the coast of Georgia and into portions of South Carolina. It lessens much more as you had a little bit farther north.

The big threat going forward Michael will be the flooding potential as the storm moves across North Carolina in a much weakened fashion. And then where it goes from there? Well, time will tell definitely. Michael, back to you. HOLMES: Yeah. Still plenty of potential for damage. Thanks so much Derek Van Dam. Appreciate that. You mentioned Charleston and you mentioned Savannah. We just happen to have Stephanie Elam in Savannah, Brian Todd is in Charleston. Stephanie, let's start with you, tell us what the conditions are like there and what people are telling you.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it's definitely picked up here Michael over the last couple of hours. Right now, we got a little bit of lull. You can feel the bands come through when they do. And the wind kicks up and that rain kicks up and it drives in.

Where I'm standing right now is River Street and -- the historic part of Savannah, Georgia. And just behind me there is the Savannah River which flows out into the ocean. And we have watched the levels rise and fall but it has not actually breached over this little river walk at this point. But still plenty of water here to deal with.

We understand from the county here, Chatham County where Savannah is, that's 75 percent of the residents have gone ahead and evacuated. And at this point in the night, they are saying that the conditions are just too severe. So first responders will not be out to help people now. So this is the time where people are hunkering down and just have to get through the storm on their own.

[01:50:01] To that end, I found a one restaurant here, where the owner and his wife, they are hunkering down in the building. They're staying here in the restaurant right here across the street from the river because they felt it was safer than their house. And they also wanted to just make sure that their restaurant was fine. They said the building was built in the 1790s and has withstood a lot of storms and so they feel like they were safer being in there.

But otherwise, very deserted here, a lot of people heeding the warnings and staying away and that is what they want people to do because for some of those regions that are further out in Georgia that are on the coast, those people first responders left early because there was not going to be any one who would be able to help them because the conditions there were just going to be too dangerous, Michael.

HOLMES: Yeah and you make a great point there Steph about. You know, if you do not evacuate, you're going to be in a position at some point where first responders will not come to you because it is too dangerous. We'll check in with you in a bit.

Brian Todd, you're in Charleston, there was an evacuation order there as well. What are conditions like? Was that heeded?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was heeded by many people Michael but the governor and other officials said just not enough people heeded that evacuation advisory. They don't make is mandatory but they do say, that they tell you to get out and if you don't get out you really doing this at your own risk.

You can see where I am now, the wind really starting to pick up. We have been pummeled by rain now for hours. But the wind here on King Street in Charleston is really starting to pick up.

This is Warren Street right behind me. A typical street in Charleston, South Carolina with a lot of low-hanging trees. And you know, with a narrow streets and a low-hanging trees, with the wind coming down the streets it creates kind of wind tunnel effect. And in the coming hours, when the wind really starts to intensify here on Charleston, trees like this one over here, I saw it's starting to buckle, it was leaning over a little while ago. It's going to get even worse and some of these trees could come down.

Flying debris is also an issue. We've seen a lot of debris flying around here. You can see the rain band hitting me right now as we speak. There rain bands come and bury intense waves. Storm surge is a huge issue here. As we point down King Street, you can see -- even visibility now is diminishing down here on King Street. Flooding is going to be a big problem here in Charleston.

Charleston floods when there is a normal rain storm because it is just so low to the tide where the Ashley and Cooper rivers meets Charleston harbor, it is right at sea level. Some areas here are below sea level. We are told those areas are flooding now like areas around Beaufort and some of the barrier islands. One of which we were on yesterday, Folly Island.

Nearly 400,000 people evacuated Michael. I just talked to an emergency management official who said the window for that is pretty much closed. But if you are stranded somewhere just get to the highest place you can. He told me we are advising people you can hide from wind but run from water. Storm surge here is going to be a big danger. They expect it to be between 8 and 11 feet of storm surge. And a town like Charleston, so low to the water, that's just a recipe for a lot of bad flooding Michael.

HOLMES: Yeah. As you say, you know, those who've been to Charleston in a heavy rain storm parts of that flood any way, they throw hurricane in there and they could be in -- through a lot of trouble.

Brian Todd there in historic Charleston and Stephanie Elam in Savannah, thanks so much to both of you. We're going to take a short break now here on the program. And when we come back, Paula Newton will pick it up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORTS ANCHOR: Hi, I'm Amanda Davies with your CNN World Sport headlines.

[01:55:03] European football nations have been involved in qualification for the Russia 2018 World Cup and the Euro 2016 champions, Portugal have produced their first win of a campaign.

Well, Cristiano Ronaldo is coming back to international duty with a bag with questions being asked about his forum for Real Madrid. Ronaldo wasn't back for the incoming forward for its country, he scored a first half hat trick, four in total as Portugal thrashed Andorra 6-0. Elsewhere, France hosted Bulgaria in their first game at the Stade de France since their defeat to Portugal at the Euro 2016 Final. There were boos when midfielder Alessandro plotted home a penalty to put Bulgaria ahead early on but the host quickly turned the game on its head with Kevin Gameiro scoring twice. And France came back to win 4- 1.

And Tiger Woods has confirmed he'll finally return to action next week. The 14 time major winner will play his first tournament in 14 months at the Safeway Open in California. He hasn't played since finishing tenth as a win in championship August 2015 because of a long standing back injury. But it's going to be a long road back to the top with currently 767th in the world rankings.

That is a look at your sports headlines. I'm Amanda Davies.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: And to update you now on our Breaking News. Donald Trump is saying sorry for the first time in his campaign. He apologized for comments captured on tape in 2005 in which he describes groping women and making sexual advances without invitation.

Washington Post obtained the footage and released it on Friday. For hours, the Trump campaign was scrambling to put together a response. Around midnight, Trump tried to set the record straight in a video statement. He said he was not the same man who made those comments 11 years ago and urged Americans to focus on the issues.

At the end, he issued a challenge to rival Hillary Clinton saying he would see her at the second presidential debate on Sunday.

And that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Newton and I will be right back here just after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)