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Several Women Accuse Trump of Unwanted Advances; Donald Trump Fires Back at the New York Times Article. Aired 9-9:30 ET
Aired October 13, 2016 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:08] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.
Damning new accusations. Donald Trump's presidential campaign reeling. Several women coming forward saying Trump was lying when he dismissed his sexually aggressive comments caught on tape as just locker room talk. They say he made unwanted physical advances on them. An attorney for Trump denying the claims, demanding retractions and threatening lawsuits. CNN working to confirm the reports of "The New York Times" and "People" magazine.
The latest bombshell just 26 days before the election and threatening a campaign that has struggled to regain its footing. Just take a look at the cover of "Time" magazine.
There's a whole lot to cover this morning. We'd like to begin with CNN's Jason Carroll. He's in Florida where Trump held an event yesterday. Good morning.
JASON CAROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Carol. You know, Trump's lawyer calling on the "Times" to retract its story, also releasing a statement saying, quote, your article is reckless, defamatory and constitutes libel per se. It is apparent from, among other things, the timing of the article that it is nothing more than a politically motivated effort to defeat Mr. Trump's candidacy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAROLL (voice-over): Several women speaking out accusing Donald Trump of touching them inappropriately.
JESSICA LEEDS, ACCUSED DONALD TRUMP OF INAPPROPRIATE TOUCHING: It was a real shock when all of a sudden his hands were all over me.
CAROLL (voice-over): Two of these women, Jessica Leeds and Rachel Crooks, telling "The New York Times" they were both groped or kissed by Trump without consent. The incident with Leeds allegedly took place 35 years ago when she sat next to the billionaire in the first class cabin on a flight.
LEEDS: If he had stuck with the upper part of the body, I might not have gotten -- I might not have gotten that upset. But when he started putting his hand up my skirt, and that was it. CAROLL (voice-over): Crooks telling the "Times," after introducing
herself to Trump outside an elevator at Trump Tower, Crooks alleges he would not let go of her hand, then kissed her directly on the mouth, something she says felt like a violation. Crooks says this happened in 2005.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, I'm automatically attracted to beautiful women. I just start kissing them.
CAROLL (voice-over): That same year, Trump boasted to Billy Bush about how he forces himself on women.
TRUMP: You can do anything.
BILLY BUSH, HOST, NBC: Whatever you want.
TRUMP: Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.
CAROLL (voice-over): The two women telling "The New York Times" they came forward after watching Trump deny ever assaulting women at Sunday's debate.
ANDERSON COOPER, DEBATE MODERATOR: Have you ever done those things?
TRUMP: Women have respect for me. And I will tell you, no, I have not.
CAROLL (voice-over): The Trump campaign says the entire article is fiction, calling "The New York Times" story a coordinated character assassination.
Also in 2005, Natasha Stoynoff, a writer for "People" magazine, claims that she was physically attacked by Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate while writing a piece on Trump and his wife, Melania's, one-year anniversary. Stoynoff says she was briefly alone with Trump in a room when, within seconds, he was pushing me against the wall and forcing his tongue down my throat.
The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment but a Trump spokesperson told the magazine, this never happened. There is no merit or veracity to this fabricated story.
This as another recording that year reveals Trump bragging to Howard Stern about going backstage at the beauty pageants he owns.
TRUMP: I'm allowed to go in because I'm the owner of the pageant and therefore, I'm inspecting it. They're standing there with no clothes. Is everybody OK? And you see these incredible looking women. And so I sort of get away with things like that.
CAROLL (voice-over): Former Miss Arizona Tasha Dixon tells CNN that's exactly what happened in 2001.
TASHA DIXON, FORMER MISS ARIZONA: It was announced Donald Trump was going to come in, and before you could put a robe or kind of dress yourself, he walked in. And, you know, some women were half naked. Others were in the process of changing. It puts us in not only in a physical, vulnerable position, but also an emotional state.
CAROLL (voice-over): Trump's campaign manager refusing to comment.
KELLYANNE CONWAY, DONALD TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN MANAGER: There's no way for me to know what happened there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAROLL: And, Carol, just within the past few moments, Donald Trump, who we all know likes to tweet, has tweeted about some of the allegations being made in that "New York Times" article saying the following, quote, the phony story in the failing "New York Times" is a total fabrication written by same people as last discredited story on woman. Watch.
Of course, he's talking about a story written by the "Times" last May where the "Times" was talking and quoting women who were talking about Trump's treatment of women. Some of those women later coming out, Carol, and saying that they were misquoted by the "Times."
[09:04:58] So once again, Donald Trump, taking aim at "The New York Times," taking aim at the media. He is expected to have another rally here in Florida later on today, where, once again, we're expecting him to go after the media, blaming the media once again for these latest allegations. Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Jason Carroll, many thanks to you. Of course, this time, "The New York Times" put one of Trump's accusers on tape, and you saw a bit of that in Jason's story.
We have our Brian Stelter on this story as well. He's going to dig up more information on this news report that Mr. Trump is talking about in his latest tweet.
Trump, ever the counter puncher, is threatening a lawsuit against "The New York Times." If he does, that might prove troublesome.
So let's talk about that and more. David Gergen is a CNN senior political analyst. David Lauter is the Washington bureau chief for "The Los Angeles Times," and Mel Robbins is a CNN commentator and legal analyst. Welcome to all of you.
So, Mel, if Mr. Trump does file a lawsuit, doesn't that give "The New York Times" the opportunity to request any information about Trump's entire sexual history?
Mel, can you hear me? Oh. Darn. I think she's on Skype and that sometimes happens, the Skype freezes. And I'm so frustrated because I want her to answer this question.
Mel, you're back? OK. Did you hear me?
MEL ROBBINS, CNN COMMENTATOR AND LEGAL ANALYST: You know, you cut out at the end of your question. But you know, I think, one of the things that I can say, Carol, is that one of the problems for Donald Trump is keeping this thing alive. I mean, he doesn't seem to understand that by counterpunching at this stage in the game, he's just making his problems bigger and bigger and bigger, Carol.
So, yes, bringing any kind of lawsuit is only going to make us all scrutinize this even further.
COSTELLO: But, I mean, there could be a deposition, right, and doesn't that give "The New York Times" the opportunity to ask everything about Donald Trump's sexual history? And then it might end up on videotape in some lawyers office.
ROBBINS: Yes. But, Carol, keep in mind, we're weeks away from the election. There's no way in heck, given our current legal system, that they're going to expedite something in that short of a period of time.
So by filing a lawsuit, he's making a preemptive strike and basically sending a signal to his supporters that this is a bunch of baloney, I'm attacking them, I'm filing a lawsuit, which, of course, in and of itself, proves that it's a bunch of baloney. And he's not going to have to do a deposition before the election, so I think it's the only that he's got if he wants to fight it.
I think his better move is to actually ignore it, move on, start talking about issues because, as I travel around the country, that's what I hear from his supporters, that they're basically making a judgment call that, hey, look, yes, what he said is deplorable but at the end of the day, I care more about what he might do with the economy. I care more about how he might change the government.
And so they're compartmentalizing the disgust that they may feel from some of this behavior, and they're prioritizing what they really want from him, which is a change.
COSTELLO: All right. So, David Gergen, you've advised four presidents. You know all about scandal. How do you advise a man who is accused by women of the very behavior that he bragged about.
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Carol, listen, I think the advising media was before the second debate and that was, it was obvious that he was going to be asked, are the things you're bragging about in this tape true? Did you do any of these things, or did you not?
And I think the better answer then would be, I did a lot of bad things when I was younger. I have changed. So he wouldn't leave himself open by saying, flatly, no, I did not to this. Now, the countercharges are coming forward, and this is not going to be tried in a court of law. It's going to be tried in the court of public opinion.
And what we have now is a tape in which Donald Trump says, very openly and in a bragging way, I did these things. I hit on all these women. He was asked by Anderson Cooper in the debate, no, I didn't do it. And now, the question before us is not whether he's a changed man. That's an argument maybe he could win. The argument is -- the question is, did he lie to the American people in the second debate? Did he openly lie to the country? That's a really egregious thing to do in the midst of a presidential
campaign. And now that we have four women coming forward and maybe a fifth, we've got three different news organizations or three different publications that are involved with this, not just "The New York Times," and we have, I think, it's such a gross statement.
These women from the Miss Universe pageant saying that this is a guy who sort of burst in on them when they were in their dressing rooms because he could. And what one senses throughout this, there's a theme that runs through, is a sense of entitlement.
COSTELLO: All right. I was just asking my producers, do we have that moment that you are talking about, David, where Anderson Cooper specifically asked Donald Trump whether he actually did grope women and make unwanted advances. We're going to have that in just a second.
[09:05:06] But, David Lauter -- two seconds. So, Mel, actually, I'll give this question to you. "The New York Times" reporters -- OK. We got it. So let's watch that. This is why these women came forward, because of the answer that Donald Trump gave Anderson Cooper during that second debate. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: You called what you said locker room banter. You described kissing women without consent, grabbing their genitals. That is sexual assault. You bragged that you have sexually assaulted women. Do you understand that?
TRUMP: No, I didn't say that at all. I don't think you understood what was said. This was locker room talk. I'm not proud of it. I apologized to my family. I apologize to the American people. Certainly, I'm not proud of it, but this is locker room talk.
You know, when we have a world where you have ISIS chopping off heads, where you have -- and, frankly, drowning people in steel cages. I said --
COOPER: So, for the record, you're saying you never did that?
TRUMP: I said things that, frankly, you hear these things I said. And I was embarrassed by it, but I have tremendous respect for women, and women --
COOPER: Have you ever done those things?
TRUMP: -- have respect for me. And I will tell you, no, I have not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: OK. So here's the thing, and I'll pose this question to you, David Lauter. These women in "The New York Times," they said they came forward because of Donald Trump's answer to that question.
"The New York Times" reporters also asked these women's family and friends if these women shared these stories about Donald Trump at the time. Those friends and family are also quoted in that "New York Times" article saying, yes, they did share these stories.
So does Donald Trump have much of a leg to stand on?
DAVID LAUTER, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES: : Well, Trump, Carol, will obviously argue to his supporters that this is a political hit job or, you know, that "The New York Times" is out to get him. But the problem that he faces now is that he is out there constantly saying all of these women who've attacked Bill Clinton, you should believe everything they said. But all of these women who attacked me, you should believe nothing they say.
It's a double standard that there's very little chance that voters are going to accept that. If he continues to try to attack Bill Clinton by bringing forward one woman after another, who's already said something about him, then it puts him in a very, very hard position to say, well, but ignore all these women who are talking about me.
I don't see how that's going to possibly work. He can continue to argue that it's political and that --
COSTELLO: Well, funny you should say that because Donald Trump just tweeted again, and this time he's tweeting about "People" magazine and the former writer from "People" magazine who said Donald Trump attacked her at Mar-a-Lago.
He said, quote, why didn't the writer of the 12-year-old article in "People" magazine mention the incident in her story? Because it did not happen.
So, David, he's doing exactly what you're saying he's doing. He's asking voters to believe all of Bill Clinton's accusers, but not his own accusers. Mel, how can that fly?
ROBBINS: It doesn't fly. I mean, I think with regard to his base, which is going to stick with him, Carol, as crazy as that sounds, they just don't care about this as much as they care about the economy, as much as they care about a nonpolitician stepping in and hopefully changing Washington.
They also, you know, are frustrated with the media, they're frustrated with people that talk as if they know better than them, and there's a huge sense of not only outrage but defiance. And so I think what you're seeing is a prioritization of issues by his base.
COSTELLO: Ok. Can --
ROBBINS: Now, the independents, people that he needs to win over, is this going to fly with them? Of course not. I think we're all sick and tired of hearing about, you know, the past regarding Bill Clinton and about what Trump is doing in terms of his sexual appetite for women.
COSTELLO: So, David Gergen, I hear what Mel is saying, but I do think that people care about this. And I do think that some members of Donald Trump's base care about these issues. What do you think?
GERGEN: I agree with you. I don't think we know the proportions, but, listen, I go all the way back to Nixon. I remember when he was under siege and insisting he was telling the truth and everything like that, and there were a band of people out there who insisted that Nixon was right, that he was doing a great job as President, and, you know, we should just go forward and forget about this.
And, of course, he went down because the overwhelming number of people in the country were, you know, became very suspicious, and then they felt that he can't possibly stay and he can't possibly serve and he had to go.
And in this situation, I do think that they're going to be a lot of women -- we'll have to watch the public reaction. I may be wrong. Maybe people will be very forgiving, whatever, but I do think that this is going to -- it's crushing his campaign.
Just in the last four weeks, you want to be out talking about the issues. And for the last two weeks, what is he doing? He's been talking about everything but the issues. And he just got himself wrapped up, and now he's getting wrapped up in fights with newspaper people.
[09:15:01] DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: And for the last two weeks, what is he doing? He's been talking about everything but the issues. And he just got himself wrapped up, and now he's getting wrapped up in fight with newspaper people.
And what appears is, instead of trying to win the election, which I think he feels maybe he can't win, he's trying to mobilize his base so that when he leaves, he's going to have a populist movement that will stick with him, maybe start a new TV channel. But he continues to be some kind of force in American public life.
That appears to be the more likely strategy than that he's actually trying to win the presidency through all of this.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.
All right. I have to leave it there. David Gergen, David Louder, Mel Robbins, thanks to all of you.
Still to come at the NEWSROOM: Trump supporters have been loudly defending their candidate. But what about the women in his family? Where's Ivanka or Melania?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:20:01] COSTELLO: Well, Donald Trump has just begun to fire back on Twitter at the "New York Times" over its explosive report. It's been radio silence from his family, including daughter Ivanka and his wife Melania Trump. The last time we heard from Mrs. Trump was when she issued a statement saying Trump's comments on the Billy Bush bus was offensive.
With me now, two of our political commentators, Hillary Clinton supporter Maria Cardona and Donald Trump supporter Ben Ferguson.
Welcome to both of you.
MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Welcome. Thank you, Carol.
BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.
COSTELLO: Thanks for being here.
So, Ben, where are Ivanka and Melania, you think?
FERGUSON: They need to be out on camera but then it also keeps feeding the story. You're in a tough situation.
I mean, Donald Trump is in trouble here because of his own words. And some of these other allegations that are coming out are just going to feed the fire and maybe it would be good for Donald Trump's family to come out and to, again, humanize him as a father.
But, if you do that, you're continuing to feed the beast of a story which is not keeping you on the issues, and the subject matter. Donald Trump --
COSTELLO: Well, Ben, let me just interrupt you here, because Donald Trump is feeding the beast. He started tweeting this morning already. Starting at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
FERGUSON: Yes.
COSTELLO: And seriously, if someone said those things about my husband, I would be coming to his defense.
FERGUSON: Well, I think you have to have a game plan here and a strategy, and the strategy of tweeting out every person that you don't like or comes after you, it doesn't keep you on the issues.
I mean, I said it yesterday, going to war with Paul Ryan makes no sense when you're 20-something days away from the election. You have raw meat with WikiLeaks. You should be talking about that.
But every single moment that you spend on this issue, or threatening to sue "The New York Times," which would t be settled before election day, is meaningless, and it is only going to hurt you on Election Day.
COSTELLO: So, Maria, Trump will likely continue to hit back hard today. He's already threatened nastier attacks if new tapes surface.
So, is Hillary Clinton ready?
CARDONA: I think she is ready for anything. I think what we saw at both debates and throughout the campaign trail is that this is a woman who expected the worst from frankly the worst and nastiest candidate that we've had in probably a presidential candidate history, at least modern history. And he's also telegraphed what he's going to do, right, which is kind of ironic but he always talks about how unpredictable he wants to be, he has said from the very beginning that this is going to be nasty.
He bragged after the first debate, which was a debacle for him, that he can be nastier than she can. And he sort of went there, where, you know, a lot of his own strategists and Republican strategists in general were cringing, and telling him not to go, which was focusing on Bill Clinton's infidelities, because we all know that doesn't work and is actually backfiring.
COSTELLO: And she may have a point because there is some evidence that this strategy has backfired, Ben. I want you to take a look at what Eric Trump posted on his Twitter feed. Eric Trump posted this map from the political blog FiveThirtyEight.
So, put that map up. Put that map up so people can see what I'm talking about. Because it looks awfully good for Trump, right?
The problem is, Ben, this map only includes male voters. Take a look at the other map that was posted on that blog. This is what happens if only women vote. Trump doesn't even crack 100 electoral votes. Ben, he has a problem.
FERGUSON: Yes, he has a massive problem. And look, the first week and a half when Kellyanne Conway would take over the campaign Donald Trump was focused and he was focused on what the issues were. He has lost that focus.
And if I was sitting in Trump Tower right now, I would say Donald, you cannot go to war with the GOP, you cannot go to war with Bill Clinton. That's not going to get enough people to vote for you. He's down in the polls right now.
And Hillary Clinton, her vulnerability is her honesty and integrity. Look at where she is in the polls. When you have a horrendous leak at Donald Trump just had, Hillary Clinton should be above 50 percent and my point is she's vulnerable. She's still in the 40s. Even after what could be, you could claim is the worst --
COSTELLO: You're absolutely right I can -- I can't disagree with you --
FERGUSON: Yes, and so, you've got to go after that. And not talk about these other issues, and says --
COSTELLO: But still --
FERGUSON: -- here is my plan for this country.
COSTELLO: Exactly. And but if Donald Trump continues to attack these women and talk about these issues -- pop up -- OK, let me give you an example about the weird things popping up. Allow me to vent for just a moment.
These maps that the FiveThirtyEight blog spawned, okay, so these maps spawned a trending hashtag called repeal the 19th that gave women the right to vote, by the way. Men are actually tweeting stuff like this, quote, "If women are the only thing stopping the greatest country this president has ever seen, why not repeal the 19th. Trump train."
Really, first? Dude? Dude? You are delusional. And secondly, dude, who raised you?
[09:25:00] Maria, this is insane.
CARDONA: Well, you know what, Carol, and everybody has criticized Hillary Clinton when she first came out and talked about the basket of deplorables and she has clarified that. But I'm sorry as a Hillary Clinton supporter, this person and everybody who came up with the #repealthe19th, they belong in that basket of deplorables, period.
And instead of repealing the 19th, I think that Donald Trump needs to repeal his candidacy, because that is what we are facing in this country. This man is dangerous and unfit to serve as president of the United States.
COSTELLO: Ben --
FERGUSON: And the argument that Donald Trump should be making out there today is look at what Hillary Clinton said behind closed doors on WikiLeaks.
COSTELLO: Ben, before you -- before you launch into your Hillary Clinton thing, I want to know, when the women who love you, and I'm sure there are many, because we love you, too, Ben, we do, what do you tell them about why you're supporting Donald Trump in spite of this distaste on the Billy Bush bus, in spite of these women coming forward now accusing him of groping --
FERGUSON: Sure. I literally had this conversation with my wife and I also had it with my mom the last couple days and I said here's why I can easily vote for Donald Trump.
I do not trust Hillary Clinton on two issues. I don't trust her on the Supreme Court. And I do not trust her on national security. And I don't think she has an understanding of the threat of ISIS. I don't think and her emails from WikiLeaks prove this, that she knows that we have a problem with these immigrants that she wants to allow in from some of these countries like Jordan and Syria.
Yet in public she says oh, we can vet them and they're fine. I don't believe her and trust her. And the Supreme Court is far bigger than Donald Trump.
COSTELLO: What do you tell those women that you love about how Donald Trump will stand up for them?
(CROSSTALK)
FERGUSON: I will make it very clear. I make it very clear. As a father with a new kid, I care about his future far more than I care about this issue with Bill Clinton, or Hillary Clinton, or Donald Trump. I look at the Supreme Court and I look at national security. It's come down to those two issues for me. So, I don't -- obviously I'm not defending Donald Trump's words. And
you haven't seen me on here defending his words recently. But I do believe that Hillary Clinton, on those two issues, is a much bigger threat to this country, and her accountability on lying -- look, if Donald Trump had not had this issue with Billy Bush, the WikiLeaks would be a massive story. There is tons of corruption there.
COSTELLO: OK. I've got to leave this conversation there but it's been a great conversation. I must say.
Maria Cardona, Ben Ferguson, thanks to both of you.
CARDONA: Thank you, Carol.
FERGUSON: Thanks.
COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Donald Trump firing back this morning, taking aim at both "The New York Times" and "People" magazine for their stories.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:00:08] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.
Damning new accusations. Donald Trump's presidential campaign reeling. Several women coming forward saying Trump was lying when he dismissed his sexually aggressive comments caught on tape as just locker room talk. They say he made unwanted physical advances on them. An attorney for Trump denying the claims, demanding retractions and threatening lawsuits. CNN working to confirm the reports of "The New York Times" and "People" magazine.
The latest bombshell just 26 days before the election and threatening a campaign that has struggled to regain its footing. Just take a look at the cover of "Time" magazine.
There's a whole lot to cover this morning. We'd like to begin with CNN's Jason Carroll. He's in Florida where Trump held an event yesterday. Good morning.
JASON CAROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Carol. You know, Trump's lawyer calling on the "Times" to retract its story, also releasing a statement saying, quote, your article is reckless, defamatory and constitutes libel per se. It is apparent from, among other things, the timing of the article that it is nothing more than a politically motivated effort to defeat Mr. Trump's candidacy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAROLL (voice-over): Several women speaking out accusing Donald Trump of touching them inappropriately.
JESSICA LEEDS, ACCUSED DONALD TRUMP OF INAPPROPRIATE TOUCHING: It was a real shock when all of a sudden his hands were all over me.
CAROLL (voice-over): Two of these women, Jessica Leeds and Rachel Crooks, telling "The New York Times" they were both groped or kissed by Trump without consent. The incident with Leeds allegedly took place 35 years ago when she sat next to the billionaire in the first class cabin on a flight.
LEEDS: If he had stuck with the upper part of the body, I might not have gotten -- I might not have gotten that upset. But when he started putting his hand up my skirt, and that was it.
CAROLL (voice-over): Crooks telling the "Times," after introducing herself to Trump outside an elevator at Trump Tower, Crooks alleges he would not let go of her hand, then kissed her directly on the mouth, something she says felt like a violation. Crooks says this happened in 2005.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, I'm automatically attracted to beautiful women. I just start kissing them.
CAROLL (voice-over): That same year, Trump boasted to Billy Bush about how he forces himself on women.
TRUMP: You can do anything.
BILLY BUSH, HOST, NBC: Whatever you want.
TRUMP: Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.
CAROLL (voice-over): The two women telling "The New York Times" they came forward after watching Trump deny ever assaulting women at Sunday's debate.
ANDERSON COOPER, DEBATE MODERATOR: Have you ever done those things?
TRUMP: Women have respect for me. And I will tell you, no, I have not.
CAROLL (voice-over): The Trump campaign says the entire article is fiction, calling "The New York Times" story a coordinated character assassination.
Also in 2005, Natasha Stoynoff, a writer for "People" magazine, claims that she was physically attacked by Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate while writing a piece on Trump and his wife, Melania's, one-year anniversary. Stoynoff says she was briefly alone with Trump in a room when, within seconds, he was pushing me against the wall and forcing his tongue down my throat.
The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment but a Trump spokesperson told the magazine, this never happened. There is no merit or veracity to this fabricated story.
This as another recording that year reveals Trump bragging to Howard Stern about going backstage at the beauty pageants he owns. TRUMP: I'm allowed to go in because I'm the owner of the pageant and
therefore, I'm inspecting it. They're standing there with no clothes. Is everybody OK? And you see these incredible looking women. And so I sort of get away with things like that.
CAROLL (voice-over): Former Miss Arizona Tasha Dixon tells CNN that's exactly what happened in 2001.
TASHA DIXON, FORMER MISS ARIZONA: It was announced Donald Trump was going to come in, and before you could put a robe or kind of dress yourself, he walked in. And, you know, some women were half naked. Others were in the process of changing. It puts us in not only in a physical, vulnerable position, but also an emotional state.
CAROLL (voice-over): Trump's campaign manager refusing to comment.
KELLYANNE CONWAY, DONALD TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN MANAGER: There's no way for me to know what happened there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAROLL: And, Carol, just within the past few moments, Donald Trump, who we all know likes to tweet, has tweeted about some of the allegations being made in that "New York Times" article saying the following, quote, the phony story in the failing "New York Times" is a total fabrication written by same people as last discredited story on woman. Watch.
Of course, he's talking about a story written by the "Times" last May where the "Times" was talking and quoting women who were talking about Trump's treatment of women. Some of those women later coming out, Carol, and saying that they were misquoted by the "Times."
[09:04:58] So once again, Donald Trump, taking aim at "The New York Times," taking aim at the media. He is expected to have another rally here in Florida later on today, where, once again, we're expecting him to go after the media, blaming the media once again for these latest allegations. Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Jason Carroll, many thanks to you. Of course, this time, "The New York Times" put one of Trump's accusers on tape, and you saw a bit of that in Jason's story.
We have our Brian Stelter on this story as well. He's going to dig up more information on this news report that Mr. Trump is talking about in his latest tweet.
Trump, ever the counter puncher, is threatening a lawsuit against "The New York Times." If he does, that might prove troublesome.
So let's talk about that and more. David Gergen is a CNN senior political analyst. David Lauter is the Washington bureau chief for "The Los Angeles Times," and Mel Robbins is a CNN commentator and legal analyst. Welcome to all of you.
So, Mel, if Mr. Trump does file a lawsuit, doesn't that give "The New York Times" the opportunity to request any information about Trump's entire sexual history?
Mel, can you hear me? Oh. Darn. I think she's on Skype and that sometimes happens, the Skype freezes. And I'm so frustrated because I want her to answer this question.
Mel, you're back? OK. Did you hear me?
MEL ROBBINS, CNN COMMENTATOR AND LEGAL ANALYST: You know, you cut out at the end of your question. But you know, I think, one of the things that I can say, Carol, is that one of the problems for Donald Trump is keeping this thing alive. I mean, he doesn't seem to understand that by counterpunching at this stage in the game, he's just making his problems bigger and bigger and bigger, Carol.
So, yes, bringing any kind of lawsuit is only going to make us all scrutinize this even further.
COSTELLO: But, I mean, there could be a deposition, right, and doesn't that give "The New York Times" the opportunity to ask everything about Donald Trump's sexual history? And then it might end up on videotape in some lawyers office.
ROBBINS: Yes. But, Carol, keep in mind, we're weeks away from the election. There's no way in heck, given our current legal system, that they're going to expedite something in that short of a period of time.
So by filing a lawsuit, he's making a preemptive strike and basically sending a signal to his supporters that this is a bunch of baloney, I'm attacking them, I'm filing a lawsuit, which, of course, in and of itself, proves that it's a bunch of baloney. And he's not going to have to do a deposition before the election, so I think it's the only that he's got if he wants to fight it.
I think his better move is to actually ignore it, move on, start talking about issues because, as I travel around the country, that's what I hear from his supporters, that they're basically making a judgment call that, hey, look, yes, what he said is deplorable but at the end of the day, I care more about what he might do with the economy. I care more about how he might change the government.
And so they're compartmentalizing the disgust that they may feel from some of this behavior, and they're prioritizing what they really want from him, which is a change.
COSTELLO: All right. So, David Gergen, you've advised four presidents. You know all about scandal. How do you advise a man who is accused by women of the very behavior that he bragged about.
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Carol, listen, I think the advising media was before the second debate and that was, it was obvious that he was going to be asked, are the things you're bragging about in this tape true? Did you do any of these things, or did you not?
And I think the better answer then would be, I did a lot of bad things when I was younger. I have changed. So he wouldn't leave himself open by saying, flatly, no, I did not to this. Now, the countercharges are coming forward, and this is not going to be tried in a court of law. It's going to be tried in the court of public opinion.
And what we have now is a tape in which Donald Trump says, very openly and in a bragging way, I did these things. I hit on all these women. He was asked by Anderson Cooper in the debate, no, I didn't do it. And now, the question before us is not whether he's a changed man. That's an argument maybe he could win. The argument is -- the question is, did he lie to the American people in the second debate? Did he openly lie to the country?
That's a really egregious thing to do in the midst of a presidential campaign. And now that we have four women coming forward and maybe a fifth, we've got three different news organizations or three different publications that are involved with this, not just "The New York Times," and we have, I think, it's such a gross statement.
These women from the Miss Universe pageant saying that this is a guy who sort of burst in on them when they were in their dressing rooms because he could. And what one senses throughout this, there's a theme that runs through, is a sense of entitlement.
COSTELLO: All right. I was just asking my producers, do we have that moment that you are talking about, David, where Anderson Cooper specifically asked Donald Trump whether he actually did grope women and make unwanted advances. We're going to have that in just a second.
[09:05:06] But, David Lauter -- two seconds. So, Mel, actually, I'll give this question to you. "The New York Times" reporters -- OK. We got it. So let's watch that. This is why these women came forward, because of the answer that Donald Trump gave Anderson Cooper during that second debate. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: You called what you said locker room banter. You described kissing women without consent, grabbing their genitals. That is sexual assault. You bragged that you have sexually assaulted women. Do you understand that?
TRUMP: No, I didn't say that at all. I don't think you understood what was said. This was locker room talk. I'm not proud of it. I apologized to my family. I apologize to the American people. Certainly, I'm not proud of it, but this is locker room talk.
You know, when we have a world where you have ISIS chopping off heads, where you have -- and, frankly, drowning people in steel cages. I said --
COOPER: So, for the record, you're saying you never did that?
TRUMP: I said things that, frankly, you hear these things I said. And I was embarrassed by it, but I have tremendous respect for women, and women --
COOPER: Have you ever done those things?
TRUMP: -- have respect for me. And I will tell you, no, I have not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: OK. So here's the thing, and I'll pose this question to you, David Lauter. These women in "The New York Times," they said they came forward because of Donald Trump's answer to that question.
"The New York Times" reporters also asked these women's family and friends if these women shared these stories about Donald Trump at the time. Those friends and family are also quoted in that "New York Times" article saying, yes, they did share these stories.
So does Donald Trump have much of a leg to stand on?
DAVID LAUTER, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES: : Well, Trump, Carol, will obviously argue to his supporters that this is a political hit job or, you know, that "The New York Times" is out to get him. But the problem that he faces now is that he is out there constantly saying all of these women who've attacked Bill Clinton, you should believe everything they said. But all of these women who attacked me, you should believe nothing they say.
It's a double standard that there's very little chance that voters are going to accept that. If he continues to try to attack Bill Clinton by bringing forward one woman after another, who's already said something about him, then it puts him in a very, very hard position to say, well, but ignore all these women who are talking about me.
I don't see how that's going to possibly work. He can continue to argue that it's political and that --
COSTELLO: Well, funny you should say that because Donald Trump just tweeted again, and this time he's tweeting about "People" magazine and the former writer from "People" magazine who said Donald Trump attacked her at Mar-a-Lago.
He said, quote, why didn't the writer of the 12-year-old article in "People" magazine mention the incident in her story? Because it did not happen.
So, David, he's doing exactly what you're saying he's doing. He's asking voters to believe all of Bill Clinton's accusers, but not his own accusers. Mel, how can that fly?
ROBBINS: It doesn't fly. I mean, I think with regard to his base, which is going to stick with him, Carol, as crazy as that sounds, they just don't care about this as much as they care about the economy, as much as they care about a nonpolitician stepping in and hopefully changing Washington.
They also, you know, are frustrated with the media, they're frustrated with people that talk as if they know better than them, and there's a huge sense of not only outrage but defiance. And so I think what you're seeing is a prioritization of issues by his base.
COSTELLO: OK. Can --
ROBBINS: Now, the independents, people that he needs to win over, is this going to fly with them? Of course not. I think we're all sick and tired of hearing about, you know, the past regarding Bill Clinton and about what Trump is doing in terms of his sexual appetite for women.
COSTELLO: So, David Gergen, I hear what Mel is saying, but I do think that people care about this. And I do think that some members of Donald Trump's base care about these issues. What do you think?
GERGEN: I agree with you. I don't think we know the proportions, but, listen, I go all the way back to Nixon. I remember when he was under siege and insisting he was telling the truth and everything like that, and there were a band of people out there who insisted that Nixon was right, that he was doing a great job as President, and, you know, we should just go forward and forget about this.
And, of course, he went down because the overwhelming number of people in the country were, you know, became very suspicious, and then they felt that he can't possibly stay and he can't possibly serve and he had to go.
And in this situation, I do think that they're going to be a lot of women -- we'll have to watch the public reaction. I may be wrong. Maybe people will be very forgiving, whatever, but I do think that this is going to -- it's crushing his campaign.
Just in the last four weeks, you want to be out talking about the issues. And for the last two weeks, what is he doing? He's been talking about everything but the issues. And he just got himself wrapped up, and now he's getting wrapped up in fights with newspaper people.
