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Trump Calls New Sex Assault Allegations False; Michelle Obama Denounces Trump. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired October 13, 2016 - 15:00   ET

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


[15:00:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And the people that said them meekly fully understand. You take a look at these people, you study these people, and you will understand also.

The claims are preposterous, ludicrous and defy truth, common sense and logic. We already have substantial evidence to dispute these lies, and it will be made public in an appropriate way and at an appropriate time very soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, so that was Donald Trump from earlier today.

Let me play you now some sound from Michelle Obama. She was out today in New Hampshire stumping for Hillary Clinton. And in her speech, the first lady eviscerated Trump, most powerfully by detailing her disgust over Trump's vulgarities caught on videotape and what they mean, not just to voters, but all women.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: This is not something that we can ignore. It's not something we can just sweep under the rug as just another disturbing footnote in a sad election season, because this was not just a lewd conversation. This wasn't just locker room banter.

This was a powerful individual speaking freely and openly about sexually predatory behavior and actually bragging about kissing and groping women, using language so obscene that many of us were worried about our children hearing it when we turn on the TV.

And to make matters worse, it now seems very clear that this isn't an isolated incident. It's one of countless examples of how he has treated women his whole life. And I have to tell you that I listen to all of this and I feel it so personally.

And I'm sure that many of you do, too, particularly the women. The shameful comments about our bodies, the disrespect of our ambitions and intellect, the belief that you can do anything you want to a woman? It is cruel. It's frightening. And the truth is, it hurts. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let's talk about all of this with CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger. Susan Page is with us also, Washington bureau chief for "USA Today" who is now covering her 10th presidential campaign, and CNN political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson.

So, ladies, nice to have you on.

Gloria Borger, to you first. Let's begin with what we heard from Donald Trump today essentially on the attack. He's declaring war on everyone. Obviously, he's frustrated. He says that these women's stories are false and that he has evidence to disprove.

What's your reaction to how he responded?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, and he also -- he called it slander and lies, and then, you know, Brooke, he went to make the more global point about the campaign, which is that there is a conspiracy against him, a conspiracy against his supporters that is led by the establishment, by the media, by corporations.

I think that what we see today is this kind of apocalyptic vision of the campaign from Donald Trump's point of view, which is that it's everybody against him and he is being lied about in the last 29 days. And, so, we see his vision here, which is trying to rally the base, trying to get out those supporters that otherwise might stay home, and they believe there are a bunch of them.

And then, on the other side, we see Michelle Obama talking directly to women, saying, you know what, you have the power to do something. You have the power to make the difference in this election with your vote.

So it was laid out pretty bare today, Brooke, and it's going to get uglier and nastier if we believe Donald Trump, who says there is more evidence on his side to come.

BALDWIN: You know, before we get to the first lady, Susan, I think what really struck me -- and, again, we have to reiterate, these women coming forward, they are accusations, right? They're accusations.

But he said, speaking about the former "People" magazine writer, Donald Trump today said: "You think these allegation s are true? Just look at her."

I'm assuming he's talking about his appearance -- her appearance, although I can't be sure. But if you're someone who is running to be the president of the United States saying, "Just look at her," and we talk about who's fit to be president, what do you think?

SUSAN PAGE, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "USA TODAY": Well, I think it's reminiscent of what he said about Carly Fiorina in the Republican primaries, when he said, "Look at that face."

And, of course, the behavior that he's now accused of engaging in is very similar to the behavior he bragged about in the "Access Hollywood" video. So, I think that that is a problem for him in making denials.

[15:05:04]

We're seeing a burn-down-the-house strategy, it seems to me, on the part of Donald Trump. At some passages in this long and kind of rambling speech that he just gave, he seemed to be acknowledging that there is a reasonable chance he's going to lose this election.

And he is in the process raising questions about the legitimacy of the election, whether you can trust the integrity of the election process, whether it was stolen from him by a conspiracy of powerful interests that he says are in collusion.

This is a kind of scorched-earth policy by this candidate that will have, I fear, big repercussions to come.

BALDWIN: When we talk about burn down the house, Nia, just listening to -- or reading of the Josh Green piece in Bloomberg where he's quoting Steve Bannon, who is saying, we will go nuclear on the Clintons -- I'm paraphrasing. He was saying, we will turn Bill Clinton into Bill Cosby.

And to Gloria's point about speaking to the base, but you have to add to the tent, right, to get to the 270. What do you make of how this may go?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, it won't go well for Trump if the idea is to grow that tent, right? Talking about Bill Clinton at this point, which has been a fixation of the Breitbart folks and Rush Limbaugh and Steve Bannon for many, many years, making this about Bill Clinton won't work because Bill Clinton is not on the ballot.

And I think there's a pretty good argument to be made that, if he were on the ballot in this political climate, in this cultural moment, that he might have a hard time getting elected, too, with all of his troubles that have been well-documented with women as well.

So I think what was interesting about this speech is, there was almost a messianic quality about it. I almost had the feeling of being in the last night of revival, right? He talks about him being the only person who could -- who's fit for this moment and this idea that this was the country's last chance for survival. He was the only one that could fix it. He is the only one that can bring jobs back.

So, I mean, this is very Breitbart-like, very much in a vein of what Steve Bannon likes to do, which is to create narratives, which is to create this idea of good and evil and heroes and villains.

And there Trump was identifying himself as the hero and everyone else in this very massive conspiracy theory that includes in collusion between Clinton and corporations and the media, and I guess possibly Paul Ryan and John McCain and the entire Republican establishment, and quite a contrast, right, between what he was painting, as Gloria said, this apocalyptic, doomsday scenario, where black people are getting shot in the inner city, because, apparently, that's the only place that black people live, but that vision of the country, vs. Michelle Obama's vision of the country, which was much more about inclusion, which was much more about uplift and hope, and this idea that Donald Trump's words don't reflect who the country is and where we are.

BALDWIN: Hillary Clinton reacted today. She was in San Francisco. She was talking to supporters at a campaign location. I just want to play how she responded to Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know that there's a lot of negativity right now generated by the other side.

But if you haven't seen it, I hope you will see Michelle Obama's speech today in New Hampshire.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: Once again, she not only made a compelling and strong case about the stakes in the election, but about who we are as Americans.

And we cannot let this pessimism, this dark and divisive and dangerous vision of America take hold in anybody's heart. We have to keep lifting up this campaign. That's why I am working as hard as I can yesterday in Pueblo, Colorado, and Las Vegas to say, look, I want to give you something to vote for, not just against.

I want to give you an agenda that will move us forward into the future. And I believe we can do it.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: I wouldn't be standing here and running if I did not believe. We can and we will.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: So, remember, when they go low, we go high.

AUDIENCE: We go high!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Taking again, Susan Page, from that Michelle Obama line, right, that we first heard at the DNC and then again we heard in New Hampshire today.

What did you think, Susan, of the first lady's speech?

PAGE: You know, I thought it was a remarkable political speech, an incredibly effective speech, as we saw at the convention, one of the most persuasive speakers in American politics.

And one reason is that she doesn't do this very often. Michelle Obama has been pretty -- really picks her shots when she's going to make a speech, and when she does, it has a tremendous effect. I think it is probably fair to say she is the most effective surrogate that either candidate has in this presidential race.

BORGER: And, Brooke, you know, I was...

BALDWIN: Yes.

BORGER: ... communicating with somebody in the Clinton campaign who said to me, we did not ask Michelle Obama to give this speech on this subject today. She told us she wanted to do it.

[15:10:11]

And so she did. And not only was it powerful, but it gave Hillary Clinton the opportunity to not deal with it directly. So, Hillary Clinton could go high, while Michelle Obama kind of hit it right straightforwardly and said, and said, you know, this is openly predatory about openly predatory behavior, which Hillary Clinton didn't have to go there then.

And I think this was something -- and you heard it from Michelle Obama, when she said, "I can't stop thinking about this." You understood why she had to talk about it. And it's not normally a place she would like to go, to be honest.

HENDERSON: You could hear the emotion in her voice. Right?

BORGER: Yes.

HENDERSON: I think, for many women and men, this was a speech that needed to be given. Aside from the politics, I think in many ways it was a political speech that had an apolitical theme to it, right, her talking about the stories of women who are in offices and a man gets too close to them and they look a little too long or they linger a little too long, and the feelings that women have when that happens, yes, and the fear, right?

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: She was saying it doesn't matter what party you belong to. No woman deserves to be treated that way.

Let me actually -- I want to bring in a young woman who was sitting in that audience listening to this, to the first lady first-hand.

Gloria, Nia, Susan, thank you so much.

To someone who was in the room as the first lady spoke those personal words about how Trump's conversation made her feel.

With me now, Micaela Guevara. She's a high school student in New Hampshire. Micaela Guevara turns 18 a week before Election Day. And she's also a fellow with the Hillary Clinton campaign working there from New Hampshire.

Micaela, nice to have you on CNN.

MICAELA GUEVARA, CLINTON CAMPAIGN FELLOW: Thank you. It's nice to be...

BALDWIN: What was that like being in the room?

GUEVARA: It is like no feeling I have ever had before.

I have seen Hillary speak so many times, but just being in that room with the first lady, it's a real eye-opener on what is at stake in this election and why is it -- like, it's so important to vote. And she really kind of summarized everything up for all of us in there.

And if it hadn't solidified my belief in Hillary, it definitely did this time around, which is so important to me at this point. So, just being in that room really was out of this world.

BALDWIN: We have got your Instagram picture of you reaching for the hug from the first lady.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: Micaela, you are a first-time voter. You are paying attention, thank goodness, to this all-important election. What do you think about when you hear these accusations from these women against Donald Trump and the comments he made on that bus?

GUEVARA: As a female myself and as a Hispanic voter, it's important to me that a president doesn't need to slander everyone else around him and doesn't need to say these things about women.

And everything that's coming out this week, I have no belief in him as a president. He -- if he goes around saying all that about females, it hurts me personally, it hurts my friends personally. I kind of just -- I just don't think that a president needs to say that about anyone at all generally, so, yes.

BALDWIN: Micaela, you say that, you know, Trump's history will catch up to him, but I have to ask you then about Bill Clinton, because Trump is using President Clinton's infidelities against him. What do you think of when it comes to Bill Clinton's past? As a 17-, going on 18-year-old, were you even aware?

GUEVARA: I was aware the entire time going into the election, but it's not Bill Clinton's election.

It's more Hillary's. And it's what Hillary is going to do for us, not Bill Clinton. So I think the focus needs to be on Hillary, not on Bill.

BALDWIN: Micaela Guevara, happy almost birthday.

GUEVARA: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Thank you so much.

Coming up here, my next guest worked as a Donald Trump executive for 18 years. Does she believe these accusations of sexual misconduct against him? We will talk to her about Trump through the years, what she witnessed personally and who she plans to vote for. That's next.

Also ahead, far removed from politics, this is just amazing, a remarkable and rare surgery under way right now in a New York operating room. Doctors are trying to separate these two young twin boys joined at the head. Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us live from the hospital.

I'm Brooke Baldwin and this is CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:19:01]

BALDWIN: Welcome back. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Donald Trump says the sexual assault allegations published in today's "New York Times" are -- quote -- "total fabrication," and that his accusers are -- quote -- "horrible liars."

But even as Trump goes on the counterattack today, these accusations are just the latest in years-long cascade of claims that Trump doesn't respect women. In his own defense, Trump has often pointed to his own organization. He says he promotes women to upper-level positions. He touts that, back in 1980, he hired a lady to oversee the construction of all of Trump Tower. And you know what?

He did, this woman. Her name is Barbara Res. She worked closely with Donald Trump off and on for 18 years. And Barbara Res is sitting next to me here at CNN.

It's so nice to have you on.

BARBARA RES, WORKED FOR DONALD TRUMP FOR 18 YEARS: Thank you. It's nice to be here.

BALDWIN: I mean, as a woman, just having worked with him for so many years, you are invaluable in terms of first these accusations coming out today, everything from accusations of sitting next to him on a plane and him moving the armrest and trying to touch, to this former "People" writer at Mar-a-Lago and him shoving her against a wall, according to her, and shoving his tongue down her throat.

[15:20:08]

Is that farfetched? Do you think -- do you think they're lies? Or, based upon your experience with him, might there be truth?

RES: I do think that there could possibly -- there be truth to it.

BALDWIN: Why?

RES: Because I saw him evolve over time.

I mean, he did hire me. And I never felt that he discriminated against me. And he treated me equally to the men. I even said he was not sexist when it came to me. I said that in my book. Now that I have seen all the things that he's said and done, I

couldn't say those words, even though it's still true. But I did notice that he started changing towards women. He started talking about how women were all after him and that, you know, he was batting them off. And then he started having financial problems.

BALDWIN: Hang on, hang on, hang on. So, with you, this woman who he had placed in this position of power, he's having, what, like a chummy conversation in talking to you about women wanting him?

RES: Yes, when we were in his office, me and some other men, yes.

BALDWIN: How would that come up? What would he say?

RES: I don't know. I mean, it would come out of nowhere, you know, this one movie star has been calling me, or did you hear that so-and- so is after me, that kind of thing. It would just come up.

And I will tell you a story.

BALDWIN: Yes.

RES: Later, as he had the financial problems and the problems with Ivana and the blowup of his marriage, and he became such a celebrity with his book, I saw all these changes come upon him. I mean, you couldn't approach him anymore. You certainly couldn't correct him.

Where I used to be able to talk to him and he would listen to me, he really didn't listen to anyone. So, we were interviewing an architect one day. And he starts out of nowhere talking about women's bodies and how the women in Marina del Rey are so much more toned, their bottoms are more toned, though he used another word, than the women, say, in Beverly Hills, because they have to try harder.

BALDWIN: And you're standing right there as a woman.

RES: And with another man, an architect, a professional, a big architect.

BALDWIN: OK.

RES: And we looked at each other, and we didn't know where to go with it.

BALDWIN: Did anyone say, Mr. Trump, that's inappropriate, or you just didn't say that to him?

RES: No. No, you just didn't say that to him. You just went with the flow.

And he talked about -- you know, as I was saying, when his business started going to pot, he started saying how the reason it was happening was his executives were screwing it up and he wasn't around to watch, because why? He was off having sex with so many women. And that was his excuse.

BALDWIN: But yet he appointed you, Barbara Res, as this -- I mean, you oversaw the building of Trump Tower.

RES: Because he knew that I would do a good -- I was excellent. I was the best person at the contractor's office. And he -- they were grooming me for big things. He sort of stole me from them.

But he had other strong women working for him, too. I mean, there was a change over time. He had Louise Sunshine, who was in charge of all his sales, and she was a political mover and shaker.

BALDWIN: Does he respect women, you know?

RES: I don't think he respects anyone anymore. I think he's really him -- just Donald. I don't think -- he says, I respect women more than anybody else. Of course, he's the most respectful of women.

But I don't see it. I mean, you cannot respect women and say the things that he has said.

BALDWIN: So, the thing is, with these women coming out, this former "People" writer, these two in "The New York Times" today, they're telling their stories, and he's saying today it's fiction, it's lies. He says, I have proof, I have evidence against them.

RES: Right.

BALDWIN: All right. But then, almost in the same breath, he said, and look at them.

RES: Right. In other words, I wouldn't bother with -- he said particularly in regards to the "People" writer, look at her, I don't think so.

That was exactly how he said it. And it's such a demeaning thing to say and such an objectifying thing to say. And then you asked, does he respect women? Absolutely not. No, he doesn't respect women.

BALDWIN: I have Trump surrogates and supporters. One was on just a second ago saying, yes, they should be talking about the issues, but he's a bright businessman and he's an outsider, and middle finger to Washington and the elite. He's the perfect guy to be sitting in the Oval Office.

How do you feel about that?

RES: I think just the opposite.

I think that he doesn't have any experience. He shows a lack of knowledge about government. He doesn't seem to have mastered even basic civics. But he has a terrible temperament. He flies off the handle. He gets very, very angry. He's vindictive. He goes after people.

I mean, I -- he would go after world leaders. It would just be -- it would be ridiculous. He has no business running for president.

BALDWIN: Barbara Res, who worked for Donald Trump off and on for 18 years, thank you for swinging by CNN. I appreciate it.

RES: It was my pleasure.

BALDWIN: I appreciate it.

RES: Thanks.

BALDWIN: She is also, by the way, the author of "All Alone on the 68th Floor: How One Woman Changed the Face of Construction," Barbara Res.

[15:25:00]

Coming up next: Donald Trump fights back against new allegations that he touched these women without their consent, now accusing the Clinton campaign of planting these stories in the news media.

A Clinton supporter and a Trump supporter join us live to debate that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Not much going on there these days, so not much to talk about.

(LAUGHTER)

RYAN: Guess what? We actually are running on ideas in this election. You would never know it, would you?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: A lighter moment from Speaker Ryan moments ago talking with business leaders back home for him in Wisconsin.