Return to Transcripts main page

Wolf

WAPO: New Trump Accuser Surfaces; Paul Ryan Speaks to College Republicans at University of Wisconsin; Obamas Campaign for Clinton, Take Aim at Trump. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired October 14, 2016 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00] ZEKE MILLER, POLITICAL REPORTER, TIME: To buy that conspiracy theory, one he's using to deflect these new allegations against him, requires buying into this entire ultimate world view. Some people who are Donald Trump supporters want to buy that. What Donald Trump has done is mainstreamed a lot of that and he's looking for an off ramp. How does he blame a likely loss at this point?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: And get his base enthused and that's what he's trying to do.

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: And get -- and maybe depress Democratic voters and maybe find some members of his base who haven't been participants and get them to participate, because I think that's his only -- I think that's his only shot at this point.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: And what you said, anecdotally, again, I was in the Philadelphia suburbs yesterday at events that Republicans put on for Ivanka Trump to come and speak, mostly women at these events. And I did not find one woman -- obviously a self-selected crowd, that wanted to come in and listen to Ivanka Trump. But still very well to do Republican areas, Republican women, I cannot tell you how many have said they believe it's a conspiracy.

BLITZER: OK, hold on one minute.

Paul Ryan was asked a question by these college Republicans, what happens if Hillary Clinton wins the election. Let's listen in.

REP. PAUL RYAN, (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: She even divided government as when Barack Obama was president. We worked on things we could achieve in the last year. But these are things we have big philosophical differences of. That's why having more of the same stalemate is not a good option.

Let me give you one little example. Take tax reform or a budget, for example. All tax laws must start in the House of Representatives. So look at our tax reform, go to better.org and see what we do. And we write tax bills in the House a certain way to maximize economic growth. Then we send that bill to the Senate, and it's the Senate budget chair who is the referee, who decides whether or how we'll consider that bill, tax bill or a budget bill. If we keep control of the Senate in the Republican hands, and if Ron Johnson wins re- election, which I think will determine whether we keep the Senate, a nice guy named Mike Enzi, from Wyoming, a Senate budget chair, he helps us get these budgets to the president's desk, get these tax bills through. If we lose the Senate, do you know who becomes the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee? A guy named Bernie Sanders. You ever heard of him? This just tells you what we would be dealing with in a divided government if we lose of control of the Senate. Losing the Senate makes it that much more difficult to even put a bill on president's desk. That is why it's so important we keep the Senate as well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not much of an option? Is what he's telling you?

RYAN: We'll keep fighting for what we believe and passing what we believe in the House, but we've got to get things to the president's desk. We've got to actually get them through all, and the filibuster is frustrating enough as it is, but not even being able to bring up a bill if we lose control of the Senate would are more frustrating.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have a follow-up? You're good.

OK. Kate. Kate from Wisconsin Rapids.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Speaker. Thank you for joining us today at Madison.

RYAN: Hi, Kate.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is how do we articulate our economic message in a clear and brief manner to college students, minorities and lower income individuals who normally would vote for Democrats to see how our policies are fair and will benefit them?

RYAN: I spend a lot of my time on just that point. I'd say two things. You have to have good ideas, number one. We do. Number two, look how miserable the status quo is, the war on poverty itself. We measure success in the war on poverty by effort, not outcomes. And look at the kind of things that we're offering, for instance, customizing welfare benefits to get a person from to work, making sure that we create upward mobility and economic growth. I think it's really the left's argument of more government control, redistribution, which leads to slower economic growth. You can talk how bad the status quo is and little opportunity we have because we are living under Obama liberal policies. What we have right now is a flavor of what they want to continue doing. Talk about then what freedom and opportunity and upward mobility look like. Talk how our principles are -- you get to have more determination over your own life and we want government to get out of the way so we can actually solve problems locally. We can solve problems in our community. We want, we need people, and every single person in this country is needed, and what we want to do is help solve these problems together, eye to eye, soul to soul, person to person. What the left is saying, no, no, no, just have Washington fix all that. The best way to do it is to appeal to people by trying, by going and talking to people and showing that we care, that we have better ideas, and that we have principles that when applied work.

The last point I'll say is, especially in poor communities in America, rural and urban America and poor communities, I spent a lot of time doing this. Go find the people who are doing a really good job of solving problems. Go find those great poverty fighters and surround them and help them and amplify them.

[13:35:12] Pulaski High School -- you say you're from Milwaukee. You know Pulaski High School right across the street from St. Luke's? Three years ago, gangs. We all know Pulaski High School, three years ago had 14 gangs. You can imagine the violence, dropout rates, kids getting washed away from society, a local group, running rebels. Local poverty fighters, said, let's try something else. They were trying more police, more cameras, everything. They had a bunch of kids, young people, who used to be in gangs down on her luck, got redeemed, came into the school to become mentors to help the kids in Pulaski High School learned from mistakes to not repeat the mistakes. It's called the Violence-Free Zone Program. Now graduations are up, attendance is up, everything is turning around. Academics is up and kids are graduating with futures. We've taken, we, the people in the community, have taken a Violence-Free Zone Program, a local-grown idea in Milwaukee, and are spreading it to other schools in Milwaukee, spreading it to Ressene (ph). That is what we believe in, an extension of our philosophy of rolling up your sleeves, solving a problem locally and fixing it.

You can't do that if you're waiting for Washington to solve all of these problems. So there's just a beautiful picture of the kinds of things that we as conservatives believe in achieving so that everybody can reach their lot in life. The way I say it the American ideas are really, really clear simple ideas. The condition of your birth doesn't determine the outcome of your life. We need to make sure that idea is believable and true for everybody. And only by each and every one of us taking responsibility in our communities and advancing these ideas and principles and solutions can we achieve that. I think that's attractive, no matter what party you belong to.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. Let's go to Kelly from the state of Georgia. Oh, there she is.

IF: I was wondering --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wait for the mic. Nobody can hear you otherwise.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

RYAN: Hi. Where you from, Kelly?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Georgia.

RYAN: Wow.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is, what is your best advice for Republican college students on liberal campuses like Madison regarding an increased criticism and challenges faced in light of the upcoming election

BLITZER: We're going to continue to monitor this Q&A session with college Republicans. Remember these questions were submitted in advance. House Speaker Paul Ryan is familiar with the questions. We were told at least one of the questions would involve Donald Trump, how he feels about Donald Trump, the latest allegations of sexual abuse by Donald Trump. We're monitoring this with the House speaker and bring you whatever he says about Donald Trump.

We'll take a quick break and resume our coverage right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:41:56] BLITZER: Back to breaking news. Another woman reportedly has come forward to accuse Donald Trump of inappropriately touching her. She says it happened in the early 1990 in a Manhattan nightclub. The story first reported by the "Washington Post."

Let's bring back or panel, Dana Bash, Gloria Borger, David Gregory, Zeke Miller. Also Deb Feyerick reporting on this story from New York.

For viewers here in the United States and around the world who are just tuning in, yet the latest woman who has now come forward. A woman by the name of Kristen Anderson, in her early 20s at the time in the early 1990s, accusing Donald Trump of groping her -- Deb?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly, Wolf, and what's interesting about her story is that it is of consistent with other stories are now hearing since Sunday night's debate when Donald Trump said that he did not touch women. He just talked about it. It was just locker room talk. A lot of women reacted very negatively to that. There are now at least eight women who CNN confirmed who have -- are coming forward with these stories about how he groped them, how it was an unwanted sexual encounter, and how it was not consensual, in fact, quite the opposite.

The latest woman, in her 20s, which if it happened in the 1990s, sitting on a couch, engaged in a conversation with other friends. Didn't even -- wasn't even talking to a man she identifies as Donald Trump, according to the "Washington Post." She said that's when the man slipped his hand under her mini skirt and touch completely in appropriately. She jumped up, was repulsed, noticed it was Donald Trump. She told the story to several friends, according to the "Washington Post" over brunch and they laughed about it, quote, "How pathetic it was," on Trump's part that he would do this. She told the story multiple times to different friends.

And she didn't approach the "Washington Post" herself. In fact, it was a friend of hers knew about the story who contacted a reporter and she took several days to consider whether, in fact, coming forward was the right thing to do and, Wolf, ultimately, decided in fact it was.

BLITZER: In the article, she also told Karen Tumulty, of the "Washington Post," who's going to join us in the next hour with more details, she said she recognized Donald Trump. Quote, "He was so distinctive looking with the hair and eyebrows. I mean, nobody else has those eyebrows."

She really remembers Donald Trump at that moment. The whole thing lasted, what, 30 seconds or so.

Dana Bash, it does, as we say, follow this pattern of these other women who have made similar charges.

BASH: I just think we should maybe not be so surprised, but I'm just sitting here, and we're talking about this for the last 45 minutes, because it is a new allegation, and I still can't believe that this is the discussion we're having just a little more than three weeks before a presidential election about one of the nominees. It's just -- it's just mind-boggling. It really is. But it is where we are.

And I have to just add, because a lot of people have been asking, why didn't this stuff come out before? Where were the opposition research teams on all of his Republican opponents' campaigns? Where was the media? And in not long into all of these things? I think part of the answer is what you alluded to earlier. It's where we are in the calendar. That people are seeing that this is, this is it. This is show time. If you're going to talk, talk now, and that people would feel compelled. And we're seeing woman after woman come out because of what Donald Trump said to Anderson Cooper on the debate stage Sunday night, saying it didn't really happen, it's just words.

[13:45:41] BLITZER: Yesterday, the First Lady Michelle Obama was very powerful condemning Donald Trump, even though she refused to mention him by name. And today the president of the United States really went after Donald Trump. I think we have a clip. I'll play a clip in a moment. But the attacks launched against him are nonstop.

BORGER: They are nonstop, because the charges keep coming, and they keep growing. And when you look at the numbers that we're seeing, I mean, there was a poll yesterday which asked, I believe it was FOX News poll, which candidate's a good role model? Trump, 20 percent, yes. At least Clinton got a majority. It's not as if overwhelmingly, but 20 percent. Then you keep hearing these stories.

You know, at a certain point, people have to wonder whether there is a candidate with serious impulse control problems, and have to start wondering about what to do about it.

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Isn't it striking this is all about Donald Trump? I mean, this is really about --

BORGER: Of course!

GREGORY: -- Donald Trump's fitness more than Hillary Clinton or anything else. This impulse, lack of impulse control, is so clear at this point. And hemorrhaging of Republican support, you now have a speaker of the House we're covering this hour having a completely separate conversation. Willing to not excuse but to ignore all of this about Donald Trump to try to reach 35 percent or 40 percent of those Republicans he needs to try to keep Republican control of the House and Senate. Try to be a check on Hillary Clinton. But it's a completely separate conversation a few weeks before the election. BORGER: He's trying to say -- as I was listening to Paul Ryan,

thinking that he's like someone standing within an umbrella while a hurricane is coming at him. And it's hard to keep the hurricane from coming at you from just that tool. And what he's talking about is checks and balances and he's got Republicans angry at him, going to have women angry at him. It's just -- he's a serious guy, Paul Ryan. Who cares about issues?

GREGORY: And the Republican Party is not turning back into Paul Ryan's court.

BORGER: Exactly.

GREGORY: It is now a Trump Republican party.

BASH: Right.

MILLER: This is the least-worst option for Paul Ryan. What else does he do? He's not comfortable fully embracing Donald Trump and were to fully abandon him, worse. Paul Ryan is trying to reach out to voters in the swing Senate and swing House districts and get the crossover voters. People voting for Hillary Clinton maybe don't like her and maybe to send a Ron Johnson into a Senate as a check on Hillary Clinton presidency. So people voting for that, that's who Paul Ryan is try to reach out to pt not even the Republican base because they don't --

(CROSSTALK)

MILLER: That's why we're talking about it.

(CROSSTALK)

GREGORY: And it's also real moments of testing as a leader. I think it's true. A lot of these Republicans, who finally saw fit, finally realized that Donald Trump was disqualifying himself after they were up in the polls, like a John McCain, like a Rob Portman. These are times of testing where you've got to do something hard. If Paul Ryan wants to say, look, I am excusing this to hold on to the House and Senate and here's why the importance as Republican speaker have that conversation with voters. Don't tiptoe around it and be too cute by half. And that's what he's doing. In being too cute by half, he's still declaring war on Donald Trump.

BORGER: Look how unhappy he is. He's not a happy warrior.

GREGORY: No.

[13:50:07] BLITZER: He's not the only Republican who is unhappy right now.

Everyone, stay with us.

We'll continue special coverage following the breaking news. Yet another woman has come forward, and alleged that Donald Trump reached under her skirt and groped her back in the early 1990s. We're also now told that the speaker, Paul Ryan, wrapped up his Q&A

with these college Republicans in Madison, Wisconsin. The issue of Donald Trump and allegations of groping, sexual abuse did not come up in that session.

We have a lot more coming up here. Michelle and Barack Obama are taking a very aggressive campaign schedule in support of Hillary Clinton, with three stops in the last 24 hours. They've delivered some of the most stirring speeches in support of Hillary Clinton's campaign and against Donald Trump. Will their one-two punch be enough to finish off Trump? We'll discuss.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: President Barack Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama are firmly behind Hillary Clinton's campaign for president. And in the past few days, both have been out on the campaign trail, swinging hard against Donald Trump. Here's what the president said at a campaign rally in Cleveland, Ohio, a little while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He seems to be in the middle of the game making excuses all the time for why he might be losing. And it's always interesting to me to see folks who talk tough but then don't act tough. Talking about how great his buildings are, how luxurious, and how rich he is, and flying around everywhere, and all he had time for was celebrities. And now suddenly he's acting like he's a populist. Man, I'm going to fight for working people. Come on, man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:55:19] BLITZER: Joining us is White House correspondent, Michelle Kosinski.

Michelle, he took on Donald Trump today also blasted Republicans who support Donald Trump. Tell us about that.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: You heard the tone he took there, making the crowd laugh, mocking Donald Trump and Republicans. This is what he's been doing. He did virtually the same speech on Tuesday, almost presented it a comedy routine with this directed towards his targets. Today he saved his strongest criticism for Republicans. His message was some of, "You are withdrawing your support now, what's the matter? It wasn't enough when Donald Trump spoke out in a demeaning way towards women? Muslims? It wasn't enough when he criticized a Gold Star family?" Basically saying what's wrong with you that you didn't understand that things were offensive before and now you're withdrawing your support-- Wolf?

BLITZER: The president pretty much also picked up today where the First Lady Michelle Obama left off yesterday, her emotional speech clearly expressing her deep, deep anger at Donald Trump. Listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF HE UNITED STATES: Because I can tell you that the men in my life do not talk about women like this and I know that my family is not unusual.

(CHEERING)

MICHELLE OBAMA: And to dismiss this as everyday locker room talk is an insult to decent men everywhere

(CHEERING)

MICHELLE OBAMA: The men that you and I know don't treat women this way. They are loving fathers who are sickened by the thought of their daughters being exposed to this kind of vicious language about women. They are husband and brothers and sons who don't tolerate women being demeaned and disrespected.

(SHOUTING)

(CHEERING)

MICHELLE OBAMA: And like us, these men are worried about the impact this election is having on our boys who are looking for role models of what it means to be a man.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Michelle, clearly one of the most important speeches by the first lady. You're learning more details about the speech. Tell viewers what you've learned.

KOSINSKI: She did the same thing during her speech at the Democratic National Convention, the emotion in her voice. This speech is almost a continuation of that where she's speaking from the heart to the point that at times it seems like she's going to start crying. So we know from sources in the White House that this was a speech she wanted to give. She wrote most of it, she had help from a speech writer. This is something she felt from her heart THAT she wanted to personally deliver. It was based on the anger she felt when she heard Donald Trump's words. She felt she wanted to get the speech out there.

And President Obama, since then, has been praising the speech. He didn't get to see it live. He was on Air Force One at the time and he was shown a video of it. And sources say that he was wowed by it.

And it's interesting because, Wolf, when you look at the things the president said as late as August at a fundraiser saying, "I'm tired about talking about Donald Trump. Every time he speaks he makes the case against himself by himself." President Obama and Joe Biden were all out on the campaign trail. On Tuesday, President Obama's speech was intended to be this epic take-down of virtually everything Donald Trump has ever said-- Wolf?

BLITZER: They are incredibly important surrogates. They could help revitalize that Barack Obama base. Over the next three weeks, are we going to see them early and often on the campaign trail for Hillary Clinton and against Donald Trump.

KOSINSKI: Yeah, I mean, the White House has been asked for weeks and months, where's President Obama, when he is going to go out there. And they said come October he's going to be out there one to two days every week and that's what we've been seeing-- Wolf?

BLITZER: Michelle Kosinski, at the White House, thanks.

You've heard from the candidates. Now you'll hear directly from the voters in the key battleground states who will decide the next president of the United States, Clinton or Trump. "Your Money, Your Vote," that's tomorrow, 7:30 p.m. eastern only here on CNN.

That's it for me. Thanks very much for watching. I'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room."

For our international viewers, "Amanpour" is coming up next.

For our viewers in North America, NEWSROOM with Brooke Baldwin starts right now.

[14:00:06] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Here we go. Top of the hour. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with --