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Final Presidential Debate Tonight on CNN; Benghazi Victim's Mom to Attend Debate on CNN; Clinton Unveils New Ad: "A Place For Everyone"; U.S. Service Member Killed in Afghanistan; Trump's Debate Strategy; 2008 Video Reveals Trump Praising Clintons. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired October 19, 2016 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00]

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, I'm Carol Costello live at Las Vegas from the University of Nevada Las Vegas, the site of tonight's high stakes showdown. Tonight is the third and final presidential debate. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, about to trade their last punches face to face. They -- will make their closing arguments to the American voter and make no mistake, many, many will tune in tonight to see the blood.

Trump, desperate to rescue his campaign, he may be more unpredictable than ever. Will he continue his scorched earth tactics? And Clinton is scrambling to contain damage of her own. She has faced a constant drip of embarrassing e-mails supposedly stolen -- actually they were stolen from the hacked account of her campaign chairman John Podesta.

We have a lot to cover this morning. Let's begin inside the debate hall with CNN's Manu Raju. Good morning, Manu.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Hey, Carol. Yes, this is Donald Trump's last and perhaps best chance of turning around his campaign after one of the rockiest months of his campaign season or of any presidential candidate in recent memory. He's seen a number of allegations of course come out suggesting that he had performed unwanted sexual advances on women. Of course, he denied flatly all those allegations.

In addition, this bitter fight with his own party and two rocky debate performances himself. And poll after poll has borne that out, including in Arizona today, a traditionally Republican state showing Hillary Clinton winning that state by five points as of right now. So Donald Trump is trying to make the case that the system is stacked against him and that this election is rigged.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They have rigged it from the beginning by telling totally false stories most recently about phony allegations where I have been under attack constantly.

SEN. HARRY REID, (D) MINORITY LEADER: I have always felt that everything we can do to get people to vote, we should do it. He obviously is in a different school than I am. He wants people not to vote. I just think it's so untoward for him to try to scare people into elections are rigged.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, the question is, how does Hillary Clinton address that tonight. Expect her to push back pretty forcefully on that issue. And how else does Hillary Clinton deal with this constant stream of revelations that keep coming out from "WikiLeaks", who has accessed thousands of her e-mails, internal campaign e-mails, some of which painting her campaign in a very unflattering light. So, both candidates, Carol, coming in with major controversies. How do they deal with this on this huge debate stage? Last best chance for Donald Trump to turn around his campaign as well.

COSTELLO: All right. Manu Raju reporting live for us this morning, thanks so much. So, let's talk about all of this. With me now, Jason Johnson, politics editor of "TheRoot.com," CNN political commentator Rebecca Berg, she's also a national political reporter for "Real Clear Politics" and CNN politics executive editor Mark Preston. Welcome to all of you, such a lot to talk about.

So, Mark, I want to start with you. This is the last chance that these candidates have to present their vision to the American people. Will we really get into the vision thing tonight?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: You know one could hope that that will happen tonight but it's very unpredictable. You know, specifically since we saw what happened during the last debate. As you said, we are talking about 50 million people, maybe 60 million people watching tonight. This is the last time they are going to be onstage together.

This is the last time that Donald Trump can try to take down Hillary Clinton, call into question, you know, her capability of being Commander-in-Chief, calling in her judgment and talking about policy proposals. The same thing with her as well, she can call into question his temperament and if she can land some blows tonight and walk out of here with a tie that would be a win for her. But Donald Trump, if he comes in and talks about policy, I think that that will be, you know, a big victory for him.

COSTELLO: But all the times -- all the signs, Rebecca, is that Donald Trump may not talk about policy. Brian Stelter and Brooke Baldwin, they talked to Steve Bannon, on the plane to Nevada, -- he's Trump's campaign -- one of his campaign advisors I should say, scorched earth policy, right? They are inviting people that might shake Clinton again to the debate. For example, Mrs. Patricia Smith, she lost her son in Benghazi. And just to remind people of who that is, this is Mrs. Smith.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAT SMITH, MOTHER OF SEAN SMITH WHO WAS KILLED IN BENGHAZI: For all of this loss, for all of this grief, for all of the cynicism, the tragedy in Benghazi has brought upon America, I blame Hillary Clinton.

(APPLAUSE)

SMITH: I blame Hillary Clinton personally for the death of my son.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK. -- So actually, maybe it's a good thing that Mrs. Smith is sitting in the audience because this is an important topic

[10:05:16] to many Americans. But Donald Trump has to talk more about how Hillary Clinton's policies went wrong there over just saying, here's Mrs. Smith, look, and she's going to shake you.

REBECCA BERG, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST AND NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER "REAL CLEAR POLITICS": And you know, it isn't only about attacking Hillary Clinton for Donald Trump. Obviously that's a very important component but Hillary Clinton still isn't vastly popular even as she's winning this race right now. The big problem for Donald Trump is the way that voters view him.

This recent Fox News poll that came out showing Hillary Clinton ahead by seven points I think was just devastating for him. It showed only one-third of voters trust his temperament. Only one-third of voters trust his judgment over Hillary Clinton. These are really damaging metrics if you are trying to run for president and make the case that you are fit for the presidency.

So that's I think the case that Donald Trump is going to need to make but he hasn't been making it, Carol, over the past week or two, instead he's been focusing on conspiracy theories, basically laying the groundwork for why he might lose this election. -- That message doesn't really bode well if you are trying to win.

COSTELLO: Another guest Jason that Mr. Trump has invited is President Obama's half-brother who is no fan of President Obama, by the way, but President Obama's not running.

JASON JOHNSON, POLITICS EDITOR "THEROOT.COM": Yes. This doesn't make any sense to me, Carol. These brand new surprise guests like we're on some morning talk show or whatever. Look, this is a presidential debate. You are not swinging hey, batter, batter. You're not trying to mess up a free throw. He needs to be focused on the person he's actually debating on stage.

And I think, Donald Trump's biggest challenge tonight, he spent the last couple of weeks doing the scorched earth policy. He can still sell himself. Donald Trump needs to spend more time saying, hey look, this is why I will make America great again rather than attacking Hillary Clinton. The more time he spends attacking her, the less time he has to make his case for the United States because early voting has already started and he's behind.

COSTELLO: OK. So, we have a little tiny bit of sign that maybe Hillary Clinton is going to remain positive tonight, because her campaign released a new ad and it is titled "positive place for everyone." Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is not an ordinary time and this is not an ordinary election. I want to send a message to every boy and girl and indeed, to the entire world, that America already is great but we are great because we are good. We are going to lift each other up. I want us to heal our country and bring it together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK. So Mark, you remember during the last debate Hillary Clinton said when they go low, we go high, but she went low in that debate. So, is she going to stay on message and not respond to Donald Trump's attacks?

PRESTON: So, I will put this in sporting terms. This is where you play, prevent defense. If you are winning the game, you don't want to necessarily lose. You are willing to give up a touchdown here or there but basically, again, a tie is a win for Hillary Clinton tonight in the eyes of voters that are going to matter --

COSTELLO: What a tie mean? That she just stands on the stage and listens to Donald -- what is a tie?

PRESTON: A tie would mean that Donald Trump doesn't come out and land a serious blow on her on the e-mails where she doesn't have the right answer, where she doesn't have the right answer on the FBI, State Department, you know, supposedly quid pro quo which we know it isn't, but still, it is definitely in the lexicon right now. It's her coming up with the right answer and quite frankly, delivering a vision that she did in that ad at the same time, at the same time now trying to be a little bit more likeable to the voters because that's a big problem for her.

BERG: And really, Republicans have taken away a major talking point for Donald Trump. Marco Rubio came out and said his party should not be talking about these e-mails released by "WikiLeaks" because they are acting on behalf of the Russians and Marco Rubio made a point--

COSTELLO: It could happen to Republicans.

BERG: It could happen to Republicans at some point. And so, that's going to really detract, I think, potentially from Donald Trump's argument. He has been trying to raise this issue and now Hillary Clinton will be able to say well, look at what this senator from your own party is saying.

COSTELLO: Well, the other thing is it's very hard to explain in a concise way.

JOHNSON: Right. The issue with the e-mails all along, at least from my perspective and I think a lot of regular, you know, undecided voters, is like show me where this is a problem. If there was an e- mail where Hillary Clinton said go ahead and let the soldiers suffer in Benghazi, if there was an e-mail that led to, you know, people being captured, if it was some mission impossible NOC list where our soldiers or spies were caught, then we could see where the e-mails make sense.

But basically it just feeds into the idea she's a typical politician which everyone felt anyway. So, I don't think Trump has made much mileage with it. And as long as he spends time attacking her instead of selling himself, it's a loss.

PRESTON: But Carol, let me just say this on the e-mails so. If it was somebody else who was the Republican nominee, these e-mails would be devastating for her. Only because, you know, there is this line that do as I say, not as I do. And that has been the Clinton mantra since, you know, they have been in public life. And that really does frustrate people. If Donald Trump wasn't the nominee, if Marco Rubio was the nominee I do think the e-mails, you know, would be problematic.

COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. Jason, Rebecca, Mark, thank you so much.

[10:10:16] Coming up in the "Newsroom," -- we'll have live coverage throughout the day of tonight's presidential debate. Coverage begins at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. Be sure to watch the debate 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. I almost forgot the CNN plug. I would have been in big trouble.

Coming up in the "Newsroom," it's the candidates' final chance to sell themselves and their policies but -- will style win out or will substance? We will talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: All right. We have breaking news to share with you right now and it is sad news.

A U.S. service member and U.S. civilian have been killed in Afghanistan. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has the latest. Good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. A very grim reminder, that even when U.S. Troops are not in direct combat, the wars do take a very heavy toll on the U.S. military. Earlier today in Kabul, apparently an advice and assist team, not a combat

[10:15:16] team, was going to a base in Kabul when they were attacked by an unknown assailant. One U.S. military member killed in action. One U.S. civilian also killed.

In addition to that, one military member wounded and two additional civilians wounded. They are said to be in stable condition. The U.S. Military and the coalition investigating exactly what happened, who the assailant might have been. According to reports, that assailant also later killed. These incidents have happened in the past. Thankfully it's been awhile since there's been one. But this is a heavy toll on U.S. military families amidst all the politics when people are talking about combat and not being in combat, for U.S. troops overseas and the civilians who support them, a very grim day and very grim reminder of how tough the job can be. Carol?

COSTELLO: And how important tonight's debate will be when the two candidates talk about foreign policy. Barbara Starr reporting live from the Pentagon, thank you.

There will be six different topics addressed in tonight's debate, a lot of ground to cover in what's sure to be an action-packed 90 minutes. So let's take a closer look at how tonight's debate is actually laid out. I want to bring in our senior media correspondent, Brian Stelter. He has all of that for you. Good morning.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. 15- minute blocks of time, six different topics. And the moderator, Chris Wallace, has identified the general areas he will be bringing up.

You think about the first two debates, Carol, we did not hear about immigration in detail. We did not hear about Trump's plan for a wall in detail. That's one of the six topic areas. We can put on screen the other ones include foreign hot spots, relevant to your conversation just now with Barbara Starr, also Supreme Court and decisions about the Supreme Court that the next president will face, also debt and entitlements, the economy and fitness to be president.

So those six topic areas will be covered by Chris Wallace. He will ask specific questions for each of them. And the format's a lot like the first debate. Two minutes to one candidate, then two minutes the next candidate, and then lots of back and forth the rest of the time.

COSTELLO: A lots of back and forth. I know a lot of liberals are worried about Chris Wallace because he works at Fox News. But he is a top rate journalist. He's a tough guy. -- How do you think that will go?

STELTER: Yes. Clearly on the news side of Fox News, not the opinion side of Fox News. He has challenged Trump and Clinton throughout this campaign. If the Clinton campaign, if they do have concerns they are not expressing them publicly. They may have that in private but definitely not in public.

COSTELLO: All right. Brian Stelter, thank you so much. For more I want to bring in the co-chair for the Commission on Presidential Debates, Frank Fahrenkopf. Thank you so much for being with me.

FRANK FAHRENKOPF, CO-CHAIR COMMISSION ON PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES: Glad to be with you this morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: So, you exhausted?

FAHRENKOPF: Not yet. Not yet. We've got 12 more hours or so to go. And then it will be over. Then, I will have a big Martini.

COSTELLO: Oh, I bet you will. I want to start with this "New York Times" report about the handshake, because we heard that Hillary Clinton's people do not want Bill Clinton to shake the hands of any of the Trump children or Melania Trump. Is that true?

FAHRENKOPF: I don't think that -- there was some discussion of that. I think that's been taken care of. I don't think that's going to be a problem.

COSTELLO: So will they shake hands?

FAHRENKOPF: I don't know. It's up to them. I mean, we can't force them to shake hands. And you remember the last debate when it began, Hillary and Donald did not shake hands but at the end they did shake hands. So, it's up -- to them.

COSTELLO: We even heard that -- the families would be coming in from different entrances so they -- you know, they wouldn't even have a chance to run across each other.

FAHRENKOPF: Well, I think it may be modified. We had walk-throughs with the candidates this morning. And I think final decisions will be made then.

COSTELLO: So, how are those -- what were those discussions like?

FAHRENKOPF: Well, you know, I think, this is the 30th debate that the commission has done on general election, presidential and vice presidential debates since 1988. And I must say the work between the two camps, the professionals that are on the ground, the debate teams, has never been better. To the point where they have agreed on most things and when there's been a problem they will flip a coin. So, I think the negotiations with the people on the ground, has just been excellent.

COSTELLO: But this notion about handshakes, it's just -- it just gives the appearance of a total lack of civility.

FAHRENKOPF: Yes. I'm concerned about that. And if I had my druthers, I would say you should for the best interests of the American people and comity, go out and shake hands. But that's again, I don't dictate that. They have the right to do what they want to do in the debate.

COSTELLO: So what do you suppose that the Clinton camp was afraid of by not shaking --

FAHRENKOPF: One thing I have learned in all the years in politics, I never speak for another candidate's thoughts.

COSTELLO: So, you can't even bring up like one thread that they were giving you as to why this would be an untenable situation to shake the hand?

FAHRENKOPF: No. No. Not going to talk about that.

COSTELLO: So, did the Trump side, do they want to shake hands? Are they all fine with that? FAHRENKOPF: Again, one of the reasons I think that the debate commission has survived all these years is we don't get involved in discussing what goes on in the negotiations. And I'm not going to do that right now. We were looking forward to the two of them coming out.

And I think as Brian pointed out, there are some real specific issues that haven't been touched. I told Chris Wallace that he's really in a way batting cleanup tonight. He's had the

[10:20:16] ability to see the other debates and the vice presidential debate and figure out what wasn't covered in depth that the American people really ought to know where the candidates are. And I think the subjects that he's lined up are some that the American people want to know.

COSTELLO: In your heart-to-hearts, through this whole process, was there a time when you didn't think a certain candidate would even show up for the debate?

FAHRENKOPF: Well, there's always been that problem. You know, if you go back to 1980, Jimmy Carter refused to debate when John Anderson and Ronald Reagan had accepted in the first debate, then President of the United States refused to participate in. So it's always the choice of the candidate, there's no law that says they have to debate. But we take the campaign as it comes to us. We plan for the debates, we can't control whether someone's going to show up or not.

COSTELLO: There's a sentiment out there -- that these debates, this presidential year, have been just so ugly and disheartening. Will this, you know, especially with young people, right? What are they to think of debates to come?

FAHRENKOPF: Well, you know, we don't know. Again, like I say, we don't dictate. We can't dictate what the candidates are going to say.

COSTELLO: Just as an American citizen.

FAHRENKOPF: As an American citizen, you hope - you know, my favorite word in the world is comity, c-o-m-i-t-y. And that's not only been missing I think, so far in these debates, it's missing in Washington and has been for a long time. So there's a structural problem right now, I think, in our country, in government, in respect for people who hold elective office and how we get things done. And hopefully the next president, whoever he or she is, has a heavy load to carry to get back to having comity and the two parties working together for the best interests of the American people.

COSTELLO: So, I ask you this because you've been around a long time, you've been in politics a long time.

FAHRENKOPF: You mean I'm old? Is that what you said?

COSTELLO: Hey, I'm old, too. I'm with you. Will it get better? Is there hope? Should we be hopeless?

FAHRENKOPF: No, I think we can have hope. I'm hopeful that this next president will do the job that has to be done.

COSTELLO: Well, thanks for doing what do you because it's so important. Thank you so much Frank.

FAHRENKOPF: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the "Newsroom," lots more on the big debate and we will talk about two words. Scorched earth, how will Trump's latest campaign tactics play out on the stage tonight?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:27:00] COSTELLO: Oh, they're excited here in Las Vegas and good morning. I'm live from UNLV, the site of the third and final presidential debate.

Good morning everyone. I'm Carol Costello. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, just hours away, from their high stakes showdown. Trump trying to reverse his campaign's recent slide, Clinton hoping to make her closing argument to voters. There are six topics that will be covered during the 90-minute debate, everything from the national debt, to who is more fit, to become the next president.

Trump has invited President Obama's half-brother who backs the GOP nominee. Another guest is Patricia Smith, the mother of one of the men killed in the Benghazi attack.

Mrs. Clinton has invited Mark Cuban, nemesis of Trump, and a fellow billionaire. She's also invited Meg Whitman, the CEO of Hewlett- Packard and a long-time Republican. And Ryan Moore will be a guest. He's an Iowa man born with a rare form of dwarfism who has shared his story of a 20-year friendship with Clinton.

While Trump and Clinton will likely throw punches tonight, well, back in the day, 2008, Trump was singing a different tune. CNN's K-File has uncovered new video of Trump praising the Clintons during an interview with New York 1.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I think she's a wonderful woman. I think that she's a little bit misunderstood. You know Hillary's a very smart woman, very tough woman. That's fine. She's also a very nice person. I think she's going to go down at a minimum as a great senator. I think she is a great wife to a president and I think Bill Clinton was a great president. Lot of people hated him because they were jealous as hell. But Bill Clinton was a great president. Hillary Clinton is a great woman and a good woman.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. So let's talk about this. Let's bring in political commentators Jeffrey Lord and Maria Cardona. Jeffrey is a Donald Trump supporter and Maria Cardona is a Hillary Clinton supporter. Welcome to both of you.

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND TRUMP SUPPORTER: Good morning Carol.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND CLINTON SUPPORTER: Good morning.

COSTELLO: I wish it was something stronger but it's not.

LORD: Before the day is over.

COSTELLO: Before the day is over, I'll need it.

CARDONA: Tonight, tonight.

COSTELLO: Let's talk about what Mr. Trump said back in 2008 because there was a time when these two people actually liked one another. So, what happened?

LORD: Carol there is precedent for this. John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon came to Congress together. They were the best of friends. The Kennedy family contributed to Nixon's Senate campaign in 1950. And in 1960, when they were running against each other, somebody said to Kennedy well, you know, Nixon still really likes you. And he says, he won't by the time that this is over.

COSTELLO: Yes, but that's like a 90 degree turn. I mean, he went from Hillary Clinton's a nice woman --

LORD: They're running for president.

COSTELLO: -- to Hillary Clinton is a crook and should be in jail.

LORD: They are running for president. And you know the Clintons sought him out, I believe, for a contribution, the Clinton Library or foundation. So, things change when you run for president. These things happen.

COSTELLO: Well, I could say the same about Hillary Clinton. I mean, they attended Donald Trump's -- one of Donald Trump's weddings and they appeared to be friends. So what happened?

CARDONA: Like Jeffrey said, a presidential campaign. But you know this isn't the first time that we've heard that Donald Trump has said nice things about the Clinton. He not only has given money to Hillary, he --