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Kurdish forces make a stunning discovery in Iraq as they battle is for Mosul; Immigration on the list of topics tonight on that debate stage; Retired NB player is still undecided; Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired October 19, 2016 - 10:30   ET

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

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[10:30:00] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: So what happened?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Like Jeffrey said, a presidential campaign. But this isn't the first time we have heard that Donald Trump has said nice things about the Clintons. He not only has given money to Hillary, he has given money to the Clinton foundation but so people look at this as political expedience, clearly, right. This is a political campaign. And he has done a 180 and he is now trying to focus everything he n bringing her down.

But I think the problem is that people are going to look at it and say OK, well, he has flip-flopped. He is going to take a look at the issues that he is talking about. And he is going to say, and they are going to say look, he has huge issues with the issue of being fit to be president of the United States. And that's going to be -- that has been her campaign theme, it's going to be her campaign tonight as well.

COSTELLO: Before we get into that, I just want to go back to the civility thing because we actually need civility in a democracy.

CARDONA: I agree.

COSTELLO: It's gotten to the point where the Hillary Clinton camp doesn't even want bill Clinton to shake Melania Trump's hand. I mean, I know that sounds like a small thing but it's not.

CARDONA: No, I agree. But look, look at what he did in the last debate. Bringing Bill Clinton's accusers which is, you know, we all thought wow, that's going to be the lowest form of what you can do, and he went there. He did it. So I don't blame the Clinton campaign for not wanting to do that, right. I mean, but we could say well, look. He has gone, he has gone low from the moment that he announced for president.

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No.

CARDONA: Yes, absolutely he has.

COSTELLO: Because Brian Stelter talked to Steve on the plane, one of Trump's campaign advisers, and Steve Bannon says there will be other surprise guests. They are going full out with these guests because they want to throw -- like what's the point of that? Because when it comes right down to it, don't you want each candidate to present their vision of America to the American people? Don't you want your vision to sound better than theirs? So why do you have to bring people into the audience to shake the other candidate up?

LORD: Well, you know, I think this began with the introduction of Mark Cuban into this situation. They were going to bring him in to somehow try and freak Donald Trump out which decidedly didn't work.

COSTELLO: But see, we are going tit for tat again.

LORD: Right. And I can only say, Carol, as somebody who loves American history, none is this is new. None of this is new. We had 200 some odd years --

COSTELLO: Doesn't make it a good thing.

LORD: No, Carol, but we are fighting against the tide here. This began immediately with John Adams and Thomas Jefferson and continues to this day. And I think you have to allow for human behavior here.

CARDONA: But here I think is the problem with this particular presidential cycle. Yes, this is nothing new but what is new is that people are living this every second of every day because of social media. And it has allowed everybody and I believe because of the way that Trump has set the tone from the very beginning of the day that he announced his candidacy calling Mexican immigrants rapists and criminals --

LORD: Illegals, he was talking about. And it's true.

CARDONA: He has gone the lowest common denominator in this conversation. Not just by the way he has talked about the issues, but he himself has talked about violence at his rallies. Punch that guy, you know. Throw them out. Calling for people to -- calling to jail Hillary. I'm sorry, Jeffrey. Donald Trump has gone the lowest common denominator in terms of civility. He has set the tone for this.

COSTELLO: OK. I'm sure Jeffrey, you would say Hillary Clinton has come out and called Donald Trump a misogynist.

LORD: She began by calling him a sexist then the racist, xenophobia, I mean, all this sort of stuff. That is where it is began. And so, of course, he is going to fight back. He should fight back.

CARDONA: This didn't come out of the blue. When you talk and (INAUDIBLE) women for 30 years and you now see the tapes that have come out.

COSTELLO: I'm letting you guys stay for a reason. I; letting you guys go for a reason because this is not what much of America wants to see on that stage tonight. They don't want to see the candidates attacking one another. They actually want to know, for example, if Donald Trump wants to build a wall to keep us all safer, how is he going to pay for it? Will he come out and specifically tell us how, because nobody believes he is going to make Mexico pay for it. LORD: Yes. Well, certainly he believes that he can do this because

he's a pretty good negotiator.

COSTELLO: He doesn't believe that.

LORD: No. Absolutely, Carol.

COSTELLO: Because he is like he is vacillated on it.

LORD: No, no, absolutely he believes this. There are all kinds of ways you can do this. At least as I understand it from various people in terms of the money that illegal immigrants in this country-

COSTELLO: Your prediction is he will tell us?

LORD: I don't know. I don't know. I'm saying certainly he believes this. You know, one of the things I find fascinating here in this sort of ruling class elites versus American people that have you all these elites who say you can't build a wall, you know what they get when it comes to their own personal safety they got walls around their own property. Why is that?

COSTELLO: On the other hand, Hillary Clinton has not really presented her vision to America. A lot of people assume she is going to be president of the United States. But they don't have a clear idea of w they should be happy about that.

[10:35:05] CARDONA: Well, I think she will absolutely underscore that tonight. And she has been talking to the American people about what her vision is. Her vision is to make the economy work for everybody, not just those at the top.

COSTELLO: But how?

OK. She's going to raise the minimum wage. I know that. I know that. But she is working going to be working with a hostile Congress so how will she get past that?

COSTELLO: Well, and they talked about that, she talked about that when she was in the Senate. She actually was able to work with Republicans. She has been able to do things in a bipartisan way. She will be able to do that again. And I think what she will focus on night and frankly, she has tried to do this in the past two debates, let's not forget who was interrupting who the most, in the last debate. It was Donald Trump trying to interrupt Hillary Clinton. She will focus on trying to communicate her vision, not just of an economy that works for everybody, but on keeping Americans safe, working with our allies, not dissing them, making sure that nuclear weapons are contained.

LORD: Maria.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Got to leave it there. I got to leave it there.

LORD: The debate begins.

COSTELLO: The debate has already begun. Thanks to you.

CARDONA: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Got to be serious now. Coming up in the NEWSROOM, Kurdish forces make a stunning discovery in Iraq as they battle is for Mosul. They have uncovered a tunnel dug by ISIS filled with bombs and booby- traps. We will take you to the front lines next.

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[10:41:23] COSTELLO: Iraqi forces are closing in on ISIS' last stronghold in Iraq. A commander predicts its troops will be inside Mosul in two weeks. More than a dozen villages nearby are now free from ISIS. They include a town south of the city now liberated. But closer to Mosul, ISIS militants have surrounded Iraqi soldiers.

Clarissa Ward is just eight miles from Mosul. Hi, Clarissa.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.

So we are here on the Kurdish Peshmerga forces front line position. It is the closest front line position they have to the city of Mosul which is, as you said, just about eight miles behind me. But the focus of today's activity has really been concentrated on the town just behind me. You probably can't see it very well because it is getting dark here and there's not a lot of power in that town. That town is still held by ISIS. And throughout the course of the day we have been hearing a pretty steady stream of bombardment coming from the coalition forces where we are raining down on that town. We can actually hear some small arms fire appearing to come from the town a well. But throughout the day we have heard artillery. We have seen at least four airstrikes with coalition forces basically trying to soften the target is the term that they use. Basically trying to wear down the resistance of ISIS militants who are hunkered down in that town.

Reports that we are hearing from the Kurdish commander is there are about 40 to 50 ISIS militants in that town behind me. Reportedly all of the civilians have left it. But certainly we would expect in the coming day or two to see some kind of offensive now to take full control of that town.

So what does that tell us, Carol? Well, it tells us that this is steady piecemeal slow progress. Essentially what you are seeing here are these Kurdish forces as well as Iraqi forces who are mostly to the south of the city of Mosul going village by village in trying to liberate them, flash out ISIS before they really start to push into the city central of Mosul. And that is where people are fearful the heaviest fighting will be. And that is also where 1.2 million civilians are currently hunkered down - Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Clarissa Ward reporting live from Mosul, Iraq.

I'll be back with much more live from Las Vegas. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:47:46] COSTELLO: Immigration on the list of topics tonight on that debate stage. It is a critical conversation here in Nevada. According Pew research, one in five people here in Nevada are born outside of the United States. There are 210,000 undocumented immigrants living in Nevada more than in any other states. One of them is activist Astrid Silva. She came to America on Mexico when she was four years old. She spoke at the Democratic National convention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASTRID SILVA, DREAMER/ACTIVIST: We live in constant fear that my parents could be taken away from their grandson, Noah. So when Donald Trump talks about deporting 11 million people, he is talking about ripping families apart.

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COSTELLO: Astrid will be attending tonight's debate as Hillary Clinton's special guest. She joins me live now. Welcome.

SILVA: Thank you, Carol, for having me.

COSTELLO: What do you think it will be like inside this debate hall?

SILVA: You know, I'm just very excited to hear, you know, Secretary Clinton. It's been, you know, 30 years of a career and I think tonight's going to be a night many have been looking forward to. And I'm just really excited and honored to be there.

COSTELLO: There was a lot of talk about immigration early on in the campaigns, you know, with both candidates. That issue seems to have fallen off the table. Why do you think that is?

SILVA: You know, I'm not sure if it's fallen off the table. I think there have been a lot of different topics that have been brought up. But I think that secretary Clinton has always shown that she's been wanting to work on immigration. That it's been something that she really wants r to focus on. And I think that we can't see any more of a difference on the candidates on that.

COSTELLO: Well, I think some people might say this campaign has gotten more nasty, they are focused more on, you know, personal attacks than actual issues, and actual issues. And an issue that's very important in your life.

SILVA: You know, this is my entire life. You know, this election will determine what happens in my future. And not only mine, but 11 million other people including five million children that are United States citizens of undocumented parent themselves, you know, all 16 million of us are looking forward to what's going to happen not only tonight but on Election Day. And I think a lot of people are looking forward to this debate. And I think that especially in our community, you know, we are looking forward to what has been (INAUDIBLE). [10:50:00] COSTELLO: There is some sense that people thought that

Hispanics and Latinos would be more energized because of the things Donald Trump has said. But they're not. Do you sense that? Are they energized?

SILVA: I think people are really excited about this election. You know, here in Nevada especially, we know a lot about people attacking immigrants. And then we had Sharon Angle (ph) in 2010 and currently she is not a senator. And so here we know that that's going to be a very important issue. This going to be a huge in plan. And I think that Latinos are going to come out, they are going to vote, they are going to show their strength and they are going to be here.

COSTELLO: So Hillary Clinton says she wants to continue many of President Obama's policies on immigration. Well, you know, he hasn't really moved the argument forward very much. He tried to issue this executive order. It was challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court and he lost. So what does Hillary - what will Hillary Clinton do that is different from President Obama to solve our immigration problem?

SILVA: I think our entire country is at a loss not having nine Supreme Court justices which was the reason we are stalled on the court case right now. But Secretary Clinton has stated once and over again that she is wanting to find a solution for immigration reform. President Obama tried to do that --

COSTELLO: But here's the problem. She is going, if she becomes president, right, she is going to take office and here will be a lot of people who distrust her. Look at these people. They think she's a crook. She has to work with a hostile Congress. So what about her says to you I can get this done?

SILVA: Well first, the first thing is that that's why I'm making sure that we are getting her a Congress that will help her. We are making sure that people are elected that are going to help her pass not only immigration but so many other things that have been stalled for years. We had bipartisan support for an immigration bill in 2013. And unfortunately it wasn't brought up in the Republican house. And so that's what my family is waiting for. And my family is waiting to hear from not only Secretary Clinton but other politicians that stood up there actually going to do and what solution they will offer. And you know, to the people that are, you know, seeing what's going to happen and watching tonight, I think it will be very clear that the difference, you know, again, it couldn't be any more different. I have a work permit right now and it could be tossed up in the air because, you know, Donald Trump has said he would take it away.

COSTELLO: Astrid Silva, very much. We will look for you at the audience tonight's debate. And thank you so much for stopping by.

SILVA: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Retired NBA player Charles Barkley gets political, telling CNN in an exclusive interview he does not plan to vote and he weighs in on Trump's hot mic comments, disagreeing with other athletes who said Trump's comments are just -- are not typical locker room talk. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES BARKLEY, RETIRED NBA PLAYER: Let me say this. I have a daughter so I'm against any form of sexual harassment, sexual assault. I want to make that perfectly -- I'm against any form of sexual assault or sexual harassment. But in the locker room, I have heard things and I have said things myself that I would not want to be repeated publicly. For people to act like they haven't heard stuff in the locker room I think is disingenuous. I have heard things in the locker room I would not want to be said publicly and I have said things in the locker room I would not want to be heard publicly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN's Hines Ward has more of this exclusive interview from Charles Barkley. Good morning.

HINES WARD, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Yes. Charles Barkley called Donald Trump divisive. But he also said that he is having a hard time backing Hillary Clinton. And he talked to our Andy Schultz about the upcoming election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARKLEY: I'm disappointed for the American people because let's be real. It's not going to have an effect upon my life who wins and losses. And I feel bad for hard-working American people, you know. And I have always voted democratic -- Democrat my entire but I'm having a hard time pulling the trigger for her. So right now, I haven't made a decision if I'm going to vote or not. But if I vote, I'm going to vote Democratic but it is going to be like -- it's just some about her that makes me uncomfortable. And clearly, I can't vote for the other guy.

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WARD: Now let's shift gears. Now the Cubs are down 2-1 to the Dodgers in the NLCS. And I'm sure Chicago fans are starting to get a little nervous because you remember, it's been over 100 years since the Cubs have won the World Series. Now nothing has gone as planned for the cubbies last night. Dodgers catcher, You had (INAUDIBLE), who hadn't had a hit all series, hit a two-run home run off the Cubs star pitcher, Jake Arietta. Now Cubs fans are looking at themselves saying oh, no. But Dodges' pitcher Rich Hill wasn't even in the major leagues a year ago. He pitched a perfect game. Dodgers are going to win six-0 and take a 2-1 lead in the series. Now game four is tonight at 8:00 eastern and in the ALCS, the Blue Jays won yesterday to stay alive. They are down 3-1 to the Indians. Game five on TBS at 4:00 eastern p.m.

Now another news, Patriot head coach Bill Belichick is fed up and he is tired of having to use the Microsoft tablets on the sideline, saying that they are undependable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) [10:50:27] BILL BELICHICK, HEAD COACH, PATRIOTS: I'm going to stick with pictures which several of our other coaches do as well, because there just isn't enough consistency in the performance of the tablets and I just can't take it anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WARD: Coach, he is an old school coach there, Carol. So he has to learn technology. Back to you.

COSTELLO: OK, Hines Ward, I'm just taking a selfie before I have to go bye.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: That's it for me. Thank you for joining me live. I'm Carol Costello.

Berman and Bolduan are next. And thanks to all of you.

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END