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Clinton's Leaked Documents; Trump in Arizona. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired October 19, 2016 - 13:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 10:00 a.m. here in Las Vegas, the host city of this, the final presidential debate. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

With less than 20 days left until the U.S. presidential election, the candidates take the stage tonight for the final firework. The third and last presidential debate, high stakes, rolling the dice, doubling down, all the gambling metaphors on the table right now as we delve into this debate.

And as we head into tonight's final showdown, our CNN poll of polls shows Hillary Clinton with a nine-point lead over Donald Trump. That means each candidate has a different agenda as America and the world tunes in.

Let's get right to our Senior Political Correspondent Brianna Keilar. She's following the Clinton campaign. Our Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta who's been following the Trump campaign. John King, our Chief National Correspondent, the Anchor of CNN's "INSIDE POLITICS," is here with us as well.

Brianna, Hillary Clinton, she's been in debate probe now several days. Are we expecting a new strategy? What are you hearing tonight?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think they're pretty comfortable with their strategy which has been days of preparation. We've seen that again, she has been laying low and allowing some of her very popular surrogates, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, President Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, do a lot of the campaigning.

And, you know, for whatever criticism she may have taken in the first debate that she may have seemed robotic or over-prepared, she thinks, I'm told making the case, that, look, this is just a sign that I'm taking this seriously. And also, her campaign is looking at the fact that they think she did pretty well.

So, we see the polls. She's doing better in the polls. There attributing some of that to her debate preparation. Certainly, some of that has to do with the "Access Hollywood" tape and also these accusers coming out against Donald Trump. But they feel like they're on the right track, so they're not really going to be changing that up.

Another thing I think we'll see is her addressing this issue of the rigged election that Donald Trump is talking about. I think she's going to try to cast him as a loser who's complaining, who' sour grapes.

And then, also dealing, of course, with the WikiLeaks e-mails from her campaign chair, John Podesta. We've heard from many surrogates. We've heard from the campaign. They're sort of saying, oh, you know, if these are even -- if these are even real. So, I think she's going to try to pivot to Russia and try to link Donald Trump to Russia. Obviously, the U.S. thinks that Russia has to do with those leaks.

BLITZER: And we're going to speak to John Podesta, momentarily, about that and a lot more.

Jim Acosta, Donald Trump.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSEC CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

BLITZER: This is Las Vegas. Is he going to gamble tonight? Are we going to see a new strategy from him tonight, as opposed to the first two debates?

ACOSTA: I think it's safe to say, he's running low on chips, Wolf. He needs a good night tonight. And what we've seen, over the last several days, I think, is a preview of coming attractions.

We're going to see Donald Trump take on a very aggressive tone. I think that's very clear in the debate guests that he's bringing tonight, Pat smith, a Benghazi mother; Malik, President Obama's half- brother. Those are aggressive moves, obviously, by the Trump campaign, to try to get inside the heads of the Clinton campaign.

But, you know, Donald Trump has prepared differently for tonight's debate. He actually used Reince Priebus sort of acting like a moderator in prep sessions. Chris Christie was sort of playing the role of Hillary Clinton. When Reince Priebus would ask a question, Chris Christie was providing the pushback in those debate prep sessions.

So, Donald Trump prepared differently for tonight, because he knows he needs a big night. And, as Brianna was saying, this whole notion of a rigged election and drain the swamp, Donald Trump has taken on a very anti-Washington, anti-establishment tone in the last few days. The rigged election line really revs up his supporters.

And this notion of draining the swamp, that's a message that can still get Republicans who are just hanging on in their support for Donald Trump to stand with him. They want to keep the bottom from following -- falling out tonight, Wolf, in addition to looking for Hillary Clinton to have some sort of a big mistake or bad night. I think that is what Donald Trump is looking for tonight.

BLITZER: John King, you have a new look at the road to 270 electoral college votes that you need in order to be elected president of the United States.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And, Wolf, if you look at this, Jim talking about Trump being Trump. If you look at this, Trump's coming in with a strategy. Trump may not change. Trump may be shoring up his Republican base. But it's not working when you get to the business of 270 electoral votes.

Let's look at this here. Our new map has Secretary Clinton at 307 and Donald Trump slipping to 179. It takes 270 to win. On the morning of the first debate, she was at 272 and Trump was at 196. But Trump was moving. Trump was tied or ahead in Nevada. Trump was tied or ahead in Florida. He was tied or ahead in North Carolina. He was tied or ahead in Ohio. He could -- he was in play to get into the 260s and make a play for this race.

If you look at this now, we have taken Utah and Arizona, turned them from red states into toss-up states, because the polling in those states suggest they're in play. A third-party conservative candidate mainly in Utah.

Hillary Clinton now leads in Arizona. We've leaned this state, Nevada, with a toss-up at the first debate. It's now leaning Democratic. North Carolina now -- Florida, I mean, excuse me, now leans Democratic. North Carolina still a toss-up, although the latest polls there show Clinton slightly ahead.

[13:05:00] She is on track, Wolf, right now, as we head into the third debate to match or exceed the 332 that President Obama received in his overwhelming win against Mitt Romney.

To back -- to close with this. The map, state by state, is overwhelming. But I think about what you said at the top of the show, a nine-point national lead. That is unheard of in recent American polarized presidential politics. The Obama-Romney race, on this day, the day of the third debate, tied. Tied. A nine-point national lead is remarkable in this political environment we've lived in the last 20 years.

BLITZER: All right, John, thanks very much, John, Jim and Brianna.

Hillary Clinton heads into tonight's debate leading both, once again, nationally as well as in key battleground states. So, what is her strategy and what are her biggest concerns going into this important debate? I want to bring in Clinton's campaign chair, John Podesta. John, thanks very much for joining us.

JOHN PODESTA, CHAIRMAN, HILLARY FOR AMERICA: Good to be with you, Wolf.

BLITZER: So, she's been doing debate probe, --

PODESTA: Right.

BLITZER: -- the debate prep mode now for several days. There's talk that Donald Trump may engage in a new strategy, more scorched earth strategy leveling charges against her. I assume she's been practicing getting ready for that?

PODESTA: Well, look, she does practice for these debates, because she takes them very seriously. It's an opportunity to talk to millions of America -- of the American people. And it's worked for her. She's -- that lead that John talked about has really opened up as a result of the debate performances. And Donald Trump's faltering debate performances in the first debate. And I think she won the second debate.

So, I think that he can decide to go scorched earth but that isn't working for him. I think maybe it's -- solidifies his base, fires up his most ardent supporters. But when it comes to the undecideds, people who are trying to make up their mind, they've been moving towards her. Her approval ratings are going up. His continue to go down.

So, I think it's a bad strategy for him but we fully expect that he may try it tonight.

BLITZER: She still has problems with the question of honesty and trustworthiness. Ed Rendell, the former Pennsylvania governor, he had some advice for her. Listen to what he says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ED RENDELL, FORMER CHAIR, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: I think it's also important for Hillary Clinton to be presidential, to hang in there, even if he does get personal, but not to be smug or self- confident or over confident because elections can turn.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: He -- if you couldn't hear it's because there's a crowd behind us.

PODESTA: Yes, I got the gist.

BLITZER: He advised her not to be smug or --

PODESTA: Yes.

BLITZER: -- self-confident or over confident, if you will, because elections can turn. There's still almost three weeks to go.

PODESTA: There's no one in the Clinton campaign who's over confident. We're working every day. We built a tremendous organization on the ground, in contradiction to what Trump has tried to do. She is coming in here to, again, talk to the American people, to take on the challenge that -- and anything that Trump will throw at her.

But we need to use these last three weeks to seal the deal, as it were. To get our vote out to make sure that people understand that she wants to build an economy that's going to work for everyone, not just people at the top. That's what she's going to be prosecuting tonight.

And I think, you know, she's going to challenge Donald Trump on the way he has run his campaign, on the fact that now he's running around saying it's rigged, even as his own campaign manager threw him under the bus this morning and said that, you know, she didn't think there'd be much voter fraud in this election. And virtually every Republican official has said --

BLITZER: That's --

PODESTA: -- there wouldn't be.

BLITZER: -- Kellyanne Conway. She's a pollster, herself, the campaign manager for Donald Trump. She said, though, Hillary Clinton should be further ahead right now. Listen to what she said last night on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLYANNE CONWAY, MANAGER, TRUMP CAMPAIGN: For Hillary Clinton, she's got the current president, a past president she happens to be married to, a very popular first lady, more popular than Hillary Clinton will ever be, in Michelle Obama. She's got the vice president. She has endless amounts of money.

And as I tried to say to you last week on your show, Anderson, why can't she get to 50 percent and stay there anywhere? And that's an important question in answering yours because she's, like, the 46 percent gal. She's just -- she's nowhere near the margins that President Obama got twice in states that -- where we're competitive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: What's your response?

PODESTA: Well, look, as John noted, we have a nine-point lead in the poll of polls. I -- it is a four-way race. We're trying to talk to people who are thinking about voting for the third and fourth party candidates, Gary Johnson and the green party, Jill Stein. And say that this, really, is a binary choice. It's Hillary Clinton or it's Donald Trump.

And we think that if you look at issues, like climate change, like building a strong economy, like creating equal pay for equal work, that Hillary's the right choice. And -- but she's sitting with a nine-point deficit, which is unprecedented in line (ph) with political history. So, I think she ought to be giving more advice to her candidate rather than to ours.

BLITZER: One of the people that Donald Trump has invited to be one of his special guests tonight, Patricia smith, mother of one of the Benghazi victims, Sean Smith. She blames Hillary Clinton for her son's death. Presumably, Donald Trump's going to bring this up tonight. How is Hillary Clinton going to respond?

[13:10:06] PODESTA: Well, look, this is a tragedy. And she, of course, tragically lost her son and in Benghazi, and we honor the four people who died there. But Hillary spent the time subsequent to that when she was secretary of state to try to beef up and ensure that we have different diplomatic security there. All of our outposts are dangerous places. But, you know, there have been nine investigations of this and all have them have concluded that Hillary was not responsible, did nothing wrong. The Republicans tried to make this a major issue on Capitol Hill. They couldn't do it. She faced 11 hours of testimony.

BLITZER: He's going to want her to apologize to Patricia Smith. Will she?

PODESTA: Well, look, I think that what Hillary will do, again, is to honor her loss and state her sympathy for the fact that she has lost her son and that is a tragedy. And so is the loss of every American who's overseas and has lost their life in the battle against terrorism and the battle for more freedom.

But I think that with respect to the -- this, you know, particular case, I think Hillary's track record here has been one of trying to use this occasion to improve security and to try to move forward. And, as I said, nine investigations have found that she has -- she operated with the information she had and --

BLITZER: All right.

PODESTA: -- acted appropriately.

BLITZER: Another invited guest by Donald Trump, President Obama's Kenyan born half-brother, Malik Obama. Steve Bannon, the campaign chair, he told our Brooke Baldwin, that's just an appetizer. His words, just an appetizer. Are you worried about other surprises that may be in store for tonight?

PODESTA: Oh, you know, look, these guys can -- there's no depth to which they can go. And, you know, Bannon has probably made things worse. But his whole crew and cast of characters there, Dave Bossy, Bannon, et cetera, I'm sure they're encouraging more antics, like we saw in the second debate, from Donald Trump.

But, look, I think that we're ready for anything. And, again, I think this is a strategy that's driving Trump down and has produced that lead.

BLITZER: All right.

PODESTA: So, you know, whatever they're going to do, as Michelle Obama says, when they go low, we go high.

BLITZER: Very quickly, the "New York Times" reporting your campaign asked for a change in protocol so the two candidates at the top of the debate wouldn't have to shake hands. And that Bill Clinton wouldn't have to take hands with Malania Trump or other members of the Trump family. Is that true?

PODESTA: Well, look, you know, we would -- we would like the appropriate courtesies of normal debates. But what you saw in the second debate in St. Louis was that they don't recognize those normal courtesies. The debate commission --

BLITZER: Did you ask for a change in protocol so there wouldn't be an opportunity to shake hands?

(CROSSTALK)

PODESTA: I think we'll see what we get tonight. You know, she didn't shake his hand at the beginning and she did at the end. So, --

BLITZER: But did you ask for a change in protocol so there wouldn't even be an opportunity to shake hands?

PODESTA: What we want is a debate conducted with decorum. We'll see whether we get it tonight.

BLITZER: So, you don't want to answer that question?

PODESTA: We'll see what happens tonight.

BLITZER: Let's talk about the e-mails, the stolen e-mails, from your account. WikiLeaks has stolen thousands of these e-mails every day, including today, thousands are being released. How concerned are you that your e-mail account was hacked, if will you?

PODESTA: Well, look, this --

BLITZER: This was a G-mail account that you had, right?

PODESTA: -- look, I think it should be a concern to every American that there -- that as their -- as the U.S. government, our intelligence sources. The Department of Homeland Security have indicated these hacks are coming from Russian sources. They're in cahoots with people like (INAUDIBLE), WikiLeaks putting this out.

BLITZER: But do you believe the Russian government hacked your e- mail?

PODESTA: Yes, that's what I believe. And I -- and I think we have been informed, by law enforcement sources, that they're conducting this investigation as part of the broader investigation that they have just taken the unprecedented step of -- that the director of national intelligence and director of homeland security have said are at their root of Russian hacks. So, you know, --

BLITZER: All the transcripts --

PODESTA: -- (INAUDIBLE) is acting as a -- and, look, if this was about transparency, they'd put them all out. So, they're dribbling them out because they want Donald -- because the Russians are intervening in this election on behalf of Donald Trump, because Donald Trump has been someone who has basically taken every position that Vladimir Putin has, as opposed to the bipartisan group of -- on both sides of the aisle, of people who have thought, what's the issue of the United States?

BLITZER: Have you seen any evidence --

PODESTA: Marco Rubio -- Marco Rubio, even this morning, said that he wouldn't condone it, participate in it because he knows what's up. This is the Russians trying to interfere in our election.

[13:15:03] BLITZER: Have any of the e-mails or transcripts that have been released been doctored or are they accurate?

PODESTA: Well, I'm only going to say this, Wolf. When this first came out, it came out with a lie from Julian Assange, which was that, you know, when he first released these, that I was a co-owner of the Podesta Group, which is just factually and completely untrue. So, you know, what is - what is false, what is accurate, you know, we're not going to get into (INAUDIBLE).

BLITZER: Are the transcripts of the speeches before Goldman Sachs, are they accurate?

PODESTA: Look, I think what I would say to that, Wolf, is, we're not going to get into that. But what I would say is that she has said to people on Wall Street before the 2008 election, during the crisis, and during these speeches that they need to be held accountable. They cannot be allowed to let Wall Street wreck main street again. She's put out the most aggressive Wall Street plan of any candidate. What does Donald Trump want to do? Repeal Dodd/Frank. She's been forward- leaning in saying that she will regulate and be tough on Wall Street and that's what she'll do as president.

BLITZER: But she says - she says, according to these transcripts, you need one -

PODESTA: (INAUDIBLE) -

BLITZER: One position in public for the American people, and but you need another private position.

PODESTA: No, I think that, you know, in - in the context of this, what she has said to them was they were playing with fire, and in the mortgage market with the credit default swaps, that they should get a fairer tax code by eliciting - getting rid of carried interest. That Dodd/Frank was going to be enforced. And that she's gone further than that in this campaign.

BLITZER: Some of your -

PODESTA: So I think she's been, even though she represented New York, she's been tough on Wall Street. She'll continue to be tough on Wall Street. And I think that's what her speeches have indicated.

And if you look at the commentary, people are kind of surprised when they look at the whole basket to find that - that the reformers are kind of pleased and the people on Wall Street are kind of nervous.

BLITZER: In one of the e-mails -

PODESTA: There's a reason for that.

BLITZER: And - and -

PODESTA: Because she's going to be tough on Wall Street. BLITZER: I know you've got to run, but very, very, very quickly, in

one of the e-mails you called Bernie Sanders a dufus. Did you?

PODESTA: Well, you know, I have great respect for Bernie Sanders. There was a - a moment where he opposed the Paris deal, where, you know, without conferring the accuracy of the e-mail, I was frustrated with him, but he and I have a very good relationship. A lot of rapport. I've worked for Pat Leahy, the other senator from Vermont, and I've had a very good relationship with Senator Sanders and I have great affection for him, but I do think when he criticized the Paris agreement, I didn't think he was taking the right position. I'm very proud of President Obama for delivering such an important climate agreement.

BLITZER: I'll take that as a yes.

PODESTA: I'll take that as a statement that I have great admiration for Senator Sanders.

BLITZER: Some of the other words you used to characterize others -

PODESTA: Look, there - there are even members of the CNN crew who might -

BLITZER: I know. We know. We -

PODESTA: Who might read some of - you know, you say things -

BLITZER: Got to be careful with your e-mails then.

PODESTA: Say things in private that -

BLITZER: All right.

PODESTA: That' you regret. But, you know, I have great - I have great affection and great admiration for Senator Sanders.

BLITZER: All right, thanks very much for joining us. John Podesta, the campaign chair for Hillary Clinton.

Coming up, traditional Republican states like Arizona and Utah now apparently up for grabs for the Clinton campaign. A Trump senior adviser, the Arizona Republican Party chair standing by to join us live. We're going to talk about how his candidate plans to hold on to those states.

We're live here from the University of Nevada Las Vegas, the site of the final presidential debate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:22:59] BLITZER: If the polls are any indication, Trump is entering tonight's debate in the weakest position he's been in the entire campaign. Not only is he trailing Hillary Clinton in the national polls, but also in states that have been reliably Republican in years' past. Our newly updated battleground map, for example, showing states like Utah and Arizona now toss-ups. The latest poll, in fact, from "The Arizona Republic" and others showing Hillary Clinton up now over Trump in Arizona by five points with only 20 days left until the election.

Joining us now is Robert Graham. He's an adviser to the Trump campaign, and the Arizona Republican Party chairman.

Robert, thanks very much for joining us.

ROBERT GRAHAM, TRUMP CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Good to be here. Thank you.

BLITZER: What's going on in Arizona?

GRAHAM: Well, we're working hard. I mean I think - we look at the pools and we take all elections serious. But at this particular point, I think they're not consistent with what's really happening on the ground in Arizona.

BLITZER: So these polls you don't think are reliable?

GRAHAM: No, I don't. I mean when we look at what's happening in Arizona, really three key points is you have, Arizona has a massive Republican voter advantage. We have 175,000 more Republicans registered, active Republicans. We've got 21 field offices. We've got over 12,000 volunteers that are - we can't even deploy them fast enough, not to mention the millions of calls and doors that we're knocking on. So we've really mobilized that force. And that's when you engage the voters in that way, that's when it becomes a meaningful outcome for any candidate. And we're not seeing that on Hillary.

BLITZER: So what does it say that your senior senator, John McCain, who himself is up for re-election, he seems to be doing well in the polls, he has certainly not been out there campaigning for Donald Trump in Arizona?

GRAHAM: Ys, I think - I think what happens is the calculus is different. I mean you've got a senator that represents everybody in the state of Arizona as it relates to Republicans, Democrats and independents, and he's well liked. He blew his competition -

BLITZER: But does that hurt Trump that he's not helping him in Arizona?

GRAHAM: No. I think - I think people - John McCain has always been John McCain. And John McCain's always taken his own personal positions. I think right now what you're seeing is, again, a momentum shift really strong behind Trump in our state, even though the polls may suggest opposite. But McCain's doing his thing and us, as a Republican Party, my job description is solely to get all Republicans elected, including McCain and Donald Trump.

[13:25:04] BLITZER: What do you expect from Trump tonight? It's really his last major chance to address tens of millions of Americans?

GRAHAM: Yes, I think he's going to lean into this one I think in a very aggressive way. One of the things you hear from Donald Trump when you work through his real message is jobs, opportunity and safety for everybody. And when you're in a state like Arizona, where we have a high Hispanic population, and in those populations we have very high unemployment, he's actually speaking right to them as a man that really knows how to deploy people and get resources and jobs for the hard-working taxpayers.

BLITZER: But is he going to go after Hillary Clinton's character? Is he going to go with what some of his critics are calling the gutter politics?

GRAHAM: Yes, you know what, I think that - the thing about Hillary Clinton is, we want her to be held accountable and I think Trump wants her to be held accountable. They have a pattern, over the last 30 years, where you have this bad acting behavior and this dishonesty. And people say it. I mean the number one question to describe - or word to describe Hillary Clinton has been dishonesty. And so when you see what she's been doing and then now just more and more volume of e- mails, I think he has a responsibility to hold her accountable in this debate for her bad behavior.

BLITZER: So he'll come out swinging?

GRAHAM: I think so. I think it's the only way to make sure that people really understand he's here to be a fighter for America.

BLITZER: Robert Graham, thanks so much for joining us.

GRAHAM: Thank you, Wolf, I appreciate it.

BLITZER: The party chairman from Arizona, the Republican Party chairman.

Coming up, the billionaire who's caught in the middle here in Las Vegas. The casino king Steve Wynn considered Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to be his friends. So will tonight's debate help him pick who he decides to put his chips behind? I'll ask him when our special live coverage continues right from right here in Las Vegas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)