Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

7 Days to Go: Clinton, Trump Sprint to Finish; Clinton Aide Accuses FBI of "Double Standard"; Ryan: I Voted for Trump in Early Voting. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired November 01, 2016 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:16]

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. The end is in sight, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, making their final pitches to voters in key states. Clinton is laser-focused on Florida, making three stops there today. Trump and Mike Pence starts their day in Pennsylvania where they'll give a joint address on Obamacare in about an hour. And Trump will be in Clinton's sites today as she tries to pivot away from the FBI e-mail probe of one of her top aides. Her strategy, paint Trump as dangerous for women. And she'll get an assist from none other than Alicia Machado, the former Miss Universe, who said Trump made derogatory remarks about her weight and ethnicity, will introduce Clinton at one of those Florida rallies today. Team Clinton is also dropping this new ad using Trump's words about women against him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Putting a wife to work is a very dangerous thing. When I come home and dinner's not ready, I go through the roof.

Grab them by the -

BILLY BUSH, HOST "ACCESS HOLLYWOOD LIVE": And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN, tracking all of this for you this morning. CNN's Jason Carroll is in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, where Trump speaks next hour. And Brianna Keilar is keeping her eye on the candidates' final pitch to voters. Brianna, let's start with you, good morning.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you Carol. Today, for Hillary Clinton is all about the woman vote. She is going to be talking about women and girls, as you mentioned. She will be in Dade City, Florida. And she'll have Alicia Machado introducing her. We of course remember Alicia Machado. She came up after the first debate. And Donald Trump ended up in this sort of back and forth with her in the following days, for days and days. She alleged that he had called her "miss piggy." That he had called her "miss housekeeping" and this focus coming in tandem with that ad that you just showed. This is perhaps one of the most scathing ads that the Clinton campaign has used against Donald Trump, using his own words. So this is her focus today. As they try to change the narrative a little bit. There's so much focus right now on the e-mail issue, her aide, Huma Abedin's e-mails that were on her -- estranged husband, Anthony Weiner's laptop. They're trying to change the topic of conversation from that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBBY MOOK, CLINTON CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Director Comey felt it was incumbent upon him to announce that the FBI had some information he'd never even looked at, but they won't reveal connections to Russia. We know that the Russians, based on what 17 agencies have all agreed on, that the Russians stole e-mails from the DNC. They stole e-mails from our campaign. And it was James Comey at the FBI, who was trying to block that information from getting released. So, we just want all this information out there on both candidates. So why is it important to hold back information about Russians and it's not important to hold back information about a Democrat candidate for president? It is mind-boggling. And Director Comey needs to answer to this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So, that's Hillary Clinton's campaign head, Robby Mook, who is talking about something else that the FBI is looking into, Carol. And that is ties between Donald Trump's world and Russia, specifically these hackings that have happened that the Obama administration say is the Russians. That the Russians are behind the hackings into the DNC systems and the Clinton campaign systems, but what we've also learned is there have been some bigger issues or some other issues that the FBI and Intel officials have been looking at.

One in particular, that the Democrats behind Hillary Clinton are really hooking on to is this alleged chatter between a Russian bank, alleged e-mail chatter, I should say, between a Russian bank and a computer device at the Trump organization. Now, they also, we've learned from Intel officials, in various reports, a big report going into "The New York Times," that there could be an innocuous reason behind that. It could just be a spam situation going on. But these are the things that the Clinton campaign really wants to rev up. She had momentum and she lost some of that with this story about Huma Abedin's e-mails.

COSTELLO: All right. Brianna Keilar reporting live from Washington for us this morning, thank you. Donald Trump will continue to hammer away at Obamacare today. In just an hour, he and Mike Pence will deliver a joint address on the policy. CNN's Jason Carroll is covering that in Pennsylvania. Good morning.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you. Sort of a twofold message here this morning. First of all, on Obamacare, and then on those Clinton e-mails, when it comes to Obamacare, Mike Pence, going to be doing some of the heavy lifting this morning, talking about many of the issues we've heard before out on the campaign. Donald Trump speaking about criticizing Obamacare, saying it needs to be repealed and replaced, talking about rising premiums, their estimation that in places like Pennsylvania and in Arizona, their estimation that premiums are going to rise way beyond 25 percent.

And also, Carol, this other message that Pence will deliver when he speaks in just a few moments which is going to be about coming home, bringing Republicans home, now that we are in the final stretch. Trump for his part, going to be talking a lot about those Clinton e- mails. He has a new line of

[10:05:16] attack bringing children into the equation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You know I have a son named Baron. And I want to tell you, she is a terrible example for my son and for the children in this country that I can tell you. Hillary is the one who broke the law over and over and over again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: You know what's interesting about that, Carol, I'm sure you remember this when it comes to the issue of candidates and children. Hillary Clinton, for quite some time now, has been running an attack ad that some of her supporters are saying is very effective, showing children sitting and listening to much of the rhetoric from Donald Trump talking about women, talking about a disabled reporter. So interesting now that Donald Trump has flipped this script, if you will, and now is bringing children into the equation, saying that Hillary Clinton is the one who is a bad influence on children.

Also, want to circle back on something about Mike Pence and coming home, bringing Republicans back into the fold. The top ranking Republican, House Speaker Paul Ryan, recently saying that he did, in fact, cast a vote for Donald Trump. You know, these two had been sort of at each other's throats in some ways throughout this campaign. So Paul Ryan, one of those coming home. But then you've got someone like John Kasich, who admitted that he did not vote for Donald Trump. He has not come home. Instead, he wrote in a vote for John McCain. Carol?

COSTELLO: All right, Jason Carroll reporting live from Pennsylvania. Thank you. So there's a lot to talk about this morning. With me now is Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, and Carrie Johnson, "NPR" justice correspondent. Welcome to both of you.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Thanks Carol.

COSTELLO: OK, so let's start with the strategy of Hillary Clinton's, Larry. She's pulling out all the stops. And by all the stops, I mean, she's really hammering away at the female vote. Good strategy?

SABATO: Oh, absolutely. That is her ticket to the White House. Assuming she has one. She's unlikely to carry men. Probably, Trump will by undetermined percentage. But women have been supportive of her candidacy the entire year and we really are headed potentially for the largest gender gap in American history because she does draw so well among women. She needs to reinforce this at every opportunity and that's what she does on the trail and that's what her advertisements do.

COSTELLO: So, Alicia Machado is going to introduce Hillary Clinton, Carrie, in Florida today. So, is Hillary Clinton trying to bait Donald Trump by, you know, inviting Alicia Machado to her rally?

CARRIE JOHNSON, "NPR" JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, as we saw in one of the debates, it appeared to work before. If it worked before, it may well work again. Although Donald Trump, as you've reported, has been spending a lot of his time on the trail lately, talking about this renewed FBI activity surrounding Hillary Clinton's e-mail. He talked about it again and again and again yesterday. And I don't expect at this point, for that talking point to let up from his camp and people close to him as well.

COSTELLO: But, Larry, she's even turning this FBI controversy into a male versus female issue by calling James Comey, by saying that James Comey, you know, there's a double standard when it comes to investigating or talking about an investigation into Hillary Clinton's e-mails and talking about possible ties between Donald Trump and Russia.

SABATO: Yes. Well, the term double standard is one that most women would recognize and respond to. More generally, though, Carol, she has taken a very aggressive stance against the decision that Director Comey made. And frankly, she should because that decision has created what I call the Comey effect. And it has indeed energized the Trump forces. It has brought some wayward reluctant Republic partisans back to Trump. Comey, intentionally or not, I don't think he necessarily intended it, has hurt Hillary Clinton's campaign. I don't blame her for responding but you know, it's time to move on. She needs to get back on the offensive on a wide range of issues. She's made her point. Most Democrats get it about Director Comey and his decision. And now, she has to go back to the themes that put her in front for most of this election campaign.

COSTELLO: So that's why, Carrie, that Donald Trump is using this new line, he wants to bring Republicans back home, which seems so warm and fuzzy, but could it be working in light of what James Comey said about Huma Abedin's e-mails?

JOHNSON: Carol, as somebody who has covered the Justice Department for a long time, I can't remember a situation when Democrats and Republicans, veterans of the DOJ, have banded together. And they've banded together to send a letter condemning the comments by FBI Director James Comey. These are very high-level

[10:10:16] people who served in the George W. Bush administration with Comey. They're quite unhappy with his desire or his move to send this letter to Congress, 11 days before the election. Now, the White House has come out and said they do not believe the FBI director was trying to influence the election in any way. But that talking point has been quite persuasive among former prosecutors and high level justice officials. And controversial even within FBI circles too.

COSTELLO: So Larry, it appears that the polls are tightening. And you know, you could look at one poll, and it will say one thing and another will say something else. But the polls are tightening when you put them all together. So you were predicting a big Hillary Clinton win. Are you still?

SABATO: Well, I think she is very likely to win simply because she has much easier path to 270, many credible paths to 270, and Trump really does need to thread the eye of five or six or seven needles at once which is very difficult to do. You know, if there's an upset for Trump, I know number one on the list for me is going to be the decision by Director Comey to send that letter, that vague letter to Congress inviting all kinds of speculation.

It really has made a difference for Donald Trump, whether the director intended it or not. It has had an effect. So is Clinton still a favorite? Yes. But you're absolutely right. The polls have tightened, especially since that announcement because Comey has helped to bring wayward Republicans home to Trump. They haven't liked him, many of them. They have resisted voting for him. But now they focus on Clinton and her problems. And they find him acceptable enough to vote for.

COSTELLO: Larry Sabato, Carrie Johnson, thank you so much.

Still to come in the "Newsroom," Paul Ryan and Donald Trump don't see eye to eye, but one thing's for sure. Ryan is backing the Republican candidate at the ballot box. We'll tell you what he said.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:16:08] COSTELLO: House Speaker Paul Ryan revealing today that he's among millions of early voters. And if you had any doubts about where he stood on Donald Trump, he cleared that up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN, (R) HOUSE SPEAKER: I stand where I stood all fall and all summer. In fact, I already voted here in Janesville for our nominee last week in early voting. We need to support our entire Republican ticket.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN senior political reporter Manu Raju joins me now with more. Good morning.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Good morning, Carol. Paul Ryan doing something that we haven't heard from him much, talking about Donald Trump. And one reason why is that he's facing a lot of pressure from Trump critics to do more, to say that he should support Donald Trump, to say that he should defend Donald Trump. But he right now seems to be in a decent position. If not a good position to get re-elected Speaker, come next year. One reason why, is that his detractors don't have a legitimate candidate to run against him. And if Ryan does have a sizable amount of support among house Republicans to be re-elected Speaker this January when that vote happens on the floor. But there's one issue here for Paul Ryan going forward. He's likely to have a narrow majority if the house does stay Republican, fewer moderates, more on bold and house conservatives and a lot of those members who supported Donald Trump and who have asked him to do a lot more.

So, will this be enough to get them to calm down, come January? Perhaps, because right now there are a handful of folks who are outspoken in their criticism of Paul Ryan and not doing enough and there are others who are just keeping cool for now and waiting to see how the election results turn out. But this was an interesting moment for Paul Ryan who has not said anything about Donald Trump since the release of that "Access Hollywood" video or saying very little today announcing his support. Trying to keep the focus on what he thinks could unify the Republican Party which is attacking Hillary Clinton.

COSTELLO: So, did he actually say he voted for Donald Trump because I didn't hear Donald Trump mentioned in his answer.

RAJU: Yes, he said that he has voted for the nominee. So he didn't say Trump's name per se. But he said that he voted straight ticket, straight Republican ticket. And he pivoted to attack Hillary Clinton which is what Paul Ryan has been doing for weeks now. So that's clearly something that he believes to unify the party by focusing on Clinton rather than talking about why Donald Trump is qualified to be commander-in-chief.

COSTELLO: So, some of the down ballot Republicans who are still having a hard time, right, with their re-election bids, especially in North Carolina, although doesn't have much to do with Hillary Clinton at the moment, does it?

RAJU: Yes. No, they don't. We're talking about North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, yesterday trying to fire up his supporters in a private conversation over the weekend. He's got a very difficult re-election race that could determine the next senate majority. But I obtained audio of this private event that he had over the weekend, in which he discussed Hillary Clinton and the second amendment. Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLI)

SEN. RICHARD BURR, (R) NORTH CAROLINA: Nothing made me feel any better than, I walked into a gun shop, I think yesterday in Oxford. There was a copy of a rifle magazine on the counter. It's got a picture of Hillary Clinton on the front of it. I was a little bit shocked at that - it didn't have a bullseye on it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, the Burr campaign quickly apologized, afterwards. The comment was inappropriate. And Burr, himself, said "I apologize for it." Now, Burr is trying to align himself with Trump. Arguing -- in that meeting that Trump "aligns perfectly" with where the GOP stands today. And he also said, Carol, that he would do, "everything I can to ensure Hillary Clinton will not fill that final Supreme Court seat," wanting to keep it vacant for four years. That got a lot of applause in that private meeting. But that's also going to be a major debate for the Republican Party going forward, if Clinton wins, what to do about a possible Democratic nominee to the Supreme Court.

COSTELLO: All right, Manu Raju, thank you so much.

[10:20:16] Seven days to go. Millions of votes already cast but one number looming large. 270. The number of electoral votes needed to win the White House. Here to break down each candidate's path to that goal is Mark Preston, executive editor for CNN politics. Hi, Mark.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Hey, good morning, Carol. No doubt -

COSTELLO: -- has that changed?

PRESTON: Well, I'll tell you what. As you said, there is a just what, a week left now before the election and they both have different paths to how they get there. But if you look at this map, right here. Donald Trump has a difficult map right now, Carol. Not only does he have to win the eight battleground states that we have identified, but he needs to go on and win also a blue state, so interesting to see that he is in Pennsylvania today with Mike Pence, doing an Obamacare speech in the King of Prussia, one of the suburbs of Philadelphia. That would be one of the states, Carol that Donald Trump would have to win in order to get to that 270 threshold.

COSTELLO: I was just talking to Larry Sabato, a couple of minutes ago, Mark, and he said that the race has indeed tightened up and it's because of the FBI director. Do you see the same thing?

PRESTON: I think so, yes. You know, we're starting to see now we'll have more data over the next day or so, Carol, where we will actually likely see some tightening up. Specifically, in some of these battleground states where you had people on the edges. They weren't necessarily enamored by Trump and they weren't enamored by Hillary Clinton. The question is, though, will they actually come out and vote for Donald Trump, these folks who are on the fence, or will they perhaps not vote at all and perhaps if they were leaning towards Hillary Clinton. We're not quite sure about that. But it is interesting today that we're seeing the FBI investigation now being peered by the Trump campaign with Obamacare, which we've seen rates rise, or they will rise next year, which is going to hurt a lot of people in their pocket book.

COSTELLO: So, millions of Americans have already voted, Mark. What if they changed their minds? Can they go back and change their vote?

PRESTON: Well it all depends, what state you actually live in, Carol. But some states actually allow you to change your vote. Look at that right there, states you can, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Mississippi, what's interesting about Wisconsin specifically is that you can change your mind up to three times, Carol. Talk about being on the edge of not knowing which way to go. But in other states, you're not necessarily allowed to do so. And those states include like New York and Pennsylvania or, rather, Pennsylvania, Florida, some of the battleground states where you're not allowed to do so. But if you do have any question and you want to do it, you should reach out to your state elections board because it's not something that's done very often. And it is very confusing. And if you call your state election boards, they'll let you know.

COSTELLO: All right, Mark Preston, many thanks. Coming up in the "Newsroom," Donald Trump isn't the only one having trouble winning over establishment Republicans. He's also having a tough time convincing Evangelicals. Why this voting bloc is torn in the battleground state of North Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I personally plan to vote reluctantly, and like, for Trump. Not that I in anyway, like, would want to like endorse him as a person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:28:10] COSTELLO: And good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are locked in a tight race especially in the swing state of North Carolina. The state which in previous elections voted Republican is now leaning Democrat, one voting group particularly torn over Trump, Evangelical Christians. CNN's Jessica Schneider, live in Raleigh with more. Good morning.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. You know, the Evangelical voting bloc is particularly stressed out by this election. I spent Sunday at the RFA church in Raleigh where the members there say that they have never been this conflicted about a presidential election. They say the issues are very clear. But when it comes to finding a candidate who embodies their ideals, well, that is a lot less so.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Inside North Carolina evangelical churches, the mood, joyous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a season in our country where we're so divided -

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Leaders acknowledging though, the faithful are struggling.

PASTOR CHAD HARVEY, RFA CHURCH: I'm seeing stress this year like I've never seen before.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Pastor Chad Harvey leads the Raleigh free assembly church.

HARVEY: And now we're at genesis -

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Most of his members are rallying for Trump.

MARQUIS PACE, EVANGELICAL VOTER: Oh, it wasn't easy at all. It was a very difficult decision. Because if I just look at Donald Trump as a man, there's no way that I would even consider voting for him, but I have to look at the much bigger picture.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): For Marquis Pace, it comes down to his own anti-abortion stance and the future of the Supreme Court. But with Trump's three marriages and the release of that "Access Hollywood" tape.

TRUMP: You can do anything.

BUSH: Whatever you want.

TRUMP: Grab them by the pussy.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Some are now asking, is the Republican ticket the pious pick. White Evangelicals propelled Mitt Romney to a narrow victory in the state in 2012. They made up about a third all voters.

JESUS MORALES, EVANGELICAL VOTER: His lifestyle hasn't been one that is representative of values I hold. I don't believe he's honest when he takes his -- says he's pro-life.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Jesus Morales is never Trump. He and his wife plans to vote for Evan McMullin, the Republican running as an independent. He is on the ballot in 11 states, but not North Carolina, so they will have to write him in as their vote.