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Trump Vows to Bring Up Bill Clinton Scandals; Trump's Boys Club, Their History with Women; Clinton Steps Up Push for Millennial Votes; Kerry: I Argued for the Use of Force in Syria; American Sisters Dead in Island Mystery; Supporters Making the Case for Their Presidential Candidates. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired October 01, 2016 - 15:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:00:00] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump with a new line of attack on rival, Hillary Clinton. In a new interview with "The New York Times," declaring, quote, "She is nasty, but I could be nastier than she ever can be." He also told the "Times" that he may bring up Bill Clinton's affairs and indiscretions because he believes Hillary Clinton's treatment of the women tied to her husband will turn female voters away from supporting her. Trump, though, was less keen to answer questions about whether he was unfaithful to any of his three wives, saying, quote, "No, I never discuss it. I never discuss it. It was never a problem." All of this, as old video surfaces of Trump in a video for "Playboy." Just take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: (INAUDIBLE) -- we'll see what happens -- (INAUDIBLE)

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: The Trump camp not responding to CNN's questions about that. This, as a brand new poll, post-debate poll shows the presidential race is neck and neck, between Trump and Clinton. Trump -- Clinton is leading Trump by three points according to FOX News.

This, as we countdown to the second critical debate just eight days from now.

Let's talk about all of this, and Trump's comments to "The New York Times" with our Chris Frates from Washington.

Tell me about what Trump said in this article, and how Clinton's camp is responding this morning.

CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Poppy. It was a really interesting article, where Trump really went on the attack. He called Clinton nastier, but said he can get nastier than that. And then, well, he got pretty nasty. He attacked Clinton for what he says was her role in her husband's sex scandal. I want to pull up a quote that he gave the newspaper. He said this, quote, "Hillary Clinton was married to the single greatest abuser of women in the history of politics. Hillary was an enabler and she attacked the women who Bill Clinton mistreated afterwards. I think it is a serious problem for them and something I'm considering talking about more in the near future."

Now, as for his own extra marital activities, well, Trump told "The New York Times" he never cheated on his wives, but when the paper asked him what about your affair with Marla Maples, which was the stuff of tabloid legend in New York, Trump said, "Well, I don't talk about that."

For her part, Clinton has said she'll ignore all of Trump's barbs and focus on her own agenda -- Poppy."

HARLOW: Thank you, Chris.

Let's talk about the affect this can have on the race. We are 38 days from Election Day.

Here to break it down, CNN senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein, senior editor at "The Atlantic"; and CNN senior political commentator and former public policy director for Mitt Romney's campaign, Lanhee Chen.

Thank you, guys, for being here.

Let's dig into "The New York Times: article. Here is more of what Trump said, "He was bringing up Mr. Clinton's infidelities because he thought they would repulse female voters away from the Clintons." They're struggling to get female voters.

Ron Brownstein, the thing is, Hillary Clinton's approval rating was the highest it has ever been when she was first lady in the White House going through the Lewinsky scandal. I wonder what Trump thinks will be different this time. Will it work?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah, well, you know, look, by conventional metrics, this is a strange line of argument for Donald Trump, because his race, it is not that people are wild Clinton, there are plenty of doubts about Hillary Clinton. His principle problem is that 60 percent of America say he is not qualified and even more say does he have the temperament to exceed as president. He is struggling with minority and college educated white women. This would seem to be a very unlikely line of argument to warm a lot of college educated white women toward him to blame Hillary Clinton for her husband's infidelities. Like any thing Donald Trump does, it may be based on a different theory. Millions of conservative voters who have not voted before and the more confrontational and the conservative id you get, the more likely you're bring them out. It is hard to see how this solves any problems.

HARLOW: If that's the rationale, Lanhee, you look at Trump and his past, he has been accused of cheating on his first wife, as you heard Chris Frates. He wrote in his book, "The Art of the Come Back," quote, "If I told real stories of my experiences of women often seemingly happily married and important women, the book would be a guaranteed best-seller."

Can he successfully attack Clinton when you look at his own history?

LANHEE CHEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Poppy, I don't think this is a very productive line of attack for Trump. If you look back to the last debate as an example, when was Trump the strongest in that debate? He was the strongest probably the first 15 or 20 minutes when he was talking about policy. He was talking about, look, here is what I want to do on global trade. Here is why the Clinton agenda will fail. I don't understand why it is, even if he is trying to appeal to conservative voters, you're right, his own history will prevent him from making a more compelling argument. And by the way, it is not clear there are enough voters to get him over the top. If the goal is to win a general election, even those who haven't voted in previous cycles is not a winning strategy.

[15:05:] HARLOW: Ron, let's talk about what he spent a lot of this week doing, going after Alicia Machado, the former Miss Universe, who she says he weight-shamed her after winning, and then goes on this 3:00 a.m. Twitter tirade about her, calling her disgusting and other things, bringing up a sex tape.

This brings his supporters like Newt Gingrich to criticize him. Here is what Gingrich said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH, (R), FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: This last week I think has been a lost week. It has hurt him. It has shaken his own supporters. And you can't tweet at 3:00 in the morning. Period. There is no excuse. Ever. Not if you're going to be the president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: You know what, it led Elizabeth Warren, the liberal Senator, to respond in her own tweet, saying, you're not tweeting about creating jobs and those things at 3:00 in the morning, because Trump said a least you know I'll be there to answer the phone at 3:00 in the morning.

What do you think this says, Ron, in terms of if he cannot resist responding to these things, what does that tell us about how he would be as president?

BROWNSTEIN: Right, it is a whole new version of the 3:00 a.m. phone call. It does validate the sharpest criticisms against him from Democrats. The biggest questions he is facing, I repeat myself, qualifications and temperament. Democrats have not spent a lot of energy trying to critique his agenda they've spent most of their time that he is unfit by temperament and values to be president. This thing reinforces that. This series of tweets that he put out about the former Miss Universe will kind of volatile. They were vitriolic, racist and sexist. In 140 characters, he validated every one of the principle arguments Democrats have raised against him.

HARLOW: I want you both to hear something from this morning's "Smerconish." This is an exchange, a former reporter who spoke on CNN earlier today about an exchange she had over the phone with Donald Trump. This is decades ago, back in the '80s, after a story she wrote. I'm going to play what she said out the phone call.

But first, for parents watching, you have kids in the room, I want to warn you, this contains language that might be offensive. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER LIN, FORMER REPORTER, PHILADELPHIA ENQUIRER: I got a phone call. The woman said hold for Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump began to yell at me. He told me I had shit for brains, I worked for a shitty newspaper, and what kind of shit was I writing. I was stunned. He hung up. He called my boss in Philadelphia and he treated my boss to the same sort of rant. But then he added that he referred to me as the "C" word, a word I will not use, Michael, because, in my opinion, it is the worst word in the English language to refer to a woman. But he complained to my boss. He called me the "C" word, and my boss said if there was any problem with the story, we would run a correction. So what was wrong with the story, Mr. Trump, and Mr. Trump said he had not read the story. He only read the headline.

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN HOST, SMERCONISH: Wow.

LIN: So my boss said to call him back if there were any problems and he never called back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: So guys, before this interview, before the Twitter tirade, before the debate, before this "New York Times" article focusing on women, if you look at the CBS/"New York Times" polling, it shows more than half of American women think Donald Trump does not respect them. That's not just liberal women. That's half of American, you know, likely voters.

What can he do, Lanhee, to try to get more female support?

CHEN: Well, I think what you're seeing the campaign try to do is they're trying to put out female surrogates, now apparently they're running an ad featuring his daughter talking about the plans he has with respect to paid leave and issues of that sort. I do think that's the best approach they can take. I think they've got some very strong female surrogates. They've got a great campaign manager, who is very good on TV, Kellyanne Conway. They've got Trump's daughter. That is what they need to be doing. The problem is Trump's own words, and his own history, and even the way that he has dealt with this controversy around Miss Universe that really he created --

(CROSSTALK)

CHEN: -- and the counter balancing.

HARLOW: I just wonder --

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: Go ahead, Ron.

BROWNSTEIN: The real battlefield on this front is those blue collar white women. As I mentioned, Trump is on track for the worst performance ever by a Republican among college educated white women. There isn't a lot he can do there. He is facing overwhelming deficits among women of color, which is more typical for a Republican nominee. But in the period leading up to that first debates, he was regaining ground among while women without a college education, who usually voter Republican, especially married white women without a college education, he was doing better there. I think that if you do see an impact from that unsteady debate performance and then this incredible week in which he has been lured into a sustained argument about the weight of a beauty pageant contestant, I think it's with the blue color white women, and I'll be interested to see as national polls start coming out if that hurts.

[15:10:30] HARLOW: It's stunning that we're talking about things like weight gain of a former beauty pageant winner 38 days out from electing a leader of the free world. It's pretty stunning. But Hillary Clinton needs to focus on her own narrative and her story, and not just countering these attacks from him.

I'm out of time.

Thank you, Ron and Lahnee. Appreciate it.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

HARLOW: A lot ahead this hour. Trump's boys club, with multiple marriages, sex scandals, and their own rocky history when it comes to women. Does it matter who he surrounds himself with to voters. We'll dive into that.

Also, Hillary Clinton makes a hard sell to Millennials. A lot were Bernie Sanders supporters. Can she convince them to side with her with just 38 days to go?

HARLOW: It is Trump's new strategy, use the old Bill Clinton sex scandals from the '90s and turn women against Hillary Clinton. It's outlined in a brand new "New York Times" piece, but it is a questionable move, given Trump's own history with women as well as the men that he has surrounded himself with during this campaign.

Here is our Kyung Lah.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: I do cherish women. I love women.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Trump's critics question if that's true. But it is not only Trump who is facing scrutiny. Some of his closest advisors are as well. STEVE BANNON, CEO, TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: We need to have a

fight in the Republican Party for the soul of the conservative party.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I agree with you.

[15:15:03] LAH: Campaign CEO Steve Bannon, in 1996, faced misdemeanor charges, his ex wife in the police report alleging he grabbed her, an incident that the officer says left red marks on her left wrist and the right side of her neck. Those charges were dropped.

The man behind FOX News, Roger Ailes, is now an unofficial Trump campaign whisperer, although Trump won't officially acknowledge his role. FOX News ousted Ailes after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment. Anchor Gretchen Carson received a $20 million settlement from FOX.

GINGRICH: You're not supposed to gain 60 pounds during the year that you're Miss Universe.

(LAUGHTER)

LAH: That's former speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, speaking this week, defending Trump's comments about Alicia Machado's weight gain after she won the crown. Gingrich is now a Trump advisor. He and Trump have both been married three times, both accused of infidelity.

In 2012, Gingrich's second-wife recalled this.

UNIDENTIFIED EX WIFE OF NEWT GINGRICH: He was asking to have an open marriage and I refused.

LAH: Then there's, Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor and Trump backer. After Monday's debate, Giuliani spoke to reporters, bringing up Bill Clinton's affair, criticizing not just Bill Clinton, but Hillary Clinton.

RUDY GIULIANI, (R), FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: She attacked Monica Lewinsky, and after being married to Bill Clinton for 20 years, if you didn't know the moment Monica Lewinsky said that Bill Clinton violated her and she was telling the truth, then you're too stupid to be president.

LAH: But Giuliani should be able to relate to marital strife. Married three times, he announced his separation to his second wife at a press conference before telling her. His divorce and affair playing out publicly in New York tabloid front pages.

(on camera): Trump's closest advises are not all male. His campaign manager is a woman, Kellyanne Conway. Another person who has his ear is also a woman, his daughter, Ivanka.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Kyung, thank you.

Let's bring the panel, Ileana Garcia, the founder of Latinas for Trump; and CNN political commentator and Hillary Clinton supporter, Maria Cardona. Her firm does work for a Clinton super PAC.

Ileana, let me begin with you.

Looking at the men that she outlines, do you think they are the right messengers to have around when you look at the brand new FOX News post-debate poll that came out yesterday that shows Trump trailing 20 points with female voters across the board? Are those the right messengers?

ILEANA GARCIA, FOUNDER, LATINAS FOR TRUMP: Poppy, I fail to see how what someone's personal life could have to do with something that you are obviously trying to pursue, which is prosperity, jobs, economy. I would imagine that each and every person has their tit and tat. And I don't see what Rudy Giuliani's three ex-wives, what that has to do with let's say I would want for America.

HARLOW: So you're saying issues of character don't matter?

GARCIA: If that's the case, we can go back to Franklin Roosevelt, Kennedy, and all of the presidents, including Mr. Clinton, that went through the White House. What we have to look at, and what I'm looking at is, what does this candidate have to offer. As an Independent, I could have voted for one other the other. This candidate represents prosperity verses recession, jobs, security, a better tax break, child care, senior care, all of those things are the things that I am looking at.

HARLOW: So then --

GARCIA: And not just some of the background noise that's going on at the moment.

HARLOW: So then if character is out of the picture, then are Hillary Clinton's e-mails and her character off the table?

GARCIA: One of the reasons why Hillary is off the table for me as a candidate is not because of all of the things that Mr. Trump --

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: No, what I'm asking if you're saying if character shouldn't be part of the debate then should Hillary Clinton's e-mails and he trustworthiness, should those not be fodder either?

GARCIA: They can. That depends on how you want to see it. You have previous candidates like Bernie Sanders who trust back in April spoke with Jake Tapper and said he definitely doubts a Clinton presidency. That was just a couple of months ago. You have the debates --

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: I guess what I'm saying if character can't be an issue for Donald Trump, why can be it an issue for Hillary Clinton.

GARCIA: It depends how you want to see it. What is it you're going to see in exchange for all of this background noise?

(CROSSTALK)

[15:19:53] HARLOW: Not sure I understand that.

I want to get Maria in here.

We've come out of the first debate, frankly, Maria, talking about not about Hillary Clinton's policies, but about Donald Trump's feud with the former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado, he brought up sex tapes in a tweet. You have high-profile surrogates like Elizabeth Warren tweeting this last night, she tweeted, "Is this what keeps you up at night @realDonaldTrump, thinking of new ways to call women fat, ugly or sluts."

Do you think the Clinton camp at 38 days out is making this a conscious choice to make this a referendum on Donald Trump rather than focusing on what she can do for America? If so, is that the smartest strategy when there is an enthusiasm gap?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: She has been talking to voters about how she wants to bring back economic prosperity, how she would focus on the biggest jobs investment since World War II. She was out this week talking at college campuses about college affordability, about jobs, about housing, about bettering health care.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: So you don't think there may be -- on him? I mean, a number of --

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: She had quite a few tweets following his --

CARDONA: Yes.

HARLOW: --is tweets.

CARDONA: Because he is the one making this an issue and I actually think the w he treats women is absolutely an issue when you have 53 percent of the electorate in the United States of America that are women. And so this is a candidate who has a lifetime of bashing women, of treating women like dirt, of going on the Howard Stern show and talking about lewd sex acts and grading women on how they look, and degrading women in terms of how he treats them. And so when you're a mother of young women and, frankly, of young boys as well, that is not the kind of role model that you want in the White House.

HARLOW: I would note that his -- I would note that his daughter, Ivanka, paints a different picture of him and you how he would be for women. She told me in my interview.

I do want to move on --

(CROSSTALK)

CARDONA: She is wonderful, but there are not enough Ivankas for the lack of character that he has shown.

HARLOW: The Trump campaign came out with a series, a host of new talking points for their surrogates, and they said bring up Bill Clinton's affairs, bring up Monica Lewinsky, but Trump previously called one of those women, Paula Jones, a loser, and also said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I mean, look at the trouble Bill Clinton got into with something that was totally unimportant. They tried to impeach him, which was nonsense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: So when you look at that, that was 2008 --

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: Let me just finish my question.

That was 2008 with Wolf Blitzer. and the same thing he is attack Clinton on now, he said was unimportant back then. How do you square those two?

GARCIA: Like everything we see in the media, just what Maria said. If we're going to back to the '90s and talk what Trump did in the '90s, we go back and talk about what Bill Clinton did with Paula Jones, Monica Lewinsky, and therefore and therefore. Now --

HARLOW: Bill Clinton is not on the ballot. Bill is not on the ballot. And that wasn't in the '90s.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: That was eight years ago, and he is saying that doesn't matter then.

GARCIA: OK.

HARLOW: But now he is saying that matters wholly and, by the way, we should hold it against his wife.

GARCIA: So can we hold it against Barack Obama, what he said about Hillary back in 2008? Can we hold it against Bernie Sanders what he said about --

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: They're not on the ballot. But they're not on the ballot.

GARCIA: But they are advocating and supporting the candidate that is on ballot. That means everything they said previously was a lie?

HARLOW: No, I'm talking about the man on the ballot. Donald Trump said in 2008, those things don't matter. People --

(CROSSTALK)

GARCIA: -- People changed their minds. Bernie Sanders changed his mind, Barack Obama changed his mind, they're supporting this candidate. Bernie Sanders said with Jake Tapper in April that he doubted a Clinton presidency. Barack Obama did nothing but call her a liar, but call her this, call her that. I don't like to be disparaging. But that's the reality. That was the premise what I based myself on when I decided to vote for Trump.

HARLOW: I have to leave it there. Again, I would say those people aren't on the ballot.

CARDONA: Poppy, Poppy, very quickly. This is why voters think that d Trump is temperamentally unfit to be president of the United States, because he can't help himself. He can't focus on the issues. He should listen to Ileana. But he won't.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: Ileana, Maria, thank you --

(CROSSTALK)

[15:25:36] HARLOW: Thank you both very much.

Coming up, rebuilding the so-called Obama coalition. Hillary Clinton needs it to win. We're talking about young voters and minorities. But can surrogates like Bernie Sanders give her the boost SHE needs? Can they give her enough come Election Day?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: It is a battle royale of sorts between Hillary Clinton and third-party candidates, and the prize, Millennial voters. Clinton is fighting to get young people to the polls to support her, but she is running into problems stemming from her bruising primary showdown with Bernie Sanders.

Let's talk about it with Basil Smikle, a Clinton supporter and executive director for the New York State Democratic party; and also with us, Paris Dennard, a Trump supporter and Republican political commentator.

Guys, thank you for being here.

Hillary Clinton herself has said up to 25 percent of the electorate could be Millennials. That's how much this matters. Let's look at the numbers. She is underperforming with young voters, and doing worst than she was in August. The Quinnipiac poll shows she has dropped 17 points among Millennials, Basil. They've largely moved to support Gary Johnson. John has 29 percent of their support. She has 31 percent. That's within the margin of error. What does she do?

BASIL SMIKLE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEW YORK STATE DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Well, I think one of the things that she has done and will continue to do is speak to their issues, whether it's debt free college, whether it has been talked how they manage coming out of the Great Recession financially, economic stability and jobs, of course.

HARLOW: She has done that and she's 17 points lower.

[15:30:00] SMIKLE: Agreed. Bernie Sanders helps. And Barack Obama certainly helps. One thing about the coalition, as you set up the story, that's really important, when Barack Obama ran, he changed what we knew about the Democratic electorate. It was somewhat proprietary for him, but it sort of changed the electorate in many different ways that I think the party is -- has tried to work with to sort of bring those folks into the actual party infrastructure. It was the first time we saw young people were sort of bringing their parents and grandparents to vote, where before, it was the other way around. What Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump have done for their respective parties is bring out voters that we also have not really seen before. So the electorate is very different, and I think Hillary speaking to that, but I do think that Obama and Bernie Sanders will be substantially helpful.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: And Michelle Obama --

(CROSSTALK)

SMIKLE: And Michelle Obama.

HARLOW: Climate change, a huge concern, Paris, for Millennials. We know that from the polling. During the debate, the most re-tweeted thing was a 2012 tweet from Trump. Let me read it. "The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing noncompetitive."

That was the single most re-tweeted thing. If Clinton can't get Millennials on board, do you think that they will just show up to vote against Trump on that issue?

PARIS DENNARD, TRUMP SUPPORTER: No, I think to make an assumption that Millennials are only concerned about the environment or climate change.

HARLOW: No, not only, but we know they're very concerned.

DENNARD: They might be very concerned, Poppy, but to think that's the only reason they're going to vote or turn out or not turn out I think wrong. one of the thing secretary Clinton has working against her is Millennials don't know her, don't like her, don't trust her, don't believe in her, and aren't inspired by her. So the huge gap of enthusiasm for her and that same gap that's not there with the Obama coalition coming out for her is the main reason if on election day, it is raining or a party the night before or they're sleepy and tired, they're probably not going to vote for Secretary Clinton, because they're not inspired -- (CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: What are you calling young people, partiers, Paris? Come on.

(LAUGHTER)

DENNARD: Come on, Poppy.

We're Millennials, come on, come on.

(LAUGHTER)

HARLOW: I know, I used to be cool back in the day.

SMIKLE: I used to be cool, too.

HARLOW: Basil, there are reports that Team Clinton is concerned about a lack of turnout and enthusiasm from young African-Americans especially in states like Florida. Here I how the president of the black African-American Caucus described it to "Politico": "Hillary Clinton's campaign is in full panic mode. They have a big problem because they thought Obama and Michelle saying, hey, go do it. It is not enough."

How did your team get to this point?

SMIKLE: First of all, I don't think it is panic mode. Second of all, look, I was sort of alluding to this before. I think when Obama ran in 2008, was incredibly durable, and a lot of folks that, particularly African-Americans and Latinos, registering to vote weren't registering as Democrats. They were registering as Independents. It is incumbent on the party, but we could do better, engage and encourage those voters to say it isn't just about the person on top of the ticket, though that is incredibly important because it drives everything else. It is also about the candidate's down ballot that affect your lives on a day-to-day basis.

And one thing about Millennials that's incredibly important, when somebody read to me the other day, that's the first generation that doesn't have to go to their parents to get information about he world, which is an incredible statement, because, again, it requires the party and others to be much more vigilant about how we talk about our candidates. We've done a good job, but certainly as we get further in the cycle, others like President Obama, like Bernie Sanders and Michelle will be important to this.

HARLOW: Final thought, to Paris, who -- what do you think Donald Trump could do to most effectively bring more Millennial on board? What would you like to see your candidate, do say or tweet?

DENNARD: Nice one, Poppy. I think what Mr. Trump should do is stay on the issues that are affecting Millennials, such as student loan debt, charter school education, school choice, the economy and jobs. At the end of the day, Secretary Clinton referred to Bernie Sanders supporters, those are basement dwellers living in their basement. HARLOW: So, Paris, I have to jump in there. To be honest, you're

talking about newly released audio from a conservative publication, called "The Washington Free Beacon," in which she was talking in a broader contrast, speaking about Bernie Sanders supporters in February at a fundraiser. Let me read you what she also said. She said we have to have -- and this is not a quote, paraphrasing -- we have to have compassion for them and understand and respect their idealism.

DENNARD: Right, but at the end of the day, they're still in the basement, because there are no jobs and they don't trust her to do the things that we have to do. They look at Donald Trump as someone who is aspirational. If he continues to talk about being a job creator and highlights the fact that she has never created a job, never signed a paycheck, and he wants to curb illegal immigration to get jobs back in this country. Look, he has Millennial-aged children with Tiffany and he has Ivanka, and there are Millennials working hard at the RNC. There are people out there that are inspired by Mr. Trump --

(CROSSTALK)

[11:35:28] HARLOW: Guys, I got to leave it there for time.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: I've got to leave it there for time.

Basil, thank you.

Paris, thank you.

DENNARD: Thank you.

HARLOW: Coming up, we turn to Syria. Aleppo's final hours. Potentially, reports the Syrian city on the verge of collapse, with thousands of innocent people trapped inside. 300,000 people remain there. What could be next? A live report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Now to the worsening civil war in Syria. News today that the American secretary of state says he argued for use of force against Syrian troops as long as three years ago there. John Kerry said that, in private, to a group of Syrian civilians last week at the United Nations, telling them that he lost that argument with the administration, and that the United States Congress would not even vote to authorize force in Syria. Kerry's voice was recorded and then obtained -- the audio obtained here at CNN.

Here is a small part of it.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: Four people in the administration who have all argued for use of force, and I lost the argument. I've argued for use of force. I stood up. I'm the guy that stood up and announced we're going to attack Assad because of the weapons. And then, you know, things evolved into a different process.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

[15:39:49] HARLOW: Kerry was defending his efforts to try to keep alive the ceasefire in Syria, which has all but collapsed.

The latest evidence of that, one of the largest hospitals in Aleppo bombed again today for the second time in four days. Aleppo is mostly held by rebels opposed to the Syrian government. Syrian forces have been hammering the city with shelling, air strikes and helicopter attacks.

You have to see this. A heart-stopping rescue in the middle of the night at that hospital bombing, a rescuer in the white helmet, a baby girl in his hands, running into an ambulance. For hours, he dug for her. Finally, she was in his arms. As medics wiped the blood from her face, she reaches her tiny hands towards the man that just saved her life, and he breaks down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Our senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman, is in Baghdad with more.

Ben, what we know is 10,000 Assad troops are reportedly amassing around Aleppo. You have 300,000 people still inside the city. No humanitarian aid reaching them. What could we be prepared to see? Are we talking about a large scale ground assault?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is not clear at this point, Poppy, if this is going to be a full-on offensive by the Syrian regime and its supporters. Hezbollah, they have Iraqi mercenaries or volunteers fighting on their side, in addition to the involvement of Russian aircraft. It is not clear if they're going to try to retake the eastern part of the city, where hundreds of thousands of people live.

But we have been given a taste of what could come today. You had this hospital called the M-10, run by the Syrian American Medical Society. It was target it's believed by Syrian regime planes. They dropped two barrel bombs, two cluster bombs and a missile on the hospital, killing one person, knocking it out of operation. This was the biggest surgical hospital in rebel-controlled Aleppo. It is already running short of medicine, medical supplies. There are only 30 doctors, actually less than 30 doctors treating these hundreds of thousands of people. And keep in mind, this is an area that comes under bombardment every single day.

Now, we spoke to one activist who said that there are about 1,500 people who were wounded within the last week, but they can't get out for proper medical treatment. The World Health Organization is worried that if these wounded out, many of them will die. On top of that, no running water. There is no electricity. And now,

of course, there is the possibility of this attack by 10,000 troops.

HARLOW: Ben, in just the last week, in what was supposed to be a ceasefire, 96 children have been murdered. And the international community -- so many people are saying where is the international community? What could the United States, what could, you know, other countries do to help?

WEDEMAN: Well, they've tried. They've tried to work out a ceasefire, Secretary Kerry with the Russians. It didn't work. It collapsed for a variety of reasons. One of them is that this is simply a war utterly out of control. And it appears that the intention of the Syrian regime is to pursue this war, regardless of what the United States, the international community think. And the Russians don't seem to have a problem with what they're doing -- Poppy?

HARLOW: Ben Wedeman, live in Baghdad. Thank you, Ben.

Coming up next, mystery in paradise. Two American sisters found dead at a luxury hotel with no clear signs of injuries. What their autopsy just revealed. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:47:25] HARLOW: A pending toxicology report may provide answers to what killed two American sisters in East Africa. Minnesota natives Robin and Annie Korkki were found unresponsive in their villa in the Seychelles nine days ago. Police say their bodies showed no signs of violence.

CNN's Rosa Flores tells us more about what the preliminary autopsy reveals.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSE FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Loving sisters, best friends, who wanted to experience life to the fullest" -- that's how Robin and Annie Korkki are being described, two women who died in mysterious circumstances, while on the vacation of a lifetime in Seychelles.

Police on the island in the Indian Ocean say hotel workers at the Meyers Resort (ph) found the two sisters unresponsive in their luxury villa on September 22nd.

Robin, 42, a commodities trader, and younger sister, Annie, 37, an administrative assistant at JPMorgan Chase, arrived on September 15th after sightseeing in Kenya and Tanzania.

Local police say they appeared to be so intoxicated the night before they died that the hotel staff had to assist the pair to their villa. It would be the last time they were seen alive.

A preliminary autopsy report revealed both women's cause of death to be fluid in their lungs, a condition known as pulmonary edema. The autopsy for Annie Korkke showed fluid in the brain, cerebral edema, as a contributing factor in her death. Toxicology reports are pending, and the police investigation is ongoing.

In a place known for its beauty and serenity, described by Annie Korkki as "the best place ever," family members face the somber task of bringing their loved ones back to the U.S. on their final journey home.

Rosa Flores, CNN, Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Rosa, thank you.

Coming up, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump don't see eye to eye on most issues, but both have passionate supporters, whom we met when we hit the road in key swing states. You'll hear from some of their key volunteers making their case, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:53:27] HARLOW: Welcome back. Two very passionate women voting for two very different candidates. CNN Money traveled to Ohio and Florida and met volunteers from the Clinton and Trump campaigns. Here they are making their case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CINDY DEMPSEY, HILLARY CLINTON VOLUNTEER: She is incredibly intelligent.

JOAN LOPEZ COMBES; DONALD TRUMP VOLUNTEER: He's a true Carson.

DEMPSEY: She has the experience. She has the temperament.

COMBES: He speaks his mind.

DEMPSEY: She has the skills. She has the values. She has the judgment.

COMBES: He shoots from the hip. That's how I was brought up and I just feel like everything he says is true.

DEMPSEY: She spent her entire adult life working for the betterment of others.

COMBES: He's a businessman. He will protect our country. He will make us safe. He will protect the Second Amendment.

DEMPSEY: Working for the Children's Defense Fund, her work for the SNAP program to get children food stamps or to support their nutritional needs.

COMBES: Growing up, we didn't have credit cards. Everything was paid in cash as a lot of people might remember.

COMBES: So you lived within their means. Today, the economy is out of hand because too many people expect things for nothing and they expect everything for free. So who, we as taxpayers, growing up, paying for everybody else.

DEMPSEY: There's a real need to increase the number of jobs, certainly the wages that people make, and so Hillary has really laid out a plan for increasing jobs, for developing jobs that give people a living that they can support their families by.

COMBES: I love his tax plan. I love what I hear him saying now about school education, eliminating Common Core.

[15:55:02] DEMPSEY: Now we have a chance to make history with the first woman president who is clearly, clearly, the most qualified candidate ever.

COMBES: Some day there will be a woman president, but it's not going to be Hillary Clinton.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Over 25 million citizens live in poverty, a segment of this population is especially fragile, easily falling outside of any financial safety nets and falling into homelessness. This week's "CNN Hero" is shining a light on this forgotten group.

We want you to meet Aisha Delluso (ph).

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AISHA DELLUSO (ph), CNN HERO: Own you are older, living on very scary place. You are much more vulnerable. The people who are in between the ages of 50 and 62, society views them as too old for working and too young for Social Security. They need help. You don't exist, it's wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Hi, everyone. Top of the hour. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Poppy Harlow, in New York.

Just 38 days now -- 38 days, can you believe it -- until the presidential election. And Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are trading barbs on Twitter and on the trail. This is a brand new post- debate poll. Shows the two candidates neck and neck.