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Trump Holds Three Events in Critical Ohio; First Lady Joins Clinton in Crucial State of NC; WikiLeaks Memo Outlines Bill Clinton's Paid Speeches; Poll: More Voters Say Things Going Well in U.S.; Trump Targets Rust Belt, Making 3 Stops in Ohio. Aired 9-9:30 ET
Aired October 27, 2016 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:55] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning and thanks for joining me. I'm Carol Costello.
Election Day draws closer. And this morning, CNN redraws the electoral map painting Florida and Nevada yellow, meaning they're now battleground states that are just too close to call. They are no longer leaning Democrat.
Still by our count, if the election were held today, Clinton has locked down more than enough electoral votes to win. But there are still dozen days before voters head to the polls, so the campaigns are stomping on the gas.
Donald Trump has three stops in the critical state of Ohio. Hillary Clinton appears in North Carolina with her not so secret weapon, Michelle Obama. And Trump, this morning, doubling down that there will be no guarantees if he loses.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC HOST: If she wins, are you prepared to work with her?
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I just want to make that decision at a later date. I'm not saying I'm not or I am. Hopefully, I won't have to make that decision. I really believe we're going to win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: We're covering it all. Chris Frates is in Springfield, Ohio where Trump holds his first rally of today, and Joe Johns is following the Clinton campaign. Let's start with you, Chris. Good morning.
CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol. Well, Donald Trump coming back to battleground Ohio where a couple of the most recent polls showing him tied with Hillary Clinton, including this Suffolk University poll showing him 45-45 with Hillary Clinton.
So he starts his day here in Springfield, Ohio. And that's between Columbus and Dayton, an area that's been really hard-hit over the last 15 years. Median household income in Springfield down more than 25 percent. That is huge. It's the biggest decrease in the nation, and 15 percent of adults here in Springfield have a college education. So this really should be Trump country.
And he's hoping that message resonates with voters here. In fact, he gave us maybe a little preview of what he's going to say later today when he went on "Good Morning America" hitting Hillary Clinton for her e-mails and throwing some serious shade at the FBI Director.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: She's so guilty. She deleted 33,000 e-mails. They're missing boxes of e-mails. She's so guilty. How can she even run? But there's such anger in this country over what she got away with.
STEPHANOPOULOS: The FBI director appointed by a Republican said no reasonable prosecutor --
JAMES COMEY, DIRECTOR, FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: No reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.
TRUMP: He made a mistake, OK, or whatever. I don't even call it a mistake. I think something happened. Look, something happened. You go into the --
STEPHANOPOULOS: What happened?
TRUMP: Well, I think somebody talked to him. I think -- hey, look, how can President Clinton, when the --
(CROSSTALK)
STEPHANOPOULOS: So you're saying the FBI is corrupt?
TRUMP: -- there's something going on. George. George, she's so guilty. Congress sends a subpoena. She deletes all of her e-mails, OK? She deletes them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRATES: So Donald Trump there questioning James Comey's decision not to bring any criminal charges in that e-mail investigation. Not providing any evidence that there was any corruption there but somehow suggesting it.
Now, he may make those kinds of rhetorical points here in Ohio today. In fact, if you want to understand how important this state is to the Trump campaign, just look at how many times he's been here more than any other state since he took the nomination in Cleveland in July. Twelve visits here, 21 events. That continues today.
He starts here in Springfield, then he goes on to Toledo, then Geneva, Ohio. He's not the only politician in the Buckeye State though.
Tim Kaine campaigning here as well. And his running mate, Hillary Clinton, she's hitting another swing state, North Carolina, with Michelle Obama today, Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Chris Frates reporting live from Springfield, Ohio. Thanks so much.
Part of Hillary Clinton's plan to be the next President of the White House involves one of its current occupants, Michelle Obama. The first lady has earned high marks for her appearances on the campaign trail. But today, she takes it to a new level making her first joint appearance with Clinton.
All of this as WikiLeaks releases new e-mails showing even Clinton's staff worried about possible conflicts within the Clinton Foundation. CNN's Joe Johns has more on that. Good morning.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Stolen e-mails but they continue to shed light not just on the campaign but on the Clintons as a money making machine.
[09:05:02] This is a document written to shed light on the Clinton Foundation's activities apparently written by Doug Band, who is a key assistant to former President Clinton and helped found the Clinton Global Initiative.
It says, in part, "Since 2001, President Clinton's business arrangements have yielded more than $30 million for him personally, with $66 million to be paid out over the next nine years should he choose to continue with current engagements."
It's important to say, CNN cannot independently verify the authenticity of documents like this. And there's been no finding of any type of inappropriate quid pro quo involving any of the Foundation's activities and the federal government. In fact, the Clinton campaign has denied that any such quid pro quo has ever existed.
We do, though, have bigger picture, a second graphic that appears to show just a little bit of a breakdown of President Bill Clinton's secured paid speeches and donors to the Clinton Foundation: UBS, $900,000 from 2011 to 2012; Ericsson, $1,150,000; BHP, $175,000 in 2012; Lightning, $1 million; Barclays, $700,000. It goes on and on, so a lot of money involved, a lot of donors, and more issues out there from the WikiLeaks stolen e-mails that, perhaps, Hillary Clinton campaign has to deal with. Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Joe Johns reporting live from Washington. Thank you. So let's talk about all this. With me now is Jason Johnson, politics editor for "The Root," political science professor at Morgan State, and Sirius XM contributor; and Jay Newton-Small, "TIME" magazine contributor. She's also the author of "Broad Influence: How Women Are Changing the Way America Works." Thanks both of you for being with me this morning.
JASON JOHNSON, POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR, MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: Glad to be here.
JAY NEWTON-SMALL, AUTHOR, "BROAD INFLUENCE: HOW WOMEN ARE CHANGING THE WAY AMERICA WORKS": Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: OK. Good morning. So, Jason, it's interesting that Mr. Trump finally sat down with a network other than Fox News, and this interview included his whole family. Smart strategy with just 12 days to go?
JOHNSON: I think, Carol, it's a very, very smart strategy on the part of Donald Trump. I think that a lot of the things that he's done since the third debate are things he should have been doing earlier. He's laid out specific plans. He's taking time with his family. He has his wife, Melania, out speaking. I think had he showed his side of himself throughout the debates, he would be in a better position now.
But at the end of the day, you know, interviews, you know, whether it's a hostile environment or a friendly environment, that's not changing what's happening on the ground. And the Trump campaign is still behind when it comes to get out the vote and getting people to the polls, and that should be his primary concern.
COSTELLO: Well, still, just the sight of Mr. Trump sitting beside his wife and talking about these accusations that these women have after, you know, that Billy Bush tape was discovered on that bus -- and I just want to play you a bit of what Melania Trump and Donald Trump had to say about those women.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHANOPOULOS: You said at the third debate you didn't apologize to her about the women --
TRUMP: The stories are all totally false. I have to say that. And I didn't even apologize to my wife, who is sitting right here, because I didn't do anything.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Is that OK with you?
MELANIA TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S WIFE: They were lies. And as I said before, all the accusations, they should be handled in a court of law.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So you believe the lawsuit should go forward?
M. TRUMP: Yes, I believe that and -- because to accuse somebody without evidence, it's very hurtful. And it's very damaging and unfair. But, honestly, do we still need to talk about that? I think American people want to hear the problems that we have in America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: OK. So I was hoping we would see Donald Trump and Melania Trump sitting side by side because we don't get to see that very often. But, Jay, Mr. Trump also said that Melania will deliver two speeches. So could that help him with women?
NEWTON-SMALL: That's certainly the aim here. And there's nobody who understands women's votes better than Kellyanne Conway, who is Donald Trump's campaign manager. And that's a really crucial vote for him.
He's got to drive out, particularly White women, where he's been losing a lot of ground in the last month. He was almost tied going in to the debates, basically, on the strength of the White women's vote, and he's lost a lot of ground with them in the last month. And so showing up now with his wife, with his family, with Melania, you know, being seen as a family man, being seen as a man as -- I mean, and his kids are incredibly popular, she's very popular, and so it really does help. And that's what they're trying to get back. They're trying to re-win those White women who've gone away from him in the last month.
COSTELLO: I want to center a little bit on the WikiLeaks, the new information coming out of those hacked e-mails, right? And you saw Joe Johns reporting that, Jason, that Mr. Clinton made enormous amounts of money --
JOHNSON: Right.
COSTELLO: -- from various companies for giving speeches. Will that hurt? Will that resonate with voters who are undecided?
JOHNSON: Well, Carol, I think one of the most important things that Joe mentioned also is that we haven't been able to authenticate these things.
[09:10:04] And I think what we always have to remember with WikiLeaks is we know what Julian Assange is doing, and we know that these are hacked e-mails. They were stolen by the Russians, so we have to always be careful about how much credibility we really give them. So I don't think they're going to make that much of a difference in the campaign.
But we always have to look at where this information is coming from before we begin to accuse the Clinton administration or anybody else of malfeasance. You just can't trust something that comes from a stolen Russian hack.
COSTELLO: Jay, do people realize this?
NEWTON-SMALL: I mean, I think it's a point that's not made often enough because it's presented so often as just factual and news as if WikiLeaks was automatic, right?
JOHNSON: Right.
NEWTON-SMALL: And it's really interesting to see the kind of odd bedfellows that it created this time around. You see a lot of, for example, Sean Hannity, a decade ago, was saying that Julian Assange should be tried for treason. And now, he's like, oh, WikiLeaks is great. You know, we should totally trust what they're putting out.
And there's clearly political motivations going on here. There's clearly a motivation for there to be malfeasance here, for there to be people to place wrong information here. And so, without knowing what's right and wrong -- and at least one of the documents has actually been proven false -- then it's very dangerous to report on them as fact.
JOHNSON: Right.
COSTELLO: Interestingly, in that interview on GMA, Mr. Trump said there's no clear connection that the Russian government is behind the WikiLeaks drop. He denied that there is any connection once again. And he also talked about Mr. Khan whose son was killed in Iraq because, as you know, Mr. Khan is campaigning for Hillary Clinton now. So this is what Mr. Trump said about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If I were president at that time, Captain Khan would be alive today, George, because I wouldn't have been in Iraq. Had I been President, Captain Khan would be alive today. We wouldn't have been in this horrible, horrible mistake, the war in Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And then he went on to say that he greatly admired Mr. Khan's son and called him a hero. Thoughts, Jason?
JOHNSON: First off, I love this butterfly effect foreign policy that Donald Trump seems to have, if I was here, then this wouldn't have happened. First off, he doesn't know that, right?
Second, knowing the sort of aggressive foreign policy that Donald Trump has talked about where he wants to nuke this particular area, he wants to go after the families of other people, he has no ability to say who would or would not be alive. So I think the whole thing is sort of inappropriate and rather tacky to be talking about a family that he attacked, but this is ultimately the issue.
The Trump campaign has been active in making pushes in the Hindi community and the Muslim community. It's an attempt for him to sort of clean up his image as an anti-Muslim, anti-Southeast Asian bigot. I don't think it's going to make a difference. I think the Khan family, with the commercial they've got running right now, has made it very clear that they support Hillary Clinton, and I think a lot of Asian-Americans and Muslim Americans will as well.
COSTELLO: So, Jay, do you really think there are many undecided voters out there? Does any of this really matter?
NEWTON-SMALL: I mean, it's sort of amazing that the silent majority is through the big question of the campaign, right? Like, does the silent majority actually exist? Are they really not -- their voices are not being heard at this point? And is there anyone left who has not decided who they're going to vote for?
But I do want to just touch on something that Jason said. I mean, Donald Trump is on the record and there's tape of him saying that he supported the invasion of Iraq.
JOHNSON: Right. NEWTON-SMALL: And so the idea that we wouldn't be in Iraq if he had
been President at the time is just not true because, I mean, it's like he conveniently forgets the fact that he actually, at the time, supported the invasion. And it's just sort of completely whitewashing history and saying, no, that's not what I said, or no, I didn't somehow support the invasion of Iraq. And so it definitely is kind of a really crazy thing to say at this point, that this wouldn't have happened in this sort of alternate universe.
COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. Jason Johnson, Jay Newton-Small, thanks to both of you.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Trump on a mission to make the Rust Belt red. His tactic, one word, "jobs."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:18:16] COSTELLO: Donald Trump says he wants to make America great again, but new CNN polls show many Americans think things aren't really that bad. Fifty-four percent of likely voters say things are actually going well in the country.
CNN's Michelle Kosinski live with more on this poll. She's at the White House.
Good morning.
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol, there's a lot to digest in some of these new numbers. And that's interesting when you talk about the 54 percent who say, right, things are going fine. Things are going well right now in America.
Now, if just over half doesn't exactly not your socks off, you have to consider that that is the highest that that number has been during the entirety of President Obama's time in office. And when you look at that number just back in January, the very start of this year, that number was only at 42 percent.
So, the White House likes this number because they like to say look at the dark picture Republicans are painting about life in America today. And they try to counter that whenever possible.
But I should say, when you look at other polls that ask people, how do you think the direction of America is going? Do you think it's headed in the right direction? That's when a good two-thirds of people, at least, say no.
So, when you look at these kinds of polls, most Americans feel things are going pretty well in America right now. But they don't necessarily think that's going to continue down the road. That could be because of gridlock in Congress that they always hear about. Could just be because of the upcoming elections. A lot of factors at play in there.
There is good news for President Obama though that his approval numbers are at 55 percent. Again, it's not that much more than half. But these are Bill Clintonesque numbers.
When he was at this point in his time in office, he was at 57 percent. By comparison, Reagan was at 57 percent. George W. Bush at 27 percent.
[09:20:03] Another interesting aspect of this new polling is that respondents said about 70 percent of them that they thought Hillary Clinton would follow the policies of President Obama. But, 40 percent of people thought that was a bad thing. And there are similar numbers actually for Donald Trump. That percent about of people said that they thought he would not follow along the same ideological lines as Republican leaders and 40 percent thought that was a bad thing.
So, tells you a lot kind of about where people's heads are out there. They're very split. Also along party lines, as usual. But at least it tells you that, you know, in certain areas, those numbers are increasing for people thinking that the status quo might not be so bad after all, Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Michelle Kosinski reporting live from the White House. Thank you.
Donald Trump canvassing Ohio today, making three stops in this critical battleground state. Trump is trying to hold on to slipping support across the Rust Belt where polls show him tied with Clinton now in Ohio and trailing in Michigan and Pennsylvania. And he's been using the familiar rallying cry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We will rebuild our Navy and we will do it with American steel, made right here in Pennsylvania.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Early on, Trump's message resonated strongly with working- class Americans. So, what changed? Let's talk about that.
I'm joined by former Ohio deputy attorney general, Mark Weaver.
Welcome, Mark.
MARK WEAVER, FORMER OHIO DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: Good morning from Ohio, Carol.
COSTELLO: Good morning. From my home state. Welcome. You know, you know what "Columbus Monthly" called you, don't you? "Columbus Monthly" is an Ohio magazine. It called you the Olivia Pope of Ohio.
WEAVER: Yes, she has much better taste than I do.
COSTELLO: I would have to agree with you there. But still that means you're a mighty fine crisis manager, right? So what advice would you give to Donald Trump as he makes his way across Ohio today?
WEAVER: Well, he's going to be in three places today here in Ohio. He comes here a lot. He needs to.
Ohio is the ultimate swing state. We tend to mirror national interests and profiles, and so, he needs to be talking about issues. Not some of this sidelining stuff that has gotten him off track.
He needs to talk about change. The numbers that you just reported on about people not liking the track that the country is on. They think we're going in the wrong direction. He needs to speak to those issues. If he does, he can win Ohio.
COSTELLO: Well, let me let me focus on that for just a second, Mark. When people say the country's going in the wrong direction, what do you think they mean by that?
WEAVER: Well, it's interesting. I look at these polls every day, both nationally and state. People in Ohio say that Ohio's going in the right direction, but they say America's going in the wrong direction. That's usually a vote of no confidence in the national government, both Congress and the presidency.
And so, that's typically a change environment. Voters want change. Donald Trump may be many things, good and bad, but one thing he is is change.
COSTELLO: But one thing people don't like about Washington is the gridlock. And I haven't heard much from either country or candidate rather about how they're going to reach across the aisle and actually work with the other side.
Have you?
WEAVER: (INAUDIBLE), Carol, because that's an Ohio sentiment. People here in Ohio are angry at the parties. They think that both sides are so dug in they're unwilling to compromise.
And when we talk to voters all around the country, particularly in swing state Ohio, they want to see both sides reach across the aisle and I think either candidate has an opportunity to talk about that in this election.
COSTELLO: So, so when Donald Trump continues these, these vicious attacks on Hillary Clinton, and Hillary Clinton continues these vicious attacks on Donald Trump, you know, does that resonate at all with voters or just kind of make them more depressed?
WEAVER: I think you put your finger on it. It makes them more depressed. People are tired of this atmosphere. Most Americans have made up their mind about whether or not they like Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. There's a very small group of folks who are still wondering.
This is going to be a turnout election. And sometimes, negativity depresses turnout. We'll all be watching with interest to see what the turnout level is here in Ohio and across the country. I frankly don't think we will reach the high points of 2008, 2012 but we'll see in two weeks. COSTELLO: We'll keep an eye on it. Mark Weaver, thanks for joining
me this morning.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Donald Trump may have written "The Art of the Deal", but Michelle Obama is making a name for herself as the closer. And in North Carolina today, the stakes could not be higher.
But, first, we're moments away from the opening bell on Wall Street. Investors sorting through another flood of corporate earnings and new concerns this morning about the health of the housing market.
Alison Kosik is live at the New York Stock Exchange.
Hi, Alison.
ALISON KOSIK, CNNMONEY BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
So, if you look at the economy at the moment, the housing market is the strongest part. It's hot, but it's not housing crisis bubble hot.
[09:25:03] You know, the kind that we had ten years ago.
Yes, housing prices just keep going up and up, and that's causing some concern. But we are starting to see some indicators that cracks may be forming. Case in point, look at these two companies. Appliance giant Whirlpool, and paint manufacturer Sherwin Williams, these two could be considered canaries in a housing coal mine. They issued disappointing earnings and weak forecasts. Their stocks tanked yesterday along with home improvement store shares as well.
So, what we could be seeing here is a cooling off that could be happening here in the housing market. It's really not such a bad thing especially when you see the high home prices keeping first-time buyers despite relatively low mart rates and it's those rates that are helping to boost demand for housing.
The question is, for how long? The Federal Reserve is expected to raise rates in December, and then several times next year. So, that could push mortgage rates higher.
So, to really see if there's a trend here, Carol, the thing to do is see if weak earnings from companies related to the housing market, if these week earnings are a blitz or whether the housing market really is in danger of peaking -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Alison Kosik reporting live this morning.
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