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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Campaign Chairman: Trump to Announce V.P. Pick Friday; Trump U Instructor Describes Sales Force; New Polls Show Tightening Race; Sanders Endorsement Hurts Or Helps Clinton?; PA, Ohio, FL; Police: Serial Killer Linked To 7 Deaths; Slain Dallas Officers Mourned At Funerals; Veepstakes Countdown. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired July 13, 2016 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[20:00:14] ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: And good evening. Thanks for joining us.
There's breaking news and it is big. Donald Trump will name his running mate on Friday. We just got the word on that, and that's not all we're learning tonight.
CNN's Jim Acosta has been working his sources, joins us now.
So, what more do you know about the timeframe of his decision?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right, Anderson, as you just said, Trump campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, he just arrived in Cleveland after attending those meetings with the vice presidential contenders earlier today in Indiana, and Manafort told reporters that Trump will make his announcement in New York City on Friday.
I've been told by a couple of sources in the last hour no decision has been made yet and that Trump will spend the next 24 hours mulling all of this out during a fund-raising trip out to California. In the end, this is all shaping up like a decision that looks more like a reality TV season finale.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): Donald Trump's season of the "Apprentice" veepstakes edition has come down to this, an Indiana cliffhanger. That's where Trump and his family huddled behind closed doors with Indiana Governor Mike Pence. A Trump campaign source told CNN their meetings over the last 24 hours went, quote, "fabulously".
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm narrowing it down. I'm at three, potentially four, but in my own mind I'm probably thinking about two.
GOV. MIKE PENCE (R), INDIANA: Nothing was offered. Nothing was accepted.
ACOSTA: Pence got his Trump tryout in Indiana last night and showed off a skill that is prized by the campaign, attacking Hillary Clinton as untrustworthy.
PENCE: To paraphrase the director of the FBI, I think it would be extremely careless to elect Hillary Clinton as the next president of the United States.
ACOSTA: The presumptive GOP nominee sounded impressed, but unconvinced.
TRUMP: I don't know whether he would be your governor or your vice president, who the hell knows?
ACOSTA: Which explains why Trump not only met with Pence, but other V.P. contenders, Newt Gingrich and even Senator Jeff Sessions who was there in Indianapolis as an adviser, while he talked about the number two spot with Chris Christie, calling in from Washington.
NEWT GINGRICH (R), FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: It was a little bit like the "Apprentice". You find out sooner or later who the last one standing is.
ACOSTA: Of the three finalists, Christie, Gingrich, and Pence, the choice comes down to selecting an attack dog that doesn't end up biting Trump.
Christie's vetting turned up issues like the New Jersey bridgegate scandal, but he's a fighter. Gingrich is seen as loyal, and a fierce debater. But also has vetting issues, such as his campaign debt from the last election, contrast that with Pence whose vetting was completely clean, but is more low key.
TRUMP: Well, I'm not doing this for surprises. I'm not doing this for games. I'm doing this because I want to pick somebody that's going to help me get elected.
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: We need once again to have a president who puts the safety and security of our citizens first.
ACOSTA: But it's Christie who's viewed by some inside the campaign as Trump's top choice.
TRUMP: I tell you, Chris Christie is someone I've liked a long time. He's a total professional.
ACOSTA: First ex-rival to endorse Trump, he's now a close adviser and he's known Trump and his flair for the dramatic for years.
CHRISTIE: If the governor thing doesn't work out, "The Apprentice" might be a really good deal for me, but Donald is a really good friend. Don (INAUDIBLE) are both good friends, and he's been very kind to me and supportive. But it's always great to have Donald Trump talking about you because Donald Trump is as good a salesman as anybody.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Jim, has Trump given any other indications about which way he may be leaning?
ACOSTA: Well, Anderson, I think keep your eyes on Mike Pence. The Indiana governor is favored by some of the family and senior campaign advisers. Trump is expected, as we've been saying, to announce all of this on Friday. Any movement of that unveiling to the weekend before the convention would all, but eliminate Pence who most inform Indiana officials by Friday that he is dropping out of his race for reelection as governor of Indiana, so he can become Donald Trump's running mate.
And, Anderson, we are getting late, major mixed signals from Donald Trump himself. Last night, he said he wanted an attack dog as his vice president, but he told FOX tonight that's not the case anymore. Anderson, as someone who was covering this all I can say is, woof.
COOPER: All right. Jim Acosta -- Jim, thanks very much.
The drama builds and we have the drama critics here to talk about. New York 1 political anchor Errol Louis, CNN chief political analyst, Gloria Borger, Trump supporter and former Reagan political adviser, Jeffrey Lord, Clinton supporter and 2008 Clinton senior campaign adviser, Maria Cardona, Clinton supporter and former senior Bill Clinton White House adviser, Richard Socarides, and Trump supporter, John LaValle.
Gloria, I mean --
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Can you explain?
(LAUGHTER)
COOPER: I've got to say, you've got to give Trump credit for saying what comes into his head. He says like, oh, there's three or four and it comes down to two and one attack dog, and now, you know what? Not so much anymore.
BORGER: So, it's kind of this internal conversation that he's having that he's actually telling us what his internal conversation is, two, four, attack dog, no attack dog and inside Trump's head is this, you know, fight he's having with himself.
[20:05:03] If you -- if he were listening to his head and maybe some of his children, he'd maybe pick Governor Pence because he's the safe choice.
COOPER: Right. There's been reporting that some of his kids are leaning toward Pence.
BORGER: Some of his kids are leaning toward Pence. Some of his kids like Newt.
(CROSSTALK)
BORGER: Right. And some like Newt.
COOPER: Errol, I mean, how much do you think it will come down to sort of gut feeling? ERROL LOUIS, POLITICAL ANCHOR, NY1: I think gut feeling is going to drive it. If there's anything we've learned about Donald Trump over the last year, that he will change his mind. He will change his mind based on his gut.
And frankly, I think we've seen this in a lot of cases going back to Bill Clinton in 1992 that you can line up all the electoral votes and all of the party alliances that might be strengthened and so forth. But in the end, the top of the ticket and the candidate has to be comfortable with his number two.
And so, you know, again, 1992, Bill Clinton breaks with all political convention and gets another Southern guy from right next door and they go on to victory. So a gut check is not necessarily the worst way to do this.
COOPER: Jeff, as a supporter, who do you think he should --
JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I'm a Newt fan, hands down, no question.
COOPER: Because you think Newt gives him what?
LORD: I think Newt knows Washington and I think he knows a great deal about how the world works here, literally the world, but also the media world. I worry about Governor Pence that thrown into this suddenly as the vice presidential nominee and people will be going after him and I worry about the Dan Quayle kind of situation.
COOPER: On that level, it's not like anything --
LORD: Right. It's not like being a member of Congress and not like being a governor and Newt has been around the track. So, too, for that matter, has Governor Christie. I think when that situation -- I mean, in the sense he's running for president, if you see what I'm saying.
So, I'm a Newt man for all of these kinds of reasons. I mean, I know him. I think he's terrific. He's very smart, very capable, et cetera.
But at the end of the day, this is Donald Trump's decision and he will make it in his own fashion.
COOPER: Maria, does one --as a Clinton supporter, does one worry you more than another?
MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, and the reason I say that is because all three of the ones that we've been talking about and by the way, it could be somebody else that we haven't been talking about because we're talking about Donald Trump's gut, right? None of them really scare the Democrats because all of them would underscore how not just the top of the ticket, but the whole ticket is out of touch with mainstream America.
All of the ones that he is considering would repeal Obamacare, would want to restrict women's health care rights, are not a friend of the LGBT community, would want to deport 12 million immigrants and all of that gives fodder to the Democrats to talk about just how out of touch and just how much this V.P. pick will not help him to broaden his support which is - what he desperately needs.
COOPER: Let me go to Joe, another Trump supporter, to respond to that.
JOHN JAY LAVALLE, TRUMP SUPPORTER: He's got three great choices whether it's Chris Christie, Newt Gingrich or Mike Pence.
COOPER: You don't believe they're out of touch with the mainstream?
LAVALLE: Absolutely not. I mean, Chris Christie, you have a former prosecutor, a successful governor in a blue state. He's very ethical individual, he's someone who is a get it done type of guy.
CARDONA: Bridgegate over his head.
LAVALLE: He's not involved in bridgegate.
You go to Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the House, someone who brought balanced budgets to America. Intellectually, he's phenomenal.
And Mike Pence, some may think his new. But this is someone who was in Congress for 12 years. He was the leader of the Republican conference. He's now governor of Indiana.
COOPER: Richard, do you think this really matters the vice presidential pick? And we focus on it, obviously, because it's what we do. But I mean --
RICHARD SOCARIDES, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: It's kind of interesting, right? I mean, it's kind of interesting to talk about now.
COOPER: And it can secure a base -- I mean, Paul Ryan last night on the town hall at CNN said he would like to see a conservative to really make sure that conservative values are paramount.
SOCARIDES: I think it's interesting. Donald Trump faces the same kind of issue that people have faced recently in this choice, and that is who's going to hurt you the least. I think none of the three people on this short list tonight are people that will probably help him a lot. You know, he could get in trouble with Pence because he's a little inexperienced. Christie has bridgegate. Gingrich has ethics issues and, you know, tried to impeach Bill Clinton and he was having a secret affair, close to the government.
But, I think, you know, as Democrats, we look at this and say, how you do this selection process says something about the kind of leader you will be, the kind of president you will be. And let -- in two weeks, we'll see how Hillary Clinton does it, and I'll bet you it will be very different and it will not be like a reality TV show.
COOPER: The argument is -- I mean, no matter, any of these three, for those who are worried about Donald Trump as president about, you know, his ability to be president.
[20:10:03] I mean, all of these are choices which kind of should --
LORD: Serious, substantive, people.
COOPER: Yes, which are people who have Washington experience or at least governing experience.
LORD: Yes.
CARDONA: Which by the way says volumes about Donald Trump himself and it's the first time, I think, that people from the nominee's own party are rooting for somebody that they can actually say, OK, well, at least the vice president nominee is going to be saying and making that decision.
COOPER: You can argue about Joe Biden and candidate Obama.
(CROSSTALK)
LAVALLE: Right on the money with that statement. You know, Barack Obama needed a Joe Biden and he was from Delaware and what does that bring to the table?
(CROSSTALK)
CARDONA: I don't think the comparison between Obama and Trump is --
LAVALLE: And he complimented and the choice must be someone that's going to compliment you. You look at your strengths, and you identify your weaknesses. And if you can choose someone that's going to fill the weaknesses with strength, you have stronger --
COOPER: Do you think states matter like --
BORGER: No, I don't think states matter anymore. I mean, look, is Chris Christie going to get a New Jersey? Absolutely not.
As Trump says, Indiana was good to him, but it's going to be good to him. So, he -- you know, and newt doesn't get you anything and he's not picking anybody geographically here.
It's also -- first of all, it's your first presidential decision, what we're watching is the way Donald Trump might operate as president of the United States, either you like that or you don't like that, right? And this is also a man, he is going to have to be with every day a lot of hours and we know that.
SOCARIDES: Everything about this tells me it's going to be Christie.
COOPER: Really?
SOCARIDES: I think it will be Christie because what Errol says, you know, he's a gut decision-maker and Christie was on the campaign trail with him, it matters a lot. Christie also does get him something because Christie is not really from the right. (CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Corey Lewandowski the other day on this program said, don't undercut loyalty. Loyalty for Donald Trump --
SOCARIDES: It's going to be Christie. You heard it here. It's going to be Christie.
BORGER: Do you have an inside --
COOPER: We have to take a break.
We're going to pick up the conversation a little bit later in the hour. Some new poll numbers to talk about. Some bad news for Hillary Clinton in some of the battleground states, particularly in Florida -- amazing turnaround there for Donald Trump. We'll look at that.
And just ahead, high-stakes court hearing about the controversial Trump University just wrapped up. We'll bring you that, as well as keeping them honest report about a former Trump University instructor who claims he's a real estate expert and doesn't t to talk about his credentials. You don't want to see this. Drew Griffin tonight, keeping them honest.
Plus, sorrow and salute at funerals for three of the five officers murdered in Dallas, and how they were remembered today and who they leave behind.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:16:24] COOPER: The breaking news tonight, according to a senior Trump adviser, Donald Trump will likely make his vice president decision within the next 24 hours. He'll make the announcement on Friday in New York.
In the meantime, today, a hearing -- a key hearing regarding the candidate was held in a California courtroom. Federal Judge Gonzalo Curiel who Trump, obviously, has accused of being biased because of his Mexican heritage and he released a video during a deposition that's part of a lawsuit and one of several lawsuits that alleged, despite promises Trump University wasn't a university, did not teach Trump's real estate secrets and misrepresented teachers and mentors who were neither real estate experts, nor handpicked by Donald Trump.
Jim Harris is a former instructor at Trump University who claims he was one of the best salesmen, helping the business to rake in an estimated $40 millions. He also claims to be a real estate expert.
Keeping them honest when CNN senior investigative correspondent Drew Griffin sat down with Mr. Harris he didn't want to talk about his real estate background, though, he had a lot to say about how he convinced people to fork over as much as $34,000 for seminars.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM HARRIS, TRUMP UNIVERSITY INSTRUCTOR : We were bringing in the money.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: A lot of it.
HARRIS: A lot of money.
GRIFFIN: Were you -- you said you were the top -- were you the top guy?
HARRIS: I don't know if I was, I just know I'm really good at what I do.
GRIFFIN: You said you were the top guy.
HARRIS: O. Maybe I was the top guy. I don't know if I was or not, I just know that my numbers were one of the -- from week to week to week, my numbers were in the top one or two.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): James Harris' job was to get people to believe that they, too, could be as successful in real estate as Donald Trump and to reel them in, sign them up and get them to pay as much a $34,000 on the promise that the next seminar, the next class would teach them all they would need to know.
(on camera): What do you know about real estate?
HARRIS: Real estate is a very wide, huge business. I got involved in real estate personally, myself, in the 90s.
GRIFFIN (voice over): And if you attended a James Harris Trump University seminar, you would hear a lot more about Harris's claims of success and experience in real estate. Claims made in this verbatim transcript of a Trump seminar he gave in San Bernardino, California.
(on camera): Do you remember when you said this: 'I'm a former licensed agent broker. At 29, I became the top 1 percent broker in the country. I build homes in Atlanta, Georgia, and I used to live in Beverly Hills.'?
HARRIS: Yes. If I said those things, they are true. I did live in Beverly Hills, and I did --
GRIFFIN: We have no record of you ever living in Beverly Hills.
HARRIS: OK.
GRIFFIN: We can't find your broker's license anywhere.
HARRIS: OK.
GRIFFIN: And I have no idea what homes you built in Atlanta, Georgia. Did you build homes in Georgia?
HARRIS: I'm not prepared to answer those questions today.
GRIFFIN: This is part of your pitch. Is any of that true?
HARRIS: Again, I'm not going to answer those questions because I haven't seen that.
GRIFFIN: Well, you certainly know what you've done in your life.
HARRIS: I don't know if I -- I don't know where that's coming from. I don't know where you got that from.
GRIFFIN: This is a transcript submitted in court.
HARRIS: I've never seen that --
GRIFFIN: Of the taped --
HARRIS: I don't know if that's a court document --
GRIFFIN: Presentation that you gave in San Bernardino, California.
HARRIS: I've never seen it.
GRIFFIN: It's a court document.
HARRIS: OK.
GRIFFIN: Well, what do you know about real estate?
HARRIS: Again, I'm not prepared to answer those questions today. This is about Trump University.
BOB GUILLO, FORMER STUDENT, TRUMP UNIVERSITY: He kept walking up and down the aisle, flashing his Rolex in our faces.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Bob Guillo was one of James Harris's students. He was part of a lawsuit trying to get back his $34,000. He says the school was a fraud and so was his teacher.
GUILLO: He bragged that he had dinner with Donald Trump.
GRIFFIN (on camera): Did you ever have dinner with him?
HARRIS: I never had dinner with him.
[20:20:03] GRIFFIN: Hmm, Bob Guillo was in one of your conferences and you said you had dinner with Donald Trump.
HARRIS: I -- I don't have any recollection of that.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): James Harris admits his main job wasn't to teach real estate. It was to sell real estate seminars, always with the goals of hooking his audience into buying more classes.
HARRIS: I was told to promote and sell the Trump University packages and the programs that they were offering and that's what I did. They had to pay a fee to come to further their training at the next event. So, it was -- it went from event to event to event.
GRIFFIN (on camera): Is that step by step, as it's been described, upsell by upsell by upsell? HARRIS: Kind of sort of, yes. It's upsell from, you know, well, if
you pay this amount, we're going to teach you this much. If you pay this amount, we're going to go further with you.
GRIFFIN: Here's an email you wrote. "I just spoke to Austin and Irene, the older retired couple who had to pull the $30,000 balance for the gold, and she said it's done and should be in Monday. So that will be another 35K. We will easily have another 100K hit by Friday. Yahoo."
Your associate, Ryan, responds, 'We've always been a dangerous team, brotherman. These peeps don't have a chance against us. Smiley face."
HARRIS: That's called sales.
GRIFFIN: Isn't that called ripping off an old couple?
HARRIS: Absolutely not.
GRIFFIN: Named Austin and Irene, $30,000?
HARRIS: Again, I never saw that e-mail, but that is sales. That's a typical sales e-mail between two sales people working on a deal. I don't know if those people had the money or not. They could have -- they could have been putting up their last dollar. I don't know. All I know is --
GRIFFIN: Do you care?
HARRIS: Of course, we care, but I was doing my job. We did our job.
GRIFFIN: Regardless if they could afford it or not.
HARRIS: Regardless if they could afford it or not. That was not my position. That was not my job. Other people did that.
I don't know if they could afford it or not. We were -- we were told to show them all of the ways that they could afford it and could come up with the finances to get into the business. Period. End of story.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Drew, I mean, this is fascinating. Is there any evidence, though, that this guy even knows Donald Trump? He was supposedly the university's top salesman. He's told people apparently, you know, he went to dinner with Trump.
GRIFFIN: In fact, Anderson, there is evidence Trump does not know this guy. Under oath in a deposition for one of his lawsuits, Donald Trump didn't recall the name James Harris, didn't recall the name of a single live events instructor that supposedly was hired, handpicked by Donald Trump to teach these classes. So the answer is no, he doesn't know James Harris.
COOPER: Talking about depositions, was there a court hearing today dealing with releasing Donald Trump's videotaped deposition to the public which was something demanded by news agencies -- CNN I think was party to that. Are we likely to see video of Trump's deposition any time soon?
GRIFFIN: The answer is we don't know. The judge heard arguments today on both sides. The media arguing that we should be able to see this videotaped deposition. The Trump side saying that it could be used in the campaign negatively against him. Judge Curiel out in San Diego took it under advisement and he told the lawyers, "I will give you my review in writing." We don't know when.
COOPER: All right. Drew, thanks very much. Drew Griffin.
That was quite an interview.
Just ahead, Hillary Clinton launches her toughest verbal attack on Donald Trump. And new polling has plenty to say about how tough their battle may be this fall state by crucial state.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:27:28] COOPER: Hillary Clinton says Donald Trump is in her words dangerous. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: His campaign is as divisive as any we have seen in our lifetimes. It is built on stoking mistrust and pitting American against American. It's there in everything he says and everything he promises to do as president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Speaking today in Springfield, Illinois, where Abraham Lincoln famously said a house divided against itself cannot stand. Secretary Clinton said the Party of Lincoln had become the party of Trump.
Now, whoever has claim on the party's soul these days and whatever you think of Donald Trump's message, we have new polling tonight on how that message is being received in states that will count in November.
CNN chief national correspondent John King is here to break it down.
John dressed identically to me.
So, several new battleground states --
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Yes.
A couple of battleground states today. What do they show?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They show, Anderson, a dramatically close race, with 117 days to go to Election Day, just as we head into the convention. Look at this, Hillary Clinton can be happy about the numbers in Colorado and numbers in Wisconsin. Numbers in Iowa are very close, but she's in the lead there. Virginia numbers are out tonight the Clinton can be encouraged with.
But look at Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida, essentially tied. One candidate or the other might have a small lead. You see these two polls out in Pennsylvania, a split verdict there, Trump leading in one and Clinton leading in the other. But Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida, it shows there's been a lot of talk Donald Trump's numbers with Latinos are bad, his numbers with women are bad. There's no way he can win this election.
Well, guess what? As we get ready for Donald Trump's convention, this is a very close race and Trump has a path to victory.
COOPER: In states that Obama won, if they flip for Trump, how does that play out across the map?
KING: So, this is what both campaigns do. They look at the last map. Let's show the 2012 map, and you see the Obama-Romney race. Three hundred and thirty-two electoral votes for Obama, the Democrats, 206 for Romney, and the Republicans. That's an Electoral College blowout.
So, you think the Democrats have the high ground here. But remember the big three we just talked about, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida. Trump is in play in all three of those states. So, let's flip them.
So, if Donald Trump could flip those three states and I'm not saying it's easy and it won't be easy, but if he could flip those three states, look, Donald Trump is the next president of the United States. If nothing else changes from 2012 except Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida, if Trump can flip those and that his strategy, that's where he begins Anderson, he can win this election.
COOPER: And Sanders' endorsement with Clinton yesterday, do you think that has an effect on her numbers at all?
KING: The Clinton campaign certainly hopes so.
[20:30:00] The Clinton campaign thinks one of the reason the race has change was because of all the damning comments from the FBI Director Jim Comey. He was the first to give a news conference then he gave the testimony. Yes, the decision was not to charge her, but he said a lot of incredibly ...
COOPER: Yeah, sure.
KING: ... unfavorable unflattering things about Secretary Clinton. So the optics of the last week to 10 days have been pretty bad. The Clinton campaign hopes now you have the Sanders endorsements, you have the optics of that rally in New Hampshire, now you tried to get him on the road, some Pennsylvania and Michigan a couple of the blue collar battleground states. They very much hope that the Sanders' endorsement and the future campaigning by Sanders turns the page from what they acknowledge was a pretty tough two weeks.
COOPER: Yeah. All right, John King, thanks very much.
KING: Thank you.
COOPER: John, thanks very much. Let's go back to our panel. Let's start with Errol, non-partisan. First Errol, should the Clinton campaign be freaking out about these numbers, I mean, particularly in Florida, which was a complete reversal? I mean, she was up eight points.
LOUIS: Every campaign they're going to freak out about Ohio and Florida. We know that those are always going to be swing states. I think, by the way, there are some evidence, that there's some stuff that's not going to quite show up in the polls just yet.
COOPER: Which is?
LOUIS: Well, in Florida, for example, something like 130,000 because of the crisis in Puerto Rico, 130,000 Puerto Ricans have moved to Florida. Have they been registered yet? Have they been mobilized yet? We don't know. Are they going to show up on Election Day? There's a very good chance that they will. So, there's some of that going on, a lot of brand new voters that maybe haven't been picked up by the polls.
Pennsylvania, I think we've seen has been a mirage. I mean, it's been a temptation for Republicans since the last time they won the state back in 1988. And every cycle they say, we're going to make a late run because it's such a trove of electoral votes. They make that late run and never really materializes. We'll see if it happens this time.
COOPER: Gloria?
BORGER: You know, if I were Hillary Clinton's campaign I'd be looking at the internals of these polls and the problems in the internals of these polls is that what's dragging her down is the honesty and the trustworthy numbers. And in the -- and one of these polls in Florida today Trump is considered more honest and trustworthy, 50 to 37 percent.
COOPER: It's huge.
BORGER: Huge. And so for Hillary Clinton, I mean, she knows that's her Achilles heel. James Comey didn't help it very much and this is an issue she's got to work on, because when you vote for president it's a very personal vote and you have to trust the person you're voting for because this is a person that could send your child to war and so, this is a real problem.
COOPER: Maria, I mean, the Trump folks have been saying, look, Hillary Clinton has spent a lot of money in Florida and Trump really hasn't and yet the numbers are going down.
CARDONA: Well, I'll say a couple things. First of all, I don't believe that Quinnipiac poll because Quinnipiac notoriously over samples Republicans and notoriously doesn't know how to poll Latinos and African-Americans very correctly. Now, I will say this, the Clinton campaign should wake up every day, and I know that they do, and believe these polls and believe that she is the underdog because that is the only way that she will win. Complacency among Democrats and it's easy to be complacent with all of the crazy stuff that Donald Trump has said and his proposals are out there and everything that we talked about in terms of how divisive he is and he is, but that leads a lot of Democrats to think, oh, Hillary Clinton has it in the back and complacency is how it went.
COOPER: But Richard, I mean, look, CNN approves of these Quinnipiac polls. There's a lot of polls we don't even report on because the methodology is suspect, Quinnipiac is not one of those.
SOCARIDES: Well, I think the election is going to be close. I mean, presidential elections are always close.
COOPER: Do you think ...
SOCARIDES: I think that the truth is, is that if you look at the average of the polls and if you look at the people who actually study these polls and predict, Hillary Clinton today is the overwhelming favorite. She continue -- she'll be the overwhelming favorite tomorrow. She'll go past Labor Day as the overwhelming favorite. But the election is probably going to be close. You know, it's probably be a four or five-point election but I would much -- I think she's much better positioned than he is.
COOPER: John, it's interesting, though, in the "Wall Street Journal" poll you have Donald Trump polling like zero percent with African- Americans in Pennsylvania and Ohio. I mean zero percent.
LAVALLE: He's got to do better than that.
(CROSSTALK)
CARDONA: He'll get 1 percent.
LAVALLE: Donald Trump exceeded the poll numbers when it came to the ballot box and Hillary Clinton fell short. Hillary Clinton's right, Donald Trump is dangerous to certain people, terrorists, people that are beneficiaries of bad trade deals, people that are sending, you know, American jobs overseas, and the most important, person he's most dangerous to is Hillary Clinton's career path.
Donald Trump is on track right now. He is very focused. He's on message. That's why these numbers with an 11-point swing in Florida. That's amazing.
Now, as long as he continues on that path, you're going to see this and you're going to see a lot of new voters, by the way. There are going to be new voters that we're not catching polls just like we saw in the primaries, they're going to elect Donald Trump president.
COOPER: Jeff, in terms of, you know, Donald Trump said he's going to do very well among African-Americans, I mean, obviously polling, according to the "Wall Street Journal", zero percent is not good. Last night on O'Reilly, he said that he essentially can relate to the African-American experience because the system is rigged and it's been rigged against him as well.
[20:35:03] And he went on to say that you can't fully understand what African-Americans life is like unless you're African-American. But he came under a lot of criticism like that and, you know, didn't accept the speech of the NAACP. Do you think he is doing enough to try to get African-American?
LORD: I think he'll do more. First of all, I don't think the NAACP thing will hurt him. President Bush, 43, did not go for some of the same reasons. He felt that there was a partisan organization, it was liberal group. It was no longer the NAACP at all. So he didn't go. And of course Mitt Romney try to go, you know, went to this and they booed him and it really didn't, you know, do anything for him.
I think he can -- has a real opportunity here with the African- American community. And again, Newt Gingrich, who as a close friend of my old boss, Jack Kemp, knows that what you do is you go into the black community and you appeal directly to folks on the basis of economics and you talk to them about jobs and this kind of thing and, you know, stay away from this Republican country club sort of mentality here ...
COOPER: Right.
LORD: ... and go in there ...
COOPER: Engage.
LORD: Engage. And I think he can do that. The other thing, in terms of Pennsylvania as the Pennsylvanian, I can tell you, he won on the primary, 67 counties. It's never been done before by any candidate of either party and that's an intensity factor that's going to help him.
COOPER: All right, we're going to take a quick break. Up next, we have breaking news. A protest against police brutality marching through the streets of Boston tonight pretty size of a crowd where (inaudible), we'll keep an eye on that, of course.
And the hunt for a man police are calling a serial killer. Authorities have doubled the number of attacks they believe the suspect carried out a sketch of the suspect and what they know about him right now when we continue.
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[20:40:31] COOPER: Looking at protesters out in numbers right now on the streets of Boston according to one of our local affiliates. About a thousand people began marching in about the top of this hour in support of the group, Massachusetts Action Against Police Brutality. They started out at Boston PD headquarters. They are now being escorted by officers through the city.
There is also more breaking news tonight of police in Phoenix, Arizona are asking for the public's help in the search for a serial street shooter. That's how they describe the gunman who they now believe is linked to eight attacks, has doubles the number first thought. Seven people have died ranging in age from 12 to 55.
As with most serial killers there is a pattern offering some clues. Investigators also have a sketch of the suspect. They hope someone will recognize him and help solve the cases.
More now from our Brian Todd.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Twelve year old Malia Ellis shot and killed along with her mother and a friend as they listened to music inside their car. Their murders, the latest in a series of shootings in the Phoenix area which police are tonight calling the work of a serial killer. Malia's grandfather says the shooter was indiscriminate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They didn't care if there were little babies in the car. They just wanted to shoot somebody.
TODD: Tonight, Phoenix police tells CNN they believe the same man has killed seven people and wounded two others since March. Police released this composite sketch. The suspect believed to be a white or Hispanic man in his 20s, he may have an accomplice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have no prior known contact between our victims and our suspects.
TODD: But police tell CNN they do know part of the killer's M.O. All of the shootings have been at night targeting people walking or in vehicles seemingly at random. Police say the killer arrives in a vehicle, a sedan, gets out of the car and opens fire then quickly departs in the vehicle.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's hunting people that he knows that he can have access to, that they are vulnerable and that they are accessible. Those are the two keys and that they have no idea that this individual is behind them or in front of him so he's looking for the best targets.
TODD: Another key part of the pattern, the target area. Most victims have been shot in the western part of Phoenix, a cluster of them in a neighborhood called Maryvale.
What does that tell you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That tells me the individual committing these crimes knows this area very well. You've got two major thorough fares that he can come into and get off on.
TODD: Two killings have been outside those neighborhoods. In total, they've occurred over more than 50 square miles of the Phoenix area. Phoenix police tell us the same weapon was likely used in each shooting, a semi-automatic handgun. As the manhunt intensifies tonight, experts say the killer could be watching the media coverage and may become more cautious or careless as a result.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These individuals tend to be very arrogant and grandiose individuals because now they're holding West Phoenix kind of hostage. People are very frightened. That for the offender is a rush and that in of itself can cause that person to take more risks and therefore possibly make more mistakes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Brian Todd joins me now. So I understand the law enforcement, they're now adding more resources to try to kind of catch whoever this person is.
TODD: Right, Anderson. Phoenix police bringing in every possible resource tonight into this case, the FBI and the U.S. Marshals have now joined in this manhunt.
There's a $30,000 reward for information leading to the capture of this killer or possibly more killers. He could have an accomplice, we're told. We're told by experts that you can expect the Phoenix police to use license plate scanners in these neighborhoods, these are the scanners that are on these police vehicles that can read license plates, every license plate coming into and out of these neighborhoods.
They're going to use surveillance footage. They're going to comb all the pawnshops. They are really intensifying this manhunt tonight, Anderson.
COOPER: All right, Brian Todd, thanks so much. Let's get the latest on the manhunt. Joining me now is Sergeant John Howard of the Phoenix Police Department. Sergeant Howard thanks very much for being with us.
These killings, they've been going on over the course of months, if not longer. What was it that alerted police that they might be connected or that they are connected?
SGT. JOHN HOWARD, PHOENIX POLICE: So, Anderson, it started with just the general geography of the area. We're talking about two square miles in a city of over 500 square miles. They were occurring three of -- the first three were on Friday evenings, one on a Sunday, so we had weekend hours, nighttime hours and crimes that were occurring in the street or right next to the street.
So enough similarities and for a lot of us it was most striking that no apparent motive in any of these incidents.
COOPER: And then you linked initially, I think it was like four and then you what -- did you look back at past cases and realized, wait a minute, there are others linked to these as well?
[20:45:00] HOWARD: We did. So we went back -- so far we've gone back all the way through January 1st of this year. We looked at all of our violent crimes, all the crimes that we thought may have some relationship just based on the violence potential, and we linked four additional cases recently.
COOPER: Two people survived being shot by this person or persons. Your department, I know, obviously interviewed them. And look, there's probably stuff you can't say. So, obviously, I'll leave it to your judgment, but what did they tell you about the attack and what they saw?
HOWARD: You know, what we're hearing is an unprovoked attack. We're hearing about people in the street, most on them in front of residential homes, a car pulls up, the shooter gets out and almost without any warning, no conversation, just opens fire and then flees in that vehicle.
COOPER: And are you pretty confident that the serial killer, you know, has only been operating since January or do you think it could go further back than there?
HOWARD: We're certainly going to expand our research. Our first incident that we recovered was March 17th. The second one was March 18th. So, we had at least a couple of months prior to that that we haven't found any incidents that are involved.
COOPER: So, we're putting up obviously the sketch. What's your message to the community right in Phoenix right now?
HOWARD: You know, we want everybody to raise their level of awareness. We don't want people to live in fear, but we want them to have a healthy level of awareness. We want them to know what's going on in their neighborhoods.
Somebody out there has done this, but more importantly, somebody out there knows who has done this and that's the person we want to talk to.
We want them to call the police, if people see suspicious behavior in their neighborhood, if they see unfamiliar people in their neighborhood or unfamiliar vehicles.
We have dozens of officers and dozens of investigators working this right now. It is our number one priority. No tip too small, please call the Phoenix Police Department or Silent Witness.
COOPER: All right. Sergeant Howard, appreciate your time tonight. Thanks very much. Good luck to you.
HOWARD: Thank you, sir.
COOPER: Just ahead, thousands of people attended funerals today for three of the five slain Dallas police officers. They eulogizes exceptional fathers, husbands and police officers. A heartbreaking day for their families and fellow officers and the community. More on that ahead.
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[20:51:02] COOPER: Funeral services were held today for three of the five police officers killed by a sniper in Dallas. Their murders in the line of duty six nights ago are now part of a sweeping national conversation about growing racial discord in this country. Today was a day, though, for focusing on their singular contributions, what made them special and what can never be replaced.
CNN's Kyung Lah reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Three officers, three lives remembered. Lorne Ahrens, 48 years old, father of an eight and10-year-old, husband to a fellow cop.
DEBBIE TAYLOR, SR. CPT. DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT: Everything is bigger in Texas and that definitely included Lorne with his fix foot four, 300 pound frame. Not only was he bigger in physical stature, but his personality, his heart, his enthusiasm for police work, his passion for his fellow officers and his devotion to his family were all larger than life.
EDDIE COFFEY, SR. CPT. DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT: Katrina, you were his co-worker. You were his best friend, and his dedicated wife.
LAH: Sergeant Michael Smith, age 55, husband and father to these two girls, Caroline and Victoria. He lived a life of service in the U.S. Army for seven years and a Dallas police officer for nearly 30.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A cop's cop. The type of cop I want to be exactly like. My perfect boy. One in a million. All things told to me, our guardians, our peace makers. (Inaudible) through tears while choking on their words.
LAH: Dallas Area Rapid Transit officer, Brent Thompson, age 43. Two weeks ago, the father of six remarried. His bride also a police officer.
EMILY THOMPSON, WIFE OF BRENT THOMPSON: Though I'm heart broken and hurt, I'm going to put on my badge and my uniform and return to the street along with all of my brothers and sisters in blue. To the coward that tried to break me and my brothers and sisters, you'll know your hate made us stronger. On Brent's behalf, I'm asking you all to continue on. Press on. He has your six.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One thing I would always say to my dad when he walked out the door was, good-bye, daddy. I love you. Be safe. And tonight, we say our final good-bye, daddy. We love you. Be safe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I once was lost, but now I'm found was blind but now I see.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Kyung Lah joins us now. I mean, the image to see all of those police officers, Kim, who were in attendance, they come from all across the country.
LAH: It's really extraordinary, Anderson. I mean, you know, from covering these stories, you hear about the brothers and sisters in blue, and visually we could see it here. I mean this -- at this memorial, you can see just over here, that's a hat and a patch from the New York Police Department.
[20:55:04] Look a little further to your right, a patch from Maryland District of Columbia, Virginia, from Tulsa. Not just from Houston but we've seen police officers from Chicago. So they have come from across this country to recognize that this was a loss for all police officers in the United States.
COOPER: And that memorial where you're at, where is that exactly?
LAH: This is in front of the Dallas Police Department, and it started just to give people a place to gather. This is -- what you're looking at is one police car over here, another police car over there. You know, when they started a few days ago, we could actually see the police cars and take a look further down. What you're seeing here are notes that people are leaving behind.
There's a pen here. People are still writing messages. Children writing words of encouragements. And, you know, again, here's another patch from the City of New York. Someone encouraging saying may your Dallas brothers rest in peace and this is, again, from an agency not very close to here.
And what I find most extraordinary about this, beyond the balloons, beyond the wilting flowers are these messages that continue to try to encourage the police department, messages from children telling these officers that they have to keep going that these children rely on them. Anderson.
COOPER: Kyung Lah. Kyung, thanks very much. A program, though, tonight, at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, Don Lemon's going to host the CNN town hall focusing on tensions between police and minority groups. It's called "Black, White & Blue, America 2016" is coming up right here on CNN, just about one hour from now.
Coming up in the next hour "360", though, we continue to monitor the developments in Boston where a number of marchers are now making their way through the streets. Also, everything we're learning about the accelerating countdown to Donald Trump's running mate announcement. Who's still on the short list who Trump's kids are urging he pick and more, next.
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