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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Clinton Leading In Post-Debate Polls; New Post-Debate Poll: Clinton 43%, Trump 40%; Clinton Makes Push For Florida Black Voters; Kids On The Candidates; First Post-Debate Poll Results; Trump's Pre- Dawn Twitter Rant; Clinton Leading in Post-Debate Polls; Debate Commission: Trump Had Audio "Issues". Aired 8-9p ET
Aired September 30, 2016 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[20:00:15] ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, good evening. Thanks very much for joining us.
For a week that began with the presidential debate and is ending with one of the candidates going on a pre-dawn Twitter rant urging America to check out an alleged sex tape. You are welcome. We'll get to that in a moment.
But, first, some breaking news, the first new batch of polling done after the debate has just been released. Brianna Keilar joins us me now with that.
So, what have we learned from the polls?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, we're seeing that Hillary Clinton has been building from her debate performance. This is the FOX News poll, the first poll, national poll done entirely after the debate and she's leading Donald Trump by three points.
Of note here, the last time this poll was done September 11th. Hillary Clinton was only leading by one point. Donald Trump remained steady at then at 40 percent. So, you know, clearly, he's trying to get out of the low fourths. He's been struggling to and we've seeing this.
And perhaps what may be a bump here that we're seeing isn't surprising because that scientific instant CNN/ORC poll that was done after the debate, you had 2-1 people saying they thought Hillary Clinton bested Donald Trump and, of course, that included a lot of Republicans who thought that.
COOPER: And beyond a national poll, I mean, obviously, what matters really are battleground state polls and I think there are a document of those out now, right?
KEILAR: That's right. And she's seen some success there as well. This is Nevada, and you see she has a six point lead over Donald Trump there. The reason this is significant is because weeks ago, Donald Trump was leading Hillary Clinton. So, now, she has a pretty decent lead here. And she's looking forward to next week when Elizabeth Warren is going to be heading out there, trying to build enthusiasm for her that she needs.
Let's check out Michigan. She's up 7 points here. This is a place where Donald Trump is hoping that his anti-free trade agreement stances are going to help him. But she also has a lead there. And Bernie Sanders who gave her a surprise upset in the primary here is going to be campaigning for her in Michigan in the coming weeks.
Check out the Granite State. She has a seven-point lead here as well, as she does in Michigan. This is about on track where she has been. But certainly, this is good news for Hillary Clinton.
And very important is Florida, the Sunshine State, where she as a four-point lead. Of note here, this is outside of the margin of error so we know that this is a real lead, Anderson. And this is considered a must-win state for Donald Trump.
So, Hillary Clinton trying to deprive him of that and certainly is hoping that her firewall is running right through Florida.
COOPER: Fascinating to look at. Brianna Keilar, thanks.
Joining me now is CNN senior political analyst and former adviser to four presidents, David Gergen, CNN political analyst and "USA Today" columnist, Kirsten Powers, and CNN chief political correspondent, Dana Bash.
Dana, national polls, state polls -- good news certainly for Hillary Clinton. That said there is more than a month go. A lot can change in these polls as we've seen before.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's true. And I think it is important to note that the fundamentals of this race still seem about the same. I mean, certainly, after the Democratic convention, Hillary Clinton got a real bump. Then that evaporated and we were kind of back to where the race was before.
There was -- as Brianna was just talking about, just nationally, there was a slight uptick for Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump hasn't changed. The thing that should concern the Trump campaign are those battleground states, Nevada in particular.
If that state continues to trend so favorably towards Hillary Clinton, then than that could be kind of an -- show what it is going to happen with other battleground states, particularly those with high minority voters.
COOPER: David, how concerned should the Trump campaign be about these numbers, especially when you take them together with his debate performance. He, of course, is looking at online polls and talking about online polls which are not scientific and really pretty much meaningless.
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: They should be very concerned, Anderson, because this race as fluid, as it remains, the fact is much is going to depend on momentum. And once a candidate has momentum, we've seen this in the past on both sides, it tend to increase their numbers. They look better, and Donald Trump had a lot of momentum going into that first debate. She has a momentum now, because it is not just the debate that we're talking about these days but it is also the post-debate which has been a horrible week for him, as far as I can tell.
And you can tell in that Fox poll, he's like 20 points behind among women. He needs to stop digging this hole and get off this conversation about Miss Universe and get back to the real issues.
COOPER: Yes. And again, we're going to talk more about this in a second. But the fact he's tweeting, you know, before dawn about Miss Universe still on four days since the debate, it is just incredible.
Kirsten, the forecast that Clinton has simply, you know, more paths to 270 than Trump does, that's the reality of the so-called Obama coalition for the past two cycles.
[20:05:02] So, Trump has always had his work cut out for him certainly and it doesn't seem to be getting any easier.
KIRSTEN POWERS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, that's right. But like David said, he did definitely have the momentum and it did seem that things were sort of shifting in his direction, and he managed to sort of turn around with one debate. And so, we have two more debates. So, what's going to happen in those debates I think is the big question?
If he shows up and does the same thing again, then I think I would expect to sew the polls continue to shift in her direction. And just a few points is pretty meaningful in a race like this, because we have such a polarized electorate that we're not going to see a landslide would be seven or eight points win or a ten-point win. So, you know, if she just gets a couple more points, she's in pretty solid shape.
BASH: And just quickly, Anderson, the other thing to remember is somebody else had not just a great week. And that is Gary Johnson. And in a lot of these poll, really all of these polls, the libertarian ticket is polling pretty well considering.
So, if the fact that he couldn't name a world leader that he liked, even though he was given 50 seconds to do so and other missteps that we've seen from him over the week starts to seep in, even with those who are just not into either of the major party candidates, that could potentially help Hillary Clinton or at least test the theory that he's taking votes away from her.
COOPER: Yes. Thanks everybody for looking to those poll numbers analyzing them for us. We'll get back to panel later.
Trump apparently did not get much sleep last night, as we said. He was very tweeting about the former Miss Universe who he said gained too much weight. He was back on the trail tonight after a pre-dawn tweet storm where he continued to lash out at the former Miss Universe.
Jason Carroll joins us now with that. Walk us through this. What's the latest?
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, when it comes to those tweets, Anderson, Trump is saying that tweeting is an effective form of communication. One of his advisors basically coming out earlier today and saying what you see on Twitter isn't necessarily the message of the campaign. But try telling that to Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (voice-over): Donald Trump up early this morning and not letting up on his attacks of former Miss Universe Alicia Machado. The GOP nominee tweeting before dawn, "Wow, crooked Hillary was duped and used by my worst Miss U. Hillary floated her as an angel without checking her past, which is terrible." Trump adding, "Did crooked Hillary help disgusting, check out sex tape and past, Alicia M become a U.S. citizen, so she could her in the debate?" Yet offering no proof that such a sex tape exists.
Hillary Clinton responding with a tweet of her own, "What kind of man stays up all night to smear a woman with lies and conspiracy theories?"
And during a campaign stop in Florida later in the day --
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I mean, as late as Twitter meltdown is unhinged, even for him. It proves yet again that he is temperamentally unfit to be president and commander in chief.
CARROLL: During Monday night's debate, Clinton raised Machado's accusation that Trump called her "Miss Housekeeping" and "Miss Piggy" after she gained weight following her Miss Universe win in 1996.
CLINTON: Her name is Alicia Machado.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Where did you find this?
CLINTON: And she has become a U.S. citizen and you can bet --
TRUMP: Oh, really?
CLINTON: -- she's going to vote this November.
TRUMP: OK, good.
CARROLL: Trump has kept the story alive by criticizing Machado on a daily basis, even as he pushes back some of his advisors were not happy with his debate performance, and are considering overhauling his approach before the second meeting with Clinton.
This as Trump continues to cite unscientific online polls that are not true measures of public opinion.
TRUMP: Every single online poll said we won, which is great. Every single online poll. CARROLL: And as for those accounts of debate discord, Trump tweeting, "Remember, don't believe sources said by the very dishonest media. If they don't name the source, the sources don't exist."
Trump also at odds with the "USA Today" editorial board. The paper's board has never taken side in a presidential race, but is urging voters to consider anyone by Trump, writing, "Republican nominee Donald Trump is by unanimous consensus of the editorial board unfit for the presidency."
"The Dallas Morning News" and "The Arizona Republic", which historically have supported Republican candidates endorsing Clinton this year. Trump slamming the media outlets on Twitter, writing, "The people are really smart in canceling subscriptions to the Dallas and Arizona papers and now 'USA Today' will lose readers. The people get it."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And Jason back with us.
I just want to go back to this notion. I don't know that if it's that Donald Trump woke up early to start tweeting. I mean, do know if he even go to bed? Some of these tweets as I understand, I think it went from like 3:00 a.m. to 5:30. Didn't it?
[20:10:00] CARROLL: That's correct. And as you know, Anderson, look, Trump has said in the past that he doesn't need that much sleep at night. Maybe four, maybe five hours, you know, to sleep, you know, at best.
But what seems to be very clear here is the result. And a number of GOP leaders have made it very clear what they want to see going forward -- less tweets, more focus on the issues.
COOPER: Yes. I mean, it's just incredible that a candidate for president of the United States is up late at night tweeting about an alleged sex tape which there is that evidence even exists, but the person is talking about the sex tape is -- it was surprising to me.
Jason Carroll -- Jason, thanks.
Coming up, even though he was up in the middle of the night tweeting, Trump says he didn't think he took the bait, when all of this started at the bait -- at the debate. We'll talk about that next.
Plus, what Trump and the Debate Commission are saying now about his microphone during the debate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Five days after Hillary Clinton brought up in the debate that Donald Trump bullied a former Miss Universe for her weight, Trump is still talking about it and then some. He fired off a barrage of tweets early this morning, like 3:00 a.m. this morning, that the former beauty queen is, quote, "disgusting". That was the word he used.
To hear Trump tell it though, he didn't take the bait that Clinton put in front of him.
[20:15:00] Listen of this exchange he had with New Hampshire 1 News anchor Paul Steinhauser.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL STEINHAUSER, NEW HAMPSHIRE 1 NEWS: Going into that debate, a lot of people said that Hillary Clinton was going to try to bait you. And some people say, maybe you took the bait. Will you be more disciplined maybe in the second debate?
TRUMP: I don't think I took the bait. You know, every online poll had me winning the debate. So, every single one of them, many of them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: And again, those online polls are not scientific to say the least. The new one tonight though is and it says that about 60 percent of viewers saw Secretary Clinton as the winner of the debate.
Back with David Gergen, Kirsten Powers and Dana Bash.
Dana, this middle of the night or early morning all night Twitter storm from Trump, it basically sucked up all the oxygen today. Who is signing off on this strategy other than Donald Trump himself?
BASH: I don't know the actual answer to that. But I will tell you my kind of informed sense is nobody. It is Donald Trump.
I mean, there is nobody in his orbit who says, you know, what, get up at 3:00 in the morning and go after this Miss Universe who you have been fighting with for five days and not talking about trade, and not talking about jobs and not talking about Hillary Clinton and the need for change in Washington. You should do that. And I think it will be really, really good for female voters. It is just not in the realm of any possibility.
The one thing that I find fascinating, I was talking to somebody about this, that we kind of forget if we are not in a bubble like Donald Trump is, is that Twitter is his life blood. I mean, he uses it not just to get his message out but to get his information in. And he gets tweeted at a lot, as you can imagine.
And as you can imagine him, you know, sitting up. Maybe he can't sleep. Looking at his Twitter feed, getting energized by his supporters, maybe encouraging him to do things likes that, and to not one but a couple of advisors today. I said can't you just delete the app from his phone or change the password or something?
It's just -- you know, he's a big boy and they should be able to leave him with his phone by himself but it goes to show you about his impulses. COOPER: Yes.
I mean, David, as somebody who advised for president granted in an era before social media, is Trump's behavior by any definition presidential?
GERGEN: No. No. I'm not a psychiatrist. I don't know what to -- how to describe him. But I can tell you the behavior is nuts.
To be up at 3:00 in the morning and then get up and tweeting in the 5:00 hour, I just think is so bizarre, it is beyond words. I've know known presidents who have been restless at night. All presidents lose sleep.
And someone like Nixon wanted a long reading list of books because we would wake up and couldn't go back to sleep and he would read biographies. But, you know, to engage in this behavior suggests that there is something gnawing away at him inside psychologically he simply can't help himself.
COOPER: And then to say that he didn't take the bait. I mean, this seems to be the text book definition -- I mean, I'm not a fishermen, but this seems to be this is taking the bait. It is not only taking the bait. It is then going for like a deep dive with the bait in your mouth and running for days and days and days and days and swallowing the hook.
BASH: You do swim with sharks, Anderson.
COOPER: I know. I mean, is this not taking the bait?
GERGEN: It is. And the bait is so small, it's so tiny, so infinitesimally important in his life, and when he's running for president of the United States.
COOPER: Right. It's the presidency of the United States and he's talking about, you know, Miss Machado -- and it's incredible. I mean, I really -- when I saw it this morning, I could not believe it.
GERGEN: I was too. Somebody is sending out e-mail or Twitter in his name. He wouldn't be doing this. Nobody does that.
And I'm glad you are focusing on the hour because I think that is really telling to be doing something like this in the middle of the night at 3:00, and doing it again at 5:00.
COOPER: Also, you would think, you know, as someone running for president, I don't know if they are up, reading policy papers or they're thinking about strategies and what my new policy is going to be or they're talking to an advisor about a policy issue or policy speech coming up. But he's watching cable news and tweeting.
GERGEN: Absolutely. And, Anderson, I cannot emphasize enough that the presidents who do best are not necessarily the smartest people. They were people who are well-anchored. You know, they come from a solid place, a secure place, a confident place. They can laugh. They can have fun in life.
You know, you think of an FDR, or you think of a Reagan, or you think of a Jack Kennedy. All of these people were well-anchored and this is behavior that's mystifies me because we've never seen anything like this before, at least in modern times.
COOPER: Yes. Kristen, I mean, Trump's been saying for days that there was something wrong with his microphone in Monday night's debate.
The Commission on Presidential Debates which is responsible for all these debates, they released a statement today saying, quote, "Regarding the first debate, there were issues regarding Donald Trump's audio that affected the sound level in the debate hall," end quote.
[20:20:11] Meaning not on television or for people watching, but in the debate hall.
So, that is not audio that the 80 million plus would have heard but just the people in the hall. Trump is saying late tonight, according to "New York Times" reporting, saying, quote, "I want do the next debate but everybody is talking about the mic."
So it's like he's threatening to skip it, but maybe gives him something to seize on the meantime, or maybe he does skip it, I don't know.
POWERS: Yes. Well, or maybe it could be an excuse for him to skip it because he didn't do as well as he would have liked to do. But, you know, I think that, you know, getting back to the baiting thing, I think what's so interesting about this is that Hillary really is the first one who has really successfully been able to bait him. He spent the whole primary debating everybody else and they would sort of get pulled into his attacks when he was going after Little Marco and low energy Jeb.
And Hillary has not taken the bait but she's been able to get him to kind of take the bait and lose control and I think it is pretty incredible to watch.
COOPER: I mean, again, to continue with fishing analogy. It wasn't even like she was chumming the water with massive amounts of blood. It was like fly fishing. She like knew where to put and it put it where she wanted it and then that was it.
POWERS: Well, and also, we saw this happened before with the Khan family, right? I mean, this is basically the same thing where everyone around him is saying stop, stop. Why are you doing this? And he can't stop because he feels he's been wronged and he feels he's going somehow convince everybody that if I can show you how bad these people are who are attacking me, you are going to see it my way.
COOPER: Yes.
BASH: And it's a question a source who's known film him for a while said today. It's now a question of, is he out to prove that Donald Trump is right or is he out to be president of the United States? With 39 days left and him behaving this way, that's the open question.
COOPER: David, what do you make of this mic? It is inexcusable there be any mic problem at the debate at this level, you know, that it wasn't thoroughly tested out, or whatever? What do you make of it?
GERGEN: I think, Anderson, if there was noise in his ear, so it distracting and it threw him off, that's a legitimate complaint and we ought to know more than we do. But if you talk to some of the audience, you know if people can't hear in the back of a room, it doesn't throw you have. You can still give your talk.
COOPER: There is no IFB or there's nothing in his ear or no feedback actually --
GERGEN: Right. No buzzing or feedback. If he's hearing himself talk, that's very jarring and under this tension you could totally understand why he'd be upset. But that is not what's being described. I do wish the Debate Commission would tell us more and tell us exactly what the problem was and be very specific about it. It is otherwise hard to judge.
But I want to come back to this. You know, the country deserves a better campaign than this. There are issues about what the Democrats are presenting, what Hillary Clinton was presenting that deserve to be fully vented, and so that the voters can make a full choice.
And I think it's just irresponsible to walk away from your party and from responsibilities as the nominee to not sort of give the country serious conversation and stop this nonsense at 3:00 in the morning.
COOPER: Dana, were you in the hall during the debate and could you hear him?
BASH: I was in the hall for the beginning of the debate, about the first half. I could hear okay but in fairness I did have an IFB, so I was also hearing through the audio.
I will say, I check with somebody who was in the hall pretty close to the front who said it was harder to hear Trump than her. But David makes an excellent point. He didn't necessarily know that during the debate. He was just talking and there's no (INAUDIBLE) distracted him personally.
COOPER: OK. Thank you, everyone.
Just ahead, more of Donald Trump not letting up his attack against former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado, this is the latest in his long history of public feuds. We'll take a look at some of them, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:27:32] COOPER: Welcome back.
Breaking news tonight: Secretary Clinton leading Trump by three points in a new FOX News poll, the first national poll since Monday's debate. The poll also found that 60 percent of likely voters who watched the debate thought Clinton won, versus 22 percent who said Trump won.
As we mentioned, Trump's been insisting he won the debate and did not take Clinton's bait during the 95-minute face-off. But four days later, he's still tweeting about former Miss Universe Alicia Machado. It's not the first time he's been unwilling or maybe unable to let something go.
Sunlen Serfaty reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump's penchant for public feud didn't start with his foray into politics. They have been part of his persona as long as he's been in the public eye. One of his earliest squabbles was over 30 years with author Graydon Carter, which Trump carries on to this day.
Carter was the editor of "SPY" magazine in the '80s, and referred to Trump as a, quote, "short-fingered Bulgarian".
Trump has never let it go. Listen to Carter this year on NPR.
GRAYDON CARTER, FORMER SPY MAGAZINE EDITOR: He'll send me pictures, tear sheets or magazines. With a gold Sharpie, he'll circle his fingers and in his handwriting say, "See, not so short and I know it just gives him absolute fits."
SERFATY: Marco Rubio baited Trump with it during the debate, prompting this over-the-top response.
TRUMP: Look at those hands. Are they small hands?
If they are small, something else must be small. I guarantee you, there is no problem. I guarantee you.
SERFATY: And who could forget Rosie O'Donnell? That feud still going strong after a decade. It all started in 2006 when O'Donnell lambasted Trump as a hypocrite for almost taking say the crown away from then Miss USA Pageant winner Tara Conner, after tabloids revealed her drinking and then using drugs. Something that Trump finally publicly forgave her for, but invoked O'Donnell's ire for the man known as the playboy.
(INAUDIBLE)
SERFATY: Trump immediately doubled down.
TRUMP: Rosie O'Donnell is disgusting, I mean, both inside and out. If you take a look at her, she's a slob. She talks like a truck driver.
SERFATY: And it's a feud that lingers today, with Trump actually mentioning O'Donnell during the first debate.
MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS: You called women you don't like fat pigs, dog, slobs and disgusting animals. Your Twitter account --
TRUMP: Only Rosie O'Donnell.
SERFATY: For a campaign desperate to modulate their presidential contender, Trump's consistent feuds and his inability to let go of them has proven even more problematic.
[20:30:09] The thin-skinned business titan going after Fox debate moderator Megyn Kelly back in March, after Kelly brought up past derogatory remarks he had made against women.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever.
SERFATY: In July he continually clashed with the Khan family. Belittling the parents of Humayan Khan, a Muslim army captain killed in Iraq after they spoke out against him during the Democratic National Convention.
TRUMP: His wife if you look at his wife she was standing there, she had nothing say.
SERFATY: And when it comes to those Twitter outbursts, his preferred way of needling enemies he had this to say to David Lettermen.
TRUMP: The Twitter thing, the tweeting things does gets you in trouble. You know, you say things and you think of so cute and so smart and it comes back to haunt you.
SERFATY: Advice from the past that many are hoping he'll take now.
Sunlen Serfaty, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN AC360 ANCHOR: All right, let's talk about that certainly. Joining me now CNN political commentator Jeffrey Lord and Ana Navarro, she -- he's a Trump a supporter, she is most definitely no.
Jeffrey, so from 3:00 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. early this morning, Donald Trump, your candidate, is on this Twitter rant, number of tweets, talking about Alicia Machado. Referencing a sex tape but there is no definitive evidence that exists. Is that presidential? Is that behavior of someone who should be a president 50 days or so 70 days from now? However long it is?
JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Anderson, let me answer this way? I know you want ...
COOPER: Is it presidential?
LORD: Well, what does presidential mean? I mean ...
COOPER: Why worthy of the office of president. That's what it means. Worthy of somebody who would occupy the White House. LORD: Anderson, I want the same test applied to him that was applied to every other president and lots those presidents were thought of in the day as not being quote unquote "presidential". Andrew Jackson laying off the top of my head. Ronald Reagan, you know, he was an actor. That was a dumb thing to be doing nominating ab actor. On and on the list goes. You don't put a peanut farmer in the Oval Office.
I mean I get -- Anderson ...
COOPER: I get -- I love -- I mean I listen, I'm a student of history too. I love history and it is important to see things in context but you didn't answer the question. Is this presidential behavior? Would you want the president of the United States to be up at 4:00 a.m. encouraging people to go look for a sex tape?
LORD: Yeah, if it's worth looking for Anderson. Look, Anderson, seriously, seriously ....
COOPER: I don't even know what that means.
LORD: I want to make this a serious point.
COOPER: It is a serious point. Would you want the president of the United States wake up at 4:00 a.m. telling Americans to go ...
LORD: Let me answer ...
COOPER: OK yes.
LORD: Let me answer. What I'm trying to communicate to you is that there are a lot of Americans out there who think they all of this presidential stuff and all of these kind of conventions that we have are horse hockey. That they are held by arrogant people, conventional people who have disdain for the average guy. And he is reaching out to them through Twitter. And yes, what we consider and what I certainly consider to be unconventional methods.
I'm suggesting to you that there is a different view out there for people on the receiving end. And I think that, you know, all yearlong and before that we've written Donald Trump off for A, B and C reason.
COOPER: Right.
LORD: If here we go again ...
COOPER: The only person on the receiving end of this is Ms. Machado. And, you know, I don't know -- I get that there's plenty of people who are fine with somebody doing that. I get that. I'm not talking to them. I'm talking to you. And you are very smart, well-read historian and you won't say whether or not this is presidential behavior. Ana is this presidential behavior?
ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Hell no. This is not a take rocket science. And let my rescue my friend Jeffrey. You know, he has grown on me. Like poisonous mushrooms but he has grown on me. So Jeff, at some point, you know, you are a sane man, I mean you do have a pathological clinical need to mention Ronald Reagan in every sentence, but you are a good, decent human being. It is time that surrogates for Trump stop to be insanity and let this man know that it is unjustifiable. It is inexplicable, it is illogical, it is irrational, it is immature. It is unpresidential, it is unseemly. It is disgusting and it's gross for somebody who is five weeks away for an election day, for president of the United States, leader of the free world to be tweeting at 4:00 a.m. in the morning about a sex tape.
For the love of God Jeffrey you know better than this. Stop justifying the unjustifiable. Hell this man, Donald, I support you and I beg you to stop acting like a teenage boy who can't restrain himself.
LORD: Do I get to respond to my friend Ana?
NAVARRO: Sure go ahead.
COOPER: Yeah, we're there is dead silence. We're just waiting.
LORD: I bet you are Anderson, I bet you are.
NAVARRO: No, stop laughing on this serious. This is the presidency of the United States and its democracy. We cannot continue cheapening ...
[20:35:10] COOPER: OK, let him answer.
NAVARRO: We cannot continue to closeting to this course.
LORD: All I'm trying to convey to you is that there is another view of this out there. Another view. And we have to be thinking of this. I mean and I'll tell you one that speaker Gingrich mentioned the other day. The collusion between the Clinton campaign and various media outlets in getting the story out there, they were prepped ahead of time. They were cued that she was going to mention Alicia Machado's name and they set the whole thing up. That media manipulation is a big deal to a lot of people out there.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Jeffrey -- Jeffrey if you -- Jeffrey ...
NAVARRO: If your candidate, the day of the debate if your candidate had said you know what, back then i was the owner of the that pageant. Back then I was an entertainer. I really shouldn't have said those things. I shouldn't have called a 19-year-old girl a fat pig, miss piggy, and miss housekeeping. And, you know, what I'm sorry for it ...
LORD: But Ana, have you heard the state.
NAVARRO: ... that story could be dead today. Instead he ...
LORD: I understand.
NAVARO: ... has kept it alive for five days, that is stupid.
COOPER: Jeffrey, you do admit that it's your candidate who has kept this alive. This isn't about collusion and media talking about this on, you know, trying to extend the story. He's kept this alive.
LORD: Yes. Anderson, i do agree with that. I'm just suggesting we may be playing under different rules here that none of us understand. With the possible exception of Donald Trump. That, you know, all along the line here he's done things, I mean I remember the Wall Street Journal saying in the very beginning when he said something, I think it was the McCain quote that, you know, he had proceeded to his inevitable implosion. Well, he's now the Republican nominee.
I'm just -- look ...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Look, porn is popular, maybe he's tapping into the porn electorate. I get it. Maybe that's his brilliance. But I still -- the basic question to me is, is it the behavior of somebody who should occupy the White House? And it's a question you won't answer, but ...
LORD: Wait, wait.
COOPER: .... I mean it's either yes or no. It's either presidential behavior or not.
LORD: It's no Anderson, it isn't yes or no. It is -- was Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky presidential behavior?
NAVARRO: No it wasn't and that's why he got impeached.
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: And all of America agrees it wasn't presidential. There is nothing wrong with admitting when your candidate is doing somethings that is not presidential, Jeffrey. Please rescue yourself, really.
LORD: All I'm saying to you is there's -- I think there is a different standard out there that we are not yet fully cognizant enough in all of this. And the definition of what presidential and is or is not Anderson. And I would agree with you. If that's what you want. Yes. No. It is not presidential by the old standards but I am not sure that he has standards apply anymore.
COOPER: OK. I guess -- I mean I'm just like totally behind the times. But I guess when I say what is presidential ...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Well I guess when I say is something presidential is there is a kid in fifth grade and in his classroom and he's looking up and it sees the name of the president on the blackboard or he sees the president's picture on there, that that is somebody who he or she aspires to be, aspires to be like, aspires to emulate and the teacher can say that is the president of the United States, they are good, descent person and they have values and -- I mean somebody that we look up to as Americans and I'm just wondering it just seems -- and there's plenty of presidents who have not lived up to that and, you know ...
LORD: Right.
COOPER: ... we've covered it extensively. But -- it just seems ...
LORD: Or not in the day.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Well yeah, yes I was not alive in the days of Andrew Jackson. And there wasn't TV. I don't know how much coverage Andrew Jackson but Bill Clinton got plenty of coverage as I seem to recall my early days in NBC News.
LORD: Right. JFK did not though. I mean I think this began to break with Richard Nixon. I mean we don't need to do the history thing here. But I just -- Anderson I just think we need to be cautious. Yes if you are asking me do I think it's presidential by the old standards I would say no, but I'm not sure ...
NAVARRO: Let me just say this ...
LORD: ... that the American ...
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: ... to Jeffrey. Decency. Gravity, gravitas, seriousness are not old standards. They are the presidency of the United States. When you sit in that Oval Office it is not about old standards or new standards. It is about decency, it's about humanity. It's about the knowledge of taking a very seriously that you are representing every American.
Donald Trump is the only person I know who drunk tweets sober and he does at 4:00 a.m. in the morning. And it's time that you guys whom support him, tell him put the phone down. Do not do this because you are reminding us that you are insane, erratic and not fit to have the nuclear codes of this country.
COOPER: Jeffrey, is it your understanding, I mean is there anybody in Trump's circle who can say to him, you know what? Delete your Twitter account or get an intern to be your Twitter person ...
NAVARRO: No god, forbid he's got an intern.
COOPER: You know, get a responsible person. You know, get some -- an employee to be your Twitter person. But, you know, or between the hours of, you know, midnight and 6:30 a.m. don't tweet.
[20:40:15] I mean is there any party in the circle who can talk to him like that. LORD: Anderson, I think by his own admission, I think I'm right on this. But he says he's wife has told him not do this and he does this. So I don't know what else to tell you.
NAVARRO: Well, I think Melania for the good of the country should try to smother him with a pillow when she sees him grab that Twitter at 3:00, 4:00 in the morning. Because it is just insane what he's doing. Forget him running for president. He's an adult male, 70 years old who is behaving like an irrepressible child can who cannot restrain his basic needs.
He is like a bull who sees a red cape and just charges, thrashes for hit without think of the consequences. It is not presidential and it's not Republican. And the reason I'm speaking so hard about this is because I want the American electorate to know he does not represent Republican values. He does not represent American values and this Republican is unwilling to justify for say it is irrational behavior by a 70-year-old nominee for president.
COOPER: Jeffrey, you know, Trump is saying that he did not take the bait that Hillary Clinton. Is it your belief he didn't take the bait? Because again as I said at the top of the program, I don't know a lot about fishing but these seems to be the text book definition of taking the bait.
If on day four or whatever it is, it's on the Friday after the debate at the beginning of the week, you are tweeting in the middle of the night about something your opponent said to you that was a one or two or three line thing that he could have just ignored, if your still talking about the ...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: ... isn't this just taking the bait?
LORD: I mean, yeah -- I mean by a lot of circumstances, I would think so.
COOPER: Stop talking in my ear.
LORD: But again, I'm not sure there are lot of people see this. And one just one last thought. He's going to be here in Central Pennsylvania tomorrow over here in Lancaster County. And I can tell you right now, they're expecting thousands and thousands and thousands of people there. So there is some connection here Anderson.
COOPER: He's a major candidate for president. He's the Republican candidate for president. I would hope there could be thousands and thousands of people there.
LORD: It happens for him all the time.
COOPER: OK.
LORD: And has been ...
NAVARRO: Look.
COOPER: All right. We got to leave it there.
NAVARRO: Let me just say ...
COOPER: They're yelling my ear. We got to go.
NAVARRO: ... three or four weeks, he stuck to the teleprompter. He stuck to script. We almost forgot he was insane. Hillary Clinton with Machado unhinged him and manage to remind us what an insane human being that guy is.
COOPER: Jeffrey Lord, appreciated it. Ana Navarro, as well.
Just a ahead, Hillary Clinton making a big push in Florida among African-American voters who are so far have not shown the level of enthusiasm President Obama ignited when he won the sate. How concerned is her campaign?
We'll look at that ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:46:43] COOPER: Tonight's breaking news. Hillary Clinton is leading Donald Trump in several new polls. All then conducted after Monday's debate. That's the significance of them. A new Mason-Dixon poll in Florida she's ahead by 4 points overall. But among registered African-American voters in Florida, Clinton is beating Trump 92 percent to 1 percent. They sound like a huge lead among a key demographic for Clinton but President Obama had greater support among African-American voters in Florida, when he won the pivotal state. It is a gap that could cause Clinton on Election Day. Randi Kaye tonight, takes a closer look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Is Hillary Clinton is ever going to be madam president she needs to support of African-Americans, especially here in Florida where the race is incredibly tight. That has her campaign concerned.
LESLIE WIMES, DEMOCRATIC AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN'S CAUCUS PRESIDENT: They absolutely should be panicking, because if the African-American community stays home she will not beat Donald Trump. So absolutely has cause to panic.
KAYE: Leslie Wimes, says she'll vote for Hillary Clinton even though Clinton doesn't inspire her the way Barack Obama once did. That lack of passion she predicts may keep some African-American voters home on Election Day.
WIMES: I don't think that they'll show up in the numbers that needs.
KAYE: Because Barak Obama got 95 percent of the ...
WIMES: She will never get that number. No, that's not ever. KAYE: Others at this rally for Hillary Clinton in Coral Springs, Florida do believe African-Americans will turn out in large numbers for Clinton.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have become the silent majority. We don't pout. We don't shout. We show up at the polls and.
KAYE: This woman like Clinton's commitment to criminal justice reform.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's been with us for a while now. She's not a newcomer on the block and we like that. She's been fighting for us.
KAYE: With nearly 1.7 million black votes up for grabs in Florida, the Clinton campaign is making a big push. The president and Michelle Obama are expected to stump for Clinton here and ad voiced by the first lady is airing in black communities. The campaign hopes Obama's backing of Clinton will motivate black voters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As long as she's pushing the support. I think that we as African-Americans need to back her as well.
KAYE: Still, some say the president's endorsement is not enough.
WIMES: She has felt that as long as President Obama, Michelle Obama is telling the African-American community to vote for her that's what we're doing do.
KAYE: And you know that's not the case.
WIMES: No, that's not the case. I mean she's not President Obama. And she doesn't invoke that same enthusiasm from the community.
KAYE: Lack in enthusiasm is why this woman is still undecided.
JOYCY LACOMBE, UNDECIDED VOTER: I think that often like transparency, I thought I felt more with Barack. Maybe that's cultural. I don't know. But I definitely felt transparency a little more.
KAYE: That authenticity and likeability.
LACOMBE: Yeah. I think she's trying, you know, but, you know, natural's natural, and so we're listening.
KAYE: Some here suggests Clinton should skip these big rallies and instead personally visit African-American neighborhoods to talk to voters the way that Obama did, anything to ignite some passion.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This election has no time for anybody to be sitting on the sidelines.
KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN Coral Springs, Florida.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well up next, they won't be able to vote for about 10 years, but that does not mean they don't have opinions about the elections.
[20:50:02] Gary Tuchman sat down with a group of third graders, ask them what they thought about the candidates, the debate, and if they have any advice for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take a chill pill. Just take a chill pill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Americans are definitely paying attention to this presidential election, with a record 84 million people watching the first debate. But it's not just adults who are watching, kids are as well. And when you put some of them with our Gary Tuchman, well, this happens.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At the Woodward Academy in College Park, Georgia, we talked to some 8 and 9-year-old third graders.
Thank you for inviting to us your school.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're welcome.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're welcome.
TUCHMAN: It's nice to meet all of you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You too.
TUCHMAN: Do you know that we have a presidential election coming up?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
TUCHMAN: And who's ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very complicated.
TUCHMAN: It is complicated. But who's running for president? Tell me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump and Hillary Clinton.
TUCHMAN: Trump and Hillary Clinton. Which one's the man and which one is the woman.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump is the man and Hillary is the girl.
TUCHMAN: Is the girl? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, Hillary's the girl and Trump's the boy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know a little bit about both of their stories, a little. Because Trump has a wife and she's like a model, kind of, and then Hillary's husband or father was the president.
TUCHMAN: Well, her husband, Bill Clinton. So she would be the second President Clinton?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
TUCHMAN: What's the first thing you think the new president should do?
HUDSON BICKERSTAFF-DAVIS, THIRD GRADER WOODWARD ACADEMY: It will make an announcement that everything, like houses and stuff, was half the price for a whole month.
TUCHMAN: Half the price for a whole month. That's good -- who agrees with that?
BICKERSTAFF-DAVIS: No, half price cars, half price house, half price everything.
TUCHMAN: What do you think Lexi of the candidates yelling at each other?
LEXI BIANCHARD, THIRD GRADER WOODWARD ACADEMY: I don't really like it when they just do that.
TUCHMAN: Why don't you like that?
BIANCHARD: Because I don't like violence.
[20:55:02] TUCHMAN: They haven't touched each other, which would be really inappropriate, or punch each other.
BICKERSTAFF-DAVIS: It's screaming violence.
TUCHMAN: Screaming violence.
BIANCHARD: Yeah that's what I mean.
TUCHMAN: Did you hear they just had a debate?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah!
TUCHMAN: What did you think of the debate? Did you watch any of it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it was torture. TUCHMAN: Why was it torture?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. I just.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the screaming.
TUCHMAN: I'm going to show you this video and I want you to watch and tell me what you think when we're done.
TRUMP: He was totally out of control. I said, there's a person with a temperament that's got a problem.
LESTER HOLT, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: Secretary Clinton?
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Whoo! OK!
TUCHMAN: See the little shimmy of her shoulders. What'd you think to have that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cool!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think she's like -- wait, so that ...
TUCHMAN: It's like what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like, kind of, boogie.
TUCHMAN: Boogie.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like boogie.
TUCHMAN: Kind of boogie at the debate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
TUCHMAN: What advice would you give Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton if they were at this table?
CHARLIE MURPHY, THIRD GRADER WOORWARD ACADEMY: If they're sitting here, I would say, stop interrupting people.
MAYA STOREY, THIRD GRADER WOORWARD ACADEMY: Follow the golden rule, if you interrupt the other person, then you probably will get interrupted. When it's your turn to say something.
RIVERLY CART, THIRD GRADER WOORWARD ACADEMY: It's just that they should just like calm down, like take a time out, like talking in a room like that's quiet.
TUCHMAN: So your feeling is, if Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were here, you would say, take a time-out?
CART: Yeah.
TUCHMAN: Chill?
CART: Yeah, relax.
BICKERSTAFF-DAVIS: Take a chill pill. Just take a chill pill.
TUCHMAN: Thank you for inviting us to your school.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're welcome.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're welcome.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're very nice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Those kids were very nice. So you've done a couple of pieces like this now from different parts of the country. Is there one thing kind of you're seeing kids pick up on as they watch these campaigns?
TUCHMAN: Anderson, they're picking up on the same thing that adults are picking up on, that this is a crazy, unusual campaign. But what's good about it, and we've talked to kids in different presidential elections over the years, what's good about it, they're so aware this year that there can't be anything bad for America's future about today's present kids getting involved in the political process.
And a lot of these kids, Anderson, told us they wish that they were 18 so they could vote now and start working on cars, housing, and candy prices being cut by 50 percent.
COOPER: The candy prices is a key point. I'll see if that gets brought up in the next debate. Gary, thanks very much.
In the next hour, the breaking news, the first post-debate polling results. See what voters think of the race now.
Plus, more on Donald Trump's pre-dawn Twitter I don't know barrage, I guess, against the former Miss Universe and urging America to check out an alleged sex tape which doesn't seem to exist.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
