Return to Transcripts main page
Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Trump Speaking Now at PA Rally; Clinton Ahead By 11 Points in First Poll Since Trump Tape Leak; House Speaker Ryan Won't Defend Trump Or Campaign For Him; Priebus Remains Behind Trump; Back On The Trail After Debate. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired October 10, 2016 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[20:00:16] ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: And good evening. Thanks for joining us tonight.
Tonight, the presidential race possibly at a turning point in the Republican Party at a breaking point after a debate unlike any other and developments you simply would not believe if you hadn't heard them for yourself. In just the last 72 hours, we've heard Donald Trump talk about being able to sexually assault women with impunity because he's a star. We've heard him promise on the debate stage last night to put his opponent behind bars if he wins the election.
We've seen the highest ranking lawmaker in Trump's own party disavow him and today, we got new polling that shows how much this race may have shifted in just a few days. We'll break down those numbers, coming up.
Meantime, CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is traveling with the Trump campaign. She joins us now from northeastern Pennsylvania.
Donald Trump is on stage right now. What, if anything, he's been saying about the debate last night?
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, he seems quite satisfied with his debate performance. He's bringing it up in front of his crowd today, saying it was an amazing night and it seems to be that he's trying to bring up the moment that many thought worked better for him last night in which he was very focused, going on the attack on Hillary Clinton over e-mails.
He just brought up a few minutes ago the fact that he said if he were elected president, he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton. That's certainly throwing out red meat to his crowd.
And he is doubling down on bringing up Bill Clinton's past indiscretions, almost threatening to do more so. He says, look, if they're going to bring out more tapes on me, I'm just going to keep brings up inappropriate things that Bill Clinton has done -- this sort of scorched-eth strategy that we've all been talking about over the last 24 hours. He is certainly bringing here to his rallies tonight -- Anderson. COOPER: What's his reaction been to Paul Ryan who's saying he won't
campaign with or defend Donald Trump?
SERFATY: Well, no surprise here. He really lashed back and lashed back quickly. He basically tweeted, Paul Ryan, do your job, don't you have jobs to focus on and balancing budgets to focus on and immigration to focus on in the House?
He said pointblank, not waste his time on fighting the Republican nominee. So, some pretty strong words between Donald Trump and Paul Ryan. Of course, no love lost, we all know this is the latest in their long saga of their, really, interesting relationship.
COOPER: Yes, Sunlen, appreciate it. Thanks, Sunlen Serfaty.
We're going to keep our eye on what Mr. Trump is saying there tonight and if he makes more news, we'll bring that to you, of course.
Meantime, Hillary Clinton, how she played last night's debate performance on the trail today, that and stop me if you heard this from before, dealing with another batch of unearthed e-mails.
CNN's Jeff Zeleny has late details. He joins me now from Columbus, Ohio.
So, the fact, Jeff, that Clinton is in Ohio now, a day before the voter registration deadline there, how is she trying to take advantage of what's going on in the Republican Party?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, she just left the stage really a couple moments ago here. There are thousands of people, the campaign estimates some 18,000 people here. I'm not sure there are quite that many, but there are certainly thousands upon thousands and voter registration is a central part of this event here.
Tomorrow is a critical day in this campaign. There are voter registration deadlines in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida. So, the Clinton campaign today is going all out to try and make sure everyone is registered to vote and not just Democrats. They are going after some independents and moderates as well.
And, Anderson, the Clinton campaign also started some new commercials today aimed specifically at Republicans featuring Republicans -- a veteran, a mother. Others saying, "Look, I'm crossing party lines to vote Hillary Clinton," because they simply can't stomach Donald Trump.
So, Republicans are definitely a key part of their strategy tonight, Anderson.
COOPER: Is there a concern within the campaign that they could get overconfident?
ZELENY: Believe it or not, there is. And this is something that really for the month of September was not discussed when Democrats were very worried. But now there is a sense among Clinton advisers that they do not want Democrats to get too sure of themselves here.
They're watching all the news coverage as well. They're seeing, you know, an unprecedented implosion on the Republican side, so they are trying to make the case that they need people to vote for them.
And I am told that Hillary Clinton is sending that message directly to her staff, saying there's a no-gloating policy. They must take this seriously. She is, you know, going to be campaigning until the end, but it's one of the reasons she's doing a nighttime rally here in Ohio.
Anderson, we simply have not seen her do that much campaigning like this, but she knows that the moment is now to try and seize on this opportunity from Donald Trump.
COOPER: So, Jeff, there were another 2,000 e-mails from the Clinton campaign chair, John Podesta, posted this morning by WikiLeaks. What was in them, what's the Clinton campaign saying about them?
ZELENY: Anderson, it was another batch of e-mails. It's largely internal office work. We're really seeing how the sausage is made inside the campaign. How they come to their decisions on policy, how they write speeches and other things, how they respond to negative stories.
[20:05:05] But one thing really struck us, it involved Chelsea Clinton and a comment from Doug Band, the longtime adviser to President Clinton. He referred to her as a spoiled brat. And he was sending an e-mail to John Podesta, the chairman, of course, of the Clinton campaign and he was pushing back hard on how the campaign was sort of handling some of these Clinton Foundation questions, but using the two words, "spoiled brat," to describe Chelsea Clinton certainly opens some internal discussions that we never see at all.
But the Clinton campaign responded very sharply to the fact that these were being released at all via WikiLeaks. And this is what they said in a statement. I believe we have it.
They said, "It is absolutely disgraceful that the Trump campaign is cheering on a release today engineered by Vladimir Putin to interfere in this election," the statement says. "And this comes after Donald Trump encouraged more espionage over the summer and continued to deny the hack even happened at Sunday's debate." Now, "The timing shows", the statement says, "you that Putin knows Trump had a bad weekend and a bad debate."
So, clearly, here trying to deflect all of this on Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, Anderson, but note, major headline in this, but certainly shows how internal things are agreed upon.
And more importantly, the Clinton campaign believes there's much more that could still be released in these WikiLeaks in the next 29 days.
COOPER: More e-mails to come.
Jeff Zeleny, thanks very much. Republican Chairman Reince Priebus late today said there's no change
in his relationship with the Trump campaign. Earlier today as we mentioned, House Speaker Paul Ryan said when it comes to his own relationship with Trump, there certainly is. Ryan telling fellow Republicans he'll no longer defend the campaign for him, plenty of other Republicans weighing in as well, not to mention weighing their alternatives.
Chief political correspondent Dana Bash joins us now with more on that.
So, let's take Speaker Ryan first. What do you, first of all, how he arrived at this decision, what exactly it means for Trump?
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's unclear what at the end of the day it's going to mean for Trump because my understanding in talking to sources who are close to Paul Ryan is that he really felt that he didn't have any choice but to be in what is very much a gray area that effectively means he's sending some mixed messages, because as you said, he told his rank and file today that he is not going to defend Donald Trump anymore, won't campaign with him. But he has endorsed Donald Trump and he's not taking that endorsement away. He's not rescinding that.
So, that did Trump some of the more conservative members, those in sort of ruby red districts who have a lot of Trump supporters at home to say, wait a minute, how can you do this? By saying this, you're going to help defeat Donald Trump and help put Hillary Clinton in the White House. Those who Speaker Ryan is trying to actually defend and help, they were a little bit more quiet, and that I think is the key thing to remember.
He has a very diverse caucus, and he has a lot of Republicans who are okay, but some who are on the bubble, who really could be tied, brought down by Trump. So, he feels that he needs to protect them.
COOPER: Right. I mean, Reince Priebus clearly made a decision to stick with Trump. Has a different calculation. How does that impact the RNC?
BASH: Really different calculation. And that's something that people might not understand because it does sound like really mixed messages from the leadership of the Republican Party. Reince Priebus' job as the chair of the RNC is to get Republicans elected and what he feels and his sort of mode all along since Donald Trump became the nominee is, this is what the Republican voters said that they wanted. So, his job as the chair is to try to help get him and all the other Republicans elected.
As we reported this weekend, Anderson, because of this tape, and it was so hard for him and everybody else to defend, they were considering pulling the plug on support for get-out-the-vote efforts, grassroots efforts, money, which is really key for the Trump campaign, more so than probably any other partnership in recent history.
Because, I mean, just to be blunt, Donald Trump didn't melt down on the age with you last night, the RNC feels that they can't pull the plug and that's what he told his members today. Not in those terms but said, you know, he's our guy, he made an apology, we're going to stick with him and the partnership between the Trump campaign and the RNC is going to continue.
COOPER: All right. Dana Bash -- Dana, thanks.
I want to bring in our panel, Clinton supporter, MoveOn.org national spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre, Clinton supporter, former New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, "The New York Times" national political reporter Alex Burns, Trump supporter and former Reagan White House political honcho Jeffrey Lord, the former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, remains a Trump supporter to this day.
Alex, I mean, did Donald Trump do what he needed to do last night, essentially stop the focus on the tapes from Friday and kind of solidify his support or at least bolster the RNC support?
ALEX BURNS, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: If his goal is to win a presidential election, then no, I don't think he came close to achieving that goal.
[20:10:03] If he had really had a turnaround moment last night, I don't know that you would have seen Paul Ryan go through with such a dramatic announcement today. And what you confront now, Anderson, is a party in a state of crisis unlike any we've seen in modern presidential politics, where you have the highest ranking elected Republican in Washington breaking with the nominal standard bearer of his party and the fear across Washington and across these congressional races around the country is they actually haven't hit bottom yet, that I'm aware of.
One private poll for one of the parties that shows Trump losing by double digits, numerous polls from Senate races and governor races from across the country that show him tanking in the swing states. Sunlen referred kind of offhand to this mention Trump made at one of his rallies that maybe there are more videos still to come and I would return fire in those videos got released.
The fear -- petrifying fear among Republican members of Congress is there are still six, seven, eight more shoes left to drop.
COOPER: Corey, do you think -- I mean, do you think we're painting too dire a picture of what's going on in the RNC, do you think Donald Trump did what he had to do last night?
COREY LEWANDOWSKI, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, Donald Trump was very good last night. He tried to focus on the issues, it's what I think. I think he talked about his difference of opinion on open borders versus pro-amnesty. I think, you know, Donald Trump was painting the picture for what his vision of America was, in contrast to Hillary Clinton, very important. I think it's the right thing to do.
I want to touch on the RNC for just a second. You know, Reince Priebus is accountable to a 168-person committee. It's very important to remember that. So, he's an elected official but is elected from within the 168-person committee. Those 168 people are thereby elected in their own states. So, there's a national committeeman, national committeewoman and usually chairman of the party.
The rank and file where those people have to run have predominantly been with Donald Trump. It's not a big surprise the RNC is standing behind Donald Trump, because when you get right down to the grassroots level, when the elected officials, I mean those national committee men, national committeewomen, who are elected by the people in the states, those are the rank and file that have to go back to the states.
As you get closer to the people, they're much more receptive. That's what we've seen many, many, many times. That's why Reince today has stepped forward and said we are going to make sure Donald Trump is our party -- and to be clear, Donald Trump is now the leader of the Republican Party. It's not Paul Ryan. It's not Mitch McConnell. It's the GOP nominee.
COOPER: So, Jeffrey, but is Paul essentially giving cover to rank and file members to distance themselves if they feel they need to and further --
JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, I don't think -- if he thinks that's what he's doing, that will work. I mean, let me just say in the world of conservative media, Sean Hannity, they said, in essence, he's done with Paul Ryan. That's a big deal.
I mean, everybody likes Paul Ryan. I like Paul Ryan, but when you start to do this kind of situation, in essence, sabotaging the party nominee of your own party, this goes back a long way before Paul Ryan. I mean, Boehner and the response of Republicans in Congress not just to Barack Obama but before that.
And so, what you've got her, is a speaker of the House now saying he's abandoning the Republican ship. There are a lot of Republicans that think he and many Republicans in Washington abandoned it a long time ago, so this is only the latest episode here. And he's going to take a lot of flak for this.
And to the point here, one of two things is going to happen. Donald Trump is going to win this election. I think he had a great debate last night. Or he's going to lose it. Either way, the things he's talking about, the issues he's talking about, I spoke with a former Reagan colleague today, these issues are going to be around for a very long time. And what we've got is a situation with what Reagan used to call the fraternal order Republicans versus the Washington elites.
COOPER: Well, also, I mean, these divisions are going to be around no matter who wins coming down the road. Just in terms of governing, in terms of, you know, running the country for the next four years. I mean, there are stark, stark divisions not only in the Republican Party but in the electorate.
CHRISTINE QUINN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, look, that is absolutely true and that's often the case after a long, tough presidential election that you end up with the country kind of close. I think Secretary Clinton -- and let me just be clear, no one in the campaigns taking anything for granted but is doing incredibly well. And I think she's going to have a very significant victory over Donald Trump.
Regardless, let's say there's a real division in the House, the fact that Paul Ryan, the speaker of the House, has distanced himself from Donald Trump, to me says she's going to be able to work with him quite well, and Hillary has shown over and over when she was a senator, when she was secretary of state, that she can and will work with anyone when there's potential agreement on a particular issue, even if there's disagreement on anything else.
So, actually with this division, what you don't want is a bombastic Donald Trump as president. You want Hillary who can bring together and get --
COOPER: Alex talked about that, the fear among some Trump supporters about more shoes to drop, but with all these e-mails still possibly to come out from WikiLeaks, how concerned are you of what's in them and whether that's going to affect Clinton.
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: I mean, it's a nothingburger. I'm not really concerned about the e-mails, because it seems like to me, like the Kremlin's last paycheck to WikiLeaks must have bounced, because -- no, seriously, because they've not been effective at all.
[20:15:06] So, I'm not worried about that, especially when you compare it to someone who's a sexual predator, right, who's been on tape saying the ugly, disgusting things that he does to women because, quote/unquote, "he's a celebrity".
COOPER: By the way, last night, he said he hadn't done any of those things.
JEAN-PIERRE: Well, good --
QUINN: Took a couple days to figure that out.
JEAN-PIERRE: Took a couple days. We still have the tape, right? The tape is still there for us to view.
But look, here's what's happening, Anderson. The Republican Party is being taken over by the far right. That's what we saw last night from Donald Trump's performance. It was Breitbart.com, right? It's almost like they lifted what was from the front page of that website and that's what he delivered.
He gave red meat to his supporters, his hardcore supporters. That's all he did. He didn't get any independents.
COOPER: We're going to have more from the panel ahead. We're going to dig deeper into new polling, both state by state and national. They're showing big changes when it comes to the race for 270 electoral votes, and victory. Later, Donald Trump supporters who say they are with him, win or lose,
and what that is doing to the GOP. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, numbers go certainly get your attention. New NBC News/"Wall Street Journal" polling shows Hillary Clinton with an 11- point lead over Donald Trump. And that's in a four-way race. With Gary Johnson and Jill Stein out, her lead is 14.
[20:20:01] For more on that and especially the state-by-state road to the White House, we're joined by CNN political director David Chalian.
So, David, the fact that Donald Trump is down below 40 points in this poll, that's very significant, isn't it?
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hugely significant, Anderson. Thirty-five percent, you don't get down to 35 percent without losing some of your core supporters.
So, we took a look at just Republican support. In that NBC/"Wall Street Journal" poll, Donald Trump is getting 72 percent of Republicans. By comparison, on Election Day in 2012, Mitt Romney had 93 percent support among Republicans and John McCain had 90 percent support among Republicans in 2008.
Donald Trump has a lot of work to do, so what's happened in that poll after the bombshell of the tapes that were released on Friday, his comments about women, he lost some of his own party. Maybe last night, he brought some of them back, but that's only going them back from 35 to 37 or 38. He's not adding much beyond his base.
COOPER: What about state by state, the path to 270 electoral votes?
CHALIAN: Yes. So, when your national picture is as bleak as it is in that NBC/"Wall Street Journal" poll, it makes the path to 270 that much harder. Here we are -- our current battleground map. Just so you see, Hillary Clinton's already over 270 here.
And this is how tricky it is for Donald Trump, Anderson. If we give him all of the four remaining true tossup battleground states, Nevada, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida, he still doesn't get to 270. So, that's a very favorable map. He's in the hunt in those four states but a sweep is still probably an unlikely scenario, but even if he did, he's not at 270. That means he's got to dig in to some territory that Hillary Clinton already holds.
Where was he tonight? Two stops in Pennsylvania. That's his key. He said today he's going to spend much time in the next couple of weeks in the suburbs of Philadelphia to try to win Pennsylvania. That's his key. That would do it, but by God, that is putting a lot of eggs in one basket in a state where Hillary Clinton has a significant advantage right now and that has been Democratic since 1988. That is a tricky proposition for Donald Trump.
COOPER: All right, David Chalian. Appreciate looking at the polls. Back with the panel now.
Alex, I mean, how hard is it for Donald Trump to try to turn these numbers around? Because you could argue we have seen big changes just in the last couple of months going back and forth, but is it too late to change?
BURNS: It's definitely difficult. It's not impossible for him to get some of those Republicans back, and if there's a silver lining here for Trump, it's that most of the drop is coming from those Republicans who are abandoning him, so if he plays to the gallery, plays to the base, not just his base, but the traditional Republican base, maybe he can bring those numbers back up.
But that math that David was showing, as dire as it look actually doesn't even fully encapsulate how rough the landscape is for Donald Trump. Our reporting indicates that the Clinton campaign is looking at several additional states that we weren't even talking about as being on the map -- Missouri, Indiana, Arizona, Georgia, as places where they're going to do research, do polling and look at making an offensive ay to broaden the map even further. That would knock him back on his heels to an extent that it would be really tough for him to, you know, really work over a state like Pennsylvania. Really work over a state like North Carolina the way he needs to.
QUINN: And I think, you know, one of the things that's noteworthy about what Alex said, yes, throwing the red meat the way we saw last night and maybe at this rally even, that plays to his base which is very different than the typical Republican base and I think that is slipping on him. His core, core people may never leave, but if that slips and he's unable, which I think his performance at this debate shows, unable to put a message out there that's going to bring in independents, he's in a very, very tough spot and Secretary Clinton's in a very good spot.
COOPER: Corey, what are they missing?
LEWANDOWSKI: Look, what they're missing is Maine second congressional district. You guys are giving that to Hillary Clinton right now. Donald Trump is up 11 points in that district in the most public poll.
So, you know, I know it's only one electoral vote but it could be a very important electoral vote. In the particular state of Maine, if you actually carry the state, even if you don't win the first congressional district, you get that's not accounted for here.
What we haven't accounted for, New Hampshire. A state I happen to know very well. It's a state where you've got Kelly Ayotte on the ticket. You've got Chris Sununu on the ticket.
QUINN: Kelly Ayotte who stepped away from him, who stepped away.
LEWANDOWSKI: Donald Trump who had dominated in a state in the primary and has some of the strongest support anywhere in the country.
COOPER: But Kelly Ayotte, to her point, has dropped support for Donald Trump.
LEWANDOWSKI: I understand. But, again, when you look at the success Donald Trump has had in the state of New Hampshire, the team he has built, ground operation he has built there, it's second to none. That is the state if you remember in the primary where they said you can't be competitive and he won by 20 points. Who came in second place there? John Kasich.
COOPER: Jeffrey, do you agree with Corey? I mean, do you have any doubts? Are you concerned at all?
LORD: Sure, I mean, you're always concerned when you're behind in the polls, but as we saw -- I was talking to one of our colleagues the other night before we went on and I said, boy, in last 48 hours things have changed, they could change again. The words were no sooner out of my mouth than we had this Donald Trump press conference with the four women there and it changed all over again.
[20:25:01] So, there's still time here.
Anderson, the thing I just want to emphasize here, I think there's very much a divide between the elites of America and the base -- Americans, average Americans. This whole business of this outrage over this tape -- I mean, I'm certainly not going to defend the tape. It's disgusting.
But there are plenty of Americans out there that feel this kind of stuff has been injected into American culture for decades and that if Donald Trump were the Democratic nominee and not the Republican nominee, everybody would be saying, ah, what's the big deal? What's the big deal?
QUINN: Well, thank God actually this hasn't been injected into elections always. We've never seen a presidential before on a mic say those kind of words.
LORD: Or seen a presidential candidate like Bill Clinton --
QUINN: And we've never seen -- I mean, forget a candidate, but he is a candidate -- talk about being able to grope women's genitalia without their permission.
LORD: Like bill Clinton did.
QUINN: That is by definition --
LORD: Did.
QUINN: -- sexual assault. This is not something Americans are --
LORD: Christine --
(CROSSTALK)
QUINN: He said it. COOPER: Hold on. Karine, do you think -- I mean, Donald Trump gave that press conference, not really press conference but had those women with him on a panel right before the debate. Is there, you know, if he continues down that road, has the damage -- whatever damage that could do to Hillary Clinton, has that been done or do you think there's more to come on that front and it could be damaging for Secretary Clinton?
JEAN-PIERRE: Look, what he did yesterday is he used those women. That's what he did.
LEWANDOWSKI: Oh, my -- Alicia Machado?
JEAN-PIERRE: Let me finish. He used those women and these are the same women that some of them he called, what, stupid, he's called some of them ugly. Remember, this is the same guy who said Bill Clinton was also a victim when all of this went down back in the '90s and '80s.
LORD: Hillary Clinton believed that.
JEAN-PIERRE: He also praised Hillary Clinton back in the day. I mean, it's just ridiculous. He's using those women.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: You don't think -- do you think --
LEWANDOWSKI: On their own volition, decided to engage the media, Anderson --
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Do you think it's a working strategy and can do lasting damage to Hillary Clinton?
LEWANDOWSKI: Look, there's a couple of things to remember, right, if you ask the American people is the country on the right track or wrong track? The wrong track is plus 35. It's 30-65, the country's going the wrong direction.
You know what that is? That's a failed Washington, D.C. That's everything that has gone wrong in Washington for the last 30 years and people want change. That's what Donald Trump represents.
As it relates to these women, they volunteered to come and address the media. They weren't part of a pawn scheme where we'll raise this at the end of the debate and Alicia Machado -- that's not what happened. These people wanted to come forward, and you know what? This woman was a rape victim and wanted to tell her story.
COOPER: We got to leave it there.
QUINN: He could have done it at any point during the --
LEWANDOWSKI: He did it last night. (CROSSTALK)
COOPER: We're taking a break.
Just ahead, some Trump supporters weigh in on the debate. They say Trump crushed it last night. What they like most about his debate performance. Why even those who offended by what he said on that tape are still going to vote for him. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:31:57] COOPER: Well, tonight as you saw new NBC News/Wall Street Journal polling, shows Hillary Clinton with 11-point lead over Donald Trump in a four way race a 14-point lead in a two way contest. The poll was done after Friday's release of the tape of Donald Trump talking about women in vulgar and degrading terms, bragging about being able to force himself on winning -- women, grabbing them by the genitals and getting away with it because he's famous.
He was an unprecedented backdrop certainly for a presidential debate but anyone who was expecting a contrite Donald Trump to show up last night, they got the exact opposite.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, I'm very embarrassed by it. I hate it, but it's locker room talk. If you look at Bill Clinton, far worst mine are words and his was action.
Honestly I never lied. That's the good thing, that's the big difference between Abraham Lincoln and you. But if I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation because there has never been so many lies. Believe me, she has tremendous hate in her heart.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, that's how it was last night. Trump in full-on attack mode. Some of his most loyal supporters loved it. More, from Randi Kaye.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump supporters in Ambridge, Pennsylvania fired up about his debate performance, especially the women here.
Who do you think won the debate?
KESLEY DEL VALIE, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Oh, Trump. He destroyed it. He killed it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was much stronger last night than he's been so far.
KAYE: Stronger on the issues his supporters say and stronger on offense, too. Those we spoke with thought Trump's decision to invite several women who once accused Bill Clinton of sexual assault or harassment to the debate was brilliant.
ANITA ROHM, TRUMP SUPPORTER: I like the idea that he had those women who Hillary went after, after, you know, Bill Clinton assault, them.
KAYE: He was accused of assaulting them. It was never proven.
A. ROHM: Well, he paid out money to one of them.
KAYE: Doesn't mean it was proven though, just for the record.
A. ROHM: So why would you put out money?
KAYE: A lot of Donald Trump has settled cases as well that he says he's never admitted guilt in. So.
A. ROHM: Well, I listen to the women, and I believe them.
KAYE: Most here thought that stunt successfully rattled Hillary Clinton. Even though the accusers were not allowed to sit in Trump's family box.
MARIANNE STERNS, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Hillary Clinton started it. She brought Mark Cuban. So if Mark Cuban can sit there, Trump can do the same thing.
DEANNE CHICKOS, TRUMP SUPPORTER: I don't know if I would have put them on display. No. But like I said before, I think he's pulling out all the stops.
KAYE: All the stops after Trump was heard on a leaked audio tape boasting about groping women and grabbing their genitals. Trump apologized again on the debate stage then said he never actually did those things. Some supporters here refuse to even discuss it.
Let me talk about the tape that was released on Friday.
K. DEL VALIE: I don't care. I literally -- I don't care.
KAYE: You don't care that he talked about groping women?
K. DEL VALIE: No, you know, what, because I have brothers and I can guarantee you -- my dad was a basketball coach and I can tell you with confidence they all say the same exact type of stuff.
[20:35:02] KAYE: Her husband accepted Trump's explanation that it was locker room talk, then took a page out of Trump's book and blamed us, the media, for vilifying Trump.
PAUL DEL VALIE, TRUMP SUPPORTER: You guys hold a trial, you guys find him guilty.
KAYE: We're not trying anyone.
P. DEL VALIE: No, no, but that's what the media does, they take words and they make a huge leap over basically a grand canyon and they said he's a sexual predator. It's never happened. He said a few words that he regrets.
KAYE: And he wasn't the only one who took issue with us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why do you guys lie to us?
KAYE: Why would we lie to you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are you working for Clinton? You are.
KAYE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys are liars. You are biased. And we're not dealing with it no longer.
KAYE: Those who did talk with us about the tape said they were offended, but don't expect that to change their vote.
BRIAN ROHM, TRUMP SUPPORTER: I didn't like it but it's not enough to discount him in the election.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're all -- we've all said things that we're ashamed of all of us. None of us are perfect.
KAYE: Definitely not perfect, but presidential, that remains to be seen.
Randi Kaye, CNN, Ambridge, Pennsylvania.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: On my first question to Donald Trump last night was about the tape released on Friday. Remember, this was after he released a statement and a video to apologize. In both apologies he brushed off his vulgar remarks as, "locker room banter", he was bragging about sexual assault, grabbing women by their genitals, forcibly kissing them.
Last night he doubled down on that strategy saying, "it's locker room talk and it's one of those things." To some women, though, his words and tone sounded dismissive.
Lots to discuss. Joining me, CNN political commentators Ana Navarro and Scottie Nell Hughes. Ana is not -- is a Republican strategist, she does not support Donald Trump. Scottie is a Trump supporter.
So Ana, oh many Trump supporters seem certainly to give him a pass on this tape, many people found this tape so offensive because it was Trump describing what is by definition sexual assault. I did press him on that point at last night's debate. I just want to play part of that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: That is sexual assault. You brag that you have sexually assaulted women. Do you understand that?
TRUMP: No, I didn't say that at all. I don't think you understood what was said. This was locker room talk. I'm not proud of it. I apologized to my family. I apologize to the American people. Certainly I'm not proud of it, but this is locker room talk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: I mean, by the Department Of Justice definition of sexual assault, what he was talking about, the behavior sexual assault. Do you think his answer, though, put this issue to rest for him or won him any new supporters, Ana?
ANA NAVARRO, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I don't think it won him any new supporters. I think it didn't lose him any of his core supporters. In fact, I would tell you that I think what he did yesterday, bringing out those four women, parading out those four women with a history with Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton actually energized his base. They've been wanting him to hit hard even if it means hitting below the belt. I think it repelled, antagonized, disgusted, a lot of independents, a lot of moderates, a lot of independent-leaning Republicans who -- or Republican-leaning independents who just found it disgusting and gutter politics.
But look, this issue about his supporters giving him a pass on this is consistent with what his supporters have done from day one. When he said, talk about Megyn Kelly's menstrual cycle, no, it wasn't about menstrual cycle. When he mocked a reporter with a disability. I guess I don't know why. He was scratching his neck or something. When he called a judge incapable of doing his job because he was Mexican, despite the fact that he wasn't Mexican, no, that wasn't racism. When he called Carly Fiorina ugly and said her voice was irritating, no, that wasn't sexism.
This type of stepford wife and stepford husband behavior and reaction from Trump supporters giving him a path, telling us that what we heard is not accurate, what we saw is not accurate ...
COOPER: OK.
NAVARRO: ... has been the modus operandi from day one. Nothing has changed.
COOPER: Scottie, do you think he put this issue to rest last night by continuing to say it was locker room talk and apologizing?
SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well I think it actually developed since Friday since the tapes came out, because he did apologize for it. That obviously was not acceptable to people, to some like Ana and others. But what is developed since then has been very interesting. Because now you're seeing the exact words that Donald Trump said, it's being reflective, it's in fact that there's hate in her heart. And what I just heard, with all due respect, Ana, you just insulted all of the female supporters of Mr. Trump calling us all stepford wives. That sort of name calling is not justified. And this is the problem with the feminist movement today ... NAVARRO: Except to Donald Trump, Scottie.
COOPER: Let her answer.
HUGHES: Is that they feel like they're justified in spreading hate because they feel like that because Mr. Trump said something 11 years ago that you are justified in spreading hate and calling other people names. And I'm sorry. Maybe I'm held to a higher standard because I have little eyes that are watching how I handle these types of situations.
But the last three days I have seen nothing but absolute unbridled vileness and disrespect from one woman to another and I think past the election, past November, we're going to have a real issue because now women are being -- younger generations of women are being taught it's OK to hate other women, they're justified in their hate if you don't agree with them.
[20:40:09] I think -- unfortunately, I think, you know, the feminist movement are this having a major effect right now in a lot of positive way.
COOPER: So Scottie, when Donald Trump said that Hillary Clinton has hate in her heart and call her the devil, do you agree with that?
HUGHES: When I looked at Hillary Clinton, she can look at a mom whose son was in a casket, and lied to her in her eyes and say that the reason why her son died was because of a video and then later on go on national television and say that woman -- that the mother, herself was obviously didn't hear her right, that there was something wrong with her.
When I look at a woman who can laughed -- talk about a rapist but she was able to get off of a 12-year-old girl, I think there is something very much wrong with Hillary Clinton in this time. When you've never heard the apologies, it's never been a sincere apology to the people she's insulted. She said I'm sorry, you know, that I said it, I'm necessarily sorry for calling those people those names. She -- you know, that's what scares me about Hillary Clinton right now.
COOPER: Ana ...
HUGHES: Mr. Trump does apologize.
COOPER: Ana, do you see a double standard in Trump in supporters who want, you know, say Hillary Clinton hasn't given sincere apologies and yet Donald Trump for the time ever apologize just this weekend?
NAVARRO: Right. After having admitted earlier in the campaign that he had never expressed regret, he had never asked for forgiveness not even from God. And what I find, frankly, hypocritical and I find inconsistent, I find absurd and surreal is for Scottie or any of his supporters to tell me that I'm spreading hate, to tell me that I'm name calling.
This man has been doing nothing but name calling and spreading hate from the first moment he announced June 16th, 2015. He called Mexican rapists. He has called Rosie O'Donnell a fat pig. He has called Carly Fiorina ugly. I mean, what do you call that?
COOPER: All right.
NAVARRO: He has called Miss Universe ...
HUGHES: But -- and here's the difference ...
NAVARRO: ... this is disgusting and said he make sex tape ...
HUGHES: Here is the difference ...
(CROSSTALK)
HUGHES: Ana?
NAAVARRO: Is I'm just a TV ...
HUGHES: Ana ...
COOPER: I want to ...
NAVARRO: The difference is he's trying to run for the highest ...
HUGHES: Ana?
COOPER: I want you both ...
NAVARRO: ... office of the land. Representing all Americans.
COOPER: I want you both to hold this. You got to hold this thought.
NAVARRO: And let me tell you Scottie, I get stopped at airports by victim of sexual assault who say to me, thank you for speaking up, thank you for understanding that that is sexual assault. That an unwanted sexual assault, a man will think he is entitled and powerful, being able to grope a woman who does not want it, is sexual assault. So it may not mean anything to you. It means a lot to me.
COOPER: Scottie, you'll be able to respond in a second. We got to take a break. We'll have more on this discussion. We'll also take a look at the body language expert breaking down for the last night's debate. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:46:30] COOPER: We're back with Ana Navarro, Scottie Nell Hughes talking about Donald Trump, women to Clintons and double standards. Scottie, we're talking about the tape that Donald Trump what he said on Friday. Ana was saying lots of survivors of sexual assault have come up to her in recent days.
Do you agree that what he described doing on that tape is, in fact, sexual assault? As you know the Department of Justice defines it as any unwanted sexual contact or behavior without explicit content to the recipient.
HUGHES: Yes, if that's the action. But Mr. Trump has said time and time again that was not his action, those were just his words.
COOPER: So he was just bragging about sexual assault, he didn't commit that assault?
HUGHES: But unfortunately, we have made that to be a sort of a part of culture, a "50 Shades of Gray" culture in today's society, that men can talk like that. There was nobody on that bus, and as we've seen today, with someone actually losing their job or being suspended ...
COOPER: Let me, let me ask you about that, because where have we made it OK to talk like that?
HUGHES: 80 million copies of "50 Shades of Grey" was sold. Even "Magic Mike" was one of the most popular in this story ...
COOPER: That was a consensual where -- I didn't read the book but I assume that was a consensual relationship.
HUGHES: No, it was not all the time, and the things that were done were not. You look at the vampire trilogy. Unfortunately becoming a very interesting, pop culture, itself, has become very stretched in these areas. So this is just a part of it, if you read anything from "Sports Illustrate", the "Playboy", you know, sex, unfortunately, sells.
However, you know, you talk about the women that have walked up to you. Let me read just a quick note that I got from a mom, that said, "I don't expect a man to fight for me, I can fight for me. But I sure as heck don't expect the woman to stand up for me and Hillary Clinton has stood against women -- more women than she has stood up for. And I think that's why her message right now is not resonating. This is not about sexual assault, this is about one woman who has torn down the four woman that were standing there on the booth yesterday who has looked a mom in the eye, has looked at several other gold-star mothers and angel mothers whose children have been killed by illegal immigrants. That is what is affecting women today on Main Street.
COOPER: OK.
HUGHES: And Hillary Clinton, this type of language that she's doing and I'm sorry -- and I personally I like thank you, Ana, because I think this is a teaching moment for the next generations. I hope they watch this segment. The women -- and young ladies can listen to segment because words aren't going to be used that if any man ever said against any, trust me. I would be extremely angry from, but, you know, it makes me more angry when another woman uses it to describe another woman.
COOPER: Ana?
NAVARRO: Yeah it makes you angry except when the person who's running for president of the United States says it. And listen let me tell you something. Everything you just said is 50 shades of crazy. To compare running for president to an erotic film or an erotic movie, an erotic novel, it's crazy. If he wants to be held to that standard, great, then go write the art of the groping. But if you are running for president of the United States, you are a role model. You're a role model for children like your daughter who you keep quoting. You're a role model for all Americans. You're held to a higher standard. You should not be behaving like if you are in a locker room, you should be behaving like if you are in the Oval Office.
HUGHES: Ana, what were you doing 11 years ago? I find it, you know, it's funny. On Friday you saw the sanctimonious high road, all of these never Trumpers, left-wingers, all of a sudden they were holier than thou. And now 48 hours later with the cursing and the pictures that are showing up trying to prove their point, it seems like they're in the biggest mud pack ever -- mud pile ever.
NAVARRO: Let me ...
HUGHES: What were you doing 11 years ago? Do you want to be held you were doing? You know ...
NAVARRO: No, that's why I don't run for office! That's why I don't run for office!
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: One at a time.
NAVARRO: That's why I am a private citizen, because I realize ...
HUGHES: And you have ...
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: ... want my life in a magnifier glass.
COOPER: We're going to -- we're going to ...
[20:50:01] NAVARRO: No, I will you tell what ...
COOPER: ... appreciate both of you.
NAVARRO: ... why don't you answer, what was he doing 11 days ago? He was tweeting at 3:00 a.m. in the morning ...
COOPER: OK, we're going to leave it there.
NAVARRO: ... that something tweet about Alicia Machado.
COOPER: I've got to leave it there.
NAVARRO: So has not been angel playing the harp for the last 11 years.
COOPER: Now appreciate ...
NAVARRO: He have been lewd and grasp the entire time. COOPER: Appreciate both of you being with us. We'll be right back, a lot more ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, I'm probably not the first person to tell you that last night's debate was for many Americans, watching their living rooms and incredibly stressfully experience. All you had to do was look through Twitter, people were firing up and melting down, turning to alcohol, you name it. And then this happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KENNETH BONE, DEBATE AUDIENCE: What steps will your emergency policy take to meet our energy needs, while at the same time remaining environmentally friendly and minimizing job loss for fossil power plant workers?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: And just like that, armed dole (ph) with a microphone and a mustach, a red sweater and a supreme sense of chill Kenneth None won the hears of America. Just a small sample, the tweets. "Thank you from all of us for asking a question that will generally matter in literally the 22nd century. Thank you, Kenneth, we mean it."
"Only the gentle hug of Kenneth Bone's warm red sweater can heal us divided nation. We are all clean to Ken Bone right now, like he's the door in Titanic. You all don't mess up this Ken Bone thing by interviewing him or finding out anything about him. Thanks."
[20:55:04] With apologies, that last tweeter, joining me now is Kenneth Bone. Ken, thank you so much for being with us. I love that you've got the red sweater on. I've got to ask you, first of all, just about the sweater, because a lot of people have asked me about it. It's gotten so many comments online, as your question did. How did you choose to wear it last night?
BONE: Well, Anderson, I don't think your producers would have let me on the show if I didn't promise to wear t sweater. But thank you so much for having me on. The reason why I went with the red sweater, is I had a very lovely olive-colored suit that I was going to wear, and my grandfather helped me to pick out, before he passed away. And I thought, man, that would be great, I'm going to be on national TV, I can wear grandpa's favorite suit. But apparently since he passed away, I've gained about 30 pounds and when I got is into my car to leave for the debate venue, I tore the seat out of pants ...
COOPER: Oh no.
BONE: ... of that suit. And had to do an emergency switch to what is normally a Christmas sweater.
COOPER: Well, it works. There were signs outside the debate hall saying, Bone 2016 for President, people were talking about Halloween costumes in your name. Does it feel strange to sort of become an overnight sensation?
BONE: It's been very strong, and I'm very sorry to all the Ken Bone 2016 people, but I am only 34 years old, you'll have to wait for Ken Bone 2020. And look, if you want to dress as me for Halloween, you better be quick, this sweater is sold out on Amazon and these mustaches don't come overnight.
COOPER: I want to read just couple more tweets, one saying, "Kenneth Bone, sorry, I can't think about anything else tonight. The debate is whatever now. Kenneth Bone, Kenneth Bone, Kenneth Bone."
Another, "Kenneth Bone is real and he's strong and he's my friend. And take me to the Kenneth Bone zone." Trending on social media, has it won you some points? I know you have a 12-year-old son, Logan. Does he think you're pretty cool tonight?
BONE: Yes, well, it's Columbus Day today, so he had the day off of school. So today having internet famous dad is the greatest thing ever. Tomorrow, when he has to go in and talk to his friends, maybe he'll change his mind. But just to be cool in the eyes of your pre- teen son is worth this whole thing.
COOPER: Well, first of all, as I said to all the participants last night, I met with you all before the debate, you know, to put the time in that you put in, to come up with your question, to spend the day there, it's not an easy thing, to stand on that stage, ask a question, I'm so glad we got yours in, and I wish we got more in, but did you change your mind at all? I mean you were an uncommitted voter before. Are you still uncommitted?
BONE: Anderson, I think I'm more uncommitted than I was when I started, I'm afraid. Donald Trump, he might have my economic interests more in mind just from a personal level. He will help my coal-fire power industry probably more than Secretary Clinton and give me a lot of future for my wallet and my ability to take care of my family.
But on the other hand, if he's allowed to point the next Supreme Court nominee, there's a very good chance that we could lose some of the rights that we've fought for, for the last eight years, rights that all Americans should share, like marriage equality and, I do not want to see anyone's rights taken away. And so that's what makes it difficult for me, is we're looking at a personal interest versus community interest election.
COOPER: Right. Well, Kenneth, again, I appreciate participation last night. It's an uneasy thing and I wish you all the success in the world and we'll see if you run in 2020.
BONE: I'll do my very best.
COOPER: All right, Kenneth Bone, thanks so much and a best to your son, Logan.
Coming up, in the next hour of "360". Clinton and Trump both back on the campaign trail tonight. We'll have the latest from there. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
