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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Trump Shares Stage with Clinton, Speaks at Al Smith Dinner; Al Smith Charity Dinner is Underway in New York City. Aired 9-10p ET

Aired October 20, 2016 - 21:00   ET

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

[21:00:00] ALFRED SMITH IV, MASTER OF CEREMONIES: I was talking to Cardinal Dolan -- no, no, that was not a planned -- that was not a -- bear with me. I wish I'd thought of that. It just happened to fall in that way.

Earlier about the WikiLeaks e-mails that said certain members of the Clinton campaign wanted to incite a revolution in the Catholic Church. I was pretty concerned. But we had a very constructive conversation with the Clinton campaign and Cardinal Dolan said, if the cardinals and the clergy haven't destroyed the church in the last 2,000 years, the Democrats operatives don't stand a chance.

Of course, the Donald got a very public tiff with the Pope last year. I know you discussed that with the Cardinal last week and it should be easy to mend that relationship, because Donald and Pope Francis have so much in common. Friends, they lead lives of humility.

So for this evening, all is forgiven. It is now my privilege to introduce the first of this evening's speakers. We determined tonight's order backstage. I'm happy to report no matter how the coin toss ended, our next speaker was going to say it was rigged. I'm speaking, of course, about the Republican nominee, Donald J. Trump.

There were actually some rumors going around that he wasn't going to show up tonight. You could say he wanted to keep us in suspense. We considered having a Donald Trump cutout on the dais. But if we wanted someone still, lifeless, we could ask Charlie Rose to speak again.

It is historic that Donald is here tonight. That's right, for the first time the Catholic Church is not the largest tax-exempt land owner here tonight.

We are honored to have Donald and Melania here tonight. The Al Smith dinner is a New York institution. Donald, a kid from Queens with a big heart and a big mouth is without question a New York institution.

Donald, the microphone is yours and it's working.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you, Al. Wow, that was good. This is a hell of a dinner.

Well, I want to thank Your Eminence. This is really great to be with you again. Beloved Governor Cuomo, our great senators. Hi, Chuck. He used to love me when I was a Democrat, you know.

Mayor de Blasio, wherever you are. Where is Mayor de Blasio? I love him. See in the old days I would have known him very well but I haven't been doing so much of their real estate anymore.

And I want to thank Al and Nan Smith, just a fantastic job you do with the dinner. And congratulations on a record, over $6 million, right? He's got a record.

And a special hello to all of you in this room who have known and loved me for many, many years. It's true.

The politicians, they've had me to their homes, they've introduced me to their children, I'd become their best friends in many instances. They've asked for my endorsement and they always wanted my money, and even called me really a dear, dear friend. But then, suddenly, decided when I ran for president as a Republican, that I've always been a no-good, rotten, disgusting scoundrel. And they totally forgot about me. But that's OK.

[21:05:24] You know, they say when you do this kind of an event you always start out with a self-deprecating joke. Some people think this would be tough for me, but the truth is it's true. True.

The truth is I'm actually a modest person, very modest. It's true. In fact, many people tell me that modesty is perhaps my best quality, even better than my temperament.

You know Cardinal Dolan and I have some things in common. For instance, we both run impressive properties on Fifth Avenue. Of course his is much more impressive than mine. That's because I built mine with my own beautifully formed hands. While his was built with the hands of God, and nobody can compete with God. Is that correct? Nobody? Right? That's right. No contest.

It's great to be here with a thousand wonderful people, or, as I call it, a small intimate dinner with some friends. Or, as Hillary calls it, her largest crowd of the season. Oh, this stuff. This is corny stuff.

I do recognize that I come into this event with a little bit of an advantage. I know that so many of you in the archdiocese already have a place in your heart for a guy who started out as a carpenter working for his father. I was a carpenter working for my father. True. Not for a long period of time but I was, for about three weeks.

What's great about the Al Smith dinner is that even in the rough and tumble world of a really, really hard-fought campaign, in fact, I don't know if you know Hillary, but last night they said that was the most vicious debate in the history of politics, presidential debate. The most vicious. And I don't know. Are we supposed to be proud of that or are we supposed to be unhappy?

But they did say that. And I'm trying to think back to Lincoln, I don't think that you can really compete with that. But the candidates have some light-hearted moments together, which is true. I have no doubt that Hillary is going to laugh quite a bit tonight sometimes even at an appropriate moment.

And even tonight, with all of the heated back and forth between my opponent and me at the debate last night, we have proven that we can actually be civil to each other. In fact, just before taking the dais, Hillary accidentally bumped into me and she very civilly said, "Pardon me". And I very politely replied, ''Let me talk to you about that after I get into office." Just kidding. Just kidding.

And Hillary was very gracious. She said, if somehow she gets elected, she wants me to be, without question, either her ambassador to Iraq or to Afghanistan. It's my choice.

[21:10:04] But one of the things I noticed tonight and I've known Hillary for a long time is this is the first time ever, ever that Hillary is sitting down and speaking to major corporate leaders and not getting paid for it. It's true. It's true.

You know, last night, I called Hillary "a nasty woman." But this stuff is all relative. After listening to Hillary rattle on and on and on, I don't think so badly of Rosie O'Donnell anymore. In fact I'm actually starting to like Rosie a lot.

These events give not only the candidates a chance to be with each other in a very social setting, it also allows the candidates the opportunity to meet the other candidate's team, good team.

I know Hillary met my campaign manager. And I got the chance to meet the people who are working so hard to get her elected. There they are. The heads of NBC, CNN, CBS, ABC, there's "The New York Times" right over there and "The Washington Post". They're working overtime. True. True.

Oh, this one's going to get me in trouble. Not with Hillary. You know, the President told me to stop whining. But I really have to say, the media is even more biased this year than ever before. Ever. You want the proof? Michelle Obama gives a speech and everyone loves it. It's fantastic. They think she's absolutely great. My wife, Melania, gives the exact same speech, and people get on her case. And I don't get it. I don't know why. And it wasn't her fault. Stand up, Melania, come on. She took a lot of abuse.

Oh, I'm in trouble when I go home tonight. She didn't know about that one. Am I OK? Is it OK?

Cardinal, please speak to her. I'd like to address an important religious matter. The issue of going to confession. Or as Hillary calls it, the Fourth of July weekend with FBI Director Comey.

Now, I'm told Hillary went to confession before tonight's event. But the priest was having a hard time when he asked her about her sins, and she said she couldn't remember 39 times.

Hillary is so corrupt. She got kicked off the Watergate Commission. How corrupt do you have to be to get kicked off the Watergate Commission? Pretty corrupt. Hillary is and has been in politics since the '70s. What's her pitch? The economy is busted, the government is corrupt. Washington is failing. Vote for me, I've been working on these problems for 30 years. I can fix it, she says.

I wasn't really sure if Hillary was going to be here tonight, because, I guess you didn't send her invitation by e-mail or maybe you did and she just found out about it through the wonder of WikiLeaks.

[21:15:03] We've learned so much from WikiLeaks. For example, Hillary believes that's it's vital to deceive the people by having one public policy, and a totally different policy in private. That's OK. I don't know who they're angry at, Hillary, you or I?

For example, here she is tonight in public, pretending the not to hate Catholics. Now, if some of you haven't noticed, Hillary isn't laughing as much as the rest of us. That's because she knows the jokes and all of the jokes were given to her in advance of the dinner by Donna Brazile, which is -- everyone knows, of course, Hillary's belief that it takes a village, which only makes sense, after all, in places like Haiti, where she's taken a number of them.

Thank you.

I don't know and I don't want this evening without saying something nice about my opponent. Hillary's been in Washington a long time. She knows a lot about how government works and according to her sworn testimony, Hillary has forgotten more things than most of us will ever, ever know. That I can tell you.

We're having some fun here tonight and that's good. On a personal note, what an amazing honor it is to be with all of you. And I want to congratulate Hillary on getting the nomination and we're there fighting and over the next 19 days, somebody's going to be chosen. We'll see what happens. But I have great memories of coming to this dinner with my father over the years, when I was a young man, great experience for me. This was always a special experience for him and me to be together.

One thing we can all agree on is the need to support the great work that comes out of the dinner. Millions of dollars have been raised to support disadvantaged children. And I applaud the many people who have worked to make this wonderful event a critical lifeline for children in need. And that we, together, broke the all-time record tonight is really something special. More than $6 million net, net, net. The cardinal told me that's net, net, Donald, remember.

We can also agree on the need to stand up to anti-Catholic bias, to defend religious liberty, and to create a culture that celebrates life. America is in many ways divided. America is in many ways divided like it's never been before and the great religious leaders here tonight give us all an example that we can follow.

We're living in a time and age that we never thought possible before. The vicious barbarism we'd read about in history books, but never thought we'd see it in our so-called modern-day world. Who would have thought we would be witnessing what we're witnessing today? We've got to be very strong, very, very smart, and we've got to come together, not only as a nation, but as a world community.

Thank you very much. God bless you, and God bless America. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much.

SMITH IV: As Ronald Reagan would say, there you go again. Thank you very much, Donald. We're honored by your presence.

This dinner is a fund-raiser for the needy children of the archdiocese. I'm pleased to announce that tonight we have raised $6 million. Let me put that in perspective for you. That will pay for nearly five minutes of our next speaker's speech.

[21:20:04] Hillary is a Democratic nominee for president and it wasn't exactly a smooth ride that she had hoped for. She endured a tough primary challenge from that young centrist upstart, Bernie Sanders. She endured questions about her health.

Madame Secretary, I can't believe all these people said it wasn't presidential to catch pneumonia. Just look at William Henry Harrison. And she's said things that she later had to take back. For example, Hillary really didn't mean it when she called half of Donald' supporters a basket of deplorables. To be fair, Donald didn't really mean it when he said he would release his tax returns either.

Secretary Clinton's career in public service is admirable. She has devoted her entire life for working in public service from Aransas to Washington to New York. She put her advocate for children and her attendance here tonight is one example of that.

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you, Al. Thank you, my friend. Thank you.

SMITH IV: Go get them.

CLINTON: Thank you. Thank you. Your Eminence, Your Excellencies, members of the clergy, Al and Nan Smith, Donald and Melania, and all the distinguished guests.

You know, earlier tonight, Al reminded me that when the first Al Smith ran for president, he chose as his running mate the progressive senator from Arkansas, Joseph T. Robinson, who was one of my husband's political heroes.

This work that you do through the dinner, Al, you've done it now for 30 years, is such a labor of love. You've been a hero for both the children of the archdiocese and for the city of New York. And I think we all owe Al Smith a great, great round of applause.

This is such a special event that I took a break from my rigorous nap schedule to be here. And as you've already heard, it's a treat for all of you too, because usually I charge a lot for speeches like this.

But for me, it was kind of ironic thinking about a fiery populist, Al Smith.

If he were here today and saw how much money we've raised for needy children, he'd be very proud. And if he saw this magnificent room, full of plutocrats celebrating his legacy, he'd be very confused.

It's a special honor to be here with your eminence. Now, I know, your eminence, you were criticized for inviting both Donald and me here tonight. And you responded by saying, "If I only sat down with those who were saints, I'd be taking all my meals alone."

Now, just to be clear, I think the cardinal is saying I'm not eligible for sainthood. But getting through these three debates with Donald has to count as a miracle.

So I guess I'm up against the highest, hardest, stained glass ceiling.

But your eminence, you do deserve great credit for bringing together two people who've been at each other's throats, mortal enemies, bitter foes.

I've got to ask, how did you get the governor and mayor here together tonight?

[21:25:05] Now, I've got to say there are a lot of friendly faces here in this room, people I've been privileged to know and to work with. I just want to put you all in a basket of adorables.

And you'd look so good in your tuxes or as I refer to them, formal pantsuits.

And, you know, because this is a friendly dinner for such a great cause, Donald, if at any time you don't like what I'm saying, feel free to stand up and shout, "Wrong!" while I'm talking.

You know, come to think of it, it's amazing I'm up here after Donald. I didn't think he'd be OK with a peaceful transition of power.

And Donald, after listening to your speech, I will also enjoy listening to Mike Pence deny that you ever gave it.

You know, I've had the privilege of being at the Al Smith dinners in years past, and I always enjoy it.

But remember, if you're not happy with the way it comes out, it must be rigged.

And it's always a special treat for me to be back in New York, a city that I love, and which I think truly embodies the best of America.

You know, don't you think?

People look at the Statue of Liberty and they see a proud symbol of our history as a nation of immigrants, a beacon of hope for people around the world.

Donald looks at the Statue of Liberty and sees a four. Maybe a five if she loses the torch and tablet and changes her hair.

You know, come to think of it, you know what would be a good number for a woman? 45. But I digress.

Now I'm going to try my best tonight, but I understand I am not known for my sense of humor. That's why it did take a village to write these jokes.

People say, and I hear them, I know, they say I'm boring compared to Donald. But I'm not boring at all. In fact, I'm the life of every party I attend and I've been to three. And when the parties get out of hand, as occasionally they do, it's important to have a responsible chaperon who can get everyone home safely and that is why I picked Tim Kaine to be my vice president.

Now, you notice there is no teleprompter here tonight which is probably smart because maybe you saw Donald dismantled his prompter the other day. And I get that. They're hard to keep up with and I'm sure it's even harder when you're translating from the original Russian.

But every year, this dinner brings together a collection of sensible committed mainstream Republicans, or as we now like to call them, Hillary supporters.

Now, some of my critics, and I hear that too, yeah, they think I only say what people want to hear. Well, tonight that is true. And here's exactly what you want to hear. This election will be over very, very soon. And look at this dais, we got Charlie Rose, and Maria Bartiromo, and Chris Matthews, and Gail King, and Nora O'Donnell and Katie Couric. This counts as a press conference, right?

It is great also to see Mayor Bloomberg here. It's a shame he's not speaking tonight. I'm curious to hear what a billionaire has to say.

And look out at the dais. We've got the honorable Chuck Schumer, the honorable Andrew Cuomo, the honorable Mike Bloomberg, the honorable Bill de Blasio, the honorable David Dinkins and so many other wonderful elected officials. And we have Rudy Giuliani.

[21:30:13] Now, many don't know this, but Rudy actually got his start as a prosecutor going after wealthy New Yorkers who avoided paying taxes. But as the saying goes, if you can't beat them, go on Fox News and call them a genius.

So as I've said, we've now had our third and thankfully final debate. Sharing a stage with Donald Trump is like, well, nothing really comes to mind. There is nothing like sharing a stage with Donald Trump.

Donald wanted me drug tested before last night's debate. And look, I got to tell you, I am so flattered that Donald thought I used some sort of performance enhancer. Now, actually, I did. It's called preparation.

And looking back, I've had to listen to Donald for three full debates. And he says I don't have any stamina. That is 4 1/2 hours. I have now stood next to Donald Trump longer than any of his campaign managers.

Now, look, I have deep respect for people like Kellyanne Conway. She's working day and night for Donald, and because she's a contractor, he's probably not even going to pay her.

But I think the good news is that the debates finally allowed Republicans to unite around their candidate. The bad news is, it's Mike Pence. And it's been a long, long campaign. That should be one of our highest priorities, shortening the campaigns.

And whoever wins this election, the outcome will be historic. We'll either have the first female president or the first president who started a Twitter war with Cher. And if Donald does win, it will be awkward at the annual President's Day photo when all the former presidents gather at the White House. And not just with Bill. How is Barack going to get past the Muslim ban?

Now, Republicans in particular seem frustrated with their nominee. Paul Ryan told the Republican members of the House, you don't have to support the top of the ticket. Don't worry about anyone besides yourself. Just do what's in your own best interests. So I guess Donald really has unified his party around his core philosophy. And I don't understand their unhappiness. They say Donald doesn't have any policies. He has no policies, I keep hearing that.

I'd actually like to defend him on this. Donald has issues, serious issues. Really, really serious issues. And I worry about Donald's go-it-alone attitude. For example, at his convention, when he said, I alone can fix it. You know, in the '90s, I said the same thing about America's health care system, and it didn't work out so well for me either.

But speaking of health, Donald has been very concerned about mine, very concerned. He actually sent a car to bring me here tonight, actually it was a hearse.

But I kind of want to just put the information out there, so everybody can draw their own conclusions, and you can judge our relative health. We've each released our medical records. My blood pressure is 100 over 70. His is, unbelievably great. My cholesterol is 189. His is presidential. My heart rate is 72 beats per minute. His is the most beats ever or the least beats ever, whichever sounds best.

But Donald really is as healthy as a horse. You know, the one Vladimir Putin rides around on. But I can say, without fear of contradiction tonight, that I will be the healthiest and youngest woman ever to serve as president.

[21:35:02] But this has really been a strange campaign. You saw it last night. You saw it again tonight. Donald has attacked me for a life in public service. And I didn't get that at first. I kind of get it now. As he told Howard Stern, he doesn't like it when women have been around for more than 35 years. But, Donald, we have so much more in common that actually you may realize. For example, I've tried to inspire young people by showing them that with resilience and hard work anything is possible. And you're doing the same. A third grade teacher told me that one of her students refused to turn in his homework because it was under audit.

And here's another similarity. The Republican National Committee isn't spending a dime to help either one of us. So tonight, let's embrace the spirit of the evening, let's come together, remember what unites us, and just rip on Ted Cruz.

I hope you enjoyed my remarks tonight. I said no to some jokes that I thought were over the line, but I suppose you can judge for yourself on WikiLeaks in the next few days. Donald will tell us after the benediction whether he accepts that this dinner is over. He has to wait and see.

But there's nothing funny about the stakes in this election. In the end, what makes this dinner important are not the jokes we tell, but the legacy that we carry forward. It's as often easy to forget how far this country has come, and there are a lot of people in this room tonight who themselves or their parents or grandparents came here as immigrants, made a life for yourselves, took advantage of the American dream and the greatest system that has ever been created in the history of the world to unleash the individual talents, energy, and ambition of everyone willing to work hard.

And when I think about what Al Smith went through, it's important to just reflect how groundbreaking it was for him, a Catholic, to be my party's nominee for president.

Don't forget, school board sent home letters with children saying that if Al Smith is elected president, you will not be allowed to have or read a bible. Voters were told that he would annul Protestant marriages. And I saw a story recently that said people even claimed the Holland Tunnel was a secret passageway to connect Rome and America, to help the Pope rule our country.

Those appeals, appeals to fear and division, can cause us to treat each other as "the other."

Rhetoric like that makes it harder for us to see each other, to respect each other, to listen to each other, and certainly a lot harder to love our neighbor as ourself.

I believe how we treat others is the highest expression of faith and of service. Now, I'm not Catholic, I'm a Methodist, but one of the things that we share is the belief that in order to achieve salvation, we need both faith and good works. And you certainly don't need to be Catholic to be inspired by the humility and heart of the Holy Father, Pope Francis, or to embrace his message. His message about rejecting a mind-set of hostility, his calls to reduce inequality, his warnings about climate change, his appeal that we build bridges, not walls.

Now, as you may know, my running mate, Tim, is Catholic, and went to Jesuit schools. And one of the things he and I have talked about is this idea from the Jesuits of the magis, the more, t better.

Well, we need to get better at finding ways to disagree on matters of policy while agreeing on questions of decency and civility. How we talk to each other, treat each other, respect each other. So I've taken this concept of magis to heart in this campaign, as best as one can, in the daily heat, the back and forth of a presidential campaign. To ask how we can do more for each other and better for each other. Because I believe that for each of us, our greatest monument on this earth won't be what we build, but the lives we touch. And that is ultimately what this dinner is all about. And it's why it's been such a great honor to join you all again.

[21:40:17] Thank you.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, there you heard it. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump sharing the dais at the Al Smith Memorial Dinner here in New York.

Back with us now, CNN political analysts, Gloria Borger, David Gergen, and "Inside Politics" anchor, John King.

David Gergen, let's start with you. You've watched a lot of these over the years, have you ever heard a candidate being booed at one of these?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: No, I've been trying to figure that out. Have you ever heard booing at an Al Smith dinner, as we heard tonight, with Donald Trump? And the answer is, I don't know for sure, but I don't think so.

You know, there's such a risk here of sounding partisan, but I must tell you, there was a real difference between the two. Donald Trump was very much himself, but he didn't seem to know the difference between being light-hearted and heavy-handed. And, you know, this is supposed to be a light-hearted kind of occasion. And he had several jokes that were sort of pretty tough jokes about her. You know, basically calling her corrupt, the e-mails, shows she pretends to have like the Catholic Church and that sort of thing. He was -- I thought, particularly good when he talked about Melania. That was very -- that was funny and humorous in the right spirit.

But I think there was a reason the boos were there. And that was that he went over the line on several occasions. She was a much more traditional. I know people don't necessarily like tradition anymore. She was much more of the traditional kind of speaker. And at the Gridiron Club in Washington, their dinner, they say, you should singe, but never burn. And her jokes had much more of the singeing quality that I think some of them were lame.

COOPER: It was interesting, Gloria, because, I mean, both people have been there before. Donald Trump said he used to go with his father. Clearly, Hillary Clinton has been there over the years as well.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah, and I think Donald Trump missed the self-deprecating part. He's been there maybe his joke writers haven't been there. But I think it was sort of uncomfortable, to me, just watching it. I don't know how you guys feel. But I felt Trump couldn't get away from the nastiness about her. Didn't joke about himself very much, except maybe at the ginning when he jokes at ... COOPER: Saying he was humble.

BORGER: That's right. That's right. People didn't think I could be good at this.

And Hillary was a lot more light-hearted, but you could tell, sometimes, in looking at her, and she hid it more than she didn't, but you could tell sometimes looking at her, how kind of tough it was for her. And you know, her Statue of Liberty joke, when she said, you know, he looks at the Statue of Liberty and he sees a four, maybe a five, that's funny, but it's also serious and ...

COOPER: Yes, in fact, let's play that ...

BORGER: Yeah.

COOPER: ... the Statue of Liberty thing, because I think we have it qued up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: People look at the Statue of Liberty and they see a proud symbol of our history as a nation of immigrants, a beacon of hope for people around the world. Donald looks at the Statue of Liberty and sees a four. Maybe a five, if she loses the torch and tablet and changes her hair.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Also, I mean, probably the -- one of the best laughs that Donald Trump got was the joke about Michelle Obama speaking and Melania Trump speaking. Let's play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Michelle Obama gives a speech and everyone loves it. It's fantastic. They think she's absolutely great. My wife, Melania, gives the exact same speech and people get on her case. And I don't get it. I don't know why. And it wasn't her fault.

Stand up, Melania. Come on. She took a lot of abuse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: John King, what do you make of what you heard tonight?

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Well, I think to David's point and to Gloria's point, the license you get to beat up to zing the other one comes from the self-deprecation. The more you zing yourself, the more license you get to go after the other.

Donald Trump did very little self-deprecation. He used his wife as an example -- or she took one for the team, if you will, with that joke there. And that was very funny. That one was very funny.

But, look, these two -- I agree with everything that has been said before me. That Hillary Clinton was more in the spirit of the event, beat up herself a little bit first, in a funny way, and it gave her license. But let's be honest, if we went back and compared this to the last few cycles, these two don't like each other and it was obvious. They were doing much more of the campaign policy debate was coming up even in these jokes tonight.

[21:45:08] You know, McCain and Barack Obama didn't know each other all that well, but they got along a little bit in the Senate. They knew each other. Mitt Romney and President Obama, they didn't know each other at all, but they had respects for each other. They were warriors in public service. Let's just be blatantly obvious, this is harder for these two because they don't like each other.

And one other point, they also understand in the age we live in, we watch this live on television, that didn't used to happen. And just like a debate, this will get recycled in social media. So, they're not just trying to be funny tonight, they're trying to do some business.

BORGER: Yeah, I don't think they -- not only do they not like each other, but in many ways, I don't think they respect each other, as you were saying. And I think that's a real problem. And I think back to Barack Obama and Mitt Romney in 2012, they ended with talking about the other person's family, you know, Obama -- I mean, Romney said that Obama has a wonderful wife and a wonderful family and they're great role models. And they ended up complimenting each other at the end of their speeches. And you didn't -- you didn't really hear that tonight. You heard Hillary Clinton talk about the system. And at the beginning of Donald Trump's speech, he didn't even acknowledge that Hillary Clinton was there.

GERGEN: You know, the other part of this that I think distinguishes the two is that at the end, she had this statement that was about unity. And about respect ...

COOPER: And linking it back to Al Smith.

GERGEN: And linking it back to Al Smith. That's much more the traditional -- you know, you do the humor, but at the end you get serious. And you deliver a more emotional pitch. And she had that. And I think that helped -- I think it elevated what she had to say. And he did not go there.

KING: Also, Anderson, kind of quickly, her faith experience. Donald Trump did not talk about his personal faith experience in any way at all. And she said, you know, I'm not a Methodist -- I mean I'm not a Catholic, I'm a Methodist, but we share a lot of things in common. She does have a deeply rooted personal faith experience, that in this audience tonight -- I don't know how it plays out the country -- but in this audience tonight, it's important to be personal and connect yourself to the event you're at.

COOPER: Right.

GERGEN: This has been -- historically, this has been a dinner where actually the cardinals have been reluctant sometimes to invite the Democrat because of their abortion views. On more than one occasion, the Democratic nominee hasn't been invited, but here she seemed a little more at home than he did.

COOPER: Right. Talking to Cardinal Dolan ...

GERGEN: Yeah, and (inaudible) crosstalk ...

COOPER: Right.

GERGEN: Did they shake hands with each other ...

COOPER: They just -- Trump and Clinton just shook hands with each other. We're told before the event, they did not. As Donald Trump went up to go to the dais, he sort of patted Hillary Clinton on the shoulder, as he left, there was no contacts at all, but I believe they just shook hands. Yeah, they just shook hands.

One of the jokes was about them bumping into each other backstage. Let's take a look at that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have proven that we can actually be civil to each other. In fact, just before taking the dais, Hillary accidentally bumped into me and she very civilly said, "Pardon me." And I very politely replied, "Let me talk to you about that after I get into office."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: And as we talked about it earlier, Donald Trump was actually -- there was actually booing in the crowd at certain points. Let's just play some of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Hillary is so corrupt. She got kicked off the Watergate Commission.

Hillary believes that it's vital to deceive the people by having one public policy and a totally different policy in private. That's OK. I don't know who they're angry at, Hillary, you or I?

Here she is tonight, in public, pretending not to hate Catholics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Christine Quinn, obviously, you're a Clinton supporter, but as someone who's been at that dinner, what did you hear tonight? How was it different than in the past?

CHRISTINE QUINN, FORMER NYC CITY COUNCIL SPEAKER: You know, I've been to that dinner like six, seven, eight times when I was speaker of the City Council. I have never heard boos like that. Never. And that's with the presidential nominee speaking, that's with the president speaking, that's with, you know, military and other leaders speaking. I mean, sometimes people aren't funny, you know, and then it's like, come on, let's speed it along, but you've never -- I've never heard that before. It's just -- not something that happens.

[21:49:59] And I've also never heard a presidential nominee full throated attack their opponent. I mean, they make these jokes, you saw that with Hillary, you saw that with him. But I have never seen a presidential nominee do that.

And I think if you look -- saw the look on Cardinal Dolan's face when it happened, it was clearly shocking to him and everybody else there because that's simply not what's done and people may say, well, Donald Trump's untraditional, whatever. But it's that man's standards, right, to Cardinal Dolan. And he's kind of sets the rules and if you don't want to follow them that's your prerogative, but then don't come and act in a manner of aggressiveness that simply is not in the tone or tradition of that dinner.

COOPER: We do have a shot of them actually shaking hands after it was over. I think we're going to play that.

And that was it.

All right. Jeffrey Lord, what did you make of tonight?

JEFFREY LORD, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well, I thought they both did very well with the humor and all of this and then they had their serious points.

I mean, I take Christine's point here that maybe he was a little too sharp, but in all candor, I mean, I honestly don't think most of the people in America are going to wake up tomorrow morning and say ...

COOPER: Well, that's for sure.

LORD: ... what did you think about the Al Smith dinner last night. So, I mean I really think that this is just, if you will, fodder for us, for the media, for sort of New York City population but I don't really think this means anything. But ...

COOPER: It is an interesting window of how, you know, somebody -- I mean, it's always interesting to see somebody who's, you know, one of them is going to be president, they're going to be doing a lot of events like this, how they are able to kind of comport themselves in a variety of settings.

LORD: Right. Right. It is interesting, and it's always reflected through somebody's personality. David and I, I'm sure we're both fans of Ronald Reagan's appearances at this kind of thing, so it is what it is. I just -- you know ...

PHILIP BUMP, POLITICAL REPORTER, WASHINGTON POST: I mean, I would just -- you're right. There's not a lot of people who are going to go to bed tonight and, you know, think about what happened here, expect that Donald Trump's main challenge is temperament. And this isn't just the thing that Clinton has put forward. We've -- you know, "Washington Post"/ABC polling, he has always been seen as not qualified by more than half of the country, the main reason why, according to the Quinnipiac University Poll, is because people are concern about his temperament. And they think that this is an easy lay up, this is, you go there, you get someone to write some jokes, you tell the jokes, you come across this easy going. This was an easy thing for him to do, and quite frankly, he blew it. And, you know, he needs to reinforce over the course of the next 19 days that he has the temperament.

LORD: I don't think he blew it. I don't ...

BUMP: Well, I mean, I was in the room, but I heard boos.

QUINN: Jeffrey, with all due respect, he did blow it. One, no one gets booed at that event. Two, you were not supposed to at that event -- it is clearly known attack aggressively your opponent ...

LORD: But, Christine ...

QUINN: ... that is not the dinner that Al Smith and the Cardinal hold. And again to temperament, if you don't want to abide by those rules don't come ...

LORD: Christine.

QUINN: ... but don't sign up for X and do one.

LORD: Look at the visual. Look at the visual. He's being booed by a bunch of people wearing white-tie and tails.

QUINN: It's not about whether you can use it, it's about ...

LORD: I'm telling you, if you're going to go down that road that's not helpful.

QUINN: It's not about that. It's about how one behaves. And if you're invited to an event ...

(CROSSTALK)

LORD: It is about that.

QUINN: No, if you're invited to an event and these are the rules, in the same way, it was odd that Ted Cruz came to the convention and didn't endorse the nominee, it's just bizarre.

COOPER: It's interesting because there are moments of gracious -- you know, you think back to the second debate, at the end of the second debate when the town hall person asked, you know, can you each say something nice about the other person, Donald Trump came up with actually something that was gracious and I think heartfelt that she doesn't give up, she doesn't quit. I mean, he ran a commercial essentially attacking her, you know, saying the opposite thing couple days later. But I thought it was a very gracious ...

LORD: And he patted her on the shoulder on the way up to the podium tonight.

COOPER: But -- yeah. But just in terms of the comment it wasn't exactly sort of in the -- I mean, he has graciousness in him when he wants to.

LORD: Sure.

COOPER: Tonight, perhaps was not the best display of that.

LORD: There is no question. There is tension there. I mean, as we were listening last night to the debate, I certainly think I heard it was the Clinton campaign that requested that no handshakes be given with the families, coming from the Clinton campaign. So, I mean, you know, why? I mean that was sort of untraditional, too. So, I mean, it's just clear there's tension here and ...

COOPER: Here's another moment from tonight, Donald Trump, earlier. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: ... to be here with 1,000 wonderful people, or, as I call it, a small, intimate dinner with some friends. Or, as Hillary calls it, her largest crowd of the season.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Light-hearted moment. I think on the shaking hands, my understanding of that was that the Clinton people didn't want to do it because of the stunt Donald Trump pulled in the second debate of inviting those people trying to get them in the family box, that's my understanding, but I think there was concern who knows who's going to show up in that box at the time and ...

[21:55:06] LORD: Well, you should be able to shake hands with anybody, it's what they're saying and then suddenly not.

(CROSSTALK)

GERGEN: I just want to make a point here. But it goes beyond this particular dinner, and that is humor is a very important aspect of leadership. The capacity to bring people along through humor sometimes to break -- and we talked about, you know, Kennedy was famous at this, Reagan was famous at this, but the most famous of all was Abraham Lincoln, who went through terrible, terrible times, and he managed to hold people together through his uses of humor. And I just didn't -- I felt somehow Donald Trump has not relaxed enough. He's just not letting himself go, he -- I think he can be funnier than he is. But he ...

(CROSSTALK)

GERGEN: What he comes across tonight was he brought the spirit of last night's debate into the night.

QUINN: Right. GERGEN: And it's like -- it didn't work in this environment.

QUINN: A really important thing for a candidate is to be having fun.

GERGEN: Yeah.

QUINN: And I think at this point in the campaign, Donald Trump is not having any fun and not just Donald, any candidate, myself in the past. If you're not having fun it shows.

BORGER: Yeah, it really does show.

GERGEN: And, you know, Al Smith himself was known as the happy warrior.

BORGER: Yes, that's right.

GERGEN: Very, very important to his leadership.

COOPER: Another moment of Hillary Clinton talked about Rudy Giuliani, he was also there. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: We have Rudy Giuliani. Now, many don't know this, but Rudy actually got his start as a prosecutor going after wealthy New Yorkers who avoided paying taxes. But as the saying goes, if you can't beat them, go on Fox News and call them a genius.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Rudy Giuliani did not seem to be enjoying that. I mean, it's the kind of thing if you're going to go to this thing and be made fun of, you have to sort of laugh ...

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, MOVEON.ORG NATIONAL SPOKESPERSON: And sitting on the dais, right, where everyone's going to see you.

Look, Anderson, I just wanted to say, look, 19 days left I'm a campaign person and this -- what happened tonight is not going to move undecided voters. It's not going to, you know, engage the -- really excite the base at all.

But, you know, I have to say, watching this, especially Donald Trump's component of it, it was cringe-worthy. There were some uncomfortable moments and it's odd because he started off talking about temperament. He made fun of himself about the -- his lack of temperament and then he pivoted and started to attack her and showed his lack of temperament. So -- but at the end of the day, we're going to be talking about it for about 24 hours and then we'll move on.

LORD: She -- this is the thing that I think drives a lot of people nuts. She is very polished in a political sense. And so at the end, when she's saying we can't be divisive, duh, duh duh, I mean, what's she's saying is basically Donald, I'm attacking you because your divisive. So, she's doing exactly what you say, but she's doing it in the old-fashioned political sense ...

COOPER: Or in a subtle sense, as opposed to, you know, completely unsubtle.

((CROSSTALK)

JEAN-PIERRE: ... light-hearted way and some kindness, right?

BUMP: Anderson, it shows the difference of 40 years of being in the public spotlight in office where you adjust and it shows someone who has led a corporate boardroom, that's really what it shows and she has been able to adapt and knows what the public wants to see better than he has because he's been more of a different type of leader. They are different ...

COOPER: But he's been at endless social events, and endless party. I mean, it's not as if he's been living in a, you know ...

(CROSSTALK)

GERGEN: But his whole television life has been sort of how do you ingratiate yourself with a big audience?

BUMP: And I think, Jeffrey, really nailed it that she was much more cautious in how she took the shots and I thought she went on a lot longer than he did, or maybe it was just made it seemed like the shots kept coming from her, you know, his were a lot more we'll get it over with and he just drag on that he just kept hounding.

QUINN: You know, I don't know about the timing that may or may not be true, you know, she had some pretty funny jokes, had some not so funny jokes, had some -- you know, as what said before, moments where she cringed.

COOPER: I mean humor especially not either there's ...

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: President Obama, you know, I mean I don't go to the White House dinner but I've seen it on television, and, you know, he's given some funny monologues at that event.

QUINN: Comedy seller is not holding a spot for either these people like that.

COOPER: And not going to be at the laugh shack.

QUINN: But I can say at the end, I do think -- I thought it was lovely, and I thought it respected -- it reflected understanding what you're a part of and that's a dinner for Catholic charities and that's a -- and Catholic Church and I don't agree on everything, but that's a critical organization. My mother was a social worker there. They take care of children and others in New York and across the country who are disregarded, and to harken back to Al Smith and connect it to her faith, that's authentic.

[22:00:01] COOPER: We've got to leave it there. That does it for us. Thanks very much for watching.

"CNN TONIGHT" with Don Lemon -- here we go, hey, "CNN TONIGHT" with Don Lemon starts now. Bye.