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Don Lemon Tonight

President Trump Unloads On Democrats At Rally Tonight Calling Them Angry Mob; Melania On Child Separation Policy; FLOTUS Say She Was Blindsided By Family Separation Policy; Hurricane Michael's Death Toll Rises To 17; Allegations of Voter Suppression in Georgia Race for Governor Neck-And-Neck; Turkish Newspaper Says Khashoggi May Have Recorded His Own Death on his Apple Watch; Journalist Jailed by Iran Talks About Anthony Bourdain. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired October 12, 2018 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN TONIGHT NEWS SHOW HOST: This is CNN Tonight. I'm Don Lemon. President Trump back at the White House tonight after his campaign rally in Ohio. And you're going to see the President out on the road a lot in the lead up to the midterms next month and you're going to hear his familiar refrains about building a border wall, black unemployment and exaggerated claims about the 2016 election. He is got a new favorite talking point, calling Democrats and anyone who opposed the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court an angry mob.

So let us discuss, Alice Stewart is here, Hilary Rosen and Max Boot are here. Max is the author of the new book, it is called "The corrosion of conservatism, why I left the right." Good evening, everyone.

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Hi, Don.

LEMON: Hillary.

MAX BOOT, COUNCIL FOR FOREIGN RELATIONS: Good evening.

LEMON: I want to play there President Trump tonight portraying Democrats as an angry mob.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: From the moment Brett Kavanaugh was announced, an angry Democrats mob was on a mission to resist, obstruct, delay, demolish and destroy him. And before they even know -- I'll tell you, you saw it. Before they knew his name, they were saying horrible things. These are bad people. We can't let this happen to our country. Republicans believe in the rule of law, not the rule of the mob. That is what it is, it's a mob.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So Hillary, what do you make of this messaging? HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I guess I'm one of

those bad people. You know, I find it just -- I just shake my head. I find it shocking that the President of the United States actually thinks it's OK, for him to accuse half the country of being bad people. Remember how he went off when Hillary dared to call a few of his racist supporter's deplorables? I mean, there's just no rational way that this President can justify kind of his divisive rhetoric.

There's no mob as dangerous to democracy as the ones he incites with the way he talks. It's just beyond me and it's exhausting to keep talking about it. And it's infuriating that his supporters aren't offended by it. Beyond that, I just hope that something shuts him up, maybe the results of the midterm will. I don't know.

LEMON: Yes.

So, Alice, I'll ask you a similar question, the other night about the Republicans, your Party. They have the White House, Congress, two hand-picked justices in the last year, people who don't agree with it are exercising one of their options which is protests. Why is that being turned into talking points about a mob?

STEWART: It's not as much a talking point as it is reality, Don. They're angry and they are acting in mob-like behavior. Look, we can go back and look at this.

LEMON: Come on.

STEWART: It started when the Republicans -- members of Congress were at a baseball practice and a man came out and shot them. Ask Steve Scalise if there's mob-like behavior.

[23:05:06] ROSEN: Don't you dare accuse that shooter -- that shooter was mentally ill, Alice.

BOOT: That was a deranged maniac.

ROSEN: That is out of bounds, so out of bounds.

STEWART: It continued when Democrats were chasing members of this administration out of restaurants, starting with Sarah Sanders and within Senator Ted Cruz. You had Congresswoman Maxine Waters encouraging people to go out whether they see a member of the cabinet or this administration and chase them out.

LEMON: She said get in their faces, but Alice, let me ask you a question.

(CROSSTALK)

Hold on, Hillary.

STEWART: You say that is not mob-like mentality, I don't know what is.

LEMON: I mean, Alice listen. I mean, the other two guests reacted. So I got to get, why would Steve Scalise which was awful, why would you compare that to a mob? What does that have to do with people who are protesting?

STEWART: We're talking about the anger and the vitriol that has been displayed against Republicans and conservatives ever since this President was nominated to the White House. And it has to stop. It is one thing to disagree and to have vocal protests and vocal opposition to this administration, but when it becomes to the point where you're getting violent and you're being aggressive and you're taking it out in a violent way that is wrong. And it shouldn't happen. It needs to stop.

LEMON: Go ahead. You want to respond to that, Max?

BOOT: Yes, I mean in the first place, OK. This is ridiculous to try to blame Democrats for the actions of a lunatic who went out and attacked congressmen who are playing baseball, OK? If you talk about inciting violence, why don't you look at what Donald Trump did during the 2016 campaign when he was actually inciting violence? If there's any mob out there, it's clearly the mob at Trump rallies who are chanting lock her up to -- about Hillary Clinton or about Dianne Feinstein. Neither of whom has been accused of a crime.

What's happening here is I think Donald Trump is basically trying to bait the Democrats with his over the top rhetoric claiming that Democrats are going to destroy the country? That they're evil. That they want to turn America into Venezuela. I mean this is so clearly over the top that he is baiting the Democrats into reaction. And unfortunately, I think some Democrats are falling into his trap.

I think it doesn't do anybody any good when Hillary Clinton says Democrats don't need to be civil or when Eric Holder says when them go low, we kick them. That is not the way to talk. There's no moral equivalence here. The Democrats are not the mob. That is false, but Democrats need to keep their cool and they should avoid being baited by Donald Trump, because that is not going to help their cause.

LEMON: I want to play this, because Max said it. Hold on Alice. I will let you respond on the other side. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You know what they used to do to guys like that when they were in a place liking this? They would be carried out on a stretcher, folks.

Knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously.

Like to punch them in the face, I tell you.

Get him out. Try not to hurt him. If you do, I'll defend you in court. Don't worry about it.

I would have been out there fighting, folks. I don't know if I would done well, but I would have been boom, boom, beat that --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So Hillary, I'm going to let you get in. I want Alice to respond to that. But Alice, the only mob I know that has killed someone is in Charlottesville. So, why do that when he encouraged mob-like behavior throughout the campaign and even now?

STEWART: Look, I don't think encouraging inciting violence on any side is good. You can't name one instance like I named a handful of cases where people are going after elected officials liberal, Democrat, elected officials and protesting and speaking out and banging on doors and chasing them out of restaurants. There are no examples of that. I'm just saying, we have seen many instances of that since this President has been in office against Republicans, and it's, as I said, I'm all for free speech. I'm all for if you have opposition to the administration that is fine, but taking it to their private life in restaurants, that is -- that is unacceptable. We need to find a more peaceful way.

BOOT: Alice, how about the fact that Donald Trump calls the media the enemy of the people and that reporters at his rally report feeling unsafe? They're menaced by his supporters. How about that? Is that a problem?

STEWART: I think it is a problem. The President is calling the press the enemy of the people. I've always said that. I think we have to have a free press in this country. And I don't think --

LEMON: Listen correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't hear Democrats calling the Trump supporters angry mobs for reacting to the press the way that they do. Maybe they are, but I don't recall that. Am I wrong?

ROSEN: Look, I think we have -- there are a lot of angry Democrats, but frankly, there are just a lot of angry Americans feeling shutout and shut down.

[23:10:02] That is different than you know a couple of people annoying a Senator who is out at dinner, by the way, which is not nice, but you know, to call women who were shut down whose witnesses were prevented from testifying, who were not heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee, who had legitimate claims, who wanted victims of sexual assault to be, you know, considered thoughtful survivors telling their truth, to call people like that an angry mob as somehow those voices that really weren't heard by the powers that be in many respects they had no choice, but to shout in the hallways of the Congress, because they weren't given legitimate hearings by the FBI, because they weren't given legitimate opportunity to make their stances known. I'm so offended by this notion that when we shut out voices when we don't listen to them and they fight back that all of a sudden they're the angry mob. Instead of the people shutting them down.

LEMON: Hilary, I've got to say though, no one is condoning and no one should be putting their hands on anyone.

ROSEN: Absolutely.

LEMON: No one should be touching anyone else's property or destroying anyone else's property.

ROSEN: Absolutely.

LEMON: But for people -- it used to be the person who would get out in the streets and say I'm mad as hell and not going to take it anymore, that was a commendable attribute and people would see it as your right as an American. Now all of a sudden people are angry and it's a mob. I really don't understand it and I want you guys to listen to this. This is a shocking statement by Republican candidate Scott Wagner threatening Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT WAGNER, (R), CANDIDATE FOR PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNOR: Between now and November 6th, you'd better put a catcher's mask on your face because I'm going to stomp all over your face with golf spikes, because I'm going to win this for the state of Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So Max, Wagner is not polling well. He opened up for Donald Trump at a rally earlier this week and he is clearly trying to channel that fight back mentality, but stomp on your face with golf spikes? I mean, that is.

BOOT: That is so out of bounds. I mean, that is so wrong. I mean, threatening violence against the opposing candidate? I mean, that should be completely out of bounds. As by the way should be what Donald Trump does when he says he wants to lock up the opposing candidates. I mean, Donald Trump and his mini me's in the Republican Party are shredding all the norms of decency and civility in American politics. They are the prime culprits here and they need to be held accountable.

But again I want to stress, Democrats have been guilty of lesser offenses. When progressive activists go out there and hound Republican officials in restaurants, don't do that. That is not helpful. If you want to fight back against this kind of reprehensible conduct and rhetoric on the part of Trump and his supporters, register to vote. Go out and campaign, defeat people like Wagner at the ballot box. That is the right way to fight back. It's not by interrupting somebody whether they're eating in a restaurant with their family.

LEMON: You're right. Listen. I said to you guys before, I don't like it. And it is one reason, that is one of the big reasons people don't put their name on the ballot. What do you do? It's the first amendment of the constitution. I wouldn't want to be harassed in a restaurant. No one want to be, but if you're an official, people who voted for you, they feel that you're accountable to them. That is just how I feel.

ROSEN: Particularly when you stop, you know what happened to Scott Pruitt, it happened to Ted Cruz. When you stop doing your town halls and when you stop making yourself accessible, when you stop, you know, letting people have some legitimate outlets. That is going to happen unfortunately. LEMON: Public officials are accountable to the public. I got to take

a break, Hillary. I got to take a break. Stand by. The first lady is speaking out after her trip to Africa tonight. What she is saying about the administration's policy of separating children at the border and that famous "I don't care" jacket.

[23:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The first lady is speaking out tonight about the administration's immigration policy. Back now Alice Stewart, Hillary Rosen and Max Boot. Alice, Melania Trump spoke to ABC news tonight. Here is what she said. This is about her husband's immigration policy. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELANIA TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP'S WIFE: I believe in the policies that my husband put together, because I believe that we need to be very vigilant who is coming to the country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But do you think people should be able to bring in their mother and their father.

M. TRUMP: Yes, of course. We need to vet them. We need to know who they are.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you told your husband this?

M. TRUMP: Yes, of course.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what does he say?

M. TRUMP: He agrees.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So what do you think of what the first lady said, Alice?

STEWART: It's true. People should be able to bring in their families provided they are properly vetted and they go through the proper channels and they go through the legal process for coming into this country and following the laws and following the rules and coming about it in a legal manner. And I think she is right to feel that way and that is the way it should be as long as they're doing it the legal way through the legal channels that is the way it should be.

LEMON: OK. Hillary, what's wrong? You look troubled.

ROSEN: Well, I'm confused because I guess Mrs. Trump and my friend Alice don't know that the President is actually come out and opposed to this so-called chain migration policy where they're allowing families in. So.

LEMON: Didn't her family come in for family reunification, her parents? ROSEN: Her parents were allowed in, yes, but others have been

blocked. Look, you know, I'm not going to take off after Mrs. Trump for her husband's policies. I don't think that is appropriate, but I do think that it's unfortunate that she said tonight also in this interview that she wore that infamous jacket to go to Texas when it said I don't really care.

LEMON: Let's play it and then we'll talk about it. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[23:20:00] M. TRUMP: I wore the jacket to go on the plane and off the plane. And it was for the people and for the left wing media who are criticizing me and want to show them that I don't care. You could criticize whatever you want to say, but it will not stop me to do what I feel is right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was it that compelled to you wear that at that moment, because you were down there, you had just been with children. And then you put the jacket on.

M. TRUMP: After the visit I put it back on, because I saw how media got obsessed about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, OK. All right. Listen, you're right.

STEWART: Can we just.

LEMON: But do you remember everyone said there's got to be a message. You don't wear that jacket with that on the back and there's no message behind it. Some people said maybe it was her husband, maybe it was to the media. And now she is saying to the media, the White House mocked the media for focusing on it for trying to figure out what it was. And of course, tonight, here it is, you know, the so- called fake news is real.

ROSEN: Her spokesperson specifically said as you recall there was no message.

LEMON: There's no message, right.

ROSEN: No message, right. So now tonight she is telling us exactly the opposite. It was a message. That I think is extremely frustrating. We knew at the time there was a message. We only could speculate on it, but regardless, let's remember, she was going to the border to check on children that have been -- that had been you know aggressively separated from their parents and horrifying ways in painful ways. This is a tearing the country apart. And that was the day that she thought it would be fun to poke at the left wing media? Like, that -- and it's still tonight in this interview when she didn't express pain around that are for those families it's just sad. I find it all sad that she is gotten caught up in her husband's you know attacks on the media instead of focusing on real problems with his policies. LEMON: Max, she also said that she was blindsided by the family

separation. I'll let you continue. But she was blindsided by the family separation policy and she called it heart breaking and unacceptable to see children separated from their parents. Does it sound like he she is trying to have it both ways?

BOOT: I mean, there's good cause to that she really supports the President's immigration policies. I mean, the other thing that she said in the last few days which was amazing was see said that she is the most bullied person in the world which I thought that Chris Hayes had a perfect comeback to that where he said he is never -- he never ceases to be amazed by the way that certain conservatives can be both victims and victors.

You know, I think what Melania Trump is reflecting is also what her husband does all the time, oh, poor me, I'm so victimized. I'm being bullied by the all the people on other side when this is the first couple of the land. They're living in the White House. They're in complete charge and her husband of course, is the number one bully in America which makes you wonder about who the real target of Melania Trump's anti-bullying campaign is.

I mean, be best is something that her husband could take to heart. And the reality is, I don't actually think the that Melania Trump is criticized that much, because like most first ladies she manages to be above politics most of the time and her approval ratings are much higher than Donald Trump's. So her sense of victimhood I think is out of place here.

LEMON: I just think the first lady you know, they're not the President of the United States. They're not the leader of the free world. But I don't think people should be criticizing her for her husband's policies or any first lady for her husband's policies, but to be bullied about fashion for something like that or not to be bullied, but criticized about that is not being bullied. There was a message behind it. And first ladies are always scrutinized. I mean, look, people scrutinized Jacqui Kennedy, they scrutinized Mrs. Ford, they scrutinized Mrs. Reagan's fashion, they scrutinized Mrs. Obama's fashion. They called her -- compared her to animals and to say she is the most bullied person on earth or one of, I just think it's.

ROSEN: She did that.

STEWART: I think it's important to note.

LEMON: Do they ever have real moments of reflection is what I am -- is how I feel because.

BOOT: We got some proportion here.

LEMON: Everyone always thinks that she is going to be different than her husband. She was a birther, as well. She went along with that, as well. So.

STEWART: Don, I think it's important to point out that she clarified that by saying she feels like she is one of the most bullied people, because he is criticized by often. And I think so much gets lost in a --

(CROSSTALK)

BOOT: She is not one of the most bullied people.

LEMON: Criticism is not necessarily bullying, Alice.

STEWART: Granted, I think it was wrong that she wore that coat that day, but it is important --

LEMON: Well, she said it here on the air.

STEWART: More time -- more time was spent on talking about the coat than the compassion that she showed to children on the border.

ROSEN: She did that, Alice. That is her fault.

BOOT: It's funny. Come on.

[23:25:00] LEMON: I got to go. She wore a coat that said I really don't care. Do you.

STEWART: That is her responsibility.

BOOT: I mean, Melania Trump the first lady actually complains that people focus on her clothing rather than her message, but then she wears very striking clothing like she was wearing that kind of colonial out of Africa outfit or when she was wearing that jacket with the not caring message on it. So, I mean, if she doesn't want people to focus on her clothes, I mean, she doesn't have to dresses in such a controversial fashion.

LEMON: OK, I got to go. Thank you all. To be continued. Because I want to talk about, this is a big story right now. The latest on the devastation that is happening in the southeast right now. The death toll now stands at 17 in the wake of hurricane Michael's destructive assault. Hundreds of thousands without electricity. Emergency officials still unable to get some of the hardest hit towns, two of the hardest hit towns, especially in Florida's devastated Panhandle. I want you to take a look at this video. You can see and hear the power of the storm at its height.

Wow. CNN's Martin Savidge is in Mexico Beach, Florida where the city's infrastructure is just gone. The pictures are-- it is just awful right now there.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is. The city manager says it could be anywhere from a year to 18 months before even the infrastructure, the basics of this community are restored let alone everything else. I need to tell you Don, the first fatality here in Mexico beach has been recovered today. It was a male. It was a resident. Recovery teams have come from all over to help out in the search and recovery effort. This person and their name has not been released yet was discovered in what they called the massive debris field. It turns out by the identification they found on him that he was several hundred yards away from his home. So that just again a test to the intensity of this kind of storm and

unfortunately authorities believe strongly they will find more fatalities in the ruins of this community. It's absolutely cut off in many ways not just the roads, but also communication here. There is no communication to the outside world. So part of our effort Don, has been to go around and find those people not in the beachfront homes, these are secondary homes for most folks, they're well to do, but farther inland where the communities are more modest and many live in trailer homes. They have not been able to reach their loved ones. Their love ones on the outside are absolutely probably heartbroken wondering what happened. And the people here are frustrated. So here is just a few people we found tonight who wanted to say I am alive. Listen to their messages.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would just say we're all well and we thank god that we're doing well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We made it. You know, we can be thankful for that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Alive safe and well and that would be to really my oldest because I think she is the most worried.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I may have lost everything, but not my life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are alive, we are OK. We're dirty and filthy, but we are OK and we do have food and water. So we're getting there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Those messages are so simple and yet they are so meaningful to the family members that are waiting in the outside world to know that there's proof of life. So there it is, Don?

LEMON: Thank you, Marty. Ma'am, you don't look dirty and filthy to me. We're glad that you're alive and we are glad that you are fine, right. Thank you, Marty. And we appreciate the people there and we are glad to know that those folks are OK. 17 deaths so far. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:30:00]

DON LEMON, CNN TONIGHT HOST: The race for governor in Georgia is neck and neck, but there is a new twist emerging with just three and a half weeks to go before election day, allegations that Republican candidates are trying to suppress the vote of thousands of people in Georgia, especially African-Americans. CNN's Jessica Dean explains what's going on.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JESSICA DEAN, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: A major dust-up in the state of Georgia weeks before voters go to the polls to choose their governor. The latest point of contention, allegations Georgia's Secretary of State Brian Kemp is using a voter verification law to effectively suppress thousands of African-American voters. Kemp is running on the Republican ticket against Democrat Stacey Abrams.

STACEY ABRAMS, DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL NOMINEE: Now let's go get it done.

(APPLAUSE)

DEAN: In the latest twist, a non-profit advocacy group has filed a lawsuit against Kemp and his official capacity as secretary of state. This after reports that Kemp's office placed a hold on more than 50,000 voter applications, more than two-thirds of which were made by African-Americans for not meeting an exact match requirement. This means anything as minor as a typo or missing hyphen between a valid I.D. and a voter registration can be flagged.

KRISTEN CLARKE, PRESIDENT, LAWYER'S COMMITTEE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS UNDER LAW: The reality is that minority voters are often the ones with unusual names that are sometimes harder for state officials to capture accurately in the state's database, and they are being penalized for that. Our end goal, our end objective with this lawsuit is making sure that there's a level playing field where everyone's voice can be heard in Georgia.

DEAN: The Kemp campaign calls the claims bogus and points to Georgia increasing its voter rolls under his leadership. "Under my tenure as secretary of state, Georgia has shattered records for voter registration and turn-out across all demographic groups. Despite any claim to the contrary, it's never been easier to register to vote in Georgia and actively engage in the electoral process."

The Abrams campaign says Kemp is using his authority as secretary of state to boost his chances, saying in a statement, "this isn't incompetence, it's malpractice. Brian Kemp needs to resign his position so that Georgia voters can have confidence that their secretary of state competently and impartially oversee this election."

The Kemp campaign strongly denounces the accusations as a "sad campaign tactic," and says it's Abrams who is up to dirty tricks, calling this whole thing a "manufactured crisis to turn out her base."

[23:35:08] The secretary's website points out voters with registrations on hold can vote on election day if they show an acceptable form of identification which is already required to vote in Georgia. Kemp's team says it's this controversy itself that's suppressing the vote. "By telling people they can't vote, they actually think they can't vote. And that's a sad state of affairs."

Concerns of voter suppression are not just contained to Georgia. Since the 2016 election alone, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU says nine states have passed laws that either make registration more difficult, require an I.D. to vote, reduce early voting or purge voter rolls, alarming activists.

CLARKE: We don't believe that in our democracy in 2018 that states should be erecting barriers that negatively harm and hurt minority voters.

DEAN: Back in Georgia, a new poll shows a very tight race for governor and that neck and neck race makes these allegations of voter suppression there even more pressing for those who say thousands of voters could be impacted. Don?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right. Jessica, thank you very much for that. We've got a lot more on that, next.

[23:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: An uproar over voter registration in Georgia and the middle of a race for governor, one of the tightest contests in the country, finger pointing on both sides.

I want to bring in now Symone Sanders and Stephen Moore to talk about it. Good evening to both of you. Symone, you heard this report about what's going on in Georgia and other states. How do you see what's happening? Do you think the GOP is making it harder for folks to vote?

SYMONE SANDERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, Don, I do. This is a calculated effort. If we just want to talk about Georgia for a minute, what the secretary of state, Brian Kemp, has done is absolute -- this is absolutely of his doing. I'm going to tell you why.

This law, this exact match law used to just be a policy with the policy of the secretary of state's office. Nobody even knew about what was happening. The only reason anybody found out is because the new Georgia project that has gone around registering folks to vote pulling in unlikely and new voters found that 50,000 people that they registered to vote one year were not on the voter rolls.

And that's when they found out that the secretary of state's office had this policy, this exact match system. They have sued the secretary of state's office in Georgia a number of times, but they came to a consensus on this particular piece of his policy.

While that consensus came about, the secretary of state's office reached out to the legislature and the legislature ended up introducing a bill on this exact match policy. And the bill that we're now sitting here talking about today that has become law.

And so this has been a calculated effort on the part of Brian Kemp and this is just one example of what Republicans are doing across the country to suppress and really make impediments to the ballot box.

LEMON: Stephen, do you disagree?

STEPHEN MOORE, CNN SENIOR ECONOMICS ANALYST: Look, I'm totally against voter suppression efforts and so I think we should make it as easy as possible, Don, in this country for people to register to vote. It's our most basic right as a citizen of this country, voting. And so it's really an important right and we want to make sure that the government doesn't restrain that right.

Now, that said, look, I don't know all the facts of the case in Georgia, so I can't comment on that. But I have studied, you know, elections in the past and there is no question -- and I think this is where liberals run into some problems here -- we do have a problem with voter fraud in this country and liberals just denied that it happens, but we know there have been --

LEMON: Stephen, there is no study that shows that. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, they find that voter fraud is "extraordinarily rare."

MOORE: I just totally disagree with that, Don.

LEMON: They also compile studies and reporting that show that non- citizen voting is "vanishingly rare." Others have debunked the president's claim that millions improperly voted in 2016.

MOORE: This is the problem. I mean, we just the roll completely differently. I mean, we have evidence of dozens of --

LEMON: Then president's own voter fraud panel disbanded because they could not prove anything in court. Stephen, come on, facts matter.

MOORE: Don, if that's the case, if that's the case, then how come there are dozens and scores of counties where in some cases you have more people voting than people registered to vote? I mean, we know this kind of thing happens. We know that there's voter fraud --

LEMON: Maybe it's a clerical error. Maybe it's not -- it's not -- maybe it's a clerical error.

MOORE: That you have more people voting in the county than people registered to vote? That means that a lot of people who are not properly registered are voting. Now, here's the question I would pose to the two of you. What is wrong, I mean in your report, you said, oh, all these states have voter I.D. laws. Why doesn't every state haven't a voter I.D. law? Why is it so unreasonable that when someone goes --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Hold on, hold on, hold on. Both of you, stop, please. What the whole crux of the story is not voter I.D. laws. This is about purging people from the voter rolls.

MOORE: And I'm against that. I'm totally against that. What I'm saying though is liberals -- and in your report, you said there's all these states that have voter I.D. laws as if that's some kind of violation of people's right to vote. No. Would you have protection for people --

SANDERS: Let me give you an example. Let me give you an example. MOORE: -- have the right to vote. Look, if somebody votes who doesn't have the right to vote, you're actually disenfranchising the people who do vote because --

SANDERS: That's a very rare instance. But let me give you -- let me ask you a question. You asked why do so many, quote unquote, liberals, and I think you're talking about me because Don Lemon is a journalist, not a liberal. Why do so many liberals, if you will, have issues with voter I.D. laws?

We have issues with voter I.D. laws because it harkens back to a poll test during the Jim Crow era. It harkens back to before black people and other people in this country were able to vote.

Unless you're going to make drivers licenses free and you're going to open up and expand the places where folks can go and get the proper identification in order to vote or if you're going to expand, I mean, in some places in this country, you can register --

[23:45:01] LEMON: Quickly, Symone, I'm running out of time.

SANDERS: -- you can vote with a gun license, but you can't vote with a student I.D. And I'll just say in Lake County in Indiana --

MOORE: OK, we can argue about what the --

LEMON: I got to go. I got to go, guys. I'm sorry.

SANDERS: -- in Lake County in Indiana prior to, they had to sue.

LEMON: We're going to continue to follow --

MOORE: -- to show a voter I.D. --

LEMON: We're going to continue to follow this after the midterms. I'm sorry. I'm out of time. I'm so sorry. It's important to reiterate though the Georgia secretary of state's website points out that voters with registrations on hold can vote on absentee ballots during early voting or on election day if they show an acceptable form of identification which is already required to vote in Georgia. We'll be right back.

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[23:49:57] LEMON: This Sunday, we'll continue our last ride around the world with Anthony Bourdain with a special new episode of "Parts Unknown." It highlights Anthony's second show in Iran, featured CNN global affairs analyst, Jason Rezaian. Jason is also a global opinions writer for "The Washington Post" and he joins me now.

Jason, thank you so much for joining us. You and your colleagues at the "Post," "The Washington Post," you're doing an absolutely remarkable job reporting on the fate of your colleague, Jamal Khashoggi. There is so much more new information coming out tonight.

So, let's talk about it. Turkey's pro-government newspaper, Sabah, is reporting that their government has audio recordings of what they say is Khashoggi's murder from his Apple watch. What's the latest information you're getting?

JASON REZAIAN, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: So that's the latest that I've heard as well, Don. And I think if that turns out to be true in how the Turks have gathered this information and evidence that they've been talking about for the past couple of days, it would be a truly stunning development.

And I think it would also indicate that Jamal had concerns going into the consulate, if he had the presence of mind to set up the audio to be recording on his phone while his fiancee still had the actual phone outside.

So, you know, it's disconcerting, it's horrifying, but it's also kind of speaks to the fact that he had these security concerns potentially.

LEMON: But how skeptical should we be of information coming from Turkey? Should we be at all?

REZAIAN: Well, I think we need to remain skeptical until we have very clear evidence that this is what happened and that's how they got it. Obviously, it's a consulate. They might be bugging the place and have surveillance equipment inside. But I think, you know, we always have to remain somewhat skeptical especially when foreign news outlets are reporting on things going in their countries.

LEMON: What are you and your colleagues been hearing? What have you been hearing from his fiancee?

REZAIAN: Well, I haven't spoken to her directly myself. We published an op-ed from her this week, asking for more of an investigation and more help from the U.S. government in figuring out what happened and why and how this could happen.

But I think that there's still some security concerns for Jamal's children. You know, a couple of them have been able to leave the Middle East. I believe that one of them is still inside Saudi Arabia and were obviously very worried about their fates.

LEMON: OK. We will continue to report on this, and I know you will as well. So thank you for discussing that. So let's talk about -- can we turn to Anthony Bourdain now, because you appeared in two episodes of the show, just after the first when you taped with him in Iran, that was back in 2004. You were arrested and in prison for 544 days.

REZAIAN: Yeah.

LEMON: How did Anthony support you through that captivity?

REZAIAN: Well, you know, while I was locked up, I did not really know about all the advocacy that he was doing on my behalf, highlighting the arrest of my wife and I. And, you know, that started almost immediately.

If you go back and read the op-eds that he wrote and the interviews that he did on CNN, he was in our corner. We had met him one time in Tehran, and we had this wonderful encounter with him that was very genuine and friendly.

And we felt like we had a friend. We just didn't know how much of a friend we actually had. And, you know, when I got out and heard about all of this and was able to see the interviews and read the things he had written about us, it just was so meaningful to me that I wanted to reach out and tell him that.

And I wrote to him and we met really soon after that in New York, and, you know, this beautiful friendship blossomed out of it. And Tony was kind of a pivotal person for my wife and I these last couple of years.

LEMON: So, this week's special episode of Anthony Bourdain's impact, here's a preview. Let's watch it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, CELEBRITY CHEF AND TELEVISION PERSONALITY (VOICE OVER): I've seen it on TV and read about it in the papers. It's a much bigger picture. Let's put it this way. It's complicated. And I think it's going to shock the hell out of you.

REZAIAN: People couldn't believe it. Iranians in Iran and Iranian- Americans were genuinely really happy and appreciative that he would come and do this show there in a place like Iran where visitors from abroad and especially visitors from America are few and far between.

[23:55:00] It matters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Jason, why did his decision to go there matter so much?

REZAIAN: Well, you know, Iran is one of the countries that we have the smallest window into. You know, we know so little about that country outside of it. And it's so difficult for Americans to travel there.

And I think one of the feelings that the people of Iran often have is that, you know, the American media, the American government often conflates the people with the government, and that couldn't be further from the truth.

So it just meant so much that he would come and give them a voice in his show the way he did in so many different places around the world. But I know that for him that was a really special one.

LEMON: Jason, thank you so much. I appreciate your time.

REZAIAN: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: An all new episode of Anthony Bourdain "Parts Unknown." It airs this Sunday, 9:00 p.m., only on CNN. We'll be right back.

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