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Erin Burnett Outfront
Trump: "Second Amendment People" Could Deal With Clinton; New Poll: Clinton Leads in Iowa, Ohio and Pennsylvania; Conservative Challenger Could Cost Trump Key State; Mormons' Distrust of Trump Puts Utah Up for Grabs; Orlando Gunman's Father Attends Clinton Rally; Polls About to Close in Speaker Ryan's Primary Race. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired August 09, 2016 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:00] ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next, the breaking news, Donald Trump accused of making a death threat against Hillary Clinton. Did he?
Plus, more breaking news. New polls show Clinton leading in key battleground states and double digits in Pennsylvania. Can Trump close the gap? And Trump says he loves Mormon, but the feeling doesn't seem to be mutual. Could it cost him the election?
Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news. Donald Trump speaking to supporters at a rally in North Carolina making a comment that may interpret as a dangerous threat to Hillary Clinton. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Hillary wants to abolish -- essentially abolish the Second Amendment. By the way, if she gets to pick -- if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Now, let me play a crucial moment here. We've highlighted a man behind Donald Trump, watch his face after Trump says these words.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And you see his jaw drop. The reaction outside the arena and not just that man and what appears to be his wife outside the arena was fast and furious. Clinton's campaign was clear on what they thought Trump meant saying in part, this is simple, what Trump was saying is dangerous. A person seeking to be the president of the United States should not suggest violence in any way.
The Secret Service released a statement saying that it is, quote, "Aware of Trump's comments." We have a lot to talk about with my panel here with me for this special hour.
First though, Jim Acosta begins our coverage OUTFRONT. And you were in the room when Trump made this comment, Jim. But now the campaign is fighting back. Moments ago Trump talking about the Second Amendment again, but that controversial line was missing.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Just a few moments ago in Fayetteville, North Carolina, he glossed right over that comment. That was not the case earlier today when as you mentioned jaws were dropping here in Wilmington, North Carolina, as Donald Trump appeared to be saying that Second Amendment supporters could do something about Hillary Clinton.
It sounded like his most outrageous statement to date during the course of this campaign. Democrats quickly accused Donald Trump of inciting violence but the Trump campaign maintains there is nothing to see here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): Firing up a big and rowdy crowd in the now- critical state of North Carolina, Donald Trump offered this cryptic warning about Hillary Clinton's plans for the Supreme Court. It sound like he was suggesting that Second Amendment supporters could take matters into their own hands.
TRUMP: Hillary wants to abolish and essentially abolish the Second Amendment. By the way, and if she gets to pick -- if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is.
ACOSTA: The comment was so brazen it shocked people sitting right behind Trump. The Clinton campaign immediately cried foul.
SEN. TIM KAINE (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I think he was just revealing as he has in many other statements that he's made. Just no understanding for the role of leader and I don't find the attempt to roll it backward persuasive at all.
The Trump campaign clarifying the candidate's comments saying, it's called the power of unification. Second Amendment people have amazing spirit and are tremendously unified which gives them great political power and this year they'll be voting in record numbers and it won't be for Hillary Clinton, it will be for Donald Trump. The uproar sparked by Trump's remark once again raised questions about the GOP's nominees ability to stay on message. One of the campaign's top surrogates conceded Trump's simply botched the point he was trying to make about Clinton's position on guns.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was awkwardly phrased.
SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R), ENDORSED DONALD TRUMP: It may have been awkwardly phrased, but he talks aggressively to the people. ACOSTA: But former CIA Director Michael Hayden who just signed a
letter along with dozens of former national security officials pledging to never vote for Trump said the Second Amendment comments could have unintended consequences.
GEN. MICHAEL HAYDEN (RET.), FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: You are not just responsible for what you say. You are responsible for what people hear.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Now Donald Trump and Mike Pence are being asked about these comments that were made by Donald Trump earlier today in a local interview here in North Carolina, Trump said that he was talking only talking about the power of Second Amendment supporters whereas Mike Pence told a station in Pennsylvania that, no, of course not, Donald Trump was not inciting violence. So, as far as the Trump campaign was concerned, Erin, he did not incite violence today. Of course Democrats are pushing back on that very, very hard -- Erin.
[19:05:01] BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Jim.
And Jeff Zeleny is on the trail with the Clinton campaign OUTFRONT in Miami tonight and the Clinton campaign reaction was extremely swift, but not actually from the candidate herself -- Jeff.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: It was indeed, Erin now. But so far we have not heard directly by Secretary Clinton and that is by design. She was asked about this this afternoon by a reporter at a political stop. She declined to answer a question on it. She is at fundraisers right now here in Miami tonight. She's making the case that he is an unacceptable leader and a dangerous leader but I'm told by age, she is going to not dwell on this.
In some respects she doesn't have to. We saw her running mate there make some harsh comments about it and of course, her campaign manager said this is an example of Donald Trump being dangerous here. But Democrats are rallying to her aid, to her side tonight, Erin. One we are taking particularly notice of is from Elizabeth Warren, the senator from Massachusetts. Look at this tweet that she sent out just a few minutes ago here.
It says, Donald Trump makes death threats because he is a pathetic coward who can't handle the fact he's losing to a girl. So, Erin, not exactly high-minded conversation on either side of this campaign tonight. Some 91 days to go before Election Day.
BURNETT: Yes. That tweet sort of makes it a race to the bottom.
All right. Thank you very much, Jeff Zeleny.
And OUTFRONT now, Trump supporter, Republican Congressman Chuck Fleischmann joining me now. And thank you for being with me, sir. You heard the Clinton campaign statement, all right, calling Trump's rhetoric dangerous and continuing to say a person seeking to be president of the United States shouldn't suggest violence in any way. Were Trump's comments acceptable?
REP. CHUCK FLEISCHMANN (R), ENDORSED DONALD TRUMP: Well, I think what we're seeing, Erin, is a very desperate Clinton campaign that owns an agenda, an Obama agenda of eight years that they have clung to, almost religiously and they are looking for statements that have been made from time to time. Obviously this was not the most articulate statement that Mr. Trump could have made, but when the American people focused on the last eight years and the promise that Donald Trump offers for the next four years, I think the choice is going to be abundantly clear. Trump is going to bury her. The Clinton campaign and the Clinton agenda is an abject failure just like the Obama agenda.
BURNETT: OK. Now, putting aside poll which don't show that right now. Polls can change but polls do show her ahead, I want to really focus if I can, sir, on the specific issue at hand about the Second Amendment comment. One other tweet that came out from some Democratic Senator Chris Murphy and he said in his tweet, don't treat this as a political misstep. It's an assassination threat seriously upping the possibility of a national tragedy and crisis. Look, it's a Democratic senator, but he uses the word assassination threat. That is what some people heard, even if as a joke or is a misstep, that is what many people heard. If he meant something else and he wants to be president, should he have been more careful with his words?
FLEISCHMANN: Obviously, when you're on the campaign trail both senator and Secretary of State Clinton have made major miscues in some of the ways that they articulate their message, I think what we really need to focus on is where are the American people and where does Donald Trump want to take them and where does Hillary Clinton want to take them? It's abundantly clear that the last eight years have been a great failure and that Clinton is trying to stick to things that are not all that important.
Let me say this. Let me say this. The Second Amendment is critically important to Americans. I represent wonderful people in East Tennessee, and I just won a primary with 84 percent. The reason why is because I stand up for the Second Amendment. Let me tell you what the people who love the Second Amendment are going to do. We will cure this at the ballot box in a resounding victory, and in Tennessee, it's going to be all over our great nation.
BURNETT: And perhaps that is a way that Donald Trump could have articulated what he meant if that's what he meant. But the past three CIA directors before we go, they've all said they cannot support Donald Trump. Today General Michael Hayden who has previously said he won't support Trump was asked specifically about the Second Amendment comment and he said something pretty specific that I wanted to play for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAYDEN: If someone else had said that outside the hall he'd be in the back of a police wagon now with the secret service questioning him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So Congressman Fleischmann, what do you say to that? I mean, the issue is here, what he said today. What do you say to General Hayden?
FLEISCHMANN: Well, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I have a lot of respect for General Hayden, but let's face it, the American people and not the General Haydens of the world, not the check -- of this world, not the elites of this world, but the good American people, the great American people will going to decide this election. They've got a choice. They may choose Hillary Clinton which is going to be an extension of the last eight years of failure of the Obama administration or they may choose a new path forward.
There is not a perfect candidate out there. I've run for public office before and during the time you campaigned, sometimes you say things that you'd like to take back. But you have to focus on where are we going to go on this great country?
BURNETT: OK.
FLEISCHMANN: Are we going to move this country forward economically, we're going to make it strong again. We're going to make us great again or are we going to have a continuation of the last eight years? I think the choice is going to be abundantly clear. So, as we move forward, there will be a lot of rhetoric, some of it, we will like some of it, we won't like.
BURNETT: OK.
FLEISCHMANN: But the problem is America is languishing.
BURNETT: All right. But Congressman --
FLEISCHMANN: Internationally America is languishing domestically.
BURNETT: OK.
FLEISCHMANN: We need to move this great country forward candidly given the choice, Trump versus Clinton, Trump wins it easily.
[19:10:44] BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much. I appreciate your time.
And I want to get straight to my panel, David Gergen is with me, four presidents he serves as adviser to, anti-Trump Republican Tara Setmayer, Trump supporter Kayleigh McEnany, Clinton supporter Maria Cardona who works for a pro-Clinton Super PAC, senior advisor to the Trump campaign Boris Epshteyn and Clinton supporter Basil Smikle.
Maria, what is your response to Congressman Fleischmann? He didn't want to talk about this issue although at one point he said sometimes you say things you wish you could take back.
MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, a couple of things. So, let's focus on that. Clearly Donald Trump hasn't taken this back. This is something that he has said and the violence that he has inciting and there's no question, there's no spin, there's no excuse for the words that he used. If there are, then he should say what it was that he meant instead of what he -- and the words that he used which clearly do seem to be inciting violence.
And by the way, this isn't the first time. This is somebody who from the moment he stepped out on to the campaign trail has been inciting violence, he talked about wanting to punch people who are protesting early on in his campaign. There were two people who beat up a Hispanic man up in Boston because they said this is what Trump wants us to do. He needs to take responsibility for this kind of language.
BURNETT: Of course.
BORIS EPSHTEYN, SENIOR ADVISER, DONALD TRUMP CAMPAIGN: To be fair, and Trump's supporter was just shot outside of a Trump rally just a few days ago. That's one. Two, Donald Trump actually did answer questions on this specific point, he just didn't interview and he specifically said that all he was talking about was political power, not violence in any way whatsoever, he's talking about the -- let me finish now. Over 90 million people own guns in this country legally and that's great political power. The NRA has great political power and those folks who unite behind him and make sure that he's the one that's present, he's picking the next judges and not Hillary Clinton. So, he has answered that exact question.
(TALKING OVER EACH OTHER)
BASIL SMIKLE, EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, NEW YORK STATE DEMOCRATIC PARTY: I need to speak to this because you know, I grew up at a time when a lot of the people I grew up with before they graduated from high school were shot and killed. I myself was shot at 12 by a 14-year-old. So I take gun violence very, very seriously. So when you were the leader of a national party and you get up on stage and intimate that violence can be used in situations where you disagree and what no one has really talked to which you spoken to is the pattern.
Someone who goes on stage and talks about punching. Someone who allows his audience, to say lock her up, taking away her liberty and no one is taking responsibility for that. Clearly the candidate is not. And I think that's the problem. The former CIA director is right -- the former CIA director is absolutely correct, you are responsible not just for what you say, but how people interpret what you say.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: This is so absurd to me. He said if Hillary Clinton appoints judges, maybe there is nothing you can do, but maybe there is something the Second Amendment folks can do, guess what they can do in this country, you can file amicus briefs, you can bring cases before the Supreme Court with a friendly set of facts, there are things you can do, but of course, the Never Trump movement and Democrats --
(CROSSTALK)
No, you have to let me finish. Everyone on this panel, not everyone, but some of you want to feign outrage at every single thing Donald Trump says. You screw at every syllable. You look at it through the most negative lens possible, when there was another way to see that comment. When I heard it, I said, oh, yes, file an amicus briefing.
SMIKLE: But that's exactly the point that I'm making. Because there was a good percentage of this country that will view this comment in a very different way and react to it and that's what --
(TALKING OVER EACH OTHER)
And it has nothing to do with party politics, and my point is that if you are the head of a national party, if you are the standard bearer of that party, you have a responsibility to speak to everybody and to be mindful of the consequences and the arena in which you say it.
EPSHTEYN: Hillary Clinton doesn't speak to everybody.
(TALKING OVER EACH OTHER)
BURNETT: So, earlier today he said that and he didn't say take action by going to vote. Right. He let it hang. Right? Whatever he meant, the truth is at the next rally that he's giving right now, he took that line out. Isn't that admitting right there that he realized that it was taken in the wrong way?
EPSHTEYN: Well, first of all, it's Donald Trump, and we know for a fact that the speeches are not scripted and that's why he's done so well. That's why he's done so well.
BURNETT: OK. Fair. Fair.
EPSHTEYN: So, he was -- that's why he's doing 14 million --
CARDONA: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
EPSHTEYN: Let me finish. Fourteen million in the primaries, look at Florida, look at Ohio, look at North Carolina. These are tied --
CARDONA: Right.
EPSHTEYN: Now, to our specific point, obviously, the speeches are not scripted and that's again, why he's such a strong candidate. To that specific issue, he did an interview right before the second rally and he specifically answered what he meant and it was all about --
MCENANY: That's not what he said.
EPSHTEYN: Let's talk about gun violence. Let's talk about gun violence in this country and it's growing under Barack Obama. That's what we should be talking about.
BURNETT: All right. I'm going to hit pause. I'm going to hit pause because we'll going to be right back after this to keep talking. Next, the breaking news with the polls which were just mentioned. Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump in key battleground states. Several polls breaking tonight as another Republican senator said she cannot vote for Trump.
Plus, Donald trump professes his love.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Do I love the Mormons, okay? Do I love the Mormons?
BURNETT: Well, is the feeling mutual? And standing right behind Clinton at a rally, the father of the gunman in the Orlando Nightclub Massacre. The father of a terrorist. Why was he there?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:18:58] BURNETT: Breaking news. Hillary Clinton tonight building her lead in some crucial key battleground states. New polls show Clinton leading Iowa, Ohio and in Pennsylvania where she's opening up a double-digit lead. According to an NBC poll, Clinton at 11 points ahead, 48 to Trump's 37. And a new Quinnipiac poll from Pennsylvania shows Clinton with the 10 point lead, 52 to 42.
Sara Murray is traveling with the Trump campaign. She is in Fayetteville, North Carolina. And Sara, these polls obviously are something the Trump campaign is watching very carefully.
SARA MURRAY, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's absolutely right, Erin. We know that they are all in in a number of these battleground states. He's been campaigning much more heavily in the general election than we ever really saw him do in the primaries and there were a couple of states where he does have reason to be hopeful. If you look at the latest Quinnipiac numbers in Florida for instance, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are basically neck and neck.
Hillary Clinton is at 46 percent and Donald Trump is at 45 percent. Obviously that is a pivotal battleground in the fall. Let's take a look at what's going on in Iowa. This is an interesting poll. An NBC/WSJ/Marist poll and it does show Hillary Clinton with an edge. You see her at 41 percent. But Donald Trump is certainly in the hunt there. He's at 37 percent. Now, some of the places that might be a little worrisome now is that even though Trump is in the hunt in the latest Ohio polls, he is still trailing Hillary Clinton.
And right now, Erin, the polls have him getting smoked by ten points in Pennsylvania and the Trump campaign has made no secret of the fact that they're really relying on these Rust Belt states, like Ohio, like Pennsylvania in hopes of coming to victory in November. So, certainly in a place like Pennsylvania, they want to close that gap and in a place like Ohio, they definitely want to flip the numbers that they're getting right now with Hillary Clinton -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right, Sara. Thank you very much. I want to bring back my panel along with our special correspondent Jamie Gangel who interviewed Republican Senator Susan Collins today breaking the news that Collins would not back Trump. David Gergen, let me start with you though on these polls. You hear
Sara going through them. Ohio, both of the polls out of Quinnipiac and NBC, five points and four points favor Clinton. All these swing states obviously are not looking good for Trump. Exception though, Florida with Clinton only ahead one point. So Florida really looking like a dead heat, but Ohio, Pennsylvania, these are not good numbers for Trump.
DAVID GERGEN, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: You know, you do have to say that Trump is doing well in the south, from Florida, you go up to North Carolina and she's a little ahead but he's very competitive there and possibly not in Virginia, but the rust belt states are critical in his path to victory, you can't get there without the rust belt states and the most devastating news today was Pennsylvania, you know, that's opened up a double-digit lead and --
BURNETT: In both polls.
GERGEN: Yes. In both polls and he's also behind in Ohio and think about what just happened here in the last couple of weeks. And just yesterday, Tom Ridge, former governor, popular governor of Pennsylvania, came out against him and thought, you know, he was a reckless president, that's in Pennsylvania. Next in Ohio, what's going on? He's got a war going on with John Kasich, the governor who was the most popular man in the state. You cannot win those states if the people who are helping -- if you dismissed people and were running them as hacks and people of the past, you have to work with them to win, and if he can't take Pennsylvania, it's very, very hard.
TARA SETMAYER, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR REP. DANA ROHRABACHER (R): And it's not only there, but the states are traditionally red, there was a poll that came out recently that showed Clinton up by seven in Georgia. You know, Mitt Romney won Georgia by nine points. Georgia hasn't gotten Democrats since 1992. Arizona is now a dead heat. Where Donald Trump was up at least six points, now it's a dead heat in Arizona which hasn't gone Democratic, I think once in 1992 since Barry Goldwater.
This is a problem for Donald Trump, so if he can't even hold red states. Then, the battleground states like we're talking about, those are must win. You have to win Ohio. Utah is another state that people, you know, seem to think at all is just Utah.
BURNETT: Right.
SETMAYER: In Utah he got his butt handed to him, 69 to 14 percent during the primary. It's 60 percent Mormon, that state does not like Donald Trump and now you have someone with an independent candidate coming in who doesn't have the chance for anything --
BURNETT: We could have more on that in just a moment.
SETMAYER: And Utah, that's very real. The Mormons don't love Donald Trump.
BURNETT: And we have a special report on that coming up. But Jamie, this issue, Susan Collins.
JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Right.
[19:23:06] BURNETT: And you spoke to her and she said, she has never not voted for the Republican.
GANGEL: Correct.
BURNETT: In her life, right? There's never been a time she switched and always voted for the Republican. You asked her about why she's not supporting Trump and here's what she told you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: Donald Trump, in my judgment, would make a perilous world even more dangerous. I worry that his tendency to lash out and his ill-informed comments would cause dangerous events to escalate and possibly spin out of control at a time when our world is beset with conflicts. That is a real problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: You've now interviewed several high-profile Republicans who have made this switch. More coming?
GANGEL: Absolutely. I think that we're going see a growing number of people, and I think Senator Collins, look, this is not a complete surprise and she's been saying for weeks, for months that she was troubled and concerned, but the fact that she is coming out gives, I think, some cover to other people who want to come out. I asked her about John McCain who is one of her best friends. He's having a very tough primary. She said very carefully, that's his decision to make, but she also said, he has as offended as I am. And of course we've heard John McCain say that. So I think in the next couple of weeks, we are going to see that list growing and growing.
BURNETT: Boris?
EPSHTEYN: Well, again, we are concentrating on just a few individuals here. Fourteen million people came out for Donald Trump in the primaries and we are concentrating on a few GOP officials who of course we want us a Trump campaign, we want their support and we hope to win that support by the time November 8th rolls around and we are concentrated on the voters all over the country. Not on the specific polls in Utah, a poll just done in August 4th, Trump is up 37-25. In Ohio, when you count Johnson and Stein, he's only down by two well below the margin of error -- about four within the margin of error. If you don't count those, so if you look at the whole picture right now, Donald Trump is doing fine.
(TALKING OVER EACH OTHER)
MCENANY: But we ignore the fact that he ran against Republicans in Washington. Despite that, he has the endorsement of 37 senators, 25 governors, 166 House members. I'm surprised he has that many because he ran on the notion that these people have failed you, and I will bring in a new order of people in Washington. We never focus on the fact that he does have a myriad of endorsements despite the fact he ran against the very people who are endorsing him.
BURNETT: All right. All staying with me. And next, Donald Trump in danger of losing the must-win state of Utah.
Coming out, how a conservative Mormon could make the entire difference in the electoral map.
Plus, this man's son committed the worst domestic terrorist attack since 9/11. And yet he's standing right there behind Hillary Clinton at a rally last night. Why was he there?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:30:00] BURNETT: Tonight, a Trump challenger kicking off his presidential campaign. Evan McMullin, a conservative Mormon, former CIA agent in the state of Utah, perhaps a major threat to Donald Trump, could he cost Trump the White House?
Kyung Lah with our OUTFRONT report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, we need another choice.
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The airwaves of Salt Lake City radio carries the Mormon movement against Donald Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not going to vote for Donald Trump.
LAH: Gail Risica (ph), lifelong LDS church member and influential state conservative, was part of the Utah insurgency to free their delegates on the RNC floor so they wouldn't have to back Trump. She now has a new man.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going to be talking this morning to Evan McMullin.
LAH: To introduce for her listeners for lack of any better options, she admits.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We believe in voting for moral people. We want to vote for wise people, moral people, people who live gospel standards.
LAH (on camera): We're less than a hundred days before the election.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know, but I believe in miracles.
LAH (voice-over): Call this a Never Trump's Hail Mary. Supporters need 1,000 signatures to get Evan McMullin on Utah's ballot which they know they'll get, the plan, stop Trump and get their conservative elected.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We waited and waited.
LAH: McMullin state director also a Mormon says in Utah, faith is the factor. Utah is 60 percent Mormon, last voting for a Democrat in 1964. And while Trump has said he'll win that voting bloc.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Do I love the Mormons, OK? Do I love the Mormons?
LAH: The Mormons don't all love him back.
(on camera): Does Donald Trump conflict with your faith?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. Clearly, some of the ideas and things that he has said and put forward as potential policies of his potential White House, I would be heartsick about if those policies actually came to light.
LAH (voice-over): Many Mormons, a faith persecuted by the federal government a century ago, recoil of Trump's call to ban Muslim immigrants leading the church to prelease an unprecedented statement saying Mormons support religious freedom. Today, LDS is a global religion second in the U.S.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want to hear him speak about minorities and I get really nervous about the future of our country.
LAH: Then there's Trump's style.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trump's a real bully. He stands at the pulpit and he's talking and he bullies people.
MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump is a phony and a fraud.
LAH: With Mormon leadership anti-Trump, from America's most prominent, to the lieutenant governor, the governor and Senator Mike Lee, even state Democrats for the first time in decades smell opportunity and Hillary Clinton's campaign says it has some staff on the ground and Bill Clinton will visit the state this Thursday.
McMullin's supporters say their campaign won't hand the states to Clinton. They're confident they'll get their unknown to win.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I'll let Donald Trump speak to his ability to win the LDS vote. We feel confidently that we are going to earn victory in Utah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH: Certainly, Mormons hold the most sway here in Utah, but they also are influenced in other states and the battleground state of Nevada, as well as the state of Arizona, pushing that state ever so slightly out of the bright red category and one big influence we are watching, Mitt Romney. He has yet to meet McMullin according to a source close to Romney, but, Erin, he says he's looking forward to what he has to say -- Erin. BURNETT: All right. Kyung, thank you very much.
And my panel is back.
Kayleigh, let me start with you. Donald Trump has to win every single state that Mitt Romney won in 2012, and then he has to win a few more in order to win this election. Utah is a must-win state. Utah is not a state under discussion and yet here it is. Are you worried about it?
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Not at all, because the Utah policy poll shows him up by 12 points and I know when they look at the Supreme Court and realize the Heller decision, the right to bear arms say 5-4 decision, Hobby Lobby, can't force companies to provide contraception, 5-4 decision to immigration ruling, 4-4 decision. They're not going to let non-conservative justices get on the court.
And they're not like the Never Trump movement who wants to promote liberal values. They, in fact, care about conservative values and will show up and vote Republican.
BURNETT: Maria, the Clinton campaign is sending Bill Clinton to Utah. Utah has not backed a Democrat since 1964. So, are we getting way too ahead of ourselves to have this conversation? Does Kayleigh have a point?
MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The other thing that Mormons care about is civility. Mormons care about being a neighbor. Mormons care about making sure that you treat other human beings the way that we've all taught to be treated one another.
Donald Trump doesn't do that. And so, what they're saying that they're not supporting Trump is that he does not represent their values as a religion. He does not represent their values as a conservative, and I think it speaks volumes about the trouble and the hold that the Trump campaign is, and I know that they try to spin it and massage it and say they're not worried, and all of that.
Now, I'm not saying that we'll win Utah, but I'm saying with this kind of movement against Trump there's no way they have a viable movement electorally to 270 votes.
(CROSSTALK)
BORIS EPSHTEYN, TRUMP SUPPORTER: What movement? There is no --
BURNETT: Boris, we all can agree, it's not just -- you have a small percentage of the population that's Mormon. It's 60 percent of the state of Utah, OK? This matters significantly and they've been very loyal to Mitt Romney, OK?
Here's what Mitt Romney has said about Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMNEY: Donald Trump is a phony, a fraud. His promises are as worthless as a degree from Trump University.
I believe on the basis of temperament and character that those are areas where I feel I simply can't vote for him.
Presidents have an impact on the nature of our nation and trickledown racism and trickledown bigotry and trickle down misogyny, all of these things are extremely dangerous to the character of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: He's got to overcome that, Boris.
EPSHTEYN: I respect Mitt Romney. I supported Mitt Romney in 2012. To be fair in 2012, Mitt Romney had very different words to say about Donald Trump.
BURNETT: Fair.
EPSHTEYN: That's one. Two, if you look at the polling again, Donald Trump is up by 12 points in Utah. We're fine in Utah. You win big league --
BURNETT: I'll just note only for the record and it's not a poll CNN recognizes and it may be true or may not. I want to make sure people understand that.
EPSHTEYN: So, most recent polling, OK? So, he won by a large amount in Nevada in the primaries, by a large amount in Arizona, he'll be fine in Utah. Again, we as a campaign and Donald Trump as a candidate are not focusing on any one religion, any one background. The goal is to appeal to the whole spectrum of voters and the LDS folks absolutely care about the national security and the economy where Hillary Clinton has failed her whole life.
BASIL SMIKLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I'll just say very quickly and there is an interconnectedness that we need to pay attention to here. They have four members of Congress and the first Haitian American woman member of Congress in the country. So how Donald Trump talks about immigrants really does matter.
Susan Collins may not -- Susan Collins doesn't necessarily mention it in the interview, but there are 12,000 Somali refugees living in her state, as well. So, when Donald Trump speaks ill about Muslims, when he speaks ill about the immigrant community --
(CROSSTALK)
SMIKLE: Excuse me, this will have reverberations across the country even in red states.
BURNETT: It's having reverberations right now, Tara and David.
Donald Trump just completed an interview with FOX News, OK, talking about this issue and the issue tonight about what he said about the Second Amendment, answering the criticism that people say that he was inciting violence against Hillary Clinton. He says, "The NRA, as you know, endorsed me. They're terrific people. Wayne and Chris, and all the people over there," referring to the leadership at the NRA, "and they tweeted out basically they agree 100 percent with what I said and there could be no other interpretation, even reporters have told me. I mean, give me a break."
TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: OK, first of all, I'd like to see the NRA come out saying that they agree with what Donald Trump said. I'd be curious to see that because Donald Trump plays loose with words all of the time. Words matter and contrary to what Kayleigh may think that we're parsing every single word and that's a problem and --
MCENANY: Syllables --
SETMAYER: Syllables or words, whatever. This is not a game and I would think that you would want to expect excellence from the president of the United States and not mediocrity and that's not what we get out of Donald Trump all the time. You're damn right we expect --
(CROSSTALK)
SETMAYER: You talked all day.
BURNETT: OK, Kayleigh --
SETMAYER: We expect Donald Trump to be accurate in what he says and we're going to criticize what he says because he's running for the presidency and words matter.
(CROSSTALK)
EPHSTEYN: Who are you supporting for president?
SETMAYER: Feint outrage, that's not what that is, and as never Trump people who look at Donald Trump as a disgrace, we're not liberal and there's nothing liberal about me, number one. I have never supported someone who's pro-choice like Donald Trump. And I've never given money to Democrats.
EPHSTEYN: Who are you supporting for president?
SETMAYER: I've work on nothing like conservative values and everything, unlike Donald Trump. And people like you who cast aspersions on people like me who are never Trump, I think it's despicable.
(CROSSTALK)
SETMAYER: He's the one that just became a Republican.
MCENANY: Maybe Democrats and my colleagues were unaware that there were means you could take when you appoint liberal judges, that the NRA is not (INAUDIBLE). You can file amicus briefs, you can get --
SETMAYER: That's not what he said! (CROSSTALK)
SETMAYER: If you want to listen to the rest of that clip he said it would be a horrible day. What was he meaning? You have Roger Stone running out there who is his buddy going out there saying that the system is rigged and that there will be revolution and blood in the streets because the election is rigged.
(CROSSTALK)
SETMAYER: It's your buddy Roger Stone who supports Trump. I'm not making it up.
BURNETT: David, go ahead.
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Are you okay?
(LAUGHTER)
GERGEN: Thank you for coming back to this because I do think this is a major day in the campaign and we ought to get real about the argument. For years, people have been defending gun rights, and they've made the basic argument, we have to have the right to bear arms and in case, we have a tyrannical government and we've got to be able to fight back.
[19:40:02] That's what it means, to be a Second Amendment-type supporter. You're -- that's defending your freedom.
But let's be clear and it is about the right to bear arms and attack tyrannical government, and now, we had arguments in the last few years, Harry Reid's race where the Republican candidate for the Senate said in the event that basically we lose and we have Second Amendment remedies and the right to bear arms basically, she said, to go after them and to go after the people who do that.
And she lost that -- she went way too far. That's what's going on here and that's why it lends itself to this interpretation. There may be other -- hold on -- just hold on. Listen --
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: Go ahead and finish, David.
GERGEN: When we hear that from Donald Trump it lends itself very reasonably to that interpretation. I just want to make one other point. Some of us lived through the '60s. We remember the assassinations of the '60s. I worked with two presidents who had would-be assassins, Gerry Ford and Ronald Reagan came within an inch of losing his life. Ever since then, it has been verboten, it has just fundamental in our politics that no one goes off anywhere close to that line and I'm talking about talking about violence against your political opponents.
You just don't do that and Donald Trump is traveling --
(CROSSTALK)
MCENANY: There say liberal view, and the conservative world view.
(CROSSTALK)
CARDONA: This underscores why Donald Trump is absolutely, completely unfit to be president of the United States and leader of they from world.
EPSHTEYN: He's not the one that's getting billions of dollars to Iran. He's not the one that's caused for Iran state-sponsor of terrorism. And --
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: Thanks to all.
Next, the father of Orlando nightclub shooter saying he's an avid Clinton supporter. Why did he have such a prominent spot just behind Clinton at this rally last night -- there he is in the red hat.
And the breaking news, the polls about to close in Wisconsin. Could a little-known challenge stage a major upset against Paul Ryan tonight?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:46:01] BURNETT: Tonight, the Clinton campaign facing questions about why this man stood behind Clinton at a rally last night. He's the father of the terrorist who carried out the deadliest mass shooting in American history, the father of a man who killed 41 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando. So why was Seddique Mateen standing right behind Clinton on camera, front and center?
Brian Todd is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A rally where she needed to connect with voters in the most important battleground state of them all.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Whoa! This is fabulous! Thank you!
TODD: A raucous crowd in Kissimmee, Florida, just a drive from the spot where 49 people were killed in the worst mass shooting in American history help Hillary Clinton began by thanking the Orlando police and city leaders for their response to the Pulse nightclub massacre.
CLINTON: And I know how many people, family members, loved ones and friends are still grieving.
TODD: But as she says that, sitting just behind her in the red cap with a large mustache, Seddique Mateen, the father of the Orlando shooter, one supporter in the backdrop that campaign never expected. SEDDIQUE MATEEN, FATHER OF ORLANDO NIGHTCLUB SHOOTER: Clinton is good
for the United States versus Donald Trump.
TODD: Mateen spoke to CNN affiliate WPTV about why he showed up.
MATEEN: It's a Democratic Party, so everybody can join.
TODD: Mateen showed a banner supporting Hillary Clinton, for among other things her position on gun control. This is a man who once touted himself as a candidate for president of Afghanistan, and in the week after the Orlando massacre, held rambling incoherent news conferences.
MATEEN: I didn't know what I was saying.
TODD: The optic of a terrorist's father so prominent at a Clinton event is irresistible for Trump supporters.
KATRINA PIERSON, NATIONAL SPOKESWOMAN, DONALD TRUMP CAMPAIGN: This was a slap in the face to the gay community who were actual targets of that terrorist attack, so not only should she apologize, but she should absolutely denounce.
TODD: Seddique Mateen says he was invited to the Clinton rally. Hillary Clinton's people say not by them.
A campaign aide telling CNN this was an open-door event for the public and, quote, "The campaign was unaware of his attendance until after the event. But this unforced error by the Clinton campaign in a key battleground state has even supporters saying they need to do some damage control.
PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: They need to go battle stations here. They need to disavow this guy. They need to fire the advance person.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: All right. Brian, it is pretty stunning when you look at that, OK?
TODD: Right.
BURNETT: It's stunning and it's upsetting.
Are the people behind Clinton vetted before they are placed so close to her that this guy is sitting there on camera the whole time?
TODD: Well, Erin, we have a reporter embedded with the Clinton campaign and his name is Dan Merica. He told me that the earlier today that the campaign has advance people, often very young people, who go through the crowds at these events and they look at people and they pick people to go up on stage.
Now, often these people are VIPs who are familiar to the campaign. Sometimes they are people who reflect diversity in age or race, but these are young people who do it and clearly the people who did it at that Florida rally did not recognize Seddique Mateen.
BURNETT: It's pretty incredible, especially when you think about the motive doing it for diversity and the whole thing.
All right. Thank you very much, Brian Todd.
And OUTFRONT next, we have breaking news. The polls in Wisconsin are closing soon. It's a major night. Could the House Speaker Paul Ryan really lose his seat?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:52:43] BURNETT: And the breaking news: polls are about to close in Wisconsin. The House Speaker Paul Ryan tonight trying to avoid an upset against an unknown challenger. This should have been a routine, reelection victory for the highest ranking Republican in the country. But Ryan's opponent Paul Nehlen is running on the same message as Donald Trump, putting this race into the national spotlight.
Manu Raju is OUTFRONT from Ryan's hometown. That's Janesville, Wisconsin.
And, Manu, the Ryan campaign never thought that this would get to this point.
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they certainly were prepared for a possibility of a primary challenge, but they never really thought it was a real serious challenge to their seat.
Now, Paul Ryan also did not really take it for granted. He actually raised a ton of money ending this campaign with about $9.5 million in cash on hand and also advertising in this district and at least three adds promoting his record, and recognizing that while Paul Nehlen has yet to gain much traction, this is a year when there is a lot of frustration with Washington, a lot of antipathy towards Washington insiders, and Paul Ryan is the speaker of the House.
So, in that regard, he took it seriously. But really, there is no evidence yet to suggest that Paul Nehlen is really going to make one of the biggest upsets in electoral history, if he does do that tonight.
Now, I did speak to Mr. Nehlen a little bit earlier about his prospects. I asked him twice whether or not he thought he would win and he did not say that. He said he expected a moral victory because he thought Paul Ryan had pared back his position on trade because he had been railing Mr. Nehlen against that trade issue. But the third time I asked him whether or not you think he'll win tonight, Mr. Nehlen -- this is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL NEHLEN (R), WISCONSIN CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Absolutely. I feel very strongly that we will be. And, you know, we have run a fabulous campaign at the doors and we are getting a lot of great numbers coming in over the past week. I mean, shocking numbers. So I feel very comfortable that we ran everything that we possibly could.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Now, pretty rosy assessment. No one really thinks at this point that that upset will happen. We'll see what happens when the polls close and Paul Ryan here addressing reporters shortly after to talk about this race and not really a victory party, just talking to reporters, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much.
[19:55:01] And David Gergen is back with me.
This is the Trump effect, right? I mean, sure, Trump finally endorsed him at the last hour.
GERGEN: Right.
BURNETT: The penultimate hour. No one would have even thought that this would have been a story.
GERGEN: Absolutely, and I think Paul Ryan is going to win this. There was a recent poll that he was ahead by 66 points.
BURNETT: Right. Right.
GERGEN: Sixty-points. So, it's going to be hard to beat him, but what Republicans are concerned about is what's going to happen to the Trump voters after this campaign is over? If Trump goes to the White House, that's one thing. What if he loses? Where do the Trump voters go?
Are we going to continue to see people who believe in many things Trump has been arguing challenging the Republican establishment? Could someone pull off another Eric Cantor kind of upset? Remember how Eric Cantor was just --
BURNETT: Nobody thought that was a story. I remember it actually happened and they said you might want to -- we have a story here and no one saw it coming.
GERGEN: Exactly. And so, given the volatility in politics, there was a lot of concern. But what ultimately happens when the Trump voters are part of our coalition and are they happy, and are they keep trying to knock off the establishment? That's the big issue tonight.
BURNETT: All right. Well, David Gergen, thank you very much. Obviously, those polls are getting ready to close in Wisconsin for Paul Ryan.
We're going to take a brief break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: And thank you so much for joining us. Don't forget, you with watch OUTFRONT any time, anywhere on CNN Go. We'll be back here tomorrow night.
"AC360" with John Berman starts right now.
