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Erin Burnett Outfront
Trump Breaks From Immigration Plan He Just Revealed; Clinton Answers Questions From Press Onboard Plane; Biden: Clinton Trying to Figure Out How to Fix Trust Problem; Trump: "I'm Going to Do Great With the African-American; Clinton Opens Up About the Monica Lewinsky Scandal; U.S. Officials: Russia May Be Trying to Influence U.S. Election. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired September 05, 2016 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:11] PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: OUTFRONT next, Donald Trump's mixed messages on immigration. Here is to be getting muddier. He now says, he's quote, "not ruling anything out."
Plus, breaking news. Hillary Clinton back on the trail speaking at a Labor Day event right now as we speak and she is taking questions from the traveling press for the first time since December.
And a tense moment between President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin as concerns grow Russia. It could interfere with the U.S. election. Let's go OUTFRONT.
Well, good evening. I'm Pamela Brown in for Erin Burnett. In OUTFRONT tonight nothing ruled out. Just nine weeks before Election Day and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump appears to be changing his position on undocumented immigrants again. For months, Trump has vowed to carry out mass deportation of 11 million immigrants here illegally in the United States. Well now he says he is not ruling anything out. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of Republicans plans have talked about letting people have a legal status, just be able to live here, work here. And people who've lived here a long time and contribute to society.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We are going to make that decision into the future. Good question. I'm glad you asked that. That decision will be made. Our first thing is to get all of the bad element out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: From what Trump said in his big speech on immigration laws weeks stating repeatedly that the only path to legal status would be to leave the country and then reapply for reentry. Take a look here. You're looking live where Hillary Clinton is rallying in Hampton, Illinois earlier today. Clinton shot down talks that Trump is trying to soften his stance on immigration telling ABC News and our quote, "It is clear his advisers are scrambling to try to present a new and different Donald Trump. But the fact is, there is no new or different Donald Trump."
This as both candidates are hitting the battleground states hard today with just 64 days until the election. Sara Murray is OUTFRONT. So, Sara, what is the Trump campaign saying about this apparent shift?
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pam, so far the campaign has not responded to how we should read this latest adjustment to how Donald Trump talks about his immigration policy. But remember, his advisers have really been out there for weeks sort of softening the edges of Donald Trump's policies. And it was in this immigration speech last week that he really laid out a hard line tone. Now it appears he back to softening.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MURRAY (voice-over): Donald Trump muddling his immigration stance even further today now saying a decision about granting legal status to undocumented immigrants will come sometime down the road.
TRUMP: We'll going to make that decision into the future. Good question. That decision will be made.
MURRAY: And Trump and his team try to win over voters in the final 64 day stretch. They're trying to water down parts of last week's hard line immigration speech.
TRUMP: For those here illegally today who have seeking legal status, they will have one route and one route only, to return home and apply for reentry.
MURRAY: And give the candidate the wiggle room in dealing with undocumented immigrants.
RUDY GIULIANI (R), FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR: Donald Trump as he expressed in one of his interviews recently would find it very, very difficult to throw out a family that's been here for, you know, 15 years. And they have three children, two of whom are citizens. And that is not the kind of America he wants.
KELLYANNE CONWAY, DONALD TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Once you turn off the jobs magnet, jobs and benefit magnet, then we'll see where we are. And we don't know where we'll be. We don't know who will be left.
MURRAY: Today in the battleground state of Ohio, Trump is also taking advantage of the Labor Day holiday to bring his economic argument to union leaders.
TRUMP: I always have it just sucked out of it going to Mexico and other countries.
MURRAY: His day on the trail almost resembling a traditional politicians. And he held a roundtable popped by a local diner and visited one of the largest fairs in the Buckeye state.
TRUMP: What an incredible group. Thank you, everybody.
MURRAY: All of this as Trump is betting his surest path to victory comes from hammering his Democratic opponent.
TRUMP: She didn't have the energy go to Louisiana and she didn't have the energy to go to Mexico.
MURRAY: But Trump's best chance to take on Clinton is sure to come on the debate stage. Events the hard to pin down candidate now says he wouldn't miss.
TRUMP: Hurricanes, natural disaster, I expected to do -- I think it's an important element of what we're doing. I think you an obligation to do the debates.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[19:05:03] MURRAY: Now, these are the comments we have from Donald Trump so far saying, he will participate in all three of those very important debates going into the general election. And you can bet the candidates are just going to be sprinting until the moment they hit that debate stage. Tomorrow, Trump will be campaigning in two very important battleground states, Virginia and North Carolina -- Pam.
BROWN: And the race is on. All right. Sara Murray, thanks so much.
And OUTFRONT now, CNN political Director David Chalian. So, David, this seems like a case of dejavu here where Donald Trump seemingly changed his stance on immigration once again.
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: He definitely muddied the picture a little bit again today, Pam. There is no doubt about that. Let's just break apart sort of where we've seen the progression of Donald Trump. As Sara's piece pointed out for much of all the nomination season, he was in for mass deportation, get everyone out. Then last week we did hear him say that he would decide on the disposition of the undocumented immigrants that are here who have not committed other crimes, sort of, quote-unquote, "The good ones as he called them."
He would decide that later. But while also saying that he and his aides were all over television last week saying, no legal status. To get legal statues, they would have to go home but will decide on the disposition later. Today he opens the door to legal status being decisive later and, you know, that is now another wrinkle in trying to iron out exactly what his plan is for the 11 million or so undocumented here.
BROWN: So, on that note, if Trump stands by his comments that he made today, will this hurt him with his base to those staunch supporters?
CHALIAN: Well, it could. Because last week he was really trying to thread a needle. As you know, he was, you know, giving that sort of fire brand speech in Arizona and making sure the conservatives stayed with him. But opening up that little bit for the more broad general election audience, saying hey, I'll decide, the quote-unquote, "good ones later." Now, if he is going even further in that softening, he may have to be worried about his right flank and what some of those conservative hardliners on this will want from their candidate.
BROWN: All right. David Chalian, thanks so much.
And OUTFRONT right now, the executive director of the New York State Democratic Party, Basil Smikle, he is a Hillary Clinton supporter. Former Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, he was still receiving severance from the Trump campaign and is a CNN political commentator. The national spokesperson for MoveOn.org Karine Jean- Pierre. She is a Hillary Clinton supporter. And a member of the National Diversity Coalition for Donald Trump Paris Dennard.
Could you guys shorten your titles please?
(LAUGHTER)
That was a mouthful. My goodness!
(INAUDIBLE)
Yes. Yes, you did. Wow! All right. So, we are off the heels of what we just heard David Chalian say basically, that this is being perceived as a softening of his stance, Corey. You heard what Donald Trump said last week. Anyone here illegally who wants legal status, would need to leave and then come back through the proper channels. But then today he said he is not ruling anything out when it comes to getting legal status to people in the U.S. illegally. What is going on here?
COREY LEWANDOWSKI, FORMER DONALD TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Look, I think what Donald Trump said today was they're going to make a decision about what to do with anywhere between 11 and 16 million illegal immigrants in the future. And the first thing what he said, he is going to build a wall, defund sanctuary cities, implement a real e-verify program and then make sure that before you do anything we can control to flow of immigration to the country.
That's the first step. And the second step is actually finding out how many people are actually in the country illegally. Now the Clinton campaign said last week there are 16 million people. What we saw was a government record say, there are 11 million people. Five million people difference is a huge number. So, before you can decide what to do with those people, you have to first count how many there actually are.
BASIL SMIKLE, EXEC. DIRECTOR, NEW YORK STATE DEMOCRATIC PARTY: All right. Well, listen, I think what we need to understand is the fundamental approach of Donald Trump and the Republicans is build a wall, deport them all. That's really what it comes down to. Which is to me a horrible message. Because even the flip flops are problematic. If you take Rudy Giuliani for example, really his chief surrogate, he was mayor of the city of New York, the so-called sanctuary city and he had a far softer tone on immigration and a pathway to legal status than he does now attaching himself to Donald Trump.
So, I find a lot of the language around where Donald Trump stands right now, very hypocritical, number one. Number two, I do think this fundamental difference is important. Because what Hillary Clinton the Democrats are saying is, these are individuals who are contributing positively to the American economy and American society. And let's find a pathway to legal status for them. Deferred action for parents, for children and let's take care of our dreamers. It is a fundamental difference and it's a very, very important difference.
BROWN: Right. There is a practical matter of all of this, Paris. How do you actually go about deporting 11 million or more undocumented immigrants. But my question is we, and we heard Donald Trump saying last week saying, you have to leave the country, comeback to the proper channels and then today saying, he is not ruling anything out. Is he trying to have it both ways here by keeping the door open? Is he trying to keep his base and also try to, you know, appeal to those moderates?
PARIS DENNARD, TRUMP NATIONAL DIVERSITY COALITION MEMBER: You know, I think when you run for president and when you want to be president of the United States, you have to go from campaigning into governing. And governing is very difficult. And so he has to set priorities. And I think what Mr. Trump is telling the American people that he has priorities. The first priority is getting rid of those illegal immigrants who are committing crimes and considered criminals.
BROWN: Which is already happening by the way under President Obama.
DENNARD: Right. They called him a deporter-in-chief. And so, that's one of the things that Mr. Trump wants to do. Again, you want the American people to know he has a ten-point plan. And it is important for our viewers to know that he has this ten-point plan. Now, people are paying attention after Labor Day. This ten point plan he's wanted to implement. After that, he's going to put the laws that are on the books, the future laws that will be put in by the Congress and then those who remain, he is going to come up with a decision on how to get rid of them respectfully and humanely. That is something that a leader does. They don't just make this blanket determination --
BROWN: That's not necessarily square. And I see what you're saying --
DENNARD: Yes.
BROWN: And he does have this ten-point plan. But that doesn't square with what we heard Rudy Giuliani say that he has a hard, he's going to be humane, he's talking to deport these families. And I think there is this perception and this confusion from some people that there's not sort of a clear message on what's going to happen, to those that aren't criminals who are here in the U.S. illegally, Paris.
DENNARD: Well, I think it's important that it's Mr. Trump. So, we can talk about what surrogates say or what his advisors say but it's what Mr. Trump says or what his plan says. And Mr. Trump isn't very clear. There is no new Trump. There is no new plan. It has been a consistent Trump but a consistent plan on this illegal immigration issue.
BROWN: You're shaking your head, Karine.
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, NATIONAL SPOKESWOMAN, MOVEON.ORG: It hasn't been consistent and clear. That's the problem. I mean, he doesn't have an immigration plan as far as I can see it. But he changes his stance every day. You know, it's almost as if he goes where the wind blows him, right? And it is just incredibly confusing. It's these faux pivots. It is like he is manipulating us and the press and quite honestly, it is the opposite of being presidential.
SMIKLE: And I would have to say, he is not talking to the immigrant community. He is talking to his supporters to try to soften his edges. And to me that's all about just sort of taking him into the general election and making his supporters feel more comfortable with voting for him. She not talking to actual immigrants and trying to find a pathway to improve their lives.
BROWN: Very quickly, Corey, final word.
LEWANDOWSKI: Okay. At the end of the day, what you have seen is, he's laid out a very specific plan. What he said is going to triple the number of ICE officers so they can do their job and prevent the number one thing when you're both shaking on water is to plug the leak, build a wall, stop people from coming in and them know what to do with the people that are here after that.
BROWN: All right. Thank you all. Stick with us. Because we have a lot more to talk about.
OUTFRONT out next. Hillary Clinton now in the homestretch slamming Trump and getting a little winded along the way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Every time I think about Trump, I get allergic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Plus, Trump praised and hammered for his trip to a black church. Is Trump changing minds?
And CNN special report, Hillary Clinton opens up about her darkest hour to me. She talks about the Monica Lewinsky scandal and much. And how she enlisted her friends for support.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: They would try to make me laugh. They would recommend books to read. We would go for long walks. We would hang out, you know, eat bad food.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:16:55] BROWN: Breaking news, Hillary Clinton back on the campaign trail and she just finished speaking to supporters in Hampton, Illinois just moments ago. Clinton taking questions from her Travelling Press Corp for the very first time since December. Clinton was asked whether the FBI interview about her e-mail server where she said, I do not recall 39 times showed a casual attitude towards classification.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I went in to the State Department understanding classification. I bet on the Senate Armed Services Committee for years before I was secretary of state. I take classifications seriously. In fact, I couldn't remember certain meetings, whether or not they had occurred. It doesn't in anyway affect the commitment that I had and still have to the treatment of classified material.
BROWN: Suzanne Malveaux is OUTFRONT tonight, because Suzanne, big change for Clinton today.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They call the plane helm Hill Force One. It holds up 40 reporters and yes, kind of funny nickname. She is simply having more trouble with the openness, with the media, just go round, and when I covered her back in 2008. But sure to her words, she did Ricaforte (ph) on that plane, she went to the back of the plane and took some questions and gave some answers covering the e-mail controversy, Russian hacking as well as some of the questions, the conspiracies about her health.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): Hillary Clinton is kicking off the final push to Election Day.
CLINTON: We believe we are stronger together and that is in stark contrast to Donald Trump.
MALVEAUX: Campaigning today with running-mate Tim Kaine at a Labor Day rally in Ohio.
CLINTON: We need to make sure we have an election that validates the kind of positive future that will make life better for the people of Ohio. An empty promises and racist attacks won't do that.
MALVEAUX: Even managing to swipe at Donald Trump in the midst of a lengthy coughing fit.
CLINTON: Every time I think about Trump I get allergic.
MALVEAUX: The Democratic nominee also debuting her new campaign plane.
CLINTON: Hey, guys.
Hi!
CLINTON: Welcome to our big plane. It is so exciting. MALVEAUX: A Boeing 737 with her signature H-logos and Stronger
Together on the side. Clinton greeting the Press Corp which will now travel on the same plane as Clinton.
CLINTON: I am so happy to have all of you with me. I was just waiting for this moment.
MALVEAUX: Clinton's plan even crossing paths with Trump's on the tarmac in Cleveland today.
SEN. TIM KAINE (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: She show you how important Ohio is, we'll be here a lot.
MALVEAUX: Team Clinton is spending Labor Day blanketing key states with surrogates. Her husband at a parade in Detroit and a picnic in Cincinnati slamming Trump's recent trip to Mexico.
VICE PRES. JOE BIDEN (D), VICE PRESIDENT: That damaged America and every serious country in the world.
My name is Joe Biden. And I work, I work for Hillary Clinton and whatever the hell this guy's name is.
MALVEAUX: And Vice President Biden appearing alongside Kaine in Pittsburg, riling up the labor base.
BIDEN: For so many people like Trump who look at us like we're not their equal, I am sick of it. I have had it up to here.
MALVEAUX: Even former rival Senator Bernie Sanders speaking to voters in New Hampshire on Clinton's behalf.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: On every issue Hillary Clinton is the superior candidate, hands down.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: And Pam, Hillary Clinton also answered a question about the conspiracy theories around her health. The reason why that happened is because we saw in Ohio she struggled with a coughing fit that lasted about five minutes or so. She recovered. But it was clear that that had impacted her. And then later in the gaggle on the plane when she was answering questions, she started coughing again, had to excuse herself and then came back.
She did answer that question about it. And she said, look, she does not pay attention to these conspiracy theories. There are so many of them she says she is tracked of all of them, she said that it is just not important but that is one of the thing that the Trump campaign is already so I think to take advantage of the campaign manager sweating out as well saying that perhaps Hillary Clinton is allergic to the media because the media was on the plane -- Pam.
BROWN: All right. A lot of back and forth today, Suzanne Malveaux, thank you so much. And I have my panel back with me.
Paris, I want to start with you on the heels of what we just saw there. Donald Trump had been criticizing Hillary Clinton for focusing too much on fundraising not being out in the trail enough. You saw her out there today. She has a new press plane, she's been answering questions on a range of issues. Did she show today that she is back in full force and that should this be a concern for the Trump camp?
[19:21:43] DENNARD: No, I don't think it should be a concern for the Trump campaign. Because look, he has been doing that consistently. While she was doing her fundraising and hiding from the press for 275 days, he was engaged with the black community, he was engaged with the Hispanics and going to Mexico and leading on these issues. I mean, look, Secretary Clinton spoke to you, for a longer to you than she did the press about for your upcoming special on her. And so, it's important for the American people to see that in these past two weeks in this general election campaign, one candidate is serious about earning the vote, one candidate is serious about engaging in the community and the other one is more focused on fundraising.
BROWN: But in fairness, Trump doesn't have a press plane like Clinton does.
JEAN-PIERRE: Yes.
BROWN: So, Karine, what are your --
JEAN-PIERRE: Well, yes, so many thoughts here but I'll start here. So, look, we have 64 days left until November 8th. Hillary Clinton is actually in a better position than Donald Trump is. Because she has the fundraising advantage. She has a clear path, multiple paths to 270 because that's what matters in this election. And so I think that's the thing to look at. And she has a superior campaign. She actually has armies of people on the ground in these 10, 15 important battleground states.
And also, the thing to not forget, early voting starts very, very soon in just a few days. I think it starts in North Carolina this week. And you know, one-third of the general electorate votes early, we saw that in 2008 and we saw that in 2012. So, you have to have a real campaign to do that face to face organizing that actually works and to bring out your voters. And she has that advantage.
BROWN: Well, this is certainly a crucial stretch that we're heading into Labor Day and beyond. I wanted us to listen to this sound from my colleague Jeff Zeleny. He actually did a couple of interviews today with Vice President Joe Biden and as well as Hillary Clinton's running mate. And Jeff asked about the candidate's record, disapproval ratings. And here is some of what Joe Biden had to say about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: The truth is Hillary knows it's a problem and she is trying to figure out how to remedy it. And my advice to her is the best way to remedy is talk about what you care about and talk about it with some fashion and people will see through it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Basil, is it too late for that?
SMIKLE: No. It's not too late for that. And I think Joe Biden is right. You have to talk about the things that you're passionate about. Ultimately, no matter where the polls have been or aren't today, as we get closer to the actual election, voters are going to be going to the polls thinking about the policies that they care about the most, what's going to motivate them to pull that lever or fill in that circle. And I think at that point, it's those policies that I think make Hillary Clinton a superior candidate to Donald Trump. Because it's those policies that I think Americans will affect their lives on a day-to-day basis. She gets extraordinary remarks for the kind of work and policy acumen that she has under his policy.
BROWN: Corey?
LEWANDOWSKI: Look, I commend Hillary Clinton for holding the First Quasi Press Conference 225 days (ph) since last December since before Christmas of last year. You could have a baby in that time and she had the press conference. But that said, I actually agree with Joe Biden. She has some real problems with her negatives, she understands that. It's not getting better. What we see is that these are two candidates who are historically looked at by the American public as unfavorable. And what this comes down to unfortunately for many of his people as, who am I going to vote for at the end of the day, for what Basil said on the issue I care most about it.
It's an immigration issue. I think Donald Trump is going to do very well there. If it is an issue and well as jobs in the economy and terrorism, we see that he has traditionally done very well in those issues. If it is an issue where you won a third term of the Obama administration, you're absolutely voting for Hillary Clinton come November. If you want to expand ObamaCare, you want to vote for Hillary Clinton. If you want to continue to increase our national deficits, you're voting for Hillary Clinton. So, there is a clear choice here. There is no question about it.
(TALKING OVER EACH OTHER)
BROWN: Clear choice. But I mean, really, you take a step back, I mean, just kind of taking a step back looking where we are, candidates have such high unfavorable. Seth Myers speaks to today said, people are really worried. Who are they going to vote for November when you look at the unfavorables? Paris?
DENNARD: Those are recent New York Times story that talked about focus groups that they did. Looking at African-American millenials. And the interesting thing that they said that they figured out what they're going to say about Mr. Trump is when they looked at Hillary Clinton, they were surprised to see that these millennials were saying they still don't trust her. There is something about her that is dishonest and untrustworthy. And so, that is a problem for Secretary Clinton moving into this
especially when you see Mr. Trump in two polls. Two different polls having eight percent of the black vote. So, you have to -- the Clinton campaign has to be worried about the engagement that he is doing and how they're to message to all of these committees in order to win.
[19:26:13] SMIKLE: Well, but very quickly, I don't think, the campaign is not worried.
JEAN-PIERRE: No.
SMIKLE: There is no paranoia as some people have argue that there is paranoia. There isn't that. Because there is a very very long history of engagement in communities of color by Hillary Clinton herself and the campaign broadly. So, I don't think there is any paranoia but there is work to be done. And she is prepared to do the work.
BROWN: You just teed me up for the next segment. After this brake, we are going to be talking about minority outreach from the candidates. So, thank you for that.
OUTFRONT up next, Trump intensifies his push to win over black voters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think I'm going to do great with the African-American. People can walk down the street without getting shot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Plus, a CNN special report, Trump's daughter Ivanka on whether her father is a sexist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IVANKA TRUMP, DAUGHTER OF DONALD TRUMP: I think actions ultimately speak louder than words.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:30:55] BROWN: Well, tonight, Donald Trump voicing confidence about winning over African-American voters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I think I'm going to do great. Crime rate is through the roof, through the roof. People can't walk down the street without getting shot. I'll stop that. There are no jobs. I'm going to bring back jobs. The Democrats haven't done it.
The level of poverty is 40 percent. The youth can't get jobs, 58 percent unemployment. And I say, I mean, I'm going to fix it. Why wouldn't they vote for me?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: So, this comes after Trump's highly published visit to Detroit over the weekend. And our Jim Acosta is OUTFRONT with more.
So, Jim, the Trump campaign says Detroit was the first of many outreach attempts to black voters. Does the campaign have any other events planned at this time?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Not on the schedule right now, Pam. But we do understand from talking to campaign officials that, yes, they do plan on having other events down the road during this campaign. The campaign events that were scheduled over the weekend were largely to sort of respond to that criticism that Trump was receiving that, he was delivering this message about wanting to court African-American voters. You recall as some of those events where you said, what the hell do you have to lose, to the African- American community when it comes to voting for him. But he wasn't delivering that message in black communities. He was delivering that in largely white communities.
And I have to say, Pam, the contrast with the tone he adopted at those largely Caucasian communities, Trump was much more measured in a speech at this church in Detroit over the weekend. He described the African-American faith community as one of the greatest gifts to this nation.
So, Trump was definitely dialing down his rhetoric and trying to be very gracious in front of a crowd, in front of a community that is not always receptive to him. Keep in mind, this is a Republican presidential candidate who used to question President Obama's citizenship, whether he was actually born in the United States. And because of that question he has constantly raised in the past, he doesn't do it so much anymore, there are suspicions in the African- American community, and that's reflecting in the poll numbers.
He shows up in the single digits in a lot of states around this country. And that's likely to continue. But Donald Trump said today, talking to reporters on his campaign plan, that he continues to plan on doing this and he wants to court African American voters. He said they should be voting for him. The question comes in the end, Pam, whether or not that message is going to resonate, considering everything that he said in the past.
BROWN: Yes, that is the question. Will it pay off? Jim Acosta, thank you so much.
And OUTFRONT now to discuss, two people who were at Trump's Detroit's speech, senior pastor of Holy Ghost Cathedral in Detroit, Bishop Corletta J. Vaughn. She is a Hillary Clinton supporter.
And we also have Pastor Darrell Scott, a Donald Trump supporter joining us.
Thank you both for coming on this Labor Day. We do appreciate it. And, Bishop Vaughn, I want to start with you. You're a Hillary
Clinton supporter, but did Trump change your mind at all?
BISHOP CORLETTA VAUGHN, CLINTON SUPPORTER, ATTENDED TRUMP SPEECH IN DETROIT: No, ma'am. And thank you for having me, Pamela. No. Absolutely not.
BROWN: So, what did you think of his speech?
VAUGHN: I thought the speech was well-written and it was really pretty well-delivered. As we say in the African American church, he killed it. However, it was not convincing enough for me and for I would say the majority of the Clinton constituents that fill that room to move us towards his campaign. He did not really present any policies or plans and I don't think that that was the context.
But it was very clear that he was constrained and that he was trying to be cordial. But I don't think he counts the fact that we have forgotten or have not forgotten what he has done in the past.
BROWN: So, did you want an apology out of him? Is that what you felt was missing?
VAUGHN: You know, African American people, we were kind of hoping that he would have started with, you know, just saying some of the things or at least he says he misspeaks, but at least acknowledging some things that he had said in the past.
Of course, his attacks against the current sitting president has been offensive to our community and we have not forgotten that. So, at least own it that you have said it and come forth with that as the opening statement.
[19:35:05] If I have said something in the past that has offended you as a community, certainly, I apologize for that. I think that would be a deal breaker for us.
BROWN: So, Pastor Scott, what do you think? Do you think he should have maybe acknowledged some of those things that he said in the past offended people in the African-American community?
PASTOR DARRELL SCOTT, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER, ATTENDED SPEECH IN DETROIT: Well, first of all, I thought Mr. Trump did a tremendous job at the church. And he was there for an interview with the Impact Network, the largest African-American owned and operated gospel network in the country. So, he was there for an interview.
And when he found that Bishop Wayne Jackson was having church service on that day, he decide today attend church. It wasn't a rally. It was a stump speech. It was simply him attending church, addressing the congregation and having some remarks that he thought would be appealing or remarks that he felt the congregation would be concerned about.
Now, as far as him offending anybody, you know, to offend you have to offend intentionally. You know, you look at someone's motivation. The birther issue, once again, contrary to popular opinion, was not begun by Donald Trump. It was begun during the 2008 elections by Hillary Clinton supporters.
Donald Trump didn't pick up on it until 2011.
BROWN: To be clear, there's no proof Hillary Clinton herself was directly involved.
SCOTT: I never said Hillary Clinton. I said --
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: I know. I'm just emphasizing that, according to a CNN fact check. Go ahead.
SCOTT: It came from Clinton supporters and at that time, it was deploy by the supporters of Hillary Clinton to help sway the campaign in her direction, but that's neither here nor there.
Mr. Trump is entitled to believe it or not. He was not a lone wolf in that that he let it. So, it is what it is.
Now --
BROWN: Go ahead.
SCOTT: Now, however, now, in addressing the church, I thought he did a fantastic job. And I know for a fact a number of people told me, hey, I wasn't voting for him before and I'm voting for him now. And there's a large segment of African-American pastors that lead large churches that have told me personally, I like Trump. I'm going to vote for him. I'm just not vocal about it, because they feared the backlash from our community.
What I don't understand --
BROWN: I want Bishop Vaughn to jump in here and get her reaction because we can see he wants to see something. Go ahead.
SCOTT: Well, I want to say something, too.
VAUGHN: Thank you, Pamela.
BROWN: We'll go back to you. Don't worry. We'll be fair.
VAUGHN: I'm sure there are people that were there that were undecided. There were people present that spoke to me and said, you know, he is not our guy, but he is not as bad of a guy as we thought he was. Certainly, you know, he appeared to be very -- a nice man. There was nothing about him un-nice.
However, when you come into a church service for the first time as a Caucasian, 70-year-old kind of ultraconservative person, this was his first time in our experience. This was really his first time ever walking into a black church. So, we know this. So, now, you want to engage us less than two months
to the election. And it's a little late Mr. Trump. It's just a little late.
(CROSSTALK)
SCOTT: I'm going to get in here too --
BROWN: OK. I want to let Bishop Vaughn wrap it up for me. We have to be quick here. Go ahead, Bishop Vaughn.
VAUGHN: In contrast, Hillary Clinton has made basically every African-American convention, summit, conference. She is even slated to be at the National Baptist Convention the 8th of this month.
SCOTT: OK, but let me say this --
VAUGHN: She's been in my church. She's been in African-American church. She is always engaging --
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: Pastor Scott, because in the essence of time I want to get to Pastor Scott.
SCOTT: Donald Trump has been engaging the African-American. I took a hundred pastors to New York almost a year ago. He has been engaging.
VAUGHN: Then, why are his poll numbers so low.
SCOTT: Let me talk --
BROWN: Bishop Vaughn, we need to let Pastor Scott talk.
SCOTT: What I don't understand is this, Corletta, why would you decline an invitation to go sit at the table with him personally and then go sit in an audience at a church. So, this is why I don't understand.
(CROSSTALK)
VAUGHN: Let me explain to you.
And I declined.
(CROSSTALK)
SCOTT: You didn't come.
BROWN: All right. We have to let Bishop Vaughn respond to that allegation --
SCOTT: You chickened out. It's not an allegation.
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: Pastor Scott, you have got to hold on --
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: Bishop Vaughn, quickly and then we have to go -- Bishop Vaughn.
VAUGHN: Bishop Wayne T. Jackson is my friend. I was there --
SCOTT: But you're your own person.
VAUGHN: He asked me to attend.
SCOTT: You had a chance to sit at a table for five hours with Donald Trump --
(CROSSTALK)
[19:40:01] BROWN: OK, Pastor Scott, you keep interrupting her with your allegations.
SCOTT: It's not an allegation. It's the truth.
(CROSSTALK)
VAUGH: I was at the service or a service to support my friend, Bishop Wayne T. Jackson. I was not there to hear from Donald Trump.
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: You brought your A-game on this Labor Day. Thank you. Thank you to you both for bringing that lively conversation to us. We'll carry it on offline. Appreciate it.
VAUGHN: Thank you, Pamela.
OUTFRONT up next, the CNN special report, Ivanka Trump opens up about her father's use of colorful language to describe women.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IVANKA TRUMP, DAUGHTER OF DONALD TRUMP: You know what? He calls men some pretty rough names, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Plus the story behind this photo right here. Have you seen this? Is President Obama giving Russian President Vladimir Putin the death stare?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump revealed. Tonight, CNN brings you two special reports on the presidential nominee. You'll hear personal stories about each candidate from those who know them best. I have the opportunity to sit down with Hillary Clinton who opens up
on a range of topics, including one she rarely speaks about, Monica Lewinsky.
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLPI)
BROWN: How difficult was it to go through something so private, so personally, under the glare of the spotlight as the first lady?
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It was really hard. It was so painful.
And I was so supported by my friends. My friends just rallied around. They would come. They would try to make me laugh. They would recommend books to read.
We would go for long walks. We hanged out, you know, eat bad food -- I mean, the kinds of things you do with your friends. And it was something that you just had to get up every day and try to deal with while still carrying on a public set of responsibility. So, it was very, very challenging.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: And I want to bring in my colleague, Gloria Borger, CNN chief political analyst, and host of "The Essential Donald Trump".
We are there almost there. We are almost to the finish line. I want to talk about the special reports. First, just the one about Hillary Clinton, because I personally was struck doing this interview with her and just how open she was, how engaging and really revealing about personal moments.
She is not someone -- you've covered her for years -- she's not someone who typically sort of talks about the personal and goes beyond policy, right?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: No. I think she is very policy-oriented. And I think look, this is such a difficult moment in her life. Some times when you have distance from these tough times, it's a little bit easier for you to talk about it, keep it in perspective and reflect about it.
I think that's what she was doing with you, which was now she can sort of take a step back and have a way to talk about it to the American public, which, you know, a lot of voters haven't forgotten that difficult time.
BROWN: Do you think that hurts? Helps?
BORGER: No. I think she does herself a lot of good, because, you know, as we have been talking about this, that Hillary Clinton has an edge to her that some people think could use a little softening. And I think when you watch that clip, you say, wait a minute. She is somebody who went through a very difficult time in the public eye and had to deal with that as a woman.
BROWN: And you talked to Donald Trump's three adult children about some of the difficult times they have been through with their father going through divorces and such. They also respond today this idea that their father is a sexist.
Let's listen to what Ivanka Trump that had to say about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORGER: I'm asking you as a daughter, a mother, a businesswoman, much has been said about what he regards women. So, if I ask you the question flat-out, is he a sexist?
IVANKA TRUMP: He's absolutely not a sexist. There's no way I could be the person I am today if my father was a sexist. I would not be one of his senior most executives and I would not be working shoulder to shoulder with my brothers. I would be working for my brothers, if at all.
So, you know, I think actions ultimately speak louder than words. My father has 40 years of history of employing women. I think in terms of the nomenclature he uses, the labels --
BORGER: Bimbo, the words sometimes --
IVANKA TRUMP: Yes, no. People say -- except you know what, he calls men some pretty rough names too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: So, you got some key insights from the children, and also from business associates, some of whom we've never even heard from before, right?
BORGER: Right. The thing about doing a profile and a biography of Donald Trump, it's very different from doing one of politicians I have covered because the people you talk to who are the closest with him or who had worked with him are in business for his family. And, you know, he gets mixed reviews on business. There are lots of people who think -- who like doing business with him and a lot of people who didn't like doing business with him.
The most loyal people he has really are his family. And his adult children have not only been surrogates, Pam, but they are very involved in the running of this campaign. You know, son in law, Jared Kushner, very involved in the running for this campaign and he goes to them to make decisions, as much as he does to his top campaign advisers, which is different for me. In any political campaign, I've covered, I really -- I haven't seen that.
BROWN: Everything about Donald Trump's campaign has been different. I learned a lot working on this project about Hillary Clinton who has been in the public eye for so long. I imagine a lot of people are going to learn about Donald Trump, things that they didn't know before. Looking forward to seeing your report.
BORGER: You too.
BROWN: Thank you.
And you can watch the two special reports tonight, "The Essential Hillary Clinton" airs next at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, and "The Essential Donald Trump" runs at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN.
And OUTFRONT up next: is Russia trying to undermine the presidential election?
[19:50:01] Why Hillary Clinton is worried.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: A seemingly intense moment right here. Check this out, a moment between President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 Summit in China today. One topic on the agenda: the recent cyber attacks widely blamed on Russian hackers.
CNN chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What we cannot do is have a situation in which suddenly this becomes the Wild Wild West.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Obama warning Russia today about Moscow's expanding cyber attacks on the U.S. This as U.S. intelligence agencies are increasingly focused, U.S. officials tell CNN, on Russian influence on the upcoming presidential election.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper recently told CNN he is concerned the Kremlin may be seeking to undermine confidence in the vote.
(on camera): Is it your vote that Russia has the intention of, if not influencing this election, undermining confidence in the U.S. political process?
JAMES CLAPPER, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: They see a U.S. conspiracy behind every bush. They believe that we are trying to influence political developments in Russia.
[19:55:06] Their natural response is to retaliate.
SCIUTTO: Multiple agencies are now assessing the scope of the Russian intrusion, which includes hacking into voting data and systems. Russia's intention is not clear, maybe less to help one candidate over another than to sow doubt in the overall process and final results.
CLAPPER: Was this just to stir up trouble or was this ultimately to try to influence an election? And, of course, this is serious, serious proposition.
SCIUTTO: So serious that today, President Obama raised the issue as he and Russian President Vladimir Putin met on the side lines of the G20 Summit in China.
OBAMA: We've had problems with cyber intrusions from Russia in the past, from other countries in the past and look, we are moving into a new era here where a number of countries have significant capacities. And, frankly, we've got more capacity than anybody both offensively and defensively.
SCIUTTO: Sources tell CNN the U.S. intelligence community believes Russia was behind the recent hacks of the Democratic National Committee, "The New York Times", and think-tanks in Washington. Investigators are also looking into who breached voter databases in the states of Illinois and Arizona. For his part, President Putin has denied any tampering.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I don't know anything about it. And on a state level, Russia has never done this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: President Putin also said that Russia doesn't have any preference for who wins in November. He says Moscow just want someone who can make responsible decisions. He said, quote, "Their last name doesn't matter" -- Pam.
BROWN: Jim Sciutto, thanks so much for that.
And up next, we are moments away from the first of two CNN specials on the lives of the presidential candidates.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Well, thank you so much for joining us.
My special report, "UNFINISHED BUSINESS: THE ESSENTIAL HILLARY CLINTON" is coming up. And we talk about a range of issues. I interview circle of her best friends, her family as well. So, that is coming up.
And then, right after that, "ALL BUSINESS: THE ESSENTIAL DONALD TRUMP", and here it is.
