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Erin Burnett Outfront
Clinton, Trump About to Come Face to Face After Bitter Debate; CNN Fact-Checks Trump's Comments on Accusers; Trump: I Will Totally Accept Election Results "If I Win"; Clinton, Trump Come Face to Face After Bitter Debate. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired October 20, 2016 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:07] ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: OUTFRONT next, the breaking news. President Obama tearing into Donald Trump for refusing to say he'll accept the election results. This as Trump promises he will accept the outcome, quote, "if he wins."
Plus, just moments from now, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton coming face to face. We're going take you there live, sitting one seat away from each other.
And the moment in the debate that truly got under Hillary Clinton's skin. Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening, I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, if he wins, Trump says, he will accept the results of the election if he comes out on top. A stunning and unprecedented statement. Trump doubling down on the one line in the debate that is getting all the attention today. Here is Trump in Ohio this afternoon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I would like to promise and pledge to all of my voters and supporters and to all of the people of the United States that I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election if I win.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Tonight, the President and the First Lady delivering a one- two punch in response. Out in force on the campaign trail firing back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. BARACK OBAMA (D), UNITED STATES: That is not a joking matter. No, no, no, I want everybody to pay attention here. That is dangerous.
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: When a presidential candidate threatens to ignore our voices and reject the outcome of this election he is threatening the very idea of America itself. And we cannot stand for that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And tonight, Clinton and Trump will appear together again right there, the bitter rivals will be seated just one seat apart at a dinner at New York's Waldorf Astoria. The dinner is a white tie. Whatever that is, it's very fancy. It's a charity dinner where guests usually exchange gentle jokes at each other's expense. It kicks off 24 hours after the bitter nasty face-off in Las Vegas and the candidates are going to arrive there any moment. You're going to see it all right here live. And as we await that I want to Jim Acosta outside the Waldorf Astoria.
And Jim, we could be looking at a very tense evening ahead. Just one seat apart. Clinton and Trump.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Erin. And this Al Smith charity dinner supposed to be an opportunity for both candidates to show off their funny bone. And Donald Trump earlier today sounded like he was kidding when he said he would accept the results of the election if he wins but many Democrats and a lot of Republicans aren't laughing tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): With the presidential debates behind him, Donald Trump is scrambling to find a path to victory but he's making it all too clear he may take the nation down a dark road if he loses.
TRUMP: That I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election if I win.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
I would accept a clear election result. But I would also reserve my right to contest or file a legal challenge in the case of a questionable result.
ACOSTA: That moment of clean-up comes after Trump warned in his final face-off with Hillary Clinton that he may not accept the voice of the people. A principle of American democracy that dates back to the founding fathers.
TRUMP: I will look at it at the time. I'm not looking at anything now. I'll look at it at the time.
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Are you saying you are not prepared now to commit to that principle?
TRUMP: What I'm saying and I'll tell you at the time. I'll keep you in suspense.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Well, Chris, let me respond to that. Because that's horrifying.
ACOSTA: Mindful, the Trump's jaw-dropping comments has brought pro- election chaos, his top surrogates launched into damage control mode.
REINCE PRIEBUS, RNC CHAIRMAN: The fact of the matter is, he is going to accept the outcome of the election.
KELLYANNE CONWAY, DONALD TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Absent evidence of widespread abuse and irregularities, yes, I would say that. But I actually think I'll be saying to him, congratulations Mr. President.
ACOSTA: The top Republicans are not so sure, John McCain who lost the election in 2008 said in a statement in every previous election the loser congratulates the winner and calls them, my president. That's not just the Republican way or the Democratic way. It's the American way.
CLINTON: He has consistently denied what is a very --
TRUMP: Wrong.
ACOSTA: There are other potentially damaging moments for Trump at the debate like when he interrupted Clinton just to insult her.
CLINTON: My social security, payroll contribution will go up as will Donalds assuming he can't figure out how to get out of it. But what we want to do is to replenish --
TRUMP: Such a nasty woman.
ACOSTA: That moment along with Trump's comments on abortion and his vow to select Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe versus Wade likely won't help his pitch to women voters.
TRUMP: Well if we put another two or perhaps three justices on, that's really what's going to be -- that will happen. And that will happen automatically in my opinion. Because I am putting pro-life justices on the court.
[19:05:14] ACOSTA: Still the beginning of the night was otherwise viewed as Trump's most effective debate performance yet.
TRUMP: The NAFTA deal signed by her husband is one of the worst deals ever made of any kind.
ACOSTA: But he seemed to struggle against Clinton's attacks on his past praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
CLINTON: Well, that is because he'd rather have a puppet as president --
TRUMP: No puppet. No puppet. You are the puppet.
ACOSTA: And Erin, it is not just top Republicans who are worried about Donald Trump's comments about accepting the outcome of the election concerns are starting to reach the state level as well. As a matter of fact, earlier today the executive director of the North Carolina Republican Party Dallas Woodhouse said in statement to newspaper in North Carolina, we at the North Carolina Republican Party are not aware of election results being optional. And of course they are not optional -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Much more on that in just a moment.
Thank you very much, Jim. I want to go now to Michelle Kosinski though, she is OUTFRONT in Miami, Florida where President Obama just stopped speaking.
And Michelle, I mean, he was relentless and slamming Donald Trump tonight.
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right. Absolutely. This is the most energetic that we've seen President Obama in the nearly month now that he's been out on the trail. And you remember about a week ago, it was in North Carolina. He let loose with this list of virtually everything Donald Trump has ever said or done that could be considered controversial. And this was similar to that.
Playing to the crowd but stepping it up using words like dangerous, toxic, crazy, erratic. And in this and key swing state where it's always close and where Hillary Clinton has just edged out Donald Trump in the polls, the President wanted to pay particular attention to Trump's recent claims of a rigged election. Something that has particularly irritated President Obama lately. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: This is more than just the usual standard lie. When you try to sow the seeds of doubt in people's minds about the legitimacy of our elections, that undermines our democracy. Then you are doing the work of our adversaries for them. Because our democracy depends on people knowing that their vote matters. That those who occupy the seats of power were chosen by the people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI: And President Obama saved some of his ire for Marco Rubio and his reelection race in the state extremely close. And he used his words against him. Saying that Rubio had called Donald Trump an erratic individual, a dangerous con-artist. But continues to support him. So you see President Obama hammering on the point, the importance of not just the presidential election but all of those others out there that could well change the make-up of Congress -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Michelle, thank you very much. In Miami.
And OUTFRONT now, former presidential advisor for four presidents, David Gergen. Angela Rye, Hillary Clinton supporter. Corey Lewandowski, the former campaign manager for Donald Trump. Keith Boykin, former White House and Hillary Clinton's supporter. Also Kayleigh McEnany, Trump supporter and Mark Preston, our executive editor for Politics.
So, let me start with you David. Because you heard President Obama say, this is dangerous and say that this is very serious. There is nothing Donald Trump can be joking about here. Trump does is still refusing to categorically say he'll honor the election result. What does this really mean?
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, first of all I do think we need to be recognized that Trump later on in his speech did say if there were a clear outcome he would accept it.
BURNETT: Right. But what does that mean?
GERGEN: Well, we don't know what quite clear means but he certainly has step forward from saying, I'll wait until it's over.
BURNETT: Yes.
GERGEN: It's basically saying, I'll reserving the right, if it's very close, there is a state which is, you know, in which there were some allegations of fraud. I'll reserve the right to go have a recount. I don't think that's the number one reason for --
(CROSSTALK)
But I think the way he's framed, it is all rigged. You know, it's the big question last night, would you stand up to this and he says no. I think that is what's highly dangerous. Listen, I'm sure Corey will weigh in just the opposite way. But look, if you go back to early in the history of the Republic, historians often right that the most important thing George Washington did for us as first president was to step down voluntarily.
BURNETT: Uh-hm.
GERGEN: He gave up the reins of power voluntarily through an election that elected somebody else and he became a citizen. He thought that was a higher calling by the way. So, and ever since then, it's been fundamental to our sense of democracy that what protects us the most is, if there is a peaceful transition after we vote. And that people accept the results of that election. Here for the first time in over 240 years comes a candidate who says, I'm not playing by those rules anymore. And everybody naturally is alarmed and the Europeans look at us and say, are you guys going crazy?
BURNETT: And Corey, you just heard Jim Acosta say, the chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party was asked about Trump's comments today. And his response was, we at the North Carolina Republican Party are not aware of election results being optional. That is a pretty direct slam from the GOP and frankly --
COREY LEWANDOWSKI, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I know Dallas Woodhouse very well. He actually spent some time working for me full disclosure, so. And I respect Dallas, he does a fine job as executive --
(CROSSTALK)
Right. That's true. But to David's point and the clip that we did not show here and it's very important. Donald Trump said I quote, "I will accept a clear election result. The media isn't playing that." So, he's saying. [19:10:34] BURNETT: Jim Acosta played it.
LEWANDOWSKI: No he didn't play that. He played the beginning of it. There is a point later in the Trump's speech today in Ohio, he said, I will declare election result. However, I reserve my right to challenge a close election. Now, I don't think that is out of the steps or out of the bounds of anything whatsoever. And that is what we're going to focus on. I think he has that right. Two important things today. A poll was published in a Roll Call. Maybe you saw it.
Seventy two percent of the people, the economists, you got polled surveyed today, publishing Roll Call said, they are either very or somewhat concerned about the electoral security on November 8th. Second thing. This is also very important. There is an article published today and here is what it said. The media takes every word that Donald Trump says, okay. Seriously. But they don't take his campaign seriously. The difference is the American people take the campaign seriously but don't take every word seriously.
BURNETT: Okay. So, let me just get you in here, Mark. Because what Donald Trump said when he continued was -- he didn't -- he said if the results were questionable. That is what he said. Okay, Corey. He didn't say if it was close. He said if it was questionable. The quote that we had --
LEWANDOWSKI: He said clear election results. You need to play the whole clip.
BURNETT: Right. He said it clear election results and if the results are questionable --
LEWANDOWSKI: I reserve the right to challenge --
BURNETT: That means that the whole definition comes down to what does questionable mean?
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EDITOR: We've seen this time and time again with all due respect Corey. We have seen this time and time again with Donald Trump where he has said something and that he has left an ambiguous interpretation to what it is. Last night 60 million people were watching him on television. World leaders were watching him on CNN International trying to get an idea about what he would say on this. He was given ample opportunity to say it last night.
And then his staffers had to go out and try to clean it up afterwards. And we saw that in the hour afterwards and quite frankly we saw that this morning as well. And then he has to come out. He starts his rally and he revs them up by saying, maybe. You know? And then he goes on and later says, the quote. That is irresponsible. It is absolutely irresponsible. And quite frankly, if there are questionable results I think everybody on this panel would be wholeheartedly behind the fact that if there was voter fraud, it should be investigated. No question about that. But to go out and to lay the premise that there is voter fraud right now, you got Republicans coming out as we've seen North Carolina and Capitol Hill -- BURNETT: We've done the investigation on that. We've done the
investigation on that. There is none in this country to any extent Kayleigh that would affect results and by the way, this is been said by Republican secretaries of state.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CONSERVATIVE COLUMNIST, ABOVE THE LAW: Donald Trump's comments, the irony of all of this come a day after a video comes out of people with ties to the Hillary Clinton campaign talking about how they are going use busses to drive voters from one polling site to another polling site and vote multiple times. They even named the state, they said Indiana is the easiest to get away with this. There comes a day after a video like that, he has every right to reserve the right to question a result if there is fraud. Just like Al Gore had the right. And by the way, I think we should really be asking questions of Hillary Clinton who in 2002 said that George W. Bush was selected and not elected. She's the one with the track record of questioning results.
KEITH BOYKIN, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: If you want to go back to 2000 and 2002, Al Gore had very controversial election. And Democrats challenged it. But Al Gore conceded immediately. There was no anticipation of voter fraud. He never said in advance he wasn't going to accept the results.
(CROSSTALK)
BOYKIN: Or he thought that this was going to be widespread voter fraud in 2000. If the Democrats had the power to orchestrate this cabal, international or national cabal, don't you think Hillary Clinton would have orchestrated an election victory in 2008.
BURNETT: For herself?
BOYKIN: For herself --
(CROSSTALK)
BOYKIN: Let me just finish. And don't you think the Democrats if they would have had the power to rig the election, they would have rigged it to have a Republican House and Senate. I mean, this idea that there's widespread voter fraud is preposterous. There is no evidence for it. And the idea, the only reason why Trump's statement is so outrageous today -- like David Gergen just said a moment ago, it wouldn't be unreasonable to say what he just said today in the second comment. But what makes it unreasonable, he's been talking about this voter fraud with no evidence in the past few weeks.
BURNETT: Right.
BOYKIN: And people are talking about --
BURNETT: And I just asked you in a word, was it a mistake last night for him to say, to not say, I will honor the results. Was that a mistake in a debate? All the rest of the things that he said, the substance he tried to talk about was gone.
LEWANDOWSKI: Do you know what I think the mistake is, that we're focusing on that and not on the issues which the American people --
BURNETT: Corey, that is an issue.
LEWANDOWSKI: It's not an issue. Look --
BURNETT: To question the Democratic transfer of power is an issue.
LEWANDOWSKI: The American people will not go to the polls and say, I think that this person is going to stand up for voter fraud and this person won't. They are going look at trade, they're going to look at taxes, they're going to look at immigration. The issues that no one is talking about today. They are not going talk about the WikiLeaks today where we saw that Huma Abedin calls out Hillary Clinton directly on a $12 million sit down with Morocco and no one is talking about that today? It's amazing to me.
(TALKING OVER EACH OTHER)
ANGELA RYE, FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS: We're not talking about that today --
LEWANDOWSKI: It's a shame.
RYE: No, the reason why we're not talking --
LEWANDOWSKI: -- talked about the hypocrisy today. Jim Vandehei who founded Politico talked about the hypocrisy of the media. That is exactly what we were too. Listening to the exact language of Donald Trump and not taking the totality of the debate last night.
[19:15:34] BURNETT: Quick final word --
RYE: So, first of all on voter fraud, this has been asked, answered and litigated. .0000034 percent of the time. That is what voter fraud is in this country. I'm so glad that Republicans are ready to be the party of voting rights because there are 14 states for them to address in this election. I'm happy to name them Erin but you are giving me the eye and will do that. And I just simply say, we welcome you. Sign onto the voting rights Amendment Act in the Congress that has not even been considered in the House Judiciary Committee or on the floor. We welcome you. But let's talk about the right issue --
LEWANDOWSKI: Voter ID is a great idea.
RYE: No, it's actually not, Corey.
LEWANDOWSKI: And I hope the Democrats come to the conclusion --
(TALKING OVER EACH OTHER)
BURNETT: Like I said that is a different conversation but you are all staying with me because we're going to keep talking. We're standing by for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as I said moments away from arriving at that charity dinner here in New York City. Going to be seated at the same table. Plus, Donald Trump said women's claims of sexual assault against him
have been largely debunked. We're going fact check that claim. And why Janet Jackson is getting a boost from Donald Trump's debate performance. Guess why.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:20:06] BURNETT: Breaking news. We're looking at live pictures from inside the Waldorf Astoria Hotel right here in New York. Moments away from Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump coming face to face at that charity dinner. They're going to be arriving here. You are going to see them arrive here. You're going to see that whole thing right here at any moment. Of course this is a day after their very bitter debate. A debate where Trump was on the defense about the sexual misconduct allegations. He says the accusations against him have been largely debunked. So, it's time to check the facts.
Tom Foreman is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: Nobody has more respect for women than I do. Nobody.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump has tried repeatedly to grill Hillary Clinton about her husband's relations with other women and her reaction. But the New York billionaire was on the hot seat this time.
SUMMER ZERVOS, DONALD TRUMP ACCUSER: And he came to me and started kissing me open mouth as he was pulling me towards him.
FOREMAN: Facing a slew of accusations from women who say he kissed, groped and harassed them. In the final debate, it triggered a series of claims. Number one, it has been largely debunked. Certainly Trump has swatted down almost all the accusations saying he doesn't do such things and he did not with these women. But a denial is not the same as a debunking. There has been no whole sale dismissal of their charges by people outside of the campaign. So his statement is false. Claim two.
CLINTON: He said that he could not possibly have done those things to those women because they were not attractive enough for --
TRUMP: I did not say that --
CLINTON: -- to be assaulted.
TRUMP: I did not say that.
FOREMAN: But Trump has called one of the women disgusting. About another he said, "She would not be my first choice" and about a People Magazine reporter who says he sexually assaulted her more than a decade ago --
TRUMP: Look at her, look at her words. You tell me what you think. I don't think so. FOREMAN: Clinton's claim appears true. Trump's denial, false. And a
third claim. How all these accusers came to light?
TRUMP: I have a feeling how they came. I believe it was her campaign that did it.
FOREMAN: It's Clinton's fault? What we know is the scandal started with an old tape of Trump's lewd comments recorded by "Access Hollywood." Then some women saw him denying to our Anderson Cooper he'd ever do what was described on that tape and --
TRUMP: But I have tremendous respect for women.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Have you ever done those things?
TRUMP: And women have respect for me. And I will tell you, no I have not.
FOREMAN: And?
MINDY MCGILLIVRAY, DONALD TRUMP ACCUSER: I jumped off of my coach. And I was like you are a liar.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: And the accusations kept flowing from there. If the Clinton team's in any way involved in all of this, it's certainly not been proven yet. So that part of Trump's claim is false too -- Erin.
BURNETT: Tom, thank you very much. My panel is back with me.
Kayleigh, let me start with you on this. Donald Trump says claims against him have been largely debunked. I will note he said largely. He didn't say fully. So you have to give him that. But it is false that they have been debunked. I mean, in one case you have six different people who came forward and said that the woman, this is the People Magazine reporter told her about this at the time. One of them came on this show, journalist or professor and said, how distraught she was when she made that call to him.
MCENANY: Well, and also it's worth mentioning, none of them have been verified and this is why these allegations belongs in a court and not on the media set. That being said, I'll point you to the email adlibs, Donald Trump's campaign release from the "Apprentice" celebrity to four months ago, sent an e-mail to Donald Trump's assistant imploring him to please come to a restaurant. Everyone supports Donald Trump. He's such a great guy.
But the woman's cousin came out and said, this woman has told me Donald Trump is so kindhearted and he visits children's hospitals behind the scenes when no one is watching. This is one of the accusers. What she was saying four months ago versus what she's saying now, I fully agree that this could be something orchestrated by the Hillary Clinton campaign. We've seen her organize violence at Trump rallies. That is a polling? That is a crime to organize violence in that fashion. She can absolutely be organizing, this campaign is up to dirty tricks.
BOYKIN: All right. She did not organize violence at any rallies, first of all.
(TALKING OVER EACH OTHER)
But she did not organize rallies -- that is not the issue. But in terms of orchestrating something, Hillary Clinton didn't bring Donald Trump's accusers to a debate to seat in front of Donald Trump. That is orchestrating something. Hillary Clinton's people did not do that. They are running a relatively normal campaign. Donald Trump is running a campaign of stunts. And the idea that we're talking about just these cases, who cares about the cases that are valid or not. What we do know is that Donald Trump has a history of saying things that are distasteful about women.
He talked about Carly Fiorina. He talked about her face. He talked about Megyn Kelly, she's bleeding out of her, wherever. He talked about Rosie O'Donnell, called her a fat pig. He's a guy who does not respect women. He says, nobody has more respectful on women than I do.
BURNETT: Corey, on the issue -- talks about women, as Trump has denied, you heard him say that some of these women weren't attractive enough for him. But he did call one disgusting. About another he said she would not be my first choice, believe me. About a third, look at her, how are these not comments about women's looks?
LEWANDOWSKI: Look, I think, you know, you look at this Donald Trump in the business world and the people that he has promoted and this network today had Lara Trump on and she talked about her relationship with Donald Trump and what that looks like --
BURNETT: Her father-in-law.
LEWANDOWSKI: Her father-in-law. So, she's married to Eric Trump, the second son in the Trump family. She talked about her personal experience. If you look at the individuals who have worked with Donald Trump for a period of 10, 20, 30 years and he's promoted them in the business world. People you know and people look, you know, you had a personal traction with Donald Trump in the "Apprentice," you never saw this type of interaction whatsoever.
And I think if you go through and look at the executives and the people who have no vested interest in bringing out a story which is two and a half or three weeks before an election. You have to take the totality of this. And look, these people if they have a story to tell, I agree with Kayleigh. Could be told in the court of law or they could have come out six months ago. Eight months ago. What we saw today was a new Bill Clinton accuser come out today.
[19:25:52] BURNETT: OK. So, I've spoken to one woman who came out in May. This woman did come out earlier. Another women that I have spoken to, the woman that I know personally. She heard the tape. And there was something she said on the tape that is exactly what happened to her. That is why she came to me and told the story. The other woman came after Donald Trump denied that he did the things in the tape. That is why they say they came out now Corey. And David, let me just ask a question to you. Because is there anything, anything here that would make you believe this was orchestrated by the Clinton campaign.
GERGEN: No. Somebody put it out there maliciously but there is no evidence at all that it came from the Clinton campaign. What I do think is wrong and disturbing is this consistent view from the Trump campaign that they have been wronged in all this. That they are victims of some sort of conspiracy brought this on. The reason we've been talking about the women is because a tape came out and then he denied that he did anything he said on the tape that he did. And then that triggered all of these women to come forward. We've had ten women come out, maybe two, maybe three are in question. There are seven more to go and of one, the butler story, they tell us about the butler -- won't go away from it. We'll leave the individual --
BURNETT: I'm sorry, I did give you the --
GERGEN: Okay. We'll leave the individual evidence.
BURNETT: Right.
GERGEN: But here's the point -- so they fought for this for a week. It took the campaign heavily south. The reason we're talking about the rigging of the election and what Trump said last night is he once again created headlines and brought the story on himself. He can't complain this morning we're not doing other things because we wouldn't be talking about this, had he not brought it up and said I'm not going to necessarily obey --
BURNETT: All right. And I leave it there only because we're running out of time. I want to get into each and every individual case.
Next, we are awaiting Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton about to come face to face in New York as I've said eating dinner together at the same table. We're going to go there live. And Trump supporters, do they believe the election is rigged?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had goose bumps. I really -- I really -- and I'm want him not to concede until he's absolutely positive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:31:09] ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Ryan Young spoke to some of them in Ohio tonight, a crucial battleground state where a new poll shows this may matter. It's a dead heat.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He thinks the election may be rigged or maybe stolen. Does that scare you? Because a lot of people I -- VICKY EASTERDAY, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Absolutely, it does, because
I believe that. I honestly believe that that's true.
YOUNG: That the election may be stolen.
EASTERDAY: Absolutely.
YOUNG (voice-over): One day after the final debate, Donald Trump still leaving room to contest the outcome of the election.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election if I win.
(CHEERS)
PEGGY GUENTHER, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: I had goose bumps. I really -- I really -- and I want him not to concede until he's absolutely positive.
YOUNG: Trump even comparing himself to Al Gore.
TRUMP: If Al Gore or George Bush had agreed three weeks before the election to concede the results and waive their right to a legal challenge or a recount, then there would be no Supreme Court case and no Gore versus Bush or Bush versus Gore.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Deplorable badge of honor shirt --
YOUNG: Time after time, supporters said they believe Hillary and the so called establishment would do anything to steal the election.
(CROSSTALK)
RUTH WILSON, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: You're prejudiced as hell.
YOUNG (on camera): OK. That is what you think, the media is.
WILSON: Yes.
EASTERDAY: She is that for lack of better term hell-bent on winning that he will do whatever she has to. That party is going to do whatever they have to do to get her in there.
WILSON: I believe that there is some favoritism being shown towards the Democratic candidate who I will not even take the liberty to say her name. You see the sign?
YOUNG: I see the sign. I see the sign. Yes, ma'am.
(voice-over): Trump's statement may have shocked the political establishment but every supporter we spoke to at today's rally in Delaware, Ohio, said the same thing. They believe the Republican nominee and believe he is fighting for them.
LARRY ST. MARY, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: He has everything on the right side. God is on his side. We need God back in America and Hillary wants to take it away from us.
YOUNG: Hundreds packed the event and as they left, many of them said they don't mind Trump keeping them in suspense when it comes to accepting the election results.
GUENTHER: I don't think he's going tell us until the election is over and the last vote's been cast and he feels comfortable with whatever the outcome is. He's not going to back down.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
YOUNG: Erin, we heard over and over again, they want to see Donald Trump rock the establishment. The idea that he might hold the cards close to his vest all the way through, they said, it is Donald Trump. He's working the art of the deal and they want to see him fight for them. And that's something that we heard over and over today.
BURNETT: All right. Ryan, thank you very much. Fascinating report. My panel is back with me.
Bill Kristol joins, editor of "The Weekly Standard".
David Gergen, though, as you just heard that Trump supporter, that man at the end, you sort of gave a big sigh. "God is on his side. We need God back in America and Hillary wants to take it away from us." What do you think when you hear that?
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, listen, I think one of our problems in this country is we don't pay enough respect to each other when we have different views of each other. And I don't share those views at all. I don't share the views of anybody who was on that tape.
But I do think they have been forgotten voices in our democracy recently and I'm glad they are coming out. I think we need to resolve some of these things. I think we need to talk it through, if we're ever going to put this country back together.
BURNETT: What about this issue of God, though, Kayleigh? Does it worry you? Is there this Hillary wants to take God away is what this man actually said.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think this man probably looked at the WikiLeaks and probably looked at John Podesta who's in charge of her campaign saying he wants to lead a revolution in the Catholic Church.
[19:35:04] That's deeply disturbing to a lot of Christians who think that there should be a separation between certainly Hillary's campaign manager and the doctrinal theology of the Catholic Church or any church for that matter.
So, there are a lot of Christians who feel under attack and they believe Donald Trump will protect their rights.
BILL KRISTOL, THE WEEKLY STANDARD: John Podesta is allowed to express his own views about his religion in his private emails which were leaked.
MCENANY: Of course, he is, but he's not allowed to change the doctrine of the Catholic Church and --
KRISTOL: So, you're just saying what his views of Catholicism. If you want to depend on Putin's leaks to attack John Podesta, who you don't know, and you don't know what his personal religious are, that's fine. Look, I agree with David Gergen these people have been -- feel they have been neglected.
On the other hand, it is terrible that Donald Trump is taking advantage of them. What he's doing is really horrible and people are being much (INAUDIBLE) about it. You know, this rigged election, rigged system stuff. It is dangerous. It is wrong.
Florida, the key swing state. Who's the governor of Florida? Rick Scott. Strong Donald Trump supporter. Is the election in Florida going to be rigged against Donald Trump?
One of the great things about American elections is that they're run from the bottom up. You voted, we all voted, right? What happens when you vote? Volunteers show up and run the elections.
BURNETT: People from (INAUDIBLE)
KRISTOL: Right, there is no national election, you know -- one of the good things in America. There is the national election force that Barack Obama controls. So, it's total nonsense. Of course, there are individual cases of fraud on both sides. They very, very rarely affect an election.
And there is a legal recount process. And Trump tries to pretend all he's talking about is a recount. That is not what he's talking about. He's saying that the election is rigged. That is a very dangerous thing.
BURNETT: And, Mark Preston, maybe something that his supporters, you just heard them there talking to Ryan Young, they believe that. To them, this is not a joke. This is not light-hearted, this is not I'll respect it if I win, ha ha. They believe it.
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: They believe it, and let's go back to the origins why they are so upset. We have a dysfunctional Washington, D.C.
Listen, I live right outside of the city. I worked in the city, worked there many, many years. It's dysfunctional, Republicans and Democrats can't work together. They can't get stuff done. Politics are a driving force in that city in a negative way, OK, in a very negative way.
And then Donald Trump comes in and what he's basically doing is he's trying to be the head of this movement of anger towards Washington. And when Donald Trump is gone, when he leaves, this national stage, which he eventually will, OK, he's not going to be around forever. That anger is still going to be there. So, what David says, what Bill says, there needs --
KRISTOL: -- honesty here. What exactly -- some have legitimate grounds of anger. Others are just being (INAUDIBLE)
Can we just be honest about this? All those people, this is the worst thing in the world. This is the worst thing of the world. It's one of the greatest instances of human suffering, of human history to be an American in 2016. I mean, is this really such a horrible country that people should indulge in ridiculous conspiracy theories and they should support --
(CROSSTALK)
MCENANY: That's establishment attitude about electing Donald Trump.
KRISTOL: It is called a decent attitude about a vulgar billionaire taking advantage of the weaknesses and the credulity of people who don't know better. It's a terrible thing to accomplish --
BURNETT: I just want to point out what you are seeing on the screen, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton arriving at the dinner here. Henry Kissinger has arrived. Obviously they are going to be sitting just one seat apart. Mayor Giuliani is there, former mayor.
Corey, let me just ask you a question, though, because this issue of how the Trump supporters who believe this is rigged may respond, a couple of them, Miguel Marquez. We ran his piece earlier this week, and let me just play what they had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN BOWMAN, TRUMP SUPPORTER: I feel like Hillary needs to be taken out. If she gets into government, I'll do everything in my power to take her out of power.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Is that a physical threat?
BOWMAN: I don't know, is it?
DEBBIE HOYT, TRUMP SUPPORER: There'll be a civil war. And I don't know --
MARQUEZ: Do you think it will come to that?
HOYT: Absolutely. You don't understand the passion in this country. I'm just one voice. There is a lot of people like me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Corey, those voices deserve to be heard. But does Donald Trump have any responsibility to say to them, no? Don't think like this, there will be no civil war. There will be no revolution. Don't take anybody out?
COREY LEWANDOWSKI, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Does Hillary Clinton have any responsibility to the people who saw on those videos saying they are going to bus people around from one location to another? Has she addressed that at all?
(CROSSTALK)
LEWANDOWSKI: Excuse me, excuse me.
So the question is if we're going to hold Donald Trump accountable for the people at his rallies and what they are saying we have to have the same standard for Hillary Clinton, which means when her supporter say something, that do something which is candidly illegal and is a felony and moving people from one location to another and disrupting rallies which are they are on record of saying and doing, then they should be held accountable for the exact same thing.
We don't do that. That's the hypocrisy of the media. Hillary Clinton doesn't drive ratings. She doesn't drive revenue. And so, we spend our time talking about Donald Trump supporters who he can't control or condone and not Hillary Clinton supporters who have done things that are illegal and --
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: So, Angela, let me give a final word here.
ANGELA RYE, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: Number of things. One, Hillary Clinton's slogan is "stronger together" and that is how she's run her campaign. Barack Obama at the rally today in Florida talked about this being the type of issue that's not in normal, ordinary Trump lie.
[19:40:05] This is actually one of the things that's threatening, frankly, the lies you just heard this supporter, and it's also threatening to the fundamentals, the foundation of American democracy. We have to begin to take ownership for this.
If this man is running to be commander in chief, at some point, he has to exhibit leadership instead of sitting and resting on his hands in his high and mighty ivory tower assuming that the world is out to get him when all he's had is benefits and privilege.
BURNETT: All right. Thanks to all.
KRISTOL: He's going lose and he'll be a sore loser for a couple of days and he won't hvem much to say.
RYE: And then apparently a civil war.
KRISTOL: No, I don't think so because I think the public is better than he is.
RYE: That's dangerous.
BURNETT: All right. Thanks to all.
And next our body language expert on why this particular movement was crucial for Hillary Clinton last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've never had any of this happen in any of our elections before.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That was a great pivot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: You see her touch her lip.
And we're standing by. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as I said. Henry Kissinger has arrived. Mayor Giuliani has arrived. They're going to be sitting, you can see those tables just one seat away from each other at this dinner. Supposed to be making light-hearted jokes about the other one day after one of the nastiest presidential debates ever.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: All right. You can see this dinner right now at the Waldorf Astoria here in New York. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton I believe arriving any second now.
I want to go to M.J. Lee who is outside this dinner.
M.J., they are going to be sitting one seat apart. Supposed to be making cordial jokes about each other. I mean, this is going to be a pretty incredible night and, of course, we're going to see it all right here as it unfolds.
Tell me where we are right now in terms of their seating and their arrival.
M.J. LEE, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Well, Erin, the timing of this dinner is extremely awkward. Both Donald Trump and Clinton will be inside the dinner and they are going to be seated just one seat away from each other. That is pretty close quarters for two candidates that have really been going after one another.
Now, the two candidates are supposed to make these speeches that are considered roasts. It been tradition for a while that presidential candidates sort of make jokes, make fun of each other, make fun of their opponents.
[19:45:04] We saw this four years ago when both President Obama and Mitt Romney, they both attended the dinner. You probably remember, Erin, one joke that Mitt Romney made. He was dressed in white tie and said something to the effect of boy it feels nice to finally relax and wear what I'm used to wearing around the house most of the time. That was supposed to be a self deprecating joke about himself and his wealth.
Let's hear some sound from 2012 when both Romney and Obama, aside from making jokes, actually spoke very respectfully of one another. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I particularly want to thank Governor Romney for joining me, because I admire him very much as a family man and loving father. And those are two titles that will always matter more than any political ones.
MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our 44th president has many gifts and a beautiful family that would make any man proud.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEE: Erin, it's almost hard to imagine Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton speaking in that kind of tone about one another tonight especially after last night's contentious debate. They didn't even shake hands and, of course, there is that one explosive moment where Donald Trump referred to Hillary Clinton as a nasty woman.
So, Erin, we will see later tonight if Trump and Clinton are able to, you know, put the election aside for a little bit and bring a moment of levity to what has been a dark couple of weeks on the campaign trail.
BURNETT: All right. M.J., thank you.
And everyone has just taken their seats there. There is goings to be the beginning of the dinner.
I'm here with Chris Ulrich, a lead instructor of the Body Language Institute.
So, you just saw Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton enter. Melania Trump and Hillary Clinton had a very brief hello. It looked like that was about it. And then, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton went to their seat. They are one seat apart.
CHRIS ULRICH, BODY LANGUATE INSTITUTE: Yes.
BURNETT: They did not make eye contact.
ULRICH: Not at all.
BURNETT: So, what did you see when you saw them just sitting? I mean, it looked very awkward to me.
ULRICH: Well, it's very similar to what we saw last night. When they both walk in, there is not even a greeting to each other. It's almost like they're using Cardinal Dolan as their buffer to not engage each other at all. So, kind of continuing that lack of engagement or lack of a simple greeting towards each other.
BURNETT: I mean, how do you get through an entire evening like this? A dinner like this? First of all, they are supposed to be making light-hearted jokes at each other's expense.
Here we can see them again right now. Cardinal Dolan is sitting between them, as you can see. Now, they are all standing up. Hillary Clinton will be standing up any moment.
How awkward is this? I mean, I think everybody can understand you are one body apart.
ULRICH: You nailed it. They are awkward. A very awkward posture for both to be in. Not even acknowledging each other at a dinner this evening, which is all about charitable work for kids, which the Alfred E. Smith dinner, a gentlemen known as the peaceful warrior.
So, hopefully, by the end, we'll see great cordiality between the two of them, greater civility by the end of this evening. Let's hope that's what we see that tonight.
BURNETT: I mean, let's say it, because it'd be very hard to imagine at this point, given how nasty their discussion was. I mean, you know, last night, as we watch this, Chris, last night, you know, some of the words we heard Donald Trump at one point with Hillary Clinton was criticizing him and she was criticizing him in very tough terms, interrupted and said she's a nasty women.
ULRICH: Yes.
BURNETT: This is the tone that we now see between the two of them.
ULRICH: Yes. This is -- taking a moment and doing that, actually leans into the mic. For him, he's a high timing moment. He's known to be improvisational.
BURNETT: She's a nasty woman. Like a interjection.
ULRICH: This movement accelerates and moves forward. When you see somebody who does that, that's someone who's high in timing, that's him and his ability to use his language very well. Sometimes it gets him into trouble, like last night. Not the best words to hear from him in that moment.
BURNETT: And we're getting ready to hear from them speaking tonight. Trump did try to stay calm last night. We saw that. And he did so successfully for a quite while. But there was a specific moment where you say Hillary Clinton got under his skin. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: He insulted a former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado, called her an eating machine.
TRUMP: Give me a break.
CLINTON: And on --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: How could you tell that was the moment?
ULRICH: Well, for his language here, he said, "Give me a break," you see an eye roll from him and the twisting of the head this way. When we see the eye roll, the illustrator telling us in those moments that he's contemporary. He also flashes the expression of contempt, one side of the mouth, like a half smile almost. And we see that. That is the beginning of a trend here what we see in him where he's upset with him.
BURNETT: Now, Clinton prepared for this debate and she's ready for things like WikiLeaks. But it was during a WikiLeaks exchange why you think she was caught off guard. She did something very specific. We'll show it here and you can explain exactly what happened.
Here she is. And she's answering the question.
ULRICH: So, this is for her a moment where it is the most frustrating and uncomfortable we see her.
[19:50:04] She was rubbing her nose here and scratching.
BURNETT: And touching the top of her mouth.
ULRICH: Yes, we have tissue on our nose here. When we're nervous or anxious, it feels up with flood. So, it's created an inching sensation. When someone is nervous or uncomfortable, we'll see the scratches people will do in those particular moments.
BURNETT: Wow, I didn't know that, yes, because you definitely see her going for her -- multiple times going for her nose there.
ULRICH: Yes, this is a sign for her that this is a great moment of anxiety and stress. On top of it, Erin, she leans in with her right shoulder, almost giving a cold shoulder defensive posture as she answers that question, and engaging in a defensive answer like ready for a fight to deal with that question not only towards Trump but also in dealing with the question.
BURNETT: Now, for the regular people out like me, we noticed they did not shake hands as they came in. That was no surprised, but they didn't want to do with each other. And at the end, she went to Chris Wallace and when she was done, he -- while he was doing it she ripped up his papers and then he went over. They wanted nothing do with each other.
There was a very big difference also, though, in the way they addressed each other. From the first debate to the third and it is so stunning. I want to play it out there so everybody can hear this for themselves. This is going to be debate one and debate three. Here we go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
TRUMP: In all fairness to Secretary Clinton, Secretary Clinton won't allow them to bring the money back.
CLINTON: Donald, it is good to be with you. You know, Donald was very fortunate in his life.
TRUMP: She wants open borders. She has been outsmarted by Putin. CLINTON: He goes after their dignity, their self worth. He is
denigrating, he is talking down our democracy.
TRUMP: From everything I see has no respect for this person.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
BURNETT: OK. The first time it is their names, it is cordial. Now it is he and this person. And there are nasty words.
ULRICH: Well, basically this is minimizing language. They literally have replaced each other's names in the cordiality we saw between them. Secretary Clinton, Donald, with he and she, him and her.
BURNETT: Or this person.
ULRICH: Yes, it comes back to your initial point of the disdain in that moment, almost childish in their ways of literally minimizing each other, distancing from any connection from each other by him or her versus their name. It is a minimizing technique aimed to get under each other's skin and they did it all night lock.
BURNETT: Incredible.
All right. Chris, thank very much. Good to see you again.
ULRICH: Thanks for having me.
BURNETT: And next, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, as we said, getting ready to eat together right now in New York. You can see, sort of the beginnings of this dinner. They are seated. Cardinal Dolan, the only person in between them. So, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are side by side except for a man of great faith, a day after a bitter presidential debate. That is coming up.
Plus, Michelle Obama, can she make a difference for Clinton and flip her over the top in a ruby red state.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:56:39] BURNETT: All right. Breaking news, as you can see on your screen, the dinner tonight, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton are both there. They have just come face-to-face at this charity dinner. There is Donald Trump, as you can see. We don't have control over this video. This is the full feed, so you'll see them snapping out.
You saw Donald Trump, his wife Melania is there. Cardinal Dolan is sitting next to Donald Trump on the other side and then Hillary Clinton. So, just Cardinal Dolan on either side of them. He is planked by Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
We have just learned that when Clinton and Trump entered the video. They were in a photo line together. They were there together. They did not shake hands.
Obviously, there was no camera on them at that time but we are aware from our reporter that they did not shake hands.
Mark Preston is with me. Mark, this dinner, this is a crucial dinner for them. This is a moment where they are supposed to show they can be funny, they can laugh at themselves and they can make jokes about the other.
PRESTON: That they can be human.
BURNETT: That they can be human.
And right now, we just saw how they talked to each other last night at the debate. He referred to her as that person. She referred to him as "he." They are now sitting side by side except for Cardinal Dolan in between them. And I don't think it is unimportant to point out. Cardinal Dolan, a man of great faith, the most well-known man of faith in this country.
PRESTON: Right, very powerful. Leader of the Catholic Church, no question about that, and he is literally playing referee between both. Look, they will both play nice for the cameras but as we saw backstage, there is no love lost between them and the irony is that this is at a Catholic charity's fundraising dinner.
So, we'll see if they can pull it off tonight, Erin.
BURNETT: I mean, it is incredible. So, we do have, as we're watching this. I just want to play when they were entering the room. First, we saw Melania Trump come in. This is a white tie dinner, which we've been talking about.
So, this is Hillary Clinton coming in and shaking hands with Melania Trump. Both smiling. Hillary Clinton just kept powering on through. But with we saw that movement.
And then Donald Trump is announced and you see Donald Trump come in wearing his white tie, which I guess is a white tuxedo element to him underneath the tuxedo. A confusing dress code.
But there he is and they go and sit down. This is going to be what? Two, three hours that they have to sit this close to each other?
PRESTON: Right, no doubt, and the choreography is amazing. We saw this in the debate last night by frankly, it had to be choreographed to a way that the Clinton campaign felt comfortable enough to participate in how the family would come on stage. They didn't want to run into what they ran into a couple of weeks ago, when the Donald Trump --
BURNETT: They didn't want to have the families meet, right?
PRESTON: They didn't want to have the families meet because Donald Trump was going to put those four women in his family box to try to meet Bill Clinton.
BURNETT: I mean, it is pretty stunning. Now, these are all speeches they are going to deliver. And we're going to be watching this all live. These are speeches they prepared in advance, right? Full of jokes. I mean, usually, how long do these sorts of things go?
PRESTON: Certainly a couple of hours. Look, these are the mainstay, this is one of the political dinners that really count. I don't know how much it is going count in this election. But, listen, this goes back to 1960 when you had Nixon and Kennedy both went to this dinner.
So, and it's been going on for 15, 20 years before that. So, it's a big deal.
BURNETT: You saw Romney and Obama there. And everyone, you have Henry Kissinger is from tonight. Rudy Giuliani is there tonight. Michael Bloomberg is there tonight.
It is going to be a big night and, of course, we're going to be covering it live for you. Thanks for joining us.
"AC360" starts right now.
