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Erin Burnett Outfront
GOP Panics Over Losing Senate Because of Trump; Michelle Obama Accuses Trump of Suppressing Turnout; Trump Says Hot Mic on Lewd Tape was "Illegal"; Pence's Plane Skids Off New York Runway. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired October 27, 2016 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:06] ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: OUTFRONT next, the breaking news. Donald Trump about to take the stage in must-win Ohio. New polls showing neck and neck race in key states as Trump jokes about canceling the election.
Plus, we show Obama calling out Donald Trump saying his rigged election conspiracy theory will keep voters at home. Is she right?
And "Shark Tank" star Barbara Corcoran on the Donald Trump she's known for 45 years and how he is with women behind closed doors. Let's go OUTFRONT.
Good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news. Just give it to Trump. Donald Trump tonight 12 days to go combining an attack on Clinton with the sarcastic call to skip Election Day all- together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Hillary Clinton wants to raise taxes on small businesses up to 45 percent. What a difference. You know, what a difference this is. And just thinking to myself right now, we should just cancel the election and just give it to Trump, right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: You're looking at live pictures of a Donald Trump rally. This is just about to start in Geneva, Ohio. The latest polls show a very close race in states like Ohio. Must-win states. And ABC News tracking poll today shows Trump closing the gap with Clinton cutting her lead in half in just three days, leading the half in just three days. By the way, that is what we saw last night in the FOX News poll.
Cutting the lead in half in a week. But new battleground states polls out in tonight do show an uphill battle for Trump at the state level which is crucial. Clinton on the trail with her best surrogate today campaigning with the First Lady Michelle Obama for the first time in the must-win state of North Carolina. Mrs. Obama in a fiery speech calling out Donald Trump for saying the election is rigged.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MICHELLE OBAMA, U.S. FIRST LADY: We want a president who takes this job seriously. Someone who we can trust with the nuclear codes because we want to go to sleep at night knowing that our kids and our country are safe. I believe with all of my heart that Hillary Clinton will be that president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Sara Murray is OUTFRONT. She's at that Trump rally in Geneva, Ohio.
And Sara, you know, again a tracking poll showing it getting tighter and tighter. Something Trump wants to hear what do you expect to hear from him tonight?
SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, I think we're going to hear more harsh words for Hillary Clinton on the stump tonight. Donald trump seems to be betting that that and a combination of a very busy schedule and a maybe even a little help from Melania Trump on the trail could be just the magic he needs to turn his fortune around but he doesn't have a whole lot of time to do it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: In 12 days, we're going to win Ohio. And we are going to win back the White House.
MURRAY (voice-over): Donald Trump is barn-storming the Buckeye State today with one target in mind.
TRUMP: I've been doing six, seven, eight things a day, every single day. She's home sleeping half the time. I say she's definitely a low energy person.
MURRAY: Seizing on the latest revelations from hacked e-mails released by WikiLeaks outlining how Bill Clinton generated personal income through Clinton Foundation contacts.
TRUMP: If the Clinton were willing to play this fast and loose with their enterprise when they weren't in the White House, just imagine what they will do given the chance to once again control the Oval Office.
MURRAY: The GOP nominee hoping a last-ditch effort to stay on message and jam-pack his campaign schedule might be enough to clinch a victory come November. But even if he accused Hillary Clinton on being dangerous on foreign policy.
TRUMP: Now Hillary wants to start a shooting war in Syria conflict with the nuclear power. Russia which could very well lead to World War III.
MURRAY: He again appeared to come to Russian President Vladimir Putin's defense.
TRUMP: She speaks very badly of Putin and I don't think that is smart, you know? It should be very tough but you shouldn't be doing what she's doing.
MURRAY: And while he claims he no longer wants to focus on the lawsuits he's threatened against women who have accused him of unwanted sexual advances --
TRUMP: You know I hate that you waste time, when we're talking about ISIS and we're talking jobs and you are still bringing that up. Everybody wants to bring that up.
MURRAY: Trump still lobbing sharp attacks at a people magazine reporter who alleged he pushed her against a wall and kissed her without consent.
TRUMP: All she was afraid -- give me a break. She was to write. She would have gotten the Pulitzer Prize. Give me a break.
MURRAY: Trump making a rare appearance with his wife Melania. She says she's more focused on raising their 10-year-old son Baron than hitting the campaign trail.
MELANIA TRUMP, WIFE OF DONALD: My priority is my son Baron. Our son Baron and I support him 100 percent and I'm there for him every time he needs him and I might join him.
MURRAY: But her husband has other ideas.
TRUMP: She's amazing when she speaks. She's an amazing public speaker. So, she's agreed to do two or three speeches and I think it is going to be big speeches. Important speeches.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[19:05:12] MURRAY: Now Erin, one thing that is always true is the nearer you get to Election Day, especially in close states like Ohio, the more the nitty-gritty of your campaign, sort of the turn-out operation, the political organization really matters and I have to tell you here in Ohio tonight even though early voting was already under way, we have not really seen Trump volunteers or Trump staffers driving that message or trying to insure people cast their ballots early. Back to you.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you, Sara.
And John King is OUTFRONT in Washington, D.C. So, John, 12 days to go. I mean, I can't believe we're actually here but there are some big changes to the map tonight.
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Almost there Erin. And yes, some big changes. At first it looks like it's moving Donald Trump's way but then looks can be deceiving. Let's start with where we are. This is our new CNN electoral map. We have Secretary Clinton at 272. Donald Trump at 179. The dark blues, solid Democrat, the light blues, lean Democratic, flip side for the reds. Now, here is difference from just yesterday. Yesterday we had Florida leaning Democratic, Nevada leaning Democratic. But we've taken those away because of the new polling in those states. So, that drops Secretary Clinton down below 300 just above the 270
line. So, if you're a Trump supporter, you think aha, this race is moving our way. But let me switch to show you some new state polling just out this evening Erin that shows not so fast, Mr. Trump. Let's go first to Iowa. Donald Trump is counting on Iowa. He says in just about every speech right now, he's winning Iowa. Well he's not. It is a tie according to this new Quinnipiac University poll, 44-44. And the poll also shows that in early voting Hillary Clinton is doing quite well out in Iowa.
Now let's move south to another one of these ruby red states still in play. Just like Utah, just like Arizona, now Georgia, Erin. Look at this. Forty four for Donald Trump, 43 for Hillary Clinton. So statistically a tie in Georgia of all places. And again Quinnipiac finding in its polling, Hillary Clinton doing well in early voting. Virginia, Donald Trump has been saying from the beginning he wants to bring Virginia his way. This is yet another poll. Forget about Virginia. This is another poll with the double digit lead, 50-38 for Secretary Clinton. A once red state has become a blue state.
And now North Carolina where Secretary Clinton was with the First Lady today. Donald Trump was there yesterday. Donald Trump cannot win the White House without North Carolina. This is the latest poll to show yes a small, 47 to 43 but a stubborn persistent Clinton lead in North Carolina. So, Erin, let me switch back quickly to the other map. What is that mean? It means you could say, let's take Iowa way and call it a toss-up. Let's take Georgia away and call it a tossup. Trump in that scenario drops down to 157. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Eight toss-up states on that map in that scenario, even if Donald Trump won them all, Erin, still wouldn't be enough.
All right. John King, thank you.
OUTFRONT tonight, Clinton supporter Basil Smikle who served on Clinton's Senate staff. Clinton supporter Jeffrey Lord who served as political director in the Reagan White House. Our executive editor for Politics Mark Preston and our national political reporter Maeve Reston. Mark, let me start with you. The Trump campaign is seizing on Florida.
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Right.
BURNETT: Right. Well, they have another poll tonight showing her lead cut in half in just a few days. Tighter and tighter and tighter. And now on this map Florida now, no longer Clinton going back into toss-up territory. That is a big positive for them.
PRESTON: Well, look, certainly in a month that's been really bad headlines for Donald Trump, this is a dig positive for him. And Florida, as John said, you know, North Carolina, Trump needs North Carolina, you know, to win. He needs Florida to win. I mean, it really does start with Florida as well. If he loses Florida early on election night, then the election is over. However as we're seeing down there, we're seeing Republicans now starting to come home so to speak. And we always expected this anyway for the election to get tighter.
We're also seeing Democrats from home. The real fight now is going to be for those Independent voters. And the question will be, what we see specifically in Florida, some of Marco Rubio supporters, will they eventually go with Trump and could Trump help Marco Rubio. So there is dynamics going in that state that are very very interesting.
BURNETT: And Basil, you know, Mike Pence is saying Hillary Clinton got way too kooky. Way to kooky, right? The polls were all in her favor and now it's getting tighter and tighter and tighter. Here is how Mike Pence put it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. MIKE PENCE (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You heard Hillary Clinton is out there. She is widening the battlefield, she's campaigning for other candidates and then oops, new polls are coming out. It is wheel to wheel all across the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I mean, Basil, when you look at these polls. I mean, you know, you had the FOX News poll, they call it within the margin of error. Maybe that is rounding it looks slightly outside. But Nevada, Florida, both come to Democratic to toss ups. Does Pence have a point?
BASIL SMIKLE, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: No, listen. The polls range from three percent to 14 percent that she's ahead. But we cannot be complacent. And I think that is actually the point about investing in down ballot races. It's about supporting all of the candidates that are going to get out your message where I don't think that Donald Trump has been successful on that. Two hundred million registered voters. Fifteen have already voted.
BURNETT: Right.
SMIKLE: North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, people are already voting and voting in very, very high numbers. So we're, I mean, there is -- I don't want to say we're confident but we're certainly encouraged. And I don't think we can take anything for granted. I know Democrats everywhere are not doing that.
[19:10:12] JEFFREY LORD, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Yes. I mean, to the extent that they have been doing this acting Thomas Deweyesque here that this is all over and they are going to widen the battlefield. I mean, this can be a real problem for them. Because when you give people the idea that you've already gotten this in the bag and you combine this with this lack of enthusiasm problem that she has. Those things taken together could be fatal.
SMIKLE: Can we draw that back a little bit? Lack of enthusiasm, that is not the case. If you go any of her rallies, there is no lack of enthusiasm there. Number one.
LORD: Where I live in Pennsylvania, you drive around, Trump signs are everywhere. I have seen -- no, I saw another one today. So, I've now seen two Hillary signs and Trump signs are everywhere.
(TALKING OVER EACH OTHER)
SMIKLE: And if the signs go vote, it's very excited. And if the signs go vote, you know, then you may have a point. But they don't that. And that goes to the point earlier about whether or not Republicans are coming home. But I do wonder about that. Because I think that voters may forget what you say but they won't forget how you made them feel. And I think when you have candidates, Republican candidates running on these down ballot races that are trying to defend Donald Trump, can't really do a good job of that, they are going to have a difficult time, you know, trying to get their votes.
BURNETT: And we're going to talk a lot more about that. It's actually interesting what voters think about that. But Maeve I want to ask you something though because the Clinton campaign does seem concerned about this issue. I mean, look, they sent Michelle Obama who I think without question is the most popular Democrat in the country. Right? The best surrogate Hillary Clinton has to North Carolina, a swing state to stump for Clinton and here is what he she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, U.S. FIRST LADY: Let's not forget, back in 2012, Barack actually did lose the state by about 17 votes per precinct. Seventeen. That's how presidential elections go. They are decided on a razors edge. Each of you could swing an entire precinct and win this election for Hillary. But you could also help swing an entire precinct for Hillary's opponent, with a protest vote or by not voting at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Trump today was saying he does so many rallies, Hillary Clinton is home sleeping. Obviously hyperbole here. But he does do more rallies. He did three to her one. She's got her surrogates out there. He doesn't have that benefit. But she needs to step it up in these last few days?
MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: Well clearly she's had really powerful surrogates like Michelle Obama out there hitting that big problem that she has which has been energizing millennials and getting the Democrats who would potentially vote for a third party candidate to come back to her. So, I mean, the campaign clearly is worried about that. You saw Robby Mook put a video this morning saying, hey, the polls are all over the place. Nobody stay home.
So they really are driving this message that everyone needs to turn out. And I will say that there is so much variation in all of these different polls that we're seeing that, you know, the only thing that is safe to look at really is the poll of polls, certainly nationally. But you are seeing so much variance that that might actually be good for Hillary Clinton. Because it might sort of jolt those people who we're going to stay home out to the polls. BURNETT: Right. Good for Hillary Clinton or perhaps indicative of
the fact that there are some real issue with the polls, which is the Trump argument. Right? We saw it in England with Brexit. We saw it with Farc in Colombia, could we see it here?
All right. Next, the latest poll in Texas shows Trump ahead by only three-points in Texas. So, could the lone star state really go for Clinton? And Marco Rubio in a very tight battle for his Senate's seat. His opponent's main weapon is Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA: -- Donald Trump. That's his answer to everything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[19:17:01] BURNETT: Republicans panicking tonight, worried that Trump could take the Senate down if he loses. Democrats smelling blood in the water. Injecting last minute cash tonight into the Florida Senate race. They want to take down Marco Rubio. Could it happen?
Manu Raju is OUTFRONT tonight in Naples.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MANU RAJU, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Marco Rubio running for election in Florida. In an awkward spot on Donald Trump. Supporting his candidacy but refusing to even say that Trump would keep the country safe.
(on camera): Will Donald Trump keep the country safe?
(voice-over): Again it's -- the military is what keeps us safe and we have to rebuild our military.
RAJU: He also would not say if Trump could be considered a role model for his four children.
RUBIO: Like most Americans, you know, people look at this and say, these are not ideal choices. But that is one of the reasons I ran for Senate because I know that no matter who wins we're going to have to have a strong Senate.
RAJU: Rubio faces a dilemma that is confronting Senate GOP candidates across the country. They need the support of Trump backers to win reelection and also to win over voters who feel alienated by the GOP nominee. Yet if Trump gets blown out by Clinton, it would dramatically improve the chances of a Democratic Senate takeover. Recent polls in Florida make that case. One found Clinton had ahead of Trump and Rubio barely leading his Democratic challenger, Congressman Patrick Murphy. A separate poll had Trump ahead, and Rubio winning re-election by ten points. What makes things more uncomfortable for Rubio, his bitter primary fight with Trump.
RUBIO: We have a con artist as the front-runner in the Republican Party.
RAJU: In the debate this week, Murphy made his strategy abundantly clear consistently invoking Trump's name.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump, Donald Trump, so what it's going to take for you do un-endorsed Donald Trump?
RUBIO: Basically the answer to any question tonight by Congressman Murphy is Donald Trump.
RAJU: But Murphy, after being abandoned by the national party now getting a last minute cash infusion with a Super PAC tied to Democratic Leader Harry Reid promising to make a seven figure donation to an outside group -- Murphy. Murphy already putting $1 million of his own money to pay for this Spanish language ad with President Obama.
(PRESIDENT OBAMA SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RAJU: And Erin, Obama clearly wants to beat Rubio here in this state. Coming to Orlando tomorrow to campaign with Murphy. This after Obama calling out Marco Rubio on the campaign trail for supporting Donald Trump and a sign of just how difficult a position Rubio is on Trump, here at a rally in a building behind me, he did not mention Donald Trump's name once in a roughly ten minute speech. Even if the person who introduced him noted that he supported Donald Trump and the crowd erupted in enthusiastic applause -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Manu. Really interesting point that he just made that about the crowd erupting in enthusiastic applause when he said he supported Donald Trump.
My panel is back with me. Philip Bump joins us as well. Washington Post political reporter. So, Phil, let me start with you. Putting the voters aside for a second because there may be a real split here. Many Republicans who are running for office, who are, you know, in the power positions in the RNC are running scared. They don't want to be linked to Donald Trump. Why is that?
PHILIP BUMP, POLITICAL REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: I would say that is because at this point two things are about equally likely to happen in the presidential race. Either Donald Trump will eke out a win or Donald Trump will get totally blown out. And the odds are good, he's going to lose regardless. And if he gets totally blown out or if he loses, which the ads are good will happen, there is going to be a long term repercussion to people who are OUTFRONT advocating for Donald Trump among non-white voters.
And when you are in Florida, that is a particular problem. You don't want to be the guy that hug Donald Trump close, especially if Donald Trump is going to lose. That is the position Marco is in. I think the operating principle here is plausible deniability. He wants people to come back and I wasn't really into Donald Trump. A lot of Republicans are the same -- BURNETT: So Mark, what's interesting is, when someone says I support
Donald Trump and the crowd erupts in applause. When you look at the latest poll, 83 percent of Democrats now support Hillary Clinton. Eighty one percent of Republicans now support Donald Trump. So while some of the people running for office maybe terrified in running away from him, the voters actually seem to be coming home to him.
PRESTON: Yes. They are coming home in both parties. The difficult thing right now for someone like Marco Rubio or for other Senate candidates right now is that, you don't want to be too close, you don't want to be too far. And you do want that plausible deniability. But specifically in that Florida Senate race, you have to wonder, could Donald Trump help Marco Rubio up in the northern part of the state along the panhandle where there are this non-college educated white --
BURNETT: Right. His stronghold.
PRESTON: Correct. It could quite frankly could Marco help Trump down in Southern Florida. Here is another thing to though to think about as well. Marco Rubio and Donald Trump specifically hated each other. I mean, there is hatred there. So, you have to be careful not to alienate the Republican base that is for Donald Trump because you need that Republican base to support you.
BURNETT: Yes. How mad are you at someone like Marco Rubio? I mean, if he could help him in Southern Florida, he could help Donald Trump win Florida. It could be in Marco Rubio's hands.
[19:22:06] LORD: Right. Right. Look, people who oppose leadership positions, who oppose their own party's presidential nominee selected after all by people in the primaries who then think that later down the road, they are going run for president are shooting themselves in the foot. Because if they succeed in what they're doing in trying to sabotage, you are going to have a base of the party that says, okay, I get it. I'll never vote for you again. So, that is a problem here. I saw this in 1982 when I was working for then Senator John Heinz running for re-election in the year that Ronald Reagan was not very popular as a sitting president because of the recession.
He declined to do that. He said he wanted a mid-course election. But he invited Reagan in Philadelphia to raise funds. He totally hung on tight to him and he won big time. So, when you run from your party's leader like this does not help you either in the day or in the future.
BURNETT: So, Basil, when you have Republican lawmakers who are coming back. Some of them are. Right? Some of them are still running but some of them are coming back. The tape came out and that was sort of the straw that broke the camel's back. You had a whole bunch of them that ran away. One of them was Jason Chaffetz, the congressman, here is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JASON CHAFFETZ (R), UTAH: I'm not going to put my good name and reputation and my family behind Donald Trump for president when he acts like this. I just can't do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OK. That that was then. This is a couple of weeks later. Yesterday, he tweets, I will not defend or endorse Donald Trump but I am voting for him. HRC is that bad. HRC is bad for the USA. I have to say, this is one of the things I can't stand. When people say, I'm voting for someone but I'm not endorsing them.
SMIKLE: Right.
BURNETT: I'm sorry. Then don't say, you are voting for, OK? Because that is an endorsement. That is just my point of view. But what do you make of this? It's not just him. It's not John Thune, chairman of the Senate Republican Conference. They are coming back home.
SMIKLE: So, when voters look at that and you wonder why they are upset at the system or upset at the establishment. There is no leadership there. Nothing about what they have done and others have done rings leadership. And you wonder why this gridlock in Washington. You wonder why Republicans for the last eight years of the Obama presidency have been the party of no. Because they are in it for themselves.
Not for party or for country I would argue. And that to me has really been the problem in this race. Because how is it that you can get on a soap box and say, I am against everything this man has said and done, but I'm going to vote for him and I encourage you to do the same thing.
LORD: I hate to say this but I agree with most of what Basil just said.
SMIKLE: Thank you.
LORD: I mean, you are there to be a leader for heaven's sakes. Lead the country. This is our system. We have a presidential nominee, the Democrats have a presidential nominee. Stand by that person and get out there. If you don't want to do it, get out.
BURNETT: Will it hurt Marco Rubio that he's not -- that he's not coming out directly for Donald Trump? But he just refused -- you saw that. Will he keep the country safe and he said our military does. I mean, that was damning.
BUMP: Yes. Yes. I mean, absolutely. That is the plausible denial. Will I hear him? I don't think so. I mean, the polling seems to suggest that Marco Rubio is in good position. If Marco Rubio ends up losing this race, my guess is because there was a giant national wave that may have been caused by Donald Trump that Republicans lose a bunch of seats they're expecting to --
BURNETT: And nobody could have won it.
BUMP: And I don't know that's Marco Rubio's fault. BURNETT: All right. Thanks to all. And next, Michelle Obama hits
the campaign trail slamming Donald Trump. Can she be the one who closes the deal for Hillary?
And Melania Trump in a rare appearance defending her husband against his female accusers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MELANIA TRUMP: There were lies and as I said before all the accusations, they should be handled in a court of law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:29:27] BURNETT: Breaking news. Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton campaigning together for the first time. The First Lady firing up a North Carolina crowd today as you see Hillary with her, saying Donald Trump is trying to suppress the vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA: If Hillary doesn't win this election, that will be on us. It will be because we did not stand with her. It will be because we did not vote for her. And that is exactly what her opponent is hoping will happen. That is strategy, to make this election so dirty and ugly that we don't want any part of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[19:30:05] BURNETT: Will Michelle Obama be the closer Clinton needs?
Brianna Keilar is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OBAMA: First ladies, we rock.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Hillary Clinton pushes toward Election Day in North Carolina, she's got some very popular company.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As our first African American first lady, she's faced pressures I never did.
(APPLAUSE)
And she's handled them with pure grace.
KEILAR: Michelle Obama campaigning with the Democratic nominee for the first time.
OBAMA: We want a president who takes this job seriously, and has the temperament, and maturity, to do it well. Someone who is steady. Someone who we can trust with the nuclear codes because we want to go to sleep at night knowing that our kids and our country are safe. And I am here today because I believe with all of my heart, and I would not be here lying to you. I believe with all of my heart that Hillary Clinton will be that president.
KEILAR: Taking advantage of the first lady's high standing with voters, she's even more popular than her husband, who's approval rating is quite high at 55 percent.
CLINTON: Every election is about the future, and this one is about whether we build on the progress we've made, the legacy that President Obama has built. Or rip it away and go backwards.
OBAMA: That's right. Hillary doesn't play. She has more experience and exposure to the presidency than any candidate in our lifetime. Yes, more than Barack. More than Bill. So, she is absolutely ready to be commander in chief on day one. And yes, she happens to be a woman.
KEILAR: But in these final 12 day, Clinton keeps battling a drip, drip, drip of off putting revelations from the hacked e-mails of her campaign chief John Podesta. The latest batch reveals what Doug Band, a former top aide to Bill Clinton, called "Bill Clinton, Inc.", wrangling millions of dollars in consultant fees and paid speeches for the former president, often from donors to the Clinton foundation. Those practices as well as foreign donations to the foundation worried top aides to Hillary Clinton, emails show. And that they were also blindsided by her use of a private e-mail address and serve while she was secretary of state.
"Did you have any idea of the depth of this story?" Podesta asks campaign manager Robby Mook after "The New York Times" reported on Clinton's private email server in March 2015. "Nope," he replies. We brought up the existence of e-mails in research this summer but we're told that everything was taken care of."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: WikiLeaks, of course, difficult for the campaign Erin. But there is some good news for Hillary Clinton tonight as she tries to court millennial voters and that's that they are increasing their enthusiasm for her. In a Harvard Institute of Politics poll, she has 49 percent of young voters saying that she is their pick. That is 28 percent more than Donald Trump.
And what's real interesting is that even though she's not getting quite to where Barack Obama was in 2012, if you look at the margin, if this poll were to hold how much she would beat Donald Trump by, actually it is by more than Obama beat Mitt Romney by.
BURNETT: All right, Brianna. Thank you.
And OUTFRONT now, Corey Lewandowski, the former campaign manager for Donald Trump, and Maria Cardona, Hillary Clinton supporter, her firm currently does work for a pro-Clinton super PAC.
Corey, let me start with you. You just heard Michelle Obama first time on the trail with Hillary Clinton together, impassioned speech on her behalf. How formidable is she? When you watch Michelle Obama, what do you think?
COREY LEWANDOWSKI, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I think Hillary Clinton should embrace Michelle Obama every chance she gets if she wants to be the next president of the United States. Michelle Obama is exceptionally popular. What's very interesting as you know is the recent polls indicate that Donald Trump is between 18 to 29 percent of the African American vote.
So if Hillary Clinton wants to get that back I think Michelle Obama has to be on the campaign trail.
And, look, let's not forget, it is just a mere eight years that Michelle Obama took a passing slight at Hillary Clinton and said you can't control your own house, you sure can't control the White House. Look, it's political expediency. I wouldn't expect anything less. But I do think Michelle Obama is a good surrogate for Hillary Clinton right now and she's much better than Bill Clinton. So I think she can stick with her as long as he can.
BURNETT: I will just point out, because I always have to note this when a poll comes up, I'm not familiar with any poll or any poll that shows that, Corey. Just so viewers know.
[19:35:01] It's not a poll we know here at CNN.
But, Maria, Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton have not always been friends, OK? Just to state the obvious, for anyone who's been living somewhere else and doesn't know this. And Donald Trump has been seizing on that. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have a president. All he wants to do is campaign. His wife, all she wants do is campaign. And I see how much his wife likes Hillary. But wasn't she the one that originally started the statement "if you can't take care of your home," right? "You can't take care of the White House or the country."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Now, Maria, he's referring to Michelle Obama when she once said, if you can't run your own house, you certainly can't run the White House. That was in 2007 when her husband was running against Hillary Clinton.
MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Sure.
BURNETT: Everyone saw that as the swipe at time. So, do people now buy all of a sudden they are friends? This is genuine?
CARDONA: Absolutely. And Michelle Obama even talked about that in her speech today. She said that ever since her husband Barack Obama took the oath of office, Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton have been nothing but nurturing and supportive and really good friends. And in fact, I think it is because they used to be so adversarial, this now that she's supporting her in such a passionate way that she is really offering this contrast is a lot more credible.
If you want to bring up tapes of what people have said before, let's bring up the Donald Trump tape when he is speaking beautiful images about Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton. So, you know, things change obviously.
But now, Michelle Obama made a very compelling contrast. Not just between the character and the fitness for office of these candidates, which is, you know, for her and for the majority of American people night and day between somebody who is not fit for office, Donald Trump and somebody who is ready on day one. But also pointed out that that is moment where the character of the nation is going to be tested as a mother and -- as Hillary Clinton as a mother, it was very compelling.
BURNETT: Corey, do you buy it? That they are friends now? Michelle Obama really likes Hillary Clinton?
LEWANDOWSKI: Of course not. But what we do know is politics bedfellows. All of a sudden, you know, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are best of friends after, you know, going at it for months and calling each liars and saying you stole the election. No, you did. Now, they're best friends.
Look, this is the problem with politicians, right? They say bad things about each other then the election is over and then become best friends and say, oh, I really --
CARDONA: It's certainly not working for Donald Trump.
LEWANDOWSKI: Look, Donald Trump has never tried to kiss up of the establishment after he's called people out on. He's been very clear on his position on things. So, this is what the American people see right through. They weren't friends before. They were only friends now for political expediency.
BURNETT: Now, Donald Trump is trying to win other the female vote. Hillary Clinton has very strong female surrogates for different groups. Michelle Obama, Elizabeth Warren among them.
Donald Trump does not. OK? He has his daughter out there a sometimes and his wife out there no times except for today, Corey, she did. She came out and did an interview, Melania, side by side with him. And Donald Trump appeared to surprise her when he said she's going to be out on the trail a lot in the next 12 days.
Here's the clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
INTERVIEWER: Does it make you want to get out there yourself and help him out the final two weeks?
MELANIA TRUMP, WIFE OF DONALD TRUMP: We'll see. My priority is my son Baron, our son Baron. And I support him 100 percent. And I'm there for him every time he needs him. And I might join him. We'll see.
DONALD TRUMP: She's actually going to make two or three speeches -- she's amazing when she speaks. She's an amazing public speaker. So, she's agreed to two or three speeches and I think it is going to be big speeches. Important speeches.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right, Corey, she was obviously surprised by that. But is this really going to happen? Can she make difference with women in the days we have left? Twelve days.
LEWANDOWSKI: Well, I think she can. But, you know, you heard her answer. Her number one priority, which I think is extremely commendable, is she wants to be the mother to her son. I think the American people understand that, because that is the number one people for a mother is to take care of their children. And that's what she's made her priority.
Is she going to go out and support her husband and make three speeches or four speech or five? Sure, she made a speech at the convention. I thought was very well received. She's extremely smart and extremely articulate.
More importantly, she's been a rock for that family, for the Trump family, for the children, for him. She's been the person that every time they ever needed something she's been supporting him every step of the way, and now, she's going to come out to the public and make some speeches. I think it will be the major difference in this election.
CARDONA: I think Melania is lovely. I think it's too little too late for her to make a difference. I think that interview I think was weird and awkward and for me looked like complete disrespect for Donald Trump to Melania. He clearly made that up as they were making this interview. She had no idea she was doing this.
I will believe that she's going to make two or three important speeches the moment he gives us his taxes which he also promised before the election.
[19:40:02] We have yet to see that.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you both.
LEWANDOWSKI: They are with Hillary's e-mails.
BURNETT: And next, "Shark Tank's" Barbara Corcoran opens up about Donald Trump. What's he really like with women? What's he really like behind closed doors? She's going to tell you.
And Trump leaning Texas by just three points. That is within the margin of error. Could Texas turn blue?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Tonight, Donald Trump's lead is narrowing in the reliably red state of Texas. A new poll showing Clinton within three points behind, and that is within the margin of error. And the last time a Democrat won Texas was 1976. Is this the year it could happen again?
Ed Lavandera is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For as long as anyone can remember scouring the piney woods of East Texas for a Democrat has been a little like hunting for Bigfoot. They say it is out there be in conservative region but it is an elusive creature.
Which brings us to this courthouse n the small town of Gilmer.
[19:45:00] LAUREN PARISH, DISTRICT JUDGE: Disassociated myself with the Republican Party.
LAVANDERA: Judge Lauren Parish is an elected Republican judge but she says she won't be voting for Trump. She says his treatment of women and endless string of insulting positions trove her away from her party's nominee.
PARISH: Seemed like every day or every week there was another position he would take that conflicted with the beliefs and values that have been instilled in me by my church and my family growing up.
LAVANDERA: Judge Parish predicts this will probably get her voted out of office when she's up for reelection in two years.
It's hard to quantify, but there are a growing number of Texas Republicans turning their backs on Trump. Even President George H.W. Bush is reportedly voting for Clinton. Just like Joseph Kopser.
JOSEPH KOPSER, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: If Ronald Reagan and John Lennon had a kid, I'd be their son.
LAVANDERA: At a taco joint in Houston, Kopser shared how a self- described Reagan Republican West Point graduate Army veteran who served in Iraq turned high-tech entrepreneur sees Trump as a dangerous choice.
KOPSER: Donald Trump is not who he appears to be. Donald Trump is a great entertainer. Donald Trump is a great showman, if you will. But Donald Trump doesn't really represent the views of so many millions of Americans.
LAVANDERA (on camera): Four years ago, Mitt Romney beat Obama by 16 points here in Texas. In 2008, McCain beat Obama by 11 points. It is not supposed to be close here.
So when the latest poll showed Trump leading Clinton by only three points, well, that has Texas Democrats salivating at the idea that Texas of all places could turn blue. But the Texas Republican Party says that kind of wishful thinking is, quote, "utter nonsense."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we've got a choice between crude and corrupt.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): These men shooting the breeze outside this antiques store in west Texas say they are picking crude. They say it's a weird election but see deep support for Trump in Texas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's the weird part is the guy is doing real well is not a politician.
LAVANDERA: We found Jim Blair proudly sporting his "Make America Great" hat. Even though polls show a close race in Texas, he predicts a Trump landslide on Election Day.
JIM BLAIR, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: I think there are a lot of people not telling you what they truly think and where they are going to vote or how they are going vote. For some reason, they are afraid to tell it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: And, Erin, early voting here in Texas started on Monday. The turnout numbers have been huge across the state. There have been in conservative social media circles a lot of talk about voting machines that haven't been working properly. Switching Donald Trump votes to Hillary Clinton votes.
We've spoken with election administrators in those counties where a few of those cases have happened. They all say the machines are working properly and in those cases, it was user error that caused the problem.
So, regardless, despite all of that, still a lot of talk about that which blends in very nicely for what Donald Trump has ban saying over the last few weeks about the election being rigged. All of that kind of playing into that same narrative as well -- Erin.
BURNETT: Ed, thank you.
And next, "Shark Tank" host Barbara Corcoran, she's known Donald Trump for more than four decades. She's not voting for him and she has something to say about him and women and his accusers. She's my guest. She's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:51:57] BURNETT: Breaking news: Donald Trump threatening to sue NBC after his lewd comments caught on tape. In an interview with FOX News, Trump addressed whether he thought it was illegal to release the "Access Hollywood" tape. His response, "Oh, absolutely. You know that was a private dressing room -- yes, that was certainly illegal, no question about it."
In the days following the tape's released, at least 11 women have come forward accusing Trump of unwanted sexual advances, allegations that Trump again denied this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP: They made up stories. You know why? Fame, or they wanted to help Clinton, or something. They made up stories.
INTERVIEWER: They came out after you denied your --
DONALD TRUMP: George, let's not waste anymore time. These stories were fabricated. They are total lies.
MELANIA TRUMP: They were, they were lies. And as I said before, all the accusations, they should be handled in a court of law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Joining me now, a woman, a real estate heavyweight, who has known Trump for decades. That's Barbara Corcoran, star of "Shark Tank", also a Hillary Clinton supporter.
So, Barbara, you know, you have known Donald Trump for 45 years. You've been in a lot of situations with him. Meetings, right? Do you overall believe these accusers?
BARBARA CORCORAN, "SHARK TANK" INVESTOR & HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: I very much do. I just think that it's preposterous that he's claiming he's done nothing like that. I mean, he's been that way always. I've never been in a room with him alone except on one occasion. Should I tell you that occasion?
BURNETT: Yes, tell me.
CORCORAN: I don't want to sound like a gossiper. But I was pregnant with my first child at the time and so was his second wife, and he compared my breast size to his wife by putting his hands in the air. I was in a business meeting. I was like shocked. So, that, of course, is nothing compared to anything that we've been hearing in the press and I found it rather comical.
But I did think after what -- how would I have felt if I had been a young women not a successful business women and been in a situation like that, I would have felt very compromise. So, if a man is that way, so inappropriate, I just assume it's that way all the time.
BURNETT: And did you ever in meetings with other people did you ever, you know, hear certain talk, witness him behave this way?
CORCORAN: Yes, no, no, no locker room talk because I was always in a meeting, usually with a lot of men in the construction field, because I was in the real estate business. So it was a very formal setting. So, absolutely not, no.
BURNETT: Never heard of it. But you do believe the women.
I mean, I'm also curious, because, you know, you talk about is settles in construction and real estate. As the world you know. And one of the excuses that he's given -- well, he said he didn't do it. But for the words he said it's locker room talk. This sort of happens out there. You know, and you -- this is something you have been kind of open about it.
Back in May, "I find running a business in the man's world to be a huge advantage. I wear bright colors, yank up my skirt and get attention."
Is it part of the culture to have these sorts of conversations, to have things like this happened?
CORCORAN: Well, I don't know what part of the male culture is because they're not privy to that. But in the construction field it is a very tough field where everybody kind of struts there stuff.
[19:55:01] With myself, I played up my femininity card. When I say yank up my skirt, it was simply meaning I wore very shirt skirts because I have great legs. And so, I was noticed because I was the only female there.
So, I think that's just nothing but great marketing. I think it is marketing if you can stand apart from the pack and be noticed. But I didn't offer anybody Tic Tacs or anything like that. Definitely not.
BURNETT: You know, when you put it all together and you think, though, of Donald Trump's behavior, would people say he's a sexual predator? Is that fair? Is that ring true you do?
CORCORAN: I don't -- I don't know. Put those words to it. What I object to is when anyone is subjected to any misbehavior that makes them feel diminished.
I mean, life is tough enough for a female trying to strive in a man's world or any world to try to get ahead. So I feel like when a man diminishes her on the sexual card it is just downright not fair play. And a certain note of meanness to it. And sometimes not intended that way, but I really think it comes across that way.
BURNETT: And when it comes to the point that the Trump campaign makes and frankly that other Republicans make who don't even support Donald Trump but this issue, they say, well, Bill Clinton has accusers. And even if you don't think that is relevant because he's not running, she was an enabler. That is the word they use. She was an enabler. She was critical of these women.
What do you say to that?
CORCORAN: Erin, I can't stand that, that the woman is blamed because the husband cheats. Oh my gosh. It is so unfair.
I think she should be honored the way she handled that marriage and how she held her head high. Most women would not measure up to something like that, and she did. I give her great credit for that.
BURNETT: Last time we spoke, you said Donald Trump will win. What do you think now? CORCORAN: I pray every night so I'm so wrong and I think he's going
self destruct and that's I'm what praying for every night.
BURNETT: Barbara, thank you very much. Good to talk with you again.
CORCORAN: My pleasure.
BURNETT: All right. Breaking news right now, Donald Trump's running mate Mike Pence's airplane just skidded off the runway at New York's LaGuardia Airport just moments ago. A lot of rain today in the area.
Our producer Elizabeth Landers was on that plane. She joins me on the phone now.
Elizabeth, what happened?
ELIZABETH LANDERS, CNN PRODUCER (via telephone): Hey, Erin, that's right. We had a ground hold earlier in Iowa before we flew here. We knew there was going to be some bad weather here when we landed. The Pence plane was approaching probably 10 minutes ago here in LaGuardia. And we had a pretty hard landing.
And then the press in the back of the plane could feel the plane fishtailing back and forth. We're actually still on the plane right now. The plane slid off the runway. We could feel the plane sliding off the runway and then came to a very sharp halt on the runway at LaGuardia.
And we're sitting on the tarmac right now. The governor and everyone on board is okay. There are no reported injuries. And the plane is intact. No structural damage according to the press secretary who came back to speak with the press.
The governor himself actually came back and made sure that everybody on the plane was okay. He said that he saw mud on the windows up at the front. So, we did clearly come totally off the runway here at LaGuardia.
BURNETT: Wow, and also I'm just letting everyone know what we are looking at is what we call a pool feed. So all of the networks are getting the same feed from on board the plane where you are. You can see the emergency lights you can see off the back.
LANDERS: Yes.
BURNETT: And just so everyone understands what we're looking at on our screen. I mean, it must have been pretty terrifying when it actually happened. You are describing it as fish-tailing?
LANDERS: Yes. We could feel the plane moving. And, you know, it was just not a natural landing that you experience. I'm coming off the plane right now so excuse me I -- we have rescue crews here. It looks like we have some firefighters and you can probably hear the police right there asking if there are any injuries.
It is a pretty big scene here right now. Hopefully you can see the shot up that -- oh my God. Wow. Looks like there is actual damage to the runway here, which I'm looking at. I'll take some photographs as well. But yeah, it is bad rains here and clearly --
BURNETT: What you do see on the runway when you say "damage", Elizabeth?
LANDERS: Sorry, repeat that one more time?
BURNETT: You said damage?
LANDERS: Yes, I'm seeing it looks like huge gashes in the runway here. Where the planes wheel appear to have taken part of the runway off.
BURNETT: Wow. That is a pretty incredible thing. Obviously very -- she's -- hear fish-tailing when the plane landed. Gashes in the runway. Pretty terrifying. All those emergency vehicles now around Mike Pence's plane. But the governor unhurt. The press pool unhurt.
"AC360" continues right now.
