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Role of Spouses in the 2016 Race; Campaign Defining Moments. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired September 13, 2016 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00] GEN. WESLEY CLARK, FMR. NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: I'm giving it back to you. Don't worry, the economy will outgrow it and you'll get more tax returns. Nice theory. Doesn't work. Disproved by all the facts. Let's move forward, ask the candidates their real plans. I think Hillary has a real plan. The investment in infrastructure is what this country really needs.

CUOMO: Well, and both candidates have plans for that. The question is, which one can get it done. That is a certainly legitimate basis of appraisal. Character counts, content counts, we go at both of them.

General Clark, thank you for making the case for the Clinton campaign this morning.

CLARK: Well, thank you.

CUOMO: We appreciate it.

Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Former President Bill Clinton making the rounds after Hillary Clinton fell ill, while Melania Trump has laid low since the Republican Convention. So what impact do the political spouses have on the race? We discuss that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Bill Clinton downplaying his wife's health concerns and defending the work of the Clinton Foundation. On the other side, Melania Trump has been out of the public's eye since her convention speech controversy. So what role will these political spouses play in the final weeks of the campaign?

Let's discuss it with CNN political analyst and "USA Today" columnist Kirsten Powers, and CNN political commentator and host of "The Ben Ferguson Show," Ben Ferguson.

Great to see both of you.

BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: I know it's very hard to compare, Bill Clinton, the titan of the Democratic Party, to Melania Trump, who is a political neophyte. However, it is interesting to see what roles the spouses are playing. So, Kirsten, Bill Clinton was out. He gave an hour long interview yesterday. And he's the person who sort of explained a little bit more about Hillary Clinton's health. He said that she has, in the past, been severely dehydrated and felt faint. So that's a little bit more insight. What do you think about the role that he's playing?

KIRSTEN POWERS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think they have a balance that they have to strike with him because, obviously, he has a sort of overpowering presence being a former president and having his own sort of constituency. And so I think they have to - they don't want him to over shadow her. So they've been using her - him a lot more for behind the scenes type of stuff. He's been doing a lot of fundraising and some organizing events, things that aren't as high profile. So you want to use him because he is really popular among the Democratic base and he's somebody who can really, I think, turn - help turn people out and excite them. But, at the same time, she's the one running for president and you don't - and you really want to be focused more on her.

[08:35:22] CAMEROTA: What about that, Ben? Does he give - does Bill Clinton give the transparency that she does not?

FERGUSON: Look, he was a huge asset yesterday, there's no doubt about it, when they were dealing with damage control and with this issue of transparency and trust with her campaign. But, ultimately, it is a fine line because Bill Clinton is also an individual that can overshadow Hillary Clinton. He's a better campaigner than Hillary Clinton. He does a better job with the crowd than Hillary Clinton. When he comes in the room, you could even see him at the convention, Democratic voters light up around Bill Clinton. So right now he is going to be a massive asset for the next week or so, especially with these transparency issues.

And he's going to be able to help her, I think, a lot with this to try to get people to look past it. But they also have to be on message. Hillary Clinton, when she called in to Anderson Cooper's show, said something pretty different than what Bill Clinton was saying about her health. So if they're going to use him the right way, they've got to at least make sure their stories -

CAMEROTA: What do you me? What did she say that - what - what - what do you think the discrepancy was, Ben?

FERGUSON: Well, I think he was trying to - to say, look, this is something that's kind of been ongoing and this has happened multiple times. And she comes out and she's like, this is a non-issue. I'm totally fine. Just going to relax. Nothing here. Don't look at anything because there's nothing here.

Those are two very different stories that they were telling yesterday. One was a consistency of having this problem. The other one was, this is nothing new at all. This is - you know, I was just, you know, trying to have a great day and it didn't turn out great.

CAMEROTA: OK. Kirsten, Melania Trump, should she be playing more of a role on the campaign trail in these next eight weeks? POWERS: I don't - I don't think so because she's not somebody who

really wants to be out in the limelight. She said she - you know, she's a mother. She wants to stay at home and take care of her son. She's not somebody who, I think - she's, obviously, not an overly political person. And I - I don't think she really wants to do it. And if she doesn't want to do it, and she's not comfortable, then it's not really going to help him.

The other thing you have to remember is that Donald Trump really doesn't use a lot of surrogates. He kind of likes to be the main event. And so, you know, she has gone to events with him, but she hasn't really done events of her own. And she's made it pretty clear she doesn't want to do it. So I - you know, I don't think it's going to make any difference one way or the other whether Melania is on - you know, is out campaigning for him or not.

CAMEROTA: What about that, Ben, because other former prospective first ladies, Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton at the time, did make - did have an impact, Ann Romney -

FERGUSON: Yes.

CAMEROTA: On the campaign trail. Is it OK for Melania Trump to sit it out?

FERGUSON: Well, obviously, any time you can have a spouse that's out there, that's able to do speeches on their own and do events on their own and fund raise on their own, it is an asset for your campaign. However, if you look at Laura Bush back in 2000, she was not near as involved as she was in 2004. It's something that she really grew into. Whereas, if you look at her mother-in-law, Barbara Bush, she was always out front, but she also had eight years of practice beforehand when he was vice president and time when he was an ambassador.

So you have to look at your family and make sure you put them in a role they are comfortable with. Campaigning is a unique and can be hard. I don't think it's going to have an impact here, especially because Donald Trump has really said to his children, if you want to help me, and they obviously have, you can go out and do events. You can go out and do media. You can do these fundraisers. And his kids, I think, are where you're going to see there's - them kind of be his biggest asset in this campaign.

But he is a one man show. This has been an untraditional campaign from the start for him. I'll not surprised that it's - he's the show. His kids are there. She'll be by his side supporting him, like we saw at the convention, but I don't expect her to take a major role.

CAMEROTA: Unconventional campaign, truer words never spoken.

Ben, Kkirsten, thank you both very much.

FERGUSON: Thanks.

CAMEROTA: Chris. CUOMO: All right, in today's "New Day, New You," you've got a child playing soccer? I do. Here's something that we both need to be aware of. A study published in the Journal of Pediatrics found the annual injury rate for young soccer players jumped 111 percent from 1990 to 2014. More than 70 percent of those injuries, including fractures and sprains, occurred more in older kids. We're talking about the ages of 12 to 17. Concussions accounted for a little more than 7 percent. So, why? Researchers say the spike in injuries coincides with a boom in the sports' popularity. Also, there's better reporting of injuries now and that may also be relevant.

CAMEROTA: All right, Chris.

Well, Ryan Lochte making his debut on "Dancing with the Stars," but the biggest moment stopped when the music stopped. Who joined Lochte on the dance floor? And then what happened? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:4401] CUOMO: All right, here are the five big things you need to know for your new day.

Number one, Hillary Clinton, in a CNN exclusive, saying she didn't think her pneumonia would be, quote, "that big a deal." Also deflecting questions about her own transparency by pointing to Donald Trump's refusal to release his tax returns.

Donald Trump calling for Clinton to apologize over her, quote, "basket of deplorables" remark. His running mate, Mike Pence, also making headlines for denouncing but refusing to call former KKK leader David Duke deplorable.

German police arresting three suspected members of ISIS. Investigators say their fake passports could tie them to last November's deadly terror attacks in Paris.

Colin Kaepernick continues his protest against racial injustice, kneeling during the national anthem before the 49ers opening game Monday. He was joined by a teammate while players from the other team raised fists in support.

Two men tackled by body guards and arrested after rushing the stage during Ryan Lochte's debut on ABC's "Dancing with the Star" last night. The men were apparently protesting Lochte's tall tale about a gun point robbery in Rio.

[08:45:10] For more on the five things to know, go to newdaycnn.com for the latest.

Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Will Hillary Clinton's "basket of deplorables" comment become a defining moment in this race? We will compare that comment to others that created shockwaves in past presidential races.

CUOMO: But first we want to show you a picture that we talked about yesterday. This horrible image. A kid trapped in a car, his parents over dosed in the front seat. This is not the only example of this you will find. Communities all across the country are in a big battle against heroin. What can you do? Head to cnn.com/impact.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Hillary Clinton's "basket of deplorables" comment is igniting a lot of controversy. Now Trump calls it the biggest political mistake of the season. Is it? How does it compare to other gaffes?

Let's discuss with editor-in-chief of - what - how did they write that?

CAMEROTA: Ozy.

[08:50:00] CUOMO: Why did they write it like that?

CAMEROTA: I don't know.

CUOMO: Awze (ph) they wanted me to say it.

CARLOS WATSON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, OZY.COM: Chris, we can say it, Ozy, Ozy, Super Ozy.

CUOMO: It's o-z-y.

What's the awze, though? Where is that?

WATSON: You know what, they're having fun with it.

CUOMO: Script sabotage.

CAMEROTA: That's (INAUDIBLE) Australian.

CUOMO: Ozy.com and the host of "The Contenders: 16 for '16," that's on PBS coming up, Carlos Watson is here, and CNN political analyst and author of the memoir "How's Your Faith," now out in paperback, David Gregory.

O-z-y as Awze?

CAMEROTA: No, that's odd.

CUOMO: That's weird.

All right, anyway, it's good to have you both, no matter how I say where you work.

WATSON: Tomato, tomato. Good to be here. Yes.

CUOMO: OK. So, what do you think of the allegation? Is saying a "basket of deplorables" the biggest mistake of the political season as Trump suggests?

WATSON: Definitely not, but I do think that it will end up - will impact her. Whether it will be one or two points, or whether it will be five to seven, a little bit like the Palin interview with Katie Couric, a little bit like you remember back in 2000 when Bush's drunk driving was revealed in the 11th hour and he went from five to six points up to Gore ended up winning by 500,000 in the popular vote. I think it will likely be more of a one to two percentage point swing. But we've got to wait and see. I think if she doubles down and says something similar again, then I think she's got real trouble.

CAMEROTA: David, let's talk about this because whether or not you call it a controversy, is it a defining moment? I mean just like Carlos was referring to, there are some defining moments in the campaign and you don't know until you see them happen that they are going to sort of change the tone because they reveal something about a candidate maybe that we previously didn't know. So how do you characterize the "basket of deplorables"?

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it's certainly ill-advised politically. So we'll talk about the politics of it because there may be polling that she was - was or was not referring to, indicating the percentage of Trump supporters who expressed certain views, whether it's anti-black, anti-gay, or anti-Islam, that may fall into that category as kind of a separate matter from how she expressed it and whether it's politically advisable.

The notion of it being a defining moment means it defines the candidate, it reinforces a view of the candidate. I frankly think that elitism, which this speaks to, is not her biggest problem. That may have been a bigger problem for then candidate Obama back in 2008 when he made a similar comment about conservatives, about Republicans who cling to guns and religion. In this case, I think the bigger problem for her is her penchant for secrecy, for deception. So I think the pneumonia diagnosis, not releasing that to the press, i think that more reinforces what people don't like about Hillary Clinton than something like this.

CUOMO: It also shows a big strength and weakness for Trump. This comment by Clinton is an opportunity, but it also comes down to who it is an opportunity for. Donald Trump to get on a box, on a high horse and say, how dare she talk about people like this, such contempt. She can't be president this way. Him of all people. We could put on TV right now at least ten things he has said that were equally or greater in terms of their offensiveness. So what's his play on this?

WATSON: You know, I think that this play is difficult for him. You've seen some of the polls that have said 44 percent of Americans, including 40 percent plus of independents, describe Trump as racist. Some 60 percent think that he's biased against women and minorities. So I think you're right, I think it's not only been the comments, but I think there's a larger perception that makes this harder for him. But I think making noise on this, and right now he's been quiet on the health issue, but I wonder whether that will last for long and I wonder whether if this doesn't make enough ground for him, whether he will pivot quickly to something different.

CAMEROTA: David, I'm interested in your definition of defining moments because I do think that that's a little bit of a different take on it.

GREGORY: Yes.

CAMEROTA: So, Sarah Palin, when she couldn't answer Katie Couric's question about sort of what news sources do you use, Barack Obama, when he said that when people feel desperate they cling to their guns and to religion. So in that, given that prism, do you think that the video of Hillary Clinton looking - fainting or certainly - or stumbling or needing to be helped into the van is more of a defining moment that fits into what you're talking about that shows secrecy?

GREGORY: Yes. Yes, I do think that is because I think it's - it's this idea that, look, I'm not going to share this information because my critics will do the wrong thing with it. They'll blow it out of proportion. So, yes, I have pneumonia, but I'm going to keep going. I'm going to stay on the campaign trail. I'm going to power through this. So let's keep this in a close circle of aides and not even tell my full campaign team and let's not disclose it publicly. And then you create a backlash because there's members of the press - of the press who have felt for a long time that the Clintons are deceptive and to defensive and to secretive. That's really the knock against them, less so than she's an elitist, although these comments certainly smack of that.

CUOMO: I mean the one that you didn't mention is that Trump wants to try to tie this to Mitt Romney with his 47 percent moment.

GREGORY: Right.

CAMEROTA: Right. Right.

CUOMO: We'll see if it has those kinds of legs. "16 for '16." What is this PBS show that we're going to watch?

[08:55:06] WATSON: So it's a really interesting series about the most important, most interesting, most unexpected presidential campaigns in modern times, from Shirley Chisholm to Barack Obama, from Ronald Reagan to Barry Goldwater. Lots of surprises, including what often happened in the last eight weeks of the campaign.

CUOMO: Your favorite?

WATSON: Probably Shirley Chisholm, who we're going up with first. A lot of people don't remember. You probably do as a New Yorker. She was the first black congresswoman from Queens. Four years after getting elected to Congress, decides to make a bold bid for the presidency. Expects a ton of support from allies, namely women, African-American leaders, got not much of either. Ended up losing, but in some ways people said broke ground that was important later on for Jesse Jackson and Barack Obama.

CAMEROTA: 8:00 p.m., PBS, Eastern Time tonight.

WATSON: Tuesday night.

CAMEROTA: OK, fantastic. Carlos, David, thank you very much. Great to see both of you guys.

GREGORY: Thanks.

WATSON: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: "The Good Stuff," up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Today's "Good Stuff" comes from Union, Tennessee. The best bag ladies. Why? Janice Atkins and her friends take plastic bags, cut them up, crochet them into mats for people to sleep on. They're retired. They want to give back. They do it and they don't just give these to the homeless. They've been sending these mats to families in Louisiana that lost their homes in flooding. Is that "The Good Stuff" or not?

[09:00:06] CAMEROTA: That is "The Good Stuff."

CUOMO: Of course it is.

CAMEROTA: Excellent.

Time now for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello.

Hi, Carol.