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Will Third-Party Candidates Capture Millennial Vote?; Trump Touts Debate Performance; Former Israeli President Shimon Peres, 93, Dies; Witness Says Christie Knew about Bridgegate Plan. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired September 28, 2016 - 07:00   ET

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

STEVE OLIKARA, PRESIDENT, MILLENNIAL ACTION GROUP: And I don't buy into the narrative that a vote for a third party is a vote against Secretary Clinton because, guess what? The Donald Trump campaign is saying the same exact thing for their supporters.

[07:00:13] SYMONE SANDERS, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: You know, I have to respectfully disagree with Steven on the point that Gary Johnson is representative of what millennials care about. If you look at the Republican Party platform, the Libertarian platform and compare it, it's not -- it is crazy. The Democratic platform is extremely more progressive, and that's the platform that lines up best with millennials.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We will listen to what Bernie Sanders has to say this week on the trail. Siyone, Steven, thank you very much for being here.

We're following a lot of news this morning, so let's get right to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Almost every single poll had us winning the debate.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He made it very clear. He didn't prepare for that debate.

I did prepare. I'm prepared to be president of the United States.

TRUMP: I was holding back. I didn't want to do anything to embarrass her.

CLINTON: Oh, yes! One down, two to go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was one of the founding fathers of the state of Israel.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Condolences pouring in from all over the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Long and remarkable years. It's an extraordinary loss.

SHIMON PERES, FORMER PRESIDENT OF ISRAEL: For me, the great pleasure is to serve my people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY.

We do begin with the presidential race. Hillary Clinton riding high after the first debate with Donald Trump. Trump is promising to hit his opponent even harder next time.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Meantime, Trump is taking shots at Clinton's newest surrogate, a former Miss Universe. The former Latina beauty queen is firing back at Trump and his weight-shaming attacks.

CNN's Sara Murray live in Orlando with more. Another instance of something coming out of Donald Trump's mouth and his refusing to own it, it seems, Sara.

SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I don't think the plan was to go on the debate stage and talk about Alicia Machado. And there certainly were a number of missed opportunities for Donald Trump on that debate stage. But he tried to make up for all of that as he was campaigning in Florida last night, calling Hillary Clinton virtually incompetent as he lobbed pretty much every criticism he could think of her way.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You know we're going to get rid of that crooked woman.

MURRAY (voice-over): Hillary Clinton may have rattled Donald Trump, but last night, the self-proclaimed counter-puncher was ready to throw some jabs.

TRUMP: Hillary Clinton, I mean, she's virtually incompetent.

MURRAY: As Clinton is riding high off her solid debate performance.

CLINTON: Did anybody see that debate last night? Oh, yes. One down, two to go.

MURRAY: Trump's claiming he didn't unleash his full arsenal against Clinton in the first debate.

TRUMP: I watched her very carefully. And I was also holding back. I didn't want to do anything to embarrass her.

MURRAY: Clinton continues to hit Trump hard on failing to release his taxes.

CLINTON: They showed he didn't pay any federal income tax. So...

TRUMP: That makes me smart.

CLINTON: Now if not paying taxes makes him smart, what does that make all the rest of us?

MURRAY: And is using Trump's own words against him.

TRUMP: I've been all over the place. You decided to stay home.

CLINTON: At one point he was kind of digging me for spending time off the campaign trail to get prepared, but just trying to keep track of everything he says took a lot of time and effort.

You know what? I did prepare, and I'll tell you something else I prepared for. I prepared to be president of the United States, and I think that's good.

MURRAY: As Trump spent much of the day blaming the debate moderator and, once again, complaining about his microphone.

TRUMP (via phone): My microphone was terrible. I think -- I wonder if it was set up that way on purpose.

CLINTON: Anybody that's complaining about the microphone is not having a good night.

MURRAY: And making no apologies for body shaming former Miss Universe Alicia Machado.

TRUMP: She gained a massive amount of weight, and it was -- it was a real problem.

MURRAY: After Clinton pounced on his derogatory comments 20 years ago on the debate stage.

CLINTON: One of the worst things he said was about a woman in a beauty contest. He called this woman "Miss Piggy." Then he called her "Miss Housekeeping," because she was Latina.

MURRAY: The Venezuelan actress, now a U.S. citizen, is speaking out.

ALICIA MACHADO, FORMER MISS UNIVERSE: No more insults for the women.

I know very well Mr. Trump, and I can see the same person that I met 20 years ago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MURRAY: Now, criticizing a woman's weight, threatening to use Bill Clinton's infidelities again Hillary Clinton, may not be the most effective strategy for winning over female voters.

But I've got to tell you, a number of Republicans I've spoken to said this week -- say this has been such an unpredictable election year they're waiting until we get more polling later this week to determine just how much of an impact this week's events will have on the trend of the race -- Chris.

CUOMO: Little chance that fat shaming winds up being a positive in any contest. Sara Murray, thank you for the reporting. [07:05:04] Let's bring in Republican Congressman Chris Collins of New

York. He's co-chair of the Trump campaign's House Leadership Committee. And we have Democratic Congressman Luis Gutierrez of Illinois. He supports Hillary Clinton.

Congressman Gutierrez, this has been projected as an issue of sensitivity for Latinas and Latinos. Why? Is it the "Miss Good Housekeeping" comment that was made back then? How do you see this?

REP. LUIS GUTIERREZ (D), ILLINOIS: So I see it as kind of the intersection of Latino and women for Donald Trump. I mean, yes, he refers to her as "Miss Piggy." This is a 19-year-old vulnerable young woman, away from her parents, right, in New York City. A very vulnerable young woman. And this is the way he treats her.

And then he says, "Well, you're Miss -- Miss Housekeeping." That kind of work is the only work that Latinos do. So this is the kind of intersection.

But you know, Chris, for me, it's even broader than that. Because as I looked at it I said to myself, "Wow, that happened a long time ago." So some people say, "Well, Luis, that happened a long time ago. We should just put that away, and let's look at Donald Trump today."

So I kind of thought about Megyn Kelly, and then I thought about Fiorina and the kinds of attacks that he made against them. It's a continuum. Things haven't changed.

The difference is that Alicia Machado has found her voice, and Fiorina is an independent, powerful woman and is Megyn Kelly. And Donald Trump didn't fare very well, as he didn't fare very well with another very independent, self-assured woman, which is Hillary Clinton.

So...

CUOMO: All right.

GUTIERREZ: ... I think, as you look at this election, you need to look at Donald Trump and his -- his relationship with women. And the way he speaks to women and about women.

CUOMO: Congressman Collins, love having you on the show.

REP. CHRIS COLLINS (R), NEW YORK: Good to be here.

CUOMO: I do not envy your position of being in clean-up mode on a morning like this. There are plenty of things to discuss in this election, but Trump forces this issue by how he responded to it.

He could have just said, "Look, that was a long time ago. I shouldn't have said it. I apologize. I wish her well." This would have been over. Instead, he doubles down. He goes on television and says, "Hey, she gained a lot of weight, man. You know, that's how it is." And he basically makes it worse. Why?

COLLINS: Well, I think you have to step back and see the desperation in the Clinton campaign that she's bringing issues like this up from 20 years ago which, by the way, there's no indication that Mr. Trump actually said the things that have been reported that he said.

CUOMO: He didn't deny saying them.

COLLINS: There's no -- there's no indication that he did. The points are...

CUOMO: But he's never denied it. He denies things, Congressman. He could have denied it. He hasn't. He doubled down.

COLLINS: It's the way that Hillary Clinton brings things up. She can't talk about trade. She can't talk about the defense against ISIS. So, she brings up issues like this, which are not the important issues. We need jobs. We need to move this country forward. And it just showed the desperation in the debate as how she brought something like this up from left field.

And as we move forward today and other days, her comments on trade, she doubled down, saying NAFTA was the best trade deal ever. That's going to cost her big-time in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, certainly in my areas. Her weak response on trade is what mattered at that debate, not bringing up something like this, as you said, from 20 years ago.

CUOMO: So Congressman, take that criticism on, that you don't want to take on what matters in this election. So, the Clinton campaign is just going to a smear campaign on Trump, albeit with actual, true allegations, not allegations, true facts about what he's said in the past. But that's not what the election's about. Why make it about what he said?

GUTIERREZ: Because you saw him get rattled, Chris, when Hillary Clinton brought it up. He said three times, "Where did you get that from? Where'd you get that? Where did you get that from?" It's almost like a ghost from the past had arrived on the scene, right, at the campaign.

He knew what he had said to her. He remembers fully well what he had said to her, and he knows that women are watching.

So, as we move forward, everybody understands that people have chosen a position. Yet, there are women, women in the suburbs, Republican women in the suburbs that are looking at this campaign and are undecided. And I have a huge feeling that they walked away, being really decided about not having Donald Trump. Because, I have to say, as a father of two daughters, as a husband, as a son, I want to make sure that I have a president of the United States that respects women.

CUOMO: Congressman, do you believe that Donald Trump could fit that bill, that he could be a president who respects women? That does matter.

COLLINS: Just look at the way Donald Trump has promoted women and treats women in his own organization. That's where the rubber hits the road. [07:10:00] The women that work for Donald Trump hold some of the

highest positions in his company. He pays them extraordinarily well. That's been confirmed again and again. So it's actions that matter. Not Ms. Clinton's words, who's never created a job for anyone other than her daughter, Chelsea.

And so, as the women who are watching this debate, what they heard was a very liberal, progressive Hillary Clinton. She's going to raise taxes, which will destroy jobs, and that's going to be the biggest concern of the women in America. The safety of their kids, but also the job opportunities moving forward.

And Donald Trump hit that out of the park, especially when Hillary Clinton doubled down on NAFTA, which destroyed jobs in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and New York.

CUOMO: Congressman, there's no question that NAFTA is very controversial. There's also no question that it was President Bush's creation. He didn't get it passed. Clinton did get it passed. So, there's, obviously, share blame for that. But let's take it as an unqualified bad. I'm giving you that point.

What did you hear Trump say in that debate as a remedy for it? The only idea that we distilled from that night for him to bring jobs to America, which he does, he will do -- he says it all the time -- is keep companies from leaving by passing a tax that a government, that a president does not have any ability to pass. That's your job in Congress. There were no other ideas offered for how to make jobs in America. What is his plan?

COLLINS: Well, the plan is very simple. You stop the cheating by Mexico and by China, by erecting tariffs that will actually...

CUOMO: But the president doesn't erect tariffs. He comes to Chris Collins and says, "Hey, you're a lawmaker. Can you get a tariff?" You guys don't want the tariff. That's why it's not in place.

COLLINS: No, I can assure you that a Republican Senate, a Republican House working with President Trump will follow the lead that Donald Trump has set, which is to make sure that our manufacturers have a level playing field, which they don't today and that, if we have to erect the tariffs to make that happen, we will do that to get our jobs back.

CUOMO: Paul Ryan is for TTP, and he is against a VAT, a value-added tax. He is the speaker of the House. Where does this confidence come from?

COLLINS: Paul Ryan is not the president of the United States. And when Donald Trump wins this election in a resounding fashion, and his key issue is trade, bringing the jobs back, leveling the playing field, I can assure you Congress is going to support the president of the United States and his ideas, supported by the United States voters who elect him, to make sure we do get these jobs back.

I have no doubt in my mind that we will do what's necessary to get the jobs back, including tariffs against Mexico and against China.

CUOMO: Congressman Collins, Congressman Gutierrez, thank you for making the competing case this morning on NEW DAY. Appreciate it, as always.

COLLIN: Always good to be with you.

CUOMO: Alisyn. Always.

CAMEROTA: Chris, the world is waking up to the news that former Israeli president, Shimon Peres, has died. The 93-year-old Nobel laureate spent more than half a century in public service, serving as prime minister and president. He suffered a stroke two weeks ago and never recovered.

CNN's Oren Lieberman is live at the hospital outside of Tel Aviv.

Good morning, Oren.

OREN LIEBERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

His work as a president, his work as a legacy of building peace, of building trust and confidence between Israelis and Palestinians and of building the state of Israel that's being remembered today, not only by Israeli leaders but from leaders around the world. Many of those leaders expected to attend, according to Israel's foreign ministry, who put out a list, and it is, without question, an impressive leaders -- list of those who will come here to pay their respects to the ninth president of Israel, Shimon Peres.

That list includes, according to the foreign minister, President Barack Obama; Secretary of State Kerry; former president Bill Clinton; Hillary Clinton; U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon; English Prime Minister Teresa May; Prince Charles; the German chancellor, Angela Merkel; the French president; and the list goes on. Leaders from all over the world and from Africa coming to pay their respects because of what Shimon Peres stood for.

He unapologetically believed in peace. That was a conclusion he came to, evolved. He was a hawk. He was pro-settlements in his younger days. But over a career that spanned more than half a century, he became a dove, pro-peace, pro-building trust between Israelis and Palestinians.

Here is a statement from President Obama. He says, "A light has gone out, but the hope he gave us will burn forever. Shimon Peres was a soldier for Israel, for the Jewish people, for justice, for peace, and for the belief that we can be true to our best selves -- to the very end of our time on Earth, and in the legacy that we leave to others. For the gift of his friendship and the example of his leadership, todah rabah, Shimon."

Powerful words from President Obama. That funeral now confirmed is happening on Friday. Expecting many world leaders to attend to pay their respects -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Oren, thank you very much. A great loss to the world. There's no question about that.

We have breaking news for you. An international team of prosecutors determined the missile that caused the crash of Malaysian Airliner MH- 17 was launched by pro-Russian rebels in Eastern Ukraine. Investigators say a Russian-made missile hit the plane in 2014, killing all 298 people onboard. Russia has denied any involvement.

[07:15:06] A victim's uncle says investigators have identified 100 suspects. Family members were told about the investigation's findings before it was released to the media.

It will come as no surprise to the families involved there. We spent time in Ukraine right after that incident. Everybody knew what happened. What they're waiting for is what will be the response.

CAMEROTA: Good to get the official confirmation so that the response can happen, hopefully.

Meanwhile, there's a stunning accusation in the New Jersey Bridgegate trial from the prosecution's star witness. What did Governor Chris Christie know? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: A former ally of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie now saying that Christie knew about the so-called Bridgegate plan and even laughed about it. Christie himself still adamantly denies having any hand in that scandal.

CNN's Jessica Schneider joins us now with more. Give us the latest, Jessica.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, it derailed Christie's presidential bid. And now, as he helps steer Trump's campaign, the allegations are mounting that he knew his operatives were shutting down lanes to the George Washington Bridge. And prosecutors now say the pictures prove it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[07:20:12] GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R-NJ), TRUMP TRANSITION TEAM: I knew nothing about the rain [SIC] -- the lane realignments before they happened. I knew nothing about the lane realignments as they were happening.

SCHNEIDER: But prosecutors say otherwise, arguing that Governor Chris Christie did know about the intentional lane closures that led to massive traffic jams on the George Washington Bridge. Prosecutors argue these pictures are proof. The shots, taken at a September 11th memorial event in 2013, show Christie in a jovial mood, standing with Bill Baroni, a Port Authority executive at the center of the scandal.

The lane closings were purportedly political payback against Mark Sokolich, the Democratic mayor of Ft. Lee, who refused to endorse Christie's Republican reelection bid. Baroni is fighting charges that he orchestrated the shutdown while another Port Authority official, David Wildstein, has pleaded guilty.

Wildstein testifying Tuesday that moments before the photos were snapped, Baroni allegedly told Christie, "Governor, I have to tell you, there's a tremendous amount of traffic in Ft. Lee this morning. Major traffic jams. And you'll be pleased to know that Mayor Sokolich is having trouble getting his telephone calls returned."

Wildstein says Christie replied, "I imagine he wouldn't be getting his calls returned." Governor Christie has not been charged in this alleged retaliation plot.

CHRISTIE: I had nothing to do with the planning with it. I had no -- nothing to do with authorizing it. And we sit here now, nearly three years later, and there has not been one scintilla of evidence to contradict what I just said.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: All right. Let's talk about this. Jessica, stay with us. We also want to bring in CNN's executive Politics editor, Mark Preston.

So Jessica, I mean, are those photos the best they have? He's laughing with his colleagues there? That's not necessarily a smoking gun. How bad is this for the governor?

SCHNEIDER: Right. And exactly, Alisyn. These damning details, they've been trickling out now for three years, yet, there's no smoking gun. There's nothing that directly pins Governor Christie to knowing about this or being directly involved. There's no writings, and Governor Christie has repeatedly denied any involvement.

But here's the things. His reputation and his career have effectively taken a hit. The latest poll just before this Bridgegate trial started showed just 26 percent approval rating. Two-thirds of New Jersey voters saying they disapprove of Governor Christie.

CAMEROTA: OK. So what would be next for Governor Christie? You know, there's speculation that, obviously, he's been angling for some sort of cabinet post in the Trump administration. Would this preclude that?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: No doubt about it. Look, he wanted to be vice president and he was, you know, in the final three for it. In fact, he told our own Jamie Gangel that he was disappointed he wasn't picked. And if our viewers remember, you go back to this past summer, and there was all these stories that came out that he was angry he didn't get picked and that Mike Pence had gotten picked.

But let's fast forward to where we are right now. Jessica is exactly right. You go back two years right now. Chris Christie, many of us would have thought he would have been the nominee or he would have had a very good shot at being the nominee. He was one of the top fund- raisers for the Republican Party. He had a national network. And right now, if he does join the cabinet, his spot would be the attorney general.

Problem is, this is coming up; and Rudy Giuliani is taking a very prominent role in this campaign. So Donald Trump wins, do you pick Rudy or do you pick Christie? So it's a very difficult choice.

CAMEROTA: But look, let's face it: Donald Trump doesn't shy away from choosing people with checkered pasts. I mean, paging Roger Ailes. He, you know, allows them to be part of the campaign, or to continue to at least advise him. So would this be a deal breaker for Donald Trump in terms of some position? Forget attorney general. Some position.

PRESTON: I mean, absolutely. He's already fired two campaign managers. He has fired two campaign managers. He is not afraid to take somebody out and throw them under the bus.

But having said that, if Chris Christie, if there is truth to what he's saying, which, by the way, we're talking a lot about pay-to-play in this campaign. This would be the absolute pay of pay-to-play. "You're not going to endorse me, I'm going to shut down traffic, you know, around your town." This is not good for Chris Christie.

CAMEROTA: Jessica, it's interesting. When we go back and listen to his denials there on the radio, where he seems to be parsing his words. I knew nothing prior to the traffic -- I mean, now -- hearing them now, it sounds a little different.

SCHNEIDER: And of course, he's a former U.S. attorney. So he knows exactly how to phrase his statements. And he gave that two-hour press conference back in January 2014, where he did take a lot of questions. But he did. He did, and he always does seem to be very careful with his words. It will be interesting, as this trial continues, to see if any more damning details trickle out.

CAMEROTA: Jessica, Mark, thank you very much for the updates. Let's get to Chris.

CUOMO: All right. More than a dozen states are asking homeland security to help them secure their election systems from cyberattacks. Are Russian hackers trying to influence our election?

[07:25:05] We're going to talk to a member of the Senate committee on intelligence, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Eighteen states are asking the Department of Homeland Security to help them improve cybersecurity for their election systems. This after a suspected security breach in Illinois and an attempted breach in Arizona. U.S. officials telling CNN they blame hackers working for Russian spy agencies.

Joining us now is a member of the Select Intelligence and Armed Services Committees, independent Senator from Maine Angus King. He has endorsed Hillary Clinton. Senator, always a pleasure. I will talk to you about the debate. This came up. Donald Trump very dismissive of the idea that it would be Russia. I'm not sure what his motivation is to isolate Russia from criticism here. He said could be China; it could be somebody else. What do we know about these DNC hacks and this recent hacking activity vis-a-vis the campaign.

SEN. ANGUS KING (I), MAINE: Well, I don't think the FBI has said definitively it was Russia, but I thought that was a very odd moment in the debate, because there's a lot of evidence that it was Russia. It's likely that it was Russia, and this is their...