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New Day
Southeast Faces Severe Flooding After Hurricane Matthew; Trump & Clinton Clash In Ugliest Debate Yet; Trump Attacks Republicans Fleeing His Campaign; McCain Joins Republicans Withdrawing Support For Trump. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired October 10, 2016 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:31:05] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news overnight, a U.S. Navy destroyer targeted in an attack off the coast of Yemen. The Pentagon says missiles were fired from Houthi-controlled territory at the USS Mason. Houthi rebels are backed by Iran, by the way. The warship was in international waters more than 14 miles offshore in the southern end of the Red Sea. They say the missiles missed the ship. No sailors were hurt and the Houthi rebels deny the report.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Matthew no longer a hurricane and moving away from the East Coast, but North Carolina still in danger as it faces severe widespread flooding. One thousand people have had to be rescued from rising waters.
CNNs Stephanie Elam is in hard-hit Holt Mills, North Carolina with more. What's the situation, Stephanie?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, getting around in North Carolina is not easy at all, there's roadblocks everywhere. That's because there is flooding everywhere. In fact, on Interstate 95, parts of it are still closed because of flooding. And this, as communities are still battling with some floodwater damage where they are.
We spoke to one woman who lives in a neighborhood in Fayetteville, North Carolina. One road, which was actually a dam, washed out by floodwaters. Now, there's only one access road for them to get in and out of their community. That's precarious for them, too. They're saying if that goes those 200 homes will be isolated.
Overall, looking at the state in Lumberton, there have been some 400 buildings that have been flooded and now Greenville is in the sights. Authorities there expecting about some 300 buildings could be in jeopardy as well. So, throughout the state floodwaters continue to be an issue and they're saying that they'll likely be an issue for the rest of week, Chris.
CUOMO: All right, Stephanie, thank you very much. We'll stay on what's going on in that situation and you keep us updated, as well.
All right, back to what we saw or lived through last night. Dark, ugly, lurking -- those are just some of words being used to describe Trump's tactics, if you want to call them that, last night. And yet, most poll respondents say he exceeded expectations. A closer look at why Trump is choosing to be this way ahead.
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[05:37:10]
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DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you look at Bill Clinton, far worse. Mine are words and his was action. You can say it any way you want to say it, but Bill Clinton was abusive to women. Hillary Clinton attacked those same women and attacked them viciously. Four of them are here tonight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: Donald Trump going for the jugular, trying to deflect from his own inappropriate sexual behavior with women by talking about Bill Clinton and allegations against him.
Joining us now to discuss is CNN political commentator Scottie Nell Hughes. She's a Trump supporter and a political at RightsAlerts.com. And Jennifer Granholm, the former governor of Michigan and a senior adviser to the Pro-Hillary Super PAC Correct the Record. She is the also the co-chair of the Clinton-Kaine Transition Project. Ladies, thank you for being here.
Governor, I'll start with you. Did Donald Trump effectively divert attention from his alleged sexual abuses to Bill Clinton's alleged sexual abuses?
JENNIFER GRANHOLM, FORMER GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN: Well, he sure tried. Obviously, that press conference right before was an effort to try to do that and he went right back at it during the debate. But, ultimately, what will live on is the tape and -- the tape from Friday -- and the other scores of anti-women, anti-immigrant, anti-you name it comments that he's made over the course.
You know, I really -- this -- from the very first question Hillary Clinton tried to keep it at a higher level. She talked about standing together in response to the first question, which was a question about how, you know, teachers and others can make sure their children are proud of this, and so she tried to respond in that way.
And from that very first question, Donald Trump brought it down and continued to keep it down even though she continued to try to bring it back, invoking Michelle Obama, et cetera. So he tried as much as he possibly could to get the burden off of him but, ultimately, he will not be able to do that. He needed a game changer last night and he did not get it.
CUOMO: Do you think that it will work with the base and then maybe a layer outside of it when last night he eventually said I never did those things that I said I did on the tape? You think that will work? SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Absolutely, because a lot -- I mean, you look at it. You have women that sit here have watched "MAGIC MIKE" or "FIFTY SHADES OF GREY" and had those kind of conversations and they're turning around right now and they're accusing Donald Trump who said something. There's been no accusations. There's been, actually, nothing in the media that --
CAMEROTA: No, there are accusations. CNN has sources that he actually did force kisses on women unknowingly.
CUOMO: There's a rape case in New York Federal Court right now.
CAMEROTA: There are accusations.
HUGHES: Then let's actually get that confirmed. But I think the reason why --
CUOMO: Oh, there is a rape case against him --
HUGHES: Then let's --
CUOMO: -- in New York Federal Court right now.
HUGHES: Then let's --
CUOMO: We don't probe it because they're unsubstantiated allegations. What I'm saying is in the video he said he did things, right? He didn't say someone said I did things, he said he did things.
[05:40:00] CAMEROTA: These are his own words.
CUOMO: Last night he said no, I never did those things. Do you think that's enough?
HUGHES: Locker room talk, absolutely. And the reason why those women were present last night, it was not about Bill Clinton but, more importantly, how Hillary Clinton treated those women. All Donald Trump was doing was taking her advice. She said that those women -- any woman that's ever been under sexual abuse or sexual harassment or any form of abuse need to be heard. Their stories need to be told. They need to be listened to. He gave those women that chance. But I think --
CUOMO: He called them an ugly list of accusers and he said it was wrong for Bill Clinton to be impeached. Remember that?
HUGHES: That was prior to him, at that time, running for office. The key is right now he was not the wife that stood by. And it's not only just the --
CUOMO: But why does that make it OK? Help people understand that thinking.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
CUOMO: So he's a private citizen. He says this is one ugly bunch of accusers you've got here. And then, when he hears about Clinton he says this is a disgrace, he shouldn't be impeached. Now he's running for office so that makes it OK that -- fill in the blank.
HUGHES: Well, I think compared to what Bill Clinton actually did and where the actions were -- and now, all of a sudden, it's the words versus the actions.
CUOMO: No, Trump. Trump said --
HUGHES: I know, but --
CUOMO: -- they're an ugly list of accusers --
HUGHES: And he --
CUOMO: -- these women he invited last night.
HUGHES: And he did say those women -- that right there. But he's given them a platform, finally, to be heard within the media.
CUOMO: And he said that impeaching him was wrong.
HUGHES: Well --
CUOMO: But now because he's running for office it's OK? What does it mean? What happens when you run for office? You become -- you know, B.S. is OK?
HUGHES: Well, but you look at the reasons. Bill Clinton was not impeached because of these four women. Bill Clinton was impeached because of what he did to a barely-legal woman in the Oval Office. That was why he was impeached. And then he turned around lied to the American people for it.
But I think the real reason that we're missing last night about women was the final line. I think it's the most important line, probably, of Mr. Trump's entire campaign. It was where he gave Hillary Clinton a compliment, and it's a compliment that every woman strives, probably both personally and professionally, to achieve from anyone that she works with. He said she doesn't quit, she doesn't give up. She's a fighter and I respect that. That is amazing for women to hear right now.
CUOMO: He also said she has hate in her heart --
CAMEROTA: And he's going to put her in jail.
CUOMO: -- and he could put her in jail.
CAMEROTA: I mean, it's hard to know how he feels about her, given that. But I want to move on. Governor, did Hillary Clinton do what she had to do? She also diverted when asked about Bill Clinton -- the allegations against Bill Clinton and the accusers being right there in the audience. She didn't take that head on. Let me play for you her response when she was asked. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let me start by saying that so much of what he's just said is not right, but he gets to run his campaign any way he chooses. He gets to decide what he wants to talk about instead of answering people's questions, talking about our agenda, laying out the plans that we have that we think can make a better life and a better country. That's his choice.
When I hear something like that I am reminded of what my friend Michelle Obama advised us all. When they go low, you go high. (APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: Governor, that got a lot of applause but does she ever have to respond directly to how she treated the women who were accusers of Bill Clinton?
GRANHOLM: You guys have all done fact-checking on all of this and you know the answer. But the point that she was making and why Ken Starr didn't call these women, and all of that -- the point she's making is she is not going to be litigating something that was a very painful part of her marriage in this race.
She's going to be talking to people about going forward. She did that in every answer last night. She was very clear. She had three points for each of the policies. She knew exactly what she was going to say. She wanted to let people know what she's going to do for them.
Looking back all of those years to what Bill Clinton did and how that painful part of her marriage is not something that she wants to replay again and she's not going to take the bait. That whole thing was a "take the bait" moment --
CAMEROTA: Yes.
GRANHOLM: -- where he wanted to dangle something and she decided that she was not going to go for that bait.
CAMEROTA: OK. Governor Granholm, Scottie Nell Hughes, thanks so much for being here this morning.
More and more Republicans seem to be abandoning Donald Trump in the wake of that bombshell 2005 videotape. Did Trump do anything last night to stop the defections? We'll take a closer look at that ahead.
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[05:48:20] CUOMO: So, did Donald Trump stop the bleeding -- the hemorrhaging of his campaign because of the video that just came out?
Let's bring back our panel. Matt Lewis, Mark Preston, Jackie Kucinich, David Gregory, and Maeve Reston. Does anybody think that he did not stop the bleeding? Speak now or forever hold your peace. Does anybody think he didn't? So, everybody thinks he did.
Matt, why does that make you happy and what do you think he did that effectively stopped the bleeding?
MATT LEWIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it changes the subject. I mean, I thought that having a debate this soon after the scandal would be bad news for Trump. Actually, now I think it's good news. It changes the subject.
They spent the first 20 minutes talking about the scandal and then he talked about Benghazi, Aleppo, tax policy -- all sorts of other things. Today, we're talking about a debate, we're not talking about, you know, Billy Bush -- whatever the guy's name is.
CUOMO: You were impressed by how he answered the question -- other than fuel subsidies, I'll give you that -- do you -- give me one thing he said last night that you were impressed by as what he would do to make a situation better.
LEWIS: Well, you know, I don't know that I could say that about either of them but I thought he had a pretty good night last night. I thought his answer on the taxes -- the tax question -- where he basically says yes, I didn't pay taxes but, you know, neither did all of Hillary's donors. But the main thing is that in the first debate she baited him and he fell for it. That didn't happen last night. She didn't do that.
DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I would--
CAMEROTA: Go ahead, David.
GREGORY: I would just say, Chris, I think for people -- for Republicans who now feel safe enough politically to abandon him because they're high enough in their races, I think they're still going to bolt if they've been repulsed by what he's said. And I don't necessarily think he's mitigated that. I mean, I think Matt's right. He changed the subject somewhat.
[05:50:00] But then there's the Clinton campaign that's going to have all of this material that they're going to use in ads, whether it's put her in jail, whether it's in doubling down on the idea of his offensive talk was locker room talk and nothing more. I think they're going to be able to use these things and really target their voters. Again, college-educated voters. Look how well she's doing among college-educated voters in Pennsylvania where she's up 12 points -- a state that he's got to win if he's going to find a path to 270.
CAMEROTA: You know, that graphic that we just put up, Mark, was --
MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: And there --
CAMEROTA: Hold on, Maeve, one second because I just want to tell people about the two dozen Republicans who have jumped off the Trump train after that "ACCESS HOLLYWOOD" videotape when they said that they can no longer support him. They are withdrawing their endorsements. You know, there was some talk, probably wishful thinking by his critics, that he -- that the RNC might replace him after that tape came out.
CUOMO: Which is impossible.
CAMEROTA: So, he stopped that sort of hemorrhaging.
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Yes, but there are two phone calls taking place today. One is with House Republicans to figure out kind of where they're at with Donald Trump, and one is with all the RNC members to kind of figure out where they are with Donald Trump.
LEWIS: They can't replace him.
PRESTON: They cannot replace him but they can withdraw their support and they can cut off financial ties in a way that could cripple a campaign that is already crippled. So that is absolutely --
LEWIS: That's less likely to happen today, though.
JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: The damage is done there. I mean, those members are not coming back and the Clinton campaign has that, and particularly with this video. If women are repulsed by that nothing he said last night will make them --
CUOMO: Let me ask you something, Jackie. So, you've got Hillary Clinton who not just by gender, but by disposition is supposed to be the personification of women's empowerment, right? You're standing next to a guy who admitted that he is able to do things that are inappropriate with women. She says nothing about it last night. She never looks at him. She never has a look of disgust on her face. She never calls him out on a human level. Why?
KUCINICH: I mean, she did say that it made him unfit, which sort of --
CUOMO: Unfit? When do you ever call anybody that in real life? When you're angry at them.
KUCINICH: OK, fair enough. But I don't think she needed to. This was devastating. I don't think she needed to pile on here. I think she was letting -- you saw them sort of let it happen all day on Friday. And just -- they didn't really weigh in to any extent because this was bad on --
CUOMO: I'm saying, you don't think that's a mistake?
PRESTON: Can I just weigh in --
CAMEROTA: Yes, quickly.
PRESTON: Can I just weigh in very quickly on this. And the reason why is by weighing in and going toe-to-toe with Donald Trump it would have drew attention to the four women in the audience, three of them who accused Bill Clinton.
CAMEROTA: Yes. Maeve, what's your take on why she didn't hit that head on. RESTON: I mean, I think that she boxed herself in from the beginning of the debate by saying, you know -- by repeating Michelle Obama's line that, you know, when they go low, we go high. And I think that she was less aggressive than she could have been. There seemed to have been a lot of missed opportunities for her. I still think she had an even performance but a lot of missed opportunities for her to circle back to that tape, remind people of it.
And to David's point earlier, she and her allies are already up with ads using that tape. So I think they were trying to just let the issue breathe without her doing too much, but I think she could have gone at him a lot harder on that.
CAMEROTA: OK.
GREGORY: But I don't think she needed to. I think let him talk. I think that's their strategy. She made the most devastating attack, which is this tape goes to the larger issue of fitness for office. The polling has been on her side. I'll be watching in the next week to see if he moves any numbers with regard to qualifications or temperament to be president, not just have you savaged Hillary Clinton and is your base, you know, strongly behind you.
CAMEROTA: Panel, thank you for sharing your thoughts. Hillary Clinton won last night's presidential debate rematch according to CNNs scientific poll of debate watchers. How did she do among men and how did Donald Trump fare with women? We have the highs and lows of last night's debate, next.
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[05:58:05]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Nobody has more respect for women than I do.
CLINTON: I think it's clear to anyone who heard it that it represents exactly who he is.
TRUMP: This was locker room talk.
CLINTON: It's just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country.
TRUMP: Because you'd be in jail.
MARTHA RADDATZ, DEBATE MODERATOR: Your running mate said the United States should be prepared to use military force.
TRUMP: He and I haven't spoken and I disagree.
CLINTON: With prior Republican nominees,I disagreed with them but I never questioned their fitness. Donald Trump is different.
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota. CUOMO: Ah, what a world, what a world. Good morning, welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Monday, October 10th, 6:00 in the East.
Up first, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump turning to some very personal ugliness in their attacks, at least on Trump's side. It will likely be remembered as the ugliest presidential debate in U.S. history. Clinton hitting Trump, saying the vulgar remarks in a bombshell video reflect exactly who he is.
CAMEROTA: Trump trying to excuse his lewd comments about women as "locker room talk". He also threatenedto put Clinton in jail over her emails if he's elected. Nine days until the third and final debate, and just 29 days until the election.
We have complete coverage so let's begin with CNNs Manu Raju. He is live in St. Louis. Good morning, Manu.
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Good morning, Alisyn. Now, the nasty tone of this debate was set actually before the debate even began when Donald Trump showed up at a photo opportunity with several of Bill Clinton's past accusers of sexual misconduct.
And then when the debate actually began neither candidate shook each other's hand. Then the insults began. And then when Donald Trump was asked about that "Access Hollywood" tape in which he's talking openly about groping women he apologized, but he also dismissed it.
