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New Day

Trump Responds to Leaked Tapes; Trump to Blame Party if he Loses the Election; Exposed Cultural Issues. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired October 11, 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] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: So, let us debate whether this can work or not. I'm going to take the side that Trump is advancing. Here is his rationale in sound. Let's play it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I was getting beaten up for 72 hours on all the networks for inappropriate words from 12 years ago, locker room talk, whatever you want to call it. But I said to myself, wait a minute, and I just saw very inappropriate words, but Bill Clinton sexually assaulted innocent women and Hillary Clinton attacked those women viciously. One of them said more viciously than he attacked them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Frum, here is my proposition. I said bad things, as Donald Trump. Donald - Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton did bad things.

DAVID FRUM, SENIOR EDITOR, "THE ATLANTIC": Yes.

CUOMO: I, therefore, am better. What do you say?

FRUM: I say you're not going to win that argument because it doesn't matter. Karen Hughes, who's communications director for President George W. Bush tells a great story in her memoir. She's on holiday from the White House. She's walking along the beach. She looks up in the sky and there's one of those putt putt planes pulling an advertising slogan and it say, "Jill, come back, I am lonely without you, Jack." And she thinks, bad message, Jack, too much about you, not enough about her.

The problem, Trump is talking about what excites him and what excites the Republican base. Meanwhile, there are actual voters who are going to decide the election. They know all about the Clinton scandals. That's why Hillary Clinton is so mistrusted. They're looking at the alternative and saying, are you going to be better? Tell me about immigration. Tell me about health care. Tell me about jobs. And Donald Trump is talking about himself.

CUOMO: OK. However, if this election becomes what it seems to be, which is a character contest and a battle to the bottom, and a proposition of who is less bad, can't Donald Trump win just on history alone and say every point of her career in public service has been marked by scandal that somehow they have manipulated the system to escape, I have none of that on me, I'm just human, I am the better choice?

FRUM: As you said, I was a veteran of these battles. I was a big proponent - I was very harsh on Clinton in the 1990s and I still, like many Republicans, have very little trust in that - that family. However, they are a totally known quantity. The more you talk about character, what you're inviting the American people to do is to say, here - here are the Clintons. You know all about them, good and bad. You're not going to learn anything new about them at all. Meanwhile, here's this unknown quantity and you're going to learn more about it. His character may rise or fall in your esteem, but you're interested in him, not because of who he is, but because he offers something new. And he's not talking about that. He - when he was winning Republican primaries, he was there to put together a new policy synthesis. I'll defend entitlements. I will restrain immigration. I'm going to have a hawkish message on trade. And many people responded to that, or at least to parts of it. Now he's forgotten all of that. When he talks about immigration, he wins. When he talks about himself, he loses. Guess what, he's talking about himself.

CUOMO: He says, I will give you all of that and more because this is about change. The Clintons are more of the same. And especially you millennials, you've never heard about any of this stuff before. It was before you. It just gave you a weird relationship with a certain sex act that you had to grow up with. I'm going to tell you what happened and what she got away with and then compare her to me. You don't think that can work with people who didn't live through the '90s?

FRUM: Look, I think people who didn't live through the '90s still have a rough idea of the kind of people the Clintons are. And certainly the story of the Clinton Foundation. You know, we all get older and money becomes more important to us and sex becomes less important to us. The Clinton Foundation is the new wave of scandals. And it's enormous. It's been amply, amply covered. And it's baked in the cake. I mean it is - it is not true that Americans are saying, you know, Hillary Clinton, what a role model.

Compare her numbers to President Obama's. He commands tremendous personal esteem and respect. She does not. She is mistrusted. She is thought of as untrustworthy. That's the number one thing that people say negatively when they're asked. They know that. Now they need permission to vote for you. They need reassurance that you will be not just change but change for the better. And they get that from you offering them a message that is relevant to their lives.

You know, this is also far away for most people. What they want to know is, what's going to happen to my Medicare.

CUOMO: David Frum, thank you for being on from "The Atlantic."

What do you think, people out there in America and beyond? Did the superior intellect of Frum win you over or did my offerings of argument? Tweet Alisyn and let her know. Alisyn with a "y."

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We won't characterize your intellect at the moment.

[08:35:00] There are new battle lines being drawn between Donald Trump and Paul Ryan. Is this a civil war inside the GOP? We bring you "The Bottom Line," next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: All right, you see what's happening in the GOP. The speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, says I can no longer defend or campaign for my party's nominee. And Trump basically says in response, that's because you are an idiot. Here's his tweet. "Despite winning the second debate in a landslide, every poll, it's hard to do well when Paul Ryan and others give zero support." One fact check, not true. OK. We did the only scientific poll after it and it matters. There's a difference. And he lost handily. But, what do we see in the tweet? He's getting ready to blame the party if he loses.

Let's discuss the political bottom line with CNN Politics executive editor Mark Preston.

First, the premise, do you think that's what that tweet is about, the blame game?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Oh, no doubt. And he's been laying this, quite frankly, let's go back to the - to the primary. I mean he was laying this groundwork that if he didn't win the primary, he was going to blame the establishment. And now we're into the general election. If he doesn't win on the second Tuesday in November, he is going to blame not only the establishment, he's going to blame everybody and say that it was rigged. And if you heard him last night in Pennsylvania, he was saying it again.

[08:40:14] CAMEROTA: Because he can't lose. I mean that's what people have said, that Donald Trump is known as a winner. His identity is wrapped up in being a winner.

So Paul Ryan is really out on a limb because Paul Ryan now trying to distance himself from Donald Trump. If he doesn't deliver the House, Paul Ryan - I mean this is a big - this is a big risk what Paul Ryan did yesterday.

PRESTON: I think so, but I've got to tell you, politically, I think Paul Ryan probably took the right route, and personally he probably took the right route personally. Let's just start with that. Paul Ryan is a - is a guy known for his morals. He's a good family guy. And he clearly had difficulty getting behind Donald Trump. We've seen that over the past couple of months. Politically, though, I do think that not only was he looking out for himself potentially down the road because we think he'll run in 2020, no question, but he's providing cover for a lot of Republicans who don't want to be associated with Donald Trump.

CUOMO: That's his real loss. If he loses the White House, that's not on Ryan.

PRESTON: Right. CUOMO: If he loses a lot of seats and didn't do enough to help that cause, that could be on Ryan. So, if anything, he's doing something to help himself, not hurt himself.

PRESTON: And the water mark is 30, right? If the Democrats get 30 seats, they'll take back the House of Representatives. But I still do think that's a stretch.

CAMEROTA: OK, let's talk about the gold star family that Donald Trump criticized. Khizr Khan is the dad. His son, Captain Khan, was killed. He was just on NEW DAY and he was talking about how, once again, Donald Trump brought up his son at the debate and made the really sort of shocking claim that if Donald Trump had been president, his son would be alive. So listen to Khizr Khan's response to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KHIZR KHAN, FATHER OF FALLEN MUSLIM-AMERICAN SOLDIER: How could a patriot American sit and watch this mockery of the democratic process that this candidate has conducted himself? It is under that spirit, under the service of this country that we stand up and we stand up and we fully realize that we will be subjected to all the hate and un- American hate. We will be subjected to ridicule. And we have been by his surrogates. But that is the price that we are willing to pay because we want to stand up for some values, for the values of this country, for the values of democracy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: I mean, Chris, you made the point, Chris interviewed him, and Chris made the point with him that he didn't want to be in the spotlight. He doesn't relish his position. But he feels he must speak out.

PRESTON: Yes, no doubt. And that's clearly a - Donald - that's a situation where Donald Trump is saying something and not thinking. And that really goes to the issue of temperament and his ability to lead, which I think is one of his biggest Achilles heels. And, you know, if you go beyond all the crazy things that Donald Trump says, if you just look at that one moment, why would Donald Trump drag this guy back in again? By the way, politically, stupid move. Not a very good move to bring in somebody who - you know, like that father who lost his son, you know, fighting for America.

CUOMO: It's a good opportunity. To this point, Trump has not reached out to that family. He tried to back away from what he said about the wife. Remember he said, why is she sitting there so quiet, like a Muslim kind of reference (ph). But he said, they're heroes. Imagine if Donald Trump hears what Khizr Khan said today, picks up the phone and says, Mr. Khan, Mrs. Khan, I know you don't like me, I know you don't agree with me politically, but I said what I said about your son because I care about these young men and women dying, and I'll do everything I can to keep them safe. That's how I meant it. I'm sorry. If he does that, what a huge step. Does he have it in him?

PRESTON: No, absolutely not. And if he does have it in him, I don't think it would be with the sincerity that that phone call would actually matter, quite frankly. And there's something to be said, Chris, that it's too late. It's too late right now for him to do that. And I don't think that we've seen that at all in him in this presidential campaign and I don't think we're going to see it going forward.

CAMEROTA: Mark Preston, thank you for being our bottom line today.

CUOMO: It's never too late to say I'm sorry, by the way.

PRESTON: That's a song, isn't it?

CAMEROTA: It is a song. Yes.

Donald Trump chalking up the vulgarities that he expressed about women on tape as locker room talk. What does that mean? And what is the conversation around the country that has been started by this? That's next.

CUOMO: Five bucks. Who gets -

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:47:51] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I apologize to my family. I apologize to the American people. Certainly I'm not proud of it, but this is locker room talk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Donald Trump dismissed the vulgar language he used about women as locker room talk. His comments have sparked a national discussion about offensive language and actions. So let's discuss it with "Washington Post" columnist Alexandra Petri. She wrote an op-ed on this topic, and "Entertainment Tonight" host and CNN contributor Nischelle Turner.

CUOMO: Look out.

CAMEROTA: She works with Nancy O'Dell, the woman mentioned on the tape.

Ladies, it's great to have you here.

And, Nischelle, I want to start with you, because I know that you have spoken to your colleague, Nancy O'Dell. Obviously, it's a terribly uncomfortable position to be put in, to be spoken about, you know, publically in such a sort of vulgar way. How's she doing?

Nischelle?

CUOMO: Uh-oh.

CAMEROTA: I guess not.

CUOMO: All right, hold on, we've got to get Nischelle's audio right. We will, because we need her in this conversation. Do we have Petri?

ALEXANDRA PETRI, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Yes, we've got me.

CAMEROTA: OK. Alexandra, you've written an op-ed about this. What are the conversations that you're hearing ever since Donald Trump's comments?

PETRI: Well, I think -

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I can hear now. I didn't have sound before.

PETRI: Oh, hi. (INAUDIBLE).

CUOMO: All right, go ahead, Alexandra, and then we'll go over to Nischelle.

PETRI: Well, I was just saying, basically the idea that somehow you get a pass on this kind of conversation because it's locker room talk and that somehow this is just a concept that we've accepted, that like men can go into a room and drop their pants and act as though women aren't people. That can be - it's frustrating and bothering. And especially the idea that every single time Trump's been called on to apologize for these remarks, which what he's describing is sexual assault. You can't just walk up and grab someone there. And you can't just sort of take these things, even if you are a celebrity. And he's - his response has always been to write it off because, in his world, this is normal. And I'm sort of wondering, would we like to live in a world where this is normal? And, if not, how do we fix that? And -

CUOMO: And, to our knowledge, he has not apologized to O'Dell or to the other woman that was involved. To our knowledge yet. I don't know -

CAMEROTA: That's a good question for Nischelle. Do you know about that? Has there been follow-up with Nancy?

[08:49:59] TURNER: To my knowledge there has been no outreach by Donald Trump to Nancy. And, actually, I think that's one of the things not even - not speaking as an employee of "Entertainment Tonight" or, you know, anything affiliated with CNN, just as a friend to Nancy O'Dell and a woman, that was one of the things that I was really and still am dismayed about, the fact that there's a lot been made about his apology to the American people, his apology to his family, but there has not, in my knowledge, and I have spoken to Nancy and she has not told me that this has happened, but an apology to her.

CAMEROTA: So, Nischelle, what has - how is she feeling? I mean I - the part where you couldn't hear me, I was saying that I can't imagine how - what an uncomfortable situation it is to be the subject of such raw and vulgar comments -

TURNER: Yes.

CAMEROTA: That are splashed, you know, internationally. TURNER: Well, you can imagine, Alisyn, how she was feeling when she

heard that. Of course she was embarrassed and dismayed and - like anyone would be. And I, like any woman, heard that and cringed and thought it was disgusting as well. But what I do think people should know about Nancy O'Dell is that she is a woman of class. She's one of the warmest and nicest people that you'll ever meet. And I love the way that she handled this situation. She stepped right out to the forefront and said, listen, this is wrong. Being spoken to or about as a woman or anyone is just wrong and the conversation needs to change.

I mean the only thing I really cared about when I first heard this and we - when this all broke we were in the office on Friday together, all of us, was that she - she knew she was loved and supported. And that's what we've all tried to do to this - through this whole thing is to let her know that we love you and we stand by you and this is just not acceptable to be spoken to like that.

But, yes, you know, she's a strong woman and nobody's going to get Nancy O'Dell down really. So she came out last night and said some really powerful words and I'm proud of her for that.

CUOMO: And there's no other - there's no other basis of analysis for her. She's just - she was victimized by this tape and that's it.

TURNER: Yes. Exactly.

CUOMO: Everything else should be up side for her in terms of how she's seen.

Petri, let me ask you something, Alexandra. So what do we do with this? When you have a moment like this, and you seem to have, you know, an action and a reaction to it, what do we do to make some value of this situation?

PETRI: Well, I think it's good that we're talking about this and that it's up there. And I think what Nischelle said was huge. The fact that he didn't apologize to the person who was involved in this thing. And I think that just shows to what extent he views women as somehow a different category than people. They are sort of an object. They're the sexy thing with legs, and they're like a status symbol. Like everything Donald Trump say about women is like, oh, a good woman is worth ten men and a bad woman's not as good as a man. And just sort of this idea that there's this different category that women fall into than people. I think we've just got to keep pushing back and the guys in the locker rooms got to keep pushing back and everybody out there has to keep saying, no, women are people. We're not this strange thing. We're not objects. And you don't talk about people like that.

CAMEROTA: Hey, you know, Nischelle, there was another woman involved in this, and that was the actress that they encountered when they got off the bus.

TURNER: Yes.

CUOMO: Zucker. CAMEROTA: Arianne Zucker, who tweeted this. She says, "how we treat

one another, whether behind closed doors, locker rooms or face to face should be done with kindness, dignity and respect. Unfortunately, there are too many people in power who abuse their position and disregard these simple principles and are rewarded for it." I mean that's the larger conversation, right, is that powerful people -

TURNER: Absolutely.

CAMEROTA: Men usually, think that they can treat women like this and get away with it.

TURNER: And she got that directly. I mean we heard that talk about her like ten seconds before they walked off the bus and then it was, hey, how are you? How are you doing? I really cringed when I saw that because she had absolutely no idea what she was walking into. And that hurt so much to see. But, yes, we've got to change this conversation, guys, and we've got to start with it today.

CAMEROTA: OK, that's what you are both helping us do. Alexandra, Nischelle, thanks so much for being here.

PETRI: Thanks for having us.

CAMEROTA: "The Good Stuff," next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:57:42] CUOMO: "Good Stuff." Lord knows we need it. Sometimes we can learn some pretty powerful life lessons from kids. This is definitely one of them. Ready? Meet Adam Todd. He's in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Suffers from epilepsy and associated autism. Adam was running in his first ever cross country meet when he got confused. That's when one of his competitors, Evan Hansen, stepped in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EVAN HANSEN, RUNNER: I decided to just grab his hand and finish the race with him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Adam gets distracted easily. This kid saw it. He and other athletes were so moved that they also ran along with Adam and Evan. Both teenagers crossing the finish line together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANSEN: I wanted him to be in front of me because he finished it by himself I'd like to say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Because winning doesn't mean a damn thing compared to doing the right thing. Coaches and parents and the crowd called it an emotional moment. CAMEROTA: It is.

CUOMO: And some even shedding a tear and rightly so.

CAMEROTA: That's beautiful. That is a great, great "Good Stuff."

OK, we have more good stuff. How about the late night laughs.

CUOMO: Please.

CAMEROTA: This is about a man in a snazzy red sweater and how he stole the spotlight at the presidential debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY FALLON, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JIMMY FALLON": One of the audience members from the debate last night is going viral and his name is Ken Bone (ph). He's gotten so big that he was interviewed by CNN this morning and he was actually asked about his sweater. Check this out.

KEN BONE (ph): I had a really nice olive suit that I love a great deal, but apparently I've gained about 30 pounds. And when I went to get in my car the morning of the debate, I split the seat of my pants all the way open. So the red sweater is plan b.

FALLON: Just go with plan b.

And America is moving on to plan c and electing Ken Bone for president. We like that guy.

STEPHEN COLBERT, "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": The debate was overshadowed by Donald Trump's hot mike video that was leaked on Friday. In it, we learned that Donald Trump believes that if you're a star you can grab women by the - I would never let Donald Trump touch you, never. There you go. By the way, I don't think that's what Donald Trump's advisors meant when they told him to reach out to women.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: That cat didn't like him, by the way. Somebody handed him that cat and it was actively pulling away from him.

CAMEROTA: Never work with animals, as they say.

Funny or strange? You decide.

[09:00:00] All right, time now for "Newsroom" with the woman who played the cameo in that late night laugh, Carol Costello.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, I'm famous now.

CUOMO: The laugh came off very genuine, by the way.

COSTELLO: I'm sure it did, because you know what a genuine person I am. Hey, you guys have a great day.