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Trump Steps Up 'Rigged Election' Claims; Battle to Retake Mosul Begins. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired October 17, 2016 - 07:00   ET

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

CAMEROTA: ... coverage with CNN's Phil Mattingly. Phil, give us the latest.

[07:00:03] PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

There have been no shortage of issues that Donald Trump has pushed throughout his campaign as rigged, whether it's the media or the political establishment. The Iowa caucuses. But this, pushing the electoral results as rigged in its entirety, is a new and very dark turn, one that is unsettling even some of his Republican supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Remember this, it's a rigged election.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): For Donald Trump, there's only one reason he's trailing in the polls: a conspiracy to keep him out of the White House.

TRUMP: The election is being rigged by corrupt media, pushing completely false allegations and outright lies in an effort to elect her president.

MATTINGLY: In rally after rally, tweet after tweet, Trump pushing the theory, without any evidence or recent historical precedent, that the electoral results will be rigged.

Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, trying to tone down the rhetoric, saying Trump doesn't mean literal electoral rigging.

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R-IN), VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We will absolutely accept the results of the election.

The American people are tired of the obvious bias in the national media. That's where the sense of a rigged election goes here.

MATTINGLY: But Trump undercutting that very message only minutes later, tweeting explicitly that the election is, quote, "absolutely being rigged" at, quote, "many polling places."

This part of a Trump Twitter storm that included multiple personal attacks against House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Ryan pushing back on Trump's rigged election theory. A spokeswoman telling CNN the speaker is, quote, "fully confident the election will be carried out with integrity."

Hillary Clinton's running mate, Tim Kaine, calling on more Republicans to speak out against Trump's allegations.

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA), VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He started to make wild claims, kind of scorched-earth claims about the election being rigged, et cetera.

So we have to keep putting out a message, and we need to call on everybody to speak out about the fact that we run elections and we run them well here. And we ask the GOP leaders also to stand up for the integrity of the electoral process.

MATTINGLY: Trump also continuing to fire back at allegations of sexual assault and unwelcomed sexual advances, now, accused by nine women. Trump attacking their veracity, their character and their looks.

TRUMP: Believe me, she would not be my first choice. That I can tell you.

MATTINGLY: And unleashing one new line of attack on Hillary Clinton, that she's taking performance-enhancing drugs.

TRUMP: We should take a drug test, because I don't know what's going on with her.

MATTINGLY: The Clinton campaign calling this a shameful attempt to undermine the election.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: And all eyes really on that debate in Las Vegas on Wednesday. Donald Trump taking a very rare day off the campaign trail to prepare for that debate. Hillary Clinton doing the same thing. She's been off a couple of days now, really repeating what she did before the first debate. Two days, advisors say, as she prepares for that final debate, the final look, really, the entire country will get with only 22 days left until the election -- Chris.

CUOMO: Phil, I forget. Are you assigned to review the pee tests of the two candidates and figure out if there's anything in there that's not on one of the scheduled drugs they're allowed to take?

MATTINGLY: I was told that was an Alisyn job. Was I lied to about that?

CUOMO: All right. We'll have to wait and see. We'll have to wait and see.

All right. Let's discuss the implications of this banter with CNN political commentator and Trump supporter Scottie Nell Hughes and CNN political commentator and vice chair of the New York state Democratic Party, Christine Quinn.

Scottie, do you believe that this election is rigged? SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, there is two

folds to that. There's a rigging in the case of the media and the exposure and the attention they're giving to Donald Trump versus Hillary Clinton.

I mean, we looked at last week. According to ABC, CBS, NBC, they spent a total of 4 hours and 32 minutes talking about Trump scandals, and yet, WikiLeaks spent -- spent 36 minutes. That's a one to seven ratio. You cannot deny that there's some sort of bias going on within the media.

Then the other side of it is rigged, actually, according to the voters on election day. Pew Research in February 2012 came back and said one in eight voter registrations are inaccurate. There is significantly -- that they're no longer valuable. That's 146 million registered voters in the United States today, Chris. One point eight million has some sort of fraud or something wrong with their voter registration.

CUOMO: Now Christine...

HUGHES: The solution? Voter -- voter I.D. laws. That why the Republicans are pushing so hard for it.

CUOMO: Yes, except they don't like that, when you register for your license, you can also register to vote. Right? So these are also complex issues.

Christine, the Brennan Justice Center in 2007; News 21, the student effort that spent a year on this; "The Philadelphia Inquirer." The idea of widespread corruption in elections is widely debunked. What do you make of this argument?

CHRISTINE QUINN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: And I want the viewers to know, there is no truth to that there's a historical rigging of elections or voter fraud or anything of that nature, because it's really important, Chris, that that people go out and vote. Whoever they're going to vote for and know that in America that's something we do well and will always do well.

[07:05:07] But let's be honest. What we're seeing here from Donald Trump is the whining of a schoolyard bully who is getting beaten and is losing. Now, that's OK. We can all digest that. It's not a shock coming from Donald Trump.

But the bigger issue here is he's whining, because he's losing over one of the most important procedures and most important rights Americans have. Something people have fought and died to get and protect.

And the message he's sending is, when he loses, is bad for America. And it really is incumbent upon everyone, regardless of party, to stand up and say, "We take our elections seriously in the United States, and this is just baseless whining that has nothing to do with the facts."

CUOMO: Scottie, it's totally allowable, I guess, these days if you want to say, "Hey, if she wins, everything is going to go terribly." That's fair.

But to attack the system, does that trouble you at all? Of course, you have the Speaker of the House, numerous GOP officials, including one in charge of the election in Ohio, who are saying, "Please, don't say this kind of stuff. The argument -- the election is going to be legitimate." Even he said after the first debate, Donald Trump, he would back and support Hillary Clinton if she won the election. Now he's changing.

Does it bother you to criticize the system and undermine confidence that way?

HUGHES: Not at all, because right now is all about who's going to turn their people out to the polls. The Clinton camp has one way of doing it, one strategy, The Trump camp is saying, "You have to turn out. There's no way that you can just stay home this year if you want to see a Republican take over the White House."

CUOMO: And it's OK to say you have to go out there, or they will steal the race from us?

HUGHES: I mean...

CUOMO: That's not democracy.

HUGHES: But here's the -- here's the technicals. One point eight million people are deceased on the voter registrations right now. Two point nine five million ae voted -- registered to vote in more than one state. There are some irregularity -- some issues that need to be addressed right now with voter registration...

CUOMO: It doesn't mean those votes get used.

HUGHES: ... and making sure it's accurate.

CUOMO: Even in Philadelphia where they looked at it, you can't uncount votes. You know, so a lot of these systems have catchalls for these things. There's certainly problems. I mean, it's ridiculous we don't vote online. We do everything else online.

But to undermine confidence. He's saying it's already rigged. He's saying, "If I lose, it's because they did it dirty." You don't think that that's a bad thing to suggest with no proof?

HUGHES: It's funny -- it's funny that you bring up Philly where there was not a single vote for Mitt Romney in 2012. Philly where election commissioners, election people are being actually...

CUOMO: No, there were votes. There are votes for Romney. It's the idea of, in certain districts, you guys say he didn't get any. But that's not true. It's not done in districts. It's in divisions. And some of the divisions have as few as 600 people. And if you do a Google search, you'll see Obama didn't get some votes in little parts of Utah. It happens with these small numbers of voters in big cities. It's overwhelmingly Democratic in Philadelphia.

CHRISTINE QUINN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Chris, can I just jump in?

CUOMO: Go ahead, Christine.

QUINN: I think what we're hearing Scottie say is that it's perfectly fine to attack a fundamental right that this country is based on, democratic election, that it is OK to attack that, regardless of the future implications. If it somehow helps Mr. Trump's voters get out. That this I all just about politics.

But some things and I think you would see that in Hillary Clinton's campaign are bigger than politics. Bigger than you winning or losing or me winning and losing or whatever. It's about the future of this country, and both of these people are running to lead this country. And you only have one person who seems steeped in the reality of that, Hillary Clinton. And Donald Trump is willing to slash and burn and do anything to try to hold onto a shred of winning.

CUOMO: But Christine...

QUINN: Quite frankly unpatriotic.

CUOMO: One of the reasons that he has so much momentum behind him is because a lot of people believe that the system is set up to help the elites and not people like them; and Donald Trump has given it voice.

Now WikiLeaks, whether they get it illegally or whatever, the e-mails are out there now, and they show that when Hillary Clinton was talking to Goldman Sachs, she was playing to the crowd and she was making it sound like regulating them is something she had to do politically. Is that the kind of disposition to have towards that industry when they have gotten away with bad behavior time and time again? Who else needs a stronger message that we're not going to take it from you any more other than them? And when she was getting paid by Goldman Sachs, she played to the crowd. Is that right?

QUINN: Talking about playing to the crowd. I mean, here you have Donald Trump in front of...

CUOMO: No, no, no, no, no. Her talking to Goldman Sachs. Those e- mails. She's playing to the crowd. She's saying, "Dodd-Frank, I had to do it politically." What is that about, Christine?

QUINN: You know, I think what you saw in Hillary's speeches to Goldman and Wall Street is her saying she's going to regulate this industry.

CUOMO: That's not what she says. She said she had to regulate, Christine. Don't you want to own this a little bit?

[07:10:07] QUINN: I want to say very clearly that Hillary Clinton has, in the past, in her votes and her service in the Senate and made clear moving forward as president that she's going to regulate this industry. She's going to ask for their input. Yes, that's appropriate.

But this is -- Chris, this is talking about how an issue is going to be handled and vetted out through the executive and legislative process, which is completely different than someone like Donald Trump, who in his deal to hold onto a slice of victory, which I don't believe will happen, he is attacking sexual assault survivors. He's attacking Hillary charges with these absurd drug charges. And he's attacking and trying to erode the fundamental right of our country. You want to talk positions on issues?

I think everyone wishes we had more of that, vetting out the specifics of Wall Street regulation. But Donald Trump...

CUOMO: All right.

QUINN: ... is dragging things down through this kind of wild and bombastic tweeting in the middle of the night.

CUOMO: Part of the reason -- we've got to leave it there for now. Part of the reason he has momentum is because think the system is set up to help the elite. Those e-mails cast light on a little bit of a...

QUINN: He has less and less momentum every day. Less and less.

CUOMO: Scottie Nell Hughes. Thank you very much, Christine Quinn, as always.

Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right, Chris. Listen to this story: federal authorities are trying to figure out who firebombed a Republican headquarters in North Carolina. No one was in the building when a flammable substance was thrown through a window. The vandals also spray-painted a message on the building: quote, "Nazi Republicans, get out of town or else."

Now in a tweet, Donald Trump said, quote, "Animals representing Hillary Clinton and Dems in North Carolina just bombed our office in Orange County, because we are winning."

There is no evidence to support his claims. Hillary Clinton condemned the attack, calling it, quote, "horrific and unacceptable. Very grateful everyone is safe."

Democrats have launched a fund-raising effort, raising thousands of dollars to help reopen that Republican office.

CUOMO: A major step in the fight against ISIS is underway right now. It is the battle for Mosul in Iraq. You have the Iraqi forces backed up by a U.S.-led coalition. We are near the frontlines. You have a live report coming up. A million people are in that city.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:16:25] CUOMO: Breaking news. We may be witnessing the beginning of the end of ISIS in Iraq. Iraqi forces and the U.S.-led coalition are launching the battle for Mosul right now. That is considered the last ISIS stronghold in the country. Military leaders call this a, quote, "decisive moment."

Now, it's just starting, and there are a million plus people in the balance living there. CNN senior international correspondent Arwa Damon live near Mosul. We know the humanitarian effects of this have to be considered as much as the strategic benefits. What's the situation right now?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chris, in the plains behind me, this is one of the first areas that the Kurdish Peshmerga pushed into, trying to clear these villages in the last 14 hours or so, ever since Iraq's prime minister announced the beginning of this crucial battle.

And since then, we have been seeing airstrikes. We have been seeing massive explosions, presumably car bombs or suicide car bombs. Some sporadic but fairly intense gun battles, artillery fire and rockets being fired.

But all of this, Chris, is you can see within the terrain is happening in open land, which means that the coalition air strikes can be called in fairly easily.

One needs to take into consideration that the same intensity of battle and more so is going to be what we expect to transpire within the city of Mosul itself.

Added to that, the reality that no one knows exactly what sort of preparations ISIS has in store. We do know that it has, in the past, historically booby-trapped buildings, roads, sent wave upon wave of suicide bombers, used civilians as human shields.

When it comes to Mosul, which is really its prize, it is, as many do anticipate, going to have much more tactics perhaps that we haven't seen it employ in the past.

And yes, as you were mentioning, hanging in the balance are the lives of some 1 to 1.5 million people.

But, Alisyn, this battle is crucial, not just when it comes to getting ISIS out of Iraqi territory. It's crucial for the future of ISIS how this all plays out in the battle. But also when it comes to the broader fight against ISIS throughout the entire region.

CAMEROTA: Arwa, thank you so much for being there and for your reporting. We need to hear that information.

So, what is the U.S. role in the battle to retake Mosul? Let's ask Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook. Good morning, Peter.

PETER COOK, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: Good morning, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: What is the U.S. role so far in this battle?

COOK: Well, the U.S. role today is the same as it's been for the last several months. We're continuing to support the Iraqi security forces who are in the lead in this fight for Mosul.

Of course, there are other coalition members who are providing support, as well, to the Iraqis. We've been training most of the forces that are part of this operation to take Mosul. Have been trained by coalition trainers over the course of the last few months.

Of course, as you heard Arwa describe, there's coalition air power being brought to bear here. Since the start of October, Alisyn, there have been more than -- close to 70 airstrikes in and around Mosul. Again, softening up those ISIL positions and providing intelligence, critical logistic support to the Iraqis. But let's be clear, it's the Iraqis who are in the lead and the Iraqis were taking the fight to ISIL.

CAMEROTA: Peter, can you tell us how many U.S. troops are involved?

COOK: Well, as you know, we have approximately 5,000 U.S. forces in Iraq right now. They're doing a variety of different things. As I said, a substantial amount have been providing the training to the 12 Iraqi brigades that we've trained over the last few months. A little part of this operation.

[07:20:09] We also have logistical folks. We have engineers. We have force protection for our own people. So they're all doing a variety of things, but the main thing, Alisyn, is that they're all providing capabilities and enabling capabilities for the Iraqis to carry out this fight.

CAMEROTA: Peter, you know, critics of the Obama administration have said why telegraph this information for weeks before the battle started to ISIS? I mean, basically what they suggest is that the administration somehow gave ISIS a running start. Let me play for you what Donald Trump has said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: So, we have announcements coming out of Washington and coming out of Iraq. We will be attacking Mosul in three weeks or four weeks. All these bad leaders from ISIS are leaving Mosul. Why can't they do it quietly? General George Paton, General Douglas McArthur are spinning in their grave at the stupidity of what we're doing in the Middle East.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That was just last Sunday, a week ago, obviously, in the debate. What is your response to why can't you do it quietly?

COOK: Alisyn, I'm not going to wade into the campaign. What I will say is that we've been echoing the prime minister of Iraq himself, Haider al-Abadi, who has been signaling to the people of Mosul that help is on the way. That the liberation of Mosul is coming. It is no surprise to ISIL and everyone in Iraq that, ultimately, ISIL would have to be ejected from Mosul. It's Iraq's second largest city. There have been efforts to envelop Mosul for months now. It is not a surprise to anyone. But there is an element of surprise as to how this is going be carried

out over the next few days and weeks, and this will be a long fight. And to be sure, ISIL still has a lot question marks out there as to how this is going to be carried out, and that's exactly how this has been constructed and planned by the Iraqi commanders, by Prime Minister Abadi, of course, supported by the United States and the international coalition.

CAMEROTA: Peter, we've heard from our reporters who are on the front lines there this morning, talking about just the vast number of civilians who are in the way, who are in and around Mosul.

Of course, part of talking about it to telegraph a plan is to try to get them out of the way. But our supporters have said that there could be more than a million people, civilians, who are trying to get out of the way; and it will lead to this, you know, humanitarian crisis of epic proportion. What's the plan for them?

COOK: Well, of course, there are real concerns about the humanitarian situation. But, Alisyn, I've got to point out we've had concerns about the humanitarian situation in Mosul since ISIL first moved in there. They have brutalized the population of Mosul and ultimately were trying to get ISIL out of there.

But there are concerns about that. There are efforts by the government of Iraq supported by the international community, led by the United Nations to try and, again, be prepared for civilians who will want to leave the battle space there. There's also an effort to reach out to civilians in Mosul itself.

Just in the last 48 hours, for example, there have been thousands of leaflets dropped over Mosul by the government of Iraq. More than 7 million leaflets will be dispersed over the next 48 hours. Again, providing guidance and advice to the people of Mosul as to how to conduct themselves. To some extent, Alisyn, the Iraqis would like people in Mosul to remain in their homes so that, again, they can be spared of the battle to come in Mosul. It's going to be a complicated situation, a difficult situation, but the Iraqis are working on this with the international community.

CAMEROTA: Peter, it sure is going to be complicated. In fact, one of our ISIS experts, Michael Weiss was just on, saying the most anxiety- producing question for him is what happens the day after this. The day after you get ISIS out of Mosul, which everyone, of course, anticipates will happen.

Then what? There's still all these different warring factions, from Shiite militias to the Kurds to Iraqi insurgents, who want that territory. What's the plan?

COOK: Well, of course, the government of Iraq, this is going to be led by Prime Minister Abadi. And the one thing I would say, Alisyn, to that -- on that front, is that certainly, this has been an active area of discussion from the start. What happens the day after?

And the one unifying thing throughout this has been everyone wants ISIL to go, and that has been very unifying. Prime Minister Abadi has talked about it, again, trying to do this the right way and to make sure, at the end of this fight with ISIL, that there is a better, more unified Iraq and that sectarian strife can be -- can be reduced, if not eliminated.

And that's something, ultimately, for the Iraqis to sort out for themselves, of course with support from the international coalition. The United States has provided more than $1 billion in humanitarian assistance. Other international contributors have done the same. This is all part of the effort to make sure the day after ISIL is defeated is a brighter day for the people of Iraq.

CAMEROTA: Peter Cook, thank you for all the information from the Pentagon this morning. Let's get to Chris.

COOK: You bet.

CUOMO: All right. Donald Trump taking on the media, claiming the election is rigged. Proof? Not so much.

But we're going to discuss with Republican Congressman Steve King, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:29:07] CUOMO: Donald Trump escalating claims that the 2016 election is rigged. He's pointing fingers at us in the media. The polls, as well, international banks and the Clinton campaign. Is this his way of saving face in case he loses the election, or are some of the claims valid?

Let's discuss with Republican Congressman Steve King from Iowa. He has endorsed Donald Trump.

Congressman, good to see you. Help me understand what's happening here. In the first debate, Trump said, "I will support Clinton if she wins." Now, it seems after these accusers came out, the nine or so women who have been saying that Donald Trump did inappropriate things to them, now all of a sudden everything is rigged. Do you agree with this statement?

REP. STEVE KING (R), IOWA: Well, I think it's some of each. And I say that, because there are things going on out there that are part of the political machine that Donald Trump points to that have been part of the political machine for a long time.

They do -- they definitely tilt the playing field in the opposite direction, I think.

But I also saw a bit of that pattern at the end of the Iowa caucus when it was -- when it was that contest that came out the way it did here. So I think...