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Trump, Clinton Trade Barbs at Charity Dinner; Trump: 'I Will Totally Accept Results... If I Win'. Aired 7-7:30a ET
Aired October 21, 2016 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KEILAR: Donald Trump definitely got more boos. And it was clear before the remarks, where Hillary Clinton just had more people coming up to her on the dias, that this was a crowd more in her favor, but Donald Trump was certainly a little more sharp as both candidates sort of jettisoned the normal decorum of what is supposed to an evening of levity.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[07:00:20] TRUMP: Hillary is so corrupt, she got kicked off the Watergate Commission.
KEILAR (voice-over): Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were supposed to play nice.
CLINTON: It's amazing I'm up here after Donald. I didn't think he'd be OK with a peaceful transition of power.
KEILAR: Casting aside the night's traditional good-humored joking, both candidates delivering brutal takedowns of each other.
TRUMP: This is the first time ever that Hillary is sitting down and speaking to major corporate leaders and not getting paid for it.
CLINTON: People look at the Statue of Liberty, and they see a proud symbol of our history. Donald looks at the Statue of Liberty and sees a four, maybe a five if she loses the torch and tablet and changes her hair.
KEILAR: Trump starting his speech strong.
TRUMP: The media is even more biased this year than ever before. Ever. Michelle Obama gives a speech, and everyone loves it. It's fantastic. My wife Melania gives the exact same speech, and people get on her case.
KEILAR: But losing the room after changing his tone.
TRUMP: Hillary accidentally bumped into me, and she very civilly said, "Pardon me."
And I very politely replied, "Let me talk to you about that after I get into office."
KEILAR: Trump even booed at times for crossing the line. TRUMP: Hillary believes that it's vital to deceive the people by having one public policy and a totally different policy in private. That's OK. I don't know who they're angry at, Hillary, you or I. Here she is tonight in public, pretending not to hate Catholics.
KEILAR: Clinton landing her own sharp barbs right back at Trump.
CLINTON: Donald, after listening to your speech, I will also enjoy listening to Mike Pence deny that you ever gave it.
Donald really is as healthy as a horse. You know, the one Vladimir Putin rides around on.
KEILAR: And poking fun at herself.
CLINTON: This is such a special event that I took a break from my rigorous nap schedule to be here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: And after a debate the night before, where the candidates so noticeably did not shake hands they did shake hands after this event last night, but it was really noticeable, John and Alisyn, that you know, at the beginning of the event where we are told that there was a photo receiving line, and they did not shake hands.
BERMAN: A handshake finally after, you know, 90 minutes on the debate stage and an entire dinner. All right, Brianna, thanks so much.
Donald Trump has some new language on whether he will accept the outcome of this election. CNN's Chris Frates live in Washington with that. Good morning, Chris.
CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, John.
Well, Donald Trump's continued refusal to say whether he supports a bedrock of American democracy, the peaceful transfer of power, has drawn criticism from all corners, including from GOP leaders and Republicans in tough races.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRATES (voice-over): Donald Trump is defiant, mocking critics who rebuked him for refusing to say whether he'll concede if he loses in November.
TRUMP: I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election, if I win.
FRATES: The Republican nominee is doubling down on his unsubstantiated claims that the election is rigged against him and leaving the door open to contest the vote.
TRUMP: I will also reserve my right to contest or file a legal challenge in the case of a questionable result. FRATES: Trump's unprecedented remarks are drawing backlash from both
sides and rattling an already fractured Republican Party. Senator John McCain, who lost the presidential race back in 2008, saying a concession is, quote, "an act of respect for the will of the American people. A respect that is every American leader's first responsibility."
Hillary Clinton's trifecta of surrogates is nailing Trump on the trail, starting with Vice President Joe Biden in New Hampshire.
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's questioning not the legitimacy of our elections but the legitimacy of our democracy.
[07:05:03] FRATES: First lady Michelle Obama tearing into Trump in Arizona.
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: He is threatening the very idea of America itself. And we cannot stand for that. You do not keep American democracy in suspense.
FRATES: And in Florida President Obama condemning Trump's dangerous talk as no joking matter.
B. OBAMA: When you try to sow the seeds of doubt in people's minds about the legitimacy of our elections, that undermines our democracy. Then you're doing the work of our adversaries for them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRATES: Now, Trump has provided no evidence to support this charge that somehow the election is rigged. And, look, the facts don't bear that out either. A 2012 investigative report looked at over a decade of data and found just ten, ten cases of voter impersonation at the polls on election day.
So, that was ten cases over ten years. And while the report does point out that, of course, fraud does occur, the number of cases, well, it's exceedingly small, Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: OK, Chris, thank you very much for that reporting.
Let's discuss all this with CNN political commentator Corey Lewandowski. He's the former campaign manager for Donald Trump. And Karine Jean-Pierre, national spokesperson for MoveOn.org and a Hillary Clinton supporter. Great to have both of you here.
So Corey, when we hear Donald Trump's message shift, as we did yesterday from the debate, where he refused to commit to accepting the election results to then yesterday saying, "I'll accept them if I win," and then going further and saying, "Of course, I will accept them unless there is some reason not to accept them and there is some sort of questionable outcome."
What's happened behind the scenes? Take us inside. Who surrounds him and says, "You've got to stop saying this." COREY LEWANDOWSKI, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Let's just be clear. During the debate, he didn't say, "I'm not going to accept the election results." He said, "I'm going to leave you in suspense." That's what he said.
CAMEROTA: And what does that mean, Corey?
LEWANDOWSKI: What he said was, look, if this election comes down to 537 votes, just like it did in...
CAMEROTA: No, he didn't.
LEWANDOWSKI: This is -- but this is...
CAMEROTA: He didn't use that specific statement. It was much more general.
LEWANDOWSKI: He didn't say he wasn't going to accept the election results. What he said was, "I'm going to leave you in suspense." And then, yesterday what he said was, if there's a clear and decisive election result, I'm going to accept it.
LEWANDOWSKI: Corey, let's play it from the debates so that people know what he said exactly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Are you saying you're not prepared now to commit to that principle?
TRUMP: What I am saying is that I'll tell you at the time. I'll keep you in suspense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: Corey?
LEWANDOWSKI: "I'll tell you at the time. I'll keep you in suspense."
CAMEROTA: That means "I'm not willing to commit."
LEWANDOWSKI: That's not what that says. That's not what that says at all.
CAMEROTA: What's it saying?
LEWANDOWSKI: What it says is, "I'll tell you at the time of the election results."
CAMEROTA: Why won't he say, "Yes, I will accept it"?
LEWANDOWSKI: What he said yesterday was if there's a clear and decisive election result, he'll accept that.
CAMEROTA: Why didn't he say it at the debate?
LEWANDOWSKI: Well, he said it yesterday. How many times does he have to say it?
CAMEROTA: Why didn't he say it at the debate, Corey?
The reason he said it yesterday was because he hadn't said it, and it caused an uproar that he hadn't say it. People thought that he was going to try to somehow subvert democracy, our democratic system. He had to clarify it yesterday.
LEWANDOWSKI: Look, he clarified that as much as Hillary Clinton has clarified the WikiLeaks.
CAMEROTA: I see what you're doing. I like the pivot, Corey. But my original question was who gets to him and said that was not the right message?
LEWANDOWSKI: I don't know the answer. I'm not part of that campaign. But what I do think is Donald Trump has been very clear now. He said this yesterday in Ohio. If the election results are conclusive, he will accept them.
CAMEROTA: OK.
LEWANDOWSKI: And we can keep talking about it. But if Donald Trump wins by 320 electoral votes, he's going to accept those election results.
CAMEROTA: Well, that's awfully courteous of him.
Karine, so is it over? Has it been put to bed, now that you heard him clarify yesterday, "Yes, I will accept the results unless there's something questionable"?
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, NATIONAL SPOKESPERSON, MOVEON.ORG: No, I don't think so. Look, I mean, it's not just about the debate. It's been the last, what, ten days, two weeks that he's been talking about a rigged system. He's been talking about how the voting process is fraud. So, I mean, this is where we are today. He -- you know, he continues to show the lack of impulse control.
At the debate he said it was suspense: "I'm going to keep you in suspense," as if we are in an episode of "The Apprentice." This is not reality TV. This is a -- the presidential election of the United States, which is one of the most important jobs in the world.
CAMEROTA: There's not supposed to be a big reveal.
JEAN-PIERRE: Yes.
LEWANDOWSKI: So look, if Hillary Clinton, if this race comes down to 537 votes nationwide, and Hillary Clinton is losing, is she just going to say, "OK, I concede"?
CAMEROTA: You know, it isn't just the past couple of days that he's been -- or past couple of weeks that he's been talking about a rigged election. Let me bring you back to 2012. This is election day. On 2012, Donald Trump sent out some very telling tweets. He said, "More reports of voting machines switching Romney votes to Obama. Pay close attention to the machines. Don't let your vote be stolen." That was November 6, 2012.
Another one that went out that day: "This election is a total sham and a travesty. We are not a democracy."
Corey, he has been beating this drum for a long time. He doesn't think that we're living in a democracy.
LEWANDOWSKI: No, I don't think that's the case. What I think is he wants to make sure that, when the American people go to vote, their vote is counted the way it's supposed to be.
And look, what we do know, is in Florida in 2000, these hanging chads; and I think a lot of people were disenfranchised, and maybe their vote wasn't counted properly.
[07:10:08] CAMEROTA: Have things changed since then?
LEWANDOWSKI: Look, I sure hope so. But I...
CAMEROTA: Has anybody told Donald Trump that they have?
LEWANDOWSKI: Look, I don't know if they told him or haven't told him, but do I want to make sure that, when I go to vote, my vote is counted for the right person. Of course, I think that's what we have as an obligation as a country that, when you go to vote, whether you agree or disagree, whoever you chose to vote for, let's make sure it's counted properly.
JEAN-PIERRE: I was just going to say that, look, Corey, there is a more likely chance of you getting hit by lightning, right, than voter fraud actually happening. And look, you know, you guys want to keep bringing up Gore and what happened in Gore.
One thing that Al Gore did in 2000 was that he gave the most remarkable, the most gracious speech, concession speech in our history. And I just hope, when Donald Trump loses, he's able to do the same thing.
LEWANDOWSKI: Don't forget, what Al Gore did was he conceded the election night. He then unconceded the next day.
CAMEROTA: When there were questionable results.
LEWANDOWSKI: Then he waited six more weeks.
JEAN-PIERRE: It was an automatic recount.
LEWANDOWSKI: No, no, no, no. The Supreme Court stepped in...
JEAN-PIERRE: Apples and oranges.
LEWANDOWSKI: And after the Supreme Court ruled that the recount would not go forward, then Al Gore finally stopped and conceded on December 13, 2000. So he waited six weeks.
JEAN-PIERRE: Graciously.
LEWANDOWSKI: He waited six weeks.
JEAN-PIERRE: Graciously.
LEWANDOWSKI: He didn't have a choice. The Supreme Court...
JEAN-PIERRE: It was 36 days that he said it was -- right...
LEWANDOWSKI: The Supreme Court, which is the third branch of our government, stepped in and said this election was over.
JEAN-PIERRE: Because once the courts decided...
CAMEROTA: Look, I think that everybody understands, Corey, that if there is something, God forbid, that happens like Florida, Donald Trump doesn't need to concede that night, if there is something questionable. He was making it sound as though, if he just lost, fair and square.
LEWANDOWSKI: That's not the case. Look, if this election is close, like we saw, and like he was unprecedented in the Al Gore race. But it's not unprecedented until it happens. Now, let's just hope it doesn't happen again.
CAMEROTA: All right. Let's inject some levity into this exchange. And last night there was the Al Smith Dinner and traditionally, both candidates go, and they use self-deprecating jokes, and they say something nice about their opponent. That did not happen last night.
LEWANDOWSKI: Different election.
CAMEROTA: It was a different election. There was more vitriol. Let's listen to Hillary Clinton hitting Donald Trump about Putin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: You notice there is no teleprompter here tonight, which is probably smart, because maybe you saw Donald dismantle his prompter the other day. And I get that. They're hard to keep up with, and I'm sure it's even harder when you're translating from the original Russian.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: That got a smile out of Corey. Corey, how does Donald -- hwo does Donald Trump respond when he's the butt of jokes?
LEWANDOWSKI: Look, I think there were a couple great jokes last night. The one about Melania Trump, I think was the best joke of the night.
CAMEROTA: Hilarious. I wonder if we have that. Control room, let me know if we have the Melania. LEWANDOWSKI: That's not self-deprecatign and maybe cause some problem
back home.
JEAN-PIERRE: Exactly.
LEWANDOWSKI: I thought that was a great line. That's Donald Trump at his best.
CAMEROTA: OK. OK, let's listen to that. That was a good one. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Michelle Obama gives a speech and everyone loves it. It's fantastic. They think she's absolutely great. My wife Melania gives the exact same speech, and people get on her case. And I don't get it. I don't know why. And it wasn't her fault.
Stand up, Melania. Come on. She took a lot of abuse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JEAN-PIERRE: That was a great moment.
CAMEROTA: That was a great moment. That was really a great moment. Look, you know, I got to tell you, you know, it's been a tough couple of months. Right? We were just getting at it just a little bit there.
And it was nice to be able to laugh at what Trump said about Hillary Clinton. To laugh about what Hillary Clinton said about Trump. So that was -- it was good. Humor, humor is important in all of this. And also, look, "SNL" is going to have some great fodder between the debate and last night.
CAMEROTA: If only we can all inject more humor and levity in the next couple weeks.
JEAN-PIERRE: Exactly. Exactly. But the thing, at the end of the day, voters have made up their mind. This is not going to change anything. Things are pretty much baked. It wasn't a policy speech.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
JEAN-PIERRE: It was fun.
CAMEROTA: But it was nice to see them in that light.
Karine, Corey, thank you very much for being here -- John.
BERMAN: Thanks, Alisyn. You guys were talking about it. Did the jokes go too far at the Al Smith dinner? Who better to ask than a guy named Al Smith? He'll be here with us, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [07:18:34] BERMAN: The presidential nominees swapping the campaign trail for center stage last night, trading jokes at the Alfred E. Smith charity dinner benefiting Catholic charities, but things maybe got a little personal. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: When I got the chance to meet the people who are working so hard to get her elected. The heads of NBC, CNN, CBS, ABC. There's "The New York Times" right over there and "Washington Post." They're working overtime.
CLINTON: It's amazing I'm up here after Donald. I didn't think he'd be OK with a peaceful transition of power.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: All right. Joining us now is Al E. Smith V. The dinner is named after his great-great-grandfather, and he attended last night's event, sitting right in front of the dais.
Al, thanks so much for being with us. Your great, great-grandfather Al Smith was known as the happy warrior. People were saying that last night was a little less happy and a little more warrior than perhaps we're used to seeing from the speakers there. Do you think that any of the speeches, Hillary Clinton's or Donald Trump's, crossed the line?
AL E. SMITH V, GREAT-GREAT-GRANDSON OF ALFRED E. SMITH: You know, before we get into any of the politics of the dinner last night, I just want to say how proud I am of my father, Alfred E. Smith IV, and the foundation, the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation, in conjunction with Cardinal Dolan, and the fact that they were able to take the energy from this campaign and even some of the acrimony, actually, and point it into a positive direction to raise money for some of the neediest children in New York City is just remarkable. And no matter what you have to say about either candidate, something good did come from the dinner, as well as this campaign.
[07:20:15] BERMAN: No question. Raised more than $6 million. Record setting, I believe. And it is important. Both candidates made a -- made a point to say how important it was to raise the money for the Catholic charities. That's a great thing.
But we are here this morning with a lot of people saying they hadn't been to an Al Smith dinner quite like the one last night.
SMITH: True. I've been to a lot of the dinners in my life, and this was one for the record books I would have to say, absolutely.
BERMAN: What did you think did cross the line?
SMITH: Well, I think, you know, what we saw a lot in the last debate a couple nights ago we saw last night. Donald had some very solid minutes early on, and eventually he crossed the line and took it a little too far. Hillary on the other hand was able to laugh at herself and at the same time not underplay any of the serious things that Donald Trump has said or done.
BERMAN: You know, it's interesting. You talk about Hillary Clinton, one of your favorite moments last night was when Hillary Clinton in a way made a joke about herself and Donald Trump at the same time. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: Because this is a friendly dinner for such a great cause. Donald, if at any time you don't like what I'm saying, feel free to stand up and shout "Wrong" while I'm talking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: You like that. It was nice to see them both smile right there.
SMITH: Absolutely. You know, that was -- that wrong was something that we heard so many times in those three debates, and that was pretty funny last night.
BERMAN: Your favorite moment for Donald Trump when he made a joke about his wife, Melania. We played that a short time ago.
But when you were talking about maybe Donald Trump after starting out strong, and the Melania joke was flat-out hilarious, as everyone thought. So crossing the line may have been where he made a joke about what Hillary Clinton's campaign staff was e-mailing about Catholics. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Hillary believes that it's vital to deceive the people by having one public policy and a totally different policy in private. That's OK. I don't know who they're angry at, Hillary. You or I. For example, here she is tonight, in public, pretending not to hate Catholics.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: There were boos there. You saw Hillary Clinton glance over to the side there. What was it like in the room when he told that joke?
SMITH: That's a tough crowd to drop that line in front of, to be honest with you. That certainly took the -- took the tone in a different direction. And, you know, I think ultimately, at the end of the day, that made things a lot harder for Hillary. When, ultimately, she got the mike she had some very funny things that she had said. And I don't think they got as many laughs as they could have, just because the tone in the room had shifted a bit.
BERMAN: Were people left uncomfortable after that? Because I had that sense, watching on TV, that after that moment from Donald Trump, people weren't laughing quite as hard. Some of the joy was gone. SMITH: The room did get a little uncomfortable. Like I said, that
line in a room full of predominantly Catholics, that didn't go over real well.
BERMAN: So you were sitting sort of on the floor near the dance, looking at all the people sitting there. There were comments, would they shake hands? Ultimately, they did shake hands afterwards. People were watching the body language very closely.
If you could grade sort of the physical comfort level between the candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, with Cardinal Dolan sitting in between them over the course of the night. You know, one being extremely comfortable, ten being, you know, extremely uncomfortable. What grade would you give it?
SMITH: You know, I would say it changed throughout the night. I would say in the beginning it was pretty friendly. I would say more on a six or a seven. I did see them shake hands, I think, before most did. I think the camera may have actually even panned.
But Cardinal Dolan did a great job of bringing them together, and certainly my dad's humor right out of the gates, you know, leveled the playing field and, you know, made it a nice, warm presence to start. My dad took control very early on and lightened the room.
BERMAN: He was great. Your father was terrific. Cardinal Dolan, as well. You know, hats off to both the candidates for trying to make people laugh. I know it can be hard.
Al Smith, great to have you with us and congratulations on the record- setting haul last night, more than $6 million, so important for Catholic Charities. Thanks for being here.
SMITH: Thank you for having me, John. Thank you.
BERMAN: All right. Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: All right, John. Donald Trump called Hillary Clinton a, quote, "nasty woman" during the debate. How did female voters hear that? Our all-female political panel joins us next with their thoughts.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:29:02] CAMEROTA: It may be women who decide this presidential election 18 days from now. Hillary Clinton at the moment has a significant advantage over Donald Trump among female voters, and her supporters have now turned this debate moment into a rallying cry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: My Social Security payroll contribution will go up, as will Donald's, assuming he can't figure out how to get out of it. But what we want to do is to replenish the trust fund.
TRUMP: Such a nasty woman. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: Such a nasty woman. Let's bring in CNN political commentator and Republican consultant Margaret Hoover to talk about this, as well as CNN political analyst and "USA Today" columnist Kirsten Powers; and "Washington Times" columnist, former Miss Ohio 2014 and Trump supporter Madison Gesiotto. Great to see all of you, ladies, for our all-female political panel.
"Such a nasty woman." What's happened since then, Margaret, is that, of course, there's been a Twitter meme that has cropped up with all sorts of people using the hashtag, "I am a nasty woman because..." and they say things like "I don't feel empowered by tearing people down." "I am a nasty woman, because I know a women's intelligence, experience and humanity are infinitely more important and interesting than her looks."
What does that comment...
It goes to a narrative that already exists, which is a focus on feminism on double standards between men and women. See this when young boys display characteristics of
