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New Day

Up Close with Trump's Campaign Manager; Historic World Series Starts Tonight; GOP Vs. Democrats: Who is Getting Out the Vote? Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired October 25, 2016 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:04] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Time now for the five things to know for your NEW DAY.

A new CNN/ORC national poll shows Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump by five points, 49 percent to 44 percent, with just two weeks until Election Day. Trump dismisses those polls, of course, as rigged. He says he is actually winning.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Obamacare premiums are set to rise an average of more than 20 percent in 2017. Trump declaring, quote, "It's over," for the president's signature plan. Supporters say most customers can offset the hikes using federal subsidies.

CAMEROTA: At least 60 people killed and more than a hundred injured in a militant attack on a police training academy in western Pakistan. Three suicide bombers invaded the academy and took hostages. Two of the terrorists blew themselves up. Security forces killed the third.

CUOMO: Pentagon officials are now exploring steps to waive debt imposed on more than 10,000 soldiers by California National Guard officials. A probe found unknowing veterans were given fraudulent hefty bonuses to re-enlist a decade ago in order to meet the enlistment targets.

CAMEROTA: We're going to be talking about that more later.

Prince's Paisley Park compound is now a museum. City council in Minnesota voting unanimously to rezone the late music superstar's home and studio. The Paisley Park website says it's permanently open for public tours.

CUOMO: Very cool. He would like that.

CAMEROTA: I would love to see the inside of that.

For more on the five things to know, you can go to NewdayCNN.com for all the latest.

CUOMO: All right. So, she's the guiding force behind the Trump campaign. She's one heck of a spin meister. But she's also a mom. She's got four kids. And she's keeping the Republican nominee on track and her family, too.

Who are we talking about?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: People will seriously say, can't you delete his Twitter app?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That was actually one of my questions.

CONWAY: Of course. It's not for me to take away a grown man's Twitter account.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Kellyanne Conway is the real deal, not just because of what you see on TV. Dana Bash got up close and personal with Trump's campaign manager. You're going to see it, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:35:57] CUOMO: All right. You know her as Donald Trump's campaign manager, but she's a lot more than just her job. We wanted to take a look inside Kellyanne Conway's life. What is it like being the first woman to manage a GOP nominee's presidential campaign while also juggling a big business and a very, very important family?

CNN's political correspondent Dana Bash has the story. Great one.

BASH: You know, she does it the way every single working parent does -- with a lot of help. You know, she's such staple of 2016 television coverage. She's on every time pretty much you turn on the TV. People are kind of obsessed.

They want to know -- what does she really think? Does she really believe all of the things that she says? Well, she invited us to her home in New Jersey to ask her.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH (voice-over): Morning at the Conways.

CONWAY: Sweetheart, how's this? And then, which jacket?

BASH: Scrambling to get the kids ready for school. Familiar chaos for any parent, though Kellyanne Conway is not any parent.

REPORTER: Kellyanne Conway bluntly acknowledging the uphill climb.

BASH: The mother of four young children is Donald Trump's campaign manager. On TV so much, explaining and defending her boss, "Saturday Night Live" dedicated an entire bit to imagining her day off.

(on camera): This is so weird. This is exactly the way the "SNL" house looked.

Where's "Walking on Sunshine"? CONWAY: In my head.

The pancakes are true to life.

BASH (voice-over): These days her mother, who moved in to help, makes the pancakes. Conway's only been on the job since August -- Trump's third campaign manager, but the first woman ever to run a GOP presidential race.

CONWAY: I wasn't hired because of my gender, but it's a special responsibility.

BASH: And often a difficult one. Like this weekend, when Trump went off-script, attacking the women who say he groped them.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: All of these liars will be sued after the election is over.

BASH (on camera): Do you just tear your hair out when you hear him say that?

CONWAY: It's his campaign and it's his candidacy. And in the end, he has to feel comfortable with his voice and his choice every --

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: So, you're the campaign manager. Do you feel comfortable with that?

CONWAY: I think Trump is at his very best, at his very best when he talks about the issues.

BASH (voice-over): Translation: going off-message hurts his campaign.

Conway insists she's tough on Trump in private.

CONWAY: I don't sugar-coat at all. And I think he really appreciates that.

BASH (on camera): So, give me an example. I'm Donald Trump and you're Kellyanne Conway, and I say something that really makes you mad at my rally.

CONWAY: I told him yesterday, on the plane, "You and I are going to fight for the next 17 days." And he said, "Why?" And I said, "Because I know you're going to win. And that comment you just made sounds like you think you're going to lose. And we're going to argue about it until you win."

BASH: And what's his response?

CONWAY: He's like, "OK, honey, then we'll win."

BASH (voice-over): For a time after Conway took over, Trump was disciplined. But not anymore, especially on Twitter.

CONWAY: Literally, people will seriously say, can't you delete his Twitter app?

BASH (on camera): Tat was actually one of my questions.

(LAUGHTER)

CONWAY: Of course. It's not for me to take away a grown man's Twitter account.

TRUMP: And I moved on her very heavily.

BASH (voice-over): When tape from 2005 came out of Trump describing lewd behavior, Conway canceled Sunday TV appearances, but still helped with damage control.

CONWAY: And I felt like Rapunzel in the tower all weekend. And I told Mr. Trump in private what I've also said in public or a variation thereof. I found the comments to be horrible and indefensible. And he didn't ask anybody to defend them, by the way.

BASH (on camera): Did you consider quitting?

CONWAY: I did not.

BASH (voice-over): She said she thought his apology was earnest.

(on camera): The women who have now come forward and said, it's not just talk. Donald Trump groped me. Do you believe them?

CONWAY: I believe -- Donald Trump has told me and his family and the rest of America now that none of this is true, these are lies and fabrications. They're all made up.

And I think that it's not for me to judge what those women believe. I have not talked to them. I've talked to him.

BASH (voice-over): She was raised in New Jersey by a single mom, aunts, and grandmother, all women.

[06:40:02] As a political pollster, she chose to work in what she calls a man's world, especially as a Republican. She recalled a potential client, a man, asking how she'd balance kids and work.

CONWAY: It was just like, I hope you ask all the male consultants, are you going to give up your wicked golf game and your mistresses, because they seem really, really busy, too.

BASH: Still, like most working moms, time with her kids is precious. The question is whether she'll have more time in two weeks, after Election Day.

When she was hired the August, she told Trump he was losing, but could still win.

(on camera): Do you think at this point, it is still possible to win?

CONWAY: It is still possible to win. BASH: Probable?

CONWAY: I think that we have got a very good chance of winning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Dana, fascinating -- fascinating to get a window into her world, because, you know, we only know her as the woman who comes in and speaks on behalf of Donald Trump. So, it's great to see her with her kids. Because she has been so vocal about outreach to women, how does she explain that Trump isn't doing better with women?

BASH: It's hard. I mean, it's hard because it's not just about outreach to women now. It's been a big part of her business at the polling company, which is her business when she's not running a campaign, to explain to politicians and to corporate executives, this is what the data show, this is how you reach out to women. And when Donald Trump is you candidate, it's just pretty hard to translate that and to make that come to fruition.

CUOMO: That's a big part of the I d dynamic here. People will say after this, where's the profile on Robby Mook now?

This is a different job. We've known Kellyanne than many of us would like to remember.

BASH: That's right.

CUOMO: But she is not just being the first woman. I mean, that's important, but as she said, she's made it through this business, gender be damned, for a long time, and she's done very well. This is a different job. We've never seen anybody try to deal with a candidate like this.

He makes, you know, Jimmy "rent too damn high" here in New York, you know, look like Al Gore in terms of his ability to help his cause. This is a tough job for her.

BASH: It is. When your job is messaging, and you even heard her in the piece saying he's best when he stays on the issues. I mean, that's her saying, you know, I really, really wish my candidate would not be talking about suing the women who are accusing him, because no one was talking about that for several days. And now, they are because he brought it up, not because they did.

CAMEROTA: Dana, great piece. Thanks so much for showing it to us.

BASH: Thank you.

Well, the Chicago Cubs or the Cleveland Indians? That, I ask. One of them is about to end a historic World Series drought. The Fall Classics begins tonight.

Andy Scholes in Cleveland with the "Bleacher Report", next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [06:46:16] CUOMO: This is one for the ages. The World Series between the Cubs and the Indians begins tonight in Cleveland. Andy Scholes is there.

Wow. What a great job witnessing history. Everybody keeps saying the number, 108, 108, 108 years for the Cubs since the last time. How big is this?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: I mean, it couldn't be more perfect, Chris. You know, the biggest thing we have in sports that could happen is the Cubs winning the World Series. Like you said, they haven't done it in 108 years.

And for the Indians, the city of Cleveland went 52 years without winning anything. They might get two championships in a matter of four months after LeBron and the Cavs won the NBA title back in June. Now, the players going through one last workout yesterday before they hit the field for game one.

The ticket prices for this World Series, astronomical. The cheapest ticket for tonight, around 750 bucks. For game three at Wrigley Field, the cheapest ticket, around $2,000. We talked to a bunch of players and fans from both sides yesterday. They're all well aware how special this World Series is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cubs nation, all around the world, all around the country, they're there. They're behind us. And we're ready to give them something special.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's going to be a Special World series. Obviously there's two droughts. So I mean, there's going to be a winner.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never thought this would happen. It's great for the city.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I haven't seen this -- my father, grandfather, great grandfather. So here we are. You know, we just drove in from Chicago. We have tickets for the first two games. And, you know, we're looking to bring it home to Chicago. We're excited.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: It was the Brock Osweiler Bowl on Monday Night Football. Texas quarterback facing off against his former team for the first time since leaving Denver for Houston.

And rough night for old Brock. He was pretty terrible. The Texans don't even score a touchdown. Broncos win that one by a final 27-9.

But I'll tell you what, it's going to be an incredible sports night here in Cleveland. Just on the other side of Progressive Field, Quicken Loans Arena, the Cavs are going to get their championship rings before their game in the season opener against the Knicks. Our friends from inside the NBA going to be broadcasting that game on TNT.

I'll tell you what, Alisyn. You know, LeBron was asked, what could make this night better for the city of Cleveland? Well, he said, I don't know, maybe ice cream for everyone.

You know what? Blue Bunny ice cream said, deal. They're going to have ice cream trucks out here tonight giving away free ice cream. So, you got the World Series, Cavs getting the rings, and free ice cream for everyone. I don't know what more you could ask for.

CAMEROTA: I don't either. Why haven't the presidential candidates thought of that? Free ice cream for everyone. They would win.

CUOMO: You know what they have going on we haven't seen in the election?

CAMEROTA: What?

CUOMO: Unity. LeBron and those Cavs, they've been going to the baseball games. The whole city has come together. We felt it at the convention, you know? Unity can do great things.

CAMEROTA: There's a lot of lessons to be learned from free ice cream.

We're two weeks away from Election Day, but already millions of Americans have cast their vote. So, which way are they leaning? We try to figure that out, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:53:38] CAMEROTA: The Northeast and Great Lakes are about to get a real taste of winter. Some spots are going to wake up to their first freeze of the season.

For more, CNN meteorologist Chad Myers has your forecast.

I hate putting the bad news on you, brother, but that's the job.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I know. And some lake-effect snow for the first time around the Great Lakes. Way below average, way below normal for the Great Lakes, New York, New Jersey, all the way through there.

This is going to be the first really big shot of cold air of the season. I think how quickly we got here is really the bigger story because all the Northeast cities were in the 80s last week. The high this week in New York will be only in the 50s. Boston only in the 40s. And the morning lows, like you said, will be somewhere down in the neighborhood of about 35 to 40.

And Upstate New York will be without a doubt in that 32-degree range. So, where and how did we get here?

Last week, we were 85. That's the same temperature as Labor Day. That's the same temperature as the Fourth of July. Tomorrow, we will be the same temperature as Thanksgiving. We've gone

from one vacation to another, but unfortunately the Fourth of July to Thanksgiving seems to happen pretty quick. Seven days, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: That is much quicker than usual. You're right, Chad. Thanks so much for putting it in those terms for us.

So, we are two weeks away from Election Day, but early voting is well under way in more than half of the country. More than 5 million people have already cast the ballot.

[06:55:01] So, which party is getting more of the vote?

Let's discuss it with CNN politics executive editor Mark Preston.

Hi, Mark.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: OK. Let's take a look at the early data that we know as of this moment. As we said, 5.1 million votes have been cast in 35 states. Those numbers are going to change in a couple hours. We'll get updated numbers. So far, there's no way to tell how it's going, right?

PRESTON: No, what we can tell is, we can tell the demographic of the voter and the party registration of the voter.

CAMEROTA: OK. So, let's look at some of that. We know that 1.4 million basically, Democrats, have already voted, 1.1 million Republicans. But they might have crossed party lines. They might have voted for the other person, right?

PRESTON: Specifically in this election, too, where Donald Trump has reached out to a constituency where he has been able to draw some Democrats to his side.

CAMEROTA: OK, now, let's look at some of the all important states. Let's look at Florida. Here's what we know about what's going on in Florida. For comparison, let's look at 2008.

Half a million people voted early that year. And look at these spread, many more Republicans. This year, a million people have already voted. And it's half and half.

PRESTON: Half and half. So, a couple things about this. One, the Republican Party has had a historic advantage when it comes mail-in votes. Remember, Florida, big military state. Military tends to be more Republican. You have people, you know, people serving overseas, serving in other parts of the country, have Florida as their residents.

What Democrats will tell you right now is that they are seeing historic numbers increase. For instance, 133,000 Latinos voted so far, which is a 99 percent increase from 2012. They say that absentee ballots among African-Americans this year is up 30 percent. CAMEROTA: Interesting. OK, let's look at another all-important state

of Ohio. So, back then, at least as of this hour, more people were voting early, half a million in 2008, versus now there's 368,000. And evenly split at the moment.

PRESTON: And this is why you have to be careful about these early numbers. You can glean some information. But if you were to look at the polls of Ohio, it shows Hillary Clinton is having a problem with white, non-college educated voters, which are a big voting constituency, or a big bloc there in Ohio.

So, that's why Donald Trump is doing so well. Even though Democrats have a bit of an advantage, Trump is still doing better in Ohio.

CAMEROTA: Donald Trump is winning in the polls in Ohio.

PRESTON: Absolutely.

CAMEROTA: OK. So let's look at the ground game. This is interesting to see who has more staff on the ground. OK? And there's a big discrepancy.

So, in this all important states, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Nevada, look at how many more people Hillary Clinton has on the ground. Look at Pennsylvania. He has 62 staffers in Pennsylvania. She has 508 and you can see -- I mean, she's like quadrupling him in every state.

PRESTON: So, two quick points on this. Republicans will say they've been in these states longer because the RNC started building a ground game back in 2013. However, when you come into a presidential election year, you're taking the campaign and the national party.

Donald Trump never had any kind of ground game with his operation. There was no merging. Democrats on the other hand had the Hillary Clinton operation and the DNC operation. That's why you're seeing more numbers here.

And, quite frankly, what you're seeing in this early voting right now, you're looking for low propensity voters. These are folks who might he voted in 2012. You can tell that by the rolls, but may be not in 2008. You need to get them out to the polls now because your reliable voters are still going to show up on Tuesday.

CAMEROTA: Is what we're seeing here the illustration of what the Trump campaign has always said, which is we have a lot of enthusiasm, we're just banking on the enthusiasm that we see? People will stand in the cold for four hours to come to one of our rallies. Surely, they'll come out and vote.

PRESTON: Which caught a lot of us by surprise in the Republican primaries, because we thought we would see the enthusiasm at the rallies but not actually show up on Election Day. We did see that for Donald Trump.

However, this is a different election. It's a different type of voter. And the fact of the matter is, he would have been much better off had they had a stronger ground game. And Democrats clearly have an edge right now.

CAMEROTA: What does it take to get people to the polls on Election Day? What are these people going to be doing on Election Day to drive people to the polls?

PRESTON: Well, even this morning they're going to be making telephone calls, doing mailers on weekends. These are the people if you live in these battleground states knocking on your door. Who are you going to vote for? Do you need help, for the elderly? They try to get them rides with vans. They do all types of things.

I remember in 2008, Hillary Clinton's campaign in Iowa during the caucuses went out and bought snow shovels. Now, it was a symbolic idea, but the idea was we're going to shovel you all the way.

CAMEROTA: And did they do it? Did they actually shovel?

PRESTON: They did, but remember who won in 2008. Barack Obama won the Iowa caucuses.

CAMEROTA: There you go. Good lesson there somehow.

PRESTON: Sometimes shoveling doesn't --

CAMEROTA: Yes. Thanks so much, Mark Preston. Thanks for walking us through all this.

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Just in case you haven't heard, we're winning.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is someone who root for failure.

TRUMP: It's over for Obamacare. Hillary Clinton wants to double down and make it more expensive.

CLINTON: He has been denigrating America for decades.

TRUMP: I will cancel every illegal Obama executive order.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We haven't seen before is somebody questioning the integrity of elections.

TRUMP: The media isn't just against me. They're against all of you.