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Clinton Versus Trump; Defense Secretary Halts Repayment of Bonuses; Hispanic Vote Will be Pivotal on Election Day. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired October 27, 2016 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:30:00] KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, NATIONAL SPOKESPERSON, MOVEON.ORG: Still, it's what it did, right? What it -- it had to embarrass her to some degree for it to be out there, right? And not only that, he talked about changing the libel laws, right, so that he could sue journalists for writing bad stories about him which, by the way, is an -- is an attack on First Amendment rights.
And then we continue. And then he threatens to sue the women who have come forward. I mean, all of these things add up to, really, the character of this -- of this -- of this person who is running for president.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: What's the rebuttal?
COREY LEWANDOWSKI, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, The rebuttal is very clear. Thirty percent of the American people think Hillary Clinton is honest and trustworthy. Those are unequivocal numbers. We have never seen that. This is an historic low for any candidate running for office.
We've seen time and time again, I want my emails out when they actually come out and they say well, the Russians hacked them. And they don't want to say they're true, they don't want to say they're not true. They just don't want to talk about them.
You know, she had the opportunity to put these emails out. Her own team talked about her as the emailer-in-chief -- the concerns about this, the concerns about the private email system. Hillary Clinton is very simple. One set of rules for her, a different set of rules for everybody else.
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: What about what I asked you about?
LEWANDOWSKI: But when you look at what the FBI says --
CUOMO: Well, hold on a second, we'll get to that. But that's the bash Clinton part.
LEWANDOWSKI: Yes, and that's my favorite part.
CUOMO: This is the -- this is the bash Trump part. LEWANDOWSKI: I don't like that part.
CUOMO: These women -- these women came forward and he's attacking them saying he's going to sue them. He's was being coy there with George about whether or not he'll sue. I don't know what that's about. But how about his response to this situation and what it means in terms of an insight into his character?
LEWANDOWSKI: OK, I think what he has said, and he has said this time and time again, these incidents didn't occur. And there's two people in these incidents would know if they occur -- Donald Trump and whoever the other person is. And what we do know is that a number of these individuals -- you know, we look at the woman from California whose first husband came out and said Donald Trump, you know -- she praised Donald Trump -- wanted her to come to the restaurant. All of the sudden, now she's bashing him.
The woman on the airplane. The person who was sitting across from them in first class said this -- that never took place.
CUOMO: When defenses like that were offered for Bill Clinton by his sympathizers you guys attacked it wholesale. Now you're using the same rationale --
LEWANDOWSKI: Look, you can't choose --
CUOMO: -- but you're critical?
LEWANDOSKI: You can't choose who witnesses what they see. And, you know, what we saw is this individual who was on the airplane who witnessed this incident not taking place was chastised by the media because the guy's had a tough background.
CUOMO: All right, now --
LEWANDOWSKI: I don't think that's fair.
CUOMO: -- pivot to -- well, do you want to make a point on this?
JEAN-PIERRE: Yes, just want to make a point. There was a poll that came out just a couple of days ago that talked about Donald Trump's -- how he responded, right, to these allegations and 59 percent of the voters said they didn't like how he responded. And this is not saying that the allegations are true or not, just his response. Just the lack of sympathy, just the lack of understanding what sexual assault actually is. The majority of voters said yes, we don't like the way he responded.
CUOMO: All right, so that's that issue. Now, on the Clinton side, WikiLeaks will say it has been the culmination. There have been so many things that have been looked at over decades and a lot of that has been brought up again, and that was part of the strategy. And not of your making, necessarily, but certainly of the campaigns in its present form.
WikiLeaks seems to be the -- why do you believe what is coming out in these stolen emails, which does matter -- Russia hacking emails and putting them out to destroy the election.
LEWANDOWSKI: Well, Donald Trump's tax returns --
CUOMO: Huh?
LEWANDOWSKI: Donald Trump's tax returns were stolen --
CUOMO: How do we know?
LEWANDOWSKI: How did they end up on the front page of "The New York Times"? Where's the --
CUOMO: They didn't have to be stolen.
LEWANDOWSKI: Where's the outcry of that?
CUOMO: It didn't have to be stolen.
LEWANDOWSKI: Look, the bottom line is the emails are factual because if they weren't, they'd put out the emails that were different than what has been released. WikiLeaks has never doctored an email. We know that to be true or else someone --
CUOMO: I'm just saying I'd like to see the Trump ones. Not from Donald Trump, himself. I know he doesn't use email, but I'd like to see yours. I'd like to see Manafort's, I'd like to see Bossie's. I'd love to see Bannon's.
LEWANDOWSKI: Look, this goes back to the Clinton cabal for years and years and years of the concern Robby had with her name tag to the Foundation, what we see as a $12 million gift from the Moroccan king that she agreed to and then all of a sudden Bill Clinton and Chelsea had to fit in. Look, Chelsea Clinton, herself, was concerned about people using her father's name to make money.
What we saw now is Doug Band -- this guy's a genius. I want to hire this guy because of all the money he's made for the Clinton team. Sixty-six million dollars guaranteed for the president. The closeness between the Foundation and the moneymaking cabal that's going on -- at bare minimum, it shows a lack of ethics and standards for the Clinton camp.
CUOMO: Semblance of impropriety, smell test, dirty -- all -- whatever measure you want to put on it. Do you believe WikiLeaks reveals a reality about how the Clintons do business that is unacceptable?
JEAN-PIERRE: Look, the drip, drip, drip of the WikiLeaks, I would have to admit, is annoying, right? It's not -- it's something that -- it's kind of like a pain -- just a pain, but there is no smoking gun there. And, you know, I would like to ask Corey -- look, you know, if the Russians leaked and stole emails from your campaign would -- you know, what would they say? Do you think there is really less conflict between the inside -- in the Trump campaign?
LEWANDOWSKI: What they wouldn't say is quid pro quo. What they wouldn't say is we're going to use my job as a State Department Secretary of State and my husband, as a former president, to make money for me and my family and my foundation. They wouldn't say any of those things.
[07:35:00] Donald Trump is a private businessman. And what we do know is that they have sold their access to Bill Clinton and to Hillary Clinton, and just this year is when they finally decided to stop taking foreign donations. They were taking foreign donations -- look, go back and look at her testimony in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when she was being confirmed in March of 2009, and what they said --
CUOMO: She said that she would make sure that there wasn't any more conflict there.
LEWANDOWSKI: Not just her. John Kerry said it. Said you'll be judged your actions, not your words.
CUOMO: All right, last point and we're going to end the segment.
JEAN-PIERRE: But, here's the thing. We have to take your word for it, right, because the Russians are trying to influence one side and have -- we have a --
LEWANDOWSKI: We don't know if it's the Russians. I mean, even if it is the bottom line is --
JEAN-PIERRE: No, no. That's not --
CUOMO: That's not helping the cause.
(CROSSTALK)
JEAN-PIERRE: We've learned over and over again that the Russians have been involved in this.
CUOMO: All right.
LEWANDOWSKI: Look, I don't think they should be.
CUOMO: We're going to have to continue this --
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: We'll continue this in the break room. Corey, thank you very much.
LEWANDOWSKI: Thank you.
CUOMO: All right, what do you think about it? Tweet us @NewDay or post your comment on facebook.com/NewDay -- Alisyn.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN NACHOR: We have a big update for you on the story of the National Guard members who were being forced to pay back their reenlistment bonuses. Our military expert brings us the latest on this story, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:39:40]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ASH CARTER, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We were operating within the law and I am operating within my authorities to suspend collections, starting now, and I'm exercising those authorities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: OK, big update on the story we've been covering all week about National Guard members having to repay their reenlistment bonuses. That was Secretary of Defense Ash Carter ordering the Pentagon to stop seeking those repayments of bonuses. He has set a July first deadline for this to be resolved.
[07:40:00] Joining us now to discuss this, as well as the battle in Mosul, is CNN military analyst and former Army commanding general, Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling. General, great to see you this morning.
LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning, Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: Before we get into it, I just must say the power of the press, OK? General, we have covered this every single day here on NEW DAY, as well as throughout CNN, as well as other journalists at other networks. And after Congress had years and they didn't fix this problem, the media shined a light on it and now the problem is fixed. So all the people who say they don't like the media, put that in your pipe and smoke it.
HERTLING: Well, I love the media, Alisyn, and you are great, and you and Chris are super up there. But here's what I'll tell you. This is an ugly baby. That's how most soldiers would describe it and it's been that way for a couple of years because it's been passed back and forth between the State of California, the Pentagon, and the Congress.
And the perception issues on what's going on -- I think Mr. Carter, the Secretary of Defense, did exactly what he needed to do, suspend the collections and suspend the recoup of the payment. But truthfully, it goes a lot deeper than that. There were a lot of commander involvments in the California Guard that committed fraud. Some of them have been punished. There were some soldiers who accepted money when they shouldn't have. And the question is, do they get to keep the money --
CAMEROTA: Right.
HERTLING: -- that they knew was falsely gained? And again, it has to do with what was the adjutant general of the State of California doing to make this known? What was the governor of California -- what was Congress doing if they found out about it? And, in fact, it falls right on the lap of the Secretary of Defense and he had to make the hard call this week to say hey, stop this nonsense. Let's not take away money. Let's figure it out and hold the right people accountable.
CAMEROTA: I mean, look, we've talked to National Guard members who had retired. They had to pay these back to the tune of tens of thousands --
HERTLING: Yes.
CAMEROTA: -- sometimes $40,000 they had to remortgage -- to get a second mortgage on their home. What does happen to these people who've already had the hardship of paying back the bonuses?
HERTLING: Well, they can -- they can readdress grievances and ask for a recoup of the money that was taken away from them under Sec. Carter's plan. But, again, let's go back to the power of the press. Has the press talked to this soldiers who knowingly took money falsely and talked to the commanders who gave it? So, that's the rest of the story.
And, really, this is all about accountability. And having spent a good portion of my life in the military -- I was thinking of making it a career after 37 years -- you always have to take responsibility and hold yourself accountable for these things. And that's the rest of the story that's not being covered, is we say oh, gee, those poor soldiers. Yes, there are certainly some poor soldiers who were put in dire economic straits.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
HERTLING: But at the same time, there were probably some that knew exactly what they do -- they were doing, and they shouldn't have that money given back to them.
CAMEROTA: OK, we're on it. I hear your pitch and we will stay on this story, obviously, and update everybody on all sides of it.
Let's talk about what's going on in Mosul. How do you think the battle to rid that city of ISIS is going?
HERTLING: Well, from all reports and from the comments I've been receiving from my friends, both on the Iraqi and Kurdish sides and the U.S. military side, it's going much better than they expected and faster than the plan had seen. But again, they all realize that they're still on the eastern side of the city of Mosul, which they knew was going to be the easier fight.
They have not crossed over to the western side, across those five bridges that cross the Tigress River, and that's where the fighting is really going to get rough. And I believe that's where ISIS is going to hold their ground and fight to the death with suicide vests, car bombs, house-borne IEDs -- IED snipers moving around through the tunnels that are in that part of the city and the tough streets that are in the old town and near the airport.
So the toughest part of the fight is yet to come but early indicators are that, first of all, the Iraqi security forces are acting -- as one of my Iraqi friends told me, instead of five fingers, they're acting as one fist, and they're going after the enemy. That's a good thing because it indicates that that Army has come back to the fray and they're receiving government support from the Iraqi Central Government in Baghdad.
So all of that is good, but there's a lot left to do, not only in the fighting but what happens in the humanitarian relief efforts afterwards.
CAMEROTA: Yes, absolutely. General Mark Hertling, thanks so much. Great to talk to you this morning.
HERTLING: Always a pleasure, Alisyn. Thank you.
CAMEROTA: Let's get over to Chris.
CUOMO: The Hispanic vote is expected to be pivotal on this Election Day, especially in the battleground states like Florida, Nevada. Which way do we think Latinos will go? Let's discuss, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:48:40] CAMEROTA: The number of Latino voters is expected to be unprecedented on Election Day. And their vote will be pivotal in battleground states like Nevada because the latest poll in Nevada shows Trump and Clinton locked in a virtual tie, 43 to 43.
CNN's Ana Cabrera spoke to Latino voters there. She joins us live from Las Vegas. Good morning, Anna.
ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. Latinos make up nearly 20 percent of the voters in this state and given how close the race is here, you could see why they can have a significant impact in determining who wins the election is this state.
Now, we got off the Las Vegas strip away from these bright, shiny lights, and we talked candidly to voters in their neighborhood to Latinos. And we talked about what's important to them this election cycle as we explored the power of the Latino vote.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FLOR CARDONA, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: I didn't have papers. I didn't have family in United States. The only thing I have is a big bag of dreams.
CABRERA: Flor Cardona immigrated from Mexico 16 years ago.
CARDONA: This is my son. He's 21 now.
CABRERA: Cardona is a single mom, a high school counselor, a cancer survivor, and now, a U.S. citizen --
CARDONA: Last Saturday, I vote for first time.
CABRERA: -- voting early for Hillary Clinton.
CARDONA: My son -- for her because first of all, is a strong woman like me.
CABRERA: Why not Donald Trump?
CARDONA: Donald Trump, you know, attack Latinos, attack woman, attack the community.
[07:50:00] CABRERA: Does the Trump campaign care about the Latino vote?
CHARLES MUNOZ, NEVADA STATE DIRECTOR, TRUMP CAMPAIGN: Absolutely. Since part of the caucus here we've been engaging the Hispanic community on a near-daily basis.
CABRERA: Both campaigns believe they need this voting bloc.
JORGE NERI, NEVADA STATE DIRECTOR, CLINTON CAMPAIGN: Making sure that Latinos turn out in high rates is a strategic priority for us.
CABRERA: Both camps have deployed Spanish-speaking canvassers and the Clinton team has invested in Spanish language ads. They're targeting a possible record number of Hispanic voters this year with 27.3 million eligible to cast ballots. An increase of four million since 2012, according to the Pew Research Center. And in at least four battlegrounds, including Nevada, Arizona, Florida, and Colorado.
The share of the Latino vote four years ago was larger than the 10 percent share nationwide. It's exactly why statements like this --
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have some bad hombres here and we're going to get them out.
CABRERA: -- have GOP pollster Whit Ayers shaking his head.
WHIT AYERS, GOP POLLSTER: We don't have enough time in this interview to list all of Donald Trump's mistakes.
CABRERA: Ayers points his party's so-called autopsy of what went wrong in 2012 when Mitt Romney won just 27 percent of the Latino vote. The RNC wrote in hits post-mortem report, "If Hispanic-Americans perceive that a GOP nominee or candidate does not want them in the United States (i.e., self-deportation) they will not pay attention to our next sentence."
AYERS: Given the growth of the Hispanic vote for a Republican to be competitive they need to be somewhere north of 40 percent among Hispanics.
CABRERA: Is that possible?
MUNOZ: Absolutely. Look, Latinos want what everyone else wants. They want a better quality of life.
IRMA AGUIREE, TRUMP SUPPORTER: I think we are going down the wrong path.
CABRERA: Irma Aguirre is an entrepreneur. El Sombrero Mexican Bistro is her pride and joy.
AGUIRRE: This is a celebration of my heritage.
CABRERA: Yet she's not offended by Trump's comments about Mexicans.
AGUIRRE: I did not hear him insult Mexicans. What I heard him say was that Mexico, basically, allowed a lot of the corruption to flow over onto -- into our country.
CABRERA: And she supports Trump because he knows business.
AGUIRRE: He's someone that I know is a doer, like myself, who has a dream, has a vision, and brings it to reality by working super, super hard.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CABRERA: Jobs, economic equality, education -- these are the issues Latinos tell us they care most about. Immigration reform is important, too, but it's certainly not the only issue driving this voting bloc -- Chris.
CUOMO: All right, Ana, thank you very much. Very well done.
Hillary Clinton's campaign touting a 99 percent increase in Hispanics who have already voted in the must-win state of Florida. let's discuss what each campaign offers Latinos, all right?
So, we have founder of Latinas for Trump, Denise Galvez, and political director for the Florida Democratic Party, Mayra Macias. Thank you to both of you ladies being with me this morning.
So, recent polling suggests that Clinton's going to get about 51 percent of the Sunshine State's Hispanic vote -- 51-36. So let's start on that basis and let's start with the pro-Clinton angle here, Mayra. What does Hillary do for Latinos that justifies this lead in the polls?
MAYRA MACIAS, POLITICAL DIRECTOR, FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Well, Chris, first off, thank you so much for having this conversation so important to not just Florida, but across the country. And, you know, before I was a Democrat I was born the daughter of Mexican immigrants. And at a very fundamental level, Hillary Clinton respects our community.
That's something that Donald Trump has not demonstrated. Not just by calling us rapists, criminals, drug deals, but in his latest debate saying bad hombres were prevalent amongst us. And I think policy aside, a fundamental lack of respect for our community is what is costing him this election.
CUOMO: Now, let me follow with you one second, Mayra. Some of my best friends are Cubanos from Southern Florida and I've got to tell you, they like Trump and they say hey, this idea that all I care about is being able to get into the country easily is silly Most of us are here legally. Almost all of us are here legally. And I care about the economy. I'm a small business guy. I want strong immigration.
So, is this idea that all Latinos are offended by Trump farfetched?
MACIAS: Well, I don't presume to speak for all Latinos, but I will say that being on the ground -- and not just in Miami, but in Orlando where we have a huge contingent of Puerto Rican voters -- I've heard firsthand that folks are offended. And even though this isn't necessarily an issue of immigration, you're disrespecting our community.
[07:55:00] And when I'm walking down the street versus when a Cuban person is walking down the street, the average American doesn't understand the nuances between our ethnic groups and Donald Trump is enabling people to continue to perpetuate these bigoted ideas about our community.
Not only that, he's enabling folks like former governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, to say you know what? These people don't vote, you have nothing to worry about. And that is just disrespect when it's a slap in the face of not just Mexican immigrants but all Latinos who are being mischaracterized as one homogenous group.
CUOMO: All right. Denise, what do you tell people when they come to you, if they're expressing these concerns? What do you say to justify why you support Donald Trump?
DENISE GALVEZ, CO-FOUNDER, LATINAS FOR TRUMP: I mean, two you both just touched upon. Number one, she said policy aside. Well, guess what? Most Latinos in this country do care about policy, and you said it earlier in your segment. They care about jobs, they care about the economy. They fled their country --
MACIAS: I disagree.
GALVEZ: -- the majority. And this I can say -- I can say this for all Latinos, the majority of them fled their countries to basically escape the same policies that Hillary proposes, OK? They want less government interferences, less regulation, OK? They came here for economic opportunities. So to say policy aside -- yes, that's real simple, of course. Let's talk more about the rhetoric. No, let's stick to policy. Policy is what matters --
MACIAS: We can.
GALVEZ: -- to those Latinos. The ones that you spoke to that are business owners and entrepreneurs, they get it. That's why they're supporting Trump. They don't want more of the same policies that led to corruption in their home countries. They are here for economic opportunities. That's what's a priority to them.
CUOMO: But you have a big --
GALVEZ: That's why they're supporting Donald Trump.
CUOMO: You have a big gap, though, right, because they're not supporting Donald Trump, right? GALVEZ: Right, because --
CUOMO: In Florida, you've got about 50 to 30-something. Overall, it's like 70 to 17. So there must be something to the idea that Latinos feel insulted. What do you say to them when they say hey, you heard what he says about us. You heard what he said about that judge. What do you say in response?
GALVEZ: I tell them if you care about policy and the future of this country, then you vote for Trump. If you want more of the same policy that you had in the countries you fled, you vote for Hillary.
CUOMO: So you ignore what he said about your community?
GALVEZ: We do ignore it because most of it is not true, OK? The -- what started all of this, his original campaign speech when he decided to run for president. What started this entire oh, he hates Mexicans B.S., quite frankly, was his speech that was taken out of context where they ignored the sentence following where he said most Mexicans who come into this country are criminals and rapists.
Well guess what? He said right after that that I guess a lot of them are good people, OK? So, everybody ignores that statement and they put it -- and they think that the hates immigrants. He's not anti- immigrant. He's pro-America.
CUOMO: Mayra --
GALVEZ: Well, if you're pro-America and pro-American opportunities and economic opportunities then you're for Trump, period.
CUOMO: Mayra, you winced -- you winced when Denise said that. Tell me why, but then also, finish by telling me why you think, on the policy side, your candidate is the right choice for Latinos.
MACIAS: And let me just clarify. When I said policy aside, I was just talking about at a fundamental level. If you cannot respect our people how are you going to govern -- how are you going to create policy that meets the need of our community?
But, let's stick to the policy because Sec. Clinton has demonstrated time and time again that she has substantive plans. Within the first 100 days of her tenure she said she would work on immigration reform. I know we said immigration reform is not an issue that affects all Latinos, but guess what? She has an economic plan that is substantive that is not just going to help the one percent and give tax cuts to those who don't need them. And I haven't heard any substantive policy coming from Donald Trump.
Latinos care about education because guess what? As Denise was saying, folks are fleeing their country for economic, education opportunity. Well, Hillary Clinton has a plan to not only enhance public education --
CUOMO: Right.
MACIAS: -- but to make college more affordable.
CUOMO: Ladies, both of you, thank you for the reasoned discussion on this. Appreciate it. You're both welcome back on NEW DAY anytime. Thank you.
MACIAS: Thank you, Chris.
CUOMO: All right, there's a lot of news and developments in the election and otherwise, so let's get to it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Five words -- under budget, ahead of schedule.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: While the hotel may be new, it's the same old story.
TRUMP: Hillary said Donald Trump took time off the campaign -- can you believe that? Here's a woman who goes home and she goes to sleep all the time.
CLINTON: You can talk a good game, but let's look at the facts.
TRUMP: We're way ahead in virtually every state.
CLINTON: We can't take our foot off the gas even for a short time.
TRUMP: I really think that we're going to have a tremendous victory.
CLINTON: Donald Trump says he can still win, and he's right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.
CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone, welcome to your NEW DAY. There's a flurry of new polls to tell you about. In just the last 24 hours they show Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton both making gains, but Trump's path to 270 still remains very tough. Look at this on your screen. CNN has updated its electoral map putting Florida and Nevada back in play. So they've gone from leaning Democratic to now toss-up states.
