Return to Transcripts main page
New Day
Two U.S. Soldiers Killed In Afghanistan; People In Mosul Rush To Escape Intense Fighting; Obama Condemns Iowa Cop Killings As "Shameful"; New Polls In Key States Show Tightening Race; Enthusiasm Gap Among African-American Voters. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired November 03, 2016 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:32:30] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: We're following breaking news out of Afghanistan. Two American soldiers have lost their lives, two others wounded in operation alongside Afghan forces in the northern part of the country. A statement released by the coalition says the U.S. troops came under fire while trying to clear a Taliban position. This is a horrible reminder of a reality. Whether they're called advisers or fighters, if U.S. men and women are on the ground they will pay a price.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK now, we want to get a dramatic scene unfolding at this hour. It's just outside of Mosul. People who live in the area are being loaded onto trucks to escape intense fighting hours after the leader of ISIS reportedly sent an audio message to his soldiers, he says, in battle.
CNN senior international correspondent Arwa Damon is live for us from the front lines near Mosul -- Arwa.
ARWA DAMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Alisyn, and just take a look at the scene. These are people that just fled the battlefields. Many of them walked for hours to get here because overnight the fighting was incredibly intense. You'll notice that some of the women have their faces uncovered. Others are still wearing the niqab. For the vast majority of them, that is because they still have loved ones inside the city of Mosul, itself.
And, in fact, we were talking to one group of women who said that their family members tried to flee from Mosul but that ISIS fired (audio gap).
CUOMO: We lost the feed. All right, we'll try and get back to Arwa Damon. Obviously, where she is, communications are never a given.
All right, in other news, President Obama condemning the ambush killings of two Iowa police officers, as he should, calling them shameful acts of violence. The officers now identified. We had Sergeant Anthony Beminio, one of the Des Moines Police Department. And, Urbandale police officer Justin Martin. Both were shot in their patrol cars. The community remembering the officers at vigils and makeshift memorials. Their suspected killer, 46-year-old Scott Michael Greene under arrest. CAMEROTA: Fiery protests outside a Senate debate in New Orleans that featured candidate David Duke. That's the former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Six people were arrested in these clashes with police. They were demonstrating against Duke's inclusion in the six-person debate. Police used pepper spray to keep protesters from storming the auditorium. It took six people -- they took six people into custody for obstructing traffic there.
[05:35:00] CUOMO: It was on the campus of Dillard College, a historical black college. You know, those young people came out, mostly, and let their voice be heard --
CAMEROTA: Yes.
CUOMO: -- condemning the hate and intolerance and bigotry that David Duke represents.
CAMEROTA: You can imagine what a heated situation all of that was.
CUOMO: All right, so we're down to the final days of this presidential race and it is tight. Now, the issue of honesty and trustworthiness seems to be the main focus. If it is, how will it affect the outcome in the key four battleground states? Answers ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAMEROTA: In an election full of controversies who do voters, today, consider more honest and trustworthy? A series of new CNN polls show Donald Trump besting Hillary Clinton on honesty and trustworthiness in four different battleground states -- Arizona, Florida, Nevada, and Pennsylvania.
[05:40:00] Here to discuss this is Trump surrogate, former George W. Bush political director, and chairman of the American Conservative Union, Matt Schlapp. And, CNN political commentator, former national press secretary for Bernie 2016 and Hillary Clinton supporter, Symone Sanders. Guys, great to see you this morning.
MATT SCHLAPP, FORMER GEORGE W. BUSH POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Good to be with you.
SYMONE SANDERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.
CAMEROTA: Symone, let me start with you. Let's zero in on Nevada because that one is instructive because it has two different dates for us to look at, so look at this. Donald Trump's honest and trustworthy numbers have gone up since October and since September. He is now at 51 percent. Hillary Clinton's have gone down since October, down to 37 percent.
So, in other words, after the "Access Hollywood" tape where Donald Trump was caught on that audiotape saying how he likes to grope women, after 11 women have come forward to say that he made unwanted advances on them, his honest and trustworthy numbers have gone up. How do you explain it? SANDERS: I mean, I was shocked to read these numbers, to be honest. And I guess I explain it -- and this is something President Obama has been out there on the campaign trail saying is that look, you know, there's still people out there, particularly men actually, that just don't want to vote for a woman. People that don't see Sec. Clinton as someone that is trustworthy. And I think that's what we're seeing reflected in these numbers.
CAMEROTA: You're seeing sexism. That's how you interpret this?
SANDERS: I think I'm interpreting this as a little bit as sexism for sure, but I do know that both Donald Trump and Sec. Clinton -- I mean, up until this recent poll both of them were equally -- were disliked. I think Donald Trump a little bit more. And especially when we talk about honesty and trustworthiness neither one of them were necessarily beacons of honesty or trustworthiness for the American people, when it comes to polls.
CUOMO: That's an important point, right? I mean, you're dealing with, again, this proposition of who's less bad. Matt, how do you see it in the context of every time any journalism agency does a measurement of who lies more, your guy wins. You know, some of the ratios have it like seven out of 10 times he'll say something that's materially false and yet, he's doing better than Hillary Clinton. Why?
SCHLAPP: I think Alisyn's question about how is it possible in light of the Billy Bush tape and the allegations that his numbers are better than Hillary's. It kind of brings up the whole point of this parallel universe. There's a whole big part of the electorate that is actually focusing on all the WikiLeaks and the fact that the FBI has opened up -- or has made clear that there's a second investigation -- two investigations going on, on Hillary Clinton.
Now, we cannot cover those things but they're having an effect, and that's what these polls show, which is the --
CUOMO: What's the second investigation?
SCHLAPP: -- drip --
CUOMO: What's the second one?
SCHLAPP: We have the -- you have the one on the -- you have the question on the emails and now you have this investigation on The Clinton Foundation and it's this drip, drip, drip that's coming out which you can't deny. This can't -- these numbers wouldn't be like this if something wasn't happening. Something is happening and what people are seeing is that internal communications are different from what has been said publicly. There's a public answer --
CUOMO: Right.
SCHLAPP: -- and a private answer, and it's having an effect. It's undeniable and these numbers show it.
CAMEROTA: I mean, do you think they --
SANDERS: Well --
CAMEROTA: Hold on. Matt, do you think that the --
SCHLAPP: Yes.
CAMEROTA: -- Trump campaign is not having a difference between their internal conversations and their public persona?
SCHLAPP: Well, I mean, they're not under FBI investigation, too, like the Clintons.
CAMEROTA: Well, hold on a second.
SCHLAPP: They're not.
CAMEROTA: I mean, we've heard that the FBI is looking into things --
SCHLAPP: No.
CAMEROTA: -- at the Trump Foundation, as well as if there were any links between Trump and Russia. I mean, these are not things, obviously, that Comey has confirmed --
SCHLAPP: Here's --
CAMEROTA: -- but these are things that there are leaks about.
SCHLAPP: But, Alisyn, here's the problem, which is the FBI can be investigating any of us and a lot of times we might not even know if they're investigating us. So it's fair to say the FBI could almost be doing anything.
CAMEROTA: Sure.
SCHLAPP: But they have confirmed two investigations and it's having an effect on her numbers. She didn't start off in a strong place on honesty and trustworthiness, and what we're seeing in the course of the last week or two with all these things that have come out -- you know, this is very damaging to her.
Now, in the end, I will tell you -- in the end, I don't think this race will turn on honesty and trustworthiness, but I do think it puts her in a very, very precarious position. It's why her numbers have slipped so much. When I looked at the RealClearPolitics this morning on the way into the show --
CAMEROTA: Yes.
SCHLAPP: -- there was a one in front of it. Yesterday when I looked at it, there was a two in front of it. There's no question the race is getting tighter.
CAMEROTA: And yet, in the Poll of Polls for the past three months, Matt and Symone, Hillary Clinton has always been ahead. So I think you're right, Matt, that it will not turn on who is most honest and trustworthy because that blue line is Hillary Clinton -- these are through different controversies on both sides -- the red line is Donald Trump. And, Symone, she has always been ahead, so how do you think voters are going to reconcile the fact that they may not consider her the most honest and trustworthy?
SANDERS: I think they're going to vote her into office because this election is about who can govern. Who, on day one, has a real plan for the American people and to move America forward and build on the progress that we've made. And the only person in this race to do that is Sec. Clinton, and I think folks know that. You know, I think there are real questions about whether Donald Trump has a concrete policy plan.
[05:45:10] But to this thing about the WikiLeaks and the FBI investigation, you know, Matt just made my point. The point is that if the FBI hadn't been so vocal about what they were doing or not doing, or saying or don't even know what they're saying about Sec. Clinton and The Clinton Foundation or these emails, the American people wouldn't have all this doubt in their mind. But, this FBI investigation has definitely introduced some thoughts into the American people's minds with only half of the information.
And then, in terms of the WikiLeaks, the WikiLeaks have been weaponized --
SCHLAPP: Oh, stop.
SANDERS: -- and we're only getting half the story. The WikiLeaks have been weaponized.
SCHLAPP: Symone -- then why does --
SANDERS: We're only getting half the story.
SCHLAPP: Then why does --
CAMEROTA: OK, last word, Matt.
SCHLAPP: Then why does Hillary answer questions in debates about the WikiLeaks. We have to stop saying all these things are untrue because not a single email has been proven to be untrue.
SANDERS: I didn't say they were untrue, I said the WikiLeaks were weaponized. Those are two different things.
CUOMO: Right, but as Symone --
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: Symone, we're seeing why you guys are having a hard time when it comes to trust and excitement. They're doing a very good job. Look, Matt and Symone, you both represent what this race has been about. You were with Sanders and, Matt, you were never a fan of Donald Trump early on and we both know that. But you've had to find your way towards your people. But they're saying the Comey thing is new -- there's new stuff.
That's effective. They're saying WikiLeaks -- nobody questions the impact when, really, they're talking about authenticity. The spin has made a difference. We're seeing it in the polls.
CAMEROTA: All right, we have to leave it there, guys. Thank you very much for the debate. Let us know what you all think as you're watching. You can find us on Twitter. Chris will instantaneously respond.
CUOMO: No, I won't. Polls, as Ron Brownstein just said, are often not as predictive as they are scenarios. Boy, is that true when it comes to turnout -- African-Americans. You can poll all day long. If you don't go out to the polls the numbers wind up not coming true. President Barack Obama is acutely aware of this. He went to voters in North Carolina with a very specific message and a specific fear. What was it? They'll tell us, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:51:25] CUOMO: Why did Barack Obama go from senator to president, and then two-term president? Well, there are a lot of reasons, but when it comes to the people who supported him most you have to look at African-Americans. They were a big part of what was called the Obama coalition. Will they come out the same way for Hillary Clinton? The assumption is no, but how much less and what are the reasons, especially in a key place like North Carolina?
Those are the big questions in this race and CNN's Randi Kaye spoke with voters in North Carolina to get answers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At Mama Dip's Kitchen in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, voters are crossing their fingers that African- Americans show up at the polls.
NAY HOWELL, CLINTON SUPPORTER: We absolutely need you at the polls. We need you voting.
KAYE: Nay Howell has already voted for Hillary Clinton and is working hard to get others in the African-American community to do the same.
HOWELL: And some pushback that I've received is the two presidential candidates are just the same. They both lie, they both this, they both that.
KAYE: How different was it when Barack Obama was on the ticket for the African-American people?
HOWELL: Oh, my goodness. I cannot describe to you the sense of wonder.
KAYE: President Obama is appealing to black voters to support Clinton on Election Day. In part, he says, so he can pass the baton to someone who believes in the same things he does. You do feel like you owe it to the president to support Hillary Clinton this time around?
BRYON VICKERS, CLINTON SUPPORTER: Yes, in so many words I do feel that. I don't think he was given a fair shot the whole time. We've come a long way. We still have a lot of way to go -- a long way to go and, hopefully, Hillary will take us the rest of the way that we need to get there.
KAYE: And that's why you feel you owe it to him?
VICKERS: Yes, ma'am, that is why.
KAYE: To continue his work.
VICKERS: Yes, ma'am.
KAYE: So, when President Obama says it would be an insult to his legacy if you don't vote for Hillary Clinton, do you believe that?
HOWELL: I absolutely do because Sec. Clinton is going to continue much of the work that the two of them have been doing for the past eight years, whether they saw eye-to-eye on everything or not.
KAYE: This voter agrees.
WARD FAULKNER, CLINTON SUPPORTER: I think it would take away from some of his legacy if you don't support some of the issues that she's raised. And I think she's just the person to do it with all of her experience.
KAYE: Does the idea of continuing Barack Obama's legacy motivate you to vote for Hillary Clinton?
STEPHANIE VICKERS, CLINTON SUPPORTER: It does. The night that he got elected I was with my grandmother and she said she never thought in her lifetime she would ever see an African-American be president. And now, she's saying that about a woman, so same thing.
KAYE: And it motivates you, too?
S. VICKERS: Yes, it does.
KAYE: Motivation is key in the Tar Heel State, where Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are virtually tied. African-American voters could make the difference. But this man feels he owes nothing to the president and won't vote Clinton just to preserve Obama's legacy.
Are you considering not voting?
EVAN COUNCIL, UNDECIDED VOTER: Yeah, I am.
KAYE: Are your friends considering not voting?
COUNCIL: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, a lot of friends.
KAYE: What do they all tell you? What's the general feeling that people don't want to go to the polls?
COUNCIL: They -- main -- it's a trust thing.
KAYE: They don't trust either one?
COUNCIL: They don't trust the candidates. They don't trust what they're saying. You know, they feel like they're just being lied to, to gain votes.
KAYE: And to all those who just think Hillary Clinton will just be another four years of Barack Obama, her supporters here say bring it on.
HOWELL: I think that she will support the same platform issues that he did, and I think that it would be a type of victory for what he was trying to accomplish in eight years.
KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAMEROTA: OK. Well, that spells out the challenges for Hillary Clinton. I mean, that was a great piece by Randi. You just get to see how people are really feeling and why there's a difference than there was four and eight years ago.
[05:55:05] CUOMO: Well, look -- I mean -- and the politics of race are complicated. There's no question that there was a huge, historic motivation for then-senator Barack Obama with the African-American community, but it was different four years ago. Many felt betrayed, underserved, that the promise hadn't been fulfilled, yet they still came out. Will they now? No, but how much less? That's going to be a big X-factor.
CAMEROTA: We're going to be dissecting that throughout the program. Meanwhile, the curse is broken. How the Chicago Cubs and their fans are celebrating the team's first World Series win in more than a century. We have a live report from the still-partying Wrigleyville, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I've been watching Hillary the last few days. She's totally unhinged.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If Donald Trump were to win this election we would have a commander in chief who is completely out of his depth.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We don't operate on innuendo, incomplete information, and we don't operate on leaks.
TRUMP: A lot of people out there that want us to really get this done.
