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Feminism & Sexism in Politics; Battleground Races Tighten; Cubs Win World Series. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired November 03, 2016 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Arguably, Trump has edged ahead of Clinton in this. What is your argument for why Hillary Clinton can be trusted?

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think, first and foremost, we need to look at Hillary Clinton's record. Hillary Clinton served admirably as first lady of the state of Arkansas, admirably as first lady of the United States of America. She served as United States Senator. She served as secretary of state. And now she's running for the highest office in the land. And throughout all of those years in public service, if you look at the people and you look at the hearts of those whom she touched, anyone who's had contact with Hillary Clinton, anyone who knows her record, anyone who knows her passion for justice and even more importantly her passion for families, understands that Hillary Clinton can be trusted. She can be trusted with the nuclear codes. But even more importantly, Chris, and what this race is about, is that I trust Hillary Clinton with the future of my daughter. I mean that's what this race is about. It's not about what this country was or what this country is, it's about what this country can be.

CUOMO: Why -

SELLERS: And that's the reason that I support Hillary Clinton.

CUOMO: Why aren't the e-mails disqualifying? Why isn't what we've learned through WikiLeaks about the nature of how the Clinton team does business shows that she is the same old, same old, insider game in D.C. that so many want cleaned out?

SELLERS: Well, I think there are two different issues that you just raised. The first is the e-mails. And I think that Hillary Clinton owed this country an apology for setting up a private server, and she's done that. And she's done it repeatedly. And we know that there was no criminal act, but we know that it was a mistake that she learned that lesson from. That's first.

Second, when you talk about WikiLeaks, I think that we have to understand that there is an outside force that's trying to disrupt our country's democracy here. And it's weaponized the media and everyone else. The fact is that with all this that's going on around this campaign, this is about the woman. This is about Hillary Clinton, who has an opportunity to be the first female president in the history of the United States. And Hillary Clinton's been through more than any woman probably deserves to go through in their entire lifetime. She's been knocked down. She's gotten knocked down recently. But she's back up on her feet. And she's a fighter. And she's tenacious. So those - you know, one of those things that the -

CUOMO: All right.

SELLERS: That we don't talk about in those WikiLeaks e-mails are the positive things, the positive stories that come out about how she's helping women. She helped the 10-year-old Yemini divorcee try to come to the United States to get counseling. That's the Hillary Clinton I know, Chris.

CUOMO: OK. Corey Lewandowski, you were using facial expressions to comment on what Bakari was saying but I didn't explicitly rule that out, so that was sneaky and effective. However, now it is your turn. Why should people trust Donald Trump after all of the things that he has said that have divided this country in ways we have not seen before? What is the case for Donald Trump's trust as president?

COREY LEWANDOWSKI, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I think when you look at Donald Trump and ask yourself, why did he get into this race? Donald Trump didn't get into this race because he's been a career politician. He didn't get into this race because it is something that he thought, you know, hey, I'm going to run for state senate and state, you know, governor, et cetera, and run.

Donald Trump had a fantastic life before he got into this race. And what he said was, we need to change the country. We need to change it and leave it better for our children than what's been left to us right now. And we have a massive debt and I want to change that. And so he's invested tens of millions of dollars of his own money into his own campaign to put a message out, and many people know this, he doesn't care about special interests. He wants to do what's right for the American people. So when it comes to making the right decision for America, he's not bought and paid for by special Washington interests. He's not bought and paid for by super PACs because he's put his own money into this race.

And that's a huge differentiator when Donald Trump goes into the White House and can make a decision which is best for the American people. Whether that's renegotiating a bad trade deal, whether it's talking about V.A. reform. And what we saw just this week was that there are still people inside the Veterans Administration that are receiving bonuses and we still have veterans who are not getting the care they need. Washington needs fundamental change and the only way to bring that change is to bring a person in who changes the system that isn't beholden to anybody.

CUOMO: OK, here's a tough question for each of you, and it's a short one.

Bakari, one word that describes Hillary Clinton favorably that cannot be said about Donald Trump?

SELLERS: Hmm. I would have to say that that one word to describes Hillary Clinton favorably is just a fighter. I mean we've seen that and I think that that is what discerns and truly shows the difference between her and Donald Trump.

CUOMO: Same to you, Lewandowski.

LEWANDOWSKI: Stamina.

CUOMO: That arguably may have violated the rule. But again -

LEWANDOWSKI: One word.

CUOMO: Well done both of you. Thank you for doing it. Positive about your candidate. Leave the negatives to everybody else. Gentlemen, thank you.

SELLERS: Thank you.

CUOMO: So, Election Day just five days away. Be sure to join CNN. We're going to do special coverage like no one else can. Every race, every count, here on CNN.

[08:34:57] CAMEROTA: So let's talk about the role women in politics are playing this year, and sexism. So, one of them is a sexist way to look at this race and our candidate, and another is the empowering way to look at the candidate. Which one wins in the history books? We'll debate that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: You've heard the word "sexism" a lot in this race and the word "empowerment." Hillary Clinton's candidacy has been seen through both lenses. So which one is it? We're joined by CNN political analyst and "USA Today" columnist Kirsten Powers and CNN political commentator Ana Navarro, sitting together side by side for this conversation.

Ladies great to see you.

KIRSTEN POWERS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good to be here.

CAMEROTA: So, Kirsten, I'll start with you. You know, Hillary Clinton, people say, is judged more harshly than a male candidate would be. That's in the sexism category. She's the first woman. And women may decide this election. That's in the empowerment category. So which one has this race been?

POWERS: Well, I think it could be both, right? I mean I think that she can be a symbol of empowerment to a lot of people, and also I think a check against somebody who is seen as being probably the most misogynist candidate that we've ever had in the history of the country. So I - you know, I think you can have that and you can have her still having to fight against a double standard. And, you know, I had this conversation with Chris Cuomo a couple days ago about just imaging a woman - a Donald Trump woman, right? Somebody who brags about not caring about public policy, somebody who has no experience in government, somebody who shows up at debates and interrupts over and over again, somebody who roams the stage, make that a woman and tell me that she would be doing as well in the polls as Donald Trump is today. I just simply don't believe it. [08:40:44] So - so you can have the double standard and you can also

have the fact that people are going to perhaps rally around her because they like the fact she's a woman and they don't like how Donald Trump treats women.

CAMEROTA: Chris is still smarting from that segment, by the way.

So, Ana, which has been more on display, sexism or female empowerment?

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think both. I really do. But I think the sexism has been on display on the other side. Hillary Clinton could not have asked for a better foil to the woman aspect than having Donald Trump on the other side, a guy who is a pig, who has been accused of groping women, who has been accused of sticking his tongue down women's throats whenever he wants. He could not - you know, you just can't make this up.

On the other hand, I think, you know, Hillary Clinton, a lot of the criticism on her, I just don't think it's fair to chalk it up to - to sexism. The e-mail stuff, the server stuff, that has nothing to do with sexism. That was her mistake. It was her bad judgment as a person, as a person of experience, not as a woman.

I think you he seen a lot of empowerment by women. We've seen women come out this year, like we've never seen before, and denounce and talk about sexual assault. Whether it was against Bill Cosby, whether it was against roger Ailes, whether it was against Donald Trump, you saw women who for decades have held their secrets, have been silenced, and have withstood seeing these powerful men get away with it for decades -

CAMEROTA: Yes.

NAVARRO: Come out and tell their stories. That has been empowering to every woman who has experienced it, every woman who knows somebody who has experienced it.

CAMEROTA: That is a great point, Ana, because we have seen the juxtaposition in this race of offensive things being said about women, sexist things being said about women, things being said about women's looks, hearing about sexual assault of women, groping of women. So, all of that would go into the sexism category, obviously.

But then the conversation that has bloomed. You know, women are talking openly and in cable news conversations like this about sexual assault like never before. So, for the record books, Kirsten, that - that, too, will have, this will have been a dividing line here.

POWERS: Right. Well, and I think if there's a silver lining of all of these - of this being in the news and Donald Trump doing the things that he's been accused - at least he's been accused of doing, is that we have had a conversation about what actually constitutes sexual assault, which, you know, we've learned a lot of people don't completely understand.

But I just - I do want to clarify a little bit on, you know, the sexism issue with Hillary. I don't think that when I say that I think that there's a double standard, I don't think that means every attack on Hillary Clinton is sexist. And I think she - she - and I don't think she's necessarily - every problem she has in the polls is because she's sexist. I just think it's kind of undeniable that there seems to be a double standard here because, like I said, if you imagine a woman behaving the way Donald Trump - I just - I don't see people -

CAMEROTA: Yes.

POWERS: You know, tolerating that. But at the same time, you know, she has flaws. And, you know, we should be honest about that.

CAMEROTA: Yes. I want to ask you -

NAVARRO: Well, just, listen, if Donald Trump was a woman, the first people that would be saying to him, girlfriend, you've gone crazy, would be women. We - I don't think we would let her out there if Donald Trump was a woman. But, by the way, forget bleaching e-mails. I'd like to bleach my mind right now from that image.

CAMEROTA: Right. Well, I have another image for you that may arouse a similar response. Hillary Clinton just gave this interview to "People" magazine in which she said that for the debate she had to practice her listening woman face. If there's one person who needs a listening woman face, it's Donald Trump -

NAVARRO: Right.

CAMEROTA: Because he does not have a poker face during the debates at all. But what even is that, Ana? What's a listening woman face?

I get - oh.

POWERS: That's it right there.

CAMEROTA: I - I've mastered the listening woman face in that case.

So it's that - and, by the way, what you're doing - what you're doing, Ana, isn't that self-imposed sexism? Isn't that -

NAVARRO: Oh, I have no idea. Listen, I -

CAMEROTA: I think the listening woman face means that we think that we're supposed to be a little bit more docile and sort of understanding in that way that you're doing with the head tilt.

NAVARRO: Look, I - whatever she did, I think she did brilliantly because what she did was sit there with a smile on her face, not a smirk, a smile, listening as Donald Trump came completely unraveled with those debate questions. He went on and on and on with the answers. We were seeing like a ball of yarn just come apart in front of our eyes. And she had to sit there and I think practice not interrupt, not laugh at the insanity he was saying.

[08:45:22] She's a very disciplined woman and she - we know - we know from her debate prep and what we've learned that she practiced every single aspect of it from the time from being standing up, the shoes she was going to wear, absolutely everything, and it shows. That's why she looked comfortable in those debates.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

NAVARRO: But as far as the listening woman face, you know, it's that face that Chris Cuomo gives you every time he's sitting next to you or listening intently.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh, he's going to actually punch - he's going to punch something. This is what he - that's his listening woman face right there.

NAVARRO: (INAUDIBLE) listen, he doesn't even have a listening man face.

CAMEROTA: Thank you. That's a great point.

(CROSS TALK)

CAMEROTA: But very - very quickly, I just want to quickly talk about Melania. Melania is going to be making her first solo campaign trail appearance today.

NAVARRO: Yes.

CAMEROTA: It's going to be in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Donald Trump has already e-mailed her encouragement. How do you think - what do you think she brings to the table, Kirsten?

POWERS: Well, I - I don't think that Melania's probably somebody who's going to be swaying a lot of voters change their vote. But perhaps she's somebody who will make people feel better about voting for Donald Trump. But I just - I've said before, I don't think that she's somebody who necessarily the average person connects with.

CAMEROTA: Ladies, thank you. Great to have all these conversations with you.

POWERS: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Chris was paying rapt attention.

Chris.

CUOMO: I was, because I actually listen. At least now I know why you don't. You don't want to make that face. I got it.

CAMEROTA: No, I do that - I do the listening woman face. It's my job. I do that all the time.

CUOMO: Listen?

CAMEROTA: Well, I practice.

What?

CUOMO: See.

All right, so if you have lived and breathed Cubs baseball like Harry Caray, the team's long-time announcer, what a colorful guy. So, what would he have said about the Cubs finally breaking the curse? Harry Caray's grandson knows the game so well, and knows his grandfather even better. He's with us.

Great to see you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:51:11] CAMEROTA: OK, so there's a bunch of new polls in key battleground states to show you and they show the race getting tighter between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Trump's campaign officials tell us this morning that they are planning to turn some blue states red and to change the path to 270 electoral votes.

So let's get the bottom line on all of this with CNN Politics executive editor Mark Preston.

Hi, Mark.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: Let's look at some swing state polls, OK? So let's look at the states of Arizona, Florida, Nevada and Pennsylvania, where they are today. Trump is winning in Arizona. Clinton in Florida, at the moment. Trump in Nevada. Clinton in Pennsylvania. What do you see?

PRESTON: Well, a couple of things. If you look at Florida and Nevada specifically, when we asked the question, are you more enthusiastic, you know, to vote for your candidate, Donald Trump's supporters did better in those states. So that's good news for Donald Trump.

Also, when you look at those western states, good news for Donald Trump because we have Hillary Clinton clearly trying to contest Arizona at this point, and Nevada is that massive battleground that we're seeing. In fact, we're going to see Bill Clinton out there this morning.

You know, I do think it's something to say, too, that when we look at these polls, we start to match it up with their travel schedules, right, and that's when you really know where they're concerned, what their pathway to 270 is and, quite frankly, where they're trying to defend themselves, right? So if you look at where they are today, I mean look where Donald Trump is. He's in Jacksonville, Florida, and he's in North Carolina. Why is he? Because the fact of the matter is, if he loses either of those two states, game over, it's out, Hillary Clinton becomes president.

We also see Hillary Clinton in North Carolina, as well. And who she's with? She's with Pharrell Williams this evening. You know why? Because she needs to get out the African-American vote. We've seen a depressed African-American vote in that state and elsewhere, as well as Florida. And, get this, Hillary Clinton's going to go to Detroit on Friday. Detroit, Michigan. Now, that should be a reliably blue state. But the fact of the matter is, she's going to go there and Bill Clinton's going to go to Colorado. So it just goes to show you that the polls are starting to match up where we think the candidates are concerned about internally.

CUOMO: So are we going to get the shoulder shake from Clinton when she's with Pharrell Williams?

CAMEROTA: I hope so. He inspires that.

CUOMO: When he's doing that song - when that song "Happy" comes on.

CAMEROTA: "Happy."

CUOMO: So, the map. How do you see the map right now in light of the latest numbers? Are any colors changing in your mind?

PRESTON: Well, a couple things, and I think David Chalian did a really good job this past hour, you know, showing how you get there. Look, right now there's a little bit of momentum behind Donald Trump. It's clearly there. At least the perception is, and that's all you need. But when you look at the map right now, there is obviously concern amongst the Clinton campaign that Colorado could be shifting. And we saw a new poll late last night out of Colorado that showed the race tightening. Bill Clinton's going to be out there. The fact that Hillary Clinton is going to Michigan right now, still trying to protect her flank, right? She's going there and she's going to use several get out the vote rallies on Friday.

Stevie Wonder is going to be in Pennsylvania doing a get out the vote rally. So when we're talking about flipping states right now, the fact of the matter is, we don't necessarily know, but we know that Trump is trying to go on the offense in some of these blue states. But really the bottom, bottom line is, is that Donald Trump still needs to do a clean sweep. Donald Trump still needs to win some of these big states, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, and then several others. It's not going to be an easy task.

CAMEROTA: OK, so we can just look at where the top surrogates for each campaign will be today. If we start with Trump, you can see they are spanned out across the country, hitting all sorts of those important states. And then Hillary Clinton's top surrogates, here's what their day ahead looks like. Yes, I mean, kind of anything - anything unexpected there, Mark?

PRESTON: Well, I'll tell you what, the one person - let's focus on the one person today everyone should tune in, Melania Trump. Let's see how she does during that speech in Philadelphia. Can she soften up her husband and, really, what does she have to say? We haven't heard a whole lot from her. So out of everyone, let's keep an eye on Melania.

CAMEROTA: OK. Great. Thanks so much for "The Bottom Line," Mark.

PRESTON: Thanks, guys. [08:55:08] CUOMO: All right, so history of the good kind was made. The Cubs winning the World Series after 108 years. A lot of fans, though, had a heavy heart because it would have been perfect if they had Harry Caray on the mic calling the play by play. The loveable losers now on top of the world. And, boy, did they do it in epic game seven fashion. What would Harry have said? His grandson, Josh, is here. He is the play by play broadcaster for Stony Brook University football and men's basketball. He's also the Boys of Hudson Valley Renegades. I know that team - baseball team.

Great to have you.

JOSH CARAY, GRANDSON OF HARRY CARAY: Great to be here.

CUOMO: Congratulations on your team. I'm assuming your heart is still back in Chi-Town.

CARAY: Oh, no kidding.

CUOMO: All right.

CARAY: I can't tell you how this - how great this is, not just for Cubs fans, but for the city. Being - having such - in that baseball for such a long time, between not just the Cubs but the White Sox as well until 10 years ago, for this to finally happen for the city is just outstanding.

CAMEROTA: These are live pictures right now. It doesn't look as raucous as it has been for the past many, many hours there. But what would your grandfather have said?

CARAY: Holy cow!, first off. That's the first thing he would have said. Then he would have said, finally. Then he would have taken off his head set, gone down to Wrigleyville and probably had about - a Budweiser, about twelve of them as well. But, yes, it's - like I said, it's just something that was just great for the city of Chicago. And I know it's something that he would have wanted because not only did he spend 16 years with the Cubs, 11 years with the White Sox.

CUOMO: Right.

CARAY: He saw a lot of bad baseball. And so to finally see Chicago, which is a great sports city but really has a special place for baseball, to see the Cubs, the lovable losers, like you said, finally win it, it's really amazing.

CUOMO: That's why - that's why he needed the beers. It was medicinal.

CARAY: Yes, it was.

CUOMO: Now, the love that your grandfather showed for the game, what was real, is really what was so contagious. I mean a very talented broadcasting. Nobody's going to argue that. But the love. How did you experience that as his grandson?

CARAY: Wow, how many - how much time do you have? I think probably the best thing I can remember, the biggest story I can remember, there was a game where a pitcher gave up a home run. And this - the pitcher was Turk Wendell, who was a long time reliever for the Cubs and Mets. But he had a little gimmick where he would sprint up to the foul line, leap over it, and then leap back on it when he was going on and off the field. He did this during one game. He had just walked the bases loaded against the Braves. Comes out of the game. The next guy comes in, hits a home run for Atlanta.

He jumps off the - he had jumped off the field just moments before, and after the game my grandfather came up to me and my father, who was the broadcaster for the Braves, and said, if I could pick up the foul line and choke Wendell with it, I would. And he was 85 years old. It's not like he's going to beat up a 20 something year old professional athlete. But every game meant something to him. And every game was an opportunity, he thought, to get the Cubs closer to a title. So it always hurt when they lost.

CAMEROTA: So there was a commercial that ran last night, a Budweiser commercial.

CARAY: Yes.

CAMEROTA: That capture your grandfather's spirit. So watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRY CARAY: The best seat in the house is right here! Cheering on the Cubs with the greatest fans in the world, with the greatest beer in the world, Budweiser. Yes, nothing quenches a Cubs' fan's thirst for (INAUDIBLE) quite like the king of beers. Holy cow! Here comes another one!

Cub fans, this Bud's for you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: What do you think?

CARAY: Well, you know what, that's something he actually did at Wrigley Field. He would have the net and if a foul ball came up there he would try to catch it with it. And - but I think what's so beautiful about that is, he's out there with the fans, the bleacher bums, because that's who he was. He was - he was an orphan in St. Louis growing up. And he knew what it was like to pull yourself up by the boot straps and make something out of yourself. And to see him out there with the fans, I know it's only a commercial, but to be out there with the fans, that's who he was and he really related to the common man and that's what made him so special, not just for Chicago, but across the country.

CUOMO: And no fans are like baseball fans when it comes to sniffing out a phony. And they loved your grandfather. He was baseball at its best. And what a legacy for you. And we look forward to watching your career, as well.

CARAY: Oh, I appreciate it, Chris. Thank you so much. CAMEROTA: Great to have you here, Josh.

CUOMO: Congratulations. Off the schneid.

CARAY: Yes, finally. Finally at last.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much for being with us. We'll see you tomorrow.

Time now for "Newsroom" with Carol Costello.

Hey, Carol.

CUOMO: Always a winner.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: So sad about - I'm so sad about Cleveland. I can't even talk about it. But I'm happy for Chicago. But, whatever.

OK, bye.

CAMEROTA: You don't look very happy.

COSTELLO: I know. I don't -

CUOMO: Awe.

COSTELLO: I'm from northeast Ohio.

NEWSROOM starts now.

[09:00:04] And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

It is a fierce showdown. The race is tightening up. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton scrambling to sell themselves and they only have five days left to do it.