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CNN NEWSROOM

Trump on New Allegations. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired October 13, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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


[14:00:00] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Continues with the fiery speeches from both Donald Trump and the first lady, Michelle Obama.

Brooke Baldwin picks up our coverage right now.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, thank you so much.

Just moments ago we watched as Donald Trump launched a battle for his political survival like none we have ever seen. Less than a month away to Election Day, Trump went on the attack over fresh accusations from three women who say he forced himself on them. Two talked to "The New York Times." One is a former writer for "People" magazine.

First let's play Trump, moments ago, savaging his accuser, dismissing their claims that he groped them, forced his tongue down their throats and, worse, all while rebuking the major news organizations that are telling their stories today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: And so now we address the slander and libels that was just last night thrown at me by the Clinton machine and "The New York Times" and other media outlets as part of a concerted, coordinated, and vicious attack. It's not coincidence that these attacks come at the exact same moment and all together at the same time as WikiLeaks releases documents exposing the massive international corruption of the Clinton machine, including 2,000 more e-mails just this morning.

These vicious claims about me of inappropriate conduct with women are totally and absolutely false. And the Clintons know it and they know it very well. These claims are all fabricated. They're pure fiction and they're outright lies. These events never, ever happened and the people that said them meekly fully understand. You take a look at these people, you study these people, and you'll understand also.

The claims are preposterous, ludicrous, and defy truth, common sense, and logic. We already have substantial evidence to dispute these lies and it will be made public in an appropriate way and at an appropriate time very soon.

These lies come from outlets whose past stories and past claims have already been discredited. The media outlets did not even attempt to confirm the most basic facts, because even a simple investigation would have shown that these were nothing more than false smears.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We're going to come back to that.

Hillary Clinton's campaign, meantime, says these new allegations show that Trump lied when Anderson Cooper was pressing him on these questions during the presidential debate over the weekend.

Also today, one of Secretary Clinton's most high-profile supporters, one of the most popular political figures in this country, First Lady Michelle Obama, also seizing upon Trump's mounting trouble. She stepped out, on stage, just a little while ago as well, for a scorching, emotional evisceration of the Republican nominee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: This is not something that we can ignore. It's not something we can just sweep under the rug as just another disturbing footnote in a sad election season. Because this was not just a lewd conversation. This wasn't just locker room banter. This was a powerful individual speaking freely and openly about sexually predatory behavior and actually bragging about kissing and groping women, using language so obscene that many of us were worried about our children hearing it when we turn on the TV.

And to make matters worse, it now seems very clear that this isn't an isolated incident. It's one of countless examples of how he has treated women his whole life. And I have to tell you that I listen to all of this and I feel it so personally and I'm sure that many of you do, too, particularly the women. The shameful comments about our bodies, the disrespect of our ambitions and intellect, the belief that you can do anything you want to a woman.

[14:05:04] It is cruel. It's frightening. And the truth is, it hurts. It hurts. It's like that sick sinking feeling you get when you're walking down the street minding own business and some guy yells out vulgar words about your body, or when you see that guy at work that stands just a little too close, stares a little too long and makes you feel uncomfortable in your own skin. It's that feeling of terror and violation that too many women have felt when someone has grabbed them or forced himself on them and they've said "no" but he didn't listen. Something that we know happens on college campuses and countless other places every single day.

It reminds us of stories we heard from our mothers and grandmothers about how back in their day, the boss could say and do whatever he pleased to the women in the office and even though they worked so hard, jumped over every hurdle to prove themselves, it was never enough. We thought all of that was ancient history, didn't we? And so many have worked for so many years to end this kind of violence and abuse and disrespect, but here we are, in 2016, and we're hearing these exact same things every day on the campaign trail.

We are drowning in it. And all of us are doing what women have always done. We're trying to keep our heads above water. Just trying to get through it. Trying to pretend like this doesn't really bother us. Maybe because we think that admitting how much it hurts makes us as women look weak. Maybe we're afraid to be that vulnerable. Maybe we've grown accustom to swallowing these emotions and staying quiet because we've seen that people often won't take our word over his. Or maybe we don't want to believe that there are still people out there who think so little of us as women.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Two monumental moments weeks before Election Day.

Joining me now, A.B Stoddard, associate editor and columnist for Real Clear Politics, Abby Phillip, "Washington Post" reporter, CNN national political reporter Maeve Reston, and CNN's senior media correspondent and host of "Reliable Sources," Brian Stelter.

Welcome to all of you.

A.B, let me just begin with Trump's response today to all these accusations. I mean when you listened to him just now, he is - his attack was visceral. To me he is declaring war on everyone, not just the Clintons, but on journalists. He says these stories - the stories these women are telling, to quote him, "are fiction, are lies" and he says that he has evidence to disprove them. What's your reaction to how he's handling this?

A.B. STODDARD, ASSOCIATE EDITOR & COLUMNIST, REALCLEARPOLITICS: Well, I think this was telegraphed by his campaign. Last night there was, you know, sources saying that this is war and he's seething and in a rage about this.

I do not believe, in the end, he's going to sue "The New York Times" because it requires him to go into discovery and talk about this under oath and stuff and I just don't think he's going to do it. But there is a lot of threat going on. And if he has the evidence, he's going to have to come up with it. But there's a lot of - in Donald Trump's campaign rally speeches, for a very long time, he spent a lot of energy, as you know, discrediting the media and trying to convince his supporters that when and if he loses, it's all because it was a cooked system to begin with, not only the Democratic politicians who are in the White House and in Hillary's campaign, but in the media. He doesn't allow the crowd shots and then he always tells his crowd that we don't take the shots in the media because we're trying is to diminish the, you know, the view of the enthusiasm of his large rallies.

So, this has been a long-standing theme. I expect him to go down and double down on it in the weeks to come. But it - this is what terrifies Republicans, Brooke. If there's another audio or video from "The Apprentice" that actually is worse than the one from Friday, if there are more women who are going to come out in the next 10 days, two weeks, 26 days with accusations like this and allegation like that, it's really hard for them to continue to stand by him. And so they're in an untenable position and Donald Trump obviously doesn't care.

BALDWIN: I want to get to more of those accusations with Brian Stelter. I'm looking at you shaking your head. And here we are, members of the media, journalists, you know, the way he was attacking, saying it's just a political arm. And, yes, there are some, Sean Hannity. But, by and large, can we just call this BS?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: It is BS.

BALDWIN: It's BS.

STELTER: It's dangerous. For a long time, people treated Donald Trump like he was a joke. Right now he's a very serious drama. That speech was paranoid and that speech was dangerous. It was a speech dripping with hatred, a speech dripping with contempt, railing against bankers and corporations and the media and this grand conspiracy that somehow he has only been able to connect the dots of. It sounded a lot like a dog whistle to a lot of people that he was somehow connecting all of these dots that do, in fact, not connect.

[14:10:17] The WikiLeaks documents he was citing do not prove what he thinks they prove. But I don't want to bother fact checking every statement he said just now. Trump said, this is a moment of reckoning for our society. And he's right about that. If there is violence and unrest after Election Day, I think we now know why based on the hatred that was dripping out of that man's mouth.

BALDWIN: When he said, Abby, when he was talking about these women, and, listen, fact, these are accusations and Donald Trump says they're absolutely false. They're -

STELTER: Innocent until proven guilty, yes.

BALDWIN: Innocent until proven guilty. But when he said whether or not these women are telling the truth or not, what jumped out at me, when Donald Trump said - he was talking specifically about the "People" magazine reporter with her story, he said, "you think these allegations are true? Just look at her." "Look at her."

ABBY PHILLIP, REPORTER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": It's the sort of thing that makes women gasp when they hear things like that. I can't overstate how, you know, the juxtaposition of Michelle Obama's speech and Donald Trump's speech -

STELTER: Yes.

PHILLIP: Basically back to back today really highlights where we are in this election. You had Michelle Obama talking directly to women, saying you know that this is not normal, and Donald Trump then going on television and saying nothing that these women are saying is true because look at them. That is - I think basically a nightmare scenario for Republicans. It proves once again that we're at a stage in this election where Donald Trump is looking to his base and he's saying, what can I give them to keep them behind me. And he's giving them this.

I don't think he's expanding. I - it's hard to know if he's even really contesting this anymore because this is not the way to do - to do that and it's not the way to run any kind of election. And the sort of ammunition on the Democratic side, especially Michelle Obama going so hard in this speech today, is really remarkable and - and it really, I think, can punctuate in a way that Donald Trump cannot. He cannot counterpunch on Michelle Obama in this way.

BALDWIN: Maeve, I want you to pick up on Abby's point, because I think she's right. It was very special coming from Michelle Obama in a way, perhaps, that Hillary Clinton, as she's the one opposing Mr. Trump, you know, she couldn't do that. Michelle Obama has been referred to before as the closer. To me listening to her, it sounded person.

MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: Right. It did. It sounded very personal. There were sort of those notes of emotion in her voice as she spoke. And I think what you say is so true, Brooke, is that - that Hillary Clinton has never been able to deliver a speech that moves people, probably, in the way that Michelle Obama did today. And in that way, she's such a powerful surrogate for Hillary Clinton, particularly on this issue, which is an issue that she's been working on in the White House.

I just do also think that that contrast between those two speeches was so stark and so - many of the things that Trump said will be so galling to women, particularly, you know, talking about the evidence that was going to come out, you know, about these claims not being true. We don't know what that is yet, but it sounded someone threatening in his language and it was just sort of more red meat for his base, not trying to expand his universal voters at all. And, of course, that's very dangerous for Republicans.

BALDWIN: Maeve, let me jump in. Forgive me for cutting you off. Hillary Clinton is speaking right now to voters. Let's hear what she's saying.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Closer to giving every person the dignity and respect. That person deserves, no matter who they are, what they look like, where they come from, who they love, what race, ethnicity or anything else. We're going to hang on to and move forward with that image of America. An America that so many of you have helped to make over the years.

I feel this responsibility especially deeply. You know, if I were running against any Republican, I would be working hard and I would be asking for your help. But this is such an election between two very different visions, views and sets of values. And that's why the stakes are so high because we know - we've already learned who Donald Trump is. What we have to prove in this election is who we are and what we stand for and what we believe in.

So I've got one more debate coming up in a few days. And, you know, lot of campaigning across the country. But I know I cannot do this without you. Never doubt. And I told Billy, you know, I'm so grateful for all of our organizers who have been working so hard.

[14:15:03] I actually was an organizer a really long time ago. And I learned valuable lessons about me and the people I was working with. What made America such an exceptional country. So I hope each of you, in whatever capacity you are participating in this campaign, organizer, volunteer, supporter, whatever it might be, that you have the same feeling.

I know that there's a lot of negativity right now generated by the other side, but if you haven't seen it, I hope you will see Michelle Obama's speech today in New Hampshire. And, once again, she not only made a compelling and strong case about the stakes in the election, but about who we are as Americans. And we cannot let this pessimism, this dark and divisive and dangerous vision of America take hold in anybody's heart. We have to keep lifting up this campaign. That's why I am working as hard as I can yesterday in Pueblo, Colorado, and Las Vegas to say, look, I want to give you something to vote for, not just against. I want to give you an agenda that will move us forward into the future. And I believe we can do it. I wouldn't be standing here and running if I did not believe that we can and we will. So, remember, when they go low, we go high!

Thank you all so much.

BALDWIN: Hillary Clinton there, we just wanted to eavesdrop. She was speaking to her campaign staffers and supporters there in San Francisco, you know, quoting, once again, we've heard it from her, that Michelle Obama line that the Clintons have taken and run with, "when they go low, we go high," talking about how there is just such a stark difference, especially in the wake of the latest round of news, between the presidency that she would uphold and the presidency that he believes Donald Trump would uphold.

Let me bring two more voices in, Hillary Clinton supporter Angela Rye and a Trump supporter Andre Bauer.

And, Angela Rye, just first to you. You know, we - we've been talking about Trump's reaction today. We've been talking about the first lady's speech, which I know you were emotional listening to, and now hearing from Hillary Clinton in front of, if you caught it, the chalk board, essentially saying, have we gotten to the magic number or the pathway to 270? Your response to what you just heard from the secretary - former secretary of state?

ANGELA RYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, a couple of things, Brooke. I - the first thing is, Hillary Clinton got to experience I think for the first time today, even more so than at the convention, why the first lady is known as the closer. She even just closed with, of course, what Michelle Obama continues to say, which is, "when they go low, we go high." We saw that today.

And I was emotional listening to the speech, in part because this has become a very, very emotionally toxic election for so many people. I was on earlier today with someone who said, we need to talk about real issues, issues that matter. And can you imagine how that must feel to both women and men who've experienced sexual assault in their lifetime? Molestation, rape, whatever.

And so this is one of those elections now where it's like, people are hurting. They aren't just hurting economically. Some people are hurting mentally. Some people are hurting emotionally and we have to deal with all of those issues. Hillary Clinton is right, she does need to continue to try to, you know, stay way above the fray. And I think the best person to help her lead that way is Michelle Obama, who's approval rating hovers at 65 percent, which is much higher than even Hillary Clinton's approval rating was when she was first lady and it certainly is higher than where it is now.

BALDWIN: OK. Andre, I want to hear from you, but, first, let's just listen to a little bit more sound from Donald Trump from today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Ask a very simple question. Why wasn't it part of the story that appeared 20 or 12 years ago? Why wasn't it a part of the story? Why didn't they make it part of the story?

I was one of the biggest stars on television with "The Apprentice" and it would have been one of the biggest stories of the year. Think of it. She's doing a story on Melania, who's pregnant at the time, and Donald Trump, our one-year anniversary, and she said I made inappropriate advances. And, by the way, the area was a public area. People all over the place. Take a look. You take a look. Look at her. Look at her words. You tell me what you think. I don't think so. I don't think so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: "Look at her. Look at her words." Andre, again, you know, these are accusations from these different women and I know Trump is saying they're unequivocally false. But when you talk about even accusations of sexual assault, that's what these stories are, and he says "look at her," is that appropriate? Is that - is that presidential - potentially presidential behavior?

[14:20:05] ANDRE BAUER, FORMER LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, SOUTH CAROLINA: Well, I think he's missing a golden opportunity to show a vast disparity between his plan and Hillary's plan, of Secretary Clinton's plan, when he can stay on issues. It wouldn't be where I take the campaign. I would be hammering economic opportunities, national security, getting out of so many other places in the world we shouldn't be. And so I think these are missed opportunities and we - every day is vital now. And so I just - I would rather see him not do that. I think Newt Gingrich really hits it on the spot where the vast disparities between these two candidates are. And as long as he's not talking about that, I don't think he's hitting where he should be to get the American people excited about coming out to vote for him.

BALDWIN: Andre, can I just ask -

RYE: You now -

BALDWIN: Can I just ask this? Is your job hard? Is it hard to come out on national TV and defend him?

BAUER: Well, I don't know that it's hard. It's complicated because I am frustrated as a guy that supported him early on. I saw so many things that were vastly different between he and the other 16 Republicans that ran. And they excite me. I got so charged up that a business person was going to come and clean Washington out, because I'm fed up with Washington. I'm fed up with the system. I'm fed up with the lobbyist. I'm fed up with the whole process. And so I was ready for a change agent and he absolutely was able to delineate the difference between he and the other 16 people on the stage. I don't see him doing that now, and so I think those are opportunities to pick up guys like me that jumped on board and were excited about someone that had a different message, but I don't see that message now.

BALDWIN: Angela, go ahead. What did you want to say?

RYE: Yes, so - yes, absolutely. And, Andre, I appreciate everything you're saying. I think when you talk about he's missing opportunities, I would actually say that he's missed the opportunity. That train has left the station. This election is no longer about economic issues and health care and foreign affairs or national security issues. It's no longer about ISIS. This is literally about whether or not you want to elect a man who's bragged about sexually assaulting women, who has talked disparagingly about our appearances, who called a former Miss Universe "Miss Piggy" and "Miss Housekeeping." It's about all of the things that we've talked about earlier on about him potentially being racist or racist-ish, as I've said. This is what this election is about.

Your candidate has taken it to the lowest common denominator. And now the election's not just about us versus them, it's now really about right versus wrong. I have a six-year-old godson. Every time he gets in the car, he tells me he hates Donald Trump. He doesn't like Donald Trump. And it's not because we talk politics. I haven't had the opportunity to tell him what I really think about Donald Trump. He's at school when Brooke's show is on. And the unfortunate part about that - aside from him missing your show, Brooke, is that these are things that he has come to the conclusion on of himself. A six-year- old knows what this election is about. A six-year-old knows not to touch a girl in that way or a boy in that way. This is what this election is about now. And it's not about the issues anymore. We have to do the right thing.

BAUER: Well, Angela, I would argue that your candidate has many more warts when we're talking about she had to beat up Bernie and said so many disparaging things about him, stole the primary from him. You go on through the -

RYE: That's not true, Andrew.

BAUER: That she gets the questions before the debate. I don't know what part's not true. You talk about how she's taken money from so many foreign governments that then got -

RYE: Andre -

BAUER: That then got - I never interrupted you, darling. That then got -

RYE: Darling?

BAUER: Contracts with the secretary of state. RYE: Cute.

BAUER: I totally respect your position, but if we want to start talking about candidates -

RYE: You don't. You just called me "darling" at 2:30 in the afternoon, Andre. You don't respect my position at all.

BAUER: Yes, and that's what a southern gentlemen -

RYE: Oh, I don't - I don't think -

BAUER: That's what a southern gentlemen says.

RYE: No.

BAUER: Well, but if you want to interrupt me, I get this game.

RYE: No, go ahead.

BAUER: And if you don't want me to talk, go ahead. I get stepped on every time.

But there are many policies that Hillary Clinton has had. There are many things that we're now learning through WikiLeaks. There are many relationships she's had through foreign governments that are very questionable. And so when you talk about where this country's going and someone that has no knowledge whatsoever of running a business, creating a job, there are vast disparities between both candidates. So there's a lot of things that she's done that I don't think we want six-year-olds to see either.

RYE: I agree with you, Andre, and I guarantee you I'm only going to say this, Brooke, because he's not watching. She's still not talking about grabbing any guy by the nuts. So let's just be frank about that. I'm sorry. Like, we just have to be honest about what it is, and that is where we are. It is the lowest common denominator.

I appreciate everything you said, Andre, and, of course, reasonable minds can disagree, but this is no longer an election with reasonable minds engaged. Your guy is going nuclear with things that are not fact based. He's talked about it from the very outset. And not to mention, he's got a hearing coming up about a 13-year-old girl he potentially could have raped. That's where we are. So it's not about all of this other stuff. WikiLeaks probably would have won the day, but your guy is to busy bragging about sexual assault and blaming it on guys who spend time in the locker rooms every day who do not engage in this kind of behavior.

BALDWIN: OK. OK. I said it Monday, I'll say it again. Welcome to 2016. You two, Angela Rye, Andre Bauer, thank you.

[14:25:05] BAUER: And I still love you, Angela.

RYE: I love you, too, Andre. Just don't call me "darling" on air.

BALDWIN: I feel the love. I feel the love. My goodness. My goodness.

Let me bring back my original - let me bring back original my panel and my original voices here. What a day.

A.B. Stoddard, let me - let me - let me go to you here. So you have what's happening obviously at the top of the ticket, but then we have to have the conversation about congressional races, down ballot, Paul Ryan. You know yesterday it was, OK, maybe he could be on shaky ground with regard to his speakership depending on how this election goes if they hold on to the majority in the House. Now today Paul Ryan is saying, we may lose the majority in the House. This is a big deal for the Republicans here depending on what happens with Trump.

STODDARD: Yes, this is obviously the job of the speaker is to preserve his majority. He wants as many Republicans in Congress if Trump wins and he wants as many Republicans in Congress if Hillary Clinton wins. And so, as I said before, Republicans are in a terrible corner where they fear more revelations coming in just the next 26 days that they won't be able to defend while they continue to say, well, we're sporting him, we're just not campaigning with him. We're just trying to find this sort of middle ground where they can sort of straddle this extremely awkward situation.

On the - on Donald Trump's - you know, in his corner, it's clear he doesn't care what happens to the Republican Party. He and Steve Bannon, his co-campaign chairman, are really running an anti- establishment blame the establishment message so that if he loses, it's, you know, their fault and the fault of the media and he retains a - sort of a populist following of angry people who think everything the Republicans do and a Hillary Clinton administration is wrong. So he's really trying to kind of take them down with him. And it doesn't bother him.

So, again, he has - I just think that at this point he's decided he has nothing left to lose. He could talk, like Andre Bauer just said, about issues, but I think he is trying to depress Hillary Clinton's vote. And if you combine the death by a thousand cuts of the WikiLeaks stuff every day, which paints her as this cynical candidate that everyone - you know, a majority of Americans already think that she is, and then you have him out there talking about Bill Clinton being a rapist, all this - you know, this sinister deal between the media and the Republican establishment to bring him down, I do think, in the end, it could effectively suppress some vote.

BALDWIN: That -

STODDARD: And they think that that - you know, paying - paying back Hillary Clinton and the Republicans in Congress in the process, that's a win for him.

BALDWIN: That's what I'm wondering and I think that's the overarching question looking ahead to November 8th, is whether or not all of this, this unprecedented election, none of us have ever covered anything like this, will people turn out in droves or will people say deuces, I'm staying at home?

STELTER: Right.

BALDWIN: Let me thank all of you right now. Twenty-six days to go here. We've got more to talk about in the next little bit, including the fact that Donald Trump threatening to sue over the latest allegations, latest allegations of groping from his past, his campaign calling this a, quote, "character assassination." Does he have a legal case or is this a tactic to silence his critics? My next guest was actually personally sued by Donald Trump for something he wrote. He won. We'll discuss, next.

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