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Trump Calls Women's Accusations "Lies And Smears"; Trump On Sex Assault Allegations: "I Am A Victim"; Hacked Democratic Emails Call Bill Richardson "Needy"; NYT: Big Donors Urge RNC To Dump Trump; White House "Confident" Of Russian Election Hack; Clinton Reacts To Allegations Against Trump; "Apprentice" Creator Won't Release Show Tapes. Aired 11a-Noon ET

Aired October 15, 2016 - 11:00   ET

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


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It is the 11:00 hour in the east coast. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Can you believe that we're 24 days away from choosing the next U.S. president? Four days from the final presidential debate. And to borrow a line from House Speaker Paul Ryan, quote, "This election has turned very dark," end quote.

Donald Trump now faces accusations of sexual misconduct from eight women, all publicly detailing incidents of unwanted kissing and groping. Trump is calling the allegations, quote, "False and unsubstantiated." He's calling his accusers horrible liars.

And at a campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, last night, Donald Trump said he is the victim.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am a victim of one of the great political smear campaigns in the history of our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The Trump campaign has promised to provide evidence to refute his accusers. He holds a rally next hour in New Hampshire. We'll bring that to you live.

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton has no public appearances scheduled until Wednesday's debate, but at a fundraiser in Seattle, she said these accusations against Trump show who he really is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The whole world has heard how Donald Trump brags about mistreating women and the disturbing stories keep coming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The Trump campaign is accusing Clinton and the media of creating this controversy. Tweeting this morning, saying, quote, "100 percent fabricated and made up charges push strongly by the media and the Clinton campaign may poison the mind of the American voter, fix," end quote.

Each time an accuser has come forward with their story, the Trump campaign has responded with specific reasoning and alibis to dispute them. CNN's Ed Lavandera has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The first of eight accusers publicly came forward Wednesday night of this week. Mindy McGillivray, was one of them, for her it was the presidential debate in St. Louis that prompted her to speak out. She couldn't believe what she had just heard.

MINDY MCGILLIVRAY, DONALD TRUMP ACCUSER: We hear Anderson Cooper asked him, like, a number of times. You know, it's this -- is this something you did? Did you grope women? Did you kiss them? And he adamantly says no. I jumped off of my couch and I was like, you're a liar.

LAVANDERA: Summer Zervos, once appeared as a contestant on Trump's reality show, "The Apprentice" after she was kicked off the show, Zervos was in talks with Trump about working for his company. He asked to meet her at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

SUMMER ZERVOS, TRUMP ACCUSER: He came to me and starting kissing me open mouthed as he was pulling me towards him. I tried to push him away. I pushed his chest to put space between us and I said come on, man, get real. He repeated my words back to me. Get real as he began thrusting his genitals.

LAVANDERA: In the early 1990s, Kristin Anderson was an aspiring model in New York. According to the "Washington Post," Anderson had never met or scene Donald Trump in person until he sat down next to her one night in a Manhattan dance club.

KRISTIN ANDERSON, TRUMP ACCUSER: The person on my right who unbeknownst to me at the time was Donald Trump. Put their hands up my skirt.

LAVANDERA: Temple Tagert is a former Ms. Utah. She says without her consent Trump kissed her on the lips immediately after meeting her in 1997. Rachel Crooks told the "New York Times" that Trump killed her inappropriately as well in 2005.

Nutasha Stoynoff, a writer for "People" magazine says Trump forcibly kissed her and pinned her down while on a reporting assignment at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Jessica Leeds says Trump grabbed her breast and put his hands up her skirt on a plane in the early 1980s. Donald Trump again Friday denied all of the allegations against him and described it all as a political smear campaign.

TRUMP: I look on television, I think it's a disgusting thing.

LAVANDERA: Which is exactly how Mindy McGillivray says Trump treated her one night back stage after a Ray Charles concert at the Mar-a-Lago estate. McGillivray was there with a friend waiting to get her picture taken with the singer when she said Trump grabbed her from behind.

MCGILLIVRAY: And he didn't give me a second glance. He knew what he did. I know he knew what he did. I can tell by looking at him his smug face, he knew exactly what he did. I said he just grabbed my ass -- he was like what do you want to do about it? I was like -- I was silent. I don't want to do anything.

LAVANDERA: She says she regrets not confronting the billionaire right on the spot. And despite Trump's insistence that he treats women with respect, all of the women who have come forward say Trump treated them like objects. That he could have his way with.

(on camera): What would you tell Donald Trump today?

[11:05:04]MCGILLIVRAY: You're sick, sick person and if you don't acknowledge it, then maybe he's just a helpless old man who needs to step down.

LAVANDERA: Ed Lavandera, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So the Trump campaign has come out swinging against these claims. Trump using his rallies to rail against the accusers. Calling the allegations against him disgusting and implying that some of these women are just looking for attention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I think it's a disgusting thing and it's being pushed. They have no witnesses. There's nobody around. They just come out -- some are doing it for probably a little fame. They get some free fame. It's a total setup. Now suddenly after many, many years, phony accusers come out less than a month before one of the most important elections in the history of our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So Trump is set to hold a rally minutes from now in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. That's where we find Sara Murray. So Sara, is the new campaign strategy to simply scorch the earth and say all these demeaning things about his accusers, is it working with his followers there, his fans?

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, one thing is clear, is that Donald Trump is not going to let any of these accusations hang out there unanswered. He has made it clear that he plans to hit back on every single one of them against every single one of the accusers.

But even as he's doing this he's railing against the political establishment. He's going after Hillary Clinton. He's going after Bill Clinton's past allegations of sexual misconduct. He's suggesting that the entire election may be rigged to defeat him. This is part of the Trump campaign's strategy of just trying to depress the American electorate to essentially drive out turnout so low they look at the folks supporting Hillary Clinton and believe that young people, that minorities will become so disenfranchised that they won't turn out.

That they're very convinced that their core supporters especially white working class men are going to show up on Election Day no matter what Donald Trump does.

WHITFIELD: Sara Murray, thank you so much. Keep us posted there from Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

All right, still ahead, Donald Trump on "The Apprentice."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You dropped to your knees? Must be a pretty picture you dropped to your knees.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, growing calls to release outtakes from the reality show. Was there explosive material left on the cutting room floor? We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:10:53]

WHITFIELD: All right, Donald Trump rarely uses the word media without the word dishonest. But as more and more accusations of sexual misconduct have been reported, Trump has really started ramping up his attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The process is rigged. This whole election is being rigged. These lies spread by the media without witnesses, without backup or anything else, are poisoning the mind of the electorate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk more about this with historian and professor at Princeton University, Julian Zelizer, good to see you, and in Washington, CNN political analyst, Rebecca Berg, national political reporter for Real Clear Politics. Good to see you as well.

All right, so Julian, you first, if Trump is laying the groundwork to de-legitimatize the results of this election if he loses, how potentially damaging could that be overall to the system, the country, to this race?

JULIAN ZELIZER, HISTORIAN AND PROFESSOR, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: It's very damaging. We already saw some of this with the birther movement back in 2011 and '12 which he was part of. That essentially raised questions about the legitimacy of the Obama presidency. This is multiplied.

I think many of his supporters and even some republicans who are not full throated supporters might believe this. It's going to be toxic, I think, for the electorate to have this as part of their memory if Hillary Clinton is president.

WHITFIELD: Rebecca, as it pertains to the allegations from these women against Trump, he says that these claims are quote, "Lies and smears." He blames a, quote, "global power structure." So what does his approach tell you at this juncture about what he may have planned for that final debate on Wednesday?

REBECCA BERG, CNN POLITICALY ANALYST: Well, certainly we've seen that as he said in his tweet recently, the shackles are off when it comes to Donald Trump. He is not showing the same discipline we saw just a few weeks ago.

Even his teleprompter speeches, even those speeches he's giving now that are scripted, we're seeing much harsher tone from him. Obviously, he keeps mentioning that the election is rigged, which raises some concerns, obviously, when we're looking forward to after this election.

And then with the accusations coming out against him from these women, I think we're probably going to see Donald Trump double down on the attacks from the last debate on Bill Clinton and his history of allegations against him by women in addition. And so it's really a messy election at this point.

WHITFIELD: And speaking of which, Julian, so is Trump making matters worse by the allegations by doing exactly what he has accused Hillary Clinton of doing? Criticizing or demeaning t accusers?

ZELIZER: He is. I think the accusations are troubling to many Americans for two reasons. One because of the accusations themselves and the number of accusations that we now have.

But they also fit in some ways with impressions people have developed about him because of his comments on the campaign trail. So the more vicious he becomes, the more fierce he is about attacking the accusers, I think in some ways that confirms that there is something there. And I'm not sure this approach helps him at all.

WHITFIELD: So being more fierce, Rebecca, come Wednesday, that's the prediction that perhaps, you know, since he said, you know, the gloves are off now. You know, he is unshackled. But will that help him win more support or will that simply stir things up among those who have already committed to voting for him?

BERG: I mean, at this stage his approach is not growing his support at all. And, frankly, especially when we're looking at his defense against these women, not only defending himself but going and attacking them personally, smearing their character and calling them ugly and unattractive yesterday.

It's really shocking and something that will shock a lot of Americans, a lot of American women who have been a demographic Donald Trump has struggled with already before these accusations.

[11:15:05]And so I don't see how he's long at this stage to grow his support. I think as Sara Murray said in her report earlier in this program, he's looking to depress turnout among Hillary Clinton supporters, just make this election so toxic to everyone that his supporters are the only ones who show up. But it's not much of a strategy, really. It's scorched earth at this stage.

WHITFIELD: So Julian, if you were to advise a Donald Trump or even Hillary Clinton ahead of this Wednesday debate, what would you say? So that they would be able to grow any base, potentially.

ZELIZER: Well, I don't think there's much advice to give to Donald Trump at this point. This is the path he's on. He will fulfill his own predictions by pursuing a strategy that only his base of support.

I think the advice for Hillary Clinton is she can't totally fade in this campaign. There's great appeal that just letting Trump be Trump. Assuming she keeps doing well and if she is president, she will want to have people inspired.

She will want to excite people. She will have needed to lay out an agenda that sets up her presidency. She still needs to be out front and center, even as all this happens.

WHITFIELD: All right. Julian Zelizer, Rebecca Berg, thank you so much to both of you. Appreciate it.

Coming up next, new revelations in the latest e-mail hack on the Clinton campaign. Chairman John Padesta calling former governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson, quote, a needy Latino but still a valuable surrogate. The governor joining us next to respond.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:20:21]

WHITFIELD: All right. The Clinton campaign is trying to recover from a series of hacked e-mails that have been leaked. In some, Clinton Campaign Chairman John Podesta makes disparaging comments about the issue of a need for needy Latinos.

And in that e-mail, the former New Mexico governor, Bill Richardson is also mentioned. And there are a couple of unflattering terms that are used to describe at least one, to describe the former governor.

However, in a turn around, he's also complimented as being a valuable surrogate. The campaign has neither confirmed nor denied that authenticity of the e-mails and CNN cannot independently verify them.

Bill Richardson actually joining me right now. Good to see you, Governor. All right --

BILL RICHARDSON (D), FORMER GOVERNOR OF NEW MEXICO: Nice to be with you, Fredricka. WHITFIELD: I know this is very awkward because, you know, you have referred to John Podesta as being a great, you know, friend, and colleague particular in the political arena. So hearing that you have been mentioned in these e-mails, and again, CNN cannot authenticate the veracities of these e-mails.

But hearing that your name is there in conjunction with a subject line of needy Latinos and also a description that is not very flattering, starting with the word, D, what's your response to this?

RICHARSON: Well, I don't consider the comments John made disparaging. He's been a friend for 30 years, a colleague, we worked together when I was in the Clinton cabinet. He was chief of staff. It's political talk, Fredricka.

You know, all politicians, most politicians are needy. They have egos. What John was trying to do was get me and the Clintons back together. There was a breach over seven years when I -- after I got out of the presidential race, I endorsed President Obama.

And needless to say, the Clintons weren't happy. So he was trying to get us back together. In order to do that he used those terms to persuade the Clintons to make a call to me. Hillary Clinton did call me, I did meet with the former President Clinton.

We dealt with the breach. You know, I'm supporting them very strongly. We dealt with that breach. That was what Podesta was trying to do as a good campaign manager. So I'm not upset at all. And I think nobody should take him as condescending or disparaging.

WHITFIELD: Do you feel like it sends a message, however, to people who perhaps may not be as intimately familiar with politics. That something can be said in a negative light about someone, but then that same person might be used to help benefit a campaign or someone else in the political arena?

RICHARDSON: No, I don't think so. You know, the world is so scrutinized now. We have e-mails. We have Facebook. We have Twitter. Everybody knows everything. No. I mean, this is - you know if you really want to say locker room talk as Trump has said he was doing, which he wasn't, I mean, this is political locker room talk that happens all the time.

You know, in campaigns that are very tense. A lot of pressure. You know, Podesta is trying to put together a campaign. He's also an issues guy, did great work on climate change. That's how I saw him recently in the Obama White House.

So this did not offend me and I don't think it offended hardly any Latinos. Hillary Clinton has a very good record with Latinos, very good positions on immigration reform, on jobs, on education.

You know, Trump is his own worst enemy with Latino voters. So again, I don't think there's any damage and it shows that this is the way politics is. WHITFIELD: So you don't believe this will undermine the Clinton campaign. It won't undermine your commitment to Hillary Clinton or even you're working and friendly relationship with John Podesta?

RICHARDSON: No, not at all. John and I have been in touch. I am supporting Hillary Clinton. I've contributed to her. I've done three events for her. I'm not an insider, obviously, but I want her to win. So this doesn't diminish my very strong support for her candidacy and I'll continue speaking out. No, I'm not bothered at all. A lot of other people especially some in the media are bothered more than anybody else.

[11:25:02]WHITFIELD: All right, there are a lot of distractions on both sides in this pursuit of the White House. As you reminded us, you were the energy secretary under the Clinton White House. I wonder, you know, your relationship with the Clintons and your experience with the Clintons.

Do you feel like her husband, bill Clinton, and his missteps whether it be his comments about Obamacare or whether it be Donald Trump talking about the allegations and the relationships that Bill Clinton has had, if all of this is a distraction. If this is undermining Hillary Clinton, if it hurts her in a big way, not just from her opponent but also her own husband.

RICHARDSON: Well, I think the reality is that Bill Clinton is a very popular politician in this country. When he left office after all those allegations, he was still over 60 percent favorable.

And he's been judged a very good president because of the balanced budget and so many other things he did a strong economy. So first of all, I think he's an asset. The country dealt with those alleged infidelities.

There was an impeachment. That's over with. I think to revive and resuscitate them, especially compared to some of the allegations against Trump would seem to be real. I mean, I'm not going to get into every one of them.

But his own comments, the lewd lascivious comments that he made to Billy Bush, I mean, that's pretty strong stuff. So I don't think -- I think what Trump is trying to do is distract from his own problems. And my view, Fredricka, is that he realizes that this election is probably gone for him --

WHITFIELD: Do you see with just --

RICHARDSON: -- so he's trying to maintain his base.

WHITFIELD: With just 24 days, do you believe the allegations against Donald Trump will be more harmful to him than what Donald Trump's campaign has been trying to use in terms of pitting Bill Clinton's history against Hillary Clinton's pursuit of the White House?

RICHARDSON: Yes, definitely. It's going to be more harmful to him. I think what everybody will see, especially in this third debate is that Hillary Clinton is ready to be commander-in-chief. That she's for working families. She can bring the country together.

And this is going to be very evident. This has been evident. And I think Trump is continuing to slip, especially in those battleground states. Look, Georgia is now in play so is Arizona.

North Carolina, all these states that have been very difficult are now in play for Hillary Clinton to potentially win. So I think what Trump is doing is playing to his base. Energize his base, knowing he's going to lose. He wants to keep his movement going in the future. I think that's what he's trying to do.

WHITFIELD: All right. Former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, thanks so much for your time. Appreciate it.

RICHARDSON: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. So Donald Trump has falling poll numbers and the defection of top GOP lawmakers just might be causing a few shakeups within the campaign.

Now several big time Republican donors are jumping ship and they're calling on RNC leader, Reince Priebus, to do the same to save the party's reputation and its future.

"The New York Times" quoting one GOP philanthropist as saying, quote, "Even for loyalists there is a line beyond which the obvious moral failings of a candidate are impossible to disregard. That line has clearly been breached," end quote.

All of this coming after Trump's lewd off mic comments about grabbing women and a growing number of women accusing the candidate of sexual assault. The number is at eight now. Eight women accusing him of such. Trump vehemently denies those claims.

Joining me right now from New York, historian and profession at Princeton University, Julian Zelizer and in Washington, CNN political analyst, Rebecca Berg, national political reporter for Real Clear Politics. Both back with me now. All right, good to see you again.

So Rebecca, let me begin with you. So donors pulling their money and they are backing. How might that -- might that not hurt Trump since he is largely been financing himself anyway?

REBECCA BERG, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I would just correct you there, Fred, because he really hasn't. He has spent millions of dollars --

WHITFIELD: He has.

BERG: It's worth noting. He has started raising outside money during the general election. That's been financing some advertising, mostly just financing the operation of his campaign itself because they haven't really built up what we could consider a normal presidential campaign operation.

And so I'm not really sure how these donors backing out now will affect his campaign practically speaking. It's not a huge surprise to me either that the donors are pulling back.

Not only because of Donald Trump's recent comments that have come to light and these accusations by a number of women that he sexually assaulted them years ago.

But also because if you look at the polling at this stage, Donald Trump has quite a steep climb in this election and donors are thinking about this as an investment. And right now, it's not a very good stock to buy.

WHITFIELD: But Rebecca, back to one of the points that you made though, how and why would he even need the donors at this juncture with just 24 days to go? He certainly is getting enough publicity, you know, on his own and that's why he has said in the past that he hasn't needed to put money toward campaign ads because he's been getting enough airtime and enough print.

Granted, as recently in the past week it has not been, you know, the kind of attention that he has wanted, but he's still out in front. So hasn't he already demonstrated that he really doesn't need donor support very much?

BERG: Well, I think you're correct that he does have a completely unique ability to earn free media. At the same time, as you said, the coverage right now is not positive for Donald Trump. The message he wants to be getting out is about his -- whatever policies he might implement as president.

His core message of creating jobs and bringing back jobs to America, crafting better trade deals. These are the messages Donald Trump at least his aides want him to be talking about.

They think these politically are the most advantageous messages for him. If he's not going to be hitting those messages on the campaign trail, getting coverage from us of those that's where advertising really helps because you have complete control over your message.

WHITFIELD: So then Julian, maybe a better way of me asking the question is, would these donors really have much leverage over Donald Trump or would there be any real leverage as it pertains to their dialogue with Reince Priebus?

[11:35:03]JULIAN ZELIZER, HISTORIAN AND PROFESSON, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: Well, The way this hurts, two ways. The first is this is a candidate who actually needs advertising right now. The free publicity doesn't help him and the kind of performance he's delivering right now is not one that will be successful.

So he needs controlled, contained, choreographs advertising in key states to try to recover. The story of the Republican donors itself is part of the problem. We are at a moment where many Republicans, donors, politicians, not all but many more are starting to say I'm not with him and I'm going to focus on the congressional races.

And that's a damaging story for independents and undecided voters who are, you know, frankly, being frightened about casting their vote for Donald Trump.

BERG: It really sends a message about the confidence that Republicans have in Donald Trump right now and that's where this becomes difficult for him because they're not sending a vote of confidence for his candidacy.

ZELIZER: But for the Republican Party, it actually could be beneficial because if some of that money goes to congressional races where Republicans are still performing well in a lot of House districts, it could save the Congress and in some ways --

WHITFIELD: By separating themselves from Donald Trump?

ZELIZER: Right. And so that's where this could actually be beneficial to the party, even if the nominee struggles as a result of it.

WHITFIELD: All right. Julian Zelizer, Rebecca Berg, thanks so much to both of you. Appreciate it.

All right, meantime, the White House says Russia is trying to undermine U.S. elections in a series of hack attacks. Still ahead, we'll ask if the Russians could tamper with the actual vote. That is now just 24 days away. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:40:15]

WHITFIELD: All right, with 24 days before Election Day, the White House is accusing Russia of trying to interfere in the U.S. election process. Saying that the evidence shows that only senior Russian officials could have authorized recent hacks.

Most recently, there was the hack of e-mails at the Democratic National Committee. Hackers have also attacked election registration websites.

U.S. officials have said they believe this is not about getting a particular candidate elected. But is designed to raise doubts about the U.S. political system. The Russian foreign minister tells CNN's Christian Amanpour that's ludicrous.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: You say that Russia is interfering in the United States domestic matters is ridiculous.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: Kimberly Dozier is a CNN global affairs analyst and a contributing writer for "The Daily Beast." She is joining us from Washington today. Good to see you.

All right, so there's the Russian foreign minister giving that kind of flippant type of reply. He says that's ridiculous. But how serious are these attacks and how about that potential, I guess, consequence that comes from potentially Russian meddling.

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, Fred, he may be saying that Russia has nothing to do with this. But cyber security experts say the amazing thing about these attacks, to them, is that the Russian hackers haven't made a whole bunch of effort to hide their tracks.

The attacks have been very brazen. They've been able the track the IP address right back to areas connected to Russian intelligence, corporations connected to Russian intelligence. It's as if Russia wants the U.S. to know we can do this with impunity. They are sending a message that they're on the ascendant and there's nothing the Obama administration can do about it.

WHITFIELD: And what's the belief as to why these attacks appeared to primarily target the Clinton campaign or at least the Democrats, as opposed to the RNC and the nominee, Donald Trump?

DOZIER: Well, the Clinton campaign represents bad news for Russia in that when Clinton was secretary of state, she was part of the Russian reset. She tried to warm up relations with Russia, but was answered by the invasion of Ukraine, the annexation of Crimea. They fear a Clinton administration would be pretty harsh towards them. Where a Putin administration, especially if you look at some of his comments, would be a lot easier to handle and manage.

WHITFIELD: And the White House has pointed the finger at Russia, so how rare, how important, how bold is that step?

DOZIER: Well, this is one of the ways they think of naming and shaming and hopefully stopping some of the behavior. Spies will tell you that stealing e-mails, that is normal honorable spy craft.

But weaponizing them by releasing them through an organization like Wikileaks and trying to affect public opinion. That is a step too far and they've got to put a stop to it.

Let's see if it stops some of these influencing operations, or if we get reports of further hacking in the weeks to come.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kim Dozier in Washington, thank you so much.

All right, still to come, Hillary Clinton says she's not taking any joy in the sexual assault claims against her opponent. Her reaction to the allegations rocking the Trump campaign, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:47:15]

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. So Hillary Clinton says the sexual misconduct claims against Donald Trump reveal who her opponent really is. Clinton has mostly avoided commenting on the allegations that have rocked the Trump campaign. But here's what she told a crowd of supporters in Seattle last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This election is incredibly painful. I take absolutely no satisfaction in what is happening on the other side with my opponent. I am not at all happy about that because it hurts our country, it hurts our democracy. It sends terrible messages to so many people here at home and around the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So now there are eight women who were accusing Donald Trump of sexual misconduct. Trump, I should stress has vehemently denied his accusers' stories, calling them lies and smears. Chris Frates joins me now from Washington with the latest reaction from the Clinton campaign -- Chris.

CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Fred. Well, you're right. Hillary Clinton has really mostly steered clear of these allegations against Trump (inaudible) for fear of pulling the spotlight away from what's become a flailing Trump campaign. But she did in fact weigh in last night at a fundraiser in Seattle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: The whole trump has heard Donald Trump brags about mistreating women and the disturbing stories keep coming. This is who Donald Trump really is. We know that. Now we have to demonstrate who we are. America is better than this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRATES: Now a top Clinton spokeswoman said to expect the Democrat to talk more about the allegations against Trump during the final debate on Wednesday. And as of now, Clinton has no public events on her schedule between now and Wednesday.

But she has had help from a lot of high profile surrogates, people like President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama who rebuked Trump's boast about sexual assault and really dominated the headlines earlier this week. So Clinton is pretty well-covered as she takes some time off the trail for debate prep -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Chris Frates, thank you so much in Washington, appreciate it.

All right, still ahead, the creator of "The Apprentice" denouncing the rhetoric of Donald Trump's campaign, but still refusing to release footage from the show. Do the tapes contain a potential bombshell? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:53:47]

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up on CNN, Anthony Bourdain travels to China and gets a taste of spicy cuisine. Here's a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, CNN HOST, "PARTS UNKNOWN" (voice-over): The way it works, you order a whole bunch of ingredients, meat, vegetables, noodles, fish, whatever you like, a lot of different ingredients and you feed them into a pot.

(on camera): Yes, that's going take a lot of time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's called 1,000 layer stomach.

BOURDAIN: It's all going in there, man.

(voice-over): The inner ring is a more neutral broth. The outer ring is the good stuff, the hard stuff.

(on camera): Oh, that's good, man. That's good.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The first bite --

BOURDAIN: Awesome, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BOURDAIN: It only gets better, my friend.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Yum. Take a bite. Be sure to watch Anthony Bourdain's "PARTS UNKNOWN" tomorrow night at 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

All right, so the creator of "The Apprentice," the man who made Donald Trump a reality TV star says he cannot share raw footage from the hit show.

Some claimed the outtakes could be even more embarrassing potentially than the lewd tape released a week ago from "Access Hollywood."

[11:55:05]So why won't Mark Burnett release the images from "The Apprentice?" Brian Stelter has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: You are fired? You're all fired.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Inside "The Apprentice" board room, Donald Trump had all the power. Now, Mark Burnett, the reality TV guru who created the show could hold Trump's fate in his hands. Rumors are swirling that outtakes from "The Apprentice" are even more explosive than this bombshell "Access Hollywood" tape.

TRUMP: When you are a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.

STELTER: And it could make this casual sexist remark seem like nothing. But "The Apprentice" raw footage is inaccessible. NBC, which aired the show says Burnett has it. Burnett says he cannot legally share it and the production company, MGM, also it is restricted from releasing the material.

This is contractual and common in Hollywood. Burnett is one of the biggest producers in town and has been friends with Trump for years.

MARK BURNETT, "THE APPRENTICE": My first thought ever of Donald Trump selling t-shirts on Venice beach reading this book "The Art Of The Deal" by Donald Trump.

STELTER: He wasn't selling t-shirts for long. His participation in a French adventure competition gave him the idea "For Survivor." The show was a hit giving birth to a new genre. "The Voice" and "Shark Tank" are his other huge moneymakers. In 2004, Burnett catapulted Trump to TV stardom.

TRUMP: Generally, Mark wants me to do exactly what I want to do. He's an incredible guy, a really good guy.

STELTER: When Trump got married in 2005 --

BURNETT: My son was the ring bearer at the wedding of Donald and Melania.

STELTER: Burnett is also deeply religious. In 2013, he and his wife produced "The Bible" miniseries.

BURNETT: It's a calling.

STELTER: Faith could be one reason Burnett denies a report calling him pro-Trump saying, "My wife and I reject the hatred, division, and misogyny that has been a very unfortunate part of his campaign."

But what about the misogyny that might have been left on the cutting room floor? This AP reporter tells me she interviewed 20 former "Apprentice" staff members, who say Trump used uncomfortable, sexist language behind the scenes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Including talking openly about which female contestants he wanted to have sex with.

STELTER: Now there's speculation and concern that someone might defy MGM and leak new tapes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: CNN's senior media correspondent and host of "RELIABLE RESOURCES," Brian Stelter is with me now. Brian, there is a potential update now on the other party who was in that "Access Hollywood" tape with Donald Trump, Billy Bush, who was co-host of the "Today" show. What's happening with him in a potential settlement?

STELTER: That's right. We have known he was leaving the "Today" show with no negotiations under way. It was getting uglier earlier this week. Billy Bush retained a high powered L.A. litigator Marshal Grossman brought him in. There was talk of a lawsuit by Billy Bush.

Now though Grossman says the negotiations are productive. I just heard back from him. He says they are moving from litigation to resolution. Another source says this deal could be announced on Monday.

This would be Billy Bush leaving NBC, likely being paid many millions of dollars in order to settle his contract. It was Billy Bush's birthday the other day. There was going to be a surprise party for him this afternoon in New York, but that's been canceled.

WHITFIELD: All right, Brian Stelter, keep us posted. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

All right, Donald Trump will address voters in the battleground state of New Hampshire at any moment now. Plenty more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM. It all starts right now.

All right, hello again and thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

So at any moment now, Donald Trump will host a rally in the battleground state of New Hampshire, site of his first primary election triumph back in February. Remember that?

While recent polls indicate that the swing state is leaning toward his opponent, Hillary Clinton, the Republican still sees an opportunity to persuade undecided voters.

You are looking at live pictures right now of a Toyota dealership in the Portsmouth where the presidential candidate will speak.

So if his rallies this past week are any indicator, Trump will likely address the now eight accusations of sexual misconduct from women who have all publicly detailed incidents of unwanted kissing and groping.

Trump is calling the allegations false and unsubstantiated. He is calling his accusers horrible liars. At a campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, last night, Donald Trump said he is the victim.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I am a victim of one of the great political smear campaigns in the history of our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Each time an accuser has come forward with their story, the Trump campaign has responded with specific reasoning and alibis to dispute them. Let's go now to CNN's Jessica Schneider in New York --