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CNN NEWSROOM

Report: Why Trump Camp's Al Gore Analogy Is Bogus; Tonight, Trump and Clinton Will Dine and Joke At a Catholic Charity Dinner; Did Clinton Reveal U.S. Nuclear Response Time During Debate; U.S. Serviceman Killed in Iraq, Bomb Expert. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired October 20, 2016 - 15:30   ET

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


[15:30:00] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And Larry you were in the Al Gore inner circle then and for people who say he didn't concede on election night that is actually wrong. He made a phone call, didn't he?

LAWRENCE HAAS, FORMER PRESS SECRETARY FOR AL GORE: He did. He made the first phone call election night and then Florida was reversed through later returns and he called back George Bush and said that unfortunately now it looks like we don't have a decided election.

But then once the court stepped in and stopped the voting and Gore was officially defeated, he called back again. We have here -- not only not an analogy between Trump and Gore but just the opposite. Gore never undermined the process beforehand and he completely respected the process after until the very end when he graciously conceded the election to George Bush. We really have -- and it's pointed up in Gore's mention of love of country -- this is the difference between a patriot in 2000 and a narcissist in 2016. They could not be any more different.

BALDWIN: It's that point because you heard Kellyanne Conway and when I was watching post-debate Trump surrogates pointing out, you know, it took until December. I wanted to make sure we're setting the record straight. They're saying Democrats, you have a double standard, look at what happened in 2000, now you're saying you don't like what Donald Trump says. Al, do you agree? It's not a fair comparison.

AL CARDENA, FLORIDA REPUBLICAN PARTY CHAIRMAN, DURING 2000 RECOUNT: It's not. Look, the point is he exceeded propriety two ways. The actual candidate shouldn't talk about things of that nature before the elections. His campaign spokespeople had every right to point out campaign shenanigans by the Democrats during the primary, the retirement of their chairman because she was unfair to Bernie Sanders. We had plenty of fodder to on about campaign shenanigans but there's a difference between campaign shenanigans and breaking the election laws. And that's where I think folks stepped out of bounds and between you and I, a presidential candidate has no business getting in the weeds and making accusations before the process starts. It's not good for the party, his candidacy or, frankly, the thing I worry about the most, it's not good for our down-ticket candidates who deserve reelection.

BALDWIN: Right. Many of whom are being forced to answer for this. Let me end with this little gem. There was a letter from 1993 that just shows how bad blood can dissipate. This is from H.W. Bush to Bill Clinton. He wrote, "you will be our president when you read this note with our," here you have the handwriting there, "our" underlined. Larry, if Trump loses and if Trump accepts the outcome, do you think Mr. Trump will acknowledge she will be, to borrow the word, our president?

HAAS: I can only hope so because that has been the sacred tradition for more than 200 years. Presidents traditionally leave letters of that kind to their successors. In the case of 1992 and 1993 in the transition there, the loser was the incumbent so he, in fact, very painfully but very graciously left that letter but outgoing presidents leave these letters to incoming presidents which highlights the special nature of American democracy.

And what I fear is that Donald Trump is not only undermining it at home but keep in mind we are a beacon of hope for people all over the world. They envy our system and it's irresponsible at home as well as America's role abroad to throw -- cast unfounded doubt on this sacred system that has served us so well.

BALDWIN: Al and Larry, thank you.

Just a couple of hours from now Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will share the very same stage at a New York City charity dinner. They're expected to crack jokes about one another. It's the decades-old tradition in presidential elections but I'm not so sure it's ever happened the day after a debate.

We will be joined live by former comic writers for both president Obama and Mitt Romney. Find out what we can expect on that stage tonight.

[15:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Here we are, the day after the third and final presidential debate, a debate in which neither nominee shook hands. You have Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump having dinner together, this evening. A long-standing tradition. The two candidates are scheduled to attend the Al Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner and do a little bit of comedy. It's a Catholic charity affair and typically it serves as a temporary truce during the month before a presidential election. Traditionally the candidates poke fun at themselves and a little bit at each other.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've already seen early reports from tonight's dinner. Headline -- Obama embraced by Catholics, Romney dines with rich people.

[15:40:00] BARACK OBAMA: Of course, the economy is on everybody's minds. The unemployment rate is at its lowest level since I took office, I don't have a joke here, I just thought it would be useful to remind everybody that the unemployment rate is at the lowest it's been since I took office. ROMNEY: And don't be surprised if the president mentions this is evening the monthly jobs report where there was a slight improvement in the numbers. He knows how to seize the moment this president and already has a compelling new campaign slogan, "you are better off now than you were four weeks ago."

OBAMA: Monday's debate is a little bit different because topic is foreign policy. Spoiler alert, we've got Bin Laden. Of course, world affairs are a challenge for every candidate. Some of you guys remember after my foreign trip in 2008 I was attacked as a celebrity because I was so popular with our allies overseas, and I have to say I'm impressed with how well governor Romney has avoided that problem.

ROMNEY: People seem to be curious as to how we prepare from the debate. Let me tell you what I do. First, refrain from alcohol for 65 years before the debate. Second, find the biggest available straw man and mercilessly attack it.

Big Bird didn't even see it coming. And by the way, in the spirit of "Sesame Street", the president's remarks tonight are brought to by the letter O and number 16 trillion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That was pretty good. Joining me now a man who was part of the team writing jokes for Mitt Romney that night. Will Ritter is with me, and David Litt, a former speech writer for president Obama now head writer at Funny Or Die D.C. Nice to have both of you on. David, first of all, do you think Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton has a sense of humor?

DAVID LITT, FORMER SPEECH WRITER FOR OBAMA: Everybody I know who knows Hillary Clinton personally says she is a really funny in person. I don't know whether she is quite as comfortable telling jokes on stage as president Obama but I think particularly tonight it's got to be a challenge after everything that went on last night to sit in a room, share a stage with Donald Trump and put a smile on your face and tell a bunch of jokes, it's going to be hard.

BALDWIN: Will, you were in the room, walk me through the brain storming process, writing for Romney. How low can you go on jabs at the other candidate?

WILL RITTER, WRITER FOR MITT ROMNEY: Sure, well, writing for Romney is kind of like being Trump's policy director, you write a lot but not much gets used. So there's different sample jokes, they try different gags, the point is the best jokes from politicians are when the politician is being self-deprecating. That will be tough tonight when the people telling the jokes either think they're the greatest person in the world or can't admit to ever doing anything. So I think the people going to the Al Smith Dinner should be prepared to kind of cringe their way through the evening.

BALDWIN: On the cringe factor let me play sound, this is from the Donald Trump Comedy Central Roast to see if he can be self- deprecating, here you go. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What's the difference between a wet raccoon and Donald Trump's hair? A wet raccoon doesn't have 7 billion (bleeping) dollars in the bank. Very funny, OK, very funny.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: What do you think, Will? Does he have it?

RITTER: You know, he's done this a lot, he goes back to the well with the hair stuff. I think it's kind of cheap, he's thin skinned and you saw in the clip you played the White House Correspondent's Dinner, Obama making fun of him probably launched this entire campaign.

BALDWIN: That was a Comedy Central Roast where he got a bit of a standing ovation, I was there in 2011. This was when president Obama had the birther

joke and I remember looking over to Donald Trump what will you see for yourself if he left?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE COMIC: Donald Trump has been saying that he will run for president as a Republican, which is surprising since I just assumed he was running as a joke.

OBAMA: We all know about your credentials and breadth of experience. For example -- seriously, recently in an episode of Celebrity Apprentice you didn't blame Little John or Meatloaf. You fired Gary Busey. And these are the kind of decisions that would keep me up at night.

[15:45:00] (END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: Sort of dead pan, David. Kind of laughing along like that uncomfortable I think there are cameras on me, I should laugh. Do you think he'll take the jabs lightly tonight especially given what we saw last night?

LITT: I don't think Donald Trump likes when people laugh at him. That's an understatement. Even that joke from the Comedy Central Roast, in theory that is self-deprecating I think there is good chance he used that self-deprecating joke to inflate his own net worth by several billion dollars, so I'm not sure taking himself down a peg is not an arrow in his quiver.

BALDWIN: What is the best fodder, Will, you said stop it with the hair jokes. Like what would be a great joke or a great bit for Trump, and then David same question on Hillary. Will, you first.

RITTER: The funniest jokes are when you reference the elephant in the room. Given his delegitimizing the election last night and the tension that exists between these two people, people are dying for civility between these two and this could be a way to show that by showing -- poking fun at yourself, poking fun at the process, poking fun at the room, but the question is can either of these candidates be humble enough to do that?

BALDWIN: David?

LITT: I would point out I think Donald Trump drew a laugh last night when he said no one respects women more than he does. So he's got one laugh under his belt.

RITTER: That destroyed the room. That was the biggest laugh of the night.

LITT: That really killed. I think for Hillary Clinton the most important thing, I agree with Will, I think being self-deprecating, acknowledging Donald Trump's behavior and his many faiings as a candidate, but most importantly recognizing that the Al Smith Dinner is about poking fun at the other person but you have to make sure you laugh at yourself.

BALDWIN: We'll take it live tonight. The big dinner that is the countdown clock for this dinner, David Litt, Will Ritter, thanks guys.

Coming up on CNN, Hillary Clinton accused of leaking state secrets when she described how long it takes to launch a nuclear weapon. We'll fact check those allegations coming up.

[15:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Four minutes. Four minutes. That is how much time Hillary Clinton says it would take to launch nuclear weapons after a president's order.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I find it ironic that he has raised the nuclear weapons, this is person who has been very cavalier, even casual about the use of nuclear weapons. He's advocated more --

DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Wrong.

CLINTON: He's advocated more countries getting them. Japan, Korea, even Saudi Arabia. He's said if we have them why don't we use them which I think is terrifying. The bottom line on nuclear weapons is when the president gives the order, it must be followed. There is about four minutes between the order being given and the people responsible for launching nuclear weapons to do so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: All right. So Hillary Clinton referred to her statement on twitter, possibly clarifying what she meant at the debate. She wrote when the president gives the order to launch a nuclear weapon that's it. The officer has to launch. It can take as little as four minutes. Barbara Starr is joining us. Did her comment violate any sort of operational security?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: You would think it would be an easy answer but it's a fairly complicated question. It got a lot of attention on social media last night. We went to the military this morning and asked them.

A military spokesman told us that they do not discuss operational timelines for launching nuclear weapons. This is some of the most classified information. I asked Defense Secretary Ash Carter at a press conference earlier today. He declined to answer the question because it involved politics. Is it really classified?

There is a lot of open-source information about, you know, publicly available information on the internet about what is involved in launching nuclear weapons. And when we asked the Clinton campaign they sent us a number of citations of that publicly-available information. Here is the bottom line.

The U.S. military does not discuss the precise specifics of the time frames of launching nuclear weapons, that, by all accounts, is extremely classified. And if you know information to be classified and you're a government official, even if it's in the open source, even if it's on the internet, you are not supposed to disclose it. Could somebody be prosecuted for it? Who knows.

That's, you know -- this is one of these constant questions in Washington nowadays. What's classified, what's disclosed? What's prosecutable? The bottom line is the U.S. military not especially thrilled to be discussing in precise detail what it takes to launch nuclear weapons.

BALDWIN: With 70 million people watching. Before I let you go, please, Barbara, tell me about the U.S. service member who was killed in northern Iraq today.

STARR: This I such tragic news for yet another U.S. military family. Earlier today a U.S. military service member was killed in northern Iraq. This was a Navy explosives ordnance disposal, a bomb expert on a mission in northern Iraq. Their vehicle apparently struck an I.E.D. this underscores ISIS very expert in laying out these devices all over the place.

We don't know if this team was exactly working with the Iraqis on the assault on Mosul but they were in northern Iraq where certainly there is plenty of combat action. U.S. troops supposed to be staying behind the front lines. But when you get into situations like this the front lines are everywhere. Brooke.

BALDWIN: Thank you for sharing. Our thoughts with his family. Barbara Starr, thank you.

[15:55:00 ] Coming up next, new comments from Ivanka Trump. Moments ago, just talking about her dad's look of political correctness and whether it's actually a liability for the campaign, or not?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Ivanka Trump out on the campaign trail today, just outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She recently made comments acknowledging her father not always politically correct.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVANKA TRUMP, DAUGHTER OF DONALD TRUMP: He is not politically correct. And, um, and I think we love that about him, right? 97% of the time. But look. Politically correct.

[16:00:00] The word "political" is in there, right? He is not a politician. People have learned to navigate and, you know, say one thing and do another, with what my father, what you see is what you get. What you hear is what you get.

He is incredibly candid. He would never, never lie to the American people. He will always be forth right with his opinions and his perspectives, even if that's not what somebody wants to hear. It's who he is. He doesn't know how to be another way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Donald Trump's daughter there, Ivanka. I am Brooke Baldwin here in New York. Thank you so much for being with me. We'll send it to Washington. "The Lead" with Jake Tapper starts right now.