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Trump Camp, G.O.P. in Crisis on Eve of Debate Rematch; Growing Calls within G.O.P. to Drop Trump from Ticket; Crude Trump Interview Uncovered. Aired 9-10p ET
Aired October 08, 2016 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:00:15] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, running for the exits. While some die-hard supporters cheer for Donald Trump, many top Republicans are abandoning him.
We'll take you inside the chaos roiling the Trump campaign just hours before the second presidential debate.
Zero chance. Trump insists there's no way he'll drop out of the race despite the exploding controversy over a video capturing his lewd and offensive remarks about women. This hour, the mounting pressure on Trump to call it quits.
And unacceptable and offensive. Even Trump's wife Melania is condemning her husband's 2005 comments. So is his running mate. This as CNN uncovers another jaw-dropping conversation Trump had about women.
We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. This is CNN's NEWSROOM.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN "Breaking News."
BLITZER: We're coming to you live from beautiful Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, the site of the second presidential debate.
Just hours before that critical rematch, Donald Trump's campaign and his party, they are in crisis. Trump waving to cheering crowds outside Trump Tower tonight in New York City even as he faces an out of control firestorm.
The G.O.P. nominee is rejecting new calls by some top Republicans to drop out of the race. He says he's staying in, quote, "100 percent."
It's been a chaotic 24 hours for Trump since a video surfaced capturing lewd and sexually aggressive comments he made about women during a TV taping back in 2005.
Tonight, more and more Republican officials are withdrawing their support for Trump and they are condemning his remarks, refusing to buy the apology posted online overnight. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I've never said I'm a perfect person, nor pretended to be someone that I'm not. I have said and done things I regret. And the words released today on this more than a decade old video are one of them.
Anyone who knows me knows these words don't reflect who I am. I said it, I was wrong, and I apologize.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Even Trump's wife, Melania, says her husband's words on that videotape are unacceptable and offensive. But in a statement she is urging people to accept his apology.
The Republican vice presidential nominee also says Trump's comments offended him. Governor Mike Pence abruptly cancel plans to attend a rally in Wisconsin tonight with the House Speaker Paul Ryan. Pence was supposed to fill in for Trump after Ryan reportedly told the embattled Republican presidential nominee that he was no longer welcome.
CNN political reporter Sara Murray is joining us from New York City right now with new details on what's going on inside the Trump campaign tonight.
Sara, stand by.
First let's look at that 2005 video and listen to the comments by Trump that created this entire crisis. A reminder, it's graphic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILLY BUSH: She's still very beautiful.
TRUMP: I moved on her, actually. You know, she was down on Palm Beach. I moved on her and I failed. I'll admit it.
I did try and (EXPLETIVE DELETED) her. She was married.
BUSH: That's huge news there.
TRUMP: No, no, Nancy. No this was --
And I moved on her very heavily. In fact, I took her out furniture shopping. She wanted to get some furniture. I said, 'I'll show you where they have some nice furniture.
I moved on her like a bitch, but I couldn't get there. And she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she's now got the big phony (EXPLETIVE DELETED) and everything. She's totally changed her look.
BUSH: Sheesh, your girl's hot as (EXPLETIVE DELETED), in the purple
TRUMP: Whoa! Whoa! BUSH: Yes, the Donald has scored.
Oh, my man. Wait, wait. You've got to look at here. You've got to --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll set this up.
TRUMP: Look at you. You are a (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
(CROSSTALK)
Maybe it's a different one.
BUSH: It better not be the publicist. No, it's her. It's --
TRUMP: Yes, that's her. With the gold.
I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her.
You know, I'm automatically attracted to beautiful. I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait.
And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.
BUSH: Whatever you want.
TRUMP: Grab them by the (EXPLETIVE DELETED). You can do anything.
(LAUGHTER)
BUSH: Yes, those legs, all I can see is the legs.
TRUMP: Oh, it looks good.
BUSH: Come on, shorty.
TRUMP: Oh, nice legs, huh?
BUSH: Oh get out of the way, honey. Oh, that's good legs. Go ahead.
TRUMP: It's always good if you don't fall out of the bus. Like Ford, Gerald Ford, remember?
BUSH: Down below. Pull the handle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Sara, there's clearly spreading outrage over that video.
So how is the Trump camp responding tonight?
[21:05:05] SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, you can tell the way the Trump campaign struggled to respond to this from their original statement last night where they called this locker room banter, to then putting Donald Trump in front of a camera to put out his taped statement. And even in the wake of that, we have seen so many Republicans today jumping ship saying they just cannot hold their noses and support Donald Trump anymore. And a number of them had called for him to step aside to pull his name from the ticket.
Reporters caught up with him today at Trump Tower when he came down stairs to wave hello to some of his supporters. This is what he said about whether he was staying in the race.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: What do you want to say to your supporters?
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Tremendous support.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Are you staying in, Mr. Trump?
Mr. Trump, are you staying in the race?
TRUMP: 100 percent.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: What do you say to the Republicans --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: Now, this is candidate who, of course, has struggled to consolidate Republican support, especially establishment Republicans behind him. And we're now seeing a number of those defections last night as well as today. But when Rudy Giuliani was leaving Trump Tower today, he sort of brushed that aside.
Listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Will he be staying in the race?
RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: Of course, he should. He's going to win.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Will you show up at the debate tomorrow?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Will he be at the debate tomorrow?
GIULIANI: Of course, he will be at the debate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Is there anything that can happen now that would convince you he should drop out?
GIULIANI: There is nothing that is going to cause his dropping out. That is a wishful thinking of the Clinton campaign and those people who have opposed him for a long time. He is in the race to win and he is going to.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: What do you make of so many fellow Republicans backing out?
GIULIANI: They largely didn't support him in the first place, so it's not much of a surprise. If you look at it, they were all Republicans who opposed him and didn't support him in the past.
And, it's basically, the insiders against the outsiders, anyway. Donald Trump is the populist candidate. Most of the people that have turned on him are members of the establishment. So I receive this as if you want change in Washington, vote for Donald Trump. If you want to keep things the same, you vote for Hillary Clinton.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Thank you very much, mayor.
GIULIANI: Thank you. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: Now I have talked to a number of Republicans today and last night who believe that this video will be the end of Donald Trump's campaign, and there is nothing he's going to be able do to recover from it. But those who are not so dire on the situation say that the debate stage is going to be Donald Trump's last chance to show some contrition and to move beyond this. But today Donald Trump took to Twitter and sort of gave us a hint for what his strategy might be on the debate stage, and it's looking like a scorched earth strategy.
He was re-tweeting tweets of Juanita Broaddrick. This is of course the woman who accused Bill Clinton of raping her in the '70s, and she was going hard against Hillary Clinton essentially alleging that Hillary Clinton bullied her in the wake of these rape accusations so that could be a clue for how Donald Trump is planning to handle this whole issue, essentially pivoting and focusing on the Clinton scandals.
Of course, there are a lot of Republicans, Wolf, who worry that could backfire.
BLITZER: Yes. Because that, tomorrow night, the debate, that could turn ugly very, very quickly.
Sara, thanks very much.
Donald Trump is trying to plow ahead with the campaign and with tomorrow night's debate. But some Republicans, they are weighing scenarios about the end game for his campaign. We have breaking news on that.
I want to bring in our chief political analyst Gloria Borger.
Gloria, what are you learning?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, there are many scenarios being played out by people who don't want to see Donald Trump remain their presidential nominee in the Republican Party.
One of the scenarios that's being played out by Republican Party elders is convincing Mike Pence to leave the ticket.
BLITZER: Wow.
BORGER: Because they believe that if Mike Pence were to leave the ticket, it would then create what one person called to me immeasurable pressure than on Donald Trump to leave.
I mean, the presumption is, of course, that Donald -- that Mike Pence would become the presumptive nominee at that particular point. But I was speaking to Vin Weber, who is a Republican party elder who was a Jeb Bush supporter. I should tell you that. Who was not a Trump fan. But he made it clear that there is a lot of chatter about this.
Again, Wolf, there's a lot of chatter about a lot of things and a lot of scenarios are being played out within the Republican National Committee now, with, you know, Republicans talking to each other.
I don't know how many people have suggested this to Mike Pence, but I do know that messages have been sent to him about this.
And Dana Bash has been reporting that Mike Pence was really upset by what occurred. We saw that he didn't go to Wisconsin today to represent Donald Trump. So, we have some sense of Mike Pence's strong feelings on this.
BLITZER: Dana, Mark Preston's with us, as well.
Dana, is there any indication Mike Pence would actually drop out as the vice presidential running mate?
[21:10:10] DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He has made very clear in his actions and his words, he's in a holding pattern. Just like a lot of other Republicans are. But for other Republicans to be in a holding pattern, OK. For him, the guy who was picked to support Donald Trump and that was sort of the reason why the two of them are together, obviously, he's his running mate, for him to say I'm out, you're on your own on this for now is a big deal. So anything is possible.
We can underscore enough, this is unchartered territory. I mean, I cannot tell you how many conversations I have had, I'm sure you have, as well, with Republican committee men, with operatives, with strategists, with members of Congress who say we don't even know how this is going to end. There certainly are succession rules. They have a plan. The Republican Party has a rule in their charter that in the platform that says if somebody drops out, this is what we do, and, you know, we won't get into that now. But that's a big, big, big if.
BLITZER: And Mark Preston, very quickly, because we know that Mike Pence, he always says he's very religious Christian first, conservative second, a Republican third.
He was deeply offended by that videotape.
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Well, he has children and the fact that he has made his whole career in Congress as a Republican leader and as a governor.
You know, based on his social conservative views. I mean, that was his driving force. Something like this clearly has knocked him off. He did a very good job of defending Donald Trump a few days ago. I think this is one bridge too far. And as Dana said, he is in a holding pattern.
As a lot of Republicans are right now and a lot of Republicans do not want to see Donald Trump running the ticket.
BASH: And he called Donald Trump today saying you're on your own. I'm not going to campaign for you.
BLITZER: He refused to go to Wisconsin.
BASH: Exactly.
BLITZER: Just to fill in for --
BORGER: That's stunning. And that gives Republicans who'd like to see Pence leave some hope that maybe he would listen to them.
BLITZER: Yes. All right, stand by, guys. I want to get some more reaction to Donald Trump's remarks from the libertarian party's vice presidential nominee, the former Republican governor of Massachusetts William Weld is joining us on the phone.
Governor Weld, thanks very much for joining us.
WILLIAM WELD, LIBERTARIAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hey, Wolf, not a bit. Thank you.
BLITZER: All right. So your running mate Gary Johnson, he had his own crisis, the so-called Aleppo moment. You've lost a lot of support apparently because he didn't know enough about foreign policy, but do you think what Donald Trump now, this videotape involving Donald Trump, what he has said about women, do you think that's going to help your party's efforts?
WELD: Well, it could. You know, I don't think we should be surprise about this videotape. Donald Trump has already publicly called women dogs and pigs as Mrs. Clinton said in the last debate. And he clearly subscribes to the chattel theory of women, women as chattel and sex objects and I don't think that's any great surprise.
It's one of -- any one of a number of reasons why Mr. Trump doesn't really have the, you know, the temperament, the character, the stability to be president of the United States. But I would not personally join those who are saying he needs to drop out of the race. I think everybody should do their job. We should go ahead, have the election and let the chips fall where they may. That's what we do. So that's my view anyway.
BLITZER: But now that Trump has had what so many see as a disqualifying moment, this videotape, does it make sense for voters who had been supporting him to now turn around to forget about some of their previous concerns involving the libertarian ticket and go ahead and support you?
WELD: Well, that's absolutely the case. And Governor Johnson and I put out a statement today to that effect.
I've been surprised, frankly, that so many Republican voters had stuck with Mr. Trump for so long given that he's campaigning 180 degrees against what everyone. Reince Priebus on down agreed the party needed to do after the 2012 election. That included free trade, emphasis on free trade, outreach to the Hispanic community, much more involvement of women, reaching out to the communities of color and all other communities of ethnicity, and that does not sound like Donald Trump, does it?
Because he's gone totally in the other direction. Bit his thumb at the Republican Party.
BLITZER: Your running mate is not going to be in the presidential debate tomorrow night.
Gary Johnson wasn't in the first presidential debate. Doesn't that suggest you really have virtually no chance of winning this election?
WELD: We don't have a -- we don't have a quality problem because we think we have the best ticket. Two two-term Republican governors who served successfully in demographic states and reached across the aisle, and we're fiscally conservative and socially inclusive and welcoming.
[21:15:00] Not mean spirited like the Republicans, not spending and borrowing money like it was water like the Democrats.
We do have quantitative problem, which is getting Gary Johnson's name recognition up to 60 percent or 70 percent instead of 35 percent. If we do that, given that he doesn't have the unfavorables of the other party's candidatures, his ballot position should go to 25 percent anyway. Maybe even 30 percent.
And if we entered November with 25 percent or 30 percent, we the libertarian ticket, I would say we're going to be dangerous because we're going to have momentum. And in the closing weeks of a big campaign, if you have your choice between money and organization and momentum, all the pros will tell you you want momentum every time.
BLITZER: Governor, when you heard Trump say in that videotape from 2005 and I'm quoting him now. He said, "When you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything." And all the other sordid things he said in that videotape. What did you think?
WELD: You know, I thought this guy is not just a narcissist. That he's not just a malignant narcissist who likes other people to fail when he's succeeding, he's Walter Mitty. He's lost in his own dreams. He's lost in his own head. He doesn't know when the curtain is up and when the curtain is down.
BLITZER: You said you're going to focus your attention now on attacking Donald Trump for the remainder of this campaign, 31 days to go.
Are you essentially working to support Hillary Clinton as a way to stop Donald Trump?
WELD: No. I said Mr. Trump would be a big focus of mine because I think he's so unfit for the presidency, but I didn't say I was going to do that exclusively.
You know, I think the Goldman Sachs tape that came out also on Friday where Mrs. Clinton said, well, I have public positions, but I also have private positions for your benefit, and I think that, you know, the people who know most about what regulation works in the financial sector are the people who already work there, namely you.
That's code for I'll be in your corner and maybe unstated but unmistakable in the background is I appreciate your financial support on an ongoing basis.
So that, you know, those are items, as well. We're an equal opportunity employer. We will point out differences with the Democrats as well the Republicans.
BLITZER: As you point out, twice elected Republican governor of Massachusetts.
As you know, the Libertarian Party platform supports legalizing prostitution and your critics say that's a form of treating women like a commodity.
Are you comfortable with the plank in your platform?
WELD: No. Not at all. And I'm running as myself. I'm not on every -- in the libertarian platform just as when I ran as a Republican. I never supported the party's movement conservative positions on abortion and gay rights.
You may recall I was an outlier as a liberal on abortion and gay rights and gay marriage for many years in the Republican Party. And, you know, Gary and I have had this conversation many times.
We'll take the good in the Republican Party platform -- I'm sorry the libertarian party platform -- but we're not going to be bound by things we don't agree with. We're running as the nominees.
BLITZER: Governor Weld, thanks very much for joining us.
WELD: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Just ahead, here on this special CNN NEWSROOM, we've uncovered clips of more crude remarks by Donald Trump in a past interview about women, sex, even his own daughter Ivanka. We'll have that and a lot more when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:22:41] BLITZER: More graphic recordings have surfaced of Donald Trump speaking crudely about women including his daughter Ivanka.
I want to bring in CNN's Andrew Kaczynski.
Andrew, these were conversations that Trump had over many years with Howard Stern on his radio show. What did you find out?
ANDREW KACZYNSKI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So these conversations represent a 17-year period. The earliest clips of Trump on Howard Stern are 1993, the latest one is 2010. Some of them are very, very graphic. So graphic we can't even play them on the air so they have to be listened to on CNN.com.
And they are, you know, him just talking about women and basically degrading women, talking about them, objectifying them. Actually, I think we have a montage of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: My daughter is beautiful, Ivanka.
HOWARD STERN, RADIO SHOW HOST: By the way, you daughter.
TRUMP: She's beautiful.
STERN: Can I say this? A piece of ass.
TRUMP: Yes.
For the last couple of years I go out with somebody and she's like 21. And she's talking about, you know, what are you doing? She's studying algebra.
(LAUGHTER)
STERN: So what?
TRUMP: Howard, it's like, it was always embarrassing for me to walk and it's too young. 30 is like a perfect age.
STERN: I thought she's 35.
(LAUGHTER)
Too much life experience.
TRUMP: What is it at 35, Howard? It's called "check-out time."
STERN: You probably -- I would say the greatest judge of beauty on this planet. In fact, I would create a TV show for you, where all you did was just judge women.
TRUMP: Now that may be the best idea of all.
STERN: It's simple thing. It's a half hour and we strip it out.
TRUMP: I would say I'd be all-time judge. STERN: You own this pageant. You go over, you look -- you are meeting the girls. One of them comes up to you and says Mr. Trump, you're very sexy, man.
TRUMP: You're a beautiful man. You have fantastic hair.
(LAUGHTER)
STERN: You're a powerful man, right? Right? You're a powerful man?
TRUMP: Right.
STERN: I want to sleep with you. And you're not the type that would say no.
TRUMP: I don't want to hurt their feelings.
STERN: Right. No, I mean, you see a beautiful woman, you want to, you want to have that.
TRUMP: Right.
STERN: You're a guy who likes to have everything.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, couldn't that be construed, however, as a...
STERN: Conflict?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
STERN: I don't. I don't see that as a conflict.
TRUMP: It could be a conflict of interest, but you know, it's a kind of thing you worry about later.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I see.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: You come to think about the conflict a little bit later on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How could it not be construed?
STERN: No, I mean, some of these foreign girls, you know, Mr. Trump, in my country, we say hello with our vagina.
TRUMP: Well, you could also say as the owner of the pageant, it's your obligation to do that.
STERN: So you have done that.
TRUMP: I will tell you the funniest is that I will go backstage before a show.
STERN: Yes. [21:25:00] TRUMP: And everyone is getting dressed and ready, and everything else. And you know, no man are anywhere and I'm allowed to go in because I'm the owner of the pageant. And therefore, I'm inspecting it.
You know, I'm inspecting. I want to make sure everything is good.
(CROSSTALK)
STERN: You're like a doctor.
TRUMP: Is everyone, OK? You know, they are standing there with no -- is everybody OK? And you see these incredible looking women. And so I sort of get away with things like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
