Return to Transcripts main page
Erin Burnett Outfront
Donald Trump Speaking at NC Rally; Trump, Clinton Exchanging Fire Over National Security; Clinton: Trump Clearly Has Something to Hide in Tax Returns; Trump Charity's Donation to Florida A.G. Questioned; FOX Settling Roger Ailes Harassment Suit for $20 Million; Interview with Larry Kudlow. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired September 06, 2016 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:10] ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: OUTFRONT next, the breaking news. Donald Trump speaking live right now. New poll showing the race almost in a dead heat.
Plus, Hillary Clinton demanding Donald Trump release his tax returns insisting he clearly has something to hide.
And FOX settling a sexual harassment suit against ex-CEO Roger Ailes for $20 million. That same Roger Ailes now advising Donald Trump. Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news. Donald Trump speaking right now as you see at a major rally in the crucial swing state of North Carolina. The two candidates going head to head today. Trump speaking right now on national security and hitting Hillary Clinton over who would make a better commander-in- chief. Trump says Clinton will be no match for Vladimir Putin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Putin looks at her and he laughs, okay? He laughs. Putin, Putin looks at Hillary Clinton and he smiles. Boy, would he like to see her. That would be easy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Clinton losing no time firing back questioning Trump's judgment on the war against ISIS.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He says he has a secret plan to defeat ISIS, but the secret is he has no plan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And in what might be the most surprising comment of the day, Senator Lindsey Graham. Now, remember, he's the guy who once compared voting for Trump to getting shot and that was maybe one of the nicer things he had to say. Here is what he just said a couple of moments ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Trump is getting better.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What makes you say that?
GRAHAM: Just the polling, and you can see more disciplined message. If he can hold it together for another eight weeks she's had massive political body blows that would knock anybody else out, and if he can cross the line in the eyes of the public of being ready for the job, then I think you're going to have one hell of a race.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: That's a pretty stunning thing coming from Lindsey Graham and here's the hell of a race that you see. Right now, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, this is a virtual tie in our new national poll here at CNN. Forty five, 43, Trump slightly on top obviously in the margin there.
Sara Murray OUTFRONT tonight at the Trump rally in Greenville, North Carolina. And Sara, Trump is really trying to chip away at Clinton's strong suit today. National security, going right for it where you are.
SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Donald Trump and his advisers believe that she has weaknesses that they can expose in this arena. He was in Virginia earlier today when he lobbed some attacks earlier. We are expecting him to keep that up tonight right here in North Carolina.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MURRAY (voice-over): In his final sprint the presidential race is coming down to a dead heat and quickly turning into a political dogfight.
TRUMP: Hillary likes to play tough with Russia. Putin looks at her and he laughs.
CLINTON: He says he has a secret plan to defeat ISIS, but the secret is he has no plan.
MURRAY: Today Donald Trump is looking to bolster his national security credential.
TRUMP: We have problems, folks. We have to figure it out, and if we don't figure it out we have to be careful and vigilant and strong.
MURRAY: While Clinton jabs at Trump for lacking the temperament to be commander-in-chief.
CLINTON: We'll going to work with our allies, not insult them. We're going to stand up to our adversaries, not cozy up to them.
MURRAY: That as the new CNN/ORC poll shows him trailing Clinton by five points on the commander-in-chief test. Trump appearing with retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn as he slammed Clinton's leadership abilities and called for closer ties with Russia.
TRUMP: Wouldn't it be nice if we actually got along with Russia. We have to get along with certain nations very importantly because it would be awfully good to have Russia and others with us on major attacks on ISIS.
MURRAY: The Trump campaign also rolling out a roster of 88 retired military leaders who say they're backing the bombastic billionaire, but not without some reservations.
BRIGADIER GENERAL REMO BUTLER, U.S. ARMY (ret.): I think they are working in the right direction, and again, I'm here because some of his people on his campaign reached out to me. So, yes, you're not doing it perfectly, but you're getting there.
MURRAY: That as Clinton tries to make the case that Trump is too big a risk to take with America's national security.
CLINTON: This November the American people have a big choice to make when it comes to national security. On the one hand we have Donald Trump who has called the American military a disaster. Who disrespects our military leaders by saying, and I quote, "I know more about ISIS than the generals do."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MURRAY: Now, Donald Trump has been going after Hillary Clinton on immigration policy so far tonight here in North Carolina. But we are also expecting him to attack her on another issue when it comes to national security and that's from the private e-mail server. He is expected to make the point that she jeopardized national security by using that and that it disqualifies her from the presidency -- Erin.
[19:05:09] BURNETT: All right. Sara, thank you very much. As we said live where Trump is speaking. As we monitor that, I want to go to John King right now in front of Washington.
And John, I mean, the polls are pretty stunning here. You know as we said, a few weeks ago, people were talking about a possible landslide for Clinton and the polls looked bad for Trump. Now you have a statistical dead heat and he's technically on top.
JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR, "INSIDE POLITICS": And let's look at the numbers Erin and I'll tell you this, Donald Trump was bragging about this number today from our new poll. It's the first national poll in a long time that shows Trump on top. Forty five-43 among likely voters. That's a statistical tie but it does have Trump on top. I can tell you this, Erin, inside the Trump campaign though, his own pollsters are telling them their numbers still show Clinton narrowly ahead. The Clinton campaign says, their numbers show her narrowly ahead but there is this poll that will help Donald Trump raise money and give him bragging rights.
This is among likely voters, 45-43 and we'll see his other polls come out if they're match by the Trump in the lead. But let's just look at registered voters, Erin. There is no question there is a tightening in this race and that Hillary Clinton has lost her post-convention glow. Right after the convention among registered voters, she was up eight points. In our new data, she is up just three points. So, there is no question the glow is coming off. One of the reasons on the issues, I could list several. But let's just look at an issue number one, the economy.
After her convention, she was about tied with Donald Trump after months of being behind him on the question of who can better handle the economy, now Trump has a 15-point lead among registered voters. One more quick one, Erin, we have been talking to a lot the last couple of weeks, Hillary Clinton's e-mail, the Clinton Foundation. Look at this question, which candidate is more honest and trustworthy. Not all they're honest and trustworthy, which candidate is more honest and trustworthy. After the convention Trump had an eight-point lead. Fifteen points now in our new data. No question, the character question is about e-mails and fund-raising and hurting Hillary Clinton.
BURNETT: Which is a pretty stunning gap as you point now, 15 points. Now, you can look though at that poll and then you say, all right, that would be how the popular vote goes of course as we have now seen in this country, it doesn't really matter, right? It's the state by state and what do you see there?
KING: So, that's what we need to watch now. We need to watch and see if the state by state polls come out and show anything like our new national poll. Because right now it is advantage Hillary Clinton. Right now, by CNN projections if the elections were today, Erin, never mind, one, two, three, four, five, yellow states, those are toss-ups, we have Hillary Clinton winning as of now, 273 electoral votes, it takes 270 with the states that are dark blue, solid Democrat and light-blue leaning Democrats.
So, Donald Trump needs to change this map, let's watch in the next few weeks. But it's by no means out of reach. Donald Trump right now is only down a few points in Florida. If he could turn that around, that's the biggest states, 29 electoral votes. He's only down a couple of points in North Carolina, he has to win North Carolina, and he's only down a couple of points in Ohio. So, let's just say for the sake of argument, there is this Trump momentum starting out, and we'll see if it exists but if he can get Florida, North Carolina, Ohio in his point, then he is more in play and still needs to change something.
Here is the plan. Plan A for Trump and try to change Pennsylvania. That would do it. Those four states. Plan B for Trump, Erin. He was in Virginia today. If he can't get Pennsylvania, if that stays blue, try to get Virginia which is about five point, Clinton lead right now in average. And then get Iowa. So, at the moment, that would do it for Donald Trump. At the moment, you have to go back to this map, it's advantage Clinton. Make it work. See, it works better when you do that. At the moment, advantage Clinton. But there is no question, the race is tightening, now let's watch what happens between now and that first debate in a couple of weeks.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, John King. And OUTFRONT now, Trump's supporter Kayleigh McEnany, David Brock,
founder of the pro-Clinton Super Pac, Correct the Record. Monica Langley, senior special writer at the Wall Street Journal. Clinton supporter Karine Jean-Pierre who is also the national spokesperson for MoveOn.org. The co-chair of Trump's campaign in New York Joseph Borelli and Alex Burns, national political reporter at "The New York Times."
David Brock, let me start with you. This is the first national poll as John said in a long time that has put Trump on top, sure a statistical margin, we don't know if others will follow. This is not something that you thought would happen again. Here we are. He's back on top. Worried?
DAVID BROCK, FOUNDER, CORRECT THE RECORD, A PRO-CLINTON SUPER PAC: No. You never want your candidate to be behind in a poll, but let's remember a couple of things. This race was tight in July, pre- convention. Two, what really matters is the national average of these polls, of these national polls and she's three to five points ahead there. She's ahead in I believe the average in virtually every swing state. This poll happen to weigh non-college educated whites more heavily than they turned out in 2012. That could be a right assumption but it could be wrong.
And Hillary has said, she's going to campaign as an underdog whether she's ahead or not. And that's what she's doing. The more people see of her and the more they're going to like it. And the more they'll going to press her and she's going to win this race.
BURNETT: Trust obviously has not been going in that direction. Let's just be honest. But Kayleigh, you obviously think this is the beginning of a big momentum.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: I do and I think we've seen it coming. You know, David mentions the average of polls while just last week CNN reported that CNN's poll of polls, that is to say the average of polls showed that he made up half the grounding of Hillary Clinton --
BURNETT: Yes.
MCENANY: -- and that was confirmed by our independent polling today and he's ahead by two and it's worth mentioning. He made up 11 points in four weeks. He's leading 20 points among Independents, that's a group Mitt Romney won by just five points. Married women, 17 points. It is not good for Hillary Clinton. This trend is so definitively --
BURNETT: So Karine, I want to ask you what the married woman point that she raises. Right? We always hear the women. It's just, forget about it for Donald Trump. But when you look at married women, she has a point. More than half of married women, 53 percent support Donald Trump. All right. That is an environment where frankly most of the coverage they hear is negative about Donald Trump and women. Why isn't she winning women across the board?
[19:10:21] KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, NATIONAL SPOKESWOMAN, MOVEON.ORG: Well, look, I think this is one poll. We are just getting into the last two months of this election. Look, for me, I would rather have the conversation of, like, let's see when he wins Latino votes or black vote, right? Which is not going to happen. But look, what she's doing is she's putting together a Democratic coalition that helped Obama win in 2008, Obama win in 2012 and he can barely string along his Republican coalition that Romney lost by four percent, you know, in 2012. So, that's the key. You have to put together the coalition that helps you get to the win.
BURNETT: And Joe, are you going to do better here among women? Is that a focus? I mean, I would imagine the Trump campaign is pretty shocked about being ahead with married women.
JOSEPH BORELLI, NEW YORK CO-CHAIR, DONALD TRUMP CAMPAIGN: Well, I think what Kayleigh said, we're leading very heavily amongst married women, so you have got to find allies where they're at. And I think it's worth noting that Trump is doing better with women than Hillary Clinton is doing with men and that's something that we never, ever hear from the media. Moreover than that, look at some of the other cross steps, Trump is absolutely killing it with enthusiasm. I think he has a 15-point lead among enthusiastic voters.
BURNETT: Yes.
BORELLI: These are people that don't live in a bubble. They see everything that's happening with Hillary Clinton and foundation of the e-mails and they're just being disgusted and turned off.
BURNETT: Monica, he's not leading on foreign policy, terrorism and the economy, his foreign policy, big, big drop there. Clinton is ahead of Trump by 16 point points. Trump may not be the right word. There is a big gap. Okay. Sixteen points ahead. But yet, we saw him today in Virginia, we see him now in North Carolina. Why is he spending all this time on foreign policy?
MONICA LANGLEY, SENIOR SPECIAL WRITER, WALL STREET JOURNAL: Well, that's where he needs to address his campaign. And so, he has the general with him today. And when I was traveling with him last week, he had Senator Sessions talking to him about foreign policy and national security so he's trying to go there. I talked to someone from the Clinton campaign today though, they just went up. With ads in Georgia and Arizona exactly on the point of foreign policy and national security.
They're going after the women, the suburban moms because they believe that's the one area they can attract some women is because they're worried about Donald Trump's, you know, his character, his ability to stay focused and, you know, what she's always complaining about. Do you want his hand on the nuclear weapon?
BURNETT: And Alex today, 88 foreign military leaders sending out a letter backing Trump. Now of course, this comes after you had bipartisan groups coming out and saying, they could never vote for Trump, right? Some pretty damning indictments of him. But now he's got 884. Is that going to help him? ALEX BURNS, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, NEW YORK TIMES: I think
there's no question that that's the direction that he needs to move towards.
BURNETT: Uh-hm.
BURNS: But the biggest -- for Trump declare in addition to just called the groups that he has grievously offended trying to bring back some of those people. I think what he has declared is just being seen as a possible commander-in-chief that up to this point --
(CROSSTALK)
BURNS: Right. I think that there are a lot of people who look at him and see him as, you know, a person who they sympathize with in some ways, they like some of the things that he says, is still can't imagine him as the president of the United States. Erin, I think if you look at the thing that really popped for me in your poll today was just that Trump was as high as 45 percent. I think there were a lot of people who were skeptical that he is actually ahead of Clinton at this point as John mentioned in his report. But up to this point, he's been stuck in the high 30s and 40 percent seemed like a ceiling.
BURNETT: Right. The ceiling has changed.
BURNS: If he seems credible enough to get into the low to mid-40s, suddenly you're looking at a much closer race.
BURNETT: Which is pretty fascinating. And again, the incredible nature of Lindsey Graham. I am being the one to say that. All right. All staying with me. Because next, we're watching Trump at this major rally in North Carolina speaking right now. Hillary Clinton is calling for Trump to release his tax returns and she says that his taxes have a story Americans must know.
Plus, Trump saying the Federal Reserve tried to protect President Obama. Did he go too far? I'm going to ask my guest moneyman, Trump advisor Larry Kudlow and did Trump pay to play? It's a stunning allegation and our CNN investigation is coming up this hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:17:09] BURNETT: Tonight, Hillary Clinton hammering Donald Trump over his tax returns promising she will not quit until he releases them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: He said that the American people don't care about his tax returns, and in fact, he's also said that it's none of our business. I just think he's dead wrong. He clearly has something to hide.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, is he dead wrong or is his bet on the American people dead-on? Joe Johns is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hillary Clinton fielding questions from the press for a second day in a row.
CLINTON: I had so much fun yesterday, I did want to do this again. Adventures on the plane.
JOHNS: Traveling aboard her new campaign plane to Florida. Clinton called out Donald Trump for not releasing his tax returns.
CLINTON: The scams, the frauds and the questionable relationships, the business activities that have stiffed workers, refused to pay small businesses, so, clearly, his tax returns tell a story that the American people deserve and need to know.
JOHNS: Clinton is also targeting Trump on the airwaves, highlighting the GOP's nominee's past comments about veterans and military families in a new television ad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What sacrifice have you made for your country?
TRUMP: I think I've made a lot of sacrifices, built great structures, I have had tremendous success.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those are sacrifices?
JOHNS: But Clinton is still facing questions when it comes to her honesty, amid the fallout from her use of a private email server while secretary of state. Today she dismissed calls by Republicans to launch an investigation as to whether she tried to impede Congress' initial probe into her e-mail server by deleting archives of her messages.
CLINTON: I believe I've created so many jobs in the sort of conspiracy theory machine factory because, honestly, they never quit. They keep coming back.
JOHNS: That as a new CNN/ORC poll shows that 50 percent of likely voters see Trump as the more honest and trustworthy candidate while 35 percent choose Clinton. Vice President Joe Biden tells CNN's Jeff Zeleny that Clinton should let voters know how she really feels.
VICE PRES. JOE BIDEN (D), UNITED STATES: My advice to Hillary always is, just open up. Let them see your heart more because she has the heart.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: And speaking of high-profile Democratic surrogates, more evidence that we're beginning to see a pickup in the tempo here in the campaign trail both First Lady Michelle Obama and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren expected to hit the campaign trail for Hillary Clinton in the coming days -- Erin. BURNETT: All right. Joe Johns, thank you very much. My panel back
with me.
Kayleigh, let me start with you. Sixty three days left and Hillary Clinton says, every one of those days she is going to come out and pound the table on the taxes. Okay? That's something that's going to start to get a lot of notice. It's not just going to be shows like us who care about tax returns who do the story. Right? This is going to start getting pick-up. Does he care?
MCENANY: Well, I think Hillary Clinton making a transparency argument after Friday we find out that he was required by law. Trump's not required by law to release his taxes, he was required by law to preserve her records but instead her aides used hammers to smash the devices. Instead she was under subpoena to turn over Benghazi emails instead of turning them over someone within her, one of her aides used a process called BleachBit to bleach them from cyberspace and out of eternity. So, for her to make a transparency argument, when -- this Friday, it really falls on deaf ears and looks a bit hypocritical.
BURNETT: David?
BROCK: Well, look, the reason that this Jihad has been waged against the Clinton Foundation is because the Clinton Foundation is transparent and releases old donors, it doesn't have to do that. That's number one. I'd like the same kind of transparency from Donald Trump on the tax returns and it's not just about his net worth and financial issues and it goes back to the national security issue we talked about in the last segment. Who are his foreign investors when he is so cozy with Putin? We need to know that before we can trust him with our national security. We can't vote without this information.
MCENANY: David, how can you say that they've turned over all of their foreign donors when today a story breaks that they didn't abide by New York laws to hang over and disclosed their foreign donors --
BROCK: They've been fully transparent and on the e-mail issue, the FBI, you may not like the results of the FBI investigation, but it's been investigated.
MCENANY: You just changed the subject from the Clinton Foundation to emails.
BROCK: And so did you from the tax returns with Donald Trump which is still secret to the Clinton Foundation.
BURNETT: So, Monica, let me ask you about this.
LANGLEY: Uh-hm.
BURNETT: Because e80 percent of voters say they were bothered by how she handled the e-mails. Sixty eight percent of voters say they're bothered by him not releasing tax returns. Majority in both cases.
LANGLEY: Right. BURNETT: But certainly, a much more overwhelming one when it comes to the e-mails.
LANGLEY: Right. And there's much more overwhelming evidence about the drip, drip, drip of the e-mails. This has been going on a year. The tax return issue has been going on, as well, so they both face problems with public disclosure. So we have that. However, the tax return is one thing that he's been consistent on. She has been according to the Trump campaign completely inconsistent about the emails until she finally fessed up they say about, I was wrong, I did it wrong.
But believe me, Donald Trump is planning at the first debate to say that she said, I can't recall 39 times which they say no spouse or child would expect that kind of answer. I can't recall what I did 39 times. Trump just said today on the stump that she is, you know, she is saying, you know, that I had 14 cell phones or 13 cell phones in four years. She says, no other person does such a thing and she doesn't know where all of them went.
(CROSSTALK)
[19:22:48] BURNETT: And the -- David, they're not all located.
LANGLEY: So, the Trump campaign plans to nail this issue.
BROCK: People think the FBI didn't do a good job in this investigation. They did a good job. They closed the case and I understand their critics who still don't accept the results of the FBI. We've been doing this with Hillary Clinton for 25 years. There is still an abiding faith that there's some kind of silver bullet here and every time they try to find it, they move the goalpost, they're still looking so now we've, I guess, we've got another Congressional hearing coming up next week. This is all partisan and remember, Republican leader Kevin McCarthy told us long ago when we made up the word un-trustable that this was a Republican strategy and unfortunately you're seeing a little bit at the results of that --
BURNETT: All right. On this front, there is also now a development on the medical records front tonight. Karine, Donald Trump has come out and actually changed this a little bit. He had said, if you put out yours, I'll put out mine. Here he is on ABC.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I might do this. I might do that. In fact, now that you ask, I think I will do that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You will?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. So what he was saying was, why not go first? I might just do it. In other words, I'm not going to wait for her.
JEAN-PIERRE: Right. BURNETT: All right. So, how much pressure just this put on her, to put those medical records out?
JEAN-PIERRE: But Erin, here's the thing, he says things all the time that he's going to do and he just doesn't do it.
BURNETT: You just don't believe he'll do it.
JEAN-PIERRE: I just don't believe that he'll do it. He actually said I was going to release my personal taxes and he never did.
BURNETT: Fair point.
JEAN-PIERRE: So, I think until he actually does it, then we can have a conversation. So, it's just, you know, he hasn't proven to be an honest broker on this one.
BURNETT: Is he going to do it, Joe?
BORELLI: I'll take him at his word. I think it puts Hillary in an awkward position and it's not just about Hillary. People of this network, when Vice President Dick Cheney had a heart attack in 2001, tons of people on this network and other networks called on him to release his medical records --
BURNETT: Which he never did.
BORELLI: Right. And in 2008 when it was both Vice President Biden, candidate and it was John McCain, both men were around the same age as Secretary Clinton is right now, people demanded their medical records. So I don't think this is so foreign. This is not about specifically Hillary Clinton, there's some reason why she might not do it. I'm not going to speculate. I'm not a doctor, but I think it's a valid question.
BURNETT: Alex?
BURNS: Oh, I would basically disagree that I don't know that it puts any particular question on Hillary Clinton up until the moment Donald Trump asks --
JEAN-PIERRE: He actually does that.
BURNS: -- medical records which frankly, I would love to see. I think they should both release binders and binders full of information about their medical history.
(LAUGHTER)
But, you know, I'm not going to be able to -- I think it would be a terrific read. But look, I do think that, you know, in some ways the narrow focus on the tax returns as such misses the larger point that the Democrats are trying to make with the tax issue that they're not going to just be saying every day, release your taxes. They're going to be doing a version of what Harry Reid and what Mitt Romney in 2012 in saying, you know, maybe he has ties to, you know, insert offensive group here and, you know, putting it on Trump to deny that. I don't know if that's an entirely fair tactic. We found out after the fact in 2012 that Harry Reid entirely made up --
BURNETT: Completely made up. Yes.
BURNS: His supposed information on Mitt Romney's taxes. But, you know, this idea that Trump has sort of gotten away with that because of the e-mail issue. I don't think we've actually seen the rest of the argument play out.
BURNETT: All right. And of course, now there are big questions when it comes to the finances of Trump of pay-to-play.
Next, FOX News saying, $20 million to settle a sexual harassment suit against the ex-CEO Roger Ailes.
And did Trump donate to a Florida politician in exchange for frankly what would be a major favor? Well, we have an investigation into that payment, the timing, the date, all of that, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:30:16] BURNETT: Donald Trump speaking right now in Greenville, North Carolina. Tonight's rally coming as the Clinton campaign raises new questions about whether Donald Trump paid to play.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT: He made a political contribution to the attorney general of Florida who at the time had her office investigating Trump University. And mysteriously the investigation vanished.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, our Drew Griffin has been looking into this donation and here's his report OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAM BONDI, FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL: It is my great honor to introduce to you --
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Florida's Attorney General Pam Bondi is a huge supporter of Donald Trump.
BONDI: The next president of the United States of America, Donald Trump.
GRIFFIN: Bondi is also the Florida attorney general whose office decided not to pursue a case against Donald Trump, and the decision was made almost exactly at the same time Trump made a $25,000 donation to Pam Bondi's political PAC.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I've just known Pam Bondi for years. I have a lot of respect for her. I never spoke to her about that at all.
GRIFFIN: Trump on his plane this weekend denies any connection. Pam Bondi also forcefully denies any connection, calling it bullying by the Clinton campaign.
BONDI: I will not be collateral damage in a presidential campaign nor will I be a woman bullied by Hillary Clinton.
GRIFFIN: So what did happen?
Here are the facts. Pam Bondi took office in 2011. Trump University was already out of business. Prior to her taking office, Florida's attorney general's office received 20 complaints about Trump Institute, a business affiliated with Trump. But it, too, was out of business.
Since Pam Bondi took office up until the decision was made, Florida received just one complaint against Trump University.
According to a spokesman for Florida's attorney general, it wasn't enough to justify Florida filing suit. Instead, staff doing due diligence reviewed the complaints and the New York litigation and made the proper determination that the New York litigation would provide relief to aggrieved consumers nationwide.
In other words, Floridians could join New York's lawsuit.
The spokesman also told CNN, Pam Bondi had nothing to do with it. The decision was made by staff.
The fact the spokesman says Pam Bondi didn't even know there were complaints against Trump.
But around the same time the Florida attorney general's office was deciding to not pursue a case against Trump, Pam Bondi was pursuing Donald Trump himself for a political donation. It was a September of 2013. Trump's foundation donated $25,000 to Bondi's political action committee. Bondi's attorney general's office never pursued the case.
Did one follow the other?
Pam Bondi, again today on Fox Business News, says no.
BONDI: Of course, I asked Donald Trump for a contribution. That's not what this is about. She was saying he was under investigation by my office at the time, and I knew about it. None of which is true.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: Erin, several other states also decided not to the pursue cases against Trump University even though they did have complaints on file. In this story where timing is everything, at the time this decision was made in Florida, the attorney general's office, as I said, had one complaint against Trump University and the school itself had been shut down for nearly three years -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Drew, thank you very much.
So, obviously, there's a lot of questions here, Joe. So, let's just start when people look at this from the surface level, they look and they say, OK, there is a big question as to whether she and Donald Trump talked about donations and she said, yes, he says no. Somebody is not giving an accurate rendition there. But the bottom line is, this donation comes in at $25,000 and then they decide not to pursue this case.
BORELLI: This is the Clinton campaign, you know, grasping at straws to try to paint him as a pay to play person just like she is. If people are looking at a conspiracy theory, they could obviously find it with the Clinton Foundation.
That said, she is one of the majority of attorneys general in the states that had gotten complaints about Trump University. She is not one. She is one of many who declined to prosecute and open up a lawsuit against Trump University.
I'm on the Trump leadership team here in this state. If I file a lawsuit against Hillary Clinton right now, you'd all fault me as a partisan hack. Well, guess what, the only attorney general in the entire country who is prosecuting a case and filing a lawsuit against Donald Trump is on the Clinton campaign team in this state.
So, I think this is grasping at straws. It's convenient that this is being talked about today, the day where we see Hillary Clinton's campaign in sort of a little downward spiral.
[19:35:02] There is not evidence that you presented that even indicates there was any type of quid pro quo. When there is, unlike the Clinton Foundation --
BURNETT: There was a check and then she declined to go forward. Now, again, that's just a matter of timing, right? Then you have to discuss intent.
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: Erin, here's the problem, he spent an entire cycle bragging about how he pays off politicians. This is what he did for whole, entire, like 14 months, right? He says, I know how the system works. They call. I give them money and then two or three years down the road, you know, I have access.
So, when you say those things and this comes up, how could you -- it's not a Clinton thing. This is what Trump did. He put it out there.
BURNETT: So. let me play because you just said he said that. He said it and you are right, again and again and again with great pride. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I give to everybody. When they call I give and you what? When I need something from them, two years later, three years later, I call them, they are there for me. I've got to give to them, because when I want something, I get it.
When I call, they kiss my ass.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCENANY: He's exposing the system. That's the way Washington works. He's exposing the system.
BURNETT: He's admitting what he himself does.
MCENANY: This was not the case with Attorney General Bondi, and it's really important to point that out.
And here's what Donald Trump does. I am so happy the Bondi story came up, actually, because when he found out there was impropriety with the foundation, giving money to what was not a non-profit. You know what he did? He reported himself to the IRS. You what he did? He paid $25,000 to remedy the wrong.
Contrast that with Hillary Clinton when there are allegations against her foundation, she denies them, she doesn't disclose donors, we found out today, not in compliance with New York state law.
Hillary Clinton hides the truth. Donald Trump remedies something when he finds out it was wrong.
BROCK: Well, we know it was illegal and we know it was fined. This isn't something somebody made up.
(CROSSTALK)
BROCK: No, one of my groups filed the IRS complaint.
MCENANY: He self-reported. He paid.
BROCK: Secondly, this is exactly what he accuses of Clintons of. It's prima facie evidence of corruption. It looks like a criminal bribe. There was apparently a quid pro quo. Let's get to the bottom of it.
(CROSSTALK)
BORELLI: Where was the quid pro quo? Where was it?
BROCK: He makes a donation, she doesn't investigate.
BORELLI: You said it was. So, tell me.
BROCK: That's an exchange. That is committing a massive fraud and paying off --
(CROSSTALK)
BROCK: That's not the only one and there are other contributions to other states attorneys general. BURNETT: OK. But she said she discussed this contribution
beforehand. He says they didn't. So, somebody is not telling the truth. Whether someone forgot or is lying, I don't know.
LANGLEY: I think his spokeswoman came out today and said he may have discussed it with her, on a contribution, that they've been friends for a long time. So that's unclear at the moment. But they both are clear that they never discussed Trump University.
As a reporter I tried to talk to both sides on this issue today. Clearly, he violated the law and everything that he is saying about the Clinton Foundation is all about the appearance of impropriety. The Trump campaign on the other hand says this is one tiny violation.
What you have with the Clinton Foundation is a systematic pattern of impropriety and pay to play which will point out every day and here on out.
BURNETT: We'll see.
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: Which should happen on either side.
(CROSSTALK)
MCENANY: David, we've proven quid pro quo on Clinton's side. The only evidence we have is the prince of Bahrain wanted a meeting with Clinton and they said don't go through these channels. Go through the Clinton Foundation --
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: OK. We're going to hit pause there.
Next, FOX News paying out $20 million in a sexual harassment suit. Should Trump cut ties with the man, his adviser at the center of it, Roger Ailes and Trump slamming the Federal Reserve.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Well, they keep the rates artificially low so the economy doesn't go down, so that Obama can say he did a good job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Trump economic adviser, TV host Larry Kudlow, is OUTFRONT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:43:06] BURNETT: Tonight, $20 million. That is a massive sum FOX is going to pay former anchor Gretchen Carlson who accused her old boss Roger Ailes of sexual harassment. A source telling CNN the company also settled a handful of other women who say Ailes harassed them. Still no word from the ousted FOX News CEO, he's now actually advising Donald Trump. Brian Todd is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONENT (voice-over): The lawsuit that exploded at FOX News Channel tonight brings a game-changing settlement. 21st Century Fox agrees to pay former anchor Gretchen Carlson $20 million and in an extraordinary statement, FOX apologizes for the alleged sexual harassment Carlson said she suffered from former FOX News chief Roger Ailes. Quote, "We sincerely regret and apologize for the fact that Gretchen was not treated with the respect that she and all our colleagues deserve."
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Companies like FOX do not pay $20 million settlements when there's no there there. The Murdochs who own FOX are convince Ailes was harassing women in his office at FOX News.
TODD: Ailes was ousted after more than 20 women reportedly spoke with an investigating law firm about his alleged advances toward them. He denies the allegation.
TRUMP: It's very sad because he's a very good person.
TODD: Ailes is now advising Donald Trump as he prepares for the debates.
TRUMP: I do cherish women. I love women!
TODD: But Trump has serious problems attracting women voters, a CNN poll shows him trailing by double digits among women. It's partially due to comments like this about a debate challenge from FOX News anchor Megyn Kelly.
TRUMP: You know, you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes -- blood coming out of her -- wherever.
TODD: Democrats call Ailes' involvement a slap in the face to women voters.
HILARY ROSEN, HILLARY CINTON SUPPORTER: The idea that now he has a sexual harasser as his top media adviser, it will disgust a lot of women and really, frankly, confirm what people already think about him.
[19:45:02] TODD: Trump has a pattern of insulting female candidates like this shot on ABC at Hillary Clinton.
TRUMP: I just don't think she has a presidential look. And you need a presidential look. You have to get the job done.
TODD: The Trump campaign denies that Ailes is advising them, formally or informally, but analysts say Trump could benefit from the man who helped get Richard Nixon elected.
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Whatever else you may say about Roger Ailes, he was a maestro when it came to television. I'm not sure you can point to anybody in the Republican Party, who is a better debate coach.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: We reached out to Roger Ailes' attorney who would not comment on the settlement other than to say that Ailes is not contributing to any of it. The attorney also wouldn't comment on criticism that Ailes could be a liability to the Trump campaign -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Brian Todd, thank you very much. $20 million, pretty stunning as we said for just one anchor.
OUTFRONT next, Hillary Clinton attacking Donald Trump for saying the Federal Reserve create a false economy to help the president. Did Trump cross the line? Larry Kudlow is OUTFRONT next, the Trump adviser.
And Jeanne Moos on the Trump/Clinton air war. Who's got the better set of wings?
(COMMERICAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Tonight, Hillary Clinton is slamming Donald Trump for accusing the Federal Reserve of trying to help President Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Another example why he shouldn't be anywhere near the White House. You should not be commenting on Fed actions when you are either running for president or you are president.
[19:50:05] Words have consequences. Words move markets. Words can be misinterpreted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So here's exactly what Trump said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They're keeping the rates artificially low so Obama can go out and play golf after January and say that he did a good job. But it's a very -- it's a very false economy. We have a false economy. We have a bad economy, everyone understands that, but it's a false economy and at some point, the rates will have to change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OUTFRONT tonight, economic adviser to Donald Trump, CNBC senior contributor Larry Kudlow and the author of the new book, "JFK and the Reagan Revolution: A Secret History of American Prosperity".
Larry, you heard Hillary Clinton saying these comments showed Donald Trump is not fit to be president. Is it irresponsible of him to come out and say the Fed which should be independent is trying to help President Obama?
LARRY KUDLOW, ECONOMIC ADVISER TO DONALD TRUMP: I actually -- well, no one is going to be able to confirm that, all right? But I don't have a problem with presidential candidates talking about monetary policy. It's a gigantic part of our economic policy. It's had a huge impact on our economy.
And I don't think much of the Fed myself. I don't think much of what they've done in the last seven, eight, nine years. I don't think it's helped the economy.
Mr. Trump has said before that he will not rehire Janet Yellen. I don't know if he's staying with that. I haven't actually talked to him about money. All I want is a stable dollar. Remember king dollar, you and I used to talk about king dollar?
BURNETT: Yes, we did, Larry.
KUDLOW: In the days of old, I want king dollar, and I want pro-growth tax rates particularly on business to get this economy moving to 5 percent. That's all I want.
BURNETT: So, 5 percent growth. That's what you've been talking about with Donald Trump and advising him on his tax plan.
Look, there are some people who say that what he has put out there is going to be horrific. Mark Cuban is one of them, right? You know, today, he came out and said if Trump wins, the market's going to tank. This is something he said to me a couple of months ago. He doesn't mince words when he said it. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK CUBAN, OWNER, DALLAS MAVERICKS: When there's -- you know, you're flip-flopping when you're not sure what the candidate's going to say from one thing to another. That uncertainty, you know, potentially has the president of the United States, that's the last thing Wall Street wants to hear. And I can say with 100 percent certainty that there is a really good chance we could see a huge, huge correction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: He then went on to say, Larry, 20 percent plus.
KUDLOW: It could be right. I mean, everybody's right. The clock passed to 12 twice a day. Mr. Cuban is entitled to his opinions. I'm not going to disagree about the stock market.
I think, by the way, we are in a profits and business recession. So, that's a little bit difficult.
BURNETT: But do you think Donald Trump has the best plan to make things better?
KUDLOW: Well, I do. Regarding taxes and regulations, I think he's done it right. I think he's very much in the JFK-Ronald Reagan mold. Both of those presidents were faced with slow growth. Both of them cut tax rates across the board for individuals and businesses.
Mr. Trump's doing the same thing, and I think you will have great success if he cuts through, and frankly, he hadn't changed that tune all year. There's been some tweaking about his plan. I'm not the only guy working on it. There are a lot of other people working on it, but he has a sound growth plan.
And here's what I don't get, Erin. Look, Hillary Clinton whose husband lowered the capital gains tax. I know he raised the income tax, but lowered the capital gains tax. Hillary Clinton has completely forgotten the legacy of John F. Kennedy.
She now attacks rich people and rich corporations and capital gains and this and that. Kennedy was a tax cutter. That's the key point and his legacy has been completely written out of Democratic Party history. It need not be because the point we make in our book, look, the Kennedy and the Democrat look for a good dollar and lower tax rates. Reagan, the Republican, duplicated the Kennedy formula and said so in a million speeches, if something works, why not try it?
Big spending and big regulation not working, so it's time to try something different. I'm going to send Mrs. Clinton a copy of my book in the feint hope that she might have a look at it.
BURNETT: And JFK, one of his mottos, was "get this country moving again".
KUDLOW: Yes.
BURNETT: Sounds a lot like "make America great again".
Do you really think Trump is like Kennedy?
KUDLOW: Well, I'm not going to say Trump is like Kennedy. That's an all-encompassing statement, what I will say is Trump's tax-cut policy is very similar to John F. Kennedy and very similar to Ronald Reagan's, and both of those guys, let me just make this point. Kennedy's Republican Treasury Secretary Douglas Dillon lost to history, but we're bringing him back, persuaded Kennedy to do this, OK?
Ronald Reagan knew how to go across the aisle in a bipartisan way and recruit Democrats who opposed his plan. I don't think tax cuts for growth has to be a Democrat plan. I don't think it has to be a Republican plan. I see it as an American prosperity plan.
[19:55:00] And I think people need to sit down and talk about it. The history is there and we tried to illuminate it as best we can.
BURNETT: All right. Well, I hope people will read it, thank you very much.
LUDLOW: Good to see you.
BURNETT: Wonderful to see you again. Larry and I spent a lot of time working together and it's wonderful to see him again. And OUTFRONT next, Jeanne Moos on the nose to nose plane in a neck and
neck race.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: When it comes to presidential plane, is more more? Trump and Clinton go tail to tail.
Here's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Coming soon to campaign stops nationwide.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The plane! The plane!
MOOS: But which plane? Is it Donald Trump's customized 757 or Hillary Clinton's blue 737 on its maiden voyage as the campaign plane? Hillary's ended up parked within sight of the Donald's and Hillary was asked how she felt seeing his plane.
CLINTON: I didn't feel anything. Was I supposed to?
MOOS: Trump's plane is more fantasy island.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twenty-four karat gold-plated sink. You will notice the seat belts as well as everything else are 24-karat gold plated.
MOOS: While Hillary's is a normally con figured plane carrying 96 passengers, Trump's carries 43 and puts them in seats adorned with the Trump family logo.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here we are in Mr. Trump's bedroom.
MOOS: Mrs. Clinton doesn't have her own bedroom on her plane.
One major difference, Hillary's plane is a rental.
While the Donald bought his jet used, it's now 25 years old. The Donald makes up for all that gold plating by sending out photos of himself eating McDonald's and KFC albeit with a knife and fork. Both candidates held airborne gaggles with reporters.
Hillary had a coughing fit, "allergic to Trump", she quipped. She broke off her gaggle.
One critic coined the #airallergy while another photoshopped surgical masks on the press.
But there's no question whose press is bigger, the President's Air Force One.
Trump's is bigger than Hillary's and the Donald told "Rolling Stone" it's bigger than Air Force One, but "The Washington Post" got the specs to prove Donald wrong. Pants on fire, better pants than an engine.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: Thank you so much for joining us.
"AC360" starts now.
