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Erin Burnett Outfront
Melania Trump Sits Down with CNN; Awaiting Donald Trump in Wisconsin; New Polls: Trump, Clinton Neck-and-Neck in Swing States; Trump Doubles Down on Claim Election is Rigged; Stern Breaks His Silence About Racy Trump Interviews; CNN on Front Lines in the Battle for Mosul. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired October 17, 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. Melania Trump speaks out in a candid and rare interview with CNN. What does she think about her husband's comments on tape and the allegations that he sexually assaulted multiple women?
Plus, Donald Trump is about to speak live as U.S. conspiracy theory. What it is and where is the evidence?
And Howard Stern opening up about Donald Trump, is Trump too crass even for Howard Stern? Let's go OUTFRONT.
Good evening, I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news, Melania Trump speaks out. Donald Trump's wife sitting down with CNN tonight. The first time she's speaking out since the explosive "Access Hollywood" tape and since allegations surfaced that he sexually assaulted several women. Here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, "AC360": It was ten days ago that "Access Hollywood" released that tape. I'm wondering when you first saw it, when you first heard it, what did you think?
MELANIA TRUMP, WIFE OF DONALD TRUMP: I -- I said to my husband that, you know, the language is inappropriate, it's not acceptable, and I was surprised because that is not the man that I know. And as you can see from the tape, the cameras were not on. It was only a mic, and I wonder if they even knew that the mic was on because they were kind of a boy talk, and he was lead on, like, egg on from the host to say dirty and bad stuff.
COOPER: You feel the host, Billy Bush, was sort of egging him on?
MELANIA TRUMP: Yes. Yes.
COOPER: Is that language you had heard him use before?
MELANIA TRUMP: No. No. That's why I was surprised because I said, like I don't know that person that would talk that way. And that he would say that kind of stuff in private. I heard many different stuff, boys talk. I -- the boys, the way they talk when they grow up and they want to sometimes show each other, oh, this and that and talking about the girls and, but, yes, I was surprised, of course.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And Donald Trump, as you hear Melania Trump getting ready to go to that podium. He'll be there momentarily in Green Bay, Wisconsin, about to take the stage. A several new national polls show Hillary Clinton in the lead today. Trump trailing Clinton by nine points as CBS News poll released literally seconds ago. Eleven points by NBC and 12 in a new Monmouth poll.
Anderson Cooper as you saw was with Melania Trump today and he's with me now. I mean, you know, I was just asking you, but before we start talking, you know, what her eyes looked like, you know, how she emotionally seemed and what else were the highlights that she spoke to about?
COOPER: You know, that was sort of the first thing I sort of said, just like, you know, how are you doing? It's been a rough couple of weeks. She said she's feeling strong. Everything is great. You know, no sign of any kind of difficulty for the last week or two and obviously after talking extensively about the "Access Hollywood" tape I moved on to the allegations by the number of women with who have come forward.
She said she categorically believes her husband Donald Trump when he says that all of them are lying. She told me that she has seen many women go up to Donald Trump in front of her and handing him phone numbers that she's confronted women in the past about this sort of stuff. And she believes none of it is true, that that is not the man that she knows, that she agrees he's a changed person from the person who you heard on that tape.
BURNETT: And when she gave you the example of other women giving their phone numbers to him, it sort of sound like she's saying, well, the women throw themselves at him.
COOPER: I mean, yes, not in using those words, but, yes, I think that was the reason she was bringing that up, the idea that women approach him. She said, you know, at one point, you know, he doesn't even like to shake hands, that it's unlikely that, you know, he would be suddenly randomly kissing people without any kind of consent.
BURNETT: Wow. Pretty stunning. Obviously I'm not going to be lewd about it, but right, you don't touch anyone's hands, you don't want to do anything else. All right. Anderson, pretty incredible interview. And I know almost a half an hour. You're going to see all of it, Anderson's interview with Melania. Trump coming up at the top of the hour. You will hear everything she had to say unvarnished.
And I want to go to Jim Acosta now. Jim is OUTFRONT in Green Bay, Wisconsin where Donald Trump is about to speak obviously. Anderson was saying many people from the campaign came in to see that interview. Donald Trump was not there with his wife today. He's out there now where you are. Do you expect him again to address these accusations of sexual assault tonight or will he try to pivot to something else? JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Erin, I think
he's going to try to pivot tonight. I think it responsible we will hear Donald Trump talk about this in the context of what we heard over the weekend, which is he believes that this is all part of a rigged deal to throw the election to Hillary Clinton, but it does sound like he's letting his wife, Melania, take the lead in defending him in his campaign against these accusations we've been hearing over the last week or so.
[19:05:12] I will tell you that from talking to a Trump campaign official, they would like to pivot to something else and that in particular is Hillary Clinton's use of a private e-mail server when she was secretary of state. We did talk to a Trump campaign official in the last few minutes and received some of his prepared remarks that he's going to be delivering here shortly. He is going to be talking about that and specifically joining in on this Republican claim that the State Department and the FBI were somehow working together to suppress or cover up that scandal, something that the FBI and the State Department deny.
We're also going to hear Donald Trump make a pitch for lobbying reform both at the White House and up on Capitol Hill, but, you know, Erin, this is a Donald Trump rally, you know, expect the unexpected. It possible Donald Trump could end up talking about all of this and just to give you a sense as to what we've been hearing so far tonight, Sheriff David Clarke from Milwaukee who is a big Donald Trump supporter, said earlier this evening, warming up the crowd here, that it's pitchforks and torches time. Trying to rev up this crowd here. That is shocking to hear coming from a law enforcement official, but of course, in this campaign, anything goes -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much. And we're going to be talking much more about that. Pretty stunning talk.
OUTFRONT now, Lisa Bloom, attorney for Jill Harth who filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Donald Trump. Kristin Tate, a Trump supporter. Jackie Kucinich, the Washington bureau chief for The Daily Beast. And Mark Preston, our executive politics editor.
Mark, let me star with you. You know, you just saw Melania Trump there. The tape that she was talking about came out more than a week ago. Since then, CNN reports more than nine women have come forward. She finally does interviews today. Without her husband and refers to it as just boys talk and that she's seen women give their numbers to her husband, which as you know, heard Anderson talking about sort of implying, women throw themselves at him. Was this effective strategy, this interview?
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Well, it certainly in many ways she has become one of his top surrogates, certainly at this time. You have to wonder, though, Erin, would it be more effective had she done this several days ago? You know, to your point when that tape came out on a Friday night, it took a full day, it took until the next day before Melania Trump actually issued a statement. Had they issued a statement that night when that news started to break, it probably would have been more effective. The fact Donald Trump wasn't sitting next to her as well, you have to
wonder, would that have been more effective for her sitting by her husband at a time when he needs her the most? And for her to come out and say things that she's seen women throw themselves at him or slip telephone numbers, look, that's pretty powerful in many ways but I do have to wonder the timing. Why did it take them so long to have Melania Trump come out and do this interview?
BURNETT: And Lisa, you just heard Melania say, she thinks Billy Bush was egging her husband on. And Anderson was very clear, do you think he egged her on? She said, "yes." And then she continued to say her husband probably didn't know the mic was on. Do those excuses add up?
LISA BLOOM, ATTORNEY FOR WOMAN WHO SUED TRUMP FOR HARASSMENT IN 1997: Well, sure, Donald Trump is always the victim, right? And she also says, well, he's just engaging in boy talk. This is a 59-year-old man who's now a 70-year-old man running for president. He's not a little boy and he can't blame everybody else. He has to take responsibility. But what really struck me about the interview was, we are not just talking about some foul language. I don't think any of us cares about foul language. What we are talking about is bragging about sexual assault. And I hope that in the longer interview, we're going to see her address that issue because that's what the hot-mic tape is really all about.
BURNETT: Kristin?
KRISTIN TATE, CONSERVATIVE COLUMNIST AND DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: You know, I don't think this interview is really going to change much. Melania Trump could help Trump soften his campaign a little bit and maybe broaden his appeal to women but the bottom-line is this. If Trump wants to win in November, he's got to stop talking about these scandals and focus on the issues. Hillary is a very weak candidate. A Washington Post poll from last month shows that 60 percent of Americans think she's corrupt and took in pay-to-play politics when she was secretary of state.
And only 33 percent of her own supporters say they're very enthusiastic to go vote for her. So, this should be Trump's election to lose and it could be if he focuses on the issues and doesn't make this into a squawking match about who's the most personally corrupt.
BURNETT: Right. You don't want to have him talk about these issues. Nonetheless, though, Jackie, this is an issue out there. Obviously enough so that Melania Trump came out and finally gave an interview that I think it's pretty clear she didn't want to give, or Donald Trump didn't want her to give, whatever. If they had, they would have done it together as a couple and they would have done it Friday night when that tape came out.
JACKIE KUCINICH, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE DAILY BEAST: Right. I mean, Donald Trump can't stop talking about it, though. I mean, he's the one who keeps bringing it up, he went to a rally and basically went through the whole litany of accusations and then went through and said he didn't do anything.
BURNETT: Personally disparaging, I do want to note, this physical appearance of at least one of the women.
KUCINICH: And Hillary Clinton for that matter. He said, you know, that he wasn't impressed with view of her. So, he's the one who's kept this story going and, you know, having her, it might soften him, but also having her pass the buck to Billy Bush, I don't know if that's helpful at all to the case. Because he is supposed to be the strong businessman who, you know, does what he wants.
BURNETT: Kristin, when you hear Melania's reasons, right? She said women throw themselves at Donald Trump. She said, Donald Trump doesn't like to touch people, the implication being that he wouldn't touch someone in an unwanted manner. Billy Bush was egging her husband Donald. Are these excuses?
[19:10:25] TATE: No, they're not excuses. And if these allegations against Trump are really untrue, he ought to politely say this isn't true and move on. In the 1990s, the American people forgave Bill Clinton when he had an affair with her intern. And he paid Paula Jones $850,000 so settle a sexual harassment case. They forgave him because they liked how Bill Clinton worked with the Republicans to make our economy stronger again and balance the budget. These are the issues that the American people care about. And, you know, just like they care about securing the boarder and making our economy strong again. That's why Trump needs to focus on those issues.
BURNETT: So, Mark, I found what's interesting about Kristin here is she sitting here as Donald Trump supporter. And she's not saying, OK, that interview was a home run and I find these excuses viable. She's saying, let's not talk about it anymore.
TATE: Assuming they're not true.
PRESTON: Well, I think a lot of Republicans are saying that specifically, though -- specifically Republican leaders. I am going to tell you, who we haven't heard from in a very public way, she's been on the campaign trail but hasn't done the interviews is Ivanka Trump. She is turned out to become Donald Trump's best surrogate. We've seen so far this campaign. I mean, let's go back to July when she gave that really strong speech in Cleveland where a lot of people were looking at her saying, when is Ivanka Trump going to run for president? But having her go out defending her father as well would also be very powerful and I'm surprised, Erin, we haven't seen her yet.
BURNETT: And what do you say about the excuse about he doesn't like to be touched, he doesn't like to touch people, you know, because he likes to always use Purell or whatever. That Melania put out there, you know, we're going to hear more about that. But what do you make of that?
BLOOM: Most of the women alleged that they were groped on top of their clothing. We heard them talking about putting in a Tic Tac and going to kiss women. I don't think that goes very far. Look, the bottom-line is, I don't hold Melania Trump responsible for her husband's behavior, I don't hold Hillary Clinton responsible for her husband's behavior. I hope nobody holds me responsible for my husband's behavior. I mean, one of the things I always liked about conservatives is the idea of personal responsibility. We expect wives to come out and support their husbands and good for her. But I don't think this interview is going to really move the needle much for anyone.
BURNETT: All right. We hit pause there. Thanks to all.
And next, the breaking news. New polls out tonight from CNN. Trump and Clinton neck and neck in key swing states even after all this, neck and neck. And Trump about to speak live in Wisconsin says the election is rigged and he keeps saying it again and again, you hear pitchforks coming out over it. We're going to fact check those claims tonight.
Plus, Howard Stern speaks out today about Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD STERN, HOST, "HOWARD STERN SHOW": I knew I had a guy who loved to talk about sex. I had a guy who loved to evaluate women. On a scale of one to 10.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Howard Stern speaking out. Did Trump go too far for even him?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:16:37] BURNETT: Breaking news, brand new polls tonight showing Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump neck and neck in key swing states.
David Chalian is OUTFRONT with the numbers. And David, pretty incredible when you think of the things that have happened in the past ten days, nine days, just how close is the race in some of these must- win states?
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, Erin, we tested three of the most contested states. So these are a lot closer races than we're seeing nationally overall. Let's take a look first at Nevada. Where Clinton has a two-point lead here. Forty six percent to 44 percent for Donald Trump. Seven percent for Gary Johnson. It's one of his better states. We also looked at North Carolina. Another very close race, basically tied. Hillary Clinton at 48 percent. Donald Trump 47 percent. Johnson lower here down at four percent. And Ohio, which is sort of Donald Trump's stronghold right now in the battleground, look at this, it's got a four-point edge for him, 48 percent for Trump, 44 percent for Clinton. Johnson at four. And Jill Stein down at two.
So take a look at the overall battleground map right now. You see, we have four states in yellow here. This is our remaining real tossup states. We tested three of them. And here's the key thing to remember. Look at that number for Hillary Clinton. Two-seventy-two. All the states that are solidly in her corner or leaning her way, she's already over the threshold. Donald Trump could win the four remaining tossups and still not get there. So he is seeking for where else he can go to take a state that is already in her corner and bring it to his side. Perhaps a state like Pennsylvania or Wisconsin where he is tonight.
BURNETT: And which of course is, I mean, when you talk about that, obviously the strategy to do that, incredibly complex. I mean, and you're not just talking here. Obviously it's a state-by-state race. That's our Electoral College. But we just have a whole bunch of national polls coming out even in the past few moments. What is the situation overall?
CHALIAN: Well, this is where you see Hillary Clinton now sort of opening up a bigger national lead. Take a look at our CNN poll of polls, this averages together all the recent polls that we've seen through today that have been released and Hillary Clinton has an eight-point edge here. Forty seven percent to 39 percent nationally. Johnson at six. Jill Stein at two. That's a pretty significant lead nationally. I would imagine we'll see that narrow. He's probably feeling the most effect right now in the polls, Donald Trump is, sort of from the last ten days of a really tough time.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you. David Chalian of course going to stay with us.
OUTFRONT now, Donald Trump supporter Jeffrey Lord, Hillary Clinton supporter Angela Rye, Jackie Kucinich is also back with me. And David Chalian will be with us.
Angela, incredibly close. OK? When you think about over this polling timeframe, right? You had a tape, you had allegations by at least nine women. And yet here you are, two of the three swing states are within the margin of error. The one that is just barely outside is the one where Trump is on top. All right. It's pretty stunning that that is the case. Why is that the case?
ANGELA RYE, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: I blame Jeffrey. No, I'm just kidding. I think really seriously, there are a couple things. One is, you look at a state like North Carolina, and I can't help but to think about the fact this is still a pretty conservative state. It is something that we've thought about over time like, OK, maybe this can go blue again but the reality of it is, Hillary Clinton is still a woman running for president. I think that that has to have something to do with it.
When you look at a state like Ohio, on the other hand, where even married women are trending towards Trump and he's leading with married women, you think about the impact that trade has had. He's made very compelling arguments I think, frankly, about trade. Ones that she hasn't been able to counter. Maybe she will at this week's debate. But those are some of the factors that I think go into this that are very different depending on if you're in the rust belt or in the south.
BURNETT: How surprised are you by these polls? Did you expect all of this, the tape, the allegations to hurt him a little bit more?
JEFFREY LORD, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: I thought, frankly, they might, but I really do think that some of this has to do with Hillary Clinton personally as a candidate, as, I mean, lots of people on both sides are sort of, particularly Democrats, have rolled their eyes and thought she's a weak candidate. I mean, you would think after all of this that he'd be ahead by, you know, I mean, 50 points, I mean, a lot.
(TALKING OVER EACH OTHER)
Well, OK. All right. I'm exaggerating to make a point. I'm exaggerating to make a point. She is not leading. And I think that this is because she's been -- I don't think it does have to do with her being a woman. I think it has to do with the fact that she's been around the political scene for 35 years and 25 years. People know her. And the impressions you see in these polls, these negative things, I keep coming back to the Quinnipiac poll where people can choose what they say about her and the number one was liar and number two was dishonest. When you see that and then you see the different narratives of different things, the e-mails, and all these sort of things, they reinforce that. And I think that's a problem for her.
[19:21:08] BURNETT: So, on the national front though, eight points, I mean, that is a pretty stunning gap that you're talking about. Obviously it doesn't matter, what matters is the state-by-state. But you are going through, if he wins the big swings, right? Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, he still doesn't win.
CHALIAN: Yes, so think about this. If you were -- if we took our poll results that came out in those three states and those really were the actual election results tonight, right? So she edges out a win in Nevada, she edges out a win in North Carolina -- let's say, Donald Trump --
BURNETT: Yes.
CHALIAN: It's the 2012 Romney/Obama map with three changes. She gives up Ohio and Iowa, and she takes back North Carolina. It's still a huge -- that would be a big Electoral College victory for her.
KUCINICH: But the Trump campaign, it's just over the weekend opened up a war with the Ohio GOP and the Trump campaign. The Trump chairman basically parted ways with the Ohio GOP chairman. Saying he wasn't being supportive of the Trump campaign because he said that the video concerned him and told candidates that if you need to part ways, you part ways. They looked at that as an affront. Meanwhile, the Ohio Republican chairman is voting for Donald Trump and he is working for him. So, in the meantime as he is leading in Ohio, he's picking fights with the Ohio GOP that's trying to help him win.
CHALIAN: Look where Barack Obama was at the end of last weekend in Cleveland.
KUCINICH: Right.
CHALIAN: They're not giving up there at all. They're going to put a lot of force into Ohio as well. BURNETT: Does it surprise you, though, that this is happening? I
mean, is this going to hurt him or is Ohio in your mind pretty much set here?
CHALIAN: Oh, I don't think it's set at all. I think Ohio is going to be a real true tossup battleground all the way through to November 8th.
BURNETT: So the Clinton campaign is up with an ad in several of these swing states. And I just want to play it. I am trying to link Donald Trump to famous bullies playing on the pop culture aspect here. But there's something very serious. Let me just play it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fat boy.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'd look her right in that fat ugly face of hers. She ate like a pig.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're so stupid.
TRUMP: How stupid are the people of the country?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to see you --
TRUMP: Get him out of here. Get out!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on.
TRUMP: He's like a little baby.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on, cry.
TRUMP: Oh, I don't know what I said.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So, does that help Hillary Clinton, Jeff, or does that actually reinforce what Trump wants, which is, yes, I can be a nasty guy, but I'm a strong man.
LORD: I think it was a mistake for this particular commercial. You notice the reference in there to nurse ratchet. Rush Limbaugh, back in the '90s, started referring Hillary Clinton as nurse ratchet. This has been around out there for decades and I think correctly that he's -- I checked with him tonight, he believes he's the first person to have gone there with this. For her to try and make the same -- to bring this up in the context of Donald Trump, I mean, this isn't going to fly. I mean, you got Juanita Broaddrick out there saying, she's the bully. So, man, I would just stay away from this entirely.
RYE: I think that probably only Rush Limbaugh listeners know that. I certainly didn't know it.
LORD: Twenty million of us know. RYE: Well, that's pretty good. You better hope all of you turn out.
But I would say this, I think that the ad is very effective because it's harping on something very clearly that demonstrates that Donald Trump is, in fact, a bully. That is appealing to our most basic values. Elementary school values. We're talking about this in the greenroom, it's not about trying to get your kids to think that Donald Trump is a bad guy. It's about making sure that parents remember that. And I think that is the key --
LORD: Juanita Broaddrick would be the answer to that.
RYE: So, OK --
LORD: I mean, that's what she accuses --
RYE: I don't actually --
KUCINICH: That isn't having any reference.
RYE: Yes.
KUCINICH: There are several polls that came out today or yesterday -- today -- that said that, you know, that actually isn't really changing any minds, bringing that back up, bringing up --
BURNETT: The sexual assault against Bill Clinton.
KUCINICH: Exactly.
BURNETT: That is right.
KUCINICH: Yes.
BURNETT: All right. Thanks to all.
And next, live pictures of Donald Trump speaking in Wisconsin. There he is in Green Bay. His supporters making some threats. Listen to them. If Hillary Clinton's elected.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN BOWMAN, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Hillary needs to be taken out. If she gets in the government, I'll do everything in my power to take her out of power.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And Howard Stern on Donald Trump. What does the king of shock jocks think about Trump's so-called locker room talk? He breaks the silence tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:29:02] BURNETT: Breaking news, Donald Trump about to speak in Green Bay, Wisconsin, a big rally in the crucial battleground state. Trump this weekend doubling down on his charge that the election is rigged against him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The election is being rigged by corrupt media pushing false allegations and outright lies.
The process is rigged. This whole election is being rigged.
And remember this, it's a rigged election because you have phony people coming up with phony allegations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: This is a charge that many of his supporters agree with. Miguel Marquez went to see them, went to talk to those supporters at a Trump rally today. And here's what they said.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBBIE HOYT, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Listen, they got all the computers rigged. They know everything we're all doing. They're watching this right now, you know, all they need is a couple of satellites out there.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the campaign trail, a darker turn. Trump supporters angrier than ever over claims so far basely of a rigged election.
[19:30:02] DEBORAH LYNN, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: They probably already know who's going to win.
JACOB STRUENSEE, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: You got the Bush crime family, you got the Clinton crime family and all that money, all money, new money, spent on rigging.
MARQUEZ: Trump, himself, fueling $e conspiracy and the anger.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is a rigged system, folks.
MARQUEZ: Lashing out at every turn about the electoral process.
TRUMP: It looks to me like a rigged election. You see what's happening. The process is rigged. It's a phony deal.
MARQUEZ: His most ardent supporters taking the message to new levels.
DAN BOWMAN, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: I feel like Hillary needs to be taken out. If she gets in the government, I'll do everything in my power to take her out of power.
REPORTER: Is that a physical threat?
BOWMAN: I don't know, is it?
MARQUEZ: Trump's Twitter feed full of claims but no proof. "Large- scale voter fraud, election is absolutely being rigged by the dishonest and distorted media and coordinated effort to steal the election."
RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NYC MAYOR: I found very few situations where Republicans, they don't control the inner cities.
MARQUEZ: Even some prominent surrogates echoing the claims, again, no proof offered.
GIULIANI: You want to tell me that I think election of Philadelphia and Chicago is going to be fair? I would have to be a moron to say that.
MARQUEZ: A Clinton win, say some Trump adherents, amounts to a stolen, an invitation to chaos.
DEBBIE HOYT, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: And there will be a civil war. And I don't know --
MARQUEZ (on camera): You think it will come to that?
HOYT: Absolutely. You don't understand the passion in this country. I'm just one voice. There's a lot of people like me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: Now, there is a lot of anger among a lot of Trump supporters out there. Many of them believe that it is the distortions in the media as they say it that is driving that electoral problem that they say out there.
One other thing is that the vice presidential candidate seems to be a little off message, Mike Pence saying that at the end of the day, both he and Donald Trump will support whatever the outcome November 8th -- Erin.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thank you very much, Miguel.
Pretty terrifying when you heard what that man had to say. You know, Drew Griffin investigated the claims here, the claims of voter fraud. And that's a pretty -- you know, this is what Donald Trump keeps saying, it's rigged, it's rigged, they're going to have voter fraud in Philadelphia, in Chicago. Very specific.
What did you find?
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: We investigated their claims that they sent to us, actual cases of voter fraud. They happen. They're extremely rare. There's no proof of any kind of vast conspiracy or an attempt to rig an election.
And today, several Republican officials I talked to from Florida to Philadelphia, to out west, believe this attempt to smear an election's validity is wrong without factual basis.
What the Trump campaign is doing, they're citing tiny cases of individual voter fraud. They're citing a couple of studies, one with debatable results, others they are misinterpreting and trying to use this cherry-picked information to conclude the entire system is rigged.
It is not. We asked the Trump campaign for its proof. They sent this e-mail today. This details all the facts alleged by them about fraud and we checked them out.
The big one is this study. It's done by researchers at Old Dominion University that shows noncitizens voting in large enough numbers in some areas could effect very tight races. I talked to the author today. He admitted his data, and therefore, results, are being challenged.
He admits the sample size is small, but the author tells us he stands by his study until proven otherwise and says, yes, noncitizens voting could sway a close race. He has no proof it's ever happened.
Trump campaign cited this study, Pew Research, which showed problems with voter registration, including more than a million dead people who are registered to vote. The study does not mention a single example of actual voter fraud. Pew got back to us today, saying its study found no evidence of any fraud at polling places.
Trump's campaign also referenced a study done by a Philadelphia city commissioner. It shows voter fraud has occurred in Philadelphia, but any conclusion that it proves the system is rigged is completely false, according to the author who is a Republican city councilman. In the last two years, eight people in Philadelphia have been convicted of voter fraud -- nothing that would swing an election.
BURNETT: I mean, that's pretty incredible when you think about it.
Now, Rudy Giuliani, has made another surprising claim on the issue of voter fraud. Let me play that for you because I know you looked into it. Here's Rudy Giuliani.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIULIANI: I'm sorry, dead people usually vote for Democrats rather than Republicans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: This is the issue that you mentioned -- dead people voting.
GRIFFIN: Right.
BURNETT: True here for Democrats?
GRIFFIN: As evidence, Trump's campaign pointed us to Colorado, where it is true, dead people have voted. According to the secretary of state, six to seven dead people have been voting by mail in the last several elections. Six to seven people in elections where 2 million people have cast their ballots. [19:35:02] The secretary of state's office says the minute they found
out about it, they began rescrubbing the system to try to eliminate even the possibility for fraud here. But, again, it's just six to seven people, Erin, and as an aside, the secretary of state's office tells me that most of these mail-in ballots, they were mail-in ballots, were mailed to homes that were traditionally Republican registered.
BURNETT: So, the six to seven could have actually helped Republicans, being obviously the bottom line. Pretty stunning.
All right. Drew, thank you.
Let me bring in Jeffrey Toobin into this conversation now.
You know, I think this was really powerful what Drew did. Go case by case. Put out there what the Trump campaign is saying then go and check it.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Facts. Facts are powerful, aren't they?
BURNETT: But you know what? If they can go out there and say it, a lot of people not hearing any facts will say, maybe it's true. He just went through it. It's not.
TOOBIN: Here's another fact for you. Loyola Law School did a study -- since 2001, 834 million votes have been cast in all elections and 35 examples of in-person voter fraud, you know, voter impersonation, illegal voting, have been found -- 35 people out of 834 million votes cast.
BURNETT: I mean, so you put that to rest, then, though, you have things like this. Sheriff David Clarke who is obviously the sheriff out in Wisconsin, introducing him at this rally. Just tweeted, "It's incredible our institutions of government, White House, Congress, DOJ, and big media are corrupt and all we do is bitch. Pitchforks and torches time."
TOOBIN: He's a sheriff. Can you imagine?
BURNETT: He's not been relieved of duty. He's a sheriff. And then you have the man that Miguel spoke to, "I'll take her out. Is that a physical threat? I don't know. Is it?"
TOOBIN: It's an ugly time. It's an ugly time.
And remember, this is the first election we're going to have where there's a lot of open-carry laws allowing people to carry weapons. Will they be near polling places? Trump has said, you know, people need to monitor voting places.
BURNETT: Right. Check their precinct.
TOOBIN: Now, it's perfectly appropriate to leaflet at a certain distance from polling places, but voter intimidation is a very serious thing and it's a crime. How many Justice Department officials are there? There are tens of thousands of voting places. They can't be everywhere.
So, it's something that we really need to keep an eye on.
GRIFFIN: I mean, to the republic, I think even more dangerous is voting manipulation by this misquoting of facts.
BURNETT: Right.
GRIFFIN: And allowing people to believe this ignorance intentional, because the facts are there. These people at the Trump campaign that sent me this stuff, they've read these studies. They know what these studies say.
I just -- you know, people need to -- you can't say it enough, people really need to educate themselves and not just believe anything we say. You could look this up, you could do the research, yourself, if you wanted to.
This is nothing. There's no voter fraud that's going to sway any election.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you, both.
And next, the breaking news: major fallout from Donald Trump's lewd videotape. Billy Bush officially fired from NBC.
And our Nick Paton Walsh on the front lines in the biggest battle against ISIS. We're live in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A lot of coalition planning, a lot of American air power.
(GUNFIRE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:42:09] BURNETT: Breaking news, Billy Bush no longer with NBC effective tonight. His departure following the lewd conversation he had with Donald Trump during that "Access Hollywood" taping. That tape, of course, leaked more than a week ago.
And this comes as Howard Stern breaks his silence about his many interviews with Trump -- interviews that one after the other are coming back to show the character of the Republican nominee.
Brian Stelter is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: When I did an interview with Howard Stern -- BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a
name you probably did not expect to hear at a presidential debate, but shock jock Howard Stern is playing a key role in the 2016 election.
HOWARD STERN, SHOCK JOCK: Donald, seriously, you know about sexual predators and things like that.
TRUMP: Right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are one.
STELTER: Donald Trump's many visits to the "Howard Stern Show" in the 1990s and early 2000s are now coming back to haunt him, especially his comments about women.
TRUMP: Women are worse than men. They're more sexually aggressive than men.
STERN: You know my wife.
TRUMP: No, no, they're worse than men.
STERN: They are.
TRUMP: If they're married, they're even worse.
The boob job is terrible.
A person who's flat-chested is hard to be a ten.
STELTER: Even his daughter, Ivanka, was fair game.
STERN: By the way, your daughter --
TRUMP: She's beautiful.
STERN: Can I say this? A piece of ass.
TRUMP: Yes.
STELTER: Or an 18-year-old Lindsay Lohan in 2004.
STERN: Can you imagine the sex with this troubled teen?
TRUMP: You're probably right. She's probably deeply troubled and therefore great in bed.
STERN: Back in the day --
TRUMP: How come the deeply troubled women --
STERN: Yes.
TRUMP: -- you know, deeply, deeply troubled --
STERN: Right. TRUMP: -- they're always the best in bed.
STELTER: Back then, it was just two famous New Yorkers, one celebrity bad boy talking to another.
Trump says it was all in good fun, and recently told Dr. Oz he was not thinking about his political future.
TRUMP: If I ever thought I was running for president, I wouldn't have done the show or I would have given him very boring answers.
STELTER: This boring answer from 2002 about the looming invasion of Iraq has been a friend to fact checkers, contradicting Trump's claim that he opposed the war from the start.
STERN: Are you for invading Iraq?
TRUMP: Yeah, I guess so. You know, I wish it was -- I wish the first time it was done correctly.
STELTER: Stern, himself, is supporting Hillary Clinton, but on his show this morning, he lashed out at the steady drip of embarrassing interviews.
STERN: Why don't I play all the tapes? And I have to tell you why. I feel Donald Trump did the show in an effort to be entertaining and have fun with us. And I feel it would be a betrayal to any of our guests if I sat there and played them now where people are attacking him.
STELTER: But every day, it seems tapes of old interview are coming out. Whether Howard Stern wants them to or not.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: And I want to credit the KFILE they've done all this outstanding work, forensic work to find all of these things.
STELTER: Yes.
BURNETT: Howard Stern saying, oh, he liked to talk about women, rate them one to ten, he liked to talk about sex. So, pretty damning what he did say.
[19:45:01] STELTER: Indeed.
BURNETT: Billy Bush, pretty significant he is out and it sounds like from your reporting he is out with the last word in terms of he's getting all the money.
STELTER: That's right. Just in the past few minutes, this deal was officially signed. NBC announcing his departure effective immediately. NBC's paying him many millions of dollars. You know, he had a three-year, $3 million a year contract. He's essentially being paid out his contract to stay off the air. But my sources are saying he has no noncompete clause. And what that
means is he could show up on some other TV network right away. Now, probably not before the election, he doesn't want to address this controversy right away. He could show up on TV somewhere else in a matter of months.
BURNETT: Pretty stunning.
All right. Thank you very much, Brian.
STELTER: Thanks.
BURNETT: And Melania Trump sitting down with Anderson, talking about the sexual allegations against her husband. That interview is coming up in 15 minutes.
As you get ready for that. Next, on the front lines in the battle to defeat ISIS. This is a stunning report from the front lines. We are live there.
And then, is this why Trump wants "Saturday Night Live" canceled?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What about all the women accusing you of sexual assault?
ALEC BALDWIN AS DONALD TRUMP: They need to shut the hell up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news: a massive battle underway tonight against ISIS. It's a major offensive to end ISIS' reign over Mosul, the largest city it seized.
[19:50:02] Our Nick Paton Walsh is there on the front lines. He's witnessed the fighting and is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They've been waiting years to finally push through the lines and take on ISIS' brutality. And when the day, it was still a dusty, slow grind. Peshmerga into the desert to flank a main road to Mosul, distinctive American vehicles with western occupants in their convoy.
Air strikes often hitting the places they were headed to first. Hopes ISIS might not fight for the tiny settlement surround Mosul quickly dashed.
(on camera): This is the first village they -- they move down the road toward Mosul and they're encountering pretty heavy resistance, returning fire with what they have.
(voice-over): Which are often blunt and old.
(GUNFIRE)
WALSH: They want this over, fast.
Suddenly, there's panic. They spot a car. A suicide car bomb racing toward them. It's ISIS.
One, two, rockets try to hit it.
(GUNFIRE)
WALSH: The third is lucky.
They pushed on towards the main prize, the road itself to Mosul. Flanked by oil fires lit by ISIS and airstrikes piling in regardless. Shells still landing near the Peshmerga, a casualty taken away.
Down on the main objective, the road, itself, ISIS sent two car bombs at them and attacked from both sides.
(on camera): The Iraqi military, too, at some points will have to push down here towards Mosul. This has been an effort with much international support, lot of coalition planning, American airpower --
(GUNFIRE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shut the doors. Whoa.
(GUNFIRE)
WALSH: I'll move. This is yours.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay in the car now.
WALSH (voice-over): ISIS is still everywhere, even in the hills. They give chase to one man, an ISIS fighter. He shoots a Peshmerga.
Humvees rescue him and they hunt on. An ISIS fighter pops up from a tunnel shots, he blows himself up. A tenacity and desire to die that will surely slow and bloody the fight ahead.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALSH: Erin, what does this mean for the fight ahead? Well, there had been some optimism that maybe the broad, deserted plain you saw there around Mosul wouldn't be fought for so hard by ISIS. They clearly left people as you saw there willing to die to slow down the advance of coalition and Iraqi forces. That may mean the fight for the urban sprawl of Mosul which is densely populated, 1.2 million people potentially trapped in there say aid agencies, well, that fig could be even bloodier and messier than previously thought.
We could be in for a months'-long trauma here for these people who have already lived under years of is control, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much to Nick.
A stunning and courageous report for Nick. You saw the cameraman also risking his life. Pretty stunning to bring you that story of exactly what is happening in this crucial battle.
And next, Donald Trump from guest host to target. Why Trump wants "Saturday Night Live" canceled.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:58:02] BURNETT: Every week, the presidential candidates are mocked on "SNL". But Donald Trump is not laughing.
Here's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Maybe it was Alec Baldwin portraying him as "Jaws" --
KATE MCKINNON AS HILLARY CLINTON: Number two, no lifetime limits --
MOOS: -- that made Donald Trump want to bite back.
MCKINNON: And number three --
MOOS: On "SNL," the Donald called it, "a hit job on me. Time to retire the boring and unfunny show. Alec Baldwin portrayal stinks."
MCKINNON: And number four --
MOOS: Baldwin, himself, must not have been too hurt because he retweeted Trump's insult.
And to think Donald, himself, has graced "SNL" over the years --
(SINGING)
MOOS: Apparently before it was boring and unfunny.
TRUMP: It's a special thing. It's a great honor. You know, it's like a feather in your cap.
MOOS: OK. So Trump says Baldwin stinks, but what does Hillary think about how she's been portrayed?
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When Kate McKinnon came out with the walker, I thought I was going to fall off my chair.
MCKINNON: I'd like to begin tonight by attempting a casual lean.
MOOS: Obviously, "SNL" won't be saying sorry to Trump.
BALDWIN: I deeply apologize.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you trying to say apologize? BALDWIN: No, I would never do that.
MOOS: Another thing Trump almost never does, have you ever seen Donald Trump laugh? You rarely see the Donald genuinely cracking up. We found only a couple instances from this campaign. The jolliest was when a screech interrupted a Trump rally.
TRUMP: This is something you shouldn't --
(SCREECH)
TRUMP: What was that, was that a dog?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hillary!
TRUMP: Uh-oh. It's Hillary.
MOOS: Bet you won't catch the Donald doing this while watching "SNL."
BALDWIN: Wrong, wrong, wrong.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: And thanks so much for joining us.
"AC360" starts now.
