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Interview with Clinton Campaign's Brian Fallon; Trump Reaching Out to Minority Voters; Efforts Continue in Italy Amid Aftershocks; Trump Speech Expected in Manchester, New Hampshire. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired August 25, 2016 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:30:00] BRIAN FALLON, PRESS SECRETARY, HILLARY FOR AMERICA: She means all of it. And, yes, I do think that last night, in the words that she used, she conveyed an unmitigated expression of regretted for all of this. And I think that's what she's been trying to convey all along. And I think - I've been in this position, too, of answering many questions from you and from others. And when we try to provide facts or try to explain her state of mind as to what was going on in 2009 when she made this decision, it can sound like we're trying to excuse it. And what she wanted to convey to Anderson Cooper last night, and what I want to convey here today, is that she absolutely takes responsibility for it, considers it a huge mistake and would never do it again.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: But why doesn't she say those words? I hear - I heard you say "server." Why doesn't she say that?
FALLON: I think that's completely what she meant to convey last night.
KEILAR: You think she means it?
FALLON: If Anderson had asked her the follow-up, if she meant the server, too, she would have said yes.
KEILAR: OK. Listen to what - this is a different topic - because you have come up, by name, with Donald Trump's campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway. Here's what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I'm glad we're back in her head. That was goal number one. And I'm glad we're obviously there. Her spokesman, Brian Fallon, said this morning, hey, if you don't like her, don't vote for her. Wow, he just basically told the majority of Americans that say they don't like her and they don't trust her that they don't have to vote for her. He basically did my job by 8:00 this morning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Your response, Brian?
FALLON: Well, this is just another lie from the Trump campaign. They completely twisted my words and they're misreporting what I said. What I said yesterday was that given all these questions that are being asked about the foundation and whether the foundation should continue if Hillary Clinton wins the presidency, my point was, if anyone is so bothered by the foundation's continued work on issues like providing HIV/AIDS drugs throughout the developing world, if they think that those programs continuing is a hindrance to them voting for her, then we understand that and we can deal with that and we accept that. But we think that that is actually important work that should continue and Hillary Clinton believes in that work.
KEILAR: Sure. And I don't think anyone's really taking issue with that work, Brian. I mean that is good work. You're talking about - about half of the people in the world receiving AIDS/HIV - I mean adults receiving AIDS/HIV medication get it through this. Three-quarters of the kids who need it get it. No one's - I don't think anyone's quibbling with that. I wonder sort of why you put it that way. But, more importantly, I wonder, these adjustments are being made should she win the White House. This is a reflection that the campaign is well aware that there is a perception problem. But they've known that - those close to Hillary Clinton have known it for years. So why is it only this point? Isn't that a little irresponsible to not have done it sooner knowing that this was going to be an issue, especially with some of this work that is done that is, as you outline, important?
FALLON: Well, Brianna, just to take your first point first. The reason why I'm making that point is because, sure, everyone can say, of course we support the work of providing HIV/AIDS drugs to people, and then they move on to continue to criticize the foundation. Well, these things are all interlinked.
KEILAR: Well, look - hey - no, having - criticizing the foundation is not saying you don't want people or raising questions about the foundation is not saying you don't want people to get AIDS medication.
FALLON: Yes - well, here's - well, actually, these things are interconnected. Let me explain what I mean. In 2009, when Hillary Clinton became the secretary of state, they imposed unprecedented rigorous limitations on the foundation's work, including the sources of funding that the foundation would accept going forward. That absolutely constrained the work of providing HIV/AIDS drugs throughout the developing world. Those sources of funding were contributing to that very cause. So when the - when the foundation unilaterally decides that going forward they will constrict the sources of funding that they can rely on in terms of donations that flow into the foundation, it absolutely affects the work of providing HIV/AIDS drugs.
So these decisions aren't made in a vacuum. They actually do have a consequence. And yet, despite that fact, they took very rigorous steps in 2009. And when she declared in April of 2015 that she was running for president, they went even further. And now they're voluntarily submitting to a bunch of new restrictions if she wins the presidency in November.
But all of this is going to have side effects. It's going to have consequences in terms of the world that goes on. What we are trying to do is strike the right balance. We're trying to allow the work to continue to the maximum extent possible while also guarding against the appearance of any conflict of interest. But we are committed to allowing a certain amount of that activity to continue because we think it's so important.
And the people that say that the foundation should shut down or completely spin off, you know, that happens - that will have consequences if it happens. And all we're pointing to is the fact that this is not - these things are not being made in a vacuum, these decisions. You have to deal with the unintended consequences of the people that won't be helped if certain aspects of the foundation's work do not continue.
KEILAR: All right, Brian Fallon with the Clinton campaign, thanks so much forgiving us your time. Open invitation to come on any time, and I mean that.
FALLON: Thank you, Brianna. OK, thanks.
[13:34:52] KEILAR: Coming up, Donald Trump set to take the stage in New Hampshire. We'll bring you his speech live when it happens.
Plus, Trump trying to improve his standing with Hispanics and African- Americans. We'll ask a number of Trump's National Diversity Coalition for details.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: You're looking at live pictures of the Donald Trump rally in Manchester, New Hampshire. Donald Trump is expected to take the stage at any moment. Running a little late. This could happen any second here. We'll be monitoring this and bring you his remarks live when they happen.
Donald Trump held a roundtable with young African-Americans and Latinos training to become Republican leaders. He told the group and reporters his efforts to reach out to minority communities is working.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: We were just talking about the fact that we had great relationships and the numbers are going up with the African-American community rapidly. I've always had great relationships with the African- American community. And now I've made it such a focal point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[13:40:22] KEILAR: Joining us to talk about Donald Trump's minority outreach is Paris Dennard, a Republican political commentator and Donald Trump supporter. And we have Marc Lamont Hill, CNN political commentator and professor at Morehouse College.
Paris, you have critics of Donald Trump, and they're saying this appeal to African-American voters and Hispanic voters, that it's not about that, that it's about making, for instance, white voters, people having a hard time deciding who they want and maybe they're not keen on either candidate, it's about making them feel that Donald Trump is a little more inclusive. What do you say to that?
PARIS DENNARD, REPUBLICAN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR & DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Brianna, with all due respect, the only time I hear that narrative comes from the media. I don't hear anybody in the community, I don't hear people really intent on voting for Mr. Trump or have an open mind about voting for Mr. Trump have this conversation. Just today I was speaking to a young woman, a millennial African-American, card-carrying independent. She says, I'm listening to Mr. Trump, if he gives me more policy, I promise you I could vote for him because I do not trust Hillary Clinton. This outreach effort is significant, is real, and it's working.
KEILAR: Marc, what do you say to that? Is it significant, real and working?
MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, working would be measured by poll numbers. When you look in cities where literally zero percent or 1 percent of black people are voting for Donald Trump --
(CROSSTALK)
DENNARD: 3 percent in North Carolina.
LAMONT HILL: 3 percent is a heck of a number. If you're in a southern state, traditionally a red state, and you can only get 3 percent of black voters when people like George Bush have gotten 6, 8 --
(CROSSTALK)
DENNARD: 11.
LAMONT HILL: 11. You raising the number only enhances my point. George Bush, who most black folk don't view as a racially sensitive president got 11 percent.
DENNARD: That's false.
LAMONT HILL: And Donald Trump got 2.
Here's the facts.
Listen, I didn't interrupt you. Let me finish.
If Bush got 11 percent and Trump is getting 3 percent, if you're getting quadrupled by George w. Bush, that's not a good sign. The more substantive question, is there a policy agenda that actually speaks to the needs of African-American people. So far the people I've spoken to on the ground as well as my actual analysis to his policy to the extent he's offered it, suggests there's nothing there that speaks to black or brown people. I agree with what many Republicans say, that black people shouldn't feel indebted to the Democratic Party. We can't just vote against Democrats. We need something to vote for. KEILAR: OK. You also hear this point, Marc, over and over again, where you have, very recently, from Donald Trump, but I have talked to some analysts who say it's a wonder that Donald Trump didn't make this point sooner, looking at cities like Baltimore and Detroit, and saying, OK, look, you have elected officials who that's not going very well for you. Donald Trump takes that a step further and says, what the hell do you have to lose. But just to the point of how Democrats in these cities are serving their constituents, what do you say to that, Marc?
LAMONT HILL: When you look at urban centers, whether it's Ferguson, Baltimore, Philadelphia, we could point to failures and certainly say Democratic machine and Democratic machine politics have dominated those cities for decades. I think Democrats have not done us favors. I'm saying Democrats should shoulder a big weight of the blame. But there's also federal policy, top-down policy, publicly that's not leftist at all. While we mean to hold Democrats accountable, we can't assume replacing Democrats with Republicans will solve the problem. We can't assume replacing Barack Obama with Donald Trump will yield better policy where Donald Trump's world view and vision for America is incompatible with the prosperity of block and Brown people.
KEILAR: Paris, why does Donald Trump address black voters in front of basically only white voters?
DENNARD: I don't work for the campaign, so I can't tell you why they choose what venues they choose to go to. But I will tell you --
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: Then let me rephrase that.
DENNARD: Sure.
KEILAR: Should he do it that way or not?
DENNARD: I think, if I were in the campaign, I would advise him to go to a black organization or a black event or organize one himself.
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: Like NAACP, or something?
DENNARD: I don't know --
(CROSSTALK)
DENNARD: -- if the NAACP is the right one. He could go to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund or the Republican Leadership Institute, that he met with today, which is a good one. There's things he can do.
What's more important is he has a message. The venue doesn't matter to me. What matters is the message, what matters is what he's saying. He can go to a television audience and have a broader reach than going to a small church. The point is, he's been meeting with African- Americans --
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: But, Paris, let me challenge you on that.
DENNARD: Sure.
[13:45:11] KEILAR: He's had event where you have a lot of black pastors supporting him. So why not go to a black church? I know you're saying a broader reach. The point that Trump supporters make over and over that whatever he does ends up on television so his reach is very broad. I'm thinking, if he goes to a black church and there's 40 people there, how is that not a broad reach in showing a good-faith effort at outreach?
DENNARD: I think the narrative that is out there that Mr. Trump has not done black events or events in the community is false. He's met several times with African-American pastors. Just recently auxiliary groups, the National Diversity Coalition for Trump and Women for Trump just had an event in Virginia, I believe, or North Carolina at a black church. They're having events all over the country that are focused on the community.
KEILAR: That he attended?
DENNARD: That surrogates attended.
(CROSSTALK)
LAMONT HILL: Exactly. Here is the problem --
(CROSSTALK)
DENNARD: No, no, let me finish.
(CROSSTALK)
DENNARD: Mr. Trump has met repeatedly with African-American leaders for a series of meetings and over the years, he's done that. That's a fact.
LAMONT HILL: Over the years, he wasn't running for president. He's only been the nominee for a matter of months.
DENNARD: he had a meeting this morning at 10:00 a.m. Meeting this morning at 10:00 a.m. Meeting this morning at 10:00 a.m. with African-American and Hispanic leaders.
LAMONT HILL: Let me finish the point I was making.
DENNARD: Sure.
LAMONT HILL: You said he doesn't need to meet with NAACP. When he wanted to shows support, he went with APAC. When he wants to show his bona fides in religiosity, he meets with major, prominent religious leaders. He's going to meet with the NRA, he's going to talk to the NRA crowd, go to big audiences to shore up his base. For some reason, when he wants to talk to black people, he does it by proxy. He sends surrogates. He sends the 13 or 14 people in his diversity council for him.
(CROSSTALK)
DENNARD: It isn't 13 or 14.
LAMONT HILL: I'm being hyperbolic. Part of his strategy is to not be seen around black people.
(CROSSTALK)
DENNARD: He was with black people today. He was with black people today. He's with diverse people today. This narrative that Mr. Trump is anti black or anti minority is false.
LAMONT HILL: That's not what I just said. You're saying the talking point before I make the argument. What I'm saying is part of Donald Trump's strategy is to play to a base that is hostile to black audiences, to NAACP, to organizations like the coming black caucus. Part of why Donald Trump doesn't want to meet with the Congressional black caucus or the NAACP, wouldn't sit down invited him to do many times is because he doesn't want to be seen in those audiences because that plays to his base. That's what he's trying to do here. Speaking the a couple of black people here and there, meeting with his diversity council with the 12 or 15 or 100 black voters who decide the Trump line was shorter --
(CROSSTALK)
DENNARD: Marc, you should really stop being -- that's just offensive.
KEILAR: Gentlemen, with apologies -- and I mean it -- I have to leave it there for time. I would love to continue this conversation.
LAMONT HILL: Ah.
DENNARD: Any time.
KEILAR: Paris Dennard, Marc Lamont Hill, gentlemen, thank you so much.
A reminder, my colleague, Anderson Cooper, is going to interview Donald Trump tonight on "A.C. 360." Check it out at 8:00 p.m. eastern, right here on CNN.
Coming up, Donald Trump -- I keep saying this, we really mean this. He's about to take the stage in New Hampshire. Should happen in New Hampshire. We're awaiting this after he suggested he would let some undocumented immigrants stay in the U.S. What's he going to say about that? We'll bring you his speech live.
And the girl who beat the odds. A young child found alive beneath the rubble of a powerful earthquake in Italy. We have a remarkable story and the rescue efforts under way as aftershocks rocks the region. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:53:15] KEILAR: Turning now to central Italy where there is a race against time. Rescue crews are combing through rubble searching for survivors of the 6.2 magnitude earthquake, and it is scenes like this that are giving them hope.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CROSSTALK)
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
(CROSSTALK)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: That is a 10-year-old girl rousing cheers. She is, of course, one of the lucky ones. This earthquake has claimed the lives of at least 250 people so far.
Senior international correspondent, Frederik Pleitgen, is in one of the hardest hit areas, talking about Amatrice, Italy.
Fred, you have experienced these aftershocks. I know that they're severe.
FREDERICK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, they certainly are absolutely severe. It is one of the things about this region that the people here know that it is on the fault line, that it is very prone to earthquakes. When you have a big earthquake like the one two days ago, that you are going to have severe aftershocks. We certainly felt that today. One tremor was just very, very intense. We all almost fell to the ground. Buildings here started shaking. In fact, one building here in the town of Amatrice that had already been damaged by the earthquake then completely collapsed. Needless to say, search and rescue workers are very much at work in many of these places still searching for those survivors. All of them in fear as well. They then had to get out of that area as fast as possible. It is one of the things that really hampers rescue efforts. We later found out that that aftershock in itself was magnitude 4.1. That's a big problem that the search and rescue crews here have right now. But they are by no means giving up.
You are right, seems like that rescue of that 10-year-old girl is certainly something that boosts morale here, especially in Amatrice. This town alone has seen two-thirds of the deaths from this earthquake. Nevertheless, rescue crews here have worked overnight all night last night. I think you can see behind me that we are sort of losing daylight here now in Europe. They are going to do another overnight shift as well and they say they still have hope they may find some people underneath the rubble that may still be alive. Of course, they know that that hope is dwindling with every single minute that goes by. It is those first 72 hours that are key. They believe that people who may be stuck in some crevice or gap in the rubble may be able to survive longer than 72 hours. But chances are certainly dwindling as they are running, racing against the clock.
[13:55:56] KEILAR: Thank you for that report, Fred Pleitgen, from Amatrice, Italy.
And that is it for me. Coming up, we are standing by for a Donald Trump rally. He landed in New Hampshire a short time ago. You can see here on these live pictures the stage is set. We'll bring that to you live.
A programming note, Donald Trump will be Anderson Cooper's guest tonight on "A.C. 360," tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern, right here on CNN.
The news continues after a quick break.
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