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Clinton, Trump Debate Just Hours Away; How Presidential Candidates Prep for Tonight's Debate; Brother-in-Law Talks Shooting of Keith Lamont Scott. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired September 26, 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] JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: He has a very thin skin and sometimes let's his ego take over. If we see that tonight -- we talked a little about that. If we see that tonight, that could be a big problem for Donald Trump. We know he can give a speech, know he can be serious, but on the debate stage, he kind of gets carried away sometimes. We haven't seen him in this forum and he hasn't done it against one other person. So we'll see who shows up tonight.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Remembering that clip. Play it for viewers now when Marco Rubio was suggesting that Donald Trump had small or little hands, if you will. Look how he responded at that debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He hit my hands. Nobody has ever hit my hands. I've never heard of this one. Look at those hands. Are they small hands?

(LAUGHTER)

And -- he referred to my hands, if they're small, something else must be small. I guarantee, there's no problem. I guarantee you.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: A lot of us remember that little exchange.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I think one of the lower moments of the president's campaign, but it does show you, to Jackie's point, that he gets rattled. He does -- people do have the ability to get under his skin, and how he manages that is important. I don't think that was a great moment for Donald Trump.

BLITZER: No.

KUCINICH: No. Or for America.

BLITZER: Yes.

What about Hillary Clinton's weaknesses? MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Look, she has her own

problems to deal with. You know, I think most important is that she does. And Jackie touched upon this a little bit. She gets caught in the weeds sometimes. She's so bookish. And said herself, she's not a politician, not a natural politician like her husband. Now, her husband is bookish, but, gosh, he could warm up a room quickly. She has difficulty doing that and has acknowledged that. That is one of her biggest hurdles she needs to clear tonight.

BLITZER: Play a clip from one of the Democratic primary debates in October. Once again, she's explaining her e-mails. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've taken responsibility for it. I did say it was a mistake. What I did was allowed by the State Department, but it wasn't the best choice. And I have been as transparent as I know to be, turning over 55,000 pages of my e-mails, asking they be made public.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: I assume that's a subject tonight?

KUCINICH: Absolutely. And can get bogged down on the on that. Start talking legalese. Sounds like something her lawyer told her to say. To that, the over explanation doesn't sound trustworthy. That's something she has to overcome. That's one of the numbers that are fluctuating and recently dropping with Hillary Clinton. That's the key to winning some of these voters that aren't sure what they think about her and don't like what they're seeing right now.

BLITZER: This is a very close race right now. All the national polls, polls in the battle states, neck and neck. How important is this debate tonight?

CHALIAN: Think is where both campaigns agree. It's the most important day of the 2016 campaign, barring some other event happening between now and election day. They both agree on that. You truly can't overstate how important it is.

You are right, I think because -- the stakes are even higher because it is deadlocked. They are in a tight race. And frankly, Donald Trump has momentum coming into this. They are deadlocked. Hillary Clinton had a very clear lead. That has eroded. I'm curious to see, does that make her a little more nervous tonight? Give him a little more confidence tonight? And how they deal with that aspect of it, just the state of the race, as they take steps on to the stage, to me, I'm interested about that.

BLITZER: Do you think Hillary Clinton will try to get under his skin and see if she can provoke some sort of exaggerated response?

PRESTON: I think she'll do it in a Hillary Clinton way, not a bombastic way that we've seen from Donald Trump. But I think she is going to use some of the things he has said and weave that into what differentiates the two of them as candidates working on any kind of issue, you know, at this point whether it's foreign policy, ISIS, the economy, women's issues, or what have you.

BLITZER: An exciting time behind us on that stage tonight.

We're live here from inside the debate hall at Hofstra University. The first presidential debate is a few hours away.

Up next, I'll speak to two members of Congress close to both candidates. What they want to see, how Trump and Clinton are prepping for tonight's big event. That, and a whole lot more when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:38:38] BLITZER: Right now, Republican vice presidential candidate, Mike Pence, is in Milford, New Hampshire, holding a campaign rally there, in what we call the Granite State. But the big political stop is later tonight in Hempstead, New York, out on Long Island.

Welcome back to our special coverage of the first presidential debate.

Joining us now, a pair of New York State Congressmen. Democrat Steve Israel backs Hillary Clinton, Republican Chris Collins, of course, backs Donald Trump.

Thanks for joining us.

What do you anticipate tonight? Issues or insults?

REP. STEVE ISRAEL, (D), NEW YORK: Well, Hillary Clinton will talk about issues. Donald Trump is a naturally born television performer. This is a guy comfortable firing people on national television. Hillary Clinton will stick to what counts to the American people, and that's how do we strengthen wages and paychecks, how do we keep people safe, how do we protect Social Security and Medicare. If you judge a debate by one performance, I expect Donald Trump will do well. If you do it based on issues, Hillary Clinton will rise to the standard.

BLITZER: What do you think, Congressman?

REP. CHRIS COLLINS, (R), NEW YORK: I think we'll see a debate about the future of America, whether we're going in the right direction or the wrong direction. Two-thirds of America said we're going in the wrong direction. Donald Trump is the agent of change. As he stands up and says to America, imagine a future when we are one America, when we have jobs for our children and grandchildren, imagine America when we have defeated ISIS, secured our borders, that is the America Donald Trump, as president, will promise to America today, and their imaginations will be able to see a brighter future. That's my hope that we talk about the status quo candidate and the change candidate.

[13:40:12] BLITZER: If Trump takes the high road, talks about policy, issues, the future of America, how is Hillary Clinton going to respond? ISRAEL: The high road has to be an even standard. You can't apply

one standard to Hillary Clinton and one to Donald Trump. Donald Trump, who reads Teleprompters, shows up and wins this debate because it didn't drool or say something offensive, that's not a fair win.

BLITZER: There's no Teleprompters tonight.

ISRAEL: Exactly. So which Donald Trump shows up? Is it the Donald Trump who has been restrained and disciplined because he has to be, or will it be the Donald Trump who shoots from the hip and says offensive things that loses elections. I'll be fascinated to see which Donald Trump shows up.

And finally, this may be the most watched presidential debate in history, Wolf. I think it's also going to be the most fact-checked presidential debate. Donald Trump cannot win this debate by making stuff up as he goes along. That's central to this evening.

BLITZER: Go ahead, Congressman.

COLLINS: I think what you'll see tonight is President Trump addressing America, addressing their future, the changes he will bring, and I think he will be backhanding Hillary Clinton, talking about her failures as secretary of state in one segment after another, the divisiveness of this nation today, the fact that our cities are in -- in an uproar, and that the future of our country is not going in the right direction. If he stays on that theme, looks and sounds presidential, the momentum he has now will carry him to the White House.

BLITZER: What if she goes after him for refusing to release his tax returns?

COLLINS: I, for one, said he never should release his tax returns. He's done his financial disclosure form which has the details --

BLITZER: Every presidential candidate since the '70s has released their tax returns. Hillary Clinton has --

COLLINS: That doesn't mean he should --

BLITZER: -- released her tax returns back 30 or 40 years.

COLLINS: It's ironic, Wolf, one after another of folks said I want to see what the Russian money interests are. That's not on a tax return. His financial disclosure form tells everything he owns and it tells --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: It tells his charitable contributions are and that's been an issue, as you know.

COLLINS: Again, he's given money through his foundation. But I don't think American today is hung up on someone's tax returns when their kids don't have jobs, when there are the uproar in our cities, one or another, when ISIS, which didn't exist before Hillary and Barack Obama came into office, is a threat to the civilization --

(CROSSTALK)

ISRAEL: That's the kind of fact-checking you're going to see tonight.

By the way, what does he have to hide? Why not release his tax forms? Is that a fair question?

COLLINS: I'll tell you why. He does not want to give competitors the advantage of knowing the money he makes or doesn't make, and every partnership he's involved in. I am involved in a lot of private companies --

ISRAEL: But he's running for president, he's not running for CEO of Trump enterprises.

COLLINS: You don't release that to your competitors. It's bad business.

ISRAEL: The American people deserve to know the financial --

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: He is a business man.

ISRAEL: He will be making financial decisions for the United States of America.

COLLINS: He has disclosed all of his personal --

(CROSSTALK)

ISRAEL: -- required by the member of Congress, by the way. You're required as one member of Congress in Buffalo to release much more information than Donald Trump ever has. Why is he continuing to refuse to release that information?

COLLINS: A decision for Donald Trump, but I can tell you he shouldn't give competitors that kind of advantage. And I don't think at the end of the day the American public cares. And if that's the best Hillary Clinton can bring --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Congressman, he'll go after her for her e-mails, for lying, the whole decision which she's apologized for, but he'll insist she is still lying.

ISRAEL: She'll talk forthright about e-mails, as she has, and she'll also going to talk about the fact that we are in a college campus. What is she going to do to reduce the crushing level college debt? What is Donald Trump's solution? What will she do in order to keep us safe from ISIS? Donald Trump's solution is we'll practically disband NATO and put more nuclear weapons in the Pacific. So you'll see a contrast of ideas.

As you led off, if this is insult versus insult, it'll be a problem for both candidates.

(CROSSTALK)

ISRAEL: If this is one candidate's ideas versus the other, Donald Trump will have problems because has no ideas.

COLLINS: But Donald Trump is going to point out that the kids graduating today in the Obama economy can't get jobs, they're living in the basement of their parents' houses --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: As compared to the Bush economy where they were really doing well?

COLLINS: Again, if Hillary has to keep going back to the Bush economy, this eight years of Obama and with less than 2.2 percent GDP growth, it's been the sluggish recovery in the history since the Great Depression, and our kids are having trouble getting jobs, that's the economy that will turn around under Donald Trump.

ISRAEL: So apart from attacking the economy, what specific solution will Donald Trump talk about tonight? What's he going to do on college debt? Tell us that.

COLLINS: College debt, it starts with personal accountability when it comes to the students running up the college debt --

ISRAEL: How is it their fault?

COLLINS: I'll tell you right now. You can go to a community college in New York for nothing, get a two-year degree --

ISRAEL: I went to one.

COLLINS: -- with no debt.

BLITZER: All right.

COLLINS: You can then go to a state university, transfer those credit credits, with no debt. So I would say personal accountability --

BLITZER: Very --

COLLINS: -- enters the equation.

BLITZER: Very quickly, we're out of time, your biggest fear tonight?

ISRAEL: That it just becomes Donald Trump slinging mud and that hurts the Democratic process.

[13:45:14] BLITZER: Your biggest fear?

COLLINS: I don't have a fear. Donald Trump will do great. President Trump is coming onstage. I have no fears whatsoever.

BLITZER: Chris Collins was the first member of Congress to endorse Donald Trump.

COLLINS: Seven months and two days ago.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: He's very proud of that.

All right --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: -- good to have people from both parts of New York state to be here.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Coming up, it's been nearly a week since Keith Lamont Scott was killed in an altercation with Charlotte police. The release of dash cam and body cam video has done little to answer a lot of the questions surrounding his death. Scott's brother-in-law, Ray Dotch, joins us with the family's reaction, right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: In Charlotte, North Carolina, the violence subsided after dash cam and body cam videos were released but relatives of the man shot and killed by police are left with few answers and a lot of lingering questions.

Over the weekend, police released dash cam and body cam video of the shooting that left Keith Lamont Scott dead.

I'll warn you, the video is disturbing.

At one point, it shows Scott, on the left of your screen, getting out of his SUV and backing up towards the police officers. He has his arm by the right side of his body, but no gun appears visible. The officers open fire.

Scott's brother-in-law, Ray Dotch, says questions about Scott's character only cloud the issue and the videos fail to explain why he died.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[13:50:32] RAY DOTCH, BROTHER-IN-LAW OF KEITH LAMONT SCOTT: Unfortunately, we're left with far more questions than answers. We shouldn't have to humanize him in order for him to be treated fairly. What we know and what you should know about him is he's an American citizen who deserved better. That is our position. And it should be yours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Ray Dotch is joining us now from New York.

Ray, thanks very much for joining us.

So, what's the next step for the family?

DOTCH: We believe it's important for us to do our best to expand the conversation. We understand that this situation is bigger than us. It's more than just about our family. It's more than just about Keith Scott. It's about us as a nation realizing that we share inherent prejudice. And that is why this is happening again and again and again. The problem, though, is that we're reluctant to talk about it with unfiltered honesty.

BLITZER: As you know, your sister released video footage she had of the shooting that certainly but a lot more pressure on police to make the dash cam and body cam video public. Was that her intention? Was that her hope?

DOTCH: I think that we always wanted all of the footage to come out because the only thing we've ever wanted is the truth. For us, we want to get to the bottom of what happened. It doesn't make sense to us that this particular incident would escalate to the loss of life. And the fact that it has, we want to get as many answers from as many sources as we can, just so we can get to the truth.

BLITZER: Ray, does it make any difference to you and the family that your brother-in-law was killed by an African-American police officer?

DOTCH: No, and that's why I use the term inherent prejudice. We all carry it. It's not always a black and white situation. I believe and we believe that there's an attitude towards certain people in certain neighborhoods. That doesn't always center solely around the color of the skin of the police officer. I think that, unfortunately, we as a nation -- the best way I can describe it, Wolf, is that we like to live lies. We like to say we are the land of the free, but the truth is, we know that not everybody in this country lives that way, is afforded that. We like to say we're the home of the brave, but we also know we don't have the courage to pull back the curtain and take a good, long, hard look at ourselves so we can become a more perfect union.

And let me also say this, Wolf. We, as a family, are not at all interested in fighting with the police. Nobody wants to be at odds with law enforcement. That's not our goal. We want to get you the truth and pull back the curtain on what we need to change to make it better so these kinds of things can't happen and there's no other family member sitting in this chair, talking about the death of their loved one, like I'm doing right now.

BLITZER: Protests have been mostly peaceful in Charlotte since the violence erupted Tuesday night. What's your message to the protesters moving forward?

DOTCH: I think that the idea is to keep protesting. I think that we have to demand that change occurs. And I think historically what we've learned is sitting back and being quiet doesn't do anything. So, we must standup. We must stand up as a United States and say that we are outraged, enough is enough with this happening. We're going to have to be able to do something so that every single time there's an encounter with police, it doesn't result in the loss of life. If the only way we can accomplish that is to stand up and to make our voices heard, then that's what people should do. So, we certainly encourage them doing it peacefully. We certainly encourage them to stand strong and continue. And we want everybody who feels that this sort of thing needs to change will join in.

BLITZER: Ray Dotch, thanks so much for joining us

DOTCH: Thank you for having me.

BLITZER: Thank you.

That's it for me. I'll be back at 5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room."