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Paul Ryan To Speak As GOP Faces Trump Turmoil; Ryan To Reiterate That He Won't Defend Trump; Ryan Addresses College Republicans; Trump Accusers Surface. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired October 14, 2016 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

Up first, what will Paul Ryan say about the elephant in the room? The House speaker addressing an audience of college Republicans any moment now. You're looking at live picture. We'll take a close look to see how he responds to Donald Trump's attacks on the Republican Party and the accusations of sexual misconduct swirling around the Republican presidential nominee.

Our Senior Political Reporter Manu Raju is joining us from Madison, Wisconsin right now with a preview. Manu, I know he's about to seek. What are we likely to hear?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, this is supposed to be a speech designed to rale against what he views as the ills of progressivism and go after Hillary Clinton. But, of course, overshadowed by this week-long spat that he has had with Donald Trump.

Now, Paul Ryan has not answered any questions since he decided on Monday he would no longer defend or campaign Donald Trump. Actually, yesterday, he cancelled a 30-minute Q and A session with business leaders. Today, he's expected to take questions from college Republicans. Expect the Donald Trump issue to come up.

And I am told that if it does, he's going to really clarify his position about why he is choosing to focus instead on trying to save the congressional Republican majorities. And also, say that he just cannot defend the indefensible.

So, watch for that line of comment from Paul Ryan. He's going to have a radio interview later this afternoon, too, wo, we'll hear even more from him on his fight with Donald Trump.

But at the moment here in the campaign, Wolf, Paul Ryan has clearly -- has not wanted to talk about Donald Trump, did not intend to get into this week-long feud with Donald Trump. Even telling donors in a private conference all earlier this week, he did not mean to pick a fight with Donald Trump but wanting to explain why he views it so important to keep the Republicans in charge. Possibly also to have a check against Hillary Clinton as she starts to possibly run away with this presidential race -- Wolf. BLITZER: And just to be precise, Manu, the format is he'll open up with some remarks. He'll speak for a while. Presumably, blasting the Democrats, blasting Hillary Clinton, for that matter. And then, take questions from these college Republicans there in Madison, Wisconsin where you are?

RAJU: Yes, that's right. And a lot of these questions have actually been submitted beforehand, I'm told. So, Ryan will have an idea of the kind of questions that are coming his way. So, we'll see exactly how he responds.

Later this afternoon, it'll be more of a free-flowing typical interview he'll have with a radio host are here, so we'll hear even more of his views.

But, Wolf, the important thing to note here is that Republicans are incredibly nervous about this presidential race spiraling out of control. They see the poll numbers. They see these allegations piling up against their nominee. They're doing everything they can to try to save their congressional majority.

So, Paul Ryan trying to do just that by, after this week, he's going to hit the campaign trail. Stump for House Republican candidates who are in very different re-election races, and make the case that why the Republicans at least need to keep ahold of the congressional majority, given that Donald Trump is really struggling right now.

So, a shift in focus. And hear -- it'll be interesting to hear exactly how Paul Ryan makes that case, especially in light of a number of folks not happy with Paul Ryan. Conservatives, some conservatives, not happy with Paul Ryan for not standing more fully behind his nominee. Because Paul Ryan has not yet revoked his endorsement of Donald Trump even if he says he's no longer going to defend him -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Not going to go out and campaign with him, by any means. A rather awkward moment.

The top Republican in the House of Representatives, the speaker of the House refusing to -- in these final days of this campaign to go out there and campaign with the Republican nominee. We're going to have live coverage of this coming up.

Manu, stand by.

The House speaker certainly has a very tough road ahead of him. Let's discuss this and a lot more with our panel. Our Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash is here; our Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger; CNN Political Analyst, the author of "How's Your Faith?", David Gregory; and political reporter for "Time" magazine, Zeke Miller.

Dana, you've covered the speaker a long time. This is a sensitive moment. How is he going to address, for example, the allegations that Donald Trump groped women that have come forward in recent days?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I can't imagine him getting that specific. It's --

BLITZER: He's going to be asked questions.

BASH: Yes.

BLITZER: And I'm sure that these college Republicans are going to ask him some specific questions.

BASH: Well, we'll see. You would hope that they will, considering the fact that, you know, this seems to be one of the only opportunities for him to get questions at all on this issue. One thing I can tell you is that, clearly, Paul Ryan did not anticipate the backlash against him.

And what has happened to Paul Ryan in the last two or three days puts him in the -- in the same camp as every other Republican who tried to challenge Donald Trump. Sometimes it was on the debate stage. It was because they were his opponents, and others, because they just distanced themselves. They have gotten a lot of backlash from within the Republican Party.

[13:05:09] Now, it was, egged on by Donald Trump himself, which, I can tell you, Paul Ryan and his team did not anticipate that the Republican nominee would go out and so publicly attack the Republican House speaker.

And so, what is happening, this was in Pennsylvania yesterday. It was in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Kind of ground zero politically for whether or not Donald Trump's -- the allegations about him are going to fly.

And more than anything else, I heard from Republican local officials, and also just Republican voters, how angry they are. Not at Donald Trump but at Paul Ryan for not sticking by Donald Trump.

BLITZER: And it's -- and Dana's right, Gloria. Donald Trump not only tweeted against Paul Ryan, after Paul Ryan said in that conference call he could no longer go out and defend him and support him and all of that kind of stuff.

But then, in this speech, he went -- he went even further and basically suggesting there's a civil war going on between the Republican nominee and the Republican speaker of the House.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, his suggestion would be -- would be true. And if you look at the recent "Wall Street journal" poll, two-thirds of Republicans believe that Republicans are sick with Donald Trump.

And what Republicans have done is given the president an opportunity to kind of stick the shiv in and say, huh, well, some of these guys, they were for him, now they're against him. Does that mean that suddenly they've discovered something about Donald Trump that they never knew?

What he's trying to do is play in the Senate races and play in the House races right now. And so, Paul Ryan finds himself in a very difficult position. I believe he will still say that I cannot defend this kind of indefensible behavior, period.

But he will say, believe it or not, we have been talking about the issues here. This is my agenda. This is what I want to talk about. And this is what Republicans ought to be campaigning on. And I'm going to focus on keeping the Republican majority in the House.

Because when you look at their internal polling and you look at the polling out that's out there, they're really worried, not so much about losing the majority, although that could happen, but about losing, you know, 20 to 25 seats which would be very, very difficult and put his speakership in peril.

BLITZER: Yes, if they lose 30 seats, the Democrats are then in the majority --

BORGER: Yes. Yes.

BLITZER: -- in the House of Representatives. And while that was always considered a large (ph), that's still considered unlikely. It's, by no means, impossible right now.

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It's not impossible. I just think it would've been refreshing if Paul Ryan showed some real leadership and just said what was on his mind. He didn't have to say to those House members that I'm, you know, not -- I'm not going to, you know, actively support Paul Ryan. As we watch him there, I'll hand it back to you.

BLITZER: Keep going.

GREGORY: Oh, OK. As we monitor that. He could have left if alone and said, look, I'm focused on House races. He's -- he created the rift either way. And he's in a compromised position as so many of these other Republicans are. He does not support Donald Trump. What he really wants to do is protect the House and be a check on either a Trump or a president Clinton.

BLITZER: All right, let's listen in to the speaker of the House.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE (live): -- on what this election is ultimately all about. Beneath all the ugliness lies a long running debate between two governing philosophies. One that is in keeping with our nation's founding principles, like freedom and equality. And another, another that seeks to replace them.

And so, at this time, I would like to invite you to reflect on this choice that we are facing here. Right now, as fractured and as polarized as this country is, a vast majority of Americans, seven out of 10, they agree on something fundamental. They agree that our country is on the wrong path.

We have a chance to start solving our country's problems. We have a chance to save this country from decline and set it on the right path. A path lit with hope, liberty and self-determination. Those core principles that set America apart.

You know, in elections, we don't just decide who our leaders will be. We get to choose what kind of country we will have for years to come. And the kind of America we want is confident and determined. Our allies trust and our enemies fear the America we want.

The America we want is a land of opportunity driven by the individual spirit. You don't just live your life. You lead your life. You don't just get by. You get ahead and make the most of your potential. The America we want is a place where work is rewarded. Where success is earned. Where ingenuity is exalted. In the America we want, government exists to serve the people.

[13:10:00] And instead of lecturing us, our leaders listen to us. They offer positive solutions to tackle our problems. And sometimes, sometimes we put all of those ideas on paper. And we put them on a Web site named better.gop. I'm told that it looks great on any mobile device. That is better.gop.

This is the America we want. This is our party's vision for America. What vision do Hillary Clinton and her party offer the people? They want what America that doesn't stand out. They want an America that is ordinary. There's kind of a gloom and grayness to things.

And the America they want, the driving force is the state. It is a place where government is taken away from the people. Where we are ruled by our (INAUDIBLE), by a cold and unfeeling bureaucracy that replaces original thinking. It is place where the government twists the law, and the Constitution itself, to suit its purposes. It's a place where liberty is always under assault. Where passion, the very stuff of life is extinguished.

That is the America Hillary Clinton wants. And if given control of Washington, if given control of Congress, it is the kind of America she will stop at nothing to have. The America that they want is remade in the mold of what we call liberal progressivism. Now, liberal progressivism really needs no introduction right here in Madison. Right? It's imported from socialist Europe. It got its start in America right here in Madison, Wisconsin.

We're, what, 10 minutes down the road from Rafalet (ph) High School. You know, I used to play over there. A century ago, Bob Rafalet, fighting Bob we called him. He was part of a movement to address some very legitimate grievances of the people. You know, busting trusts, ending patronage, important reforms with good intentions.

But their theory was that if we enlarge the state, if we stock the bureaucracy with so-called experts and technocrats, who would decide what was best for the collective, then we would all be better off. And to many in its time, the idea had some appeal. I mean, it made little sense in a nation founded on the distrust of power but it did have some appeal.

But it didn't take long for this theory to be pulled back into its collective roots, to central planning and organization. Our betters became obsessed with bigger and bigger government, ignoring constraints, constitutional or otherwise, and arbitrarily picking winners and losers.

BLITZER: All right, we're going to continue to monitor the speaker of the House, Paul Ryan. He's speaking to college Republicans in Madison, Wisconsin. We're told, during the Q and A, that it's going to be coming forward, there will be questions on Donald Trump, the latest allegations that Donald Trump engaged in sexual abuse, if you will, of women over the years.

Zeke, you're with us. Zeke Miller, Political Reporter for "Time" magazine. These allegations really have come to dominate this stage of this campaign. Because a lot of Republicans are confused right now. They don't know whether or not to believe these women and there have been at least a half a dozen, maybe 10, 11 more women are coming out every day, making these kinds of accusations. And it seems to be dominating this dialogue with less than four weeks to go.

ZEKE MILLER, POLITICAL REPORTER, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Yes, certainly. I mean, the speaker, you know, thought he was through -- you know, out of the woods on Monday when he gave that -- when we had that conference call and we were talking a little bit earlier about the backlash that he felt.

And now, it's sort of to get through that and then it just gets worse and worse and worse. You know, 10 women in 72 hours. How many more are going to come out? I mean, he's talking -- even Republicans, they start talking about this in, like, Bill Cosby terms. Whether this could become a, you know, -- there is the -- there seems to be a pattern here of the -- in that more and more women will come forward.

The Trump campaign obviously saying they have some sort of, you know, evidence to refute it. But where has it been? Where is the raft of response? If they had it, you think they would have put it out 72 hours ago before this ever would've hit the news.

BLITZER: But Mike Pence, the vice presidential running mate, Dana, he said today that later today, they will be releasing the evidence to discredit these women who have made these charges.

BASH: Well, it's kind of like whack-a-mole for them, at this point. Because whatever evidence that they say that they have, they're going to have to keep working. Because as we're talking, more stories are coming out with more women who are coming out, giving different tales of allegations of Donald Trump doing similar things to them. Unwanted -- basically going at them unwanted which amounts to assault. And these allegations are saying that.

BLITZER: All right.

BASH: So, it's unclear what kind of evidence they're going to give.

BLITZER: And more women are coming forward, even as we speak right now.

Let's take a quick break. We'll resume our report, our analysis, right after this.

Also, President Obama had a lot to say about the Republican in fighting, while blasting Donald Trump for his comments about women.

[13:15:03] And Ivanka Trump, in damage control, how she is trying to woo back women voters. All that and a lot more. And we'll hear from Paul Ryan. He'll address these issues, we're told.

[13:15:00] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Say about the Republican in- fighting while blasting Donald Trump for his comments about women. And Ivanka Trump in damage control, how she's trying to woo back women voters. All that and a lot more. And we'll hear from Paul Ryan. He'll address these issues, we're told, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: There's breaking news we're following. Another woman has now come forward to accuse Donald Trump of inappropriately touching her. She says it happened back in the early 1990s at a Manhattan nightclub. The story now first reported by "The Washington Post," Karen Tumulty. We want to warn all of our viewers here in the United States and around the world that the details are very graphic. Here's what this woman told "The Washington Post."

[13:20:05] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTIN ANDERSON, TRUMP ACCUSER: And I'm talking to my friend who I'm sitting to and across from on my left side. I'm very clear on this. This is the vivid part for me. So the person on my right, who unbeknownst to me at that time was Donald Trump, put their hands up my skirt. He did touch my vagina through my underwear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Trump's spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, just told "The Washington Post," and I'm quoting her now, "Mr. Trump strongly denies this phony allegation by someone looking to get some free publicity. It is totally ridiculous." A very strong allegation now reported in "The Washington Post" following several similar allegations in "The New York Time," "People" magazine, "The Palm Beach Post," other newspapers around the country as well.

Let's bring in our legal analyst, Laura Coates, who's joining us right now.

Laura, as you know, the Trump campaign threatening legal action libel against some of these women, against the publications, the magazines, the newspapers. You're watching all of this. Is there a serious legal challenge here?

LAURA COATES, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, when it comes to "The New York Times" and the "People" magazines and "Washington Post," I think the very, very uphill battle to say the least. Libel claims in general are very, very hard to defend against, or prove, actually. And the reason why it's such a hard thing, particularly for a public figure like Donald Trump, and there's nobody more public than Donald Trump, the GOP nominee for the president of the United States, they have a very, very overwhelming burden. They have to prove that it's not only false, but it damages their reputation and that there's actual malice used. And, Wolf, when you talk about malice, it's not about whether somebody

personally had a beef with Donald Trump or didn't like him personally. It's about whether the publishers knew or should have known that it was false when they reported it. And the hurdle that most publications have to overcome is say, listen, we did a thorough and comprehensive investigation. We invited response from the actual candidate (INAUDIBLE) the story and we did our fact checking.

BLITZER: I've read the article now in "The Washington Post." It's been posted online. And throughout the article, the reporter, Karen Tumulty, quotes others who contemporaneously were told about this allegation and over the years this woman, Kristen Anderson, apparently told several of her associates, several of her friends what happened there. That - that will be an important element if there is a lawsuit, right?

COATES: Absolutely, because a journalist has to assess trustworthiness and credibility. And one of the ways to do that for the courts is to do kind of contemporaneous investigation of people who were there, who she may have told. (INAUDIBLE) the trust is that person's credibility. If it's not, if it's where it just came out, you know, a day or two ago or that she just has now revealed information, but it further adds to her credibility, perhaps, that she may have told this at the time that it actually happened. And those are some of the facts that you have to look at to figure whether a journalist and a publication had some reason to know that it was false or not.

BLITZER: All right, Laura, stay with us. There's more.

I want to bring in our panel. Dana Bash, Gloria Borger, David Gregory and Zeke Miller, as well.

And the story sounds very similar, Dana, to several others we've heard over these past few days.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It does and it is going to make it a lot harder, as we were talking about before we actually heard this woman on tape describe it, it's going to make it harder for the Trump campaign to come out with what they call evidence that all of these women are not telling the truth. It doesn't mean that - that - that we are going to say that they are all 100 percent, you know, rock solid. We don't know that. But the fact that this woman in particular, as you were saying, did have people who at the time she told makes it a little harder, a lot harder for them, for the Trump campaign, to discredit. And it's just - it's a snowball effect when it comes to these allegations.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: It's an avalanche. It's not just a snowball, right?

BLITZER: Gloria, what - what all - what - what further hurts Donald Trump is that he himself spoke about doing these kinds of things in that "Access Hollywood" bus, you know, mic interview, or whatever it was -

BORGER: Yes. BLITZER: With Billy Bush. He spoke about doing precisely these kinds of things.

BORGER: Yes, and -

BLITZER: Because he's a star, he said he can do - do whatever he wants.

BORGER: Yes. And also it's sort of like, I just can't help myself. I just go up to them and I start kissing them or, in this particular case -

BLITZER: Because they're beautiful.

BORGER: Putting his hand under - under someone's skirt, also in - in another recent case. Look, I think that the question has to be asked right now, after you do have this avalanche of women, what's in it and the - and the Trump campaign is discrediting them, and saying that there's some sort of conspiracy out there against the campaign.

What is in it for these women to come out now? These women don't seem like people who are looking for their 15 minutes of fame. They look like reluctant witnesses to me, and they look like women who at the time these things occurred, it wasn't common to go and complain about it, or to make these things public. And I think that now, after they saw Donald Trump say to Anderson Cooper at the debate, this has never happened, felt some kind of need to come out.

[13:25:26] And at some point I know the Trump campaign is going to challenge each and every one of them, but at some point when it gets to a group that grows larger and larger every day, they have to address the fact that there are, what, 10, 12 women who are coming out and do they discredit all of them? It's hard.

BLITZER: Deborah Feyerick is working this story for us as well. She's in New York.

Deborah, the headline in "The Washington Post," this story they just posted, "woman says Trump reached under her skirt and groped her in early 1990s." What else are you learning about this woman, Kristen Anderson?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're learning is, is that she was conflicted about coming forward. She didn't know whether there was anything in it to tell the story because it seemed like one of those stories that you just sort of share with friends, like this creepy guy did this to me in a bar one night. A lot of women have those stories.

But this particular woman, Kristin Anderson, says that she was at a nightclub. She was talking to friends. She wasn't even engaged with Donald Trump, who apparently was sitting next to her. She says that's when she felt his hand - a finger, actually, go up her miniskirt and touch her in her most private area. And she recoiled from it. She said it didn't last more than 30 seconds, but she recoiled, jumped off the couch and instantly recognized him. This was a club where he was known to frequent on Mondays, according to this story from "The Washington Post."

And she repeated this story to several friends over the course of several years. This happened back in the 1990s. But she wrestled with whether she should tell this story now that all these allegations are coming forward and she realized, in her words, that this wasn't just some sort of creepy incident. It was, in her words, the act of a predator. And that's why she decided to release and reveal what she went through.

And she says, look, my past is going to be dredged up. She understands that. But she felt it was more important to get this information out and not to protect this incident that happened to her. And we're seeing more women come forward.

We have another woman who is expected to speak at 2:30 in California. She's being represented by the famous lawyer, Gloria Allred. But now there are at least eight women - at least eight women who have come forward since the debate when Donald Trump was asked by Anderson Cooper, did you ever sort of turn your locker room talk into action? And he said, I have not, and a lot of women are really just repelled by that and they're deciding to come forward at their personal risk and tell what happened to them with respect to Donald Trump.

BLITZER: Yes, and I suspect there could be more women out there, in addition to this woman who's going to come forward with Gloria Allred at, what, around 2:30 Eastern Time as well.

David Gregory, you know what Donald Trump said yesterday. He said these are lies, these are libelists, this is a coordinated campaign by the Clinton campaign with the corrupt news media. They're out to get him. And he basically said there's no truth whatsoever to any of these allegations.

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. He has gone even farther into crazy town. I mean this is a horror show of a political campaign for the presidency right now. And what's true, while all of this is going on, new women coming forward with new accusations, him blaming the media and a global conspiracy, people are voting. People are getting polled. And Hillary Clinton is now in an even more commanding position to capture the presidency.

So as he hemorrhages support among Republicans, which is the big issue here, you've got Paul Ryan speaking at the top of the program saying, we're engaged in a debate between two different governing philosophies of the country. Now, we're not. We're in a debate about whether Donald Trump is fit to be president of the United States. A majority of voters, according to a Fox poll out today, say, no, he's not. He doesn't have the qualifications. Doesn't have temperament. He's not moving the electorate at all, which is why the likes of Paul Ryan are simply focusing now on the Senate and the House. This has moved away from the presidential election.

BLITZER: Zeke, I assume you know Karen Tumulty. We all know Karen. Highly respected Washington political correspondent. She's been around for a while. She's a very serious journalist. ZEKE MILLER, POLITICAL REPORTER, "TIME": Used to be at "Time" magazine

as well. I mean the notion that there's a grand media conspiracy, A, we're not that good.

GREGORY: We're not that organized. We're not that organized.

[13:29:35] MILLER: We were - not that we were not - but like, you know, you know, but beyond that, I mean, the way we saw the Donald Trump speech yesterday and sort of - all the things, if you were to list the things that he has said are rigged, or crooked or fixed in this election, I mean everything from the unemployment numbers, to the Federal Reserve, to sort of globalist banks to - I mean it - to buy that conspiracy theory that, one, that he's now sort of using to deflect from his, you know, these new allegations against him requires to sort of buy into this entire alternate world view. And there are some people who are Donald Trump supports who want to buy that. (INAUDIBLE) conservative media, far right media over the years. What Donald Trump has done is mainstreamed a lot of that and he's looking for an off ramp here. You know, how does he blame the loss of - a likely loss at this point.