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Report: Record Producer Hosting Benefit Concert for LA Flood Victims; Clinton Stumps in Ohio on Labor Day; "The Color Purple: Cast Talks Success, Race; CNN Special Reports on Clinton and Trump. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired September 5, 2016 - 15:30   ET

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


[15:30:00] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: -- .coughing fit. She turned it around and said she's allergic to Donald Trump. We'll dip in live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK

BALDWIN: As it is Labor Day, that signifies sort of this final stretch, we have nine weeks to go until election day and you know where both of the candidates are today? The battleground state of Ohio. We just saw Donald Trump pressing the flesh, good old retail politics at a fair in Canfield, Ohio. We also saw both Hillary Clinton, she's now on a plane with travelling press, that started today.

[15:35:00] So it happened that on the same day both candidates are talking to reporters that's a good thing. Let's dip in, Hillary Clinton along with her running mate Tim Kaine are speaking in front of a crowd in Cleveland.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump's track record when it comes to hard-working men and women -- I know, I'm allergic to it, too, but you have to look at his record. There may be people you know who are thinking about voting for him and you know friends don't let friends vote for Trump.

And here is what you can tell them among many things, he hired a union-busting firm to break up an organizing campaign at his hotel in Las Vegas. He built his career on refusing to pay workers, plumbers, painters, glass installers, marble installers, people who did work for him then he refused to pay them. He stiffed small businesses like my dad.

My dad and Tim's dad had small businesses that gave us a good middle- class life. I'm so grateful my father never got a contract from Donald Trump. My dad worked hard, he printed drapery fabrics and I would go help him sometimes and there would be a long table in his print plant and the fabric would be rolled out then the silkscreens laid down then you'd pour the paint in, then you take the squeegee and push it across the screen.

You lift it up, go all the way down then go to the second table all the way back. When he finished he'd load those drapery fabrics in his car and he would have delivered them. I don't know what would have happened to my family if he had done a big job thinking it was a good deal for Trump and he get there is and the Trump people say we are not going to pay you.

Then after harassing maybe they say, "okay, we'll pay you 30 cents on the dollar." he's driven hard-working people into bankruptcy and taken six bankruptcies himself. Ohio you know very much that a president makes decisions that affect people's lives and livelihoods. When millions of jobs were on the line in the auto industry President Obama made the right decision to save the auto industry.

I know we've got some UAW members here. I was proud to support him then, I'm even prouder now that the auto industry just had its best year ever. Think how differently things could have turned out. I know this is hard to imagine if it had been Donald Trump in the oval office.

Last year remember this -- remember this -- last year he said it didn't matter whether or not we saved the auto industry. Either way would have been acceptable. He said we could have just let it go. Never mind the 850,000 people in Ohio and millions more across the country whose jobs and paychecks were tied to the auto industry. Now what else could we expect from someone whose most famous words are "you're fired"?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Let me say it again. Nine weeks till election day, three weeks to the first presidential debate.

Coming up next, President Obama weighs in on a Colin Kaepernick's protest. See how he says the 49ers quarterback could have maybe made his point a bit better. Plus, two of the stars of the Tony award winning "Color Purple" sat down with me to talk about race, their show on Broadway, and how the message still resonates today. "The Color Purple" coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Today as he was in China the President of the United States was asked to weigh in about this whole controversy involving 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and his protest, his not standing during the national anthem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARACK OBAMA, (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My understanding is he's exercising his constitutional right to make a statement. There's a long history of sports figures doing so but I don't doubt his sincerity based on what I've heard.

[15:40:00] I think he cares about some real legitimate issues that have to be talked about. And if nothing else what he's done is he's generated more conversation around the topics that need to be talked about.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: The president also acknowledged how some members of the military might feel slighted by Kaepernick's protest. Kaepernick himself has been refusing to stand for the national anthem he says to protest police brutality against African Americans. What he's done has sparked plenty of praise and criticism as well from the likes of NFL executives, from police unions and a number of fans who have taken to burn his jersey.

Despite this controversy he ignited here, sales of Kaepernick jersey has increased. His team is standing by him revealing Kaepernick will be on the 49ers roster for the upcoming football season.

In a political year that has seen race as a central theme, "Color Purple" delivers a message that has never been more relevant, I had the privilege of sitting down with two of the stars of the Broadway show, Tony award winning actress Cynthia Erivo and Danielle Brooks from "Orange is the New Black."

And they talked to me about the show's successes and about race and about finding one's voice.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[15:45:00] CYNTHIA ERIVO. TONY WINNING ACTRESS, STAR OF "THE COLOR PURPLE": If you'd have told me about 10, 15 years ago that I would be starring in with my name outside a theater and my face outside a theater in New York City I would have told you were crazy.

(SINGING) I'm gonna take a deep breath, gonna hold my head up, gonna put my shoulders back and look you straight in the eye.

Every time I step on the stage I feel like there's a huge responsibility to women, children, people going through any form of abuse. Those people I feel need a voice.

BALDWIN: Celie is beaten down, she is raped repeatedly, she thinks she lost her sister forever and in the end here she is on this stage and she's making pants.

ERIVO: She's making her pants, she's got her own business, she's finding her feet, she's able in the end to see that she alone is enough.

BALDWIN: Celie, which was Whoopi in the movie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHOOPIE GOLDBERG, ACTRESS: I'm poor, black, I may be ugly but dear god I am here. I'm here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Did she dare give Cynthia Erivo advice?

ERIVO: She came to see the show and I met her and it was a wonderful surreal moment. I remember what she said, she said, that smile, you've got that smile. You've got it, it's yours, this Celie is yours."

And she sent beautiful roses and there's a note that she sent that she said, "Thank you for making Celie shine."

BALDWIN: What does it feel like to be out on that stage eight times a week?

BROOKS: Oh, man, it's great.

BALDWIN: It's a dream.

BROOKS: It is a dream.

BALDWIN: Do you feel that?

BROOKS: Oh, I know it, I live it. "The Color Purple" is the first Broadway show that I had ever saw and to now ten, 11 years being on a stage every night and get to inspire and challenge myself is great.

(SINGING) Girl, you too good for that man, let me take you up.

BALDWIN: It's about abuse, it's about the south, it's about blackness, it's about women finding their voices. Is there anything in playing Sofia that you've taken away yourself?

BROOKS: Specifically singing "hell no" every night is what gets me.

BALDWIN: All of us are sitting in the audience and we hear you sing "hell, no" and we're like "hell, yes!" what is it like on that stage?

BROOKS: It is so empowering. You get to inspire women and men to say no to whatever they're dealing with. It might not be abuse. It might be self-doubt, insecurities, fears.

BALDWIN: You may be saying "hell, no" but I watch "Orange is the New Black" and Tasty has this theme "bad-assed-ness", I imagine there's a piece of you that you bring to both of these women.

BROOKS: The difference with Tasty, she says in season one, she says I don't think anyone is going to take me seriously. And that's the difference. With Sofia, she knows it, she don't care, okay? But with Tasty she's still dealing with feeling like she's enough.

BALDWIN: I want to read you a quote from President Obama who was speaking at the Howard University commencement. "Be confident in your blackness, to be black, there's no straight jacket, no constraints, no litmus test for authenticity."

BROOKS: I think that's beautiful what Obama said. I'm so grateful to have a black president to speak on behalf of our blackness and helping us to realize that. I think it's so important we show that we're so much more than one dimensional. So much more than three dimensional.

That's what I love about being in "Orange is the New Black" because I get to work with not one, two, three, four, but over five black women. And then Hispanic and white and old and young and transgender.

We bleed the same. We hurt the same. We love the same. That's the most important thing to remember. We bleed the same. We hurt the same. We love, the same. That's the most important thing to remember.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[15:50:04] BALDWIN: "The Color Purple" thank you for having us. Coming up next, CNN profiles both presidential candidates and their children for the most in-depth documentaries on both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump to date. Stay with us for a sneak peek ahead of these exclusive interviews ahead of the big airing tonight.

First, let's honor this week's CNN hero, a woman in San Diego who introduces kids to a possible career in science. They're from the city's poorest communities and many have never, ever, ever seen the ocean.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHARA FISLER, OCEAN DISCOVERY INSTITUTE: These are barnacles and they attach with their heads. So you can study technology, mathematics all through studying the ocean. This is a career field that students from very diverse communities don't pursue and our students are pursuing them at unprecedented rates.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: To see how she does it, go to CNNheroes.com and nominations for 2016 close tonight.

COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:55:00] BALDWIN: All right. Big, big night here on CNN this evening. We are bringing you not just one, two special reports about presidential candidates here, the nominees, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. You will hear their personal stories from those who know them the very best. I'm joined by two ladies who have spent months and months and shout out to the documentary crew right here on CNN, Jen Hyde and her team who've help put this whole thing together.

Our CNN Chief Political Analyst, Gloria Borger and CNN Justice Correspondent, Pamela Brown. OK, so looking at you. So Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, let's just get to a quick clip and then we can chat. This is Don junior talking about his first job with his dad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP JR., SON OF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My first job was as his dock attendant. It is nice and you're looking up boats and you're running around, it was lot of fun making minimum wage and tips.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Two weeks later, the work got tougher. TRUMP, JR.: Started going into some landscaping, utilizing heavy

equipment. I'm 15 years old. I say, wait, I'm older. I'm working much harder. There's no longer a tip component. I remember going to him half way through summer saying, I'm working much harder and how come I'm still making minimum wage. He said, you didn't, ask why would I pay you more than you're willing to work for?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Making minimum wage. What was he like? What was the family like?

BORGER: Devoted. Totally devoted. What's surprising and I think those of who cover political campaigns. Families usually are there just to be surrogates and smile and go out on the stage, and these adult children are involved in the campaign. Ivanka's husband, Jared Kushner, is one of the people running the campaign.

They are all sitting there making decisions with Donald Trump. They are the people he goes to. He has his campaign team, but I think they are the last people in the room with him very often when he is making decisions. And I think they were very involved in the vice presidential choice for example. And will continue to be involved in this campaign in an extraordinary way.

BALDWIN: The family involved with Donald Trump. And even if he were to win, what the role could be in the White House.

BORGER: Exactly.

BALDWIN: And to you, I mean, listen, we all watched Chelsea Clinton grow up in front of our eyes. Here she is talking to you about what it was like the first time she brought her boyfriend to the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHELSEA CLINTON, DAUGHTER OF HILLARY AND BILL CLINTON: My father would intimidate them, as I think any father -- just you know, polite, sternly, standing there at the top of the stairs. They say, sheepishly, I'm here to take your daughter to dinner or movie or whatever we were doing. I think he loved that intimidation factor.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: What about your mom? What was she like when you would bring boys home?

CHELSEA CLINTON: Well she already knew all about them already I'm so close with my mom, she asked me and grilled me about anything and everything she felt she needed to know.

HILLARY CLINTON: I remember one boy she brought and he was going through the stage where he was wearing a baseball cap the whole time. And I finally told him, you have to take off your baseball cap. You're in the White House. We're going to have dinner and you cannot sit at the table with it on. It was just being a regular mom.

BALDWIN: We're southern girls. My parents would have been like, no, no, no.

BROWN: Can't wear that baseball cap.

BALDWIN: No, no, no.

BROWN: Interesting to see this side of Hillary Clinton through the lens of Chelsea Clinton. They have an extremely close relationship similar to the Trump kids. She was born into the public spotlight. And she said I can't remember a time when my mom wasn't being attacked. Just remember what that must be like. But she was also a typical mom, made her clean her room, make her bed.

You saw Hillary Clinton was with the boys. And the people we spoke to closest to Hillary Clinton in her inner circle said that Chelsea Clinton was the glue that kept Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton together during the tough times in the White House.

I asked Hillary Clinton what that was like after all these years, watching her daughter introduce her as the first female presidential nominee of a major party at the convention. She said she could barely hold back tears when she walked on to the stage. And you kind of saw that at the convention so it's really incredible in this documentary to see that personal relationship, mother and daughter.

BALDWIN: We will be watching starting at 8:00 tonight, 8:00. And 10:00 eastern here on CNN. "The Essential Hillary Clinton", "The Essential Donald Trump".