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Ken Bone, an Audience Member at Last Night's Debate, Stands Out; Trump Performed Better at Debate, While Losing Traction With Women Vote; Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired October 10, 2016 - 10:30   ET

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


KEN BONE, DEBATE AUDIENCE MEMBER: I don't see how I could not have worn the red sweater this morning. It's more famous to me. I just had to bring myself along.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN HOST: Can you believe you've become an internet sensation.

BONE: I went from last night having seven Twitter followers, two of which were my grandmother because she had to remake her account when she forgot her password, to now I have several hundred. I don't know why they care what I have to say, but I'm glad they are engaged in the political process.

COSTELLO: Well I think they thought you were quite charming. In fact, you told my booker Nija (ph) why you chose to wear that red sweater. Can you share with us?

BONE: Yeah, I had a really nice olive suit that I love a great deal and my mother would have been very proud to see me wearing on television, but apparently I've gained about 30 pounds and when I went to get in my car the morning of the debate, I split the seat of my pants all the way open, so the red sweater is plan B and I'm glad it worked out.

COSTELLO: See, that's why people love you on the internet because you're refreshingly honest in a campaign season where voters don't think either candidate is especially honest. So I'm going to ask you a few serious questions, and then we'll get into the fun ones again. So this was supposed to be a town hall debate, you know, an intimate setting where voters were to get to know the candidates better. Do you feel it went down that way?

BONE: Well, in the first part especially, there was a lot of bickering, a lot of name-calling, but we did get to eight questions from the people which is about the same as the last political cycle. So I'm really proud of Martha Raddatz and Anderson Cooper. I think they did an excellent job of moving us through under difficult circumstances and I really feel like our voice was heard.

COSTELLO: You're an undecided voter. Did anything that was said onstage last night make up your mind?

BONE: Well, I know people hate to hear this but I think I might be more undecided than ever. I was leaning very heavily toward Donald Trump but Secretary Clinton impressed me with her composure and with a lot of her answers, so now I think I'm just going to wait for the last political debate. And in this cycle, you never know what can happen.

COSTELLO: Were you aware that Bill Clinton's accusers from long ago were inside the debate hall?

BONE: I did not know that. Myself and all the other town hall participants were sequestered since eight in the morning, so we knew nothing about who would be there beyond the candidates, the moderators, and the candidates' families.

COSTELLO: Now that you know that they were in the debate hall, did that enter into your decision that now you're leaning away from Mr. Trump?

BONE: I don't think that'll factor into my decision because I really try to stick to the issues, but if I'm being honest that was - I feel like that was uncalled for. It has very little to do with Hillary Clinton's ability to be president - her husband's bad behavior from 20 years ago. And if Mr. Trump wants us to forget his past behaviors, he needs to quit dredging up those of his political opponent.

COSTELLO: So a lot of my viewers wrote to me on Facebook saying the felt - they felt kind of gross after the debate. What was - how did you feel?

BONE: At points during the debate, it almost felt like watching mom and dad fight. It got very uncomfortable from up close. But if you can dig through some of the rhetoric and some of the name-calling that went on, I think there really were some substantive answers. It's just unfortunate that we have to wade through so much to get to them.

COSTELLO: But you're still glad to be part of the process and you will vote, right?

BONE: Absolutely. I'm really glad that so much attention has come my way, if for no other reason than I can get the message out that your voice can be heard and please get out and vote in November, even if you feel like your vote does not matter, it does. Make your voice heard.

COSTELLO: I like that. And before you go, I just have to show you a little from the internet, because one woman actually tweeted this: Ken Bone the real MVP of the debate, 33 percent confidence, 33 percent calming demeanor, 33 percent hugability, 1 percent power stach. And they're talking about your mustache. So again, (--)

BONE: Well, if I'm being honest, I really feel like the mustache deserves more than 1 percent, but I'm glad it got on the list.

COSTELLO: Ken Bone, you're so charming and thank you so much for being with me this morning. I do appreciate it. It was awesome. Coming up next: Donald Trump punches back: His debate guests, women who had accuse Bill Clinton of sexual assault, but what do undecided voters think of the move. We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [10:34:54]

COSTELLO: That leaked tape of Donald Trump's vulgar sexual comments about women was the 11-year-old elephant in the room last night. It seemed to be the last straw for many republicans who've since abandoned their candidate. Debate co-moderator, Martha Raddatz, said it had become the single most-talked-about story of the entire 2016 election on Facebook. Here's how Trump addressed it last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, DEBATE MODERATOR: Just for the record, though, are you saying that what you said on that bus 11 years ago, that you did not actually kiss women without consent or grope women without consent?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have great respect for women. Nobody has more respect for women then I do.

COOPER: So for the record, you're saying you never did that?

TRUMP: I've said things that, frankly, you hear these things, they're said. And I was embarrassed by it, but I have tremendous respect for women (--)

COOPER: Have you ever done those things?

TRUMP: And women have respect for me. And I will tell you, no I have not.

(END VIDEO CLIP) [10:50:02]

COSTELLO: All right, so Trump even seemed to say, I'll see your leaked tape and raise you Bill Clinton's past, bringing women who've accused the former president of sexual misconduct into the debate hall. So let's talk about all of this with CNN's political commentator and Trump supporter John Phillips, CNN political commentator Tara Setmeyer, and former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm, who is also supporting Hillary Clinton. Welcome to all of you. Jennifer, I would like to start with you, because more than one person said this morning that the presence of these three Bill Clinton accusers rattled Mrs. Clinton on stage last night.

JENNIFER GRANHOLM, FORMER MICHIGAN GOVERNOR: Totally disagree with that. I think that she was as cool as a cucumber; very, very sane, very measured. She could have really gone after him because it was such an inappropriate thing for him to do and to raise. There's a reason why your CNN poll shows that women completely have a much better opinion of her than him. In fact, overall, her favorability after this debate last night was at 54 percent. Trump's favorability was at 34 percent. Sixty-four percent of people rated him unfavorably. I am sure that this tape, that the specter of him bringing those women in as a distraction was a bit part of that.

COSTELLO: So, John, some people called bringing these women into the debate hall, Donald Trump's hail Mary pass, so in your mind, did he score a touchdown? JOHN PHILLIPS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, with all the talk of audio tapes that are leaked and women from the past that show up, I say we just go all in and have Maury Povich do the next debate. Get rid of Chris Wallace, let's put the kids in boot camp and just go down that road. If we're going to do it, let's do it right.

COSTELLO: We're already there, John. What about Jerry Springer?

PHILLIPS: But, I think for Trump this was almost the inverse of the last debate. The last debate, I thought his strongest moments were the first 30 minutes when he was talking about trade, when he was talking about the economy, then it kind of all went downhill from there. In this debate, I thought his weakest moments were the first 20 minutes. I thought the apology left some to be desired. I thought having the women there really didn't score the points that I thought he assumed outside of getting in her head, which I think it did. His strongest moments were the final 60 minutes of the debate, when he was pivoting, which he didn't do the first time. I thought what he did with the 3 a.m. question was good, connecting it to Benghazi. He really hammered her on the emails. He was much stronger as the debate went on last night.

COSTELLO: But here's the thing, he is losing badly with women, especially republican, educated, white women, so Tara, did Donald Trump (--)

GRANHOLM: Bigly, bigly.

COSTELLO: By 25 points he's losing them.

TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That's right.

COSTELLO: So did he say anything last night in your mind, you're an educated republican woman, that would change your mind about Donald Trump?

SETMAYER: No. I agree with John on his assessment on Trump's performance. I think this is what happens when you actually prepare, so I guess being holed up in Trump Tower on Saturday he was able to prepare better for this debate, and he definitely put Clinton back on her heels more than once, and that's the frustration for those of us who are conservatives looking at Trump as our candidate, because Hillary Clinton is such a flawed candidate and has such a failed record that if we had a republican that could articulate that consistently, that didn't have the character issues and the integrity issues that Donald Trump has, we'd be winning by 30. But we don't, we've got Trump. So unfortunately I think that what he's done now with that tape on Friday is just really solidified the viewpoint that Donald Trump is unfit temperamentally to be president of the United States. That display in the first 20 minutes last night was uncomfortable, it was unseemly, and I felt it was beneath the dignity of the office of the presidency and I think it was off-putting to the average voter who was watching that. And I'm not sure if anything else he says policy wise would get through, because people - how you present yourself matters and it matters in how people hear what you have to say. COSTELLO: So, Jennifer, is that the strategy for Hillary Clinton

going forward? There's already a webcam ad out and it's on the woman issue, right? It's not on the tax issue, it's not on what he said about Syria, the figures from Mike Pence, it's not on that; it's about the woman issue. So that going forward, is that Hillary Clinton's strategy? Because some of the answers she gave last night surrounding her email controversy and whether she has thought privately about things in a different way than she said publicly that wasn't a great answer either (--) [10:44:30]

GRANHOLM: Well, I disagree with you on that. I think that raising the specter - well, first of all I would say that her strategy is not just to focus on women. She said from the very beginning, her first answer, we're stronger together. And she talked about all of the buffet of discriminatory and hateful statements that Donald Trump has made, not just to women but to others. But just to the point of your previous speakers on policy, I mean, Donald Trump could not talk about policy. He didn't say what he would do in Syria, other than continue this sort of, you know, footsie-footsie with Putin and suggest that Putin, in fact, did not direct the hacking of U.S. and obviously the DNC and others, you know, which has been totally proven to be wrong. In fact, the fact checkers have showed that there were at least 30 clearly wrong statements that Donald Trump made, so it's hard for her during a debate to focus on any particular one because she would be using up all of her time, but she's going to talk about the issues that people care about. When she responded to issues like going to somebody, looking them in the eye, and say "I understand, you want to elevate this conversation. You're a teacher, you want to make our children proud of what we're doing." And then we're faced with this guy who is demeaning the concept of the presidency, much less the concept of even being a candidate for president. So she, not just on form, but on policy itself, she's going to go after all of that.

COSTELLO: So, John, do you - you're a Trump supporter, do you think that Mr. Trump articulated what he would do in Syria about ISIS and about Bashar al Assad and about Russian air strikes that strike things like hospitals and civilian populations. Do you feel comfortable that he articulated a plan that would prevent those strategies from happening?

PHILLIPS: Yes, I think he feels the way a lot of us do. He's hesitant to put troops on the ground. He doesn't want to get us involved in another hot war. But he understands that you do have a humanitarian crisis on the ground there and something needs to be done.

COSTELLO: But he said he won't let Syria refugees into the United States, so what is he going to do?

PHILLIPS: Yes, but that doesn't mean they can't go somewhere else in the region, which is probably better for them.

SETMAYER: But he also praised Putin, Assad, and Iran and their engaging in killing civilians. You know, Trump's - that was also one of the points that Trump was at his lowest was during his foreign policy. It was a gibberish mess, completely not cogent, and he contradicted his own vice president which is unprecedented. And it was - he was very defensive about it and said, you know, "I haven't talked to him about this and I disagree." So I think that - that again that doesn't really give any comfort to people who are watching this that he has a full command of a very important issue. I mean, foreign policy is one of the primary responsibilities of the presidency, even more so than domestic policy, really. And he has not demonstrated that he has a command of that. So I think that he was good on Obamacare, he was good on the taxes issue, and he Hillary Clinton was unable to capitalize on trying to turn it around on policy. If she wants to do better, she's got to come up with better answers than what she did last night, because that wasn't sufficient. She had a chance to knock out (--)

GRANHOLM: I totally disagree.

SETMAYER: She had a chance to knock Trump out and she didn't because he still lives to fight another day, or else - I mean, even people who don't want to admit it have to admit Trump performed better, so that means that Clinton didn't do well.

COSTELLO: That's it. I have to leave it there. Thanks to all of you.

GRANHOLM: Yes, he definitely - OK. All right, thanks.

COSTELLO: And I'm proud none of you yelled at each other, and I feel like we scored a victory this morning.

SETMAYER: We're trying to elevate the conversation. Leave it to the candidates.

COSTELLO: Still ahead in THE NEWSROOM: It may have been a U.S. presidential debate, but the eyes of the world were watching.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [10:50:00]

COSTELLO: A U.S. Navy warship was targeted off the coast of Yemen today. The Pentagon says two missiles were fired at the warship, but both missed, hitting the water instead. Officials believe the missiles came from an area controlled by HUssi rebels. The group(ph) called the report baseless. The warship was in international waters at the time of the attack.

So the debate playing out at home and on the world stage. Let's talk about that. This morning round two making the front page of major international papers: The Independent from the U.K. saying Trump and Clinton trade blows in contentious and tawdry showdown. The Guardian, also from the U.K., saying Trump threatens Clinton as he fights dirty to keep campaign alive. And here's one from Spain headlining with Trump's threat to jail Clinton if he wins in what they called a tense debate. CNN's Clarissa Ward joins me now live with London, with reaction from overseas. It seems people are very engaged in the American election.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They are, Carol, I can't tell you what it's like to be an American overseas at the moment and whether I'm in Northern Syria, whether I'm in Asia or here in London, it's all that anybody wants to talk about. And the entire world is watching this election very closely, I think at this stage with really mixed emotions. In terms of last night's debate, the feedback that I'm hearing over and over again and reading as you just heard in those headlines is just how shocked people were by how hostile the debate was, how aggressive it was, how you hears the word tawdry being used. You heard the word dirty being used in those headlines and I think that people for the most part have not seen anything quite on this scale in American politics up until this point and particularly here in Europe which certainly looks up to the U.S. as a kind of beacon of democracy, as the leader of the free world, there is some real concern about how this whole process is playing out, about what kind of damage will be done by the words and the barbs that have been traded. And there's a sort of mixed emotion between on the one hand you can't tear your eyes away from it, it's like a spectacle, it's like reality TV, it's like theater. But on the other hand knowing hold on a second, this country is about to elect the future leader of the free world, this is very important, and we haven't yet heard enough real depth and nuance when it comes to discussion of the serious issues that the U.S. faces internationally. And I think that's what you - what a global audience would like to hear; more substantive discussion of international relations, because everyone looks to the U.S. for leadership, Carol.

COSTELLO: I'd like to ask you, Martha Raddatz, one of the debate moderators, she seemed very frustrated with Donald Trump when he tried to explain policies as it applied to Syria. Martha Raddatz covers the world, just as you do. Explain for us what perhaps was at the root of her frustration. [10:54:44]

WARD: I think what's at the root of her frustration is that Donald Trump doesn't have a Syria policy, or not one that I can ascertain from all that he has said on this subject. On the one hand, it's clear that he has kind of a slightly cynical realpolitik view of the conflict inside Syria. His attitude, you heard him last night, "Hey, we may not like Assad, but the reality is Assad and Russian and Iran are all fighting ISIS and killing ISIS," which is only true to a certain extent, actually they're part of the cause of ISIS as well. But then on the other hand he says, "We should create safe zones." Well, how are you going to create safe zones without some type of leverage when it comes to the negotiating table. Right now what the U.S. has found is that its efforts on the diplomatic front have been somewhat toothless because there hasn't been any real leverage to back it up and there's nothing that Donald Trump last night said differently that would indicate any real development or coherent Syria policy, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Clarissa Ward reporting live for us from London. I appreciate your insight this morning. Thank you for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello. "AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [11:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Hello everyone, I'm John Berman.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: Hi everybody, I'm Kate Bolduan.