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Clinton Hitting Trail; Presidential Race; Trump on Twitter. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired July 29, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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


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[14:00:18] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Here we go on this Friday afternoon. I'm Brooke Baldwin, back in New York. Great to be with you. You're watching CNN.

And let's start with on the move and under pressure. Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine have already gone from convention stage to campaign trail with - count it with me now - 101 days officially remaining until you decide who will become the next president of the United States - 101 days. Today, the Democratic ticket begins a three-day bus tour going through the key battleground states of Pennsylvania, beginning in Philadelphia, and then on to Ohio.

Their Republican rivals are also stumping, but separately. I can tell you that Republican Nominee Donald Trump is set for an event in the key state of Colorado. And his VP, Mike Pence, will be in Ohio later today.

Now, both sides know there is no time to waste here. Closing argument time. Polls showing a virtual dead heat between Trump and Clinton. What is the most immediate question right now? Will Hillary Clinton get that same sort of post-convention bounce that Mr. Trump experienced? After she became the first woman ever to accept the Democratic presidential nomination, it was a convention finale custom made for Clinton, even with its own original theme song.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): We're united when the spirit. There will be better days to come. If you reach out, you can feel it, because it's there for everyone. Don't you know that we are stronger together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That "Stronger Together" song. We talked to Baby Face yesterday. He was - he co-produced and co-wrote it. And here he is, balloons gone, Jeff Zeleny with us now, our senior Washington correspondent, who was at that Clinton-Kaine event the in Philadelphia.

I heard her say 101 days to make our case to America.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, the countdown is on here and it's so clear when you see Hillary Clinton with Tim Kaine. She believes that is the partnership here to sell their case for change. We know there is a hunger for change in this country. But after a convention steeped in so much nostalgia from the Clinton years, that is one of the central questions here, can Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine present themselves as something new? Something a little bit more than an extension of a third term of President Obama. Of course, that is fine with many people in the country, but many of those people that Hillary Clinton is trying to reach, they certainly are looking for something different.

Now, Brooke, they just left the stage here a second ago. Bill Clinton was on stage. He did not speak. But Hillary Clinton made the argument for why this election, there is such a stark choice between her and Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I have to tell you, it was also kind of overwhelming. I take deeply and with great humility the responsibility that this campaign imposes on us. There is no doubt in my mind that every election in our democracy is important in its own way, but I can't think of an election that is more important certainly in my lifetime. And it's not so much that I'm on the ticket. It is because of the stark choice that is posed to America in this election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So, Brooke, as their bus tour rolls along from here in Philadelphia across Pennsylvania, then into Ohio, there are two main objectives here. One, keep trying to present Donald Trump as an unacceptable alternative, but, two, trying to talk more about the economy. All our surveys and polls show that Donald Trump still actually has stronger ratings on the economy. That's why this bus tour, they'll be stopping in factor towns and other places, making the case that Donald Trump actually outsources most of his materials. They will be talking about how they can usher in a stronger economy.

But, Brooke, the challenge, of course, is, again, that hunger for change here in the country. Do people look at that ticket as a ticket of change?

Brooke.

BALDWIN: Right. Jeff Zeleny, stick around. I want to add you as a voice to my next conversation.

But first, before we look ahead, let's look back. Hillary Clinton, she had, you know, to first make it official, accept the nomination, make history, becoming the first woman to headline the presidential ticket of a major political party. In that acceptance speech there inside that Wells Fargo Arena, you know, clad in all white there, she celebrated a milestone there with her daughter Chelsea Clinton, who introduced her, you know, in hitting Donald Trump hard, repeating themes that the Republican nominee she alleges is reckless and divisive and just simply unfit to be president.

[14:05:03] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: So, my friends, it is with humility, determination and boundless confidence in America's promise that I accept your nomination for president of the United States.

The truth is, through all these years of public service, the service part has always come easier to me than the public part. I get it, that some people just don't know what to make of me.

You really think Donald Trump has the temperament to be commander in chief? Donald Trump can't even handle the rough and tumble of a presidential campaign.

He's taken the Republican Party a long way from morning in America to midnight in America.

Americans alone say "I alone can fix it." We say, "we'll fix it together."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: All right, so, Cleveland, check. Philadelphia, check. Let's have a bigger conversation here about the state of the race.

Let' me bring in CNN political analyst John Avlon, editor in chief of "The Daily Beast," Jeff Zeleny, he's still with me in Philadelphia, where that bus tour just kicked off, Jackie Kucinich, Washington bureau chief of "The Daily Beast" here with me in New York, and Republican strategist Ryan Williams, who served as spokesman for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.

Welcome, welcome to all of you. Some of us a tad bleary-eyed after staying up way too late. Sort of, you know, watching it all.

And, Jackie Kucinich, because you are good enough to actually sit next to me here in New York - I feel so lonely today - you were in - you were in the room.

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.

BALDWIN: You were in the arena. How did it feel? Did she achieve, you know, really getting those eyeballs on the screen for especially undecideds and independents, do you think?

KUCINICH: You know, this was kind of her basic stump speech. I mean it really - the speech didn't really meet the historic moment. Now, of course, it was well received in the room. I mean all of those people had - most of those people had been waiting to see Hillary Clinton speak this entire time. But I will say, some of her most effective lines were about Trump, were attacking Trump rather than talking about herself, which she herself says she's not really good at.

BALDWIN: Yes. Yes.

John Avlon, you know, I was in - I was in the room for Biden and President Obama's, and you could just - you could feel it. And they are true. They have a gift, I think, in speaking. And with Hillary Clinton, I watched it like the rest of America, you know, at home on TV and actually found myself trying - sort of having to turn it down. I don't know if she was speaking up because the crowd was so loud, but that was just sort of part of my takeaway sitting at home. What did you think?

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Look, I think it was a strong speech, but not a great speech. To Jackie's point, I mean there is a historic standard. And there wasn't the kind of sweep of history in her speech. There wasn't the kind of crescendo end or the finely- wrought phrases that you'd get from a Peggy Noonan or a John Fabro (ph).

But the speech did get the basic things done she needed to do, I think. One, she took the fight to Trump. Two, she acknowledged her own imperfections as a candidate but really doubled down to her own commitment of service. And she did some really important things that were subtle though the speech, too. In a year where we discussed all the importance of change, she made the case that if something's wrong with our economy, it's because something's wrong with our democracy. Sort of putting the onus on those wrong track numbers we talk so much about. Sixty-nine percent of Americans say the country's on the wrong track, saying that a lot of you are angry at the division and dysfunction in Washington and I can be the kind of pragmatic leader who can try to bridge those gaps. And if you're hurting, I can actually put in place policies that might help, as opposed to just bluster.

And so it's risky in its own way to put all your chips on competence and confidence, rather than charisma, in a time of anger and change. But that's what she needs to do because that's, frankly, who she is. Trying to be someone else at this point would be a terrible mistake.

BALDWIN: Jeff Zeleny, when we were talking yesterday, you were saying she needed to show - this is ahead of this speech - she needed to show humility. She needed to ask - you know, speak specifically to those Bernie Sanders supporters to have them help her. And you said she needs to own up to her flaws and shortcomings. Did she deliver on all three for you?

ZELENY: I think on the Bernie Sanders piece, she definitely did. She - there's no question that her policies in her campaign from here forward are certainly influenced by this strain of progressivism that is coursing through this Democratic Party. I think she reached out to Bernie Sanders supporters in the room of course, but more importantly across the country.

Now is everyone going to follow? No, of course not. But I was struck, Brooke, as the week went along here in Philadelphia, you talk to Bernie Sanders supporters. They knew and realize that they had to support her. I talked to a voter from the panhandle of Florida. She came into this convention here in Philadelphia as such a Bernie Sanders supporter. By the end, she had printed signs up saying, "I love Bernie, that's why I'm going to vote for her," Hillary. So I think that we can analyze the speech and, of course, it will be - it will be chewed over. She's never going to have as many etched-in-stone lines, if you will, as Barack Obama or Bill Clinton.

[14:10:16] I don't think that really matters. It matters if she unites his coalition here. And if she does that, electorally speaking, as the demographics of this country has changed, she has a very strong chance in November.

BALDWIN: Yes.

ZELENY: But, of course, she has to make that change argument along the way.

BALDWIN: Ryan Williams, to you. You know, as my Republican, I really want to hear from you, because one note has been - I remember when we were all in Cleveland and we listened to Ivanka Trump, right, sort of tee up her dad and the way she was talking about women and mothers, there were folks, you know, post-gaming say, well, that sounded like we're at the DNC. Then you have last night, you know, General Allen and chants of "USA" and, you know, "I am a patriot" from Hillary Clinton flanked by American flags and folks saying, hang on a second, that - are we at the RNC? Did you notice that?

RYAN WILLIAMS, FORMER SPOKESMAN FOR MITT ROMNEY: Absolutely. Patriotism is usually something you see more on display at a Republican Convention. I think back to 2004 convention in New York when President Bush, having served during 9/11, really rallied the country. That's really something you generally see at a Republican convention. Democrats are a little less comfortable with that. But I think that they embraced it this time around because, you know, their theme was, we're better together, whereas Trump's theme was, the country is in trouble. I'm the man who can fix it. It's, you know, kind of a role reversal, but, you know, we'll see how it plays. Trump's speech I think was very unconventional. Clinton's speech was competent but nothing too exciting and pretty conventional. So I'm not sure which plays better this year. It's a crazy year. Trump got a bounce. We'll see if Hillary Clinton's speech can move the needle in any way.

BALDWIN: Do you think, just quickly following up, Ryan, on your point. I had Doug Elmitz (ph) on my show yesterday who worked in the Reagan administration. He's voted Republican for 40-years and this is the first time in his life he's voting for a Democrat and voting for Hillary Clinton. You know, and he spoke last night in the 8:00 hour. And I'm curious if you think there will be more Republicans for the first time in their lives who will lean left instead of right?

WILLIAMS: I think there will be some. But, look, Trump's also trying to reach out to Democrats. He's running a campaign that is not in line with traditional conservative principles on trade -

BALDWIN: The Bernie supporters, he wants them.

WILLIAMS: He wants the Bernie supporters. You know, he's taken the very - you know, he's opposing trade agreements that are generally favored by the business wing of the Republican Party. So we're all over the map this year. This is not a conventional election. You're going to see, I think, people go both ways. It's just a very odd election cycle on both sides.

BALDWIN: Yes, and also just hearing at the RNC, you know, Mr. Trump talking about the LGBT community, having Peter Thiel speaking, openly gay Republican, and I mentioned Ivanka.

John Avlon, I mean now we have - the conventions are over, right? So, Cleveland, Philly, in the history books. How much do voters really care about what happened and the moments and the messages and the signs versus the next 101 days?

AVLON: Well, I mean, the next 100 days are the crucial thing. But, I mean, as the ratings would show you, an enormous number of Americans tuned in to these conventions, particularly the Democratic Convention. And I think that speaks to the interest in this election.

This is no ordinary time. This is no ordinary election. And for all those folks who have always said they wanted a choice, not an echo election, well, congratulations, you got one. So I think there's an enormous amount of attention driven by the high notoriety of both these individuals, and in addition to the high negatives of both these individuals.

So I think the conventions did what they needed to do, but now they need to make the case for the people who will ultimately decide this election. That's moderates and the middle class. Swing voters in swing states. And that's why the bus tour that Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine, whose selection I think was intended to reach out beyond the base, is so key because we can get really distracted about pumping up the base. That's what the primaries are about. Now the general election is on, it's about winning over the undecideds, it's about winning over independents and the reasonable edge of the opposition.

BALDWIN: Yes, and the fact that Trump's in Colorado and Pence is in Ohio, not a coincidence.

Stick around, all of you, please, because I have more.

Let's talk more about Donald Trump, his response specifically to Hillary Clinton. The tweets during her speech. The fact that he said her speech was delivered from a, quote, "fantasy universe, not the reality we live in today." This as Trump is about to hold a rally in Colorado Springs, Colorado. A battleground state. We'll take you there live, next.

Also ahead, a major U.S. city is halting blood donations because of the Zika virus. This is happening as Florida announces that four people have now become infected. This is the first known cases of Zika transmitted by mosquitos right here in the U.S. We'll talk to a doctor.

And later, had fun in Philadelphia this week. In west Philadelphia, born and raised. Indeed that is DJ Jazzy Jeff's story. We talked about politics, we talked about music, and we talked about shootings in this country. A candid conversation with him coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [14:18:58] BALDWIN: And we're back. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Before Hillary Clinton took to the stage for her final night for the Democratic National Convention, Donald Trump told his supporters, don't watch. But maybe he should have taken his own advice. He has been on Twitter ever since.

So joining me now, CNN's Jason Carroll, our national correspondent, who is live, I should mention, ahead of that big rally in the key battleground state of Colorado, there in Colorado Springs, where Trump speaks in just little over an hour.

You know, obviously, give me a preview of this speech, but the message on Twitter was what, Jason?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the message is basically that Clinton, President Obama, and the rest of the Democratic Party is out of touch. An in terms of watching it, I mean, Brooke, come on, we knew Trump was going to watch. I mean how could he not? We knew he was going to watch. We knew he was going to tweet. We knew he was going to talk about it. He did a lot of that yesterday, even ahead of Clinton's speech, already sort of lashing out at her and her themes of what her vision of America is when he spoke in Davenport, Iowa, basically once again saying that people feel as though that they are not safe in this country, feeling as though - and I'm quoting him now, that they don't feel safe getting on planes, they don't feel safe going to movie theaters. And this is all because of the Clinton/Obama legacy. And it's something that he feels they are not addressing.

[14:20:22] In terms of what he's going to be telling the crowd here today, I expect it's going to be much like what he's been tweeting. Let me just read some of them to you. This was during the Clinton speech yesterday. He said, "crooked Hillary Clinton mentioned me 21 times in her very long and very boring speech. Many of her statements were lies and fabrications." Here's another one for you, Brooke, from Trump. It reads, "crooked Hillary said that I couldn't handle the rough and tumble of a political campaign. Really? I just beat 16 people and I am beating her."

He also released a statement on FaceBook basically laying out three themes, saying that under a Clinton administration, what Americans can expect are, first, higher taxes, second, rampant terrorism, and, third, more corruption. And these are some of the things that he's been saying over and over again, hammering it home when he has town halls like we're having here and rallies. And I have to tell you, Brooke, the people who come out to these rallies and town halls really believe it and they really respond to it. So expect to hear more of it.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: They do. They do. Being in that arena in Cleveland, let's not forget, I mean the cacophonous chants for Trump, just as we heard in Philadelphia this past week for Hillary Clinton. Jason Carroll, thank you. We'll look for that event where you are in

Colorado Springs.

You know, meantime, part of Trump's - let me say this - Twitter tirade - easy for me to say - was focused squarely on former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg who spoke the other night at the DNC. This morning Trump tweeting, "little Michael Bloomberg, who never had the guts to run for president, knows nothing about me. His last term as mayor was a disaster." He also referenced, quote, "little man" on the trail in Iowa. Here he was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I was going to hit them so - I was all set. And then I got a call from a highly respected governor. "How's it going, Donald?" I said, well, it's going good, but they're really saying bad things about me. I'm going to hit them so hard. I was going to hit one guy in particular. A very little guy. I was going to hit this guy so hard his head would spin. He wouldn't know what the hell happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: All right, so he's back, John Avlon, CNN political analyst and editor in chief for "The Daily Beast," and Ryan Williams is good enough to be back, Republican strategist, served as spokesman for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.

And let's also just be clear, listen, we've heard Mr. Trump say "hit" before. He's not talking about being physical. He's talking about verbally attacking them. So let's just say that.

First to you, Ryan Williams, in terms of, you know, this notion of hitting people though and this "little man," and, you know, former mayor of New York City who did question Trump's sanity, you know, from the stage the other night, what did you make of his language?

WILLIAMS: Well, I think it's immature. I also think it's silly to be attacking anybody but Hillary Clinton at this stage in the campaign. Donald Trump has one opponent, it's Hillary Clinton. She's standing between him and the White House. And Michael Bloomberg or Elizabeth Warren, anybody else, they're all essentially irrelevant. And he should not be wasting his time focusing on people who are not going to be on the ballot against him. I don't think he can control himself. I think the way that he, you know, puts these tweets out at people who insult him, he's allowing himself to be baited into fights with candidates who aren't Hillary Clinton and he's wasting his time basically.

BALDWIN: John Avlon, as a New Yorker, I mean can you explain for folks who aren't as familiar. You have this New York in Donald Trump, New Yorker in Michael Bloomberg. What has their relationship been like? Do you know how far back they go?

AVLON: I mean this is sort of a battle of the billionaires and it's especially bizarre because as is often the case with Donald Trump, I mean he's praised Mike Bloomberg in the past for being an effective mayor of New York. But, of course, Michael Bloomberg's speech at the DNC apparently really got under his skin. And I think the reason why is that Bloomberg aimed squarely at his business record and called him a con. And that's pretty harsh language. And that goes straight at Donald's entire conception of self-worth being wrapped up in his alleged success as a businessman. He's been successful but how successful really, well, maybe if we ever see his tax returns we'll get better insight into that.

But, you know, you know, he talked about hitting. He also - you know, when he's talking about hitting a little man, I think we're being very generous to assume that he's not at least trying to fire up the crowd with the idea that, you know, he wanted to get physical. This is not a particularly tightly wrapped individual. This is not a particularly tightly wrapped campaign. This is not presidential rhetoric. It's not statesman-like rhetoric. It's lashing out. As Ryan points out, he's allowing himself to get distracted from what should be his main focus. And Mike Bloomberg's entire point in that speech behind attack - focusing on the business record is to reach out to independent voters, to swing voters, to centrists. And Donald Trump does himself no favors when he - when he does that.

[14:25:08] BALDWIN: But what about Mr. Trump? You know, part of, you know, his - when he was on Twitter, you know, during Hillary Clinton's speech, he was tweeting about how, you know, there was no mention specifically of radical Islam and, you know, the issue with Syrian refugees and, Ryan, we know that he's been hammering her on that and Hillary Clinton did not address that sort of fear. We've been throwing around the phrase "American exceptionalism" over the past week, which is what we heard, you know, about hope and change with Obama and we heard it the other night in his speech. But, you know, I'm trying to put myself in the shoes of a voter who's rolling into the voting booth November eighth, you know, and not everything in this country is hunky-dory and I'm wondering where the reality is, is it somewhere in between?

WILLIAMS: Well, I think Trump is reasonable to make critiques of her policy proposals, her lack of things she said during the speech and to tweet them out. I think that voters are going to have a very clear choice. Hillary Clinton is a safe, conventional politician. She's saying things that you hear from most politicians, platitudes about bringing people together, working together, you know, being the responsible adult in the room. Trump has taken a totally different approach. And whether you agree with him or not, he's talking about strength and keeping people safe and certainly not acting like a conventional candidate. So you do have a very clear difference here. And Trump does, whether you agree with him or not, represent change. He is not a conventional politician. Whether or not you think he's the right change, that's a question for voters. But I do think that voters will have a very clear choice in November between someone who is a conventional, safe, tradition politician and someone like Trump, who's radically different.

BALDWIN: Ryan Williams, John Avlon, gentlemen, thank you for ending your week with me. I appreciate it.

AVLON: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

Coming up next, this.

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KHIZR KHAN, FATHER OF DECEASED MUSLIM-AMERICAN SOLDIER: You have sacrificed nothing! And no one!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: This was quite a moment last night. More from this father of a Muslim soldier who was killed in Iraq. His public rebuke of Donald's stage - Donald Trump on stage last night and what he pulled out of his suit jacket that brought people in that arena to their feet.

Plus, an outbreak spreading here in the United States. Health officials confirming Zika has now been transmitted by mosquitos in Florida. What do you need to know? We'll tell you, next.

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