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CNN NEWSROOM

GOP Leadership Answers Press Questions; Panel Discusses Mike Pence's Comments; 2015 Census Shows Economic Growth; Protests Continue Following Kaepernick's Lead. Aired 10:30-11:00a

Aired September 13, 2016 - 10:30   ET

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


[10:30:50]

UNKNOWN WOMAN: ... or any of those things. That they are attracted to your campaign and want to attach themselves to you. Again today David Duke talked about you, specifically. Are you concerned that there's something about the Trump-Pence candidacy in these political times, and the rhetoric that's been used, that draws them to you?

MIKE PENCE (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look, we live in a free country. And people will bill (ph) motives and associate themselves with politics. I would draw no more conclusion of that man's expressions of support than I would the fact that the father of a terrorist who killed 49 Americans was seen at a Hillary Clinton rally cheering her on. And said he was there because she was good on national security.

I mean look folks, there are two people on the ballot here, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. One of them is going to be President of the United States of America. And I would submit to you this is all a distraction. I get it, I understand why Hillary Clinton and her campaign want to change the subject after that speech on Friday night.

I mean it -- we all have recognized, you in the media have recognized, this was a catastrophic insult to the American people. And it's so important that people around the country know this was a prepared speech. This is not the first time she called millions of Americans a basket of deplorables. And I just, as I said, I think anyone that's got that low an opinion of the American people should never serve in the highest office in the land.

PAUL RYAN (R), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Juan (ph)?

JUAN (ph): Yes, Governor Pence ...

RYAN: It's kind of nice for a change, actually. Go ahead, Mike.

JUAN (ph): Can we (ph) hear your thoughts on the NCAA's decision to yank (ph) some of its championship series out of North Carolina over what's perceived as an anti-LGBT law. The NBA had done something similar with the All-Star games.

PENCE: Well I just heard about that this morning and I wouldn't have the details to comment other than to say we -- the NCAA is based in Indianapolis. We have a great relationship with the NCAA. And Donald Trump and I simply believe that these decisions are best made at the state level by the people. And where disputes arise, that they should be resolved in the courts.

UNKNOWN MAN: Last question.

PENCE: Pick it Ryan (ph).

UNKNOWN WOMAN: Governor Pence?

RYAN: This guy right here who was patient, and he wasn't shouting out so there you go.

UNKNOWN MAN: Thank you. Governor Pence, Mr. Ryan has repeatedly and at times forcefully rebuked (ph) Donald Trump ...

RYAN: OK somebody else. Thanks, man. Nice there, patient ...

UNKNOWN MAN: I'm wondering if that's made it more difficult -- if that's made it difficult ...

PENCE: I'm sorry, I didn't hear the question.

RYAN: I didn't hear the question, either.

UNKNOWN MAN: I'll start over ...

RYAN: I can tell where you're going.

UNKNOWN MAN: Speaker Ryan has repeatedly and at times forcefully rebuked (ph) Donald Trump for some of his remarks. I'm wondering if that's made it difficult to you, as you'd been reaching out to some Republicans who are on the fence. And if that's been hurtful to the campaign.

PENCE: My and Donald Trump's respect and appreciation for Speaker Paul Ryan is boundless. Look, you're going to have -- in a majority party -- you're going to occasionally have differences of opinion. But our goals are identical. I think what was so inspiring to me -- to be at the House Republican conference today, and in the meeting that I had this morning with the Speaker -- is how much consistency there is between Donald Trump's vision to rebuild our military, revive the American economy, uphold the rule of law, and the agenda that House Republicans have put forward in the better way.

I mean I really do believe we have a historic opportunity before us today -- with the enormous talent here in the House of Representatives led by Speaker Paul Ryan, with the energy and the vision of a President Donald Trump, and of re-elected Republican Senate -- to turn this country around. And to turn it around very quickly.

I mean I said to the conference today, this is the most dramatic choice in an election in my lifetime. This is not a choice between one candidate who will grow America this much and another candidate who will grow America this much. This literally is a choice between whether we're going to continue to go downhill to a weaker America at home and abroad. Whether we're going to continue to walk away from the constitutional liberties enshrined in the interpretation of those by our Supreme Court. Whether we're going to walk away from the highest standards of integrity in the highest office in the land. Or whether we're going to plant our feet and start to march back uphill toward greater freedom, greater American strength, and greater prosperity.

House Republicans, Senate Republicans are deeply committed to marching back up that hill. And when we elect Donald Trump as the next President of the United States of America, they will have a team and a partner in The White House to march back up to a stronger and greater America. So, thank you very much.

RYAN: Thank you, thank you.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN HOST, "NEWSROOM": All right, so let's talk about what was just said at this GOP leadership presser. With me now is Sunlen Serfaty, Jeff Zeleny, and Larry Sabato. We'll hear from Manu Raju who was in that room, in just a minute. I'm going to start with you, Jeff. Why was Mike Pence there?

[10:25:38]

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Carol, Mike Pence, first and foremost, really wants to make conservatives feel that this race is not slipping away from them, make House Republicans feel that the -- despite what they may see in the press or hear from the constituents, that the top of the ticket is fine and is with them.

Donald Trump simply is not one of them. It's one of the reasons he won the Republican primary, no doubt. But these House Republicans who are worried about their own majority want some comfort. So Mike Pence served in that body for 12 years and he's something like Xanax for these conservatives who are jittery, are worried about what Donald Trump may do to the top of the ticket. So he's there to reassure people and give them some marching orders here on what they should be doing after. And of course, that is Hillary Clinton's deplorable line.

COSTELLO: So sunlen, Mike Pence held a private meeting with the GOP leadership. And he told many, many personal stories about Donald Trump. Said that he just wished that the House leadership could know Donald Trump as Mike Pence does because he's such a warm human being. Why tell personal stories like that?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well I think as Jeff was saying, he definitely has some clout with House Republicans there. I think it makes them, as a ticket, certainly more relatable. He has relationships, point blank, on Capitol Hill that Donald Trump does not have.

You heard him say this is an emotional return -- it's great to be here among my friends. And I think then him becoming something of a character witness for Donald Trump is an important role that he will play, not only on the campaign trail when we've started to see him do that all around this country -- but especially on Capitol Hill where there are some Republicans who are still unsure of Donald Trump and unsure of them as a ticket. So Mike Pence certainly playing his role here as his running mate.

COSTELLO: I know, I'm sure the word "unity" came up many times in that closed-door meeting, too. Of course reporters asked Mike Pence about David Duke because when Mike Pence was on Wolf's show yesterday, he did not denounce -- well, he denounced David Duke, but he didn't say he was deplorable. Let's listen to what Mike Pence said today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PENCE: To David Duke, repeatedly, we have said that we do not want his support and we do not want the support of people who ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Oh darn, we had a technical problem there. But Mike Pence again said, you know he's into civility Larry, he doesn't like to call people's names. He says Donald Trump and himself, they've denounced David Duke many times and he wished people would stop asking him. Was it a fair question?

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Oh absolutely. Because again, just to refresh people's minds, some months ago Donald Trump did not immediately denounce David Duke. He pretended to have a problem with his earpiece, his IFB and claimed he didn't hear the name David Duke.

But the fact of the matter is, and whether Vice Presidential Nominee Mike Pence admits it or not, there are a lot of these white nationalists who have seized upon the Trump candidacy and used it in their own ways to promote their agenda.

They're all over Twitter. So it is a problem, and I think that frankly, Pence and Trump would do well to denounce these people in the strongest possible terms as often as possible. Maybe they aren't deplorable -- they're horrible and terrible. I would say deplorable is too nice a term for them.

COSTELLO: I know, he could have come up with another adjective, I don't know. Let's head out to Capitol Hill and check in with Manu Raju. He was listening as that press conference was going on. Mike Pence clearly knew he was going to be asked that question and he was ready, Manu.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Yeah, he was. And you know actually in this meeting that happened right beforehand, I was told that this really did not come up. This was an hour-long meeting that he had with House Republicans after he met with Speaker Paul Ryan in that meeting.

Actually Carol, it was more of a pep rally more than anything else. There was talk about unity, talk about how the Party is doing better. Pence trying to make the case, actually, to his colleagues that they have momentum behind the top of the ticket. Even House Republicans, I'm told, the leader of the House Republican effort to keep the House majority said that -- presented polling showing that Mike Pence and Donald Trump at the top of the ticket actually are not hurting down- ticket candidates, it's actually maybe helping in some areas. So this was an effort to really showcase the unity.

But when Mike Pence came here and it just -- the press, of course you expected that question to come up. And he really didn't deviate from what he said yesterday saying, trying to make clear that he denounces David Duke, that he may not use the same terminology as Hillary Clinton, says that he's not a name-caller.

But and really use it as a distinction without a difference but trying to denounce him in what he'd use as a strongest possible terms. What would have been interesting to hear is whether or not Paul Ryan also would agree with that or whether he would call David Duke deplorable. They did not take many questions so we were not able to get that question to him.

But clearly this was an effort by Mike Pence to show that the Party is united behind the ticket. He was asked, specifically also whether or not Paul Ryan's criticism of Donald Trump has hurt the top of the ticket. Mike Pence making clear that that's fine, there are disagreements all the time within a party and expressing his appreciation for Paul Ryan.

So a much different mood here in September than it was in July when Donald Trump came to meet with House Republicans. And one reason why, Carol, poll numbers improving, helping those battleground states, Republicans a little bit more confident of keeping the majority in Congress and also Donald Trump's chances in November, Carol.

[10:41:04]

COSTELLO: Of course, during this press conference, the Republican leadership also brought up the state of the economy. They said the economy was going nowhere. But the census data just came out and it actually shows that the median household income rose to $56,516 a year. That's up 5.2 percent over the last year. So median incomes are rising, the unemployment rate is 4.9 percent. So Jeff, can they really make the case that the economy continues to sink? And oh, by the way, President Obama's approval rating in an ABC-Washington Post poll is now at 58 percent.

ZELENY: Carol it gets harder for them to make the argument that things are terrible here in the country. Certainly this is not trickle down to every voter. No -- without question there are people out there still working two jobs who would prefer to have one job, and there's underemployment.

But without question, across the board, every metric you look at, Republicans and Democrats alike will tell you if they're being truthful, the economy has gotten incredibly much, much, much better than it was four years ago. And certainly better than it was eight years ago. So that is one of the reasons President Obama will be campaigning today in Pennsylvania. We don't see sitting Presidents often have the stature and the approval rating to be campaigning for their would-be successor.

He's going out there specifically because of metrics like this. Everyone does not like him, of course, but the numbers in many respects look better for them than many people thought they would even a year ago.

COSTELLO: All right, I have to leave it there. Larry Sabato, Sunlen Serfaty, Jeff Zeleny, thanks to all of you. A quick break and I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:46:33]

COSTELLO: All right, a quick check of the markets. You see the stock markets down just about 176 points, we're keeping an eye on that. We're also keeping an eye on much more interesting numbers today. The census report is out. Christine Romans, she has the numbers, she has the data hot off the presses, tell us about it.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well we've been hearing how the middle class hasn't had a raise in years, Carol, but that ends today. We now have these numbers from the year 2015, and the American middle class got a 5.2 percent raise. This is the first raise since 2007 and now you have income, Carol, back to pre-recession levels, here.

You can see what it looks like right there, 56,516. The poverty rate, also the census bureau releasing the poverty rate. The poverty rate 13 1/2 percent, it fell, you can see. The number of people in poverty still way too high, 43 million. Especially single parent, heads of household still very high. But that is down 3 1/2 million. So that's a number too high but moving in the right direction.

The threshold for poverty in America right now, $24,257 for a family of four. Why do I point that out? Well that's the threshold where government benefits and the safety net programs kick in for a single parent, head of household, it's more like $19,000. What this tells you is after several years now of a job market improving, Carol, the working Americans, you're starting to see that in the paychecks.

We have 1.4 million more men working last year than the year before. 1.4 million more, 1 million more women working full-time, year-round, than the year before. So again that's improvement in the paycheck.

COSTELLO: I got to know about the pay gap.

ROMANS: Women still make 80 cents to a man's dollar. That has not changed through all of the recession, at all, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Christine Romans, thanks so much.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Fascinating numbers and we're seeing the glass half full and that's a good thing. I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:52:38]

COSTELLO: More signs of protest and unity along the sidelines during last night's NFL games. Colin Kaepernick continues his national anthem protest, kneeling before his team's season-opening game last night. He was joined again by a fellow teammate and even his opponents on the other side of the field as Rams players raised their fists. Coy Wire is here to talk more about it, good morning.

COY WIRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Kaepernick's protests are such a divisive topic. And whether or not he should be using America's national anthem to protest will be debated for quite sometime. He says he's going to continue to protest until he sees "significant change," in regards to racial inequality and police brutality in America.

The 49ers home crowd there, the Monday night football game, they showed him a lot of support for their backup quarterback. He talked to fans, they wanted to get photos with him and his autographs during pre-game warm-ups. One broadcaster said, hey, you'd have thought this guy was the team starter.

But it was also noted that some fans were yelling, "stand up Kaepernick," as he kneeled during the national anthem. He had teammate Eric Reid kneeling alongside him once again. And this time teammates Antoine Bethea and Eli Harold holding up their fists down there in the right of your screen.

Also on the other sideline, Rams players Robert Quinn, as you mentioned, and Kenny Britt holding up their fists during the anthem, too. Now after the anthem, quite a few of Kaepernick's teammates showing love with -- for him with some hugs and handshakes, supporting him. A lot of people thought this would be a divisive thing for this organization, but maybe not.

Also supporting him, 49ers Head Coach, Chip Kelly. He talked about this issue just moments after the game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIP KELLY, SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS HEAD COACH: I think again, like we said since day one, we recognize their right to do it, it's their constitutional right. Our President said the same thing, you know, and that's part of what it's like to be an American. That you have the right to choose and that's what he's choosing to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: All right, so we've seen more and more NFL players and teams joining Kaepernick in his protest. We've also seen U.S. Women's Soccer star, Megan Rapinoe kneel during the anthem last week. But we haven't seen many, or any Major League Baseball players follow suit yet. There've been hundreds of baseball games played since Kaepernick's protest made headlines, so why the silence there?

Well Baltimore Orioles outfielder, Adam Jones, had an interesting take on the subject. He told USA Today, "we already have two strikes against us. So you might as well not kick yourself out of the game. In football, you can't kick them out, you need those players. In baseball they don't need us. Baseball is a white man's sport." Strong words there by Jones, but he may be onto something there,

Carol. Only 8 percent of Major League Baseball players are African Americans, compared to the 68 percent in the NFL, and 74 percent in the NBA.

COSTELLO: So Adam Jones, I mean it's unusual to -- for him to speak out on controversial topics. He's kind of a laid back guy, right? So I know baseball has been trying to attract more minority players. So what he said though, Adam Jones, that's pretty harsh.

WIRE: It really is, it's a strong statement for him. And it's something to think about. You know, in the NFL you have -- African Americans are 68 percent of the league. And you look at the guys who stood last night in Monday night's football game, also I think there's a veteran aspect to it. Most of those guys, the average was 6 years in the league. So these guys are older veterans, more comfortable where they stand.

COSTELLO: Interesting stuff. All right, we'll see what transpires the rest of the football season. Because I'm sure it's not going to be over, right? Coy Wire, thank you so much and thank you for joining me today, I'm Carol Costello. AT THIS HOUR with Berman and Bolduan after a break.

[10:56:02]