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Clinton, Trump in Final Presidential Debate Tonight; Iraqi Army Battles on 4th Day to Retake Mosul from ISIS; Ivanka Trump Comments on "Access Hollywood" Video. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired October 19, 2016 - 13:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:31:00] WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Looking at live pictures coming from Laguna, California. That's where Ivanka Trump is the featured speaker at a "Fortune" magazine summit Most Powerful Women conference. She'll take the stage shortly. We'll monitor that.

She is expected to be here in Las Vegas later tonight with her dad, when her father participates in this third and final debate.

Steve Wynn is synonymous with this city. He's shaped the landscape of the strip, the chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts Limited, the owners of property in Las Vegas among other places. He's here with us right now.

Steve, thanks for joining us.

STEVE WYNN, CHAIRMAN & CEO, WYNN RESORTS LIMITED: Nice to be with you.

BLITZER: You're friendly with both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. You've known President Clinton a long time. Still haven't made up your mind who you'll support?

WYNN: I've concentrated, you know, I've gone both ways. My program has always been, I go with the candidate, whoever I think is best at the time. We have a terrific candidate for the Senate in Congressman Joe Heck, and so I've been concentrating on Joe

But with regard to the presidential campaign, I'm one of those people who believe that the conversation has been off point. We take in $3.1 billion a year. We spend $3.7 trillion a year. That $600 billion gap is $50 million a month in new money being printed in order to cover the deficit of our country. It is degrading the value of every single paycheck in the United States of America, and causing tremendous consternation as it degrades and lowers --

BLITZER: So which candidate can deal with that better?

WYNN: -- the living standard of all Americans. That is the question. My objection is the conversation is not dealing with the primary issue.

BLITZER: That's coming up tonight. That subject is expected to come up tonight.

WYNN: That will be a wonderful thing.

But as it stands now, Paul Ryan will be the speaker of the House, I believe, without too much doubt. Mrs. Clinton's a favorite at the moment. Things could always change. In the Senate, it's just a jump ball. We are going to have, again, gridlock of a sort. That means that the executive branch is going to control all of the agencies that we know by initials, the IRS, the EEOC, the EPA, the NLRB, et cetera, 465 agencies with 2.65 million civilian employees. Law has been made lately, hundreds of regulations --

BLITZER: Let me ask you this. Based on what you hear tonight, you'll make up your mind whether to vote for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump? Is that what I hear you saying?

WYNN: A more accurate way of putting it is that I'm hoping, and so far, I've been frustrated that the conversation is more substantive on the primary issue that affects Americans, which is out-of-control spending. That will come home rapidly and terribly at some point in the future. If tonight this debate deals with those issues substantively, I think myself and a whole bunch of Americans will get answers that we crave. But I think I speak for an awful lot of people in American when I say we're frustrated with the level of this campaign's conversation. It started in the primaries, on both sides, and it's gotten progressively worse. You know, everybody is spinning. Everybody is --

BLITZER: All right.

WYNN: -- issuing propaganda. And you guys, at CNN and FOX, are trying to sort it out. So far, it's been an uphill battle.

BLITZER: We're doing our best.

WYNN: I know you are doing your best, Steve.

BLITZER: Thanks for joining us.

WYNN: Wolf, always nice to have you here in Las Vegas.

BLITZER: Hopefully, you'll make up your mind tonight. You'll let us know, right? Maybe.

Thanks very much.

WYNN: Joe Heck.

(LAUGHTER)

[13:35:06] BLITZER: Much more of our special coverage of the debate coming up here on CNN.

Plus, forced onto the front lines. Innocent people now being used as human shield as the battle for Mosul in Iraq rages on. A live report from Iraq is coming up. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(GUNFIRE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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BLITZER: We're live here in Las Vegas. We're only hours away from the third and final presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Much more on that and our political panel is standing by.

Right now, I need to switch gears and head overseas. Breaking news, Iraqi-led forces are now in the fourth day of military operations to retake Mosul, the second-largest city in Iraq, from ISIS control. It's the last remaining stronghold of the terror group in Iraq. The commander of the Iraqi army's armored division says troops are closing in on Mosul's fringes after liberating communities village by village over the past two days.

Let's go to Arwa Damon joining us live from Irbil, not that far away.

Arwa, the Iraqis are facing fierce resistance from these ISIS terrorists. What are you hearing about how long this battle might take?

[13:40:32] ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the estimates range from weeks to months. What's happening is in some strategic towns, ISIS is putting up quite a fight, but then in other areas, the Iraqis and the Kurdish Peshmerga have been able to move forward fairly quickly. Senior commanders are telling us -- and we were just down at the front lines -- is that they need to make sure that everyone is pushing for war, more or less, simultaneously, because they really want a cohesive effort when it comes to squeezing off ISIS. But even in those areas that are fairly quickly liberated, Wolf, the Iraqi soldiers we're talking to are saying, look, we're not taking any chances, we know we are facing a very determined enemy, and one that does fight to the death. Throughout all of this, we're seeing these ISIS tactics, such as using underground tunnels to pop out and launch attacks on forces as they advance. They are launching suicide bombers, suicide car bombers, and also a lot of shoot-and- scoot tactics where they come in and just try to distract the Iraqis and the Kurds, try to stop them from moving forward.

And, of course, in all of this, Wolf, you have the civilian population. Some of the villages on the outskirts of the city deserted, some not. One little boy we met today burst into tears when he saw the Iraqi soldiers because he associated that with the gun battle that had happened that sent bullets flying into the wall of his house -- no one was hurt -- earlier that morning.

Of course, the great concern is the closer these forces get to Mosul and actually reach the city itself, a lot of the tactics they are relying on now, the tanks, the artillery and air strikes, they won't be able to use that in a city like Mosul with a population potentially upwards of one million people. So we're still very much in the initial stages of what promises to be a long and complex battle, one arguably of the biggest challenges for Iraq, one that will define its future and quite potentially the future of the region -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Arwa Damon on the scene for us.

Be careful, Arwa. We'll stay in close touch.

Coming up, back to the race for the White House. Maybe as many as 70 million people here in the United States are expected to watch what happens on the stage, this debate stage, later tonight. So will Donald Trump stick to his base? Will he try to broaden his appeal? And will Hillary Clinton speak directly to Republicans? Our political panel is standing by to weigh in on their target audience.

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[13:47:00] BLITZER: In a little more than seven hours, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, they will face-off right here in Las Vegas in the final presidential debate. At the end of the night each getting one last chance to make their case to voters from a national stage. Which voters do they need to target and what do they need to say to win them over?

Let's bring in our panel, CNN national political reporter, Maeve Reston; CNN political director, David Chalian; CNN Politics executive editor, Mark Preston; and David Catanese, the senior politics writer for "U.S. News & World Report."

So, Maeve, what voters do Trump and Clinton need to target tonight?

MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: Clinton has got to hold on to what she's got and certainly expand that universe of Millennials who are not sure about her, those former Bernie Sanders supporters who don't like what they've seen in the leaked e-mails. And Trump should be reaching out to those white suburban women, but we haven't seen any move by him in that direction to do that. But I think that's the imperative for both tonight.

BLITZER: David Chalian, in the last debate, Hillary Clinton tried to reach out to some Republicans, Independents, said this. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look, I want to be a president for all Americans, not some Americans --

(CHEERING)

CLINTON: I want to be a president for people who agree with me and don't agree with me. I want to be a president for Democrats, Republicans and Independents.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: So is that still her target audience, and what does Trump need to do to reach more voters, if you will?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICS DIRECTOR: Yeah. Trump really should be targeting beyond his base. Targeting everyone beyond his base and should probably mirror some of that language. It would be helpful to him. I don't think that's what he's doing. Every indication in the last 23 days before the first debate, making sure his base comes out in numbers. For Hillary Clinton's part, she has her base, obviously, as Maeve was saying. She can move beyond it, talking about making the base more enthusiastic. You'll hear more language of at. That event was in Las Vegas right here. I think you're going to here talk like that, because Hillary Clinton and her campaign are keenly aware that if she wins this election she's going to do so with a lot of voters who see her unfavorably, don't trust her. Those people will end up casting their ballot for her if she is to win. She has to think how she governs for all.

BLITZER: One of Trump's major promises is to bring back manufacturing and other jobs to the United States. Listen to what he said about coal miners, for example.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Who's a miner? Raise your hand.

You? You don't look like a miner. A lot of miners.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: All right. Get ready to go to work. Get ready to go to work.

You're jobs will come back under a Trump administration. Your incomes will go up under a Trump administration.

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: Your taxes will go way, way down under a Trump administration.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: I assume we'll hear more of that as he targets his audience.

[13:50:03] MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: No doubt he'll say you're not a miner, even though the gentleman says he is.

But a couple of things. I think they have a similar audience they have to go for. They have to go for married women. Donald Trump seemed to be doing better with married women before the controversy came up. But more importantly, right now, they have to reach out to white working class and college educated women. We've seen slippage with Donald Trump, particularly with the white working class voters, specifically the past month. But even more importantly, the Midwest, he has to target these voters in the specific states he has to win, Pennsylvania, he has to win Ohio, perhaps Michigan, maybe Wisconsin.

At the same time, Wolf, what's troubling for him is he's playing defense in a state like Nevada, where we are right now. In Colorado, he's not doing very well. The fact is, when Utah and Texas are being discussed, not good.

RESTON: Arizona.

PRESTON: Arizona.

BLITZER: Even Arizona. It's been 20 years since it's gone Republican in a presidential contest.

David, what do you think, the voters both candidates need to appeal to tonight?

DAVID CATONESE, SENIOR POLITICS WRITER, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT: Donald Trump cannot preach to the choir. He has to talk to everyone outside of his 40 percent. This guy has been through the ringer. These people behind us that love him will be with him no matter what. He is going to broaden his coalition to anyone that is against him.

Hillary Clinton has a luxury. She's ahead in this race so she can talk to Republicans. If I was her I'd sit up there and talk about, hey, is this about party loyalty? Are you going to let this man get to the presidency? Think long and hard about that before you vote.

BLITZER: Maeve, put yourself in their respective shoes. How do they make their respective cases?

RESTON: The closing argument tonight I think Donald Trump needs to is that he is the agent of change. He's obviously going to keep making this argument that the system is rigged but the change agent argument is the strongest for him.

For Hillary Clinton, she must make her case --

BLITZER: Hold on for a moment. We're just getting this tape in. I want to discuss it in a moment. Ivanka Trump, in California, was just asked about the "Access Hollywood" tape that her father was caught saying very inappropriate things. Listen to what she just said.

I think we'll go live to Ivanka Trump right now. Listen to this.

IVANKA TRUMP, DAUGHTER OF DONALD TRUMP: I have the good fortune of knowing my father so well, not only as a parent. And he's been an amazing parent for me. I'm now a mother of three children, ages five and -- from five to three to six months. So I don't take for granted in any way how hard it is to be a good parent. And he was a loving and supportive and tough-at-times parent who challenged me and my siblings to achieve our potential and he helped us find purpose in our lives, which is what any parent can do. But I've also known him in the capacity as a leader and executive at the Trump organization where I've also worked in addition to my own brand for over a decade and I've seen him inspire tens of thousands of people. He -- BLITZER: We'll continue to watch Ivanka Trump. What she did say when she was discussed that "Access Hollywood" tape, she said it was a mistake, he apologized.

We've heard her say that, Maeve, before. This is an issue that will presumably come up tonight.

RESTON: Yeah, certainly. And this is an issue that's very uncomfortable for Ivanka, who has presented herself as an independent. She needs to protect her own brand. So a touchy subject for her to deal with.

And for Clinton tonight, the interesting thing is to see whether or not she engages on this issue. She's allowed it to let it breathe, let these women come forward, give their allegations, and stayed out of the fray, and that's been effective so far.

BLITZER: David, it's a 90-minute debate, no commercial interruptions, six themes going forward, one of them, fitness to be president of the United States.

CHALIAN: To me, that is the key for Donald Trump. When we said this before the first debate, he hasn't solved this problem for himself yet. A majority of voters still see him as temperamentally unfit for the office. They can't quite picture him there yet. And this is what he has to -- he has to cross that fitness threshold if he's going to mount what would be one of the greatest come backs in American history.

BLITZER: And she has to improve her credibility as well. A lot of voters don't think she's honest and trustworthy.

PRESTON: That's been her Achilles heel throughout this whole process. What she has going for her tonight is that Donald Trump has been so self-destructive, especially in the past week. He hasn't done enough to stem the allegations against him. He's talking about voter fraud when there's no evidence there's voter fraud. Donald Trump needs to get back to basics to talk about what he's going to talk about, but Hillary Clinton needs to go out there and show the people that she is going to be a leader for everyone, including these folks back here who are shouting about her.

[13:55:00] CATONESE: Donald Trump is going to be asked about these allegations tonight. He's going to deny it but the key for him is he has to move past it, not get down a rabbit hole. Frankly I think he should have Melania with Anderson Cooper, a week ago. Ivanka they should have rolled out a week ago. They can not still be talking about this. He has to move to issues and position himself, "I'm the disrupter, I'm the change candidate," and she's more of stagnation, corruption and the same. And he should be drilling down on those WikiLeaks e-mails to undermine her credibility. He's got to bring that up --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Do you think he's been practicing that? CATONESE: I don't know if he's been practicing but it would be

malpractice if he doesn't repeatedly go back to the WikiLeaks.

RESTON: And he's got rich material to work with --

CATONESE: Yeah.

RESTON: -- In these WikiLeaks e-mails.

BLITZER: It's going to be an exciting moment. The third and final presidential debate, we'll be watching and have live coverage before and after.

That's it for me. Thanks very much for watching.

Our live coverage of this, the final presidential debate, here in Las Vegas, continues right after a quick break.

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