Pence: Trump Backers Not "Basket Of Anything"; Pence Reposnds to Clinton Comments on Trump Campaign Workers; Images and the Election
PENCE: But in the midst of all of that, in the midst of that liberal agenda that we see mounting up, we get the news this morning revealing, as it is, Hillary Clinton, in remarks that were made in New York City just last night bear repeating. And let me see where someone put them here.</s>PENCE: Take your time.</s>PENCE: Hillary Clinton said last night, at a big fundraiser in New York City, that, uh, the American people -- the millions of Americans that are supporting my running mate were described in, uh, the most deplorable of terms. It's extraordinary to think of it. She referred to those of -- people as irredeemable. Well, I will tell you right now, I campaign on a regular basis with Donald Trump. I campaign all across this country for Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton's low opinion of the people that support this campaign should be denounced in the strongest possible terms. The truth of the matter is that the men and women who support Donald Trump's campaign are hard-working Americans.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.</s>PENCE: Farmers, coal miners, teachers, veterans, members of our law enforcement community, members of, uh, members of, uh, every class of this country who know that we can make America great again. So let me just say from the bottom of my heart, uh, Hillary, they are not a basket of anything, they are Americans and they deserve your respect.</s>PENCE: I've not heard that level of disdain for Americans that I can't even repeat, since, uh, Barack Obama described people that opposed him as people who cling to their guns and religion. Well, let me just say, no one with a record of failure at home and abroad, no one with her avalanche of dishonesty and corruptions and no one with that low opinion of the American people should ever be elected president of the United States of America. We must decide here and now that Hillary Clinton will never be president of this great nation.</s>PENCE: You know, the failed leadership of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton must be answered with resolve and with strength and with vision. And that's precisely what Donald Trump and I will do. Donald Trump has a vision to make America great again. And it all begins with making America strong again. It all begins with recognizing that we live in a tumultuous time in the life of this nation. It will be this weekend that we mark the 15th anniversary of 9/11. That was a day that, uh, I actually was in this city, as many of you who are here were, as well. I found myself on Capitol Hill. I'll never forget the sights and sounds of that day. I'll never forget seeing half of the sky filled with billowing smoke. I will promise you this, the day that Donald Trump becomes president of the United States of America, we will again rebuild our military, we will restore the arsenal of democracy and America will again stand tall on the world stage. We will stand with our allies and we will stand up to our enemies.</s>PENCE: We cannot have four more years apologizing to our enemies and abandoning our friends. America needs to be strong for the world to be safe and on the world stage, I promise you, Donald Trump will lead from strength. We will stand with our allies and if the world knows nothing else, the world will know this -- America stands with Israel.</s>PENCE: But in a Trump administration, we know that a strong America requires a prosperous America. And we'll make America great again under this administration, not with the higher taxes and more regulation and more ObamaCare and more of the the war on coal. But Donald Trump has a plan to get this economy moving again for every American. We're going to cut taxes across the board, lower marginal rates. We're going to end death taxes and we're going to lower business taxes in America so American companies can compete with companies around the world to create jobs here in this country.</s>PENCE: And on day one of this administration, Donald Trump will sign a moratorium on any new federal regulation and he will repeal every single Obama executive order that is stifling growth and stifling the freedom of the American people.</s>PENCE: When we elect Donald Trump as negotiator-in-chief...</s>PENCE: -- America will again have trade deals that work for the American worker and we will hold our trading partners accountable to the commitments that they make in international exchange. And on day one, Donald Trump and I will end the war on coal once and for all.</s>PENCE: The American dream unfolds for every American beginning with a good education. Just this week, Donald Trump laid out a plan to open doors of opportunity in education for young people, particularly in the disadvantaged community. Our plan to make our schools great again is all centered on the notion that we believe that -- that, uh, parents ought to be able to choose where their children go to school in America, regardless of their income or their area code.</s>PENCE: We'll continue, of course, to support all state efforts for traditional public education, but we'll continue to make it possible for states to use even more resources to innovate in the manner of charter schools, expanded educational choice and this White House will support home-schooling by parents all across the United States of America.</s>PENCE: And finally, Donald Trump and I know that to confront these challenging times, we have to recognize that our present crisis is not merely economic and political, but moral in nature.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.</s>PENCE: At the root of these times should be a realization that people in positions of authority have walked away from the timeless truths of honesty, integrity, an honest day's work for an honest day's pay and the simple notion that you ought to treat the other guy the way that you want to be treated.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.</s>PENCE: We will not restore this nation with public policy alone. It will require public virtue.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes!</s>PENCE: And that emanates from the traditional institutions of our nation, of family and religion.</s>PENCE: You heard him say it yesterday, at the center of all of our policies will be center -- will be the -- the notion of the importance and the paramount importance of the family and also will be at the center of our policies, will be a commitment to ensure the vitality and the freedom of religion, of every American and every religious institution in the land.</s>PENCE: That includes freeing up the pulpits of this nation.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes!</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes!</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes!</s>PENCE: Donald Trump talked about it yesterday, but not nearly enough.</s>PENCE: It really is extraordinary. You know, I always like to say that, uh, politicians ask how things are, leaders ask why. Donald Trump was in a meeting -- it was the better part of a year ago, with religious leaders from across the country. And in his own way, he said, well, I'd love to have your support and why don't you get out there and talk about it. And they all, almost with one voice, said, well, we can't, because there's actually a provision in the Internal Revenue Code that threatens to withdraw the tax-exempt status of religious institutions, preventing them from going anywhere near endorsing or supporting a candidate for public office. It literally has been in place since the 1950s, when, uh, a senator named, uh, Lyndon Johnson, added it to the Internal Revenue Code. Well, Donald Trump, like a good leader, simply said, why is that the case? Anyone with more than a passing knowledge of the founding of this nation knows that the most powerful speeches that thundered about independence in the land thundered from the pulpits of this nation.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.</s>PENCE: Anyone that knows anything about this nation knows it was the voice of people of faith that pricked the conscience of the nation and brought an end to the sin of slavery across this nation.</s>PENCE: I've stood in the church in Montgomery. Alabama where Dr. King -- where Dr. King railed against the injustices that took place in places all across America. And again, it was the voice of the people of faith that advanced the cause of civil rights all across America.</s>PENCE: So Donald Trump asked the question, why? And we couldn't be more proud that for the first time ever, part of our platform and a priority of the Trump administration will be the full repeal of The Johnson Amendment. We will take the muzzle off people of faith in this nation and let the voice of faith be heard.</s>PENCE: And lastly, let me make it crystal clear. People who know me well know that I'm pro-life. I don't apologize for it.</s>PENCE: I want to live to see the day that we put the sanctity of life back at the center of American law and we send "Roe v. Wade" to the ash heap of history, where it belongs.</s>PENCE: And let me assure you the Trump-Pence administration will stand for the sanctity of life and defend the unborn from the first day we take office.</s>PENCE: I'm truly grateful -- I'm truly grateful for Donald Trump's strong commitment to the sanctity of life. He understands the moral imperative of advancing the cause of life and we've spoken of it many times, in fact, did again this morning on my way here to see you. During my time as governor of Indiana, I'm proud to say with the support of many of you in this room, we promoted a culture of life in the state of Indiana. We instituted the first ever state income tax credit for Hoosier families who adopt and we supported crisis pregnancy centers around the state by providing additional funding, millions of dollars, through the Real Alternatives program, so that women facing crisis pregnancy have more choices before them and can choose life.</s>MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: And we've been listening to Donald Trump's running mate, that's Indiana Governor Mike Pence. He's been speaking to the Conservative Value Voters Summit. The vice presidential candidate taking aim at Hillary Clinton for her comments calling half of Donald Trump's voters deplorable, although he used the word irredeemable. Let's bring in CNN's senior political reporter, Manu Raju. Manu, Pence just responded to Hillary Clinton's comments at last night's fundraiser. Let's listen.</s>HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, you name it. Unfortunately, there are people like that, and he has lifted them up.</s>SAVIDGE: All right, Manu, and then we heard Mike Pence respond, although he did seem to have a fumble. He got to the moment where he wanted to quote Secretary Clinton and didn't seem to have the exact quote in front of him, but he worked his way through it and made his point. This is the point I'm asking you, Hillary seems to have served up a great issue for the Republicans to now exploit, especially Donald Trump and as we just heard Mike Pence.</s>RAJU: Yes, they really see this as a game-changing moment, Martin. Remember, they're trying to compare this to when Barack Obama said that a lot of voters who don't support him cling to their religion and their guns, and Mitt Romney's infamous 47 percent gaffe that really upended the election back in 2012. Really by painting a large group of people with a broad brush in such inflammatory and derogatory terms gives Republicans an opening, they believe, especially since the national polls have this race very, very close. A lot of mainstream Republicans are voting for Donald Trump, simply because they tend to vote Republican, and they don't like Hillary Clinton. So she's talking about a lot of voters potentially, possibly swing voters, and putting them in this big basket. Now, the Clinton campaign is trying to clean this up a little bit, but they're not apologizing. Last night Clinton's spokesman actually tweeting that Clinton was referring to people who attended Trump rallies, which is a much smaller group than people who are going to vote for the nominee. We'll see if that actually makes a difference. Republicans clearly see an opening here, which is why Mike Pence seized on that moment and made that key part of his speech to that Value Voters Summit -- Martin.</s>SAVIDGE: My question is, who is Mike Pence talking to here? I mean, I know the crowd that's listening to him. They're already on board. So this message is, what, to fire up those already supporting the campaign, or are they hoping, just as we did, others hear this message. It's broadcast in other areas?</s>RAJU: Indeed. A little bit of both. They want to make sure that this group of voters gets to the polls. Even people who, you know, may not be totally on board Trump's train saying, look, listen to things Hillary Clinton says. This is out of bounds. Try to really drive up her unfavorables. They are trying to really make the case that Clinton is saying something that she shouldn't be saying. She's trying to sell herself as someone who has steady judgment, leadership, doesn't say inflammatory things the way Donald Trump does. But they believe this comment undermines the case that she has been making to voters. So potentially they think it could bring about -- bring on some of those moderate mainstream Republican voters who may not be there with Donald Trump and say, look, Hillary Clinton is saying things that are not right that I can't get on board with someone who says things like this. So we'll see if it actually works. Clearly the Trump campaign sees an opening here. So we're not going to see them drop this any time soon.</s>SAVIDGE: Oh, yes, no. You can see right away they just believe this is a dish that was served for them. Do you think that the campaign of Hillary Clinton is going to have to come out and do more than just sort of add that nuance that the candidate herself is going to have to address this?</s>RAJU: They'll be asked about it. I'm not sure if she's going to walk it back, I should say, because she has been saying similar things for some time. She had made similar remarks on Israeli TV interview last week. It just wasn't really noticed until her comments at that New York fundraiser last night. So this is a comment that is not unusual for Hillary Clinton to be making. So it's going to be very difficult for her to say, oh, I misspoke, if she's been saying this for some time. I think they will probably try to add that nuance and they'll try to dig in. They'll try to use it probably to fire up their own supporters. So we'll see. I don't think you're going to expect Hillary Clinton to apologize any time soon -- Martin.</s>SAVIDGE: She probably hopes Donald Trump will do something else and that would take the heat off. Manu Raju, thank you very much for joining us. Let's listen now to Governor Pence's reaction to Hillary Clinton and her comments on Trump supporters last night.</s>GOVERNOR MIKE PENCE (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: At a big fundraiser in New York City that the American people. The millions of Americans that are supporting my running mate, were described in the most deplorable of terms. It's extraordinary to think of it. She referred to those people as irredeemable. Well, I will tell you right now, I campaign on a regular basis with Donald Trump. I campaign all across this country for Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton's low opinion of the people that support this campaign should be denounced in the strongest possible terms. The truth of the matter is that the men and women who support campaign are hard-working Americans, farmers, coal miners, teachers, veterans, members of our law enforcement community, members of every class of this country who know that we can make America great again. So let me just say from the bottom of my heart, Hillary, they are not a basket of anything, they are Americans, and they deserve your respect. I've not heard that level of disdain for Americans that I can even repeat since Barack Obama described people that opposed him as people who cling to their guns and religion. Let me just say, no one with a record of failure at home and abroad, no one with her avalanche of dishonesty and corruptions, and no one with that low opinion of the American people should ever be elected president of the United States of America. We must decide here and now that Hillary Clinton will never be president of this great nation.</s>SAVIDGE: Indiana Governor Mike Pence, Trump running mate, speaking just a few minutes ago in Washington. Let's bring in our panel of experts. Joining us is CNN political commentator and Donald Trump supporter, Jeffrey Lord. He's also written a book, "What America Needs, The Case for Trump." Also with us, Basil Smikle, the executive director for the New York State Democratic Party. He is a Hillary Clinton supporter and one who has worked with her aides while she was the senator of New York. Welcome to both of you, Gentlemen. Thank you very much. So I just don't know where to begin. Mike Pence, I think, whether you like him or dislike his policies is a very good speaker. And he had a great moment teed up, but it was nearly muffed by I don't know whether it was a prompter or a lost page. Just listen, quickly.</s>PENCE: We get the news this morning revealing, as it is, Hillary Clinton in remarks that were made in New York City just last night bear repeating and let me see where someone put them here. Take your time. Hillary Clinton said last night --</s>SAVIDGE: Take it from a guy who handles a lot of paper. When you start to see that shuffling, it's a cue. There's a problem. But he did recover, and he did hammer home the comments that Hillary Clinton made essentially criticizing half the people who support Donald Trump. Basil, what's your reaction to Pence and how he said it and this whole controversy? Because it seems to be bad for Hillary Clinton.</s>BASIL SMIKLE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AT NEW YORK STATE DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Well, I don't think it -- I actually don't think it's on the order of the 47 percent that Pence referenced, and I don't think it's on the order of his reference to Barack Obama's comments because I think there has been widespread condemnation of a lot of the words that Trump himself has used and the words that some of his supporters have used and some of their actions. Supporters, surrogates have talked about this for the better part of this campaign cycle and I think the other part of Hillary's comments were missed in what Mike Pence said, which is that there are Americans, there are supporters who have a genuine concern about what's happening in the economy today, and that should not be overlooked. But I think it's clear from Donald Trump himself, who delegitimized this president by suggesting he wasn't born here, there certainly are -- there certainly have been comments from supporters and from the candidate himself --</s>SAVIDGE: Yes, I got that, and she could have gone after Donald Trump, but she didn't. She went after Donald Trump supporters. In some political realm, that's like, you know, you just don't do that. Jeffrey, let me ask you this. Pence told Dana Bash in an exclusive interview that Trump reminded him of Ronald Reagan. Does that comment sound like something Reagan would have said?</s>JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No. I mean, Ronald Reagan never attacked his opponents' supporters. He attacked his opponents. I have to say, the Hillary Clinton remark is very much a Freudian slip. This is the party where a horrific history of systemic racism overlaid with an unbelievable, in the modern era, elitism, an arrogant elitism. I have no doubt she really absolutely believes this. This is part of the problem, that you've got these folks in Washington, D.C., you've got people like Hillary Clinton, and this goes far beyond Hillary Clinton, who have a real contempt for the American people, particularly people who live somewhere between Manhattan and Los Angeles. They really can't stand them. I think it slipped, and I think she's going to pay a political price for it.</s>SAVIDGE: Smikle, you know, I will say this. I don't necessarily agree as strongly as Jeffrey just said it, but that could be the impression some people get, that somehow the mask slipped here and she sort of said how she really feels about a certain part of the electorate.</s>SMIKLE: No, I don't think so. I take issue with Jeffrey's comments about the Democrats and their sort of neglect of their support. Look, I've been a lifelong Democrat. I have seen my party elect African- American mayors and an African-American president, on the verge of electing a woman to be president of the United States. So to me, while I know that my party has its problems and we have been pushed to our limits, I am grateful that the party has expanded and has been more inclusive. If you listen to the language issue, if you even go back to our convention, there was a message and have been messages of inclusion. Something that I think a lot of the detractors, particularly some of the folks speaking on behalf of the Trump campaign, that want to say that the Democrats are the party of slavery, which Jeffrey has said to me several times. I think have not really considered the fact that both the parties and the constituents have changed dramatically over the last century or so. So the point I'm making broadly is that, listen, our party has had its problems. But I think the Democrats have traditionally and historically been supportive of communities of color, of urban areas, of the disenfranchised.</s>SAVIDGE: I apologize because I used your last name when I spoke to you a minute ago.</s>SMIKLE: No problem.</s>SAVIDGE: Jeffrey, let me get your thoughts on this CNN poll that shows Trump supporters more enthusiastic about the election. Is that enthusiasm gap a problem, do you see, for Clinton? I'm sure they do see it that way.</s>LORD: Yes, you know, Martin, I have seen this first hand. Last month Hillary Clinton was here in Harrisburg. One of the press reports noted she had "several hundred," quote/unquote, supporters there. A few days after that, I was with Donald Trump at a rally right here a few miles from Harrisburg, and the place was filled. There were thousands, at least 4,000 to 5,000 people inside, and there were another several thousand people outside who couldn't get in. I can only tell you from talking to these people, these people are revved up. They have made this a mission in life and I do think this is a problem for Hillary Clinton.</s>SAVIDGE: And I presume that is why --</s>LORD: The enthusiasm gap is what I call it.</s>SAVIDGE: Right. And I would say that's probably why you have a whole litany of superstars that are going to be on the campaign trail for Hillary Clinton in the coming weeks. I'm sorry, I've got to leave it there. Jeffrey Lord, Basil Smikle, thank you both for joining me. I'm sure we're going to talk again. You can learn more about both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton with CNN's "The Essential." Both documentaries begin airing tonight at 8:00 Eastern Time right here on CNN.