Clinton's New Warning: Trump "Can Still Win"; Father of Deceased Muslim U.S. Soldier Slams Trump; Trump's Brand Takes a Hit During Campaign; Trump Predicting 'Tremendous Victory'; Trump Calls CNN Question "Very Insulting."
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: That's it for "THE LEAD." I'm Jake Tapper. Turning it over to Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. Thanks for watching.</s>WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, shrinking margin. As new polls show the gap may be closing in key states, Donald Trump is predicting victory. Hillary Clinton is warning we can't take our foot off the gas. The candidates are slugging it out in crucial battlegrounds this hour. Willing to spend. Trump tells CNN he'll put $100 million of his own money into the campaign. But that's $40 million more than he spent so far. And if he antes up the rest at the last minute, can it make a difference? No good answer. Stolen e-mails stolen by WikiLeaks show Clinton's campaign aides admitting there's just no good for why she used a private e-mail server as secretary of state. And brand canyon. Trump cuts the ribbon at his newest hotel amid signs that bookings and rates are down at some properties. Are Trump's campaign comments and the allegations of sexual misconduct putting his brand in a deep hole? I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in</s>THE SITUATION ROOM. ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.</s>BLITZER: Breaking news. Donald Trump campaigns this hour in the crucial battleground state of North Carolina, after taking a time-out to cut the ribbon on his new hotel here in Washington, D.C. There, Trump told CNN's Dana Bash he expects a tremendous election victory and that he's willing to put more of his own money into the campaign to make it happen. Trump says he'll have $100 million invested, although campaign records show he's only put in $60 million so far. New polls show Trump may be closing the gap with Hillary Clinton. One shows him with a slight edge in Florida. Another shows Clinton's lead narrowing in New Hampshire. Our own average of national polls shows Clinton with a 7-point lead. Clinton today told supporters that every vote counts, saying, "We can't take our foot off the gas." She's focusing in on Florida, where voters are forming long lines to cast early ballots. It's Clinton's birthday, by the way, but her present from WiliLeaks is another stolen campaign e-mail in which a key aide acknowledges, quote, "There is just no good answer for why Clinton used the private e-mail server as secretary of state." I'll speak with former Congressman Pete Hoekstra. He's a Donald Trump supporter. And our correspondents, analysts and guests, they will have full coverage of the day's top stories. Let's begin with Donald Trump. After showing off his new hotel as an example of what he said he can do for the country, he's back on the campaign trail in North Carolina. This hour, our national correspondent, Jason Carroll, is traveling there with him. Jason, what's Trump's message today?</s>JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, part of his message, Wolf, was clearly to get out and promote his own business, even for a little while. But also, part of his message, something that we've heard before. Not only does he say he's going to win the state of North Carolina; he says he is going to win this election.</s>DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm tired of the excuses from our politicians. I'm tired of being told what cannot be done.</s>CARROLL (voice-over): Donald Trump taking a brief break from the campaign trail to promote his new hotel in Washington, D.C., and striking an optimistic tone.</s>TRUMP: There is nothing we cannot accomplish. The United States is great. It's great. Its people are great.</s>CARROLL: Trump's brief detour from the campaign trail, not the first time the real estate mogul has showcased his properties as campaign settings. Trump says his business acumen is what the country needs from its president.</s>TRUMP: This is what I want to do for our country, and that is what we're working so hard to do. Right now, just about everything our government touches is broken or they break it. It's always over budget, behind schedule, and simply nothing works.</s>CARROLL: And Trump took an opportunity to again take aim at the media.</s>TRUMP: By the way, congratulations, Newt, on last night. That was an amazing interview. We don't play games, Newt, right? We don't play games.</s>CARROLL: The GOP nominee referring to FOX News's Megyn Kelly's interview with Trump advisor and former House speaker Newt Gingrich. Gingrich losing his cool when Kelly pressing him about the women accusing Trump of unwanted sexual advances.</s>NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: You are fascinated with sex, and you don't care about public policy. That's what I get out of watching you tonight.</s>MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: You know what, Mr. Speaker? I'm not fascinated by sex, but I am fascinated by the protection of women and understanding what we're getting in the Oval Office.</s>GINGRICH: OK.</s>KELLY: And I think the American voters would like to know...</s>GINGRICH: Therefore, we're going to send Bill Clinton back to the East Wing, because, after all, you are worried about sexual predators.</s>KELLY: He's not on the ticket.</s>GINGRICH: He'll be in -- he'll be in the East Wing.</s>KELLY: And the polls also show that the American public is less interested in the deeds of Hillary Clinton's husband than they are in the deeds of the man who asks us to make him president, Donald Trump. We're going to have to leave it at that. And you can take your anger issues and spend some time working on them, Mr. Speaker. Thanks for being here.</s>GINGRICH: And you, too. And you, too.</s>CARROLL: Gingrich firing back today.</s>GINGRICH: I don't have an anger problem. I have a media bias problem. And I believe the media bias in this election is the worst in modern history.</s>CARROLL: and Trump taking offense when CNN's Dana Bash asked if today's hotel ribbon cutting was worth it.</s>DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: So to people who say you are taking time out of swing states to go do this, you say?</s>TRUMP: I say the following. You have been covering me for the last long time. I did yesterday eight stops and three major speeches. And I've been doing this for weeks straight. I left here -- I left there for an hour and a half. I'm going to North Carolina right now. Then I'm going to Florida. I'm going up to New Hampshire. For you to ask me that question is actually very insulting, because Hillary Clinton does one stop, and then she goes home and sleeps. And yet, you'll ask me that question. I think it's a very rude question, to be honest with you.</s>CARROLL: And Trump also saying, for all those who were criticizing him for making that stop in Washington, D.C., as you heard there, Wolf, he says that he keeps a much more rigorous campaign schedule than Hillary Clinton. He also took aim at Hillary Clinton for attending that Adele concert yesterday. As for tomorrow, he says he'll be making three stops in Ohio -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Another key battleground state. Jason Carroll, thank you very much for that report. Our chief political correspondent, Dana Bash, as you just saw, she caught up with Donald Trump today as he cut the ribbon on his new hotel here in Washington. Dana, Trump told you he may dig a lot deeper into his own personal pocket to get some cash into his campaign?</s>BASH: Well, that was based on some questions I was asking about some frustration I've heard from Republicans that he hasn't done that enough, given the fact that he says he's worth billions and billions of dollars, in order to be more competitive in television ads against Hillary Clinton. Here's what he said.</s>TRUMP: Let me just tell you that we have -- I'll have over $100 million in the campaign. Hillary Clinton has nothing in the campaign. She's all special interests and donors. And they give her the money and then she will do whatever they tell her to do. But I will have over $100 million in the campaign, and I'm prepared to go much more than that. Now, here's the question. New polls are coming out. We're leading Florida. We're doing great in North Carolina. We're doing great in Pennsylvania. We're doing great all over. We're doing really well in New Hampshire, Ohio, as you know, and Iowa are doing fantastically well. I'm telling you -- CNN doesn't say it, but I think we're going to win.</s>BASH: So, but to do that, you have a pretty big bank account. You can -- and time is running out; the clock is ticking. Will you write a check?</s>TRUMP: I've already done it. I've already written a number of them.</s>BASH: Specifically -- specifically to get up on the air to combat the ads that you say Hillary Clinton is running against you.</s>TRUMP: Well, in Florida she has 50 to 1 against me. Fifty. You were the one that reported that.</s>BASH: But you -- but you have the means to combat that.</s>TRUMP: In the meantime -- sure I do. But in the meantime, 50 to 1 and I'm leading. How would you like to have spent -- you know, the old days you would get credit. If you would spend less money and have victory, that would be a good thing. Today, they want you to spend money. I'll have over 100 million. I'm willing to spend much more than that if I have to.</s>BASH: Can you just be specific? How much are you willing to put down in order to put up new ads?</s>TRUMP: No, I already -- I will have over 100 million in. I'm willing to invest more than that.</s>BASH: Like how much?</s>TRUMP: Don't. Let's just go for your next question, Dana.</s>BASH: OK. Well, my last question, because I'm getting the hook over here, in the speech here you talked about the fact that this is the second-best piece of real estate on Pennsylvania Avenue. In 14 days, are you hoping that you're going to be spending, after that, more time here or down the street?</s>TRUMP: Well, look, I just hope that -- you know, I built a great company. This is truly a great company with some of the great assets of the world, not only in our country but in other countries. And I predicted Brexit. You were one of the people that asked me about Brexit. And I said it's going to happen. And I'm not even saying this is Brexit, but I think the result is going to be the same, if not more so. We are going to have, I think, a tremendous victory. People don't want four more years of Obama. They don't want Hillary with all of the corruption and all of the problems. And you see all of these WikiLeaks coming out, and they're a disaster. And when you see John Podesta, who I think is terrible the way he speaks about her, but that she has bad instincts. John Podesta saying that the person he works for has bad instincts, I think it's terrible. But so many other things, even worse than that, are out about their honesty and their dishonesty. I really think that we're going to have a tremendous victory. And you know what? If I didn't think that, I wouldn't say it. I'd say, "Well, we're going to be fighting hard." Now, we will be fighting hard, but I believe we're winning. I actually think we're winning. I don't even think it's a question of we're going to try and win. You start looking at the polls, what's happening, and more importantly start looking at all the people going to vote and sending in their ballots. We're way ahead on virtually every state, every area. And I think we're going to have a great victory.</s>BASH: And Wolf, back on the question of money. He says he's going to have spent $100 million. The last FEC report, the government report that campaigns are required by law to put out there, it said that he had spent $56 million of his own money, which means that he's saying that since then, in the last month, he has written a check for more than $40 million. We'll see if that's true. But I think the key thing -- and I will give you some new reporting that I have -- that I'm told that Reince Priebus, the RNC chair, went to him earlier this month and specifically said, "Can you please write a check, get up on the air? You need to do this in order to be competitive." And it didn't happen, I'm told. That just kind of gives you more of the context of some of the frustration that I've heard from Republicans about the fact that he does have a pretty big bank account, and more importantly, they are feeling like they're getting closer, the polls are tightening, and if only they could be more competitive with their paid advertising. they think that they could get over the top in some of these swing states.</s>BLITZER: The $40 or $50 million in paid advertising at this late stage presumably could make a difference.</s>BASH: Yes, sure. I mean, that would be -- depends on where it is, and it depends on the cost of the media markets. Some of these markets like Florida, south Florida in particular, and in Pennsylvania, outside of Philadelphia, they're expensive. But still, it is possible.</s>BLITZER: Dana is going to be back with us later. Good work, Dana. Thanks very much. Joining us now, former Republican Congressman Pete Hoekstra of Michigan. He's the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. He's a Donald Trump supporter. Congressman, thanks for joining us.</s>PETE HOEKSTRA (R), FORMER MICHIGAN CONGRESSMAN: It's good to be with you. Thank you, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: So you think he's going to put up another $40 or $50 million and contribute more than $100 million? He's contributed, as we just heard from Dana, $56 million so far. You think he's actually going to deliver?</s>HOEKSTRA: Well, he's been very generous so far. Fifty-six million is a lot of money. I think, by being evasive with Dana, I know he didn't answer her question. But if I'm in the last week, two weeks of the campaign, I really wouldn't give her a straight answer either. Have -- you want the Clinton campaign guessing. Is he going to put in 20? Is he going to put in 40? Is he going to put in 60 or 80? You know, this is one where, you know, it's his -- you know, we're going to keep you guessing. But I think he's going to invest the money that he believes he needs to invest to win this race.</s>BLITZER: Trump also told us -- told Dana that he thinks he's winning. He says he's winning. In his words, "I'm way ahead in virtually every state." But based on all the scientific polls, that's not necessarily true. He's ahead in some of the battleground states, but he's not ahead in virtually all of the battleground states right now. Right?</s>HOEKSTRA: That's correct. But you know, we're seeing a tremendous amount of momentum here in Michigan in the last week to ten days. He's cut the lead in half. We're down to low single digits. We're at 5 percent in the latest poll and still with a significant number of undecided voters. For the first time in quite a while, Michigan is in play.</s>BLITZER: When was the last time Trump...</s>HOEKSTRA: And that's a very good sign for the campaign.</s>BLITZER: When did Trump go to Michigan lately? I haven't necessarily seen him or Pence, for that matter. Either one of them campaigning there? Either -- is the campaign spending money -- really, money -- any significant amount of money in Michigan?</s>HOEKSTRA: Absolutely. Mike Pence was just here last week. Did an event over in Cobb (ph) County.</s>BLITZER: What about Trump?</s>HOEKSTRA: Ben Carson -- Ben Carson will be here on the weekend. Donald Trump, it's been -- it's been longer. I'm trying to think, because I was at the rally where he was at. So that's probably been three, three and a half weeks since Donald Trump has been here. But you know, if those numbers stay where they are, I expect that we will see Donald Trump in the last two weeks. You do. All right. Let's see if he shows up in Michigan. If he does, that would be significant, because the polls I've seen from Michigan show that I think she has, like, a double-digit lead right now. But maybe you're right; maybe that is narrowing as we get closer and closer. Let's get to this other very sensitive issue. A man you know well, Newt Gingrich, he was the speaker when you were in Congress. Trump congratulated Newt Gingrich today for sparring with FOX News anchor Megyn Kelly. And you saw the exchange that Megyn Kelly and Newt Gingrich had. Why do you think he would bring that up in his speech? It was a very, very awkward moment. Instead of simply staying on message.</s>HOEKSTRA: Well, I think what Donald Trump consistently likes to see and wants to demonstrate -- because a lot of people have been frustrated. Republicans but independents. Because no one is fighting Washington. No one is fighting what some believe is a biased media. And so Mr. Trump himself is a fighter and wants to demonstrate that he is a fighter. And he likes to see when there's fight in the people that are supporting him.</s>BLITZER: You think Megyn Kelly is biased?</s>HOEKSTRA: The -- I didn't see the whole interview. I didn't see what the whole show was last night. Obviously, Newt had been watching the show earlier on, and by the time, you know, he was on the show, it appears that he thought, at least the first part of the show prior to him and maybe all of his interview, was, you know, was biased. I know that many of us are frustrated, Wolf, that there's a continual -- a continual fixation on some of the issues when we really want to be talking about other issues, whether it's national security, whether it's getting this economy moving again, whether it's the sky-rocketing premiums on Obamacare and those types of things. Those are the things that are going to make a real difference to the American people over the next four years.</s>BLITZER: You make a fair point, but it's Donald Trump who keeps bringing up this issue. For example, today when he went out of his way to give a shout-out, a nice shout-out to Newt Gingrich at the expense of Megyn Kelly. That's Donald Trump who did that. The news media is simply reporting what Donald Trump did. Right?</s>HOEKSTRA: The news meeting -- the news media picks and chooses exactly what they're going to pick up of Mr. Trump's message on any given day. Today they focused on that. And I've got to give you credit. You also talked about other things in an earlier segment on CNN, you know, where they were saying why is he at an opening? And your analysis team said, "We're cutting him some slack on this. This guy has been out. You know, he's been working hard. He's doing five, six rallies a day. He's traveling around the country." And being at an opening, that demonstrates that he is a business guy and he has created jobs in America is very consistent with his campaign. But you know, you're reporting on his day today, I think has been very fair.</s>BLITZER: And the fact that he wanted to go support his kids, especially his daughter, who played a very important role in that hotel. That's a point he keeps making, as well. Take a little time out, go and do that. But you're right. He has been a lot -- he's done a lot more rallies out there in recent weeks than Hillary Clinton has been at rallies. He's been a lot busier out there on the campaign trail. Let's talk about Donald Trump and the Republican Party leadership. You were once a member of that House Republican leadership. He attacked the party leadership saying he would be doing better if they had supported him. He said this in an interview with Reuters: "If we had party unity, we couldn't lose this election to Hillary Clinton. The people are very angry with the leadership of this party," referring to the Republican Party, "because this is an election that we will win 100 percent if we had support from the top." He seems to be blaming the House speaker, Paul Ryan, setting the stage for blaming him if he doesn't win the election. Is that fair?</s>HOEKSTRA: Well, I think this is going to be, I think, as someone else I've heard discuss this -- this is going to be -- this is an election unlike anything that we've ever seen before. Yes. I don't think -- party unity for Republicans at this point in time would be absolutely invaluable I terms of making sure that we get the right result on November 8. I think there are still a lot of Republicans who are in that undecided mode in terms of figuring out exactly what they're going to do on election day. What Donald Trump wants and I think what Paul Ryan wants, what Mitch McConnell wants, we want all Republicans to come home to vote for the ticket so that we can send Donald Trump to Washington and Paul Ryan back as speaker of the House.</s>BLITZER: Congressman, we're going to take a quick break. We have more questions for you. We'll resume the interview right after a quick break.