Is Clinton Struggling with Black Millennials?; Starbucks CEO Backs Clinton
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Less than 60 days to go, and the race for the White House is as heated as ever. I'm Poppy Harlow, you're watching CNN. And we begin this hour with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump trading barbs over comments the Democratic candidate made last night at a fundraiser here in New York. And now, Clinton is apologizing for part of what she said. And, Trump, is actually retweeting President Obama. That's right, retweeting President Obama, to make his point against Clinton. All right, here's how it all unfolded. Let's begin with what Clinton said last night about some Trump supporters.</s>HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To just be grossly generalistic, you can put half of Trump supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables.</s>CLINTON: Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, islamophobic, you name it. But that other basket of people are people who feel the government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about what happens to their lives and their futures. And they're just desperate for change.</s>HARLOW: Clinton quickly took heat for grouping millions of Americans into that so-called basket. Donald Trump himself tweeting, "Wow, Hillary Clinton was so insulting to my supporters, millions of amazing hardworking people. I think it will cost her at the polls." Clinton saying in a statement tonight, "Last night I was grossly generalistic and that's never a good idea. I regret saying half, that was wrong." She goes on to say, "It's deplorable that Trump has built the campaign largely on prejudice and paranoia and given a national platform to hateful views and voices. Including by retweeting fringe bigots with a dozen followers and spreading their message to 11 million people." Donald Trump then issued this statement saying "Isn't it disgraceful that Hillary Clinton makes the worst mistake of the political season and instead of owning up to this grotesque attack on American voters, she tries to turn it around with a pathetic rehash of the words and insults used in her failing campaign?" Let's get reaction tonight from both sides of the political spectrum. With me now, Conservative Political Commentator Ben Ferguson, host of the Ben Ferguson Show and a Donald Trump supporter. And Symone Sanders, Former National Press Secretary for Senator Bernie Sanders's presidential campaign, and now a Hillary Clinton supporter. So glad you're both with us.</s>BEN FERGUSON, HOST "BEN FERGUSON SHOW": Good to be here.</s>HARLOW: So Symone, let me begin -- let me begin with you, Symone. Clinton's team telling CNN that she apologized so quickly because -- for saying half of the supporters feel this way because she felt like she couldn't move forward on the crux of her argument without getting that controversy out of the way. And the crux of that argument is that she still believes that Donald Trump is running a racist campaign. So my question to you is, given that, and I know you're no Trump supporter, how significant of a group of Trump supporters do you believe are, "racist, sexist, homophobic, islamophobic?"</s>SYMONE SANDERS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: So, great question, Poppy. So, of course, the Secretary, and I'm glad that she corrected it, was indeed wrong to say that half of Trump's supporters were in the basket of, quote unquote, deplorables. But we should be clear, in knowing that there is a segment of people who support Donald Trump that support his campaign that do subscribe to xenophobic, racist, sexist, and so on, and so forth views. That is not half of his supporters but --</s>HARLOW: -- but how large do you think that is?</s>SANDERS: I think that there are three baskets of Trump supporters to be honest. Three baskets, three segments. So one,-- I mean a portion -- I don't think it's a large portion, but I think it's a smaller portion. I think there's those, quote unquote, if we're going to use the term basket of deplorables. But I also think there are these hardworking Americans folks that feel like the government has left them behind, that they've been locked out of opportunity. And, that's another segment, I think that's a larger segment, the largest segment. And, then I also think there are individuals who are maybe white working class folks. Some people that have been voting against their own interests for years with the Republican Party, people that used to be Democrats. And, now are standing up and saying, hmm, I like some of the things Donald Trump is saying, I don't agree with some of his more divisive and racist and inflammatory rhetoric. But I do like some of the things that he's saying because I want someone to speak to me. And, that's going to folks talking about the issues.</s>HARLOW: That's interesting. So you say this group of racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, is the smallest of the three groups. Ben to you. You and I have spoken a lot throughout this election, and while you support the Republican candidate now, you were very reluctant to support Donald Trump throughout the primary process. And, I wonder now, stepping back, was one of the reasons that you held off so long on supporting Trump due to concern you had over where some of his support was coming from?</s>FERGUSON: Not so much where his support was coming from but more of his choice the way he described and explained things when I thought sometimes he crossed the line. But let's be clear here. Hillary Clinton, she did not make a mistake. This is exactly what she believes about the Republican Party. And this is what I find so intriguing about this, is the fact that Democrats have been using this for years. They say that they're the party of acceptance and tolerance. But, they're completely intolerant of anyone else's views that are against theirs. And, if you disagree with them they put you in this basket of hell, that you're homophobic or bigoted or their favorite word they love to use, you're a racist. So I don't think people should be surprised by this. What I think was incredibly stupid for her to do is she has fired up many people that maybe weren't excited about Donald Trump so much that might have stayed home if it was a rainy day. And now they know that Hillary Clinton says that if you're a conservative, you're in this basket of hell, and you're a racist, a bigot, a homophobic person, and I'm going to tell you that's what you are. And it's going to backfire. This was a stupid move by this woman.</s>HARLOW: So I think -- I think it's interesting, Symone, the (inaudible) at that point, he says it's not a mistake. Just to be clear, this is not the first time Clinton has said it. It's the first time that it got a lot of national media pickup. She actually said it a week ago on Israeli television. Does, he have a point, do you really believe that Clinton thinks it is a true mistake or is she responding quickly to the backlash?</s>SANDERS: Well, I definitely think she thinks it's a mistake and here's why. A number of prominent Republicans in the party have come out and thrown their support behind Secretary Clinton because they know Donald Trump is a disaster. They know that Donald Trump is not representative of the Republican Party. And, they know that there's too much at stake in this election to put party over the country. We have to put the country over party. So, Secretary Clinton she's not the person that's been spewing divisive and inflammatory rhetoric. And just, to you know to a point that Ben made, I think it's interesting that a Republican --</s>FERGUSON: -- she's been doing it in a --</s>SANDERS: -- I think -- I think it's interesting -- I think it's interesting that Republicans like to say that, you know, Democrats always bring up "R" word, racism, racist. As an African-American woman, I don't play with racism, and I don't play with the term racist. So, what Donald Trump has been doing is spewing this rhetoric and we have to call it what it is. And, that is what we're doing in this election.</s>HARLOW: Symone, is she talking -- so, is talking though down -- is she coming off as elitist? Is she talking down to millions of Americans who supported and voted for Donald Trump in the primary? Let's push aside saying half, right, I mean even her camp says she shouldn't have used that broad brush. Even her supporters say that. But here's how Mike Pence put it and I wonder if you agree in part with him, even as a Clinton supporter. Let's listen.</s>GOV. MIKE PENCE, (R-IN) VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, Hillary, I've got news for you -- I've got news for you. I'm traveling across this country every day. I'm meeting the men and women who support Donald Trump in big cities and small towns. The people that represent the millions of people who support my running mate. They're good hard working Americans. They're factory workers and coal miners. They're farmers and business owners. They're law enforcement officers and veterans. They're students and they're seniors. They're moms and they're dads. They're people who believe in freedom and in the god given liberties enshrined in our constitution. Hillary, they aren't a basket of anything. They are Americans, and they all deserve your support.</s>HARLOW: Simone, your reaction to that. Do you believe that he's playing at, frankly, part of what Bernie Sanders went against Hillary Clinton on in the primary, being sort of, you know, in with Wall Street, in with the so called elites?</s>SANDERS: Well, I will say that Governor Pence's comments were extremely -- very convincing. And, I would also say that Trump supporters and millions of hard working people across this country that are taking a hard look at Donald Trump, they are looking for a vote for real change. And, once we peel back the layers of Mr. Trump, that's not real change. I think, Secretary Clinton has painted more of a picture. Do these comments hurt her? Clearly, yes. It's still in the news cycle, we're still talking about it, we'll be talking about it tomorrow. But, is this going to turn off millions and millions of people and drive people to go to the polls in support of Donald Trump because of this one comment? I don't actually think so, because I think the issues again Poppy, are extremely important. Those hardworking people, people in places like Iowa, and Nebraska, the Midwest where I'm from, they want to know what you're actually going to do to improve their lives. So we have to get past this rhetoric.</s>FERGUSON: Here's the thing though. Poppy, this is not getting past the rhetoric this is the reality of what Hillary Clinton actually thinks about 50% of the people that are voting in this country. And if you're watching this, maybe you're not one that really focuses on politics very often. The question you now have to ask yourself is, if this is what she thinks of me if I stand up for certain values that she disagrees with that she obviously is going to look at me as the lowest form of human being in this country and insult me in this way, she's not going to represent me if she's the President. She's not going to listen to my ideas if she's the President.</s>FERGUSON: So, now you have a real problem for her. The cat's out of the bag. This is what she thinks of people that are moderate or conservatives. And she is not going to ever represent you when she tells you the truth of what she thinks about you right now. When she's President, you will not have her ear, she will not listen to your concerns, because she thinks you're a racist, or a bigot, or a homophobe, and, she's said it out loud finally and people are listing.</s>SANDERS: Poppy, I just want to make one last point --</s>HARLOW: -- very, very quickly.</s>SANDERS: I will make one quick point. Donald Trump has stood up time after time again and he has disparaged African-Americans in this country. He has disparaged gold star families, Muslims, Latinos, and Hispanics. And, you know Donald Trump has said over and over again. And, so when you're asking African-Americans for their vote, Latinos for their vote, you have to -- again, if we're going off what you're saying, I would say the same stance for Donald Trump. So, can people across this country expect Donald trump to hold their interests at the highest level and carry the water on the issues? I don't think so.</s>HARLOW: Ben Ferguson, thank you very much. Ben Ferguson, thank you very much, Symone Sanders, thank you. Stick with me, Symone's with us on the other side of this break. We have a lot ahead this hour to cover. Hillary Clinton counting on black voters to help propel her to the White House. But, the polling shows she may be coming up short with one key group of African-American voters. Ahead, what she needs to do to get the support she needs. Also, it's one thing to call your rival deplorable in a presidential race. It is -- but attacking the voters who support your opponent takes things to a new level as we just discussed. Will Hillary Clinton's words come back to haunt her come November? And, in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, the name Cantor Fitzgerald became synonymous with loss of life. Two-thirds of that company's workers perished on 9/11. The company's CEO has found a way to make something extraordinary happen after a tragedy. Also, this.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I never thought I would never feel good about anything ever again after Peter was killed. And I feel good about the work that we're doing.</s>HARLOW: How the parents of Peter Alderman turned their September 11th loss of their son into a mission to help the world's most vulnerable