hello, everyone. i'm ashleigh banfield. welcome to "legal view." 53 days before the election. 2,796 days after president obama first took his oath of office. and that's when donald trump decided to add nate mr. obama is, in fact, an american citizen. just minutes ago. in what he billed as a "major announcement" the gop presidential nominee sought to put to arrest controversy that he personally energetically fueled with gasoline for five full years, and you heard it all happen here. check out the power and the length of this statement. >> hillary clinton and her campaign of 2008 started the birther controversy. i finished it.

i finished it. you know what i mean. president barack obama was born in the united states, period. now we all want to get back to making america strong and great again. >> that was approximately 28 seconds. my cnn colleague sara murray was there for all 28 seconds of that, and more. she's at trump event in the newly opened hotel of donald trump's in washington, d.c. brianna keilar standing by live covering the hillary clinton campaign. hillary clinton also spoke on this very matter just this very morning in that very city, washington, d.c. movement behind you, sara. i can see you're looking around but i need to ask you, the breaking element of the story you're on right now, as you scramble into place -- i think i'm right at about 27 seconds. but what i want to know is what happened right after those 27

seconds? take me there and tell me what you just saw. >> reporter: well, ashleigh, it became clear donald trump was not interested in taking questions from the press, despite this being originally billed as a press conference. he made a very short statement in which he retracked his birther. is over it, believes obama was born in the u.s. and then left the room as reporters were yelling questions about what made him change his mind. he proceeded to go on a tour, and this was supposed to be a pooled convenient. which means supposed to be an editorial producer from television, supposed to be a print reporter. there's usually a wires reporter that can accompany a candidate on a tour like this. in this case the pool producer was television was physically restrained from going on the tour. there was essentially not going to be any editorial presence. donald trump just wanted to get a lot of beautiful pictures of his hotel and ge on a tour of his hotel but clearly did not want to answer questions about the statement that he had just made. ashleigh? >> you just repeat what you said? you said the -- the pool producer was physically, what?

restrained? can you just clear that up? what happened? >> reporter: so usually, in a situation like this you'd have a group of these reporters who would accompany a candidate for television an editorial producer there to print, for instance, ask donald trump why he changed his mind on the birther issue or collect any other comments he might make. of course, there is a television camera that also goes to shoot this, but in this kase cascase, producer there to represent the pool was physically restrained. someone physically blocked her from being able to ge on this tour with donald trump and instead it was just cameras who were allowed to go with him. obviously, this breaks with the normal tradition of the pool, and this is the kind of thing that we've been seeing happen with both of these campaigns but also with dnt dnonald trump's campaign, breaking tradition with becoming a nominee for a major president's party.

last night donald trump left his presby hind and went on and healthy rally the press saw the last three minutes. the kind of issue happening repeatedly with this campaign and particularly interesting today in the light of the fact trump clearly did not want to take questions about this birther issue. >> nor go on longer than about 27 seconds, and by the way, i'm going to ask ow producers if they could actually time it out. i just had to do it on the fly. not expecting it was going to be such a short comment. fully expecting he was going to wax a little more on it, maybe say i was wr -- wr -- long fonzie or maybe sigh i'm so-sor -- sor, sorry. didn't get any of that. 27 seconds of, the guy was born in the u.s. thanks. eight years of being a president. nice to know he was a citizen and aligned with the constitution. quickly, other than that 27 seconds, can you just give me the last 24 hours of this birther crap?

>> reporter: yes, a be saluteab. supposed to be a veterans event. wouldn't have been surprising except last night. a "washington post" story came out, donald trump again refused to disavow his belief that president obama was not born in the u.s. of course, he propagated this controversy for years when running for president. after that his campaign put out a statement not in dnt's name but in the name of one of the communication staffers saying that donald trump was the one who convinced president obama and ensured that his long-term birth certificate was released and that he was born in the u.s. everybody waited to hear that from dnt's oath mouth, having senior advisers and staffers say that is not the same as hearing the candidate say it himself, especially since he's been going on and on about it for years. he did come out. he did say today he believes president obama was born in the u.s. but he did not take questions about what has caused

him to change his mind on this, or why he sort of propagated this falsehood so long even after the president had released his birth certificate. >> five minutes and 56 seconds into the controversy of me saying this took 27 seconds i am going to admit publicly on national television that i was wrong. i was wrong and i am sorry. because if you include the pauses -- it was 33 seconds. i am sorry. i am sorry for having said something wrong on national television about what someone said about someone else not being a citizen, yet serving as president. the joke is over. sara, i'm going to jump a minute. stand by if you will. brianna keilar clearly the clinton campaign watched every second of that, and glad i could bring an end to controversy adding the additional six seconds but sure the hillary clinton campaign is not laughing. they're crafting a response? >> reporter: no. they're not laughing, but i

would also say that they look at donald trump talking about birtherism, and it's something that gives them some material, because donald trump has been trying to make an appeal to african-american voters, he says. many people look what he's been saying rhetorically and actually he's just trying to make white voters who are uncomfortable with the fact that he hasn't reached out at all to black voters more comfortable with voting for him. so that's sort of where they are, but i will say we heard hillary clinton mention this last unite after donald trump's comments to the "washington post" where he said this wasn't the right time to address it, which sort of set the birther issue with him alight yet again, and hillary clinton set the bar. she set it at donald trump needs to -- or she did today. she said, she set the bar that donald trump needs to apologize, which politically, she obviously

has a point, because donald trump has never specifically apologized for anything. here is what hillary clinton said. >> for five years, he has led the birther movement to de-legitimize our first black president. his campaign was founded on this outrageous lie. there is no erasing it in history. just yesterday trump again refused to say with his own words that the president was born in the united states. now, donald's advisors had the temerity to say, he's doing the country a service by pushing these lies. no. he isn't. he is feeding in to the worst impulses, the bigotry and bias that lurks in our country.

>> reporter: and the clinton campaign really not wanting to let him get away with this and sort of stepping away from this issue ashleigh and moving forward, brian fallon, spokesman for the campaign, trump doubled down on lie-filled statements from his campaign last night and took no responsibility for his bigoted attacks on our president, because, of course, hillary clinton said an apology was owed. many voters are upset about the birther controversy and people trafficking in that conspiracy theory. again to dissect what donald trump said. three things really in those few seconds that we can fact check. he said hillary clinton started birtherism. not true. he said, he ended birtherism. not true. he said, barack obama was born in the u.s. that is true. so one-third of what he said does fact check, but it's important to note that two of the other things that he said in that sentence are patently false.

>> brianna, hold on a minute. sara, back to you, because people dip in and out of cable news all the time and this is a big, important story. it started in 2011. it was how donald trump launched his political identity in the dark corners of the interwebs, he found somebody who was questioning whether barack obama was actually born in the united states, and he ran with it big time. big league. he ran with it. he promulgated it every where he could went on tv over and over radio show, said it in tweets, said it everywhere. that's usually the kind of thing when you're wrong you have to deal with it and you have to be open and honest about it and we got 27 seconds of copy and 33 seconds with pauses. then i want you to repeat to our audience what happened afterwards. >> reporter: well, right. it wasn't exactly a huge show of transparency today in that short statement. afterwards, this was originally billed as a press conference.

it became clear donald trump was not going to stop and take questions. so the press started shouting them from the back of the room, trying to get a better sense of why he had changed his mind, of what had changed between the last time he said he didn't believe president obama was born in the u.s., which was even after the birth certificate was released and now donald trump instead moved on, prepared to give a tour of this hotel. it's his new hotel here in washington where the event isality. to a small number of reporters what you call a pool. traditionally there would be a member of the print media, a member of the wire, such as the associated press or reuters. there would be, of course, a television camera and also a television produce here is there to ask donald trump questions or collect any remarks he would make along the way. obviously the big issue today is questioning why he has reversed course now on birtherism, but the pool producer in this case was physically restrained from joining him on this tour. the campaign really decided to exclude any editorial presence from going with him.

it was very clear they just wanted visuals of donald trump touring his new hotel. obviously that's not the way that a media pool works. we're not here to create infomercials for donald trump's new hotel. we're here to cover a presidential campaign, but it was very clear they had no interest in allowing any editorial reporters accompany him, and to the extent they were willing to physically restrain one of them from going along with him, ashleigh. >> i mean, the big evidence question i would have asked is, why just this morning did you tell maria bartiromo that you "needed to keep the suspense going"? and then minutes later you come out and the say, i finish eed i. it sounds to reporters, you and me and everybody else watching all of this, that the only thing he finished was his own nonsense. it was nobody else's nonsense by this morning but his own nonsense. all right. sara, keep us posted on what happens next in the location where you are. me thinks it's going to be yet

another wild ride. every 24 hours seems to be. live on the trump campaign. brianna keilar live with the hillary clinton campaign. we'll talk more about this right after this break. sidelined. that's why you drink ensure. with 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. for the strength and energy to get back to doing... ...what you love. ensure. always be you. (vo) nutritional needs...og's all in one. purina one. healthy energy, all in one. strong muscles, all in one. highly digestible, and a taste he loves, all in one. purina one smartblend is expertly blended... with 100% nutrition, 0% fillers, always real meat #1. lifelong smart nutrition. it's all in one. purina one.

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honest with you. not enough time for donald trump's comments about barack obama's citizenship or birthplace. i have 56 seconds and will give you that. >> why doesn't he show his birth certificate? you know what? i wish he would. it's a terrible pale hanging over him. >> perhaps it's going to say hawaii. perhaps it's going to say kenya. >> many people don't agree with that birth certificate. they don't think it's authentic, wolf. last week somebody came out with a strong statement saying that he stated himself that he was born in kenya, and raised in indonesia. >> do you know who questioned his birth certificate? one of the first? hillary clinton. >> how about that last thing that he just said there, and then just said again.

tom foreman, i see you standing by the reality check wall. can i read the very first line of the 33-second statement donald trump just delivered us? hillary clinton and her campaign of 2008 started the birther controversy. could you, please, reality fact check that. >> well, in that half minute roughly of talking, ashleigh, he said two things. neither one of which survives the smell test. the claim, birther first raised by the hillary clinton campaign in the '08 campaign. the birther issue was raised in the '08 campaign around the similar issue of whether or not barack obama was a muslim, which he is not. he is christian. that was raised by some supporters of hillary clinton quickly embraced by republicans, but, and this is the key part about this. there is no evidence that hillary clinton or her team ever pushed the birther story. they were aware of it, but they said, no. we're keeping our hands away from it.

we have nothing to do with this. that is not the case. what about the second claim he made there? in 2001, mr. trump was finally able to bring this ugly incident to a conclusion successfully compelling president obama to release his birth certificate. what the campaign said thursday. we heard what he said today about finishing the issue, in 2011, here's the problem. president obama himself released his certification of birth in 2008, and when we get to 2011 and the long form birth certificate released, was that the end of it? no. not even for donald trump. you played some comments there, but this is from this year talking to our wolf blitzer and said, oh, who knows about obama. who knows. who knows. who cares right now? i have my own theory on obama. some day i'll write a book, do another book and it will be very successful. this is what he was saying this year when asked about the birther controversy. the bottom line is, for all of his effort today for half minute to set the record straight, what

he said was still false. ashleigh? >> how about just yesterday? i'll answer that question at the right time. i just don't want to answer it yet. and then how about just this morning? i want to keep this suspense going. as if this were another episode of whatever that show was that he had. that reality show. >> sure. >> "the apprentice." >> the problem on this issue, he's been on the wrong side of the facts for years now. he has stayed on the wrong side of the facts and even in trying to get on the right side today, he still stayed on the wrong side on substantial parts of it. >> yeah. you got that right. but did you hear an i'm sorry? an, i as wrong? >> no. >> i didn't either. i'll check the tape again. tom foreman, thank you. appreciate it. bring in my political commentator ryan liz and phillip bump written scathingly on this. it's interesteding and errol

louis is here and in washington our chief political correspondent dana bash, also here who also, i'm sure, dana, you did not hear and i'm wrong or an i'm sorry and once again what you did here is that he finished it. he finished this controversy, but all i heard was that he finished his own nonsense that there wan a controversy that he didn't first bring up and then somehow stop and then take credit for? >> no. you didn't miss anything. i didn't miss anything. it was so quick that if anybody was getting up to go get a drink, they missed it. after they waited for 40 minutes as donald trump had people that we should and do respect greatly, because of the sacrifices and the dedication they have brought to this country, talk about why they believe that he should be the commander in chief. a very, very political goal-oriented speech trying to get veterans to continue to

support him. so -- the big question is what now? it is hard to imagine that, never mind any interview he does, if he does an interview with a reporter or anchor, somebody howho's going to ask legitimate questions. monday night, next monday night is the first debate. hard to imagine that lester holt won't bring this up. now it is front and center in way that wasn't the case 24 hours ago when they tried to put this to rest. but it's front and center without a lot of questions being answered. and never mindlester holt. hillary clinton. the easiest thing in the world, don't have to practice in her debate prep to turn to say, where's your apology? she can do it probably in her sleep, because this is what she's been pushing on the campaign trail. it is what they believe is a perfect example of something that plays into really, do you

want this guy as your commander in chief? you know, somebody who pushes conspiracy theories, and made his name in the modern times in the political sphere by doing this? back in 2011? so, look, i think at the end of the day, i said it in the last hour and will say it now -- in this particular instance, we're waiting for a moment, and we got played. instead we had a very brief promo for his new hotel. a very political event, which he is entitled to do, but we all expecting something different. and then a very brief statement that raised a lot more questions than answers. he thinks it's done, and it will be very hard to see that happening. >> here's why it's not done, and i -- you know, i'm just going to defer to the great philip bump on this one and what he wrote. what he wrote in the "washington post." bear with me. terms the incident ugly and saying he's resolved it is a bit

like a person intentionally running someone over, dumping them outside a hospital, and then asking for a letter of commendation for wrapping things up so neatly. and i just so happened to have philip bump here. only going to criticize you with one thing you left out. >> what's that? >> having your assistant dump them at the hospital, because that was when you wrote this. he had only put out a statement via his spokesperson. >> right. >> are you anymore satisfied it's no longer ang assistant dumping someone at the hospital but actually the perpetrator. >> right. >> of the great controversy? >> yes. >> admitted to it. >> the statement last night all errors we just discussed. >> errors or lies? >> falsehoods, yes, yes. all of those things. he only cleared up today, yes, donald trump saying it, something of a novelty, but to the point you were making earlier, i don't know what electoral good this does him. i don't know why he did this. josh green from "businessweek"

talked to someone from the trump campaign. i did this because we realize this is an important issue for african-american voters. i don't know what african-american voters will hear that and feel it was appropriate. he didn't say, here's why i did this thing. here's why i trafficked these conspiracy theories. all he did try to make it feel like it was hillary clinton's fault, which is wasn't. >> and in the eyes of the african-american voters i don't know if they are already energized. he just said yesterday among the many things that he said, i'm skyrocketing in my numbers with minorities. and i'm wondering if this getting back in the headlines, because he was the one who said this to the "washington post" yesterday. it wasn't because we decided to pick it out of thin air. >> right. >> is this going to energize minority voters in way that maybe two, three days ago they might not have been, to go to the polls? >> it will certainly give the clinton campaign something to work with, and to sort of re-ignite some lingering

resentment that was already there. keep in mind, when donald trump says he's skyrocketing with black voters, he's skyrocketing from 1% to maybe 3%, far, far below even where mitt romney was four years ago, and keep in mind again, not a trivial or insignificant fact. the reality obama won seven states thanks to the black vote, and those seven states include pennsylvania, ohio, florida, maryland, virginia. >> i'm not an african-american voter, if i were i would be offended to say my first black president had been questioned and questioned and questioned. no mea culpa? i'm looking for the fire. >> you have no-year-old how deep it runs. so deep it doesn't need to be discussed. a leaked e-mail from a colin powell, high-ranking official from two republican administrations. he makes note of it. this has finished him with the black voters, period. that was true a long time ago. nothing that he did today will change that.

>> so polls are close and getting closer and closer and i just wonder if this is the kind of thing that says, the hillary clinton camp is thrilled about, because as errol says, gives them lots of fodder to get out and energize maybe a group of voters at one time had been excited, maybe waned somewhat as polls tighten, and is this something that, say, donald trump ironically also thinks the polls are tight. i need to get out to those college educated white folk and make them okay with me again on this. >> yeah. you hit the demographic everyone is talking about. right? >> which one? >> over the last month -- college educated whites are the group of voters that donald trump and his campaign has just attacked with all of their messaging and to the best able to get him to stay on message and be disciplined, outraged african-americans, hispanics, the general consensus view of that the politics, not targeting non-white voters, there's just too much there.

he's not go to break into those demographics, but college educated whites, lean republican and voted for mitt romney in 2012, they don't want to vote for someone their friends think is a beigot or they think is a bigot and he's trying to nation. from a nine-point deficit to two to four point deficit. >> need to keep the controversy alive. let me -- a way to keep the suspense going. need to keep the suspense going. is this a strategy he thinks is actually effective? to keep the reality show going on whether i believe obama is really american or not? >> look, he kind of blew it today. right? invited the press to this event. every reporter that's there is tweeting and reporting they feel taken advantage of. a bait and switch. as sara murray reported he went and did this hotel tour, and they didn't allow editorial people on the tour. so i fell like it's backfired a little bit and he's re-ignite

add conversation about whether his birtherism was racist or not. that's not a conversation her wants to be having given the trouble with non-white voters and college educated whites who think he is a bigot. one other thing about his arguments that hillary clinton started this in 2008. there was a debate in the clinton campaign. a famous memo or series of advice hillary clinton got and said, hey, maybe we need to go to a sort of darker place against this barack obama? maybe we need to raise questions about whether he's -- >> culturally like us? i think i remember, culturally rooted. >> all came out afterwards and she rejected that advice. >> and e-mailed, got fired. >> rejected it. careful to -- there were inflammatory things that went on in that campaign, but as a core strategy, her campaign never went there. so it's not just that he's lying about that. just overall, that was a strategy they did not pursue. >> i'm going here, guys, if

you'll permit me a minute. kind of like saying, i wonder if there's something in knows tax returns? i hear all the time on the internet there's stuff in 240ez t -- tax returns. i wish i had $5 million to give to charity, if he would just give us the tax returns. i'm not saying there's anything there there, who cares? but i'm hearing from uncle lou any florida that there could be there, there in those tax returns. if he would just present the long form tax returns, i could finish this. i could take credit for finishing this. donald trump, please, help me. help me help you take credit for finishing this. present your long form tax returns. that's just me on my soap box. dana bash, errol louis, i still have a lot more questions, philip bump. donald trump not only reversing himself on the birther issue in

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donald trump, you saw it here live right here on cnn within the last hour. final -- finally! five years after us begging. he finally acknowledged he has a brand new position that he now does, in fact, believe that the president of the united states, barack obama, was indeed born in the united states. making him a full-fledge citizen. that's great! because you have to be, to be president. he did it at a gathering. it was billed as a news conference. but then when the news

conference part of it started, he bolted. he walked away. he didn't take any questions. and then a member of the press corps was physically prevented, physically restrained, as it's being categorized, from joining the media event. i want to get our seen ya aseni media and politics reporter in here. help our viewers understand what a pool event is, because the weeds sometimes are boring, but the weeds are critical in this story. explain what the pool event is and what happened, and why it matters at this last event? >> that's absolutely right. it is critical, as sort of boring or in the weeds it may seem to some of our viewers. the pool, there's a dedicated pool a group of reporters tanked with k tanked with coveri inin inin iih

following each of the president's candidates. each covering a campaign event. just a camera in place you effectively have an infomercial. what happened at trump hotel, trump left his event, started going on this tour, the cameras were let through in order to give him coverage, but the producer from abc news was restrained. after that reporter, or after that reporter was restrained the network bureau chiefs came together and made a decision to pull the camera from the pool and not release any coverage of that trump hotel tour. >> so you're saying effectively the media got together and said, don't play us like a fiddle. we're not going to show the lovely guildaled lily at that hotel and not be at the same time allowed to ask you questions that maybe aren't so shiny for your campaign? am i right? >> that's absolutely right and the conclusion here -- look, donald trump -- every presidential candidate in this

day and age has a rough relationship with the media. everyone doesn't want to bring the media too close. they like to keep some things private. no one has had such an aggressive level of disrespect for the media, just last night donald trump had a campaign event. he left reporters stranded at the airport. then went to his campaign event and mocked the fact that they had left them at the airport, celebrated the fact he was keeping the media out of his event. if you look at what happened today with this press conference that he gave, where he effectively played the press, ri rickrolled the press, they celebrated it, his supporters but loves the fact he did that, but when you have a candidate like donald trump who makes so many statements factually untrue it's important to have the media pressing him on the issues. by keeping them away he's raising serious questions about his own legitimacy to be commander in chief in a country

that respects the freedom of the press. >> i can tell you having covered a couple of dictators in my life in other countries, covering those campaigns is a bummer. because they don't let you ask questions either. that's why the american press, love them or hate them, are critical to this democracy. you have to be able to ask people questions if they're going to lead you, and if they're going to get your guns, your military, your nuclear codes. you have to be able to get to ask them questions. so real quickly, you mentioned it. the fact that donald trump, his press pool was left behind last night, and were forced to sort of watch the event on the bus, and then i think they got in just as it was wrapping up. that is -- it's not like that hasn't happened with hillary clinton. she's left the press pool behind, too. but then this was what was different. how donald trump characterized leaving the press pool behind. have a look. >> i have really good news for you. i just heard that the press is stuck on their airplane. they can't get here. [ cheers ] i love it.

so they're trying to get here now. they're going to be about 30 minutes late. they called us and said, could you wait? i said, absolutely not. let's get going. right? >> so what i'm wondering is, why so much cheering? other than a lot of people who go to trump events like to besmirch the media, too, but do people not realize or forgetting that other critical element of it? either you have a media or you have what i witnessed in saddam's era, in libya's era where you never got to actually call yourself press or you'd go to jail for it. >> it's rather timely. g g gallup has an article, reached a low. one-third expressed trust in the miya media to release facts. largely fueled by trump's

anti-media rhetoric and he's taken credit for bringing that number down. that is a serious problem, because like you said it is the role of the media to hold these candidates accountable, to hold both the democratic and republican and presidential candidates accountable. when you lose that, start celebrating restriction of the media, start mocking the media, that becomes a serious problem for the very foundation of the democratic project and the american political system. >> dillon, can anecdote in saddm hussein's palace, my driver yelled at me, put your eyes forward on the road. stop looking. we're going to get in trouble. we were on a freeway. we were on a freeway and my driver was terrified i was staring at saddam's palace. so there's the other side of this. dylan byers, thank you, appreciate 2. continue to tap into what you find out today about the pool

event that wasn't. coming up next, hillary clinton's campaign just responded to donald trump's comments made this morning saying, yes, okay. i'm okay now with this. president obama was born here. whatever. i'm paraphrasing, of course. we'll bring you what she said, next. what i love most about tempur-pedic mattresses is that they contour to your body. it keeps us comfortable and asleep at night. (vo) soft, firm, or hybrid... our three collections pair up to create the perfect bed for two. there's more than one tempur-pedic. enepeople want power.hallenge. and power plants account for more than a third of energy-related carbon emissions. the challenge is to capture the emissions before they're released into the atmosphere. exxonmobil is a leader in carbon capture.

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that can camp out in between our teeth, if we'll let it. use gum® brand. soft-picks®. proxabrush® cleaners. flossers and dental floss. gum® brand. look what i have. i knew it was coming, just a matter of when. it's the hillary clinton campaign, the response they had to donald trump's press conference. his 33-second part of the press conference, and if i can i'm going to read from the statement. trump's actions today were disgraceful. after five years of pushing a racist conspiracy theory into the mainstream it was appalling to watch trump appoint himself

the judge of whether the president of the united states is american. this sickening display shows more than ever why donald trump is totally unfit to be president. and that's the end of the statement. for now. back with us to discuss, cnn political common stators errol louis, ryan lizza from the "washington post," the political reporter there, philip bump. so that's a quick statement. that took me -- going to do the same thing. that took me, errol. about -- i don't know. 26 seconds to read? my guess is that is not the only thing we're going to hear. we're going to hear about it all day today. we're going to hear about it in every venue she attends. we're going to hear about it monday during the debates. am i wrong in that prediction? >> exactly right. keep in mind this weekend is the congressional black caucus weekend, and i think the president is scheduled to speak. it might come up there. this is going to be something that donald trump doesn't get to

just kind of laugh off with a 30-second sound bite. >> 33. >> 33-second sound bite. >> with pauses. >> also doesn't get to fabricate, invent this as somehow a strange equivalent where, oh, well, hillary clinton started it. that 5-year-old excuse he often gives, while she started, he started it. this isn't going to live -- it's not going to have that kind of a life. it's interesting. look the at my twitter feed a lot of trump supporters think this doesn't matter moop cares. it doesn't matter. they're very wrong about that. a lot of people for whom this is sort of a signature issue. not just because there's a lot of the racial bias and animus that lies behind it, it crystallizes what's true on many issue as over the last year that simple facts, just a reality. the sun came up in the east t. did? >> yeah. these things happen. >> can you prove it? do you have the long form document? >> a lot of people say it wasn't.

maybe it's a controversy. right? >> just saying. some people said -- >> he has so muddied the water on so many important issues. as we've taken up so. time trying to get him to acknowledge that that's what he has been doing. it has been very frustrating and it has been something as we get closer and closer to election day i think people will find not just frustrating really unacceptable. >> so just -- look, i juggle so many stories right before air. sometimes i can't even cut tape fast enough and i'm not sure we were able to cut the tape 20 minutes before air of john kasich, the ohio governor, who was not in ohio today, and, oh, by the way, ohio, very, very important. very important. but he was actually in the white house briefing room today. with white house people, who are barack obama's people. the republican governor of ohio was not out stumping for donald trump map said he really intends not to do anything of the like. he was even asked about voting for donald trump.

dana bash sat down with john kasich. i want you to hear how he characterized what he thinks of that whole process. take a look. >> frankly, part of the problem that the clinton campaign has is that there's literally no enthusiasm for hillary clinton. there just isn't right now. i don't know if that will change but that is her challenge. >> he's probably right there. enthusiasm is tricky for hillary clinton. she's struggling mightily in the enthusiasm category. what about that whole birther thing? will that change things? oh, guess what. what's so funny, the press corps decided to ask john kasich about it, because they couldn't ask donald trump about it, so they asked john kasich about it. standing in a democratic white house press briefing room. how do you think the ohio governor decided to answer that? i have it for you. take a look. >> well, what i was really thinking is that bruce

springsteen has to be really happy because "born in the usa" is probably going to sell more albums. what do i think about it? here for tpp, not talking about where somebody was born. >> and that was it. trans-pacific pipeline on the agenda for him today and not the birther issue, and i want to be real clear. that was a tape that froze. that the ohio governor did not freeze. that tape froze. let's be real clear. strictly technical. he was very clear he didn't want to talk about that. ryan lizza did he eve haven't to talk about it? the fact that the optics are that that man is standing in the white house, 53 days before the election? >> a couple things going on here. one, the fact the birther issue emerged again as a national discussion is, it's not good for donald trump. whatever his latest position on it is. it's not good for the conversation to be about whether donald trump is a bigot and

racist. right? that's the conversation trump tried to move away from over the last month with some success. the clinton campaign, your statement makes clear, they are going to pounce on this. they want to turn the conversation toward this. >> their statement. not mine. right? talking about the clinton statement the campaign makes clear -- >> at the top of the segment. >> go ahead. >> they want this to be the conversation. they don't want donald trump to have an opportunity to talk about his child care plan and maternity leave plan he recently released. >> 4% economic growth. >> they want to turn the debate to his biggest vulnerabilities. why hillary clinton was not so upset that she apologized for the famous deplorables comment the other day. it's okay for the clinton campaign if this is the conversation. if this is the debate. so much of politics, controlling what the two sides debate on. one other interesting thing, off topic about the tpp event at the white house. a big split now on, in both parties on this issue. very clear that obama is going to press tpp in a lame duck session no mat here is the president even though both

candidates oppose it. >> one minute left. i need you to tell me about michelle obama. by the way, there's someone else who's going to hit the campaign trail and she has likability factors through the roof, compared to everybody, she's in the stratosphere. >> yeah. >> does she go into any of this? does she need to, phil? >> i don't know she needs to. she and president obama are very popular. latest approval rating, 58%, probably a little high but hugely important. a factor we look at correlating to the result of the presidential election. the clinton camp happy to have hips on the tame, already out there. especially why hillary clinton was coalescing from her pneumonia trauma. it's a factor and the sort of thing that can drive enthusiasm numbers. >> the enthusiasm numbers. see if what happened today makes a difference on either side of that scale. if trump supporters are energized even more to get other people out there on his camp, and if the minority vote is so offended by what's happened that

it energizes them to go to the polls in the way they hadn't thought before. errol louis, philip, thank you all. still to come, senior advicer to donald trump will join us live to talk about what donald trump said a little more than an hour ago in 33 seconds or less. admitting that president obama was, in fact, born in the usa. stay with us.

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hello. i'm wolf blitzer. it's 7:00 a.m. in honolulu, 1:00 p.m. in washington, 11:00 p.m. in syria. thanks for joining us wherever you are in the world. donald trump admits president obama was born in the united states finally. trump used the so-called birther issue to launch his political career. for days his campaign conceded the president was born in honolulu, hawaii. just a short time ago, trump said this -- >> president barack obama was born in the united states, period. now we all want to get back to making america strong and great again. thank you. >> hillary clinton today slammed trump for leading what's called the