THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT FOR ‘THIS WEEK’ ON October 9, 2016 and it will be updated.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, HOST: We’re joined now by the former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, now a top adviser to Donald Trump.
Mr. Mayor, thank you for joining us again this morning.
RUDOLPH GIULIANI, (R), FORMER NYC MAYOR: Thank you, George.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Let me just begin, as a father, what was your reaction when you saw that tape?
GIULIANI: My reaction was the same, I’m sure, as everyone else’s. It’s horrible. It’s reprehensible. It — you wish it never happened and never was said. And I think Donald Trump did — expressed that very, very clearly, that he — he’s ashamed of himself and he’s embarrassed by — by what he did. After all, he’s the — he’s the father of two daughters and I think he has three grand — he has eight grandchildren and I think three of them are girls.
And he certainly wouldn’t want them to hear that or see that. And some of them have now. So he’s very, very embarrassed and contrite about it and feels that it was the wrong thing to do.
But, you know, that — that was then and this is now and he’s gone through 14 months of running for president, and as you know, running for president does something to you. It — it changes a lot of the way you look at things. It changes a lot of the way in watch you behave and it puts a heavier responsibility on your shoulders, in this case, for roughly half the American people, who believe that he’s the one who change America and his — his — his opponent is the person who will keep it the same or make it worse.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You see that it was embarrassing to watch that, the problem isn’t just the words. As both Senator McConnell and Vice President Biden pointed out, what Trump is describing in that tape is sexual assault.
GIULIANI: That’s what he’s talking about. You know, whether it happened or not, I don’t know.
And how much exaggeration was involved in that?
I don’t know. I — I do know there is a tendency on the part of some men at different times to exaggerate things like this and I’m not in any way trying to excuse it or condone it. There is no excuse or — or answer for it other than I’m very sorry and I wish I hadn’t done it and I’m not like that anymore. And that it sort of goes back to my faith, I guess. You know, you confess your sins then you make a firm resolution not to commit that sin again and then the priest gives you absolution and then hopefully you’re a changed person.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Can he…
GIULIANI: I mean we believe the people in this country can change.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You talk about the — you talk about (INAUDIBLE) can change.
GIULIANI: I think…
STEPHANOPOULOS: But let me just stop you right there. Because I think what a lot of people — for a lot of people, when they saw that tape, it confirmed other things they had been seeing in the campaign, after the last debate, the way he talked about Alicia Machado, the way he talked about Megyn Kelly going back a year ago.
GIULIANI: Yes, that was far different, though, than — than the center. I mean that was the kind of language that goes on in campaigns and the kinds of things that goes on in campaigns. And Lisa Machado was, you know, used kind of as a prop at the very end of the debate, even “Saturday Night Live” made fun of it. You know, they had the debate over and then Hillary sort of interrupts and says, oh, well, I have to meant Lisa — Lisa Machado.
And there’s a whole two sides to that story that I don’t want to particularly get into.
That’s far different than what — what you heard on that tape of 10 or 12 years ago. And he is very embarrassed by it, I — I have to tell you that.
But he also realizes that there’s an election in 30, 35 days, and that election is going to determine whether we have higher taxes or lower taxes. It’s going to determine how we deal with this rising crime. Last year — last year we had the largest rise in — in murder in 40 — 41 years. I mean that’s astounding. And over the last 10 months, George, we have had more Islamic terrorist attacks than any time since September the 11th. They’re becoming now almost monthly events in major cities.
STEPHANOPOULOS: The question is will he be able to — to make that case and can you — can you assure Republicans that another shoe won’t drop, that there aren’t more damaging tapes out there?
GIULIANI: I can’t — I do think anybody can assure anyone about anything in this election. I can’t assure you that there aren’t other things that will help on our side or their side.
That’s just the reality of it. And, I mean — I mean if this hadn’t happened, the whole story you’d be asking me about is the WikiLeaks and the fact that Hillary Clinton makes it clear to the bankers that she says one thing to them, which is, she’s on their side and she’s with them and they’re paying her a lot of money, but then she’s going to say something else, you know, publicly.
Had that come out during the Democratic primary, Bernie Sanders would now be the candidate. But she successfully…
STEPHANOPOULOS: You may be right about that…
GIULIANI: — stonewalled…
STEPHANOPOULOS: — and I’m going to ask Donna Brazile about that when she comes on.
But how about all those Republicans yesterday abandoning Donald Trump, including Senator Mike Lee?
Now, Donald Trump said that don — Senator Mike Lee is in on his short list for the Supreme Court.
Here’s what the senator said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MIKE LEE (R), UTAH: If anyone spoke to my wife or my daughter or my mother or any of my five sisters the way Mr. Trump has spoken to women, I wouldn’t hire that person. I wouldn’t hire that person, wouldn’t want to be associated with that person and I certainly don’t think I’d feel comfortable hiring that person to be the leader of the free world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHANOPOULOS: What do you say to Senator Lee and all those Republicans who abandoned the ticket yesterday?
GIULIANI: Well, you know, I understand why they are shocked and I understand why they are upset. But, you know, I also think there’s a certain political calculation involved in some of that, some pretty terrible things have come out about Hillary Clinton with regard to the emails and being extremely careless in the handling of national security information.
I could make the case that Hillary couldn’t — Clinton couldn’t pass an FBI background check, given (INAUDIBLE)…
STEPHANOPOULOS: Yes, but that’s not what those Republicans are worried about right now.
GIULIANI: No, but the Democrats all stick together and they’re all sticking with their candidate. It looks like she violated a whole bunch of federal laws.
So he said some very bad things 10 or 12 years ago. He’s apologized for it. And it seems to me we should — you know, we should — we should move on. And the reality is to some extent, he who hasn’t sinned shouldn’t cast a first stone. And maybe a lot of them haven’t, I don’t know.
STEPHANOPOULOS: The big — the big…
GIULIANI: Maybe a lot of them…
STEPHANOPOULOS: — the big test is going to be tonight…
GIULIANI: Maybe a lot of them are perfect people.
STEPHANOPOULOS: The big test is going to be tonight. You’ve got Senator McConnell and Speaker Ryan signaling that they’re really going to be watching what Donald Trump is saying tonight. Even Vice Presidential Candidate Mike Pence, we’re hearing the same thing. And that if they don’t hear a full-throated apology, they might go the way of these other Republicans (INAUDIBLE) end of the ticket.
GIULIANI: No, I — you know, I think Donald Trump understands that tonight’s debate is — it was always going to be very important and the stakes have gotten a lot higher as a result of — of — of these revelations.
But I think he’ll be up to it. And I think he’ll be able to — hopefully, we’ll be able to get beyond his problems and her problems with WikiLeaks and a lot more I could talk about. And we can start talking about — I’d like to know, you know, of the two of them, who’s going to take more money out of my pocket or who’s going to leave more money in my pocket.
Who is — who is going to be better able to handle radical Islamic terrorism, the one who has and has us in the condition we’re in?
Or somebody new that’s going to have a different approach?
I mean those are the things that I want — I want to hear. And particularly given my background, I want to know who — who’s going to have the better approach to stop this wave of crime that, all of a sudden, in the last year, year and a half, has gotten out of control.
I mean to have murder go up last year, in 41 years, and nobody being alarmed about that, is a terrible mistake. Somebody better be alarmed about that and doing something about it. And I think he will and she won’t.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Before this tape broke on Friday, Mr. Trump had signaled that he wasn’t going to go after Bill Clinton’s infidelities during the debate.
But it — but yesterday, he started to Tweet about that again.
Should we expect that kind of attack tonight?
GIULIANI: It depends on how the debate goes. I don’t know. I mean I don’t know how much they’re going to spend — how much time they’re going to spend on these personal things and how much time they’re going to spend on the issues that are involved, of which there are many, you know, trade and what to do about Syria and what to do about Iraq, and what to do about Iran and what we’re going to do about crime and what we’re going to do about radical Islamic terrorism.
What are we going to do about cyber security, which is, to me, a passion. I’ve — I believe that cyber national security — and I have for 13 years — is something we’re ignoring in this country and is — it is actually the largest growing form of crime and it’s the biggest threat to our national security.
These are the things that I think the American people would like to hear. And then I think they can make a judgment as to which one they want to lead the country.
Both of them…
STEPHANOPOULOS: You know, on that point — let me (INAUDIBLE)…
GIULIANI: Both of them — both of them are flawed — both of them are flawed individuals. We know that.
And the question is, let’s get down to issues now and maybe we shouldn’t be talking about that other stuff.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Let me pick up on that cyber security point you just made, because on Friday, the — the administration came out and said definitively that Russia was behind that DNC hack.
Mr. Trump had questioned that before.
Does he now accept that finding?
GIULIANI: I don’t know. I don’t know. I haven’t seen — I haven’t seen the report. I haven’t seen the background of it. It happens to be an area in which I kind of fancy myself an expert. I’ve been doing it for 13 years and my company does it all over the world.
I’d have to read the report to give you my ow and — my own opinion on that.
But the reality is all it shows is if it isn’t the Russians, it can be, you know, 20 others. The reasons have the same capacity that the Chinese have, that the Iranians have.
Here’s the scariest part, that a lot of the radical Islamic terrorists now have. Al Qaeda didn’t have this capacity. This new Islamic extremist threat that were facing in 28 countries, 1,000 cases in the United States, these are people who are computer savvy and we’re — we’re facing more danger from them than we faced even on and before September 11th.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Mike Pence — you know, there’s a report this morning that Vin Webber is trying to encourage him to step — temporarily step down from the ticket as a way to force Mr. Trump’s hand to step aside as the nominee.
Have you talked to the vice presidential candidate about that?
Do you think there’s any chance it’s going to happen?
GIULIANI: I’m not aware of that. I haven’t — I haven’t heard — I haven’t heard that. I believe that Donald Trump is going to show up tonight and he’s going to explain to people why he’s remaining in the race and I’m sure he’s going to apologize again and then move on to the things that — that the American people are going to have to decide in 30 — what is it, 34 days, 35 days…
STEPHANOPOULOS: Thirty days. Any chance he drops out before then?
GIULIANI: — about the future — the future of our country.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Any chance he drops out before then?
GIULIANI: Pardon me?
STEPHANOPOULOS: Any chance Mr. Trump drops out before then?
GIULIANI: I think he — I — I believe he was very definitive about the fact that he is not going to drop out. He’s got the most votes of any candidate with — a Republican ever in the history of the party. He’s got ardent supporters who believe in him and who probably, you know, are more like most of the rest of us, which are — is forgiving and understanding. And it is true that we have two flawed candidates.
But you know something?
I was taught in my religion that we’re all flawed and we all have to ask for forgiveness a lot in our lives and I sure have.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Mr. Mayor, thanks for joining us this morning.
GIULIANI: Thank you.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, HOST: And we are joined now by one of the members of Congress trying to get Trump off the ticket right now, Congressman Charlie Dent from Pennsylvania, the chair of the House Ethics Committee.
Mr. Chairman, thank you for joining us this morning. You just heard Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump is not going anywhere.
REP. CHARLES DENT (R-PA), CHAIRMAN, HOUSE ETHICS COMMITTEE: Well, George, first, thanks for having me on the program.
Look, we cannot defend the indefensible. We all have to condemn these comments in the strongest possible terms. But nobody should be surprised by what has happened here.
We have been listening to these incendiary and inflammatory comments for over a year now. From diminishing John McCain’s service as a POW to mocking the disabled to the ethnic smears against Mexicans and Muslims, the David Duke debacle, the Indiana judge, the Khan family, Miss Universe and her weight, and now this.
Look, will Donald Trump withdraw from the race? No. Should he? Yes. So I feel that we have to do something here. We have a Republican Party. We have to look out for what’s in the best interest of the Republican Party, the whole party. We have congressional majorities at stake that have to be protected. And let’s get to do what we must.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And you have called on the GOP chair, Reince Priebus, to take the lead on this. You know, he was supposed to be on the show this morning, backed away, said he couldn’t come on to defend Donald Trump on this particular issue. But are you getting any signal from him or his team that he’s prepared to take more aggressive action to get Donald Trump off the ticket?
DENT: Well, I think they took a positive step yesterday, if the reports are true, that they’re going to redirect resources away from the presidential race toward the congressional majorities. That’s a good thing.
But, again, as a party leader I think at times you have to stand up and do some pretty difficult things and this may be one of them right now. And the chairman, you really must stand up and do what’s in the best interest of the entire party.
We have congressional majorities at stake. I’m a member of the party of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
But, you know, this isn’t just about the party, it’s about the country. I’m disturbed not just by all these incendiary comments, but also the policy issues from Russia to NATO comments and on it goes.
We just — it’s hard to discuss policy in this election when we’re debating the weight of Miss Universe or now the Billy Bush video. It’s very frustrating to many of my colleagues, and I think we have to step up and do what we must to protect…
STEPHANOPOULOS: You talk about your colleagues right there. You know, the speaker of the house, Paul Ryan, said he was sickened by the video but he is still saying he supports Donald Trump, or at least he has not said he’s not going to support Donald Trump.
I know he’s having a conference call with you and all of your colleagues tomorrow. Do you think you can convince him to abandon the ticket?
DENT: Well, look, I’m a great admirer of Speaker Ryan and he’s in a different position than I am as the titular head of the Republican Party. But I think if many of my colleagues who are not elected members of the leadership stand up and do what I have done, and many of my other colleagues have done — and by the way, I distanced myself from the nominee long before.
I hadn’t endorsed him even before this video. So I’ve been out on the record. But I think as more and more of my colleagues step up I think that will put a lot of pressure on the Republican leaders to follow their members who are moving very quickly.
And, again, I just — I’m just deeply concerned about the country. I’m absolutely opposed to Hillary Clinton in this election. Don’t misunderstand me. I think she’s disqualified based on the way she mishandled negligently and carelessly classified material.
But that’s not the issue at the moment. The issue for us is, how are we going to get our house in order? We only have 30 days left. You know, we can talk about other candidates, people like Bob Gates, Condoleezza Rice, Governor Kasich, who I strongly supported for president, did I mention Mitch Daniels, president of Purdue University, former governor, all impeccable people who could actually win this race in 30 days whether or not…
STEPHANOPOULOS: Who are you going to vote for?
DENT: … logistically this could happen, I don’t know. What’s that? Oh, I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. I’ll have the opportunity to write someone in. But I just mentioned four people who I would strongly consider right there.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Congressman, thanks for joining us this morning.
DENT: Thank you.