Charlie Rose repeatedly promoted Hillary Clinton's latest attack on Donald Trump during an interview of Kellyanne Conway on Tuesday's CBS This Morning. Rose wondered, "Secretary Clinton said yesterday, what kind of a genius loses a billion dollars in the first place, so they get this kind of tax carryforward?" When Conway tried to answer, Rose interrupted and again asked, "What about losing a billion dollars? What kind of business genius was the question that Secretary Clinton posed?" He twice more pressed his guest on the subject: "How did he lose a billion dollars?" [video below]
The veteran PBS journalist led the segment with his quote of Mrs. Clinton. Conway replied, in part, that "this provision in the tax code has been around since 1918.... In the year that Donald Trump accessed that particular provision, 1995, the IRS reports that half a million people went ahead and did the same thing. So this is what happens when businesses lose money. They carry it forward. And in the case of Donald Trump, you reinvest; you create jobs; you revitalize."
Rose stopped the Trump campaign manager mid-thought and repeated his Clinton-citing question: "My question is not the fact that he legally could carry forward. But what about losing a billion dollars? What kind of business genius was the question that Secretary Clinton posed?" Conway asserted that the Democrat was "being very sarcastic." But when she tried to continue, the CBS anchor and co-anchor Gayle King both interrupted their guest, and kept up their confrontational stance towards Conway (something all three CBS This Morning anchors also did during her September 9, 2016 appearance on the morning newscast):
KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Well, she was being very sarcastic, as she usually is about him—
CHARLIE ROSE: But how did he lose the money, then?
GAYLE KING: But she's not the only one asking that question, though, Kellyanne. A lot of people are asking that question.
CONWAY: Yeah. The type — the type — the type that then carries forward the loss into years where he did make a profit and pay an extraordinary amount—
ROSE: Well, how did he lose a billion dollars — is [what] I'm asking?
CONWAY: Well, we don't know that; but at the time — you remember real estate, in 1995, leveraged companies. But the fact is, what did he do? In other words, the — 'The Art of the Comeback' — and this nation could certainly use a comeback now — 'The Art of the Comeback' is an incredible—
ROSE: That's an equally good question, but — to ask, how did he come back after losing a billion dollars — using the tax code, as well as investing in new businesses?
CONWAY: Right — and he certainly has — he certainly has. You look around New York and other cities — but particularly, here — and you see the fruits of Donald Trump's business acumen — what he did in carrying forward that loss.
King also raised the upcoming vice presidential debate near the end of the interview: "It's a big night for Mike Pence and Tim Kaine tonight, and the majority — a new poll shows that the majority of the public do know not either one of them. So what will Mike Pence do tonight to make sure people know his name by the time this debate is over tonight?"
The full transcript of the Kellyanne Conway segment from CBS This Morning on October 4, 2016:
CHARLIE ROSE: Donald Trump's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway joins us now. Welcome.
KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Thank you!
ROSE: So Secretary Clinton said yesterday, what kind of a genius loses a billion dollars in the first place, so they get this kind of tax carryforward?
CONWAY: That from a woman who's never created a job, never signed the front of a paycheck for anyone. As you know, Charlie, this provision in the tax code has been around since 1918. It's one hundred years old. In the year that Donald Trump accessed that particular provision, 1995, the IRS reports that half a million people went ahead and did the same thing. So this is what happens when businesses lose money. They carry it forward. And in the case of Donald Trump, you reinvest; you create jobs; you revitalize—
ROSE: My question — with respect, my question is not the fact that he legally could carry forward, but what about losing a billion dollars? What kind of business genius was the question that Secretary Clinton posed?
CONWAY: Well, she was being very sarcastic, as she usually is about him—
ROSE: But how did he lose the money, then?
GAYLE KING: But she's not the only one asking that question, though, Kellyanne. A lot of people are asking that question.
CONWAY: Yeah. The type — the type — the type that then carries forward the loss into years where he did make a profit and pay an extraordinary amount—
ROSE: Well, how did he lose a billion dollars — is [what] I'm asking?
CONWAY: Well, we don't know that; but at the time — you remember real estate, in 1995, leveraged companies. But the fact is, what did he do? In other words, the — 'The Art of the Comeback' — and this nation could certainly use a comeback now — 'The Art of the Comeback' is an incredible—
ROSE: That's an equally good question, but — to ask, how did he come back after losing a billion dollars — using the tax code, as well as investing in new businesses?
CONWAY: Right — and he certainly has — he certainly has. You look around New York and other cities — but particularly, here — and you see the fruits of Donald Trump's business acumen — what he did in carrying forward that loss. But the fact is, this man has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes over decades — excise taxes; federal payroll taxes; city, state, and local taxes; real estate taxes; property taxes. He certainly has contributed—
NORAH O'DONNELL: You didn't say income taxes. But you didn't say income taxes.
CONWAY: Well, he certainly has, in the years that he made a profit — like anybody else, he paid income taxes.
O'DONNELL: Let me — let me ask you this about the last debate — the last presidential debate. We've got a new CBS News poll out this morning that shows 36 percent of voters who watched the first debate say — made their opinion of Mr. Trump worse. What is he doing differently for Sunday night in that debate — that second matchup?
[CBS News Graphic: "Impact Of Debate On Views Of Candidates, Among Likely Voters Who Watched Debate; Think Better: Hillary Clinton, 32%; Donald Trump, 10%; Think Worse: Hillary Clinton, 16%; Donald Trump, 36%; No Effect: Hillary Clinton, 52%; Donald Trump, 54%; Source: CBS News Poll, Sept. 28 - Oct. 2, Margin of Error: +/- 4 Pts."]
CONWAY: And I'm struck also by the number you have up there, Norah, where half of the people said it had no affect on their opinion of Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. That was pretty surprising, given all the — the rah-rah for Hillary Clinton since the debate.
So we're very happy about the town hall format. We know that that's very beneficial to Mr. Trump. He's out there every day with voters in similar forums. You just showed a clip of him doing something like that where he engages voters every day. It's very natural for him to do that.
And I hope that he brings up ObamaCare — because we have none other than President Bill Clinton yesterday being highly critical of ObamaCare — it's failures. He says it's a terrible thing for small businesses. I know that firsthand. It certainly is. And there's so many ways to hold Hillary Clinton to account for her record, and for — I think she has to defend both her record and any of the failings, the shortcomings, of the Obama administration. We have 16.4 million women in poverty—
O'DONNELL: But is the campaign—
CONWAY: We have 12.4 million without health insurance. And I think you'll see a little bit of that from Mike Pence tonight, too.
KING: It's a big night for Mike Pence and Tim Kaine tonight—
CONWAY: It is—
KING: And the majority — a new poll shows that the majority of the public do know not either one of them. So what will Mike Pence do tonight to make sure people know his name by the time this debate is over tonight?
CONWAY: He'll go out there in a fiery performance, especially for somebody who is known as so — so low key, holding — doing the job of the vice presidential nominee, which is to hold to account the other party's nominee — and asking those questions about Hillary Clinton's fairly unremarkable record here in New York as United States senator; the blemishes as secretary of state; and really, the wrong vision she has, in terms of job creation, ObamaCare—
[CBS News Graphic: "Views Of VP Candidates, Among Registered Voters; Tim Kaine: Favorable, 19%; Unfavorable, 13%; Undecided/Don't Know Enough, 67%; Mike Pence: Favorable, 24%; Unfavorable, 19%; Undecided/Don't Know Enough, 57%; Source: CBS News Poll, Sept. 28 - Oct. 2, Margin of Error: +/- 3 Pts."]
O'DONNELL: What do you mean when you say 'fiery'? What do you mean when you say he's going to be 'fiery'?
CONWAY: Well, people look at Mike Pence, Norah, as very low-key — and he is. He's a — he's a perfect gentleman. I've worked with him for years and years. But at the same time, he's there to play. He's there to — to absolutely do what these vice presidential nominees are doing; and what Tim Kaine has been doing on the stump almost exclusively — which is to attack Donald Trump. I can't remember the last positive policy prescription Tim Kaine laid out there for America. He's out there talking about Donald Trump, always pejoratively.
But I think you'll see in Mike Pence somebody who's able to defend Donald Trump, the running mate; but, at the same time, take the case right to Hillary Clinton.
O'DONNELL: All right. Kellyanne Conway, thank you so much.
CONWAY: Thanks for having me.
