WHEN: Today, Monday, August 22nd
WHERE: CNBC's "Squawk Box"
Following are excerpts from the unofficial transcript of a CNBC interview with Kellyanne Conway, Trump Campaign Manager, on CNBC's "Squawk Box" (M-F, 6AM-9AM ET) today, Monday, August 22nd. Following are links to the video on CNBC.com: http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000544887, http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000544888 and http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000544880.
All references must be sourced to CNBC.
CONWAY ON TRUMP CAMPAIGN
PEOPLE FEEL REALLY ENERGIZED, THERE'S GREAT MOMENTUM AND I THINK WE'LL LOOK BACK AT THESE LAST TWO WEEKS AND PEOPLE WILL SAY THOSE WERE TERRIBLE TWO WEEKS OF THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN. THAT'S TRUE. WE HAD A ROUGH TWO WEEKS. IT HELPS US TO BE DOWN A LITTLE, LIGHTS A FIRE UNDER US. BUT I THINK WE'LL LOOK BACK AND SAY WHY IN THE WORLD DIDN'T HILLARY CLINTON'S CAMPAIGN TOTALLY PUT US AWAY IN THOSE TWO WEEKS. THEY PUT HER INTO HIDING. I THINK THEY MADE A GRIEVOUS ERROR BY NOT HAVING HER GO OVER TO THE MIDDLE EAST TO MEET WITH THE TROOPS OR GIVE MAJOR POLICY SPEECHES ON OBAMACARE OR IMMIGRATION OR THE ECONOMY. SCARCITY BENEFITS HILLARY CLINTON. IF YOU DON'T SEE HER YOU FORGET SHE'S RUNNING, TOO AND YOU THINK THIS ENTIRE ELECTION IS A REFERENDUM ON DONALD TRUMP.
CONWAY ON IMMIGRATION
WHAT DONALD TRUMP SAYS IS WE NEED A FAIR AND EFFECTIVE WAY TO DEAL WITH THE 11 MILLION WHO ARE HERE WHO LIVE AMONG US. AT THE SAME TIME PROTECTING AMERICAN JOBS AND AMERICAN WORKERS AND ALSO SECURING OUR BORDERS OBVIOUSLY. BUT WHAT HE'S SAYING IS IMMIGRATION IS A VERY COMPLEX ISSUE WITH A VERY COMPLEX SOLUTION. IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT BUILDING WALLS, IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT BORDER SECURITY, IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT AMERICAN JOBS. BUT IT'S ALSO IN DEALING – WE NEED TO BE FAIR BUT WE NEED TO BE FAIR TO ALL THOSE CONCERNED. NOT JUST FAIR TO THE 11 MILLION ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WHO ARE HERE, BUT ALSO FAIR TO THE MANY AMERICANS WHO FEEL LIKE THEY CAN'T FIND A JOB BECAUSE THERE'S THAT KIND OF COMPETITION NOW.
CONWAY ON TRUMP ECONOMIC SPEECH
TWO WEEKS AGO TODAY, HE RELEASED THIS – HE GAVE THIS SPEECH THAT BASICALLY WAS REAGANOMICS IN MANY WAYS. AND I KNOW THE LEFT WANTS TO ATTACK IT AS TRICKLE DOWN. LISTEN, WE HAD GREAT PROSPERITY THEN. I'M WITH THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS WHO LIKE FEEL THEY ARE NOT MORE PROSPEROUS AND THEY ARE NOT MORE SAFE THAN THEY WERE JUST SEVERAL YEARS AGO.
CONWAY ON TRUMP PUNCHES
I FEEL THAT PEOPLE EXPECT DONALD TRUMP TO BE THE ONE WHO TAKES ON THE CHIN ALL THESE CRITICISMS AND HE'S NEVER ABLE TO RESPOND IN KIND. HE RARELY DRAWS FIRST BLOOD…THIS IS A TENNIS MATCH, OK. IT'S JUST – YOU KEEP LOBBING, LOBBING, LOBBING, DOING ACES HER WAY, YOU DON'T PICK A FIGHT WITH THE REF, YOU DON'T BOO THE CROWD. JUST LOB, LOB, LOB AT HER. IT'S SO OBVIOUS WHO YOUR OPPONENT IS.
About CNBC:
With CNBC in the U.S., CNBC in Asia Pacific, CNBC in Europe, Middle East and Africa, CNBC World and CNBC HD, CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news and provides real-time financial market coverage and business information to approximately 386 million homes worldwide, including more than 100 million households in the United States and Canada. CNBC also provides daily business updates to 400 million households across China. The network's 15 live hours a day of business programming in North America (weekdays from 4:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC's global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBC News bureaus worldwide. CNBC at night features a mix of new reality programming, CNBC's highly successful series produced exclusively for CNBC and a number of distinctive in-house documentaries.
CNBC also has a vast portfolio of digital products which deliver real-time financial market news and information across a variety of platforms including: CNBC.com; CNBC PRO, the premium, integrated desktop/mobile service that provides live access to CNBC programming, exclusive video content and global market data and analysis; a suite of CNBC mobile products including the CNBC Apps for iOS, Android and Windows devices; and additional products such as the CNBC App for the Apple Watch and Apple TV.
Members of the media can receive more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBCUniversal Media Village Web site at http://www.nbcumv.com/programming/cnbc.
For more information about NBCUniversal, please visit http://www.NBCUniversal.com.