Kellyanne Conway: I'd Rather Trump Win on Issues Than on Style

Donald Trump's new campaign manager Kellyanne Conway has a goal for his efforts moving forward: His message has to be "one of substance and it has to be about issues."

"I'd rather lose a campaign where we put it all on the field substantively, where people saw the difference on the major issues of the day, than a campaign based on style," Conway, a nationally recognized pollster who became Trump's campaign manager on Wednesday, told the "CBS This Morning" program.

"If this is about style, he can go back to 'The Apprentice.' That was fun and successful and lucrative for him."

Meanwhile, Conway, in a separate interview on CNN's "New Day" program, acknowledged Trump is behind in the nation's polls, but said that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

"I think it helps us to be a little bit behind, and we are. It lights a fire under us and reminds us what we need to do to get this done," Conway told CNN, and said "several things" still need to be done.

Conway, was promoted to the top of Trump's campaign along with new hire Stephen Bannon, the executive chairman of the conservative website Breitbart News and a former Goldman Sachs banker, who has become the campaign CEO. Campaign chairman Paul Manafort, remains part of the campaign, and Conway said Thursday the three of them are working together, with Trump as the candidate in charge.

"It looks like you have three leaders," CBS's Charlie Rose noted, asking her who is in charge. "I would say it's a combination of us," said Conway, "And Donald Trump has made it clear who is [in charge]."

"That is Donald Trump," Rose said.

"I respect him immensely," Conway responded. "He is the candidate. I would never have the fire in the belly to do what he has done."

Conway has been working as a senior adviser to Trump since July, and told CBS her new job works to ensure the campaign's field operations and ground game are secure and to work directly with Trump.

She disagreed with Rose's contention that Trump sometimes gets in front of his own message, telling him that she thinks the campaign has a "tremendous message" and has had a good week with Trump's back-to-back policy addresses on law-and-order and on Islamic terrorism.

Now that there is less than 12 weeks to go before the general election, the Trump campaign is looking at expansion, including with personnel and senior staff.

Conway also discussed Trump's first security briefing, and assured the program that he does take the intelligence that was shared seriously, despite comments to Fox News on Wednesday that he doubts many of the nation's intelligence experts.

And, she continued, it's important for him and rival Hillary Clinton to remain informed, as the world "is in danger" and matters change every day.

"There are things that you and I will never know that now Secretary Clinton and Mr. Trump are learning, and I think we should applaud that in a very nonpartisan way," Conway said.

Conway was formerly with Sen. Ted Cruz' campaign for the presidency and headed an associated super PAC, and said she has learned several things about Trump that Cruz or others may not know, including his attitude on women.

"I'm the first female Republican campaign manager in presidential Republican history and that tells you a lot about Donald Trump and it also tells you a great deal about him," she said. "He never said to me, 'Hey, we would like a woman, are you available?'" but instead focused on her experience and qualifications.

Conway said she also finds Trump's blunt way of speaking "refreshing," as he "speaks the way many Americans speak."

But she told CNN that Clinton's got several problems as well, including a "terrible gender gap" among voters.

"For whatever reason, because she's certainly surrounded by many talented professionals and smart people, for whatever reason, they're running a campaign about Donald Trump and not about Hillary Clinton's vision," Conway said.