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Clinton Not First to Have Classified Material; New Hampshire Primary; New Zika Virus Information; 2016 Race: What Matters Most to Youth Voters; NFL: 271 Players Suffered Concussions This Season. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired February 05, 2016 - 09:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[09:30:00] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It found they were retroactively reclassified secret or confidential. Powell took exception to the disclosure saying, quote, "I have reviewed the messages and I do not see what makes them classified."

Let's bring in CNN justice reporter Evan Perez.

Good morning.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Good morning, Carol.

You can almost hear the cheers coming from the Clinton campaign headquarters yesterday when this news came out. and that's because, you know, what they've been - what they've been saying all along is that Secretary Clinton is not the only high-level official who has had classified information in her - in her unclassified e-mail system, in her private e-mails. It also came out in this report from the State Department's inspector general that Condoleezza Rice, while she was secretary of state, her aides received ten e-mails that now are considered classified. Rice issued a statement through her office at Stanford University pointing out that she never used any private e- mail herself. Actually didn't use e-mail at all, and that the information she's looked at in these ten e-mails did not include any intelligence information.

We should also point out that what Clinton did is far different from what her predecessors did. She had set up a private e-mail server to handle all of her e-mail, all of her government e-mails, Carol, and it also - it bears repeating that she is the only one who has a campaign who has an FBI investigate hanging over it.

COSTELLO: OK, we're seeing pictures of Condoleezza Rice. Tell us why she is now a part of this story?

PEREZ: Well, it's because she - her aides received these 10 e-mails according to the State Department's inspector general. But really what matters here really is only the FBI investigation, which is going along very methodically. There's a very small group of FBI agents at FBI headquarters on the fifth floor that have access to a very secure room that are methodically going through all of these e-mails in the Clinton e-mail server. And that's the real investigation that matters, of course, for Democrats. They'd like this all over with because we know that we have months to go in this campaign and they know that Republicans are going to keep bringing up leaks and so on in - in this case to try to remind the public about this e-mail controversy, Carol.

COSTELLO: OK, so it's safe to say Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton all received e-mail -

PEREZ: That's right.

COSTELLO: That was later determined to be classified by the FBI?

PEREZ: Well, not by the FBI. In this case, certainly by the State Department's inspector general.

COSTELLO: The State Department.

PEREZ: The FBI investigation is still ongoing. We don't know what will come of that, but it's certainly something that is still underway. It's going to be slow and that's what Democrats are afraid of.

COSTELLO: All right, Evan Perez reporting live for us, thank you.

The final sprint to the New Hampshire primary now underway. And while Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders top the polls for their respective parties, one pollster says we are expecting too much when most people don't even know how they will vote. That said, a new CNN/WMUR poll found a combined 37 percent of likely Democratic voters say they are not locked into a candidate yet in the primaries on Tuesday. In the end, it could come down to who shows up. And according to Bernie Sanders, he can deliver their votes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Democrats win when there is a large voter turnout, when people are excited, when working people, middle class people and young people are prepared to engage in the political process. Republicans win when people are demoralized and you have a small voter turnout, which, by the way, is why they love voter suppression. I believe if you want to retain the White House, if you want to see Democrats do well across the board, I think our campaign is the one that creates the large voter turnout and helps us win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right, so is he right? Let's discuss. I'm joined by the executive editor of the "New Hampshire Union Leader" Trent Spiner. Spiner. It's Spiner, isn't it?

TRENT SPINER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, NEW HAMPSHIRE UNION LEADER: It's Spiner.

COSTELLO: Spinner. Thanks so much. I just wanted to make that all clear.

Trent, thank you for being with me. So is Bernie Sanders right?

SPINER: I think - I think he is. I think that there is - I think that the polls in New Hampshire are so - because there are the sample sizes, so small, it's so difficult to nail down where - how people are going to vote in New Hampshire. Check this out. In the last few weeks, there have been more than 82 polls in the field here in New Hampshire. At a certain point, as much as we love politics in the granite state, I think people just get tired of answering their phone and telling the truth to pollsters. So I think it's going to be very difficult to really tell where people are going to end up on Tuesday.

COSTELLO: It - you know, the other factor in all of this, there are a great many political ads running on television in New Hampshire. Bloomberg looked into it and they found $100 million has been spent by the candidates and their super PACs on political ads. Last - in 2012, that figure was $2 million.

SPINER: That's right. There is so much advertising happening right now. And you know what, granite stators really pay attention to it. You know, we watch TV. We get mailers at home. I'm getting between six and eight mailers every single day at home. And people really take the time to figure out who they're going to vote for and they want to find the facts.

[09:35:15] COSTELLO: So, you live in New Hampshire. You've been around it a long time. You work for the paper. Who's going to win New Hampshire on the democratic side, do you think, because Bernie Sanders is ahead by 30 points in some polls?

SPINER: That's right, he's ahead by a lot in some polls. And, you know what, I'm not entirely sure that that lead is accurate. I think there are a lot of people who have said they want to vote for Hillary Clinton and they've wanted to do that for a while and they're not picking up their phones when these pollsters call.

That said, I do think that Bernie has really tapped into something here in New Hampshire. The Clinton campaign is trying to make some hay out of the fact that he's a favorite son, because he's from Vermont. Well, I'll tell you, in New Hampshire, we call Vermont upside-down New Hampshire. I don't think that there's a lot of - I don't give that a lot of credence. I think he's tapped into something. You know, in New Hampshire we have the second highest student loan debt in the country. Students from New Hampshire pay the highest amount - the biggest tuition for a state school anywhere. And here comes Bernie Sanders who says, you know what, we want to make public college free. The other thing is, he really talks about getting big money out of politics. This is a state where you can win an election house seat with just a couple 100 bucks that you raise from your neighbors. So I do think that he has hit a nerve here in New Hampshire.

COSTELLO: OK, on the Republican side, Donald Trump is way ahead of Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. What do you see there?

SPINER: Yes. I think that's going to be an incredible battle. I think there will probably be about four tickets out of New Hampshire and you'll probably see Trump getting one of those, Cruz getting another and then I'm really going to be watching to see who gets the other two tickets. Is it Kasich? Is it Bush? Is it Christie? Is it Rubio? So, you know, the race is really up for grabs. Even with the Trump polls, I think what you saw in Iowa with all of those polls being wrong, I think you're going to see that happen here in New Hampshire. The thing is, he is in the lead by a lot. So I just don't know - here's the thing about Trump in New Hampshire is that until yesterday he really didn't have a ground game. He didn't do retail politics. And so the question is, can you take all of those polls and can you transform that into people showing up to vote for you on election day?

COSTELLO: We'll see. Trent Spiner, thanks for being with me.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Brazil health officials revealing brand new information about how the Zika virus is passed along.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:42:02] COSTELLO: All right, I want to take you back to lower Manhattan to Tribeca where that crane has - where a crane, a construction crane, has collapsed. This stretch a city block. This is like a nightmare. We know that one person has died, two more are seriously injured. A number of cars are damped in this. They're now diverting some subway traffic because of this incident.

As you can see, the crane collapse also damaged buildings. We understand there are more than 100 New York City firefighters on the scene right now trying to assess the damage, contain the damage and find a way to get that crane off of the street. Of course, we'll keep you posted. As I said, the New York Mayor de Blasio is now on his way to the scene.

In other new this morning, health officials in Brazil made a stunning announcement today on the Zika virus, saying it's been found for the first time in saliva and urine. That strongly suggests the disease can be passed through bodily fluids. CNN's Shasta Darlington is in Rio de Janeiro with more.

Good morning.

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN BRAZIL BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning, Carol.

Yes, they we very clear on that announcement that they don't know yet whether or not it can be transmitted by bodily fluids. But here on Copacabana Beach, we are a world away from all of that. People are getting ready for carnival. More than a million tourists have turned out, more than last year, believe it or not, despite this Zika virus crisis.

We've been to block parties. We've been to the samba drome (ph) where they're doing - they're running through the trial runs for the big parades this weekend and people simply aren't talking about Zika. That doesn't mean that officials aren't preparing. In fact, they've been fumigating in the samba drome. There are radio campaigns. The president was on TV urging people to get rid of the standing water in their homes, which is the breeding ground for the mosquito that we know transmits the Zika virus. And that's the real concern here in Brazil, getting rid of that standing water, making sure the mosquito can't turn carnival into a feed-fest for the Zika virus.

Carol. COSTELLO: All right, Shasta Darlington reporting live from Brazil this morning.

All right, we have Miguel Marquez on the phone. He is on the scene of that big crane collapse in lower Manhattan, in the Tribeca neighborhood.

Miguel, what can you tell us? Miguel, you there?

SYLVIA (ph): No, this is Sylvia.

COSTELLO: All right, we're having trouble with the connection with Miguel. As you can see, that crane collapse has damaged buildings along Worth Street and, of course, it seriously injured two people and killed at least one person. We'll have much more after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:48:50] COSTELLO: The clock is ticking and the battle for young voters is heating up. And before you say young people don't vote, consider this. According to Tufts University, young people made up 15 percent of total caucus goers in Iowa. That, of course, helped deliver Bernie Sanders a near win. So what matters most to young adults this election cycle? I sat down with college student presidents from across the country to find out what's resonating and what will drive them to the polls.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: If you could come up with one word to describe the state of the country, what would it be?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gridlock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Contemplative.

SETH WARD, STUDENT GOVT. ASSOC. PRES, UNIV. OF MARYLAND, EASTERN SHORE: I think it is unsure.

COSTELLO: What's the biggest issue students face today?

WARD: The biggest issue students face today deals with college tuition and the student loans. It becomes unaffordable for students.

ABRAHAM AXIER, STUDENT COUNCIL PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Student debt is a hugely devastating issue for a lot of students, right? The average American college students graduated with more than $25,000 in student debt.

JOSEPH LUTHER, STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: We're always told, go to college so that you don't have to flip burgers all your life, and what jobs are there at the end of the day? So, I think there's a lot of worry that we will invest all this time, energy, and money into a college education but have no more opportunity than we would have right out of high school.

COSTELLO: Will that issue, student debt, drive them to the polls? Will they vote?

[09:50:11] WARD: Yes, with - yes, 100 percent, yes, because it keeps us from being able to continue college.

COSTELLO: Should college be tuition free?

AXIER: That's a very hard question. I think that what is very important is that we make higher education be as affordable as possible.

LUTHER: I don't think it should be free. I think that students should have some - some money put into it, because when you put something into anything, you're more willing and more likely to work harder for it.

AXIER: I think we need free education. So, does that mean a four year liberal arts college for everybody? Probably not. Every student coming out of high school should be able to improve their skills past the age of 18.

COSTELLO: So, when you watch a Donald Trump rally and his supporters are very passionate about him, what goes through your mind?

WARD: I'm scared, honestly.

AXIER: I don't see him having that inclusive mind set.

LUTHER: I thought that we would be better than having a Republican front runner call for a ban on one religion - from people entering who are one religion, for deporting 11 million people as one of the highest national priorities.

COSTELLO: Why do you think that Donald Trump is resonating as he is?

WARD: They're looking for somebody that is going to resonate with their fears and completely demolish them, but that's not the answer. It's the few that are causing the problem, not the many.

LUTHER: It's a cultive personality in that he is selling himself. In a lot of ways that's very frightening that so many people are willing to almost blindly follow a strong man.

WARD: I want to be a JAG officer for the Marine Corps, but I know for a fact that if Donald Trump were to be elected as president, there's no way I would go into the Army.

COSTELLO: Why not?

WARD: I think that we might end up overseas on the ground attacking different countries that maybe we don't need to be attacking.

LUTHER: I actually think that Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are almost two different strains of the same idea, in that Bernie Sanders is calling for a revolution in a way that's changing the way that we do government and taking it out of the hands of the big donors.

Donald Trump is more appealing to his own personality, saying I'm a big powerful businessman. I've gotten things done before.

COSTELLO: Do you think he'd be a good president?

AXIER: He would be a pretty neutral president in the sense that so little of what he wants to do is constitutional that most of it would get struck down. So, he would be so ineffective, it might be neutral.

COSTELLO: Do you trust the government to make your life better?

AXIER: I have faith in the government to make my life better.

WARD: It depends. domestically, I don't completely trust. That's - that's for personal reasons. I went running the other day, and I have -- because it's cold out, it's - it's the middle of winter, so I have on a ski mask that allows me to breathe better. And I passed a police car, and the first thing that runs through my mind is, oh, my gosh, do I need to take this off?

LUTHER: No, I would say I don't, and I think that's how a lot of young people feel. I think that right now we're seeing government being dominated by big donors, being dominated by Super PACs . And a lot of Super PACs aren't especially interested in young people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: All right. Just a taste of what young people are thinking this election season. My thanks again to Abraham Axier, student body president of UVA, Seth Ward, student body president at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and Joseph Luther, student body president at Georgetown university.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, before the big game, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell tackling a very serious topic: concussions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:58:17] COSTELLO: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will hold his annual state of the game address this afternoon and the topic of his speech will be concussions.

CNN sports anchor and nine season NFL veteran Cory Wire joins us now from Super Bowl city, in San Francisco with a preview. Good morning.

CORY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Good morning, Carol. Last week the league revealed that 271 players suffered concussions this season, a new four-year high. That's up from 206 a year ago. Now, 92 of those concussions in the regular season were from helmet to helmet impact.

Carol, as a former player, a lot of people ask if I'd let my kids play the game and I tell them yes, I would. I think it's safer now than it's every been and it's going to continue to get even better. Now, earlier this morning on ABC's "Good Morning America," Robin Roberts asked Commissioner Goodell if he'd have second thoughts about his family playing the game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ROBIN ROBERTS, ABC ANCHOR: If you had a son, would you want him to play football?

ROGER GOODELL, NFL COMMISIONER: I would not only want him to play football, I would certainly encourage him to do it and I would let him do it. I think there are tremendous values in playing the game of football. There are risks involved with anything in life, but what we need to do is make sure that we show people how to get the most out of playing sports and do it safely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Hoping to have a good, safe game Super Bowl Sunday. We'll have much more on the big game coming up this weekend. Be sure to watch Kick Off by the Bay, a CNN Bleacher Report special tomorrow afternoon, 2:30 Eastern. It's hosted by Chris Cuomo, a hall of famer Dan Marino, and other special guests will be there too, Carol.

COSTELLO: Can't wait. Cory Wire, reporting live from San Francisco, thanks.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

COSTELLO: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. I do want to start with breaking news. I want to take you back now to lower Manhattan where a crane collapse has killed at least one person and injured two others.