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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Hillary Clinton to Give Economic Speech; Latest on DNC Hack; Macy's to Close Another 100 Stores; Trump Media Attacks Discussed; "Declassified" Episode Preview. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired August 11, 2016 - 12:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:30:51] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A couple of live pictures for you from Warren, Michigan, where spectators, supporters, those who have gathered to hear Hillary Clinton's economic message are just moments away from her live address. This is where she's going to either refute or just lay out. Refute Donald Trump's economic plan or just lay out hers or a little bit of both. My sense is it'll be a lot of both. That's going to be live right here on CNN. So make sure you stay tuned.

In the meantime, remember that cyber targeting -- the Democratic politicians and the DNC staffers had to live through. We reported extensively on it and guess what? It was actually a lot bigger than we thought.

"The New York Times" has spoken with officials who have knowledge of the case and found out that hackers breached private e-mails account. And not just a couple of more than 100 party officials and different groups. And we learned today the Senate and House Intelligence Committees were briefed on this hack last week. Who did this you ask? House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi has told CNN that she has been told that it's the Russians who are responsible.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D) MINORITY LEADER: This is an electronic Watergate. This is an electronic Watergate. This is a break-in. This is a break-in. And I think that we have to recognize what is happening here. Anyone who would exploit for the purpose of embarrassment or something like that is an accomplice to that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Eric Lichtblau is a reporter for "The New York times" who wrote that piece and broke that news.

Eric, thanks for being live with me. You just heard former speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi saying this is an electronic water gate. It sure looks like that considering it's the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that was hacked. It also the Democratic National Committee, it's possibly even the Democratic Governor's Association, the private e-mails, but is it that? Is it something that's specifically election related or might it just be the Russians and their standard operating procedure for cyber spying?

ERIC LICHTBLAU, NEW YORK TIMES REPORTER: Well, that's what the FBI is trying to determine. They say they have not answered that question yet. It could be, as you say, just sort of standard cyber sleuthing by Russian intelligence services or it could be something more sinister, you know, an electronic Watergate with an element of international intrigue from the Russians.

The Democrats obviously are quick to say that this is the Russians trying to sort of put their finger on the scale to help Donald Trump. We don't know enough yet, but we know hat it's already been pretty damaging, whatever their motives were.

BANFIELD: So, it's already even pretty damaging. And aren't the Democrats steeling themselves for what could be a big embarrassing dump of more e-mails and documents stay closer to the election?

LICHTBLAU: They are. And that's what we're hearing in our reporting the last couple days is that the breaches went beyond just those couple of groups that you talked about, the DNC and the CCC, which is the house fund-raising arm. And a lot of personal e-mail accounts outside the organizational accounts appear to have been compromised. Democratic operatives, campaign officials with Hillary Clinton, other groups beyond those two, and so they are -- they're scrubbing their e- mails now to see what could be damaging or even just embarrassing if it came out. And they're also putting in new cyber security defense measures because they believe it's already gotten worse and there could be another big dump of documents.

BANFIELD: I was reading through your piece and I went graph, after graph, after graph waiting for the Trump reporting that there were some Trump folks worried about hacked and now you're smiling. There's no Trump hacking?

LICHTBLAU: So far there is no Trump hack. That is the $64,000 question, is whether there was any breach at the Trump campaign as some have speculated, and if not, why not?

One theory that I've heard is just sort of an innocuous one having to do with how long a lead time there is on these cyber operations by the Russians or the Chinese or anyone else, that they can - it can take them months or even years to actually successfully breach a target. And Hillary Clinton and the Democrats obviously were target, you know, two years ago, one year ago.

[12:35:13] Donald Trump a year ago was not really on anyone's mind. So that's one explanation. We don't know. We don't know why or whether they've gone after him or not.

BANFIELD: So NewsBoss told me a long time ago that never write anything in an e-mail that you don't want to see written in "The New York times." And it's because there's good reporters like you who can report on this. Thank you for being here today. It's nice to have you.

LICHTBLAU: Thank you. BANFIELD: Coming up next. Macy's parade and stores and shopping and now closing stores, 100 of them. That means thousands of jobs gone. And that's not the only big retailer on the run right now. What is behind this trend and what is your part in it? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:40:18] BANFIELD: Still watching that hall in Warren, Michigan, where the former secretary of state Hillary Clinton is going to lay out her economic plan, family first. You'll going to hear a lot of things about what she says will spur jobs and the economy, infrastructure investment, child care. A lot of things that she's laying out very clearly today, four days after Donald Trump laid out his economic plan for recovery in this nation. We'll see how much there's across of here and how divergent they are as well. You'll get those comments live just as soon as they begin.

Speaking of the economy, this ain't so good. We just learned today that Macy's, love it, but it's closing another 100 of its stores. So, if you do the math, it's 15 percent of its entire department store chain. And most of them are going to close early next year. Although Macy's is not saying yet just which ones, if it's the one in your town or down your street, which ones on are on the shopping block but rest assured, if it's a really successful store, it's going to be staying open.

CNN's Money and Business Correspondent, Alison Kosik says so and joins me now live. So explain that -- I get it, when you're having a tough time, of course you need to coordinate, consolidate, focus and invest in your most successful stores. But why is this happening?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: OK. So this is just a sign of how dramatically the retail landscape is changing. And unfortunately for Macy's, this is par for the course. I mean, you look at what's been happening over the past six years of Macy's. It's already closed 90 stores over the past six months.

But here's what's stunning. These closures are swift because of 100 stores now announced today that they're going to close. Those are going to close within a year. So, you know, Macy's really wants to close these down. Sales haven't been good. The CEO coming out with a statement saying "We operate in a fast-changing world. And our company is moving forward decisively to build further on Macy's heritage. Macy's is committed to treating associates affected by store closings with respect and openness."

So yes, a lot of people are going to loose their jobs. Some will try to find jobs at other Macy's stores. It's not going to be easy. As far as the market reacting, you're seeing Macy's shares jump 17 percent. And that's because investors think this is a good move for the company.

BANFIELD: Stocks way up and that often because they're announcing big money saving ...

KOSIK: Right. BANFIELD: Alison Kosik, I'm sad. I like Macy's. My favorite to go in.

KOSIK: You'll still have Macy's about 675 across the country.

BANFIELD: All right. Alison Kosik, thank you for that. Appreciate it.

Coming up next, Donald Trump not only picking fights with Hillary Clinton and President Obama, but also fellow Republicans. He's not too happy with us, the media either. That might be the understatement of the day, of the century. Trump versus me and the rest of my friends coming up.

We're also keeping a very close eye on that live watch out in Michigan, a big statement, big economic policy be laid out, live pictures right now from the event site where she's going to unveil her economic plans today.

Stay with CNN. We're hot on the mic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:47:09] BANFIELD: Live pictures again from Warren, Michigan. The Futuramic Tool and Engineering place in Macomb County where Hillary Clinton is just about to give her economic plans. Stay tuned. We've got our live cameras trained.

And this just in to CNN as well. A response from the Democratic National Committee, absolutely furious at Donald Trump's characterization of President Obama and Hillary Clinton as "co- founders of the terrorist group ISIS."

This statement from the DNC's national press secretary reading. "Donald Trump should apologize for his outrageous, unhinged and patently false suggestions on the founding of ISIS. This is yet another out-of-control statement by a candidate who is unraveling before our very eyes. Combating terrorist threats like ISIS is a deadly serious undertaking. One that must be met with the unwavering resolve and steady temperament of a commander-in-chief that doesn't fly off the handle at the slightest provocation. Donald trump has once again shown that he lacks that temperament and that he's simply unfit to hold our nation's highest office."

Demand for an apology which is a word that very rarely comes out of the Trump campaign or out of the man himself. But one word that does often get used is dishonest. That is his favorite word in public anyway for the media that is covering his run for the White House. He uses other words too like unfair and disgusting and scum and sleazy and pigs and hateful. That's just the surface.

And he even has fun with the initials of this network CNN. This morning a close adviser to Donald Trump was on "New Day," former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and my colleague, Chris Cuomo reminded the mayor of his own issues with the press.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: You've never said things in front of a crowd that had them start chanting "lock them up," about the media, calling reporters liars when he knows is that's not true.

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NYC MAYOR: For which he steps back and says beat her. You know, the convention ...

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Katy Tur from NBC had to be escorted to her car by secret service because the crowd turned on her because he pointed at her and said she's a liar, remember that, she's a liar. The president of the United States ...

GIULIANI: Look, the coverage is not fair.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: The coverage is not fair, Brian Stelter. That's what Rudy Giuliani said. That's what Trump says all the time that the coverage is not fair. Is that true?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: There are times when reporters do go too far and especially when commentators go too far talking about Trump. But for the most part, think about the word press. The very word press, it means we are supposed to press public officials and challenge people who want to hold the nation's highest office.

Whenever Trump is talking about the media, he's not talking about why he should be president. He's not talking about Hillary Clinton.

[12:50:00] And I would just point out that when he runs an anti media campaign which has been a very effective thing for him. It gets a lot of applause at his rallies and gets his fans cheering up. Let's remember this, he's inoculating himself. He's trying to inoculate himself against criticism and against scrutiny. It is a highly effective vaccine to say the media is out to get him and you can't trust what we're saying.

BANFIELD: I get you.

STELTER: But for the most part, we're trying hard to be fair to all the candidates.

BANFIELD: The old adages don't blame the messenger, but sometimes the messenger does have a particular bent. Look at table news this days ...

STELTER: Sure.

BANFIELD: I want to show you the magazine cover of "Time" magazine this week. That's a picture of Donald Trump with his face clearly melting and it says "meltdown." That's the kind of thing where I could say Donald Trump could say this is just unfair. Why would you call this a meltdown when this is what my supporters like to hear? And this is our message. It's not a meltdown. It's me and it's real. And it's where some American people want to go.

STELTER: I think is because reporters, editors, editors of "Time Magazine." They're trying to cover this campaign like it's a relatively normal campaign. There's an expectation that Trump would move to the middle and try to appeal the undecided voters, rather than what he's been doing which seems to appeal more to his base audience.

When we talk about a meltdown, that's a lot of reason why there has been criticism of him this week, saying that he seems to be melting down or his campaign seems to be struggling. Reporters are basing that on historic notions of how campaigns are supposed to be run, however in unchartered waters today. We cannot use a historical president as a guy for how to cover this campaign because it is so unusual.

And let's just keep ion mind, viewers should see this for what it is when he criticizes the media.

BANFIELD: Yeah. It comes out us very fast. I mean, its just yesterday in the very seat where you're sitting, we had one of our guests called the father of the Orlando shooter, called the father a terrorist. I fought him back on it, but he did it again. And we want to make sure that people realize when these things are thrown out there.

That's the kind of thing which is absolutely not true. There's absolutely no evidence of the case that that Orlando shooter's father was a terrorist. But it is an example of us having to really work hard and very fast.

STELTER: We got to hold our grounds, hold our grounds.

BANFIELD: Brian Stelter, thank you for that.

We're continuing to watch as well the live event in Michigan where Hillary Clinton is going to be speaking live to a group of folks. We've got our live cameras trained. It's the economic statement from Hillary Clinton herself. Family first. What does this mean for you? What kind of breaks do you think you might get on child care or say on maternity leave or perhaps paid college or at least debt-free college?

These are the messages we expect her to hit. But we think that she will probably say, also, say something about being called "co-founder" or "MVP co-founder" of ISIS which was Donald Trump's latest attack on Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Thanks for watching everybody. Stay tuned. We're coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:56:48] BANFIELD: Going inside the dangerous world of U.S. under cover agents in the latest episode of CNN's original series "Declassified".

This week you're going to see as those agents try to stop an Iranian businessman's plot to buy American military weapons. Fascinating. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When an undercover is doing his or her job properly, they're operating on different levels simultaneously.

The first level is we're being cognizant of the cameras and microphones so that the right people are facing the right camera at the right time.

DARIUS: You gentlemen would like to drink tea? Or a coffee? Or whatever you want.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another level where do you see us working is performing for the primary audience. That's the suspect.

DARIUS: Whatever you want to drink, we will have the people downstairs make for you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was consistent with my role to be as charming as possible. Every case might be very different. I have on occasion done the exact opposite, tried to raise somebody's anxiety level when it served the purpose.

DARIUS: He's a dangerous man, you watch him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The work of an undercover is similar to that of a high-priced call girl. I am what you want me to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And it's dangerous, too. Joining me now with more is David Locke Hall. He was the former assistant U.S. attorney, one of the main subjects in the series "Declassified."

You were running these guys, you're literally in the room next door listening and watching this live knowing full well that you need to execute this operation, but you need these guys to be alive.

DAVID LOCKE HALL, FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY: That's true.

BANFIELD: That is just a terrifying to think of the pressure you're under.

HALL: It is concerning. There is a surreal security issue, particularly when you're operating in a foreign country as we were in that case.

BANFIELD: How do you this? how do you do this and -- or do you literally have to just do a Hail Mary and hope to hell no one has hacked your e-mails beforehand and know exactly what you're up to?

HALL: Well, there is a certain leap of faith that's involved. But you try to mitigate the risk with good preparation in advance. And of course, we are working closely with the security services of the Republic of Georgia.

BANFIELD: And how can you trust them? HALL: We have developed a pretty good relationship with them over the course of time. But in the end, it's an away game. And so we didn't have the kind of security that we would have. How'd we been doing that operation in the United States.

BANFIELD: That the away games, those players are worried about, you know, twisting an ankle. Your away game, you're worried about not coming home.

HALL: Yeah, the issue -- fundamentally the question is, are you predator or prey. And that's, you know, ultimately where you ...

BANFIELD: It's a mind game. I mean, because they're the prey, but ultimately you just don't know when you might become. It's super fascinating. And the whole series is great. Thanks so much for giving us that quick preview.

David Locke Hall here with me live. But if you want to check out more on the life of an undercover agent and just how scary it can be, tune in to "Declassified" this Sunday, 10:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Thanks everybody for watching "Legal View." Nice to have you with us.

[13:00:00] My colleague Wolf starts right now.