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Clinton Hits Trump's Tax Policy; FBI Sends Classified Report to Congress; Flooding in Louisiana; Trump Receives Classified Briefing; Trump Campaign Shake-up. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired August 17, 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] KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: For Democratic politicians, and yet all of the cities are failing that Democratic politicians are running. You have two million more eligible African- American workers since the beginning of the Obama administration, yet you have two million fewer in the workforce. Democrats have a responsibility, not to just demonize Donald Trump, but to explain why they have failed this community.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right.
COHN: So -
COSTELLO: I've got to leave it there. Thanks to all of you. I do appreciate it. Kayleigh McEnany, Sally Cohn, Molina Abdola (ph) and Tom Fuentes.
And I want to take a moment just to clarify something from Monday. We had a report that inadvertently and wrongly characterized the plea from a Milwaukee woman whose brother was killed by police. As our viewers saw, she demanded that the violence stop in her community, but, in fact, she also said that protests should instead take their violence to the suburbs. I regret that second part of her statement was not included.
I'll be right back.
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[09:35:02] COSTELLO: Hillary Clinton heads to the critical state of Ohio today, and she's taking her fight against Donald Trump's tax policies with her. Clinton expected to hammer Trump on the issue of tax breaks, saying they will only benefit wealthy Americans like her GOP rival. The Ohio trip comes as team Clinton deals with two lingering issues, the controversy over her e-mail server, and persistent rumors about her health.
CNN's Chris Frates has more from Washington.
Good morning.
CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol. Well, Hillary Clinton is hitting back against Donald Trump, and
conservative media chatter, suggesting she's not healthy enough to be commander in chief. And this week Trump said Clinton lacks the mental and physical stamina to fight ISIS. And conservative media staples like Sean Hannity and "The Drudge Report" have questioned Clinton's health.
Well, last night, Clinton fired back, putting out a statement from her doctor saying she's in excellent health and accusing Trump of pedaling, quote, "deranged conspiracy theories and parroting lies." In a statement, Clinton's spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri said, "Hillary Clinton has release a detailed medical record showing her to be in excellent health, plus her personal tax returns since 1977, while Trump has failed to provide the public with the most basic financial information disclosed by every major candidate in the last 40 years. It's time for him to stop using shameful distractions to hide his own record." So the Clinton campaign trying to change the subject to Trump's unwillingness to release his tax returns.
Another hot topic today, though, is Hillary Clinton's e-mail problems continuing to dog her campaign. Yesterday, the FBI sent Congress a classified report explaining why it recommended against charging Clinton in connection with her use of a private e-mail server as secretary of state. The report contains notes from interviews with Clinton and other material related to that investigation.
The decision to release information in a case where charges are not brought is extremely rare. And in a statement the FBI said, it provided the report to Congress with the expectation that it won't be made public. But the Clinton campaign doesn't seem to think that's how it will go, accusing Republicans of planning to leak the documents and asking that they be released publically to everyone.
And top Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, well, he seemed to agree with Clinton, saying that much of the material in the report is unclassified and should be made public. In a letter to lawmakers, the FBI reiterated Director James Comey's assertion that Clinton's handling of certain highly classified information was, in fact, extremely careless, but did not warrant prosecution.
But, Carol, I'll tell you, judging by the fireworks this report generated on Capitol Hill yesterday, the political battle over Clinton's e-mails, it's far from over, Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, let me ask you a question, because yesterday I had a Republican congressman on who said that the FBI actually videotaped Hillary Clinton's interview, and that it's lost somewhere out there. Is that true? Did the FBI videotape Clinton's interview?
FRATES: No, that's not true. The FBI did not videotape that interview. In fact, they didn't even take a word for word transcript of it. What they turned over to lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Carol, was notes from that interview. So there is no recording of that interview out there. In fact, there's not even a transcript, a word for word transcript. These are notes that were taken by the FBI interviewers, Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Chris Frates reporting live for us from Washington. Thanks so much.
So let's talk about this. Larry Sabato is back. He's the director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. Rebecca Berg, also back, CNN political analyst and national political reporter for Real Clear Politics.
Welcome to both of you.
These notes from this FBI interview, Larry, they're going to be turned over to Congress, right, and Congress is not supposed to say a word about them, right, because it's supposed to be secret. But you know, perhaps, drips and drabs will come out about those FBI interviews. Will that hurt Hillary Clinton?
LARRY SABATO, DIR., UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CENTER FOR POLITICS: Yes. We'll all be shocked, shocked when this is leaked to the press. Who could have guessed that this will appear in print?
Look, I view it as a low-grade fever. It's certainly not a serious illness to bleed over into your other subject of health. It's not going to damage Hillary Clinton to the point that she would lose or anything close to it.
It is, however, a continuing concern that, frankly, will dog her right into office if she's elected president. I hope - I think everybody hopes that she has learned something from this event. She wanted to preserve a little extra privacy. Look at the trouble she has caused herself with this private server. And, as I say, there are applications here that she needs to learn for the presidency if, in fact, she's elected.
COSTELLO: Well, Rebecca, here's the thing. Trump has this new team and Trump is going to be Trump. He's already talked about crooked Hillary. Won't the attacks become even worse?
REBECCA BERG, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: That's what we would expect, especially when you have Steve Bannon running his campaign. If you've taken even a casual glance at some of the coverage coming out of Breitbart this election season regarding Hillary Clinton and her close aides, that is the sort of thing that we should be expecting now to hear from the mouth of Donald Trump.
[09:40:11] So I am expecting that his rhetoric is going to get much harsher. Steve Bannon is described by some people as a political street fighter. He plays hard, and some would say he plays a little bit dirty. And so that's what we can expect now out of the Trump campaign.
And now it's no surprise, of course, that they would focus on this issue. He is trying to portray Hillary Clinton as corrupt, as someone who puts herself above the law and above average people. And the e- mail issue plays into that narrative very, very well for him. And so as long as this is in the conversation, as long as Republicans can keep this conversation going, it's pretty good news for Donald Trump and it's definitely not a positive thing for Hillary Clinton.
COSTELLO: And in this campaign, Larry, you can make any allegation you want. It doesn't seem to matter.
SABATO: Yes, we - well, we live in a post factual era, Carol. We don't even need facts any more to say things. Look, remember what Bernie Sanders said, or was it Larry David, who said that the people are tired of hearing about her damn e-mails. I don't think people are tired of it, but I don't think it packs the punch that Trump needs to regain the offensive. But again, this is something that Hillary Clinton has to endure, and she has no one to blame but herself.
COSTELLO: All right, I have to leave it there. Larry Sabato, Rebecca Berg, thanks to both of you.
And tonight on -
BERG: Thank you.
COSTELLO: You're welcome.
And tonight on CNN, it's a special town hall with the Green Party. President candidate Jill Stein and her running mate, Ajamu Baraka, will sit down with Chris Cuomo. It starts at 9:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.
Still to come on the NEWSROOM, by motor boat, by canoe, by anything that floats, Louisiana boaters taking the search for anyone stranded into their own hands.
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[09:46:06] COSTELLO: At least 11 people are dead after a catastrophic flooding in Louisiana. Rescue workers have been working around the clock to get more than 20,000 people to safety. The floodwaters are receding, but they're leaving behind damaged homes and untold destruction.
CNN's Boris Sanchez is live from Gonzalez, Louisiana, with more.
Hi, Boris.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol.
The floodwater is receding, but not in some areas. As a matter of fact, in some areas, like where we're standing right now in Gonzalez, it's gotten worse because the flood waters have receded. This backwater flooding entered this neighborhood - this is supposed to be the last stop before the Mississippi River - and it's blocking out roads, making it very difficult for neighbors to get inside their homes. It's hard to get an idea on the ground just how expansive it is, but we do have a drone up that is showing you right now exactly what it looks like in this neighborhood, a lot of damage, widespread.
Tens of thousands of people are in shelters right now. More than 60,000 people have actually requested help with FEMA. So it tells you that is desperate need out there. There was a curfew last night, in part to keep people out of dangerous situations. Also to prevent crime. Yesterday, last night, Carol, there were ten people arrested for looting.
COSTELLO: All right, Boris Sanchez reporting live from Gonzalez, Louisiana, this morning, near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Thank you so much, Boris.
A monster sized wildfire is moving fast in California. The Blue Cut Fire, as it's being called, has already burned 18,000 acres in 12 hours, scorching up the dry hills and engulfing homes. Eighty-two thousand people are under mandatory evacuation orders and Governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, let the briefings begin. Donald Trump getting U.S. intelligence today for the first time.
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[09:52:31] COSTELLO: Donald Trump will get his very first classified national security briefing today. It will be the first time the businessman has ever had access to such sensitive information. For more on what Trump is expected to learn today, I'm joined now by CNN justice correspondent Evan Perez.
Good morning, Evan.
EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, this briefing that we expect to happen later this afternoon in New York at the FBI office is really going to give Trump the first chance to dig in to some of the most sensitive intelligence that the U.S. has on essentially the more important parts of the world, right? This is - now he's a presidential candidate, and it's important - the view is that it's important for him to not inadvertently step into something, especially because there's so many places in the world where the words of an presidential candidate could mean so much.
So what we expect is, you know, he's going to get a big picture of, you know, hot spots, some of the relationships that the U.S. has around the world. There's nothing operational in this intelligence briefing. It's really not intended to provide anything - any details on important operations that U.S. intelligence has around the world. But it essentially helps school candidates on what things the U.S. is working around the world with foreign governments. And so we expect that that briefing is going to take - take place at the FBI office in New York City this afternoon.
Trump is already kind of talking a little bit, though, about his view of the U.S. intelligence apparatus and the job that they've done. He appeared on Fox News this morning and sort of said that he's not - he doesn't have a lot of respect for the job that some of these people have done because essentially in his view they've kind of mess - made a mess of the world. So you can expect, Carol, that this is going to be a very interesting briefing in New York for Donald Trump.
COSTELLO: Oh, don't you wish you could be a fly on the wall, Evan? I know I do.
PEREZ: Oh, my good - oh, my goodness -
COSTELLO: Oh, my goodness.
PEREZ: I would love - I would to be there. I mean it's - look, this is a very important part of the process. And I'm sure he's going to have questions. And I think we'll see after this briefing whether or not it changes his tone on some of the most important relationships that the United States has with countries around the world. We'll see whether that changes anything.
COSTELLO: I know you'll be following this story for us. Evan Perez, thanks so much.
PEREZ: Thanks.
[09:54:46] COSTELLO: The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.
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COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.
A return to the battle cry "let Trump be Trump and win at all costs." The firebrand nominee announces a major shake-up overnight. A move to bolster his sagging campaign and shrug off recent calls for restraint. Paul Manafort keeps his title but shares the leadership. Kellyanne Conway, a familiar face here on CNN, is promoted to campaign manage. She'll be the conventional voice. And a new CEO, Steven Bannon, will be the flame thrower. And in another telling twist, sources tell us Trump did not consult his children on the decision. That is a major shift in the way things are normally done within the Trump campaign.
CNN's Jessica Schneider is outside New York's Trump Tower with more on this.
Good morning.
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Yes, you know, up until this point, Ivanka, Donald Jr. and Eric have been the sole sounding board for Donald Trump. But in this decision to appoint Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon, Trump made this decision on his own. And Donald Trump now making clear that he is in control of his campaign. He's the one in control completely of this campaign, especially with this new staff shake-up.
