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Trump Gets Clean Bill Of Health, Clinton Gets First National Security Briefing; Campaigns Locked In War Of Words And Rhetoric; New Attack Ads Use Candidate's Words Against Them; National Day Of Mourning For Italy Earthquake Victims; CNN Goes Inside Iraqi Town Just Liberated From ISIS; NBA Star's Cousin Killed While Walking With Her Baby. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired August 27, 2016 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:30]
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone, it's 11:00 on the East Coast, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Newsroom starts right now. And the insults continue to fly on the campaign trail after a week of Democrats and Republicans hurling claims of bigotry and racism at each other.
Tim Kaine assuming the role of attack dog at a rally in Tallahassee, Florida earlier. Speaking at a historically black university, Kaine telling supporters that Donald Trump embraces the Ku Klux Klan values.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SENATOR TIM KAINE (D-VA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He has supporters like David Duke -- connected with the Ku Klux Klan -- who are going around and saying Donald Trump is their candidate because Donald Trump is pushing their values. Ku Klux Klan values, David Duke values, Donald Trump values are not American values. They're not our values and we've got to do all we can to fight to push back and win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: RNC Chair Reince Priebus firing back saying, "Tim Kaine sunk to new lows with dirty and deplorable attacks which have no place in this campaign." At this hour, Kaine is meeting with elected officials in Pembroke Pines, Florida and we'll keep an eye on this event to see if he continues with that dialogue.
Meantime this as Hillary Clinton is at the FBI office in White Plains, New York for her first classified, national security briefing. And we're also learning new details surrounding that clean bill of health from Donald Trump's doctor, there he is. Harold Bornstein told NBC News that he spent about five minutes writing the letter in which he called Trump "the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency." All while Trump's limo waited outside for the doctor to finish.
All right, Trump is scheduled to speak later today at an event honoring veterans in Des Moines, Iowa. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is there joining us live right now. So Sunlen, this week of fiery rhetoric, capped off by new ads airing online as well.
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fred. You know this week the rhetoric really reached a brand new level. These are big, weighty, heavy words. Charges of racism, name calling, labels of bigotry from the candidates. Certainly reached an unprecedented level for presidential candidates.
But it was notable, as we saw this week, this bare-knuckled fight between Clinton and Trump over charges of racism. It was notable, I think, that when Clinton gave this big takedown of Trump on Thursday, that you did not see Republicans really coming out and defending him in those charges that Clinton made about him. So that certainly was notable.
But the candidates and the campaigns are really doubling down. Both of them out with new ads really doubling down on this strategy. Here's a small part of both their ads.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They are often the kinds of kids that are called superpredators. No conscience, no empathy, we can talk about why they ended up that way, but first we have to bring them to heal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MODERATOR: You called out President Clinton for defending Secretary Clinton's use of the term "superpredator" back in the 90s when she supported the crime bill. Why did you call him out?
SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because it was a racist term, and everybody knew it was a racist term.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOICE OF DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have a great relationship with the blacks. I have -- I've always had a great relationship with the blacks.
TRUMP: What the hell do you have to lose?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERFATY: Now Donald Trump is expected to speak here in Des Moines, Iowa in just a few hours. He'll be attending Senator Joni Ernst's events here. This is called a ride and roast. What is turning into an annual tradition here in Iowa. But Donald Trump is met with certainly some stern words this morning from the senator, who was once considered a potential VP pick for him. She tells the Washington Post in an interview basically that both candidates need to tone down the rhetoric. She says, "they need to take this into civil discourse. I'd say to
both of them, back down." And calls for both of them to return to issues over this sort of name calling, this rhetoric. We'll see when Donald Trump speaks here in just a few hours, Fred, if he sticks to that advice from the senator.
WHITFIELD: All right we shall see. All right, thank you so much, appreciate it Sunlen. So as attacks reached fever pitch this week, both candidates defending their use of some of the harshest words yet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Oh, she is a biggot.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: In what way?
TRUMP: Because you look at what's happening to the inner cities. You look at what's happening to African Americans, and Hispanics in this country where she talks all the time.
COOPER: How is she biggoted?
TRUMP: Well because she's ...
COOPER: Biggoted is hatred toward a particular group.
TRUMP: ... Because she's selling them down the tubes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: From the start, Donald Trump has built his campaign on prejudice and paranoia. He is taking hate groups mainstream.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right for more on this I want to bring in CNN Senior Political Analyst and Senior Editor for The Atlantic, Ron Brownstein, good to see you. And Director for the University ...
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.
WHITFIELD: ... of Virginia Center for Politics, Larry Sabato. Good to see you as well. All right gentlemen, good to see you. So Ron, you first. Was this kind of a blip on the reel, meaning they hurled these insults, called each other bigots just to set the words straight. And then punctuate it and then it's time to move on? Or is this now the tone for the next 11 weeks?
[11:05:46]
BROWNSTEIN: I kind of come down in between. I think the tone got more overheated this week. And it's going to stay, or should stay. But the underlying issue is the fundamental fault line in this election and has been from the beginning. I mean this, above all, as it has evolved, has become an election about national identity and how we feel about living in an increasingly diverse society that is becoming a true world nation.
If you look at the coalitions that are lying behind Hillary Clinton and donald Trump, the fundamental fault line between them is their attitudes toward these cultural changes. Donald Trump mobilized to win the Republican nomination. The portions of the Republican Party that were the most uneasy about all the aspects, all the manifestations of the changes in society.
And now as you see him shifting his positions on issues like immigration, they basically brought in a team that can add. And what that team that can add has told them is that that is roughly 40 percent of the general electorate. And he is facing a reality where roughly 60 percent of voters consistently say they view him as racially biased.
So while I think the rhetoric got out of control and the charges became too extreme, it in fact, is revealing of what this election, above all, seems to be about.
WHITFIELD: And so Larry, do you see it that way? This is about national identity. And this is what they're trying to accomplish?
LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CENTER FOR POLITICS: I sure do. Look, this is a scorched earth campaign. We've know that for months. It's going to continue to be a scorched earth campaign. They may go on to some other subjects but I would reemphasize what Ron has said.
That the fault lines in this campaign and really between our two parties in the modern era, are racial, gender based, and class based. And you're going to see appeals on both sides to the parts of the American coalition that are with them. As we have said for a long time, the coalition of the ascendant is with the Democrats.
Meaning that their supporters are a larger and larger proportion of the electorate. 30 percent of the people who vote in the (AUDIO BREAK) are going to be members of minority groups. And right now Donald Trump is at an historic low in the modern (AUDIO BREAK) Republican among these groups.
WHITFIELD: And so Ron, while this might be a turnoff to some, it might be a preaching to the choir to others, when you look at CNN.com and look at some of the recent polling, and you see that what's usually a red Missouri there's now just one point between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Trump being up just by one point. So what we're seeing right now unfold, are we finding this is advantageous for ...
BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.
WHITFIELD: ... these candidates? You say yes.
BROWNSTEIN: Well -- yeah, yeah, yeah. Look ...
WHITFIELD: In looks like (ph)...
BROWNSTEIN: ... Larry, I get my nick -- I get my nickle of royalties everytime someone uses coalition of the ascendent which I coined back in 2008, so I'll expect the check later -- later today. But yes, basically, and as Larry pointed out, what you're seeing -- you know the modern democratic coalition has three components.
It is centered around minority voters, who as Larry said will grow to an unpresidented height in this election. Milennial voters, 20 million more millenial voters are registered to vote than in 2012. And the third big piece are college educated and secular whites, especially women.
And that, what we're seeing, even in states like Missouri, Arizona, and Geortia, is enough movement among that third group in particular, to bring those states into play. Still enough hill climb for Hillary Clinton, but she is doing much better with those college educated whites than Democrats usually perform.
And those are the same voters that have taken Virginia and Colorado essentially off the board. That have made Pennsylvania and New Hampshire so tough for Donald Trump. And are making North Carolina within reach for her. Donald Trump is a -- largely around two reasons. One, that they don't view him as qualified, and second, precisely because many white collar whites view him as racially biased.
He is underperforming with those voters. Those are the voters he has to convince. And I think those are the voters, actually Fred, that -- more than minority voters themselves, that are the target of this effort to reposition on issues like immigration.
WHITFIELD: And so I'm wondering, Larry, is there something to that attack method that really seemed to be coined -- talk about coining things -- coined by Donald Trump. That was his style but now Clinton, Tim Kaine, they felt like they had to go there. Are we seeing that it's beneficial or serving them well? Meaning Clinton and Kaine, or is it time to back off?
SABATO: Well obviously Clinton and Kaine understand that their coalition of the ascendant just to add another nickel to Ron's wealth (ph) here, they are with the coalition of the ascendant -- there, now it's 15 cents. And so they're very pleased about that. What they have to do though is to continue to reenforce that and to make sure that their coalition partners understand the stakes in the election.
Look at what Donald Trump is doing by contrast. His new, his third staff of campaign advisors have obviously pointed out to him that unless he broadens his coalition, he can forget about victory on November the 8th. So he's started to weaken on his core issue of immigration.
Then his base revolted and he stopped ...
WHITFIELD: Although he'll dispute that. He said he hasn't weakened, he hasn't stopped ... SABATO: Well ...
WHITFIELD: He's hard-knuckled (ph) ...
SABATO: No ...
WHITFIELD: ... he says.
SABATO: He tried to move away from it, and because Sarah Palin and others let him know that he'd pay a big price for doing it, he moved right back where he was. Which means he can't broaden his coalition. He is stuck in a tight corner.
[11:11:08]
WHITFIELD: Interesting. All right, Larry, Ron, cha-ching, that's what I'm hearing now.
BROWNSTEIN: Yeah ...
WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much gentlemen, we'll see you again, appreciate it. All right, coming up, it was after this meeting with Hispanic leaders that we started to see a week of shifting, backtracking from Donald Trump over his immigration policies. Just a little bit more of what Larry was talking about.
Next I want to talk to a man who was at that meeting with the Republican presidential candidate. What he was told about Trump's policy, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, after a week of shifting, backtracking, and flip-flopping, Trump is set to explain next week exactly how he plans to handle immigration. The issue is a central pillar of Trump's campaign. But now with less than 73 days to go until election day, very little is clear about Trump's immigration policy. In fact, his friend, former New York City Mayor, Rudy Giuliani says Trump is still trying to figure it all out. Here's a look at how his stance has evolved.
[11:15:30]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They're illegal immigrants. They got to go out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You're going to have a deportation force and you're going to do it humanely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're going to be saying you have to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: And there certainly can be a softening. Because we're not looking to hurt people, we want people -- we have some great people in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They'll pay back taxes. They have to pay taxes. There's no amnesty, as such (ph). There's no amnesty. But we work with them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Well I don't think it's a softening. I think it's ...
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: But 11 million people are no longer going to be deported.
TRUMP: ... I've had people say it's a hardening, actually.
COOPER: But 11 million who have not committed a crime ...
TRUMP: No, no, we're then going to see ...
COOPER: ... there's going to, there's going to be a path to legalization, is that right?
TRUMP: No, no. You know it's a process. You can't take 11 at one time and just say, "boom, you're gone."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right joining me right now is immigration attorney, Jacob Monty. He is a member of Trump's Hispanic advisory council. And was at that round table meeting Trump held with Hispanic leaders last weekend. So Jacob, talk to me about this meeting and what your impressions were of Donald Trump's immigration policy.
JACOB MONTY, DONALD TRUMP'S HISPANIC ADVISORY COUNCIL MEMBER: Morning Fredricka ...
WHITFIELD: Good morning.
MONTY: ... Well, it was a great meeting. He showed up prepared. He acknowledged that the toughest part is what to do with the 11 million people. That told me and the rest of the group that he had studied the issue. He didn't commit to anything. We are anticipating the speech next week.
But I feel confident it's something that is compassionate, that's going to recognize the business contributions that the immigrants make. And it's going to make us safer because ...
WHITFIELD: OK ...
MONTY: ... we want border security, also.
WHITFIELD: So you said he didn't commit. Was it your expectation that he would expound, detail -- at least to this audience of you at the table -- a little bit more concretely about his immigration plan that perhaps he hadn't revealed with the general public?
MONTY: Well what was significant is that he had his thumb on the problem. Which is how do you deal with the 11 million that are already here, imbedded in the economy, in the country. He stressed ...
WHITFIELD: And did he give you some ideas about how do you, how do you fill in the blanks? How do you deal with the 11 million? And then he said what?
MONTY: Well we discussed different options. You know, do they have some sort of work permission but not legal status, which is what they have under DACA, which is no legal status but work permission. We discussed touchback, internal touchback. But again, most politicians don't even go into the weeds. They just say slogans like ...
WHITFIELD: Oh, but he's not a politician.
MONTY: ... I want to do more than President Obama did.
WHITFIELD: Right.
MONTY: He's not a politician and that was refreshing that he was prepared and didn't just give us slogans like I'll do more than President Obama. Which is what Hillary has said. Where's her plan?
WHITFIELD: OK so Jeb Bush, former rival of Donald Trump, you heard his comments earlier in the week. And he said that he thought -- that he was very troubled by what Donald Trump has revealed most recently. And in fact he even went as far as saying, Jeb Bush saying that he thought that Donald Trump was kind of morphing his position depending on who he was trying to please. How do you respond to that? And did you feel that?
MONTY: Well I don't see that at -- I don't see that at all. Let's wait for the plan to be unveiled. Right now he's talked about the border security aspects of his immigration policy, we know that -- build a wall, we're fine with that. But let's wait until the rest of his policy gets announced. And I feel confident that a businessman and a compassionate, generous businessman who's -- who acknowledges that most of the immigrants are making good contributions, is going to give us a plan that we can all be proud of. And it will make us safer because one thing that has been consistent
is the bad people have to go back. If it wasn't for Donald Trump we wouldn't even be talking about immigration or border security.
WHITFIELD: So you haven't been particularly eager, given that it was a year ago that Donald Trump made this the core of his campaign. And now we're 11 weeks away from election day and he hasn't explained it to you, in a very intimate setting, nor has he with the general public about real specificity. So that isn't worrisome to you, or you haven't been particularly eager about hearing details well before 11 weeks away from election day?
MONTY: Fredricka I am supporting him primarily because I see him as the only way to immigration reform. What if Senator -- or Secretary Clinton wins? How's she going to get the GOP House to go along with immigration reform?
WHITFIELD: But you haven't heard that detail from your own candidate? So aside from Hillary Clinton right now, about your candidate, you -- he has your ear and you haven't heard those details and you haven't been eagerly awaiting, at the edge of your seat waiting to hear more details?
MONTY: Well I am eagerly waiting the announcement. I am confident though that because he's a businessman he knows that the solution will have to take into account the contributions that they're making. I know he's going to be humane. And I know it's going to be loaded with border security. Which will get the GOP House on board, that's the big problem, how does Hillary get immigration reform passed when the House is controlled by the Republicans?
WHITFIELD: All right you heard ...
MONTY: It doesn't happen with her ...
WHITFIELD: You perhaps heard part of that in --
MONTY: ... it only happens with Donald Trump.
WHITFIELD: Sorry to interrupt. You perhaps heard some of that interview ...
MONTY: I'm sorry.
WHITFIELD: ... with Anderson Cooper and Donald Trump this week. And they were talking about how Donald Trump would use local police as part of his immigration force. This is what he had to say.
[11:21:01]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: My first day in office I am going to notify law enforcement authorities that all of the bad dudes -- and we have a lot of them -- that are here illegally, that are the heads of gangs, and drug cartels, and all sorts of people. And there are ... COOPER: Like people committing crimes.
TRUMP: ... probably millions of them, but certainly hundreds of thousands, big numbers. They're out, they're out. Excuse me, the police know who they are. I've spoken to many police, the police know who they are, they deal with them all the time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: So help us understand what that means. If police know who they are, who the bad guys are, then why are -- why is something further not happening? What would change if it were Donald Trump as president?
MONTY: Well I think what he's talking about is what we have right now is de facto amnesty. There's 11 million people, they've never been fingerprinted, they've never been vetted in any way. So they need to be vetted and some of them, the bad ones, are going to have to go back, for sure. There's no argument there.
We don't want them here, they make the rest of the immigrants look bad. Send them back. But the ones who don't have criminal records, let's figure out a way to keep them in the country, or to legalize them if they have to go back. But again, we're hearing nothing from Hillary except vote for us. Let's let Donald release his plan and let's hold Hillary Clinton to the same standard. Where's her plan?
WHITFIELD: OK so Jacob Monty, thank you so much. I'd love to have you back next weekend after we have heard perhaps more detail from Donald Trump in the coming week about the immigration policy. And I'd love to hear your assessment then, as well.
MONTY: Thank you, I'm a big fan.
WHITFIELD: All right.
MONTY: Bye, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Thank you so much, hope to have you back. Next weekend, mark your calendar. All right, Jacob Monty, thank you so much. All right and you can catch Donald Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, live, CNN tomorrow morning. He is set to join State of The Union at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:26:43]
WHITFIELD: Welcome back. A Mississippi man has been charged in connection with the stabbing deaths of two nuns. And this morning, the nuns' congregation is expressing gratitude for those working on the investigation, and praying for everyone involved. Rodney Earl Sanders faces two counts of capital murder. Police found the bodies of Paula Merrill and Margaret Held -- in a home they share in Durant, Mississippi -- on Thursday. Both women were nurse practitioners, well known for their charity work
around the state. CNN's National Correspondent, Polo Sandoval is joining us with more details on this. Heartbreaking.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Extremely heartbreaking and tragic for the families of these two women. And what's interesting is we just spoke to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations essentially overseeing this case here, Fred. And they're not really saying a whole lot, only saying that they spoke to this 46-year old man at length yesterday, and were eventually able to gather enough evidence to actually charge him.
But again, they wouldn't say much more. So that's leaving so many people in this central Mississippi community wondering why these two women were targeted. And as you're about to hear, they were two individuals that gave so much to the community.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA MERRILL, STABBING VICTIM: Margaret and I have worked together for many years. We just see patients and do what needs to be done.
MARGARET HELD: This is one of the poorest counties in all of Mississippi. It rivals the bottom place in all sorts of statistics.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): Margaret Held and Paula Merrill -- Catholic nuns, and nurse practitioners -- were found stabbed to death in their rural Mississippi home on Thursday. Police say there was evidence of a break-in. A car that belonged to one of the victims was found on an abandoned road less than a mile from their home.
This morning, 46-year old Rodney Earl Sanders is under arrest facing two counts of capital murder. Police say he was identified early in the investigation as a person of interest. After what they call an exhaustive interview, he was charged. Authorities have not revealed the motive to the killings or discussed any possible relationship between Sanders and the nuns. But they do say, "This heinous crime has been solved."
DAVID MERRILL, VICTIM'S NEPHEW: It's sad that people come to this, whatever motivates them. I mean my aunt and Sister Margaret, they lived their lives to try to make the world better for the people who have nothing.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): Those in the community who knew the two nuns describe them as outgoing and compassionate, always willing to lend a helping hand.
UNKNOWN COMMUNITY MEMBER: Everybody was the same in their eyes. You know, all you had to do was go to them, ask them for help, and they help you any way that they can. That's why it really pained the community.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANDOVAL: And that community still struggling to come to terms with what happened here on Thursday. Meanwhile, a search for that motive, Fred, that continues at this hour. We still don't know exactly why these two women were targeted. And I can tell you that this 46-year old man, the man who is now in custody, did have a criminal history, did serve time for robbery -- even most recently for DUI. But ultimately that question still lingers, why did he actually target these two women that have given so much for a community that was in need of that kind of help?
WHITFIELD: Right, and investigators say nothing appears to have been stolen from the home except their vehicle.
SANDOVAL: At this point all we know is that their vehicle -- the vehicle that belonged to one of -- either Sister Held or Sister Merrill -- was actually taken. But it was later recovered, so of course that's a question. Was robbery the motive? Hopefully in the next few hours we'll be able to say clearly.
WHITFIELD: Right, and he is alleged to have involvement ...
SANDOVAL: Right.
WHITFIELD: ... in their murders.
[11:30:00] OK, thank you so much, appreciate it, Polo.
SANDOVAL: You bet.
WHITFIELD: All right, straight ahead, we turn back to the race for president. A federal judge ordering the U.S. State Department to release more of Hillary Clinton's e-mails and to do it before voters head to the polls. Details on that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Both campaigns locked in a bitter battle of words and rhetoric. Easier said than done. So just days after Donald Trump proclaimed that Hillary Clinton is a bigot, the Clinton camp is striking back using new attack ads that use Trump's words against him. All of this as Clinton continues to face questions about her family's foundation. Here is CNN's Pamela Brown.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have a great relationship with the blacks. I have always had a great relationship with the blacks.
PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hillary Clinton's campaign is hitting the air waves with a new ad highlighting Trump's rhetoric on race.
TRUMP: You're living in poverty. Your schools are no good. You have no jobs.
BROWN: Charging that the GOP nominee has a history of demeaning African-Americans. TRUMP: What the hell do you have to lose?
BROWN: The Clinton campaign is trying to bolster its message that Trump's campaign is rooted in prejudice.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via telephone): A man with a long history of racial discrimination who traffics in dark conspiracy theories drawn from the pages of supermarket tabloids and these kind of white supremacist, white nationalist, anti-Semitic groups should never run our government or candidate our military.
BROWN: But when asked Clinton refuse to directly call Trump a racist.
CLINTON: He has built his campaign on prejudice and paranoia, and it's deeply disturbing that he is taking hate groups that lived in the dark regions of the internet on making them mainstream.
[11:35:01]BROWN: Clinton is hoping her message will resonate with Republicans who might be wary of Trump's campaign.
CLINTON: I am reaching out to everyone, Republicans, Democrats, independents, everyone who is as troubled as I am by the bigotry and divisiveness of Donald Trump's campaign.
BROWN: That as Trump tries to turn the tables on Clinton, calling her a bigot and releasing a new web video featuring Clinton's use of the term super predators while defending her husband's crime bill in the 1990s.
CLINTON: They are often the kinds of kids who are called super predators, no conscience, and no empathy.
BROWN: Clinton's running mate, Tim Kaine, also entering the fray today.
TIM KAINE (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Ku Klux Klan values, David Duke values, Donald Trump values are not American values.
BROWN: After knocking Trump for his shifting positions on immigration during an appearance on the late show with Stephen Colbert.
KAINE: I don't buy it because (inaudible).
BROWN: Clinton though is still facing questions about the work of the Clinton Foundation and State Department access given the foundation donors. The Democratic nominee says the foundation is looking for groups to take on some of the work in the event she's elected president.
CLINTON (via telephone): Well, we're going to be testing that and that's why, you know, the foundation is looking for partners and there are potential partners for some of the work, but not necessarily the same partner for all of the work.
BROWN: Pamela Brown, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. Let's bring back our CNN senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein, and director for the University of Virginia Center for Politics, Larry Sabato. All right, welcome back.
So Larry, you first, even though, you know, Hillary Clinton said on late night, you know, during the week that her e-mails are boring, it seems that she cannot escape the whole e-mail problem.
And now with the State Department possibly releasing more, is that kind of the October surprise or is there still the anticipation of that Wikileaks dump potentially being the October surprise?
LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CENTER FOR POLITICS: Well, there may be October surprises. You mentioned a couple of them, though, in the case of the State Department, I'll be surprised if these things -- the calendar and so on actually come out before the Election Day.
Look, you remember what Bernie Sanders said, probably the most famous thing he said in his campaign, I'm tired of hearing about your damn e- mails. I'm not saying that Hillary Clinton's foes are tired of hearing about her e-mails, they'll never be tired of hearing about them.
But in order for this to influence what few undecided voters will remain by that time, there will some have to be bombshells in there, Fred, and maybe there aren't, maybe there are. I would tend to say there probably aren't, but we'll see. But that's what it's going to take to affect the election.
WHITFIELD: So Ron, Donald Trump has, you know, taken advantage of the whole e-mail scandal, the Clinton Foundation questions. Even turning the tables calling, you know, her a bigot. Does it seem as though he's in the driver's seat, you know, of putting Clinton in a position where she has to constantly defend herself as opposed to talking issues, which is what she had been focusing on in the early start of her campaign?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think, you know, the exception of a few moments, Donald Trump over the past two weeks has made a more disciplined and focused case for a change both against Clinton personally and both against the idea of is this the best we can do, which is the typical out party argument after one side has been in power for eight years.
I think he has done a better job at that, but his core problem, I think, is that Clinton's negatives are already baked into the polling that we're seeing. You already have a majority of the country saying they're unfavorable to her.
You already have a majority saying that they don't view her as honest and trustworthy, but right now and I think over a sustained period, those concerns have been trumped by two larger concerns play on words about Donald Trump. The question about whether he's qualified and whether he has the temperament, and whether he is racially divisive. I think those are more the north star of the race. So until Donald Trump changes them, it's going to be hard for him to cut into this lead.
WHITFIELD: So Larry, is Donald Trump running like he's losing or is he still running like he's winning as he did in the primaries? What do you see different?
SABATO: Well, a lot of them and that question, does he really want to win? Does he really think he can win? But you know, fundamentally, this is a very different race for this reason. Both of these candidates are very well-known and people have strong views about them. Maybe too strong in some cases.
It is going to take a lot to change a substantial number of voters' minds about either one of them. That's good news for Clinton because she's well-ahead in the polling averages and even further ahead in many of the swing states.
WHITFIELD: But do you buy that there are a lot of people who are undecided?
SABATO: No. Not a chance. Not a chance.
WHITFIELD: Yes, it seems hard to believe. Maybe the people who are claiming to be undecided just don't want to reveal publicly or to anyone that they've know who they're backing.
BROWNSTEIN: Also Fred, real quick, it's not undecided in this race, there's a lot of consistency over the last seven races since 1992. If the Democrats win the popular vote, Democrats will have won the popular vote in six of the past seven presidential elections.
No party in the history of the modern two party systems since 1828 has won the popular vote in six out of elections and the reason they've done so is because they have sustained the allegiance of key groups in the electorate are all growing.
Minorities, young people, the millennial generation and college educated whites. That is the coalition that has come together largely in opposition to Donald Trump perhaps more in enthusiasm about Hillary Clinton.
But it is the coalition that is in the way of Donald Trump and it is the one that has allowed the Democrats to win the popular vote, more consistently than any party in American history and the seven elections since 1992.
WHITFIELD: Wow, that's fascinating. All right, we will see what happens. Larry Sabato and Ron Brownstein, thank you so much, Gentlemen. Appreciate it. Thanks for coming back.
All right, straight ahead, Iraqi forces are gaining ground in their battle against ISIS. We'll get an exclusive look inside one liberated town where residents say they were used as human shields. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Welcome back. A national day of mourning in Central Italy just days after a deadly earthquake hit a popular vacation area. Funerals also taking place for dozens of victims, the death toll now at 290. Many more unaccounted for.
[11:45:13]The depth of the devastation across the region, now sinking in as the critical window to find more survivors alive passes this as hundreds of aftershocks are hampering recovery efforts, and 2,100 people are living in makeshift tents. For ways you can help earthquake victims, visit CNN.com/impact.
The battle is on to retake the city of Mosul.
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WHITFIELD: Iraqi forces are battling ISIS fighters in towns about 50 miles outside the city. ISIS has controlled Mosul, Iraq's second biggest city for more than two years now.
CNN's Arwa Damon has been on the frontlines of the fighting and has this exclusive look inside a town that was just liberated from brutal ISIS control.
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ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the main road going through the town of Qayyarah, liberated from 24 hours ago from ISIS and this is Nashid (ph), who we just met. He was waving his flag.
He says because they told us to, the Iraqi Army told them to come out carrying white flags. (Inaudible). So I just asked him if he was afraid when the explosions happened, yes, of course, he was.
A lot of people we have been talking to were telling us that ISIS was using them as human shields. There was another father who we met here was clutching his 2-year-old baby. He said that ISIS fighters were shooting from his front door at the Iraqi Security Forces.
There was incoming mortar fire and he just remembers grabbing his 2- year-old, not being able to see anything and making a run for it out the back door.
We also met Saud (ph), who is over here. He was telling -- this may seem like something very simple. They weren't allowed to wear shorts and the adults that were saying, shorts were forbidden.
The adults are newly clean shaven. Under ISIS they had to grow long beards. That's the simplest, basic hardships people were going through. There are a story after story.
One little girl, who was talking to the Iraqi Army when they first came in and talked about how her father was strung from one of these posts for three days, accused of collaborating with the coalition. You see that thick black smoke. That is because the oil fields around here that ISIS had set on fire there is still ablaze. People we met and talked to said this has been going on for the last six or seven months.
A number of them did lose their loved ones because of ISIS' brutal rule. All of them said they would have fled if they could, but ISIS would not allow them to do so. Some of them were telling us about how ISIS separated men from the women and the children kept people confined to their homes.
It was the country's counterterrorism unit, you see one of their Humvees coming down the road right now. Some of the other fighters flashing the victory sign that moved in in the operation to liberate Qayyarah.
Even though this is being considered a success, because it was so strategic for ISIS and it is a very significant victory for the Iraqi Security Forces, as people here were saying the town itself can be rebuilt, but what they've lost in terms of lives, that is something that will never be restored. Arwa Damon, CNN, Qayyarah, Iraq.
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WHITFIELD: All right, that was Arwa Damon on the front lines there.
All right, coming up the cousin of an NBA superstar gunned down in Chicago while pushing a baby stroller. We'll have the latest on the investigation.
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[11:52:52]
WHITFIELD: All right. Checking our top stories right now, new precautions to help stop the spread of the Zika virus. The Food and Drug Administration is now calling for Zika testing of donated blood across the nation. According to the CDC, more than 2,500 people in the U.S. are infected with the mosquito born-illness, and most of those cases are travel related.
And flash flooding has put the Kansas City, Missouri metro area under water. The National Weather Service is calling this extremely dangerous and life threatening situation and issuing an unprecedented flash flood emergency. Emergency crews have been working around the clock to rescue people trapped by the floods.
And this rescue on a remote Pacific Island is just like a scene out of a movie. An SOS signal was scrolled in the sand by a couple who were stranded for nearly a week after their boat ran into trouble. An international team searched nearly 17,000 miles for the pair before the plane caught a glimpse of the distress signal and then sent a patrol boat to pick them up.
And tragic news out of Chicago, the cousin of NBA superstar, Dwyane Wade, has been shot and killed. Rashan Ali explains. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RASHAN ALI, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The 32-year-old Nykia Aldridge was just walking on the street yesterday when she got caught up in the middle of a gun fight. She was pushing her baby in a stroller near a school where she was simply registering her children.
Police says she was caught in the crossfire and was shot in the head and arm. The mother of four was pronounced dead at the hospital. The baby was not hurt.
Last month, Dwyane Wade joined Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, and Lebron James on a stage at the ESPYs where the NBA stars pleaded for an end to racial profiling and gun violence.
On Thursday, Wade took part in an ESPN roundtable discussion about violence in his hometown of Chicago. Wade shared his heartbreak on social media tweeting, "My cousin was killed today in Chicago.
Another act of senseless gun violence. Four kids lost their mom for no reason. Unreal. Enough is enough." His mother spoke about the tragedy while her sister, the victim's mother.
His mother spoke about the tragedy while holding her sister, the victim's mother.
[11:55:01]PASTOR JOLINDA WADE, WADE'S MOTHER: Just set up a panel yesterday, the undefeated talking about the violence going on within our city, Chicago. Never knowing that the next day we would be the ones that would be actually living and experiencing it.
ALI: Investigators say Aldridge was not the intended target in the shooting. Police are currently questioning two people in this case. Rashan Ali, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, deadly overdoses are on the rise as heroin laced with an elephant tranquilizer hits the streets. We'll hear from addicts about this growing problem.
Then a governor leaves a nasty voice maid for a rival lawmaker. We bleep out portions of it, but some of you might still be offended.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I spent my life helping black people and you little son of a (inaudible) --
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WHITFIELD: Why he wanted that to go public. That's all coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
Donald Trump is back on the campaign trail today after spending the week trading fiery insults with Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine at a rally in Tallahassee, Florida. Tim Kaine linked Trump to racist ideals telling a crowd of mostly black supporters that Trump embraces the values of the Ku Klux Klan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAINE: He has supporters like David Duke connected with the Ku Klux Klan who are going around and saying Donald Trump is their --
