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FBI Has Now Officially Obtained A Search Warrant of Anthony Weiner's Computer; Russia's President Has Defined and Denied Meddling in the U.S. Election. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired October 30, 2016 - 19:00   ET

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


[19:00:00] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: But the bureau chose not to disclose that discovery until Friday. This timeline raises new questions about why the information was kept under wraps until FBI notified Congress on Friday just 11 days before the election.

And now, reaction tonight from Huma Abedin's camp. A source familiar with the investigation telling our Pamela Brown quote "the possibility that this device contains any emails of hers is news to her. The device supposedly at issue belonged to Anthony, not her." Anthony being, of course, disgraced New York congressman, former congressman Anthony Weiner, her now estranged husband.

Donald Trump just weighed in on this controversy at a rally in Colorado. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are leading all over the place and we are leading in numerous national polls. And those polls are all before the bombshell of corruption. That was additionally exposed or exposed for a second time on Friday. So this was all -- this was all before the big bombshell, these polls came out. So I don't know what that's going to mean. I can tell you, I wouldn't be voting for her. We could speak for days, for weeks, months, about Hillary's many crimes against this country and its people and her efforts to conceal those crimes by destroying 33,000 emails.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Also tonight, Senate minority leader Harry Reid fired off a blistering letter to FBI director James Comey. Here is the beginning of it.

Your actions in recent months have demonstrated a disturbing double standard for the treatment of sensitive information with what appears to be a clear intent to aid one political party over another. I am writing to inform you my office has determined these actions may violate the hatch act, which bars FBI officials from using their official authority to influence an election. Through your partisan actions, you may have broken the law.

CNN justice correspondent Evan Perez joins me tonight from Washington.

Evan, what are you hearing about the timeline of this investigation at this point?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, I got to say what a wild swing, right, for Jim Comey, who was just over a week ago being assailed by Republicans as the one being in favor of Hillary Clinton. Now Democrats are saying that he is in favor of Donald Trump. That's what has happened as a result of this.

We now know, Poppy, that the FBI investigators who are working on this investigation of Anthony Weiner and the allegations that he was exchanging explicit messages with an underage girl, that they took possession of the computer, his computer, in early October, and started going through it. It is around that time that they stumbled upon these messages, thousands of messages, we now know, that belonged to Huma Abedin. And that's when the legal problems began inside the justice department and the FBI to try to figure out how to determine what exactly these emails were. There was a lot of work that was being done, including technical teams that began cataloging the emails.

And we are told this issue was briefed to some of the top leaders of the FBI. By mid-October, Jim Comey was told and advised that there was this issue with the Weiner investigation and that it might have something to do with the Clinton investigation. But it wasn't until Thursday, Poppy, that the team that was doing this work felt that they had enough information that they came and briefed the director of the FBI. And he made the decision on Friday to notify members of Congress. Obviously, this raises a bunch of questions, right. The question of, could they have done this earlier? And would that have made a difference in the eyes of the Clinton campaign and in the eyes of voters?

HARLOW: Let me ask you something that is confusing me at this point, Evan. And that is, that the earlier reporting had been that this is a laptop computer shared by Huma Abedin and her now estranged husband Anthony Weiner. But now, your fellow justice correspondent Pamela Brown has just got some reporting from Huma's camp that says the possibility this device contains any emails of hers is news to her. The device supposedly at issue now belonged to Anthony, not her. So which is it? Did she use this computer or not?

PEREZ: That's one of the mysteries that we still, I think, are left to figure this out right now, Poppy. The FBI started looking at this computer, thinking that this was a device that was only used by Anthony Weiner. They stumbled upon these Huma Abedin messages. And that's when they finally said, well, it looks like she had used this computer. And it appears that the two of them had shared it. That's the -- you can draw that conclusion simply by the fact that there are thousands of her emails that are contained on this device.

Now, it appears that Huma Abedin does not remember that she had used this computer. That may well be. She probably doesn't remember, if that's what she was saying. The FBI though now has to go through the emails. They have done some work. Some of the technical work showed from the metadata that belong, you know, from the emails, it showed some of those emails went through the Clinton email server, the private server that was the subject of the year-long investigation. And that's why the FBI believes that there is some relevance here, and that's why they need to further look into them, to determine what this relates to.

[19:05:26] HARLOW: Evan, let me ask you this. I mean, this is, you know, the FBI inside and out. This is your beat and it has been for years. You know, increasingly, I'm hearing this drum beat from some, saying that, you know, perhaps Comey should resign, that she should assign a special prosecutor, that Loretta Lynch should jump in here. Give us the reality check of the likelihood of anything changing in FBI leadership or in terms of who leads this going forward.

PEREZ: Look, I don't see that happening any time soon. Look, we still have to figure out exactly what this is. I think the FBI director would like for his team to finish their investigation, to see if there is any classified information. I think that they feel that when we have some answers, then people can start asking questions about whether or not perhaps someone independently should come in and take another look at this. But the attorney general, Loretta Lynch, had some trouble as a result of the fact that you had that meeting on the tarmac at Phoenix airport just before this investigation was wrapped up, in which she met with Bill Clinton. And so that caused a lot of problems in the way of how this investigation was being overseen.

I think if Hillary Clinton become president, I think there is going to be a lot of questions asked. And you might hear Republicans asking for someone independently to take a look at that. But I think we are still far away from that.

HARLOW: Donald Trump in the second, you know, general election debate called for a special prosecutor. We'll see.

Evan, thank you.

PEREZ: Thank you.

HARLOW: Many are asking if the discovery of these emails, well, if it was made weeks ago, why did the FBI wait? Why did they wait until Friday to send a letter to Congress saying, look, there are these new emails?

My next guest is CNN senior law enforcement analyst, Tom Fuentes. He has a lot of insight into all of this.

What is your take on that, on the new timeline that we know the FBI knew of the existence of thousands of emails? They didn't know what they say, but didn't tell Congress they even existed until Friday.

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I think, Poppy, they were waiting to try to determine how many messages they had and the metadata about who transmitted it, what servers did they go through, at least some basic information. And the two teams of investigators, the email team and the Anthony Weiner team, collaborated and said, hey, what do you think? The team doing the Weiner case referred to the email team and said, what do you think? We would like you to look at these. And I think it took them a long time to actually get into looking at some of the metadata. And we don't know -- they would have had permission from Weiner and/or search warrants and subpoenas to look at his information.

When they find her information on there, that creates a dilemma. Does he have the right to say, that's my machine. If her stuff is on there, too bad. You can look at it? Do they now need to go through a separate process because it is her stuff, to get permission to look at it? Then how long does it take the technicians to try to analyze and catalog the amount of information? So the fact that they may have taken a week or two, you know, is not unusual. And it would be common that it would take -- even to get a basic idea of it. And then this past week, they decide director and say, OK, here is our preliminary look at this. You need to know - they are presenting their report to him, of what the preliminary findings showed.

HARLOW: Given how well you know the inner workings of the FBI, both camps, Trump and Clinton, are calling on Comey to release all of the emails. Put it all in the public domain and let the voters decide. How likely do you think it is, Tom Fuentes, that we get any more information from the FBI before November 8th?

FUENTES: We might get something. He might feel, you know, just that we have to put, you know, for the public's sake, the public needs to know something. That might happen. A limited basis. But the idea that we would now --

HARLOW: But is that helpful on a limited basis? I mean, is it helpful --

FUENTES: Well, I tell you, it going to have to be. If it even happens, it's going to have to be because the FBI is not going to conduct an investigation by mob rule and put all of their investigative material on a daily basis out there for the public to decide, what do you think today? What do you think tomorrow? What do you think the next day? Doesn't work that way. And they are not going to be able to verify in the matter of days. I have heard people say, why don't they put hundreds of agents and have them work 24 hours a day?

HARLOW: Right.

FUENTES: Well, much of the emails and the classification determinations are going to have to go back to the originators and go to those agencies and go to them during normal course of business hours. They are not going to be knocking on doors at 3:00 a.m. or 4:00 a.m.

HARLOW: I mean, that's actually something that Lanny Davis, top Clinton supporter and, you know, former lawyer for the Clintons, called on, exactly that yesterday.

Let me ask you, Tom, what power does attorney general Loretta Lynch have right now in all of this? Because she is Comey's boss.

[19:10:16] FUENTES: Good question. However, when Bill Clinton climbed on her airplane a couple days before Hillary Clinton came in for the FBI interview, right after that, with the outcry of that happening, then she came out and said, I'm deferring to the FBI to make the decision. She didn't say, my deputy attorney general or a senior assistant attorney general for criminal division or public corruption division or any of that. She said, I'm deferring to the FBI to make the decision. So she put Comey in the position of having the opportunity, which personally, I don't think he should have taken on July 5th. I think it still should have still gone to prosecutors at DOJ. But she deferred to him, and he took the opportunity on July 5th to say, I'm recommending no charges. And once that happened, that starts this whole firestorm of who is he to saying that there shouldn't be charges or that reasonable prosecutors wouldn't have taken this case because there was an outcry along many former U.S. attorneys that they would have.

HARLOW: I got to leave it there but you are saying she can't do anything at this point?

FUENTES: I don't think so.

HARLOW: All right. Tom Fuentes, thank you.

FUENTES: You are welcome.

HARLOW: Top representatives from the Clinton and Trump campaigns are spinning their viewpoints and reactions to the new FBI email review. Our Jake Tapper spoke with both sides on "STATE OF THE UNION."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN PODESTA, CHAIRMAN, HILLARY FOR AMERICA: So far, there is no charge of wrongdoing. There is no charge even that Hillary and the reporting that backs it upcoming from anonymous law enforcement sources indicates it might not be about her server. It may not be about her at all. So I think this is something that has been tossed into the middle of the campaign. We would have preferred that that not happen, but now that it has happened, Mr. Comey really needs to come forward and explain why he took this unprecedented step. Particularly when he said himself in the letter to the hill that this may not even be significant.

KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISOR/GOP POLLSTER: Had he sat on the information, one can argue that he also would be interfering with the election by not disclosing to the public that, yet again, for the second time in a year, Hillary Clinton is under FBI investigation for something of her own doing. We are only having this conversation today, Jake, because Hillary Clinton went against the law and set up a private server to hide stuff for the public. And here we are again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: The FBI discovered the new emails weeks ago. The bureau did not disclose that discovery until Friday. And now the clock is ticking. The presidential race reaches the final stretch. After the break, a closer look at what the candidates need to do before they each reach the finish line. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[19:16:08] HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's time for him to stop fear mongering. Stop destructing from what is really at stake. And, frankly, stop disgracing our democracy. When you are knocked down, what matters is whether you get up again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Hillary Clinton campaigning earlier today in the battleground state of Florida. Here is just how much of a toss-up state Florida and its 29 electoral votes are right now.

The NBC/"Wall Street Journal" new poll shows Clinton up by a single point in Florida. This new "New York Times" poll shows Trump up four points in Florida. This as the investigation into Clinton's private email server is back in the spotlight.

Jennifer Granholm is with me. She is the former governor of Michigan. She also is a supporter of Hillary Clinton. And she is the senior adviser, to correct the record, super Pac supporting Clinton. And with us also is Paris Dennard, CNN political commentator and Trump supporter.

Thank you both for being here.

JENNIFER GRANHOLM, CLINTON SUPPORTER: You bet.

HARLOW: Let me being with you, Jennifer. When it comes to what the Clinton camp thinks of FBI director Comey right now. You know, the campaign was pretty (INAUDIBLE) in their praise for him, even as recently as October 16th. Here's what her running mate, Tim Kaine said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TIM KAINE (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What I do know is this. That there was an extensive, as you know, investigation by the FBI under the direction of a wonderful and tough, career public servant, Jim Comey. Jim was in the U.S. attorney's office in the eastern district of Virginia when I was the mayor of Richmond. And he is somebody with the highest standards of integrity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: They say he has the highest standards of integrity. And then the Clinton camp today put out an ad on twitter. Here is part of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: FBI director James Comey released to Congress an unbelievably vague letter that was light on facts and heavy on innuendo. And it only serves to give Republicans a new line of attack against Hillary Clinton. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Governor, do you think that the camp risks looking hypocritical? And also risks making this look, in the final stretch, like a fight between the Clinton camp and the FBI rather than focusing on the issues?

GRANHOLM: Yes, I mean, I think first of all, circumstances changed in between statement number one and statement number two.

HARLOW: They did, yes.

GRANHOLM: The intervention of this particular, very unusual letter. I mean, I'm a former federal prosecutor and former attorney general. You just don't do that. And that's why you are seeing people on both sides of the aisle come out and say, wow, this is really unusual. And this is -- so he has created this problem, and he can fix this problem. At least by coming out and explaining, now that he is halfway through the door, explaining or characterizing what this batch of emails is. We don't even know if it is from Huma Abedin. We don't know anything about it. And it is really unprecedented, that this would be lobbed in the presidential race. So I think the first thing that the Clinton team wants is for him to come forward and let us know what this is.

HARLOW: I mean, the issue is, and I'll get to you, Paris, but the issue is that according to Evan Perez, governor, he doesn't know what the emails contain because they still don't have the warrant.

GRANHOLM: I think they do now.

HARLOW: They may now. CNN doesn't have that reporting. But up until perhaps this evening, he didn't have the warrant to go through the emails. That's part of the problem here and you are nine days out.

Paris, here is the thing. Same thing with your candidate, really changing his tune on the FBI and on Comey. Listen to what he said yesterday in Arizona first and then just earlier this week in Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And I have to tell you, I respect the fact that director Comey was able to come back after what he did. I respect that very much.

Likewise, they have essentially corrupted the director of the FBI, to the point at which stories are already saying that the great, and they are truly great, men and women who work for the FBI are embarrassed and ashamed of what he has done to one of our truly great institutions, the FBI itself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:20:24] HARLOW: So Paris, as a Trump supporter, I mean, which is it? Does he like Comey? Does he not? Does he think he does a good job and is ethical or not? PARIS DENNARD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think at the end of the

day, you look at the situation, before, many people would agree with Mr. Trump in saying that we were disappointed that -- with the director said in his final analysis, and not pursuing and going after Secretary Clinton for things that we all know. And every day, average American citizen did it, we would be locked up, would in jail and that is fact.

Many people in the intelligence community, many people in government have done similar things and done less things and have been prosecuted. And so now, we look at what the director is saying and doing. Mr. Trump is saying, congratulations. We agree with what you are doing because it is the right thing to do given the nature of this new revelation. And to correct something that the governor mentioned --

HARLOW: But nothing - I mean, nothing has changed. He is not - I mean, he is not prosecuting charges haven't been brought against Clinton. He is simply saying there are more emails and we are going to look at them.

DENNARD: Right. And that's what he needs to do. There are more emails. And it reinforces the narrative, and what I don't think is a narrative but I think is a fact, that the Clinton campaign specifically Secretary Clinton has led their people to hide, delete and destroy evidence as it relates to this situation, leading back to Benghazi. And the governor said something earlier. She said it is up to the director to fix. This is his problem. No, no, no, no. Secretary Clinton made this issue. This is her problem. She made the decision to delete 33,000 emails. She made the decision to take a --

GRANHOLM: This is not about that.

DENNARD: That's what this is about.

HARLOW: Governor, respond to the criticism, governor, that no one would be having this conversation had Clinton and all of her aides turned over all of their devices and all their emails.

GRANHOLM: Well, the aides did turn over their emails. So did she, turn over their emails. This, as you heard in the reporting --

HARLOW: This is a new device.

GRANHOLM: Right. You heard --

DENNARD: Yes.

GRANHOLM: The reporting was it was news to Huma Abedin, that her stuff was on this computer.

HARLOW: Right.

GRANHOLM: But here is what I would say. I mean, just to respond to Paris' points and to the points of everybody who thinks this really great this is opened up again. There has been reporting, for example, that the FBI is also investigating those surrounding Donald Trump's campaign for their ties with Russia and what has been going on.

HARLOW: Which director Comey has not commented on.

GRANHOLM: Right, of course. I'm just saying that there has been reporting on that. Now, let's just assume that that may be true.

HARLOW: This is different, governor.

GRANHOLM: Can you let me finish? Can I just finish the point?

HARLOW: It's not apples to apples.

GRANHOLM: If it were true that they are investigating, then should he continue to come out and say on a daily basis what he is finding, of course not. In any investigation, you do not want that to be a leak, leak, drip, drip. This is why you come out when your investigation is complete and you have enough material to announce charges or not. You don't comment on investigations. And you don't release stuff, especially in a high-profile case, where you know that it will have an impact on the election.

HARLOW: Paris, to her point, and I have to wrap it after this, does she have a point, that if the tables were turn and this was about your candidate, Donald Trump, would you want the drip, drip of information?

DENNARD: I can tell you this. If this had been an issue with Donald Trump, he would have come out from the beginning, released all of the information that he knew, a he --

GRANHOLM: Just like with his taxes, right?

DENNARD: This is Secretary Clinton's problem. Her fault. She has been dishonest and misled the American people. And this disqualifies her from being the commander in chief. Point-blank. Period.

HARLOW: We are going to get a break and you are both with me on the other side.

Stay with us. We are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:27:57] HARLOW: Let's continue the discussion we were having before the break. CNN political commentator, Paris Dennard is with us. He is a Trump supporter. And Clinton supporter, former governor of Michigan, Governor Jennifer Granholm.

Thank you both for being here.

And Governor, let me begin with you. Do you feel, do you have concerns that if Secretary Clinton wins and is the next president, that we are seeing what may play out with her in the White House? Meaning, Republicans calling for a special prosecutor, all of this continuing, even if she is commander in-chief? And frankly, bearing any legislative agenda she might have in the first 100 days. GRANHOLM: I worry that the Republicans will continue with obstructing

a positive agenda for everyday citizens, which is exactly what she wants to bring. If you want to see the playing out of what happened under the Obama years, where essentially, Congress became irrelevant to moving forward, they just did not do anything because they were obstructing after --

HARLOW: But the FBI is not the Republicans. I mean this could continue.

GRANHOLM: Yes. I mean, I'm not at all worried about whatever this is because I know that Hillary Clinton has released all of her work- related emails, and so has Huma Abedin. We don't know what's in here. But I am not at all concerned about that.

I definitely am concerned about this aura of congressional investigations and obstruction. Because really, the people should not be electing folks who are going to be determined to obstruct or try to impeach or anything like that. If that's what this is set up, then I hope that Democrats go to the polls in massive numbers to send a message that we want to see progress. We do not want to see obstruction.

HARLOW: On your point that Huma Abedin has turned over all her emails, at this point, we just don't know that. She has said that she has. And she may believe that she has. But the FBI is now saying there are emails on this computer, her emails that they believe may be pertinent --

GRANHOLM: They haven't said her emails. They said emails.

HARLOW: They said emails on a device she used.

[19:30:00] GRANHOLM: On a device that was -- that her husband used. I mean, we don't know. That's why you and I are guessing at this point. But I do think -- can I have one other quick point about this?

HARLOW: Quickly.

GRANHOLM: Here is what I think people have to dial back and take a look at. This email situation has been going on for a year and a half now. We have - we have seen every bit of whatever the FBI has looked at. Compare this issue with the gravity of this election and what we are facing. The economist recently, the global intelligence unit, just put Donald Trump on as the sixth biggest threat to the globe because of his recklessness.

HARLOW: Governor, that is up to the voters to do.

GRANHOLM: Of course.

HARLOW: And to decide for themselves, how much this matters to them. But honesty and integrity and transparency --

GRANHOLM: Of course.

HARLOW: -- does matter to voters.

GRANHOLM: Absolutely.

HARLOW: Paris, to you. Donald Trump said, I believe we have the sound here, that this is huge. This is even bigger than Watergate. Let's play it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: This is bigger than Watergate. This is bigger than Watergate, in my opinion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: He doesn't know what's in the emails, these newly reviewed ones. The FBI director doesn't even know, according to our justice correspondent, Evan Perez, because he hasn't been able to pour through them yet. Is Donald Trump risking a lot by saying that with no proof? Why come out and say this is bigger than Watergate when he has no idea?

DENNARD: Well, what we do know is that this is not an isolated incident. That's just the thing with Secretary Clinton. These aren't isolated incidents. This is part of a continued practice of hiding evidence, of destroying evidence and not being honest and trustworthy and straight shooting with the American people. If it was just this particular incident, then Mr. Trump would be overreaching. But it's not. We saw that she -- with the first investigation went on -

HARLOW: -- about this particular incident, and he is saying this is bigger than Watergate. And he hasn't seen the emails.

DENNARD: Right. And I think -- what I'm saying is it is part of a continued pattern of problems with the Clinton campaign. And if this is how she ran the secretary of state office, what led to Benghazi, and people dying, and we let that how she ran her campaign, this is only a precursor who how she would probably want the White House if, God forbid, she won in a couple of days.

And so we have serious issues. And the difference is, this is not someone who should not know better. She has been in the public eye for 30 years. She has been a secretary of state, the sitting first lady, as well as a United States senator. She knows better. She knows the rule of law. She is an attorney. And yet, she still does these things because apparently with the Clintons, the rules and the laws do not apply to them. And that is unfortunate. And the American people will decide soon if that's the type of leader that want in the White House. I don't think it is.

HARLOW: It will be up to the American people to decide on all counts.

Governor Granholm, thank you. Paris Dennard, thank you very much.

GRANHOLM: You bet.

HARLOW: We are going to get a quick break in. We will be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:36:12] HARLOW: With nine days to go, it is too soon to know what, if any, impact the FBI's latest review of these newly discovered emails might have on the race. Frankly, the polling just doesn't factor that in yet. The investigation though could have an impact on the Republican Party, especially if those who have rejected Trump return to the party fold and turn out in high numbers on Election Day.

CNN political commentator Lanhee Chen joins me now via Skype. Thank you for being here, Lahnee.

LAHNEE CHEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Sure, Poppy. Good to be with you.

HARLOW: You are Mitt Romney's former policy director. So I know you are not supporting Donald Trump, but you are a Republican. You actually don't see this email review, all of this coming out with the FBI, as a game changer. Why?

CHEN: Well, I think to a large degree, Poppy, all of this baggage that Hillary Clinton has, this is part of her image. This is something that I think is relatively baked in in people's impressions of her. Look, I think people recognize that she is not the most honest politician they have ever met, or honest politician they have ever seen. And she seems to have a set of rules that apply to her and then a set of rules that apply to everyone else. I think those are things that people, by and large, already kind of think and know about the Clintons.

So the problem with this current news is we are just not sure what to make of it. Anybody can say whatever they want about what might be in the emails. We just don't know.

HARLOW: If you're talking about honest honesty, I don't think many voters look at Donald Trump as the most honest candidate either.

CHEN: Correct.

HARLOW: I mean, you know, the number of times he has gotten, you know, many, many Pinocchios in the truth tests, if you will, and the fact checks in the "Washington Post," et cetera. I mean, for both of them, that it is a problem.

CHEN: Yes. No question about it. And I think that is why you find that there are a lot of Republicans who are this effective. There are a lot of independents who frankly aren't all that thrilled with the choice at all. But I think as a matter of image, as a matter of impression, I don't know that we have a whole lot of more new information on Hillary Clinton that we didn't have on Friday morning.

HARLOW: What about down ballot, Lahnee? Do you think this could have an impact down ballot? Could it insure that the Republicans hold on to the Senate?

CHEN: That is where I think it could have an impact. I think it could be very beneficial for Republicans down ballot in some of these top senate races. You know, North Carolina is sort of the latest example, I think, of a race that's gotten very, very close for the U.S. Senate. And if Republicans down the stretch here make the argument that they could be a check against Hillary Clinton, I think that could be a very effective argument for them and, ultimately, will work to their benefit.

HARLOW: Do you think it'll cause a higher percentage of Republican voters to sort of come home to Trump, so the percent of support among Republicans he has on November 8th will be closer to 80, 85 percent, opposed to 70, 75 percent we have seen reflected in the most recent polling?

CHEN: Yes, exactly. I think that's right. I think what you will see is you will see a larger percentage of voters who are Republicans. Self-identified Republicans make the decision probably to come back and vote for Trump.

Now remember, Mitt Romney got about 93 percent of the Republican vote in 2012. I don't see Donald Trump' number being that high. But even if he gets up to 80 or 85, the race is going to appear to be getting a lot closer.

HARLOW: Lahnee Chen, thank you very much.

CHEN: Thank you, Poppy.

HARLOW: Stay with us. We have an important update on the latest on the email investigation. Much more from Evan Perez next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:43:06] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

HARLOW: Breaking news about the FBI review of these new emails that may be pertinent into the investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server.

Let's bring in our justice correspondent Evan Perez, with some new reporting.

What have we learned?

PEREZ: Well, Poppy, we now know that the FBI has now officially obtained a search warrant to be able to conduct a full search of this computer that was owned by Anthony Weiner and that now has been found to contain thousands of emails from Huma Abedin. This is a key step of this investigation because the FBI wanted to make sure they had the search warrant, the proper authority, in order to see whether or not there is any classified information among these thousands of emails.

We do know that they have done at least a cursory look at some emails and saw enough there that caused them concern and caused them to want to do this. They want to see whether or not the classification issues are here and they want to see whether this has anything to do with their findings that they have already announced in the investigation that they closed in July. If you remember that's when the FBI director announced that there were no charges to be brought against Hillary Clinton.

HARLOW: Evan, we also know this new timeline that you have reported tonight that it turns out the FBI actually found out about these potentially new emails weeks ago. And they have been, you know, trying to go them, trying to decide if they should say anything to Congress, et cetera. They haven't actually poured through the emails until tonight because they didn't have a warrant.

Internally, what has this been like for the FBI? This is a beat you have been covering for years. You know it inside and out. What color can you give us as to the discussions within the FBI?

PEREZ: Well, I have to tell you, it's fair to say that this is royaling the ranks of the FBI. I mean, this is an organization that prides itself on trying to be apolitical but it is probably surprising to know there are some people inside the FBI who really view that taking this long to make a notification to Congress was improper. So there are some people who have some internal criticisms of the FBI.

Part of the issues here, Poppy, is this investigation was being handled, the Weiner investigation was being handled in the New York field office of the FBI. One of the biggest field offices in the FBI. This office, the officials there felt that some officials there felt this was taking too much time here in Washington, while all these people down in Washington feel that they were taking the proper steps to make sure they had the proper authorization, to make sure they knew what they were looking at. Obviously, there was some behind the scenes disagreement over how long this was taking. And I think that is one of the reasons why you saw the FBI director send that unusual letter on Friday. He feared that this information was going to leak because he knew that some of his agents were not happy.

[19:46:05] HARLOW: But it didn't leak. And frankly, we didn't find out about it until the letter went to Congress on Friday.

Evan, thank you for the reporting. The breaking news that the FBI s obtained the warrant to start going through these thousands of emails. See if anything is new or pertinent.

Coming up, Russia's president has defined perhaps meddling in the U.S. election. Putin wouldn't put it that way. And he has certainly denied it. But that doesn't mean the two candidates don't have an opinion on who they believe Putin wants in the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Putin, from everything I see, has no respect for this person.

CLINTON: Well, that's because he'd rather have a puppet as president.

TRUMP: No puppet.

CLINTON: It is pretty clear --

TRUMP: You are the puppet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Up next, I will ask one of president Putin's biggest critics, who does Moscow want in the White House?

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:50:44] HARLOW: Vladimir Putin is not on the ballot this election but the Russian president's name has come up over and over and over again, frankly, throughout this race.

Let's talk about the implications and put some perspective on it with Garry Kasparov. He is with me. He is the chairman of the Human rights foundation of a Russian pro-democracy leader, also a former world chess champion. He is one of the president Putin's most vocal critics. He is also the author of this book, "winter is coming: why Vladimir Putin and the enemies of the free world must be stopped." The paper back comes out November 8th.

Thank you for coming on.

GARRY KASPAROV, CHAIRMAN, THE HUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION: Thanks for having me on.

HARLOW: Do you believe whether the kremlin cares deeply whether it is Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump in the White House? Do you buy the argument from some that Putin wants Trump in the White House?

KASPAROV: Absolutely. I can hear the Russian propaganda machine supporting Trump 24/7. He gets more free time on Russian television than the United States. And also, Trump, with all his inconsistency, Trump's typical, you know, flip-flop on every issue, on almost every issue, he is very consistent in praising Putin and supporting Putin's geopolitical agenda, which is to weaken, destroy NATO, and push America away from global stage.

HARLOW: So here is the way Donald Trump puts it. And he has said this repeatedly. He has said wouldn't it be a good thing if the United States and Russia got along? Why wouldn't that be good for us? That's how he believes it -- that's how he looks at it right now. That's what he says publicly.

KASPAROV: Look, that's what he says publicly. But you know, before America, you know, looks for Russia, China or other non-democratic countries and tried to form relations, which is a good idea, it should start with improving relations with traditional allies. You cannot try to negotiate Putin, you know, some kind of geopolitical bargain at the expense of Europeans or other American traditional allies. And that's what Trump suggests.

HARLOW: But you were critical of Hillary Clinton around the time of the Russia reset. KASPAROV: Absolutely. Because they ignore the fact that Putin's

agenda was the opposite. But in 2008, it was kind of an open question. So I thought they were wrong. And you know, they were wrong. But today, there are more questions. Putin, you know, annexed the territory of the neighboring country. Look what's happening in Syria and look now what is happening in the Baltics and in Eastern Europe. These people, they have no genetic memory of the Russian occupation. They are really concerned about a new wave of Russian aggression.

HARLOW: You have an opinion piece that you wrote this week in the "New York Times." It is in Sunday edition and today's edition of the "New York Times," talking about a rigged election. And let me read part of it. I know a few things about a rigged election. I know what it is like to have the overwhelming power of the state used against me to make a mockery of the democratic process. I know what it means to have my opinion censored while every media outlet is dedicated to vilifying me and my colleagues. I know what happens when a conspiracy of public and private interests forms who intimidate, harass, prosecute or even in order to preserve a monopoly on power. When you hear Donald Trump says the system is rigged here in the United States --

KASPAROV: Rigged election means that every (INAUDIBLE). That means rigged election. He will not have, Donald Trump, access to mass media.

HARLOW: I mean, on a personal note, what does it mean, as someone who lived through this?

KASPAROV: Yes. Again, Trump says what Putin wants to hear. Because Putin is a dictator. They would like to undermine the U.S. democracy, the way people look at us in the world. They want to demonstrate that elections is rigged. Election is not fair. And American democracy lost its integrity. And Donald Trump plays straight into Putin's hands by saying election is rigged. Because my greatest fear, and I hope everyone has enough manpower and time, to look at the hiking attacks orchestrated by hostile foreign power, which I think can lead to a mess it Election Day. Because just imagine what happens if in battleground states, in Ohio, in Virginia, in Florida. People will not find their names in the voter registration database. And it is quite easy to create this mess for hostile foreign power that has an interest in destroying the integrity of the process.

[19:55:04] HARLOW: Putin came up repeatedly in the presidential debates. In the primary and also general in the election debates. It even led to this tense exchange between Clinton and Trump. Let's play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Putin, from everything I see, has no respect for this person.

CLINTON: Well, that's because he would rather have a puppet as president.

TRUMP: No puppet.

CLINTON: It is pretty clear --

TRUMP: You are the puppet.

CLINTON: It is pretty clear, you won't admit, that the Russians engaged in cyber-attacks against the Unite D States of America, that you encouraged espionage against our people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Do you agree with Clinton? Do you believe that Putin sees Donald Trump has someone he can manipulate and control?

KASPAROV: I don't believe for a second they couldn't find anything in Donald Trump if they accessed his emails. I believe they could do. But not a single email was released.

HARLOW: Is he someone they could control?

KASPAROV: It is not about controlling Trump. Though, of course, I want to see Donald Trump's tax returns because at the time of the bankruptcy he looked for some foreign capital. And we know some of his capital and these was provided by Russians. But Trump is an ideal counterpart because the way Trump thinks, the way Trump speaks and the way, I believe, he will act as president of the United States will be extremely beneficial for Putin.

HARLOW: We have to leave it there. I point everyone to your op-ed in the "New York Times" today. Thank you. Nice to have you on the program.

KASPAROV: Thank you.

HARLOW: Thank you all for joining us. Tonight ahead at 9:00 p.m., a brand-new edition of "ANTHONY BOURDAIN: PARTS UNKNOWN."

I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. Thanks for joining us. Have a great week.

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