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Latest in the U.S. Election Campaign; FBI Reopens Clinton Email Investigation; How Can Trump Reach 270 Electoral Votes?; Flooding in Egypt Examined. Aired 2-2:30a ET

Aired October 30, 2016 - 02:00   ET

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

CYRIL VANIER, CNN HOST: Twists and turns in the final days of the U.S. presidential race, Donald Trump tries to take advantage of a probe into more e-mails linked to Hillary Clinton. But it may be too late for the Republican candidate to close the gap.

We'll look at Trump's tough but possible path to the White House. Plus a break in Spain's deadlock -- Mariano Rajoy gets reelected as prime minister, ending almost a year of political uncertainty.

Hello. Thanks for joining us. I'm Cyril Vanier. And this is CNN "Newsroom." The FBI's discovery of e-mails by one of Hillary Clinton's top aides were made public over the objections of the U.S. attorney general.

According to officials, FBI Director James Comey ignored those objections when he was unilaterally informed -- when he unilaterally informed Congress on Friday. Hillary Clinton seemed to shake off the bombshell as she campaigned south (ph) today in Miami, with pop star, Jennifer Lopez.

There she is. Now, Clinton has been complaining loudly of Comey's timing, so close to the election. Thousands of e-mails belonging to long-time Clinton aide, Huma Abedin, were recently discovered during an unrelated FBI investigation of Abedin's estranged husband, Anthony Weiner, in the center of your screen.

The revelation was red meat for Republican candidate, Donald Trump, and his supporters. Here is what he had to say on Saturday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The only reason -- the only reason that they did this action that you saw yesterday was very, very serious things must be happening and must have been found very, very serious things -- very, very serious things. And you could also ask when they complain on the other side, why wasn't this evidence given previously?

Why wasn't it given previously? And when you talk about instincts, I don't know if anybody saw my comments on Anthony Weiner.

It's called instinct, folks. I had no idea I was going to be that accurate. Boy, that was right on the note.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VANIER: All right, just what was Trump referring to there? Here it

is, a tweet that he made back in 2015. Here it is.

"It came out that Huma Abedin knows all about Hillary's private illegal e-mails. Huma's P.R. husband, Anthony Weiner, will tell the world," Donald Trump feeling vindicated today.

The FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server was closed last July. So its sudden resurrection so close to the election knocked the Clinton campaign back on its heels.

The candidate went on the offensive on Saturday, targeting Comey for his timing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: It is pretty strange. It's pretty strange to put something like that out with such little information right before an election.

(APPLAUSE)

In fact -- in fact, it's not just strange, it's unprecedented. And it is deeply troubling because voters deserve to get full and complete facts.

And so we've called on Director Comey to explain everything right away, put it all out on the table, right?

(APPLAUSE)

Now, of course, Donald Trump is already making up lies about this. He is doing his best to confuse, mislead and discourage the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: So let's see where this leaves the race. Even before the e- mail controversy roared back to life, new polls were showing Trump closing the gap with Hillary Clinton. While a "Washington Post" ABC poll released on Saturday has Clinton now with just a two-point lead, that is within the margin of error.

A week ago, Clinton had a double-digit edge in the same poll. Now, CNN's poll of polls, which averages the five most recent national polls, gives Clinton a five-point advantage over Trump, however.

Trump's presidential bid has been struggling in recent weeks. But the renewed FBI investigation could bring a boost to his campaign.

The Republican nominee has to find a way to reach 270 electoral votes to win the election. CNN Political Director, David Chalian, breaks down the numbers.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: We've been talking a lot about Donald Trump's very narrow path to 270 electoral votes. And it was clearly on display if you looked at his travel schedule on Friday. He went to New Hampshire, Maine and Iowa -- a total of 11 electoral

votes at play there. But he needs them all. Take a look, this is our battleground map where we start right now.

Remember, if we give Donald Trump every remaining battleground state -- Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, and Ohio -- I'm even giving him that one electoral vote in Nebraska that's up for grabs, that gets him to 265 electoral votes. So he was in New Hampshire on Friday.

Look here, if he gets New Hampshire, that's 269 electoral votes. But why was he in Maine? Because he went to Maine's second congressional district, which they award their electoral votes by congressional district to pick up one electoral vote.

That electoral vote gets him to 270 if he's able to win that electoral vote in Maine. This is Donald Trump's path to 270 -- run the board, flip New Hampshire, win that Maine electoral vote, but which has a lot of white, non-college-educated voters -- Trump voters, where they really think they could pick that up, and they think it's what puts them over the hurdle.

VANIER: CNN's Political Director, David Chalian there for you. Let's move on now with ISIS that has reportedly executed 75 Iraqi officers in Mosul.

A witness says the men were among 600 people detained after gun battles earlier in the week. ISIS released many of the civilians.

And meanwhile, Iraqi forces are moving closer to Mosul. Officials say they cleared out ISIS fighters from a town south of the city after an attack.

Around 35 ISIS militants were killed during that battle. And the United States is worried that ISIS will use civilians as human shields against Iraqi forces, as it says it has done in the very recent past.

Now, to the brutal civil war in Syria, just on the other side of that border, an activist group says at least 21 people have been killed in Aleppo since Friday. The group says government forces, backed by Hezbollah militants, are trying to put down a new rebel offensive.

Video shows tanks, armored vehicles and rockets flying as intense fighting rages. Aleppo is divided between the government-controlled western section and the rebel-held east.

In Spain, the political deadlock has finally been resolved. Parliament has reelected Mariano Rajoy as prime minister.

Efforts to form a coalition government failed after December's general election. And Mr. Rajoy has been serving as the caretaker prime minister since then.

Now, he faces the challenge of governing with just 137 seats in a 350- seat-member parliament.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJOY (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I am now simply committed to defending the general interest, being aware of the difficulties many people are still experiencing. I think we are a great nation and a great country.

And I hope this does not remain as simply an investiture session, but that we are able to govern and work together, like in other European countries, where nobody has a majority.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: Now, despite an economic recovery, Spain faces an unemployment rate of nearly 20 percent. Iceland's anti-establishment pirate party is making gains in the country's parliamentary election.

The pirates came in third in early results. But they got less support than anticipated. Independent's party is taking the lead with around 40 percent of votes counted.

It's still too early to say which party will take power in Iceland. Protesters in South Korea are demanding that President Park Geun-hye step down.

Thousands of people marched through Seoul on Saturday. Mrs. Park is accused of leaking state departments to a friend.

The president apologized and admitted sharing documents to get a, quote, "personal opinion." Approval rating has now plunged to 21 percent.

Severe flooding struck parts of Egypt in the past two days. So Meteorologist Derek Van Dam joins us now with the latest.

Derek?

VAN DAM: Yes, you know, what we're going to see here in a moment is kind of the aftermath of the flooding visuals that someone captured with their cellphone on their camera -- or their camera on their cell phone, I should say. And here it is on your screens, as we speak.

Unfortunately, Cyril, 26 people perished in this flash flooding event, 72 people were injured in the according to the Egyptian Health Ministry. Seven of these people were washed down into the Red Sea city of the Ras Gharib region.

So this is about 300 kilometers to the south and east of Cairo. Heavy flooding across several Egyptian cities, like the one you see here, actually occurred early Friday morning and into the day on Saturday. Imagine just how dangerous it can be when flash flooding strikes, or any amount of severe weather strikes in the middle of the night when the majority of the population is sleeping.

A look at this -- this is an unaffiliated storm system, but still within the same region. We're across the southern Mediterranean and a large area of low pressure there continues to rotate across the streets and continues to just batter the area with scattered thunderstorms and some of the wind gusts out of this area in Greece and Italy, just shy of 100 kilometers per hour.

So you can imagine that this has the potential to bring at least downed trees, electrical lines, maybe perhaps taking shingles off of roofs. It's a dangerous situation, to say the least.

That storm system is slowly starting to exit the -- the region. But there is still the potential for damaging winds and large hail today, at least for the next six hours or so from Sicily, extreme (ph) southern sections of Italy and southwestern Greece, just outside of Athens.

So do -- do take care if you're located within that region. It's a tail of two (ph) seasons across Europe and Russia right now.

We've got a divider between the warm and mild weather to the south and west, near Spain and France, and the cold weather to the north of this jet stream, which is in Poland and into parts of Russia. In fact, we've had snowfall across Kazakhstan (ph) and into Southern Russia, another 15 to 20 centimeters in the pipeline over the next 48 hours.

There is a cold air mass with the shades of blue and the milder, well, let's say, early autumn weather for Southwestern Iberian Peninsula.

Take a look at this, though, Cyril -- a beautiful autumn picture coming from Southern Germany. I like to see those photos this time of year (ph).

VANIER: All right, Derek, you're going to stay with us. We're going to -- we've got some lightning news. We're going to see how you like this.

You know, it...

VAN DAM: All right.

VANIER: ...it's coming up on Halloween. So it's not absolutely unusual this time of the year to see ghosts, monsters of all kinds, walking the earth.

In Germany, though...

VAN DAM: OK.

VANIER: ...they're taking it a step further -- several steps further, in fact. Take a look.

Yes, I can see Derek doing that.

VAN DAM: Well...

VANIER: Exactly. A crowd of zombies gathered -- that's in Berlin. That was on Saturday. And it was the eighth annual zombie walk.

There is such a thing. And they showed off their killer dance moves. I like the pun there, the spooky classics like Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

The choreographer says it's just nice to pretend that you're someone else for a day.

(THROUGH TRANSLATOR): The good thing is getting the chance to be completely different. For one day, you can do whatever you want and nobody recognizes you.

One day, and you can do everything.

VANIER: So the zombies set off to walk around the German capital. You know, as you do, just give -- get (ph) people a taste for that costume just before Halloween, you know.

VAN DAM: And I believe you're -- you're new to Atlanta. And to see those types of things this time of year, leading up to Halloween, not so out of the usual.

VANIER: Yes, yes, I got two days -- two days to get used to -- to get the kids ready for the trick or treating.

VAN DAM: All right.

VANIER: All right. Derek Van Dam from the International Weather Center. Thank you very much. Thanks for joining us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST: Welcome to "Marketplace Africa." We're continuing our coverage in Ivory Coast.

And this week, we're focused on the champagne industry. The champagne committee says the Ivory Coast is the third largest consumer of champagne in Africa, which is relatively surprising, considering its more population of only about 23 million people.

But champagne contributors are squarely focused on heavy marketing and on tapping into a young population and a growing middle class. Cheers.

They're getting ready for a big party at this night club in Abidjan. And a huge part of the preparation is making sure the place is stocked with champagne.

(UNKNOWN): we love to party. So anytime we're celebrating something, anytime we want to party, everybody wants to pour (ph) some champagne.

ASHER: Ivory Coast is a former French colony. So it goes without saying that the country has a taste for the bubbly.

But in recent years, the rate of bottle-popping has increased dramatically. According to the champagne committee, Ivorians consumed more than 265,000 bottles of champagne in 2015, up more than 75 percent since 2012.

(UNKNOWN): Everything is going well for the moment here (ph). In (ph) (inaudible), people just want to party and enjoy.

And drinking champagne in the French -- French culture is a way of showing you achieved something in your life. And champagne is no more a product of luxury.

It's a product of high consumption because the price of a bottle of champagne is the same that a price of a bottle of whiskey.

ASHER: Harry Mazham (ph) heads the alcohol division of Persuma (ph) Group. They distribute and market some of the country's best-selling brands.

MAZHAM (ph): So champagne is -- the number of bottles sold (ph) is (ph) a lot (ph). We are selling between 45 to 50 percent market share.

ASHER: He says the key to cornering the market is to appeal directly to the customer.

MAZHAM (ph): The best thing is to go to the people and not just lowering your price or whatever. We like going to the people and explain them what is champagne, the way you can drinking and how fun it is to drink it.

ASHER: And it seems that champagne makers are catching on.

(UNKNOWN): Champagne producers are slowly waking up to the fast levels (ph) of mature markets are reaching finite limits of how much they can grow.

And within that context, I think it is a strategic long-term decision to target areas in nations like African nations and -- and Middle East.

MAZHAM (ph): Long-time (ph) is the -- the -- our first champagne. It's actually the first one in Cote d'Ivoire (ph).

ASHER: Mazham (ph) says almost 50 percent of the price of a bottle of champagne goes towards import costs. So the only way to make money is to sell in high volumes.

MAZHAM (ph): We increase the margin in selling more and more bottles. And that's why we need the help of the supplier that they are giving of (ph) marketing budget to increase these sales.

ASHER: Persuma's biggest clients on nightclubs, champagne is always in high demand. And guests are willing to pay a premium for it.

She says that oftentimes, it's double the price, even at times, triple the price. So that's how much money they are making from each bottle of champagne.

It can be up to double or even triple the original price. But while partygoers in glitzy venues like this toast to the good life, in other parts of the country, champagne is an excess that few can afford.

Is this a little bit wasteful given that 40 percent of the country live below the poverty line?

MAZHAM (ph): When you work hard and you get -- you succeed, you can -- you can -- you have the chance to turn (ph) -- to take better product to eat, better watch, have a bigger house. Champagne is just a good wine.

So it's just a way of drinking better, drinking a better product.

ASHER: And as Africa's middle class continues to grow, the continent's thirst for champagne will likely follow.

(UNKNOWN): Don't expect obviously Africa to become a new France. But this kind of country (ph) will slowly become more relevant to wider parts of the population, and eventually feed through to the middle class, that we will bounce (ph) it away, but it will also be celebratory part (ph).

ASHER: Time for a quick break here on "Marketplace Africa." When we come back, I'll introduce you to a man who is completely rethinking Abidjan's urban landscape. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ASHER: Welcome back, everybody. I'm here at Les Residences Chocolat (ph), a luxury housing complex in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, designed and developed by architecture group, Koffi & Diabate. The group that was formed in 2001 and has designed hundreds of properties across West Africa.

I spoke with one of the founding partners about their approach to satisfying the architectural needs across the country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: Issa, just explain to us your concept, your vision for these complexes.

DIABATE: Well, actually, here, we have 32 units that are positioned as luxury units. We have 18 apartments and 14 houses.

And the challenge for us here was to, you know, make people who were used to live in -- in bigger houses in, you know, with big gardens to share space and live in something more complex.

ASHER: You had to sell them on the idea of living small?

DIABATE: Yes.

ASHER: How hard was that?

DIABATE: Well, that was -- actually, it was easier than we expected because it makes sense. When you're in a city like Abidjan, where you have to, you know, deal with traffic, where you have to deal with the bad way neighborhoods are planned, you're looking for something where everything is taken care of for you.

ASHER: So you were the architect and the developer?

DIABATE: Yes.

ASHER: I'm just curious, how rare is that? And is there more money to be made by doing it that way?

DIABATE: Well, the main reason why we did that is because we wanted to control the entire chain, you know, from the design to the built (ph) object. This is one unit -- and the house units.

It's a four-bedroom in a little space.

ASHER: OK.

DIABATE: So we're at the front door here. So this is the entry space that leads to the main living room.

So here, we have the living room and a dining space there. As you can see, it's all open to the gardens so...

ASHER: Right.

DIABATE: ...so it gives a sense of bigger space.

ASHER: Right. And a lot of natural light so...

DIABATE: And lots of natural light as well.

ASHER: It does give it a tinge of authenticity as well as a touch (ph) of plants that you guys plant as well.

DIABATE: Yes, yes.

ASHER: It does make you feel like you are in West Africa.

DIABATE: Yes, even though all the plants are tropical.

ASHER: Yes. What makes a good architect great do you think?

DIABATE: I think what makes a great architect is the -- the way the architect responds to their environment, to their sociological, cultural and physical environment. It is obvious that with the same kind of training you get in -- in a school, you know, working in different environments allows you to tackle different problems.

For instance, if I was practicing in -- in New York or Paris, I would have never been able to do the things that we do here, such as develop a neighborhood.

So it's always how you connect with whatever surrounds you, what environment you work in, you know, what political environment you work in, what physical environment you work in.

ASHER: In Cote d'Ivoire, what are the sort of environmental factors you have to take into account as you're designing your project? DIABATE: Well, the first thing you have to take into account is that

if you don't do it yourself, nobody is going to do it for you. So in terms of urban planning, although we tend to have a general direction, unless the architect takes that into his hand, you know, he will never be able to express himself the way he thinks he should.

ASHER: How much do you think the civil war set Abidjan back in terms of architectural development?

DIABATE: Well, what really happened in civil war is that nothing was moving forward. Nothing was built here for 10, 15 years.

So in terms of training, in terms of how do you work for a big project, how do you -- in terms of project governance, we had to relearn that after 10 years.

ASHER: This sort of fancy architecture that's very modern, very urban, there's only a certain class of people that can afford it. I mean, this unit is $900,000 U.S. dollars.

DIABATE: Yes.

ASHER: That's a lot of money here in Cote d'Ivoire. What would happen to the people with less disposable income?

DIABATE: If you are going to start development, you will start with the higher end because that's where you have the money. And of course, you will work for a small scale.

Once they start acquiring the skills of development, you can move on to a bigger scale, which is why our next project is going to be a hundred and 78 units. And we're targeting people with more modest incomes.

ASHER: So does that mean, you know, you have a vision -- an architectural vision for people who live in villages, for example?

DIABATE: Absolutely. I mean...

ASHER: OK.

DIABATE: ...the -- the vision starts from the luxury all the way to the village.

ASHER: OK, so how do you modernize a village then?

DIABATE: What is even more urgent is to modernize the poor, urban spaces. And you have to come up with solutions that don't necessarily push them away of the city, but how do you integrate those spaces, you know, with spaces like these?

ASHER: Ivory Coast has -- is one of the fastest-growing economies in Africa. I'm just curious what does that mean for you as a developer, as an architect?

Who is your target client? DIABATE: We are mainly targeting the people who live here. So these

are Ivorians with or without money.

For us, it's very important to be focused on a local vision, you know, what do we want this city to become for the people who will live here. Now, what is our vision with regards to low-income housing spaces (ph)?

What is our vision with regards to urban planning? How do we set up our city? You know, are we pushing for more cars?

Or are we focusing more on public transportation? These are the real issues that, you know, we really want to target.

ASHER: Make sure to visit our website and Facebook page to share your thoughts. Thanks so much for watching.

We'll be back with more from the Ivory Coast next week in the "Marketplace."