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Strong Earthquake Destroys Buildings in Central Italy; Clinton Demands FBI Release Full Facts in Email Review; GOP Rallies Amid Clinton Email Review; Massive 6.6 Quake Shakes Central Italy, Clinton Campaign: Comey Letter Light on Facts; Indians One Win Away from World Series Title. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired October 30, 2016 - 07:00   ET

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


[07:00:01] ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Now, confirm your selection using either your e-mail address or Facebook account and you're all set. And this year for the first time, you can also vote from Facebook Messenger and on Twitter. You can vote up to 10 times a day per method every day through December 6th. Then, rally your friends by sharing your vote on social media. We'll reveal the 2016 Hero of the Year alive during "The 10th annual CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" Sunday, December 11th.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to get to the latest in the presidential race momentarily, but we have to tell you this morning about a situation that's unfolding in Italy right now.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: We've got new video coming in to us overnight showing the aftermath of a 6.6 earthquake in central Italy, felt as far away as Rome. Buildings in some areas reduced to a pile of rubble.

The damage you see you here in Norcia, which is northeast of the capital, and close to where the earthquake hit.

PAUL: And take a look at this next video we have here. These are first responders, obviously. They're helping to get nuns to safety after their church, the Basilica of San Benedetto crumbled. The surrounding monastery here was also partially leveled in this quake. There's the thing, no reports of fatalities.

There are now, at this hour, several people we are told who are injured, but this is two months since a major earthquake killed nearly 300 people and destroyed towns in that same region. And it is the fifth earthquake that has hit Italy since April.

BLACKWELL: Journalist and CNN contributor Barbie Nadeau joins now from Rome, where that quake was felt.

Give us an idea of what was felt there, but also the context of what this earthquake happened, during, as Christi just said, the fifth in a short period of time. BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: That's right.

Well, we certainly felt in Rome. You have buildings shaking and the underground metropolitan system is still closed in central area, as they're making some checks here. But where the epicenter was, four days ago, there was a major earthquake as well. Two, actually, there are twin earthquakes. One, 5.5, and another one a couple hours later, 6.1.

In reality that is what's saving lives in this particular incident because people evacuated last week. They were afraid. Their homes were damaged. There was widespread damage to area of the hill towns. This is the top part of Italy you see these in postcards. These beautiful mountain villages, they're made of stone on narrow roads. People got out of there last week which is what saved them today.

But the damage is unbelievable to some of these structures in part because of an earthquake. And damage them in part because of last week's twin earthquakes and this morning that was still standing, completely leveled to the ground.

BLACKWELL: All right. Barbie Nadeau in Rome for us there, giving us an idea of the devastation and the extent of the damage to the buildings there, although as you said, so many people had evacuated because of the previous earthquakes. Barbie, thanks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Director Comey was the one who wrote a letter that was light on facts, heavy on innuendo.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's very strange to put something like that out right with such little information right before an election.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hillary Clinton should never, ever based on everything that took place be allowed to run for the presidency of the United States.

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

TRUMP: Hillary Clinton's corruption is corrosive to the soul of our nation and it must be stopped. It must be stopped.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: Single digits, yes.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: Nine days, people, until the election. The clock's ticking for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton making their final arguments now.

BLACKWELL: You have no time to waste for the candidates and their surrogates today. Donald Trump continues his western road trip. He's in Las Vegas, there stopping in Colorado, New Mexico today. Hillary Clinton campaigns in the critical battleground state of Florida.

PAUL: This morning, we're getting a snapshot of the some early voting numbers. CNN has partnered with data company Catalist and they say more than 18 million people have already cast ballots, 9.7 million in battleground states. And based on CNN's analysis of the data from some key battlegrounds, there's positive signs for Democrats in Colorado, North Carolina and Nevada. For Republicans, some good signs in Ohio and Iowa.

BLACKWELL: All this as the Clinton camp is hitting back at FBI Director James Comey. They are demanding that the FBI comes forward with all it knows about newly discovered e-mails potentially related into the investigation into Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

[07:05:01] JOHN PODESTA, CLINTON CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Director Comey was the one who wrote a letter that was light on facts, heavy on innuendo knowing full well what Republicans in Congress would do with it. It's now up to him who owes the public answers to the questions that are now on the table.

(END AUDIO CIP)

PAUL: Also this morning, four top Senate Democrats are setting a deadline for the FBI and the Department of Justice on this investigation. They're saying the deadline's tomorrow. We're talking three senators, only three ranking senators of key committees asking Director Comey and Attorney General Lynch for more information by tomorrow about, quote, "the investigative steps being taken."

Let's talk about this with CNN politics reporter Steven Collinson, and CNN senior media correspondent and host of CNN "RELIABLE SUORCES", Brian Stelter.

Gentlemen, thank you so much for being with us.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

PAUL: Steven, I want to start with you if I could.

So, we're seeing this letter. They're demanding answers of some sort by tomorrow. But at the end of the day, we're not really hearing anything from the candidates, except the back and forth on each other. There's no policy being talked about. It's almost as though everybody is on the defensive. Yes?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Yes, Christi. I think what elections are about at this late stage is mobilization. And there's nothing that motivates Republicans and Democrats to vote like the thought of on the one side, Donald Trump being president, or other side Hillary Clinton being president.

That's why this email issue at this late stage is so valuable for Donald Trump, because it gives Republicans a message they can rally around, that perhaps some of them who were worried about Donald Trump and didn't support everything, that's a message they can get to. So, I think we'll see Republican support coalescing around Donald Trump and he'll probably go up in polls in the last few days in this election.

The question is, is this e-mail issue something that can really hurt Hillary Clinton? Are there large numbers of undecided voters that haven't made up their mind about her character, her honesty, and her e-mail situation that is suddenly going to gravitate towards Donald Trump? Because that's what needs to happen to change the fundamentals of the election. I think that's a much more uncertain case.

PAUL: Let's listen to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. He was in Phoenix yesterday. She was at a get out of the vote concert in Miami. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: What are the reasons I say it's rigged is because Hillary Clinton, nothing do with what was found recently, Hillary Clinton should never, ever based on everything that took place be allowed to run for the presidency of the United States.

CLINTON: No matter how low our opponents go, we go high! And no matter what they throw at us, we don't back down! Not now, not ever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Steven, is there any other message they can be talking about, do you think, that would change minds at this point? Or as Hillary Clinton has said, she thinks people have already made up their minds, particularly about whether the e-mail -- the e-mail issue matters to them?

COLLINSON: I think, Christi, this is a race in which we've got two of the most polarizing candidates in modern election history. You know, polls show that there are some people that could change their minds at the late stage of the election, but you have to really believe that, you know, given how starkly different these candidates are, there's not that much room for it to change.

I really feel that, you know, this issue and the issues around Donald Trump have given us a very good picture of these two candidates. It doesn't seem that there are a lot of wavering people out there. Perhaps, you know, in a state like Ohio or Arizona where we have a very, very close race, we might get a few thousand votes shifting either way that could change things, but the state of the electoral map for Donald Trump is such that he has to have a per week and a perfect run for the battleground states on election night to win.

It's not impossible. It could happen, but it still seems far more likely that Hillary Clinton given the margins in some of those battleground states, will be able to ride out this controversy and we don't know what's going to happen on the next week. Something big could happen on either side that could change the race. Right now, it doesn't seem like the e-mail thing has the capacity to really shake this up.

PAUL: Yes, well, Brian, I was seeing stories earlier this week where they were interviewing people going to the polls and they were walking to the polls saying, I still don't know what I'm going to do. Now, I understood you spoke with Clinton's chief strategist Joel Benenson, what did you learn from him about their strategy and what they'll do from this point on?

STELTER: Yes, it strikes me talking about the polls that we're in the period of time between a dramatic new development and the period of time when we get polling on the dramatic new development. It's sort of that period where you don't exactly know how the public is reacting.

And that's true of the Clinton campaign as well. Joel Benenson telling me overnight that on Friday night, the campaign was not doing internal polling. Normally, it's harder to reach people on Friday.

[07:10:01] It's the worst day of the week to do polls. On Saturday, the Clinton campaign was in the field doing internal polling. So, presumably by this morning, they'll have some sense of how they believe the voters are reacting.

In terms of media polls, polls from news organization, we'll see some of those in the next couple of days as well. For an initial sense of how the public reacted to this latest Friday development. But it's clear the Clinton campaign is going on the offense. You can hear it from Clinton and John Podesta. I think we'll hear it on the Sunday morning shows. This attempt to make the story about Comey and not about Clinton.

And there are signs, at least some Clinton loyalists are actually motivated by the developments in the same way that Trump supporters are motivated by the developments.

So, I wonder to Steven's point, if it's almost a wash, if both sides are mobilized and fired up as a result of these latest stories.

PAUL: All righty. Brian Stelter, Stephen Collinson, thank you so much. We appreciate it. You can see more of Brian Stelter, of course, his show "RELIABLE SOURCES" this morning at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

BLACKWELL: All right. And the Clinton campaign, as Brian said there, going head to head with FBI Director Comey calling his letter about this new e-mail probe pertinent potentially to their investigation, light on facts, heavy on innuendo. Is this a winning strategy with nine days to go?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Welcome back.

A late October bombshell or just a shell from the FBI director that's raising more questions than answers? Now, Democrats want more information from the FBI director about this Clinton review and they want it tomorrow.

I want to bring in Democratic Congresswoman Michelle Grisham who is joining us.

Congresswoman, good morning to you.

REP. MICHELLE GRISHAM (D), NEW MEXICO: Good morning to you.

BLACKWELL: So, let's start with this letter that was sent over by four Senate Democrats to the director making a direct ask. There were criticisms of the letter but they asked for several things here.

"No later than Monday, October 31st, we request that you provide us with more detailed information about the investigative steps being taken, the number of e-mails being involved and what's being done to determine how many of these e-mails are duplicative of those being reviewed by the FBI."

[07:15:13] Let's say within the next 40 hours so, the department is able to answer those questions. That still doesn't get to the narrative of what's here. So what does this essentially get the American public?

GRISHAM: Well, I don't know what that's going to do for the American public going forward except this, that we can finally at least if we get more information from the FBI, we'd have an earnest conversation about what they are looking at or not. That letter from Comey, all innuendo that had no facts, creates an environment in this election where we can continue to have sparring about non-factual efforts and emotions about the e-mail server and about both candidates.

And that is not only inappropriate in the context of the election in general but from the FBI is unprecedented, unwarranted and quite frankly really unprofessional.

BLACKWELL: All right. So, let's expand this. You mentioned the context of the election, nine days left until Election Day, and we're hearing these candidates, of course, make those closing arguments, but this is how Hillary Clinton began her comments at the rally yesterday in Florida. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: Some of you may have heard about a letter that the FBI director sent out yesterday. Well, if you're like me, you probably have a few questions about it. It is pretty strange. It's pretty strange to put something like that out with such little information right before an election.

In fact, in fact, it's not just strange, it's unprecedented and it is deeply troubling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So, lots of booing there from the crowd. Hillary Clinton continued to go on there. Is that what we're going to hear from her over the next nine days as she tries to make that closing argument, starting and pretty critically with the director of the FBI?

GRISHAM: Well, she's completely correct. This is not how an independent, objective investigative arm behaves. She was very clear right that there is no there there. We're going to continue to fight for the election. We're going to continue to focus on the message that voters and Americans are wanting us to focus on.

It's really the difference between those that can govern, Secretary Clinton, those with the experienced, most experienced candidate in the history of the electoral process for president, and I thought she did a really effective job at saying there is no information. It is now highly politically chard by an independent, objective investigative arm who should not, cannot, and I will tell you as a member of Congress and an attorney, they don't respond to us and should not when we're inquiring about ongoing investigations, about whether they're even thinking about an election.

Why would this letter appear this close to the election?

BLACKWELL: The intent according to an internal memo was to keep Congress abreast of where this investigation stood.

GRISHAM: Well, they don't typically do that and it's not about Secretary Clinton.

BLACKWELL: We're going to -- that's a good point. We'll get to that a little later with another panel.

But let me ask you -- if Director Comey does not turn over this information tomorrow, and let's say if he does, should there be hearings convened to discuss more of these potentially pertinent e- mails and his decision to send over this letter?

GRISHAM: Well, the fear I would have, I sit on the government and oversight -- the Oversight and Reform Committee, if you don't have any facts and he's not turning over anything, then you continue -- then we are participating in charging and creating an atmosphere in this election that is not about the candidates, not about facts but creating questions that are inappropriate and unfair, and it interferes with the objectivity of this election.

I would find that to be even as chilling as the letter that we currently have from the FBI.

BLACKWELL: So, despite wanting more answers at this point, your suggestion, your recommendation would be no hearings?

GRISHAM: That's my recommendation and, in fact, that the information now should come directly from the FBI, either directly back to the chairman, which I think was an inappropriate context to start with, or to in my preferences, they should answer now the Clinton campaign and the senators who have asked for additional information by tomorrow.

BLACKWELL: All right. Deadline October 31st, as you said, Monday. Congresswoman Michelle Grisham, thanks so much.

GRISHAM: Thank you.

PAUL: Look, this late October surprise from the FBI director, some think, is giving new life to Donald Trump and the GOP.

[07:20:08] Is this what the Republican Party needed to unite after months of division? We'll have that conversation. Stay close.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Well, Donald Trump and the GOP have found new life in their campaigns, it seems, now that the FBI director is reviewing e-mails potentially related to Clinton's -- Hillary Clinton's private server.

Now, while Clinton has called the FBI's move unprecedented and deeply troubling, Donald Trump and even Speaker Paul Ryan say what is happening is long overdue. Many Republican candidates up for re- election are hoping that this controversy may boost their struggling bids.

CNN political commentator and conservative radio talk show host Ben Ferguson is with us now.

So, Ben, let's talk about the task at hand.

BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

PAUL: What's been -- good morning -- in the news, the headline in the last couple of days, is this what the GOP needed to come together just days before this election when we know that this was a party that was really deeply severed.

FERGUSON: Yes, absolutely. I think what you're seeing here is this is the common denominator that is able to unite Republicans who have not necessarily been united over Donald Trump because everyone that I've talked to, even those that were worried that they may not vote for Donald Trump are saying now without a shadow of a doubt, I'm going to go vote for him, with excitement, because I do not trust Hillary Clinton. I feel that she is above the law. I feel that she's corrupt. If feel that she's not honest, she's not trustworthy with the American people and I can't trust her to be president.

I have not seen -- I've been critical of Donald Trump early on in this election, even after he got the nomination.

[07:25:03] But I have not seen a united GOP like I have since Friday around noon when this was exposed and the way that it was and people said, this is enough. I've got to go vote against her. I cannot allow her to become president.

PAUL: OK. So with that said, how long of a life span do you think this GOP love fest has because Donald Trump is not -- if Donald Trump is not elected, do you -- can you identify a Republican who can lead this party?

FERGUSON: Look, I think right now, one, you have the GOP that truly believes now that Donald Trump is going to be the next president because of what has been exposed by Hillary Clinton or even though she tried to do everything she could to make sure this information never came out to light. So, afterwards, I also think you will see a much more united GOP.

Paul Ryan putting out his message that he put out Friday made it very clear that we are all on the same team on this one, on corruption, and on the fact that Hillary Clinton is above the law.

I mean, you've got to look at what most people see here. They see a woman who is not honest with the American people. She's --

(CROSSTALK)

PAUL: Why did it take -- let me ask you this. Why did it take something like this? Even Hillary Clinton has come out and said, I think people made up their mind about my e-mails already.

FERGUSON: She hopes. She hopes.

PAUL: Well, but with that said, and there's probably some truth to that to some degree, why did it take something like this for Republicans to get behind Donald Trump if that is how they have felt about Hillary Clinton for so long?

FERGUSON: Well, there was a splinter because you had a lot of people who did not like the way Donald Trump said things and the way he was not focused on issues, the way that he did not focus on some of the issues in the last month of the campaign. And so, when you saw him struggling in the polls recently over the last couple of weeks with all the information that came out with that tape of Billy Bush, you had people that said, OK, I'm not even excited right now.

Look, excitement is everything going into Election Day. Not only do you have excitement now around the GOP, you have genuine anger towards Hillary Clinton that people believe is truly above the law. That's all you need going into this election.

Donald Trump can be very smart with this, stay focused on this issue, talk about her trustworthiness. Remember, Hillary Clinton in exit poll data in the Democratic primary, about 70 plus percent of Democrats said their number issue with her was honesty and integrity. That was among Democrats.

(CROSSTALK)

PAUL: There's no doubt, trustworthiness is where she is most vulnerable. But let me throw one more thing at you and I have to be quick here. Regardless of who wins, what if all of this comes back and there was absolutely wrongdoing? What then?

FERGUSON: I have a hard time buying that. I don't think James Comey would send this letter to Congress without there being something explosive in there.

And here's the other last thing, how in the world does Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin have this many documents that apparently -- from the FBI's position here, if they were not some of them at least classified, I don't think he sends this letter. If they're just random e-mails, I don't think he sends this e-mail. If they're duplicates, I don't think he sends this letter.

I think James Comey, to quote the Clinton campaign, is a very standup prosecutor. He defended them early on when he said there wasn't enough there. Now he says there's enough to re-open the investigation. That is massive going into Election Day.

PAUL: All right. Ben Ferguson, we know that he has said, Director Comey, that he felt an obligation to send this out, but that he does not know --

FERGUSON: Absolutely.

PAUL: -- if any of this information yet is significant.

Ben Ferguson, thank you so much for your insight. Appreciate you being here.

FERGUSON: Thanks. Good to be here.

PAUL: All right. So, who is James Comey? The man shaking up this investigation with just nine days left and did he make the right call? We'll take a look with our panel after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:32:04] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to get to the latest in the presidential race r momentarily here, but we have to update you on a situation that's unfolding in Italy right now.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get you the new video showing the aftermath of a 6.6 earthquake. This is central Italy, but it was felt as far away as Rome. You see the buildings here, just reduced to rubble. The damage in Norcia, that's where the epicenter is here, northeast of the capitol and close to where the earthquake hit.

PAUL: I want to show you some other video here that we've gotten in. Look at this, first responders helping get nuns to safety after their church crumbled. This is their church, the Basilica of San Benedicto. It was an international Benedictine community. It was partially leveled in this quake.

Here's what's amazing. No reports of fatalities. We are told several people are injured but no one killed that we know of thus far. We do know some people are being air lifted to hospitals because roads are closed. You can see why.

It's been two months since a major earthquake killed nearly 3 million people and destroyed towns in that same area.

So, let's go to Italy now and talk to Dr. Laura Gregory. She's a research fellow with the Institute of Geophysics and Tectonics. And she's been studying earthquakes in the central Italy region for about four years.

Doctor, thank you for being with us. We appreciate it.

I wanted to ask you, as we understand it, there have been four earthquakes there, this would be the fifth earthquake in the last seven months since April. Compare this to what you've seen thus far.

DR. LAURA GREGORY, INSTITUTE OF GEOPHYSICS AND TECTONICS (via telephone): Yes, so there's actually -- this is the third earthquake in this particular sequence. We came out after the first one on the 24th of August. There is incredible, you know, really horrible devastation in the towns and the valley and the other area. Those little towns were sitting on the fault. So, they were extensively damaged.

So far for this event, we obviously felt the shaking really strongly, but I have not seen much damage where we were staying. We've actually driven to the fault right now, because it's important to get information after and there are big rock falls on the road and stuff that we have to navigate around.

(CROSSTALK)

PAUL: So, you're sitting on the fault line.

GREGORY: Yes.

PAUL: Where were you when this thing hit? And what are you learning from where you are at the moment?

GREGORY: Yes. So, I was in my hotel which is several tens of kilometers, maybe 20 miles from the epicenter area. I was actually brushing my teeth when it happened. I knew what was going on immediately and ran and hid under my desk.

The shaking was really intense. It shook for 20 or 30 seconds. I stayed under there. Then we went out into the square for quite a long time after to get out of the building.

[07:35:02] What we're hoping to learn? Well, so we -- we still have a lot to learn about earthquakes. Every time one happens, we learn something new. What we're hoping to do here, we're kind of -- it's not really fortunate, but we're fortunate to be in the area when this happens because it can get out immediately.

We have a scanner which takes an incredibly detailed image of where the fault has ruptured and we'll be able to see how that evolves over time, because the fault moves during the earthquake. Then it keeps moving afterwards. The kind of nature of that movement can tell us a lot about earthquakes and fault behavior.

PAUL: Sure. Dr. Laura Gregory, first of all, we're glad that you're okay.

GREGORY: Thank you. PAUL: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us just in the

aftermath of this, and just the early hours here right after this earthquake. As we understand --

GREGORY: Sure.

PAUL: -- this is a monastery there are monks, they're going through rubble to me sure they didn't have to read anyone their last rites.

So, Dr. Laura Gregory, thank you so much. Take good care.

GREGORY: Yes. OK, thank you very much.

(MUSIC)

BLACKWELL: We may need another countdown clock on the screen, Christi.

PAUL: Yes, top Senate Democrats joining the Clinton campaign saying they want more information on the Clinton private server investigation and they want it by tomorrow. This follows FBI Director James Comey's letter, of course, to Congress saying new evidence is being reviewed and we're now learning more about the inner turmoil leading up to the decision to go public with that update.

Top justice department officials, including Attorney General Loretta Lynch, disagreed with Comey's decision to release the letter saying any news on the investigation would be against department policy of not commenting on investigations close to an election, Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right. Let's talk about it now with a response on both sides to James Comey's letter. Angela Rye, CNN political commentator, Hillary Clinton and former executive director of Congressional Black Caucus.

We also have with us, Brian Robinson, Republican strategist, former assistant chief of staff for Georgia Governor Nathan Deal.

Good morning to both of you.

ANGELA RYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

BRIAN ROBINSON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Good morning.

So, let's start where Christi left off. Against the advice of the A.G. Loretta Lynch, against the advise of deputy A.G. Sally Yates, Comey sent this letter over.

Do you think he should have, against the tradition, sent this letter within 60 days of the investigation?

ROBINSON: Well, it wasn't that many months ago that Democrats were telling us how dignified and what a great rule follower James Comey was during the summer when he said there was no criminal activity. Now all of a sudden he doesn't have any credibility at all. Now, all of a sudden, he's being overly political. It doesn't make sense. I think what the American people are seeing

why is the DOJ stepping in when there may be criminal activity involved here that people need to know about nine days from an election?

BLACKWELL: OK, several things. Let me get back to the question. Should he have sent the letter 11 days out from the election?

ROBINSON: Absolutely. This is very pertinent to what the outcome of this election will be. Americans need every bit of information going into this election before they go cast their ballots. If she committed criminal activities, America should know vote, not the day after, not two months after.

BLACKWELL: The reporting is we don't even know if these are her e- mails. These are on Huma Abiden's laptop that she shares with the former congressman. From your perspective, your response?

RYE: So, first, 15 million people, victor, have already cast their ballots in this election. It is unprecedented for any law enforcement official to engage in this type of activity not just 11 days before election but 60 days out. The recommendation not only from the Department of Justice but the rules they've always followed is 60 days out you don't make a public comment on an election.

So he was within an 11-daytime frame, sends a letter that says, I'm flagging for you basically that there may some be-mails that are pertinent to this investigation. We were in a frenzy on Friday. I'm saying as a human being I saw the headlines that say, you know, they're reopening this investigation and it caused such a frenzy.

And what you started seeing Friday, later on Saturday, that there isn't really anything there. The FBI doesn't --

BLACKWELL: They don't even know.

RYE: They don't have a subpoena yet.

BLACKWELL: That's from Yahoo News.

RYE: And so, the issue is no, there's no criminal . We don't even know if Hillary Clinton's name is in the e-mails.

BLACKWELL: Or if these are duplicates.

Let me ask you this.

ROBINSON: How can you say we don't know and we know there's no criminal activity? If you don't know, you don't know. Let's look. Let's find out.

RYE: What I'm suggesting to you, sir, is moments ago you said there was criminal activity.

ROBINSON: I said if there was. RYE: That's not what you said but I'll give you that just for the

sake of this argument. Was, he still isn't supposed to comment on this more than 60 days out. You want to know why there was a split in what Democrats were saying about Director Comey then versus now.

[07:40:03] He did something where he upheld the law, what the standards of the law are, what the elements of the law are.

ROBINSON: As you see it.

RYE: No, actually, this is just law. I know sometimes Trump supporters like to engage on what actually are the facts. These are the facts.

ROBINSON: Congressional Republicans have taken a hard stand on Donald Trump. They've called him out when he's made mistakes. They've called him out and stepped away from him after the hot mike video came out. It's the exact same thing.

RYE: I was not talking about the elements of the law.

ROBINSON: The exact same people --

RYE: I think we're having two different conversations.

BLACKWELL: Let me come back to the focus here because when you say back in July upheld the law. I want to go back to what happened that really changed this investigation. It's when Bill Clinton, the former president, went on to Loretta Lynch's plane.

Our reporting is that is what changed this investigation. James Comey said that he -- in this internal memo said that he did this because he wanted to make sure that he kept Congress abreast of what happened.

I want to go back to what Loretta Lynch said in July about the moment that Bill Clinton walked into a plane and how that changed this investigation. Maybe there are some answers there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LORETTA LYNCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL: But in this situation, you know, because I did have that meeting, it has raised concerns, I feel, and I feel that's -- while I can certainly say this matter is going to be handled like any other as it has always been, it's going to be resolved like any other as it was always going to be, I think the information about how that resolution will come about in order to know what that means and really accept that and have faith in the ultimate decision of the Department of Justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So, Angela, although she advised against this letter, did she not force his hand here? Did she not force him to be more transparent than typically the department would be?

RYE: I certainly understand the perspective. I think from the optics perspective, that was a horrible decision on behalf of President Clinton and Attorney General Lynch also said she would have done something very different.

I think the issue here is, she said it's going to be handled as it's always been. This is not handling anything as it's always been. This is actually turning the tide here and saying, I need to say something within 11 days in the election with no information. I think that is what problematic about this, particularly when people already begun to cast their ballots.

BLACKWELL: Can we play what Donald Trump said yesterday about the judicial system? Because I want to get to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Folks, we're living in a third world country. This has never happened before. This has never happened before. This is the lowest point in terms of our judicial system. This is the lowest point in the history of our country. Remember that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The lowest point in the history of our country as it relates to the judicial system. Rulings that upheld segregation that decided that African-Americans weren't citizens after slavery, upheld internment, and this investigation is the lowest point as it relates to the judicial system?

ROBINSON: Now, I disagree with that. I disagree with the assertion that this is a third world country.

I think what we're seeing here Director Comey's announcement on Friday is that we are a nation of law and order, we are a nation that follows the law and we're going to look into this investigation as we should before Americans go vote.

I disagree that we're a third world country. I disagree that the judiciary is in worse shape than it was in the past. I don't agree with that.

But I do think in this particular situation, the FBI director is doing the right thing. We need to know that information before we go vote. It's just that simple. They say there's nothing in there, well, let's just find out.

RYE: I agree with that I would love for these e-mails to come out by Monday, the problem is they have to get the subpoena.

BLACKWELL: Yes, they do have to get the subpoena. We'll see if Congress gets that answer. The four questions they put out yesterday to that letter. Thank you, both.

RYE: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: -- Angela, Brian. ROBINSON: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Christi, back to you.

PAUL: All righty. We're going to go live to Washington and Jake Tapper for a preview of what's ahead on "STATE OF THE UNION." Jake is going to talk one on one with Hillary Clinton campaign chair John Podesta about Comey, his letter and much more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:47:34] BLACKWELL: A woman missing for five days has been found injured but alive in her overturned Humvee. It careened off a desert road in California. We've got these pictures coming in to CNN overnight showing the moment rescue workers stabilized the car to stop it from rolling over even further down that hill before pulling the woman out. Her condition at last check was reported to be serious but non-life threatening.

PAUL: How about that? You wonder how she survived the five days.

BLACKWELL: In those temperatures.

PAUL: Yes, we'll hear from her hopefully.

FBI Director James Comey's surprise letter to Congress about Hillary Clinton's investigation, let's say it set off a political firestorm.

BLACKWELL: It's fair to say.

PAUL: In a conference call with reporters, Clinton's campaign chair John Podesta blasted Comey and accused him of withholding facts.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

JOHN PODESTA, CLINTON CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN: Director Comey was the one who wrote a letter that was light on facts, heavy on innuendo knowing full well what Republicans in Congress would do with it. It's now up to him who owes the public answers to the questions that are now on the table.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

PAUL: How else does John Podesta feel?

Jake Tapper is going to find out when he joins him on his show.

Good morning, Jake.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR, "STATE OF THE UNION": Good morning.

PAUL: What do you think he's going to say?

TAPPER: Well, I think it's going to be an aggressive case against FBI Director Comey, talking about how his decision to write this letter splits from precedence and splits from legal advice from the Department of Justice. There's an op-ed in today's "Washington Post" in which both a former Democrat and a former Republican official of the Justice Department condemn the decision by Comey to do this. So, I expect John Podesta will be making a very aggressive case against him.

We'll also have Kellyanne Conway on from the Trump campaign to talk about what she thinks this might mean for their campaign in the closing nine days.

PAUL: All righty. Jake Tapper, we appreciate you being here. Thank you. Looking forward to watching the show later this morning.

TAPPER: Thank you.

PAUL: Sure.

All righty. And game five?

BLACKWELL: You're ready, I know.

(LAUGHTER)

PAUL: The World Series set for tonight in really one of my favorite cities, Chicago.

BLACKWELL: Yes, OK. The Clevelander now or Ohio is now, of course, going for the Indians.

[07:50:02] Coming up, the drama surrounding game four and a team that's one step closer now to a World Series victory.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Cleveland Indians now just a single win away from their first World Series championship in 68 years.

PAUL: Andy Scholes is in with the "Bleacher Report".

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Isn't it funny, guys, how just a couple years ago, we're talking about how Cleveland are a bunch of losers, can't win anything, right?

BLACKWELL: I've never said that. Never said that.

SCHOLES: In terms of sports, 52 years without winning everything.

BLACKWELL: Bunch of losers could never win anything.

SCHOLES: What a difference a couple years makes. Now they're champions, could win two titles in a span of four months. I apologize, I didn't mean to put it that way.

PAUL: We understand. We know what you meant.

SCHOLES: You know what I meant. The Cubs though on the other hand may be cursed. They have the Billy

Goat, Steve Bartman and now comes fans cringe whenever they hear the name Corey Kluber. Wrigley faithful hoping to see their first World Series win at Wrigley in more than seven decades, but Kluber had other ideas shutting down the Cubbies for the second time. He pitched six innings giving up just one run, he did it all in short rest.

And the second baseman for the Indians, Jason Kipnis, he grew up in Chicago, a Cubs fan but he put the game away for the Indians with a three-run homer in the seventh. The last visiting player to hit a three-run home run in the World Series at Wrigley Field, that was Babe Ruth back in 1932.

[07:55:02] Indians would win this one 7-2 and now one win away from ending their 68-year championship

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COREY KLUBER, INDIANS PITCHER: I think it's business as usual. I mean, I think we have to take tomorrow with the same approach we've taken every game to this point. I think if we relax or take our foot off the gas pedal, that's just inviting them to get momentum and come back in the series.

JASON KIPNIS, INDIANS SECOND BASEMAN: They're not lineups you want to give momentum. They're not teams who want to start feeling good about themselves. So, we've got -- the best thing you can do is cut them away before they feel that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: The Indians can win it all tonight in game five, first pitch a little after 8:00 Eastern. Guys about to go hop on a plane.

PAUL: I know. We've got to go to Chicago!

You need to talk to Kipnis, because I'd like to know how he reconciled growing up a Cubs fan in Chicago, now for the Indians, got to be tough.

SCHOLES: Absolutely. At least tonight I'm impartial, I don't care who wins but I want the Cubs to win one game at Wrigley Field. I don't want the fans to go 0 for 3.

PAUL: Yes, so true, so true.

BLACKWELL: And tickets are pricey. They should get something for the money.

PAUL: Andy, thank you, have fun.

SCHOLES: All right. Thanks.

PAUL: Let's talk about Ohio State University marching band, what a show they put on this weekend. Take a look.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

PAUL: All right, real talented skill here, just a glimpse of the OSU marching band's Halloween performance, with music, formations representing some of the great horror films like "Psycho" and "Scream" and "Halloween."

BLACKWELL: They're always so good. This is a glimpse of what we saw there, the mask, the ghost. According to the school's website, band members practiced up to 30 hours a week, according to the website, and they have earned the reputation as the best of its best.

PAUL: I believe so. Congratulations to 'em.

And thank you so much for sharing your time with us this morning.

BLACKWELL: "INSIDE POLITICS WITH JOHN KING" starts after a break.