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Trump Suggests Voters Change Early Votes; Clinton Campaign Slams FBI Timing; Iraqi Forces Move Into Mosul; Cubs and Indians Face Off in Game 7. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired November 02, 2016 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:05] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles ahead this hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You can change your vote to Donald Trump. We'll make America great again. OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: With one week to go until the U.S. election, Donald Trump urges early voters in Wisconsin to exercise their legal right and go back to the ballot box.

VAUSE: Also, as Iraqi forces move into the city limits of Mosul, they're now dealing with a sand storm as well.

SESAY: And it's all or nothing in the World Series as the Cubs take the Indians to a decisive seventh game.

VAUSE: Hello, everybody, great to have you with us. I'm John Vause.

SESAY: And I'm Isha Sesay, NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.

Well, there's less than a week to go in what could be the most combative presidential election in U.S. history. Both candidates held rallies Tuesday looking to drum up last-minute support. Republican, Donald Trump took his campaign to two Democratic-leaning states, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

VAUSE: Democrat, Hillary Clinton made stops at three early voting rallies in Florida trying to hang on to a narrowing lead in the polls. The latest ABC News Washington Post tracking poll shows the race shifting to a dead heat. Trump has a one-point lead, the first time he's been ahead in that poll since May.

CNN's poll of polls still has Clinton four points ahead of Trump, who's now urging Clinton supporters who've already cast their ballots, to switch their votes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: This is a message for any Democratic voter who have already cast their ballots for Hillary Clinton and who are having a bad case of buyer's remorse. In other words, you want to change your vote. Wisconsin is one of several states where you can change your early ballot if you think you've made a mistake. A lot of stuff has come out since you've voted. So if you live here or in Michigan or in Pennsylvania or in Minnesota, those four places, you can change your vote to Donald Trump. We'll make America great again. OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, just days after announcing a new investigation into Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server, the FBI released dozens of pages from a 15-year-old investigation involving Bill Clinton. The Clinton campaign says it's another political move with very questionable timing.

VAUSE: And they accuse the FBI director of having a double standard in cases involving the two presidential candidates. CNN's Pamela Brown has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tonight, the FBI under increasing scrutiny after releasing heavily redacted documents from its 2001 investigation into President Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich, a donor to his presidential library foundation.

But the timing seven days before the election and on the heels of the FBI director's controversial letter to Congress invited more criticism of the bureau. Clinton spokesman, Brian Fallon tweeting, "Absent a FOIA litigation deadline, this is odd. Will FBI be posting docs on Trump's housing discrimination in the '70s? A case settled years ago."

An FBI official insisted to CNN, today's release was not political and that freedom of information act requests are automatically posted to the account when they're ready for the public to view. The FBI says not posting the documents would have been a change in standard procedure. The FBI also this weekend posted documents relating to Donald Trump's father.

Today, Director Comey appeared at a memorial service in Washington alongside Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

CNN has learned the two talked on Monday for the first time since Comey went against the department's recommendation not to inform Congress of e-mails found on Anthony Weiner's laptop. Comey is a Republican, who has donated in the past to GOP candidates like Mitt Romney and John McCain but has not made contributions since he was appointed FBI director by President Obama.

But tonight, Democrats say there's a double standard, speaking publicly about the Clinton server investigation before there is clarity but not about investigations connected to the Trump campaign, those around them and connections to Russia.

Sources tell CNN, multiple FBI investigations and the allegations of connections between Russia and the Trump campaign have yielded little so far. Including into his former campaign manager's alleged ties to pro-Putin forces in Ukraine and Trump supporter Roger Stone's possible role in the Clinton campaign Chairman's hacked e-mails released by Wikileaks. This is what Stone recently told NBC.

[02:05:00] ROGER STONE, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: I have a back-channel communications with Wikileaks, but they certainly don't clear or tell me in advance what they're going to do.

BROWN: The Clinton campaign is crying foul. Amid reports Comey argued against publicly tying Russia to the hacks of the Clinton campaign because it was so close to the election.

ROBBY MOOK, CLINTON CAMPAIGN MANAGER: They don't say a thing when it comes to Donald Trump and investigations against him. Yet when it comes to Hillary Clinton, for some reason they're more than happy to talk.

BROWN: CNN sources say, Comey's decision not wanting to name Russia had nothing to do with the election. Several hours after the freedom of information act documents from the 2001 investigation were released by the FBI.

The FBI released a statement saying by Law FOIA materials that have been requested three or more times are posted electronically to the FBI's public reading room shortly after they are processed. And then from there those documents are automatically tweeted out.

Pamela Brown, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well, the campaign trail in Florida, Tuesday, Hillary Clinton went after Donald Trump's record with women.

SESAY: Earlier we spoke with Democratic Strategist, Dave Jacobson and Republican Strategist John Thomas about Clinton's line of attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He calls women ugly, disgusting, nasty, all the time. He calls women pigs, rates bodies on a scale from 1 to 10. We just heard from Alicia. She was Miss Universe. Why does he do these things? Who acts like this? And I'll tell you who, a bully. That's who.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The Alicia she was referring to, Alicia Machado, former Miss Universe, criticized by Donald Trump for gaining weight. This is what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALICIA MACHADO, MISS UNIVERSE 1996: It's clear. It's really clear that he does not respect woman. He just judges us on our looks. He think he can do whatever he want and get away with it. (END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And we'll finish with President Obama. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: By the way, this is not just one tape where he's bragging about how being famous allows him to get away with actions that qualify as sexual assault. This is a lifetime of calling women pigs and dogs and slobs and grading women on a 10-point scale.

If you disrespected women before you were elected, you will disrespect women once you're president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: OK. It's subtle. So you may not have picked up on what they were going for there. But obviously, Dave, you're going after Donald Trump and his, you know, treatment of women and what he's called women. You know, it's worked in the past for the Clinton campaign. Will it now work over the next six days?

DAVE JACOBSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I think it will. And look, it didn't just work for the Clinton campaign. It worked for Barack Obama. I mean the Clinton campaign understands fundamentally that this race is all about demographics. And she's got to consolidate and electrify the Obama coalition to propel herself to the White House.

President Obama beat John McCain and Mitt Romney by a sizable margin with women voters, and that's precisely the strategy that I think the Clinton campaign's trying to embrace.

SESAY: John, is this what you call going high?

(CROSSTALK)

JOHN THOMAS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: What they're doing is they're desperately trying to shift the conversation away from e-mails, away from the FBI and go back to the temperament question. Go back to the women question because they do win in that argument. But right now, that's not what the nation is thinking about. We're all wondering if serving her first term means in jail or in the White House.

SESAY: So for your candidate or for Donald Trump is it a case of focus, focus, focus on the e-mail, hope that just drive the new cycle and drowns everything else out.

THOMAS: You have to do that. But I think Trump also has to speak to the concern -- the real concerns of voters and that's the economic message. She has to push both those and don't take the bait and start just attacking them because they're attacking over here. This is a tried message array. And today, it's not the most salacious thing today at FBI is.

VAUSE: I just wanted to point for his sort of can factored that in and now that we've got to the e-mails. The Clinton campaign is running a final ad blitz including this ad blitz, you know, it seems quite effective.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Putting a wife to work is a very dangerous thing. When I come home and dinner's not ready, I go through the roof.

Grab them by the --. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: OK. These ads are running heavy in Colorado, Virginia, Michigan and New Mexico. So John, you've run campaigns. If you look at the strategy, is that, what the Clinton's campaign is doing now. Show up those states, that's the firewall, forget about the West?

THOMAS: And that's what they have to do. And just like Dave said, they have to focus on women. They can't lose women. And the problem is in some of these other battleground states we're seeing that women are starting to wiggle away from her. So they have to double down on this message just like you saw the president talk about. That's their only play at this point. But it's hard.

[02:10:02] Just like a couple weeks ago when the Billy Bush "Access Hollywood" tapes came out, despite Trump desperately wanting to shift the conversation, there's not much you can do in that environment. Today's the same thing.

SESAY: Is that it? Is that the only play day?

JACOBSON: Yeah. Look, she's got to make a character argument. She's got to basically shift the conversation away from the e-mails because we know anytime their -- one candidate is dominating the news cycle. Generally that candidate is losing altitude and oxygen, right? So, she's got to pivot away from that. She's got to make the character argument. But look, you may not like the e-mail issue but at the end of the day this guy's a racist, a xenophobe and a bigot and that's the choice. This is a binary choice you that you're going to have to make. And she's going to make that argument both on paid communications and the earned media.

VAUSE: OK. For Trump it's been sledgehammers at dawn as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: She wants to blame everyone else for her mounting legal troubles, but she has really no one else to blame but herself.

As you know, the FBI has reopened its investigation into Hillary Clinton. This is the biggest scandal since Watergate. And now, it's been reported that there are FBI inquiries, probing virtually all of Hillary Clinton's inner circle.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: I mean it put a lot easier but the crowd went wild. While -- now, Dave, an aide to the Clinton campaign said that so far there's no indication that the actions of the FBI director is actually affecting the polling, that this is a natural tightening of the race, Republicans coming home. Really?

JACOBSON: Yeah, look, I think a lot of the voters have cemented their decisions about the e-mail issue. Like there's no new information that's come out, right? There's no additional like e-mail that wasn't found. Like many of these e-mails, the FBI even said could be -- or others have said could be duplicates. And so, we don't know what they have. The letter that Director Comey put out was very cryptic and obscure and ambiguous. It didn't really have any meat on the bones. And I think that's the challenge.

And look at, you're like an undecided voter you've been hearing about the e-mails for the past, what, 18-plus months. Like, you've probably already made a decision about how you feel about that issue.

SESAY: John?

THOMAS: I mean, if you just look historically at this race, whenever we're talking about Hillary Clinton her polling numbers dip down. Whenever we're focused on Donald Trump she does better. And she's that simple. So, whether or not voters have kind of decided on the e-mail situation, the focus is back on Hillary Clinton. And that's just simply not a good situation. And the ambiguity of what the FBI might -- may or may not have works in the favor of Donald Trump today.

SESAY: So is it natural, though, the tightening though?

THOMAS: Yes, the race would naturally tighten. But I think it tightened a couple weeks ago.

Now, the trend lines are roaring in Donald Trump's favor. And there was an ABC poll that came out today, that showed there's an incredible enthusiasm gap. Because that's what the FBI issues also done. Is it enraged Trump supporters to turn out because they think he has a shot. And it's suppressed Democrats that might not have liked Hillary Clinton that much in the first place.

VAUSE: With that in mind a big part of the message for Trump to other Republicans. It's time to come home. And that includes the House Speaker, Paul Ryan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: I stand where I stood all fall and all summer. And in fact, I already voted here in Janesville for our nominee last week in early voting. We need to support our entire Republican ticket.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And he still can't bring himself to mention Trump by name. But I'm just wondering, John, is this how Republicans will be, that they will hold their nose and they'll vote for Trump?

THOMAS: You know, one thing beyond maybe having mixed feelings about Trump, they hate Hillary Clinton more. And the FBI's announcement has just ground that nerve and reminded people we have to stop Hillary Clinton. So I think they're going to come home.

SESAY: Our thanks to Dave Jacobson and John Thomas there.

Well, take a look at the electoral fight in a little more detail. North Carolina is being called the super battleground state. And here's why. The state has 15 Electoral College votes. A medium-size state and then the last election, it went narrowly for the Republican, Mitt Romney.

VAUSE: But four years before that Democrat Barack Obama took the state, also in a squeaker. The latest polling suggests the 2016 race is tightening. And one of the most heated Senate races is also happening in North Carolina. A Democratic victory would go a long way towards the Democrats winning control of the Senate from the Republicans.

Iraqi troops are squeezing ISIS from different directions in their push toward Mosul. Counter terrorism forces have taken control of the last village on the eastern edge of the city.

SESAY: They're clearing explosives left behind by ISIS before moving in. Sandstorms are also making the battle more challenging. The Norwegian Refugee Council warns more than 1 million civilians are in grave danger as the fighting intensifies in the days ahead.

VAUSE: ISIS has been forcing hundreds of families to march towards Mosul as the militants retreat. They're also being used -- they're also using rather civilians as human shields.

[02:15:00] SESAY: Arwa Damon has the story of one family which escaped.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the town of Talul and Nasr. ISIS is no longer here, but nor are most of its people. As ISIS left, they forced the civilians to go with them, men, women, children, the elderly, as human shields.

Just days before the Iraqi security forces arrived, ISIS fighters went through house to house, demanding that every family leave and make their way towards another larger town called Hamalali, about 20 kilometers away. And then this home is one family who managed to escape.

Assad, his wife and daughters, all hid in a ditch while around 500 other families were marched or driven away. His wife, Sadye says the fighter that came to their door was Syrian.

SADYE, ISIS SURVIVOR, (THOUGH TRANSLATOR): They told us you're going to have to walk to Hamalali. So, we knew that the road was long. So we took blankets and bread with us.

DAMON: Maryam, just 8-years-old, says ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): They shot over our heads. I was crying.

DAMON: We drive along the route they walked. One filled with chilling memories.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): When we got there, that was where they killed three brothers. And they took the fourth. And we saw them being killed, we stopped. And then they shot around us.

DAMON: These plains, he says, were all packed with families walking. And this was the ditch that saved their lives. And it wasn't just their family that stayed here. There were a number of other families that also ended up hiding inside this ditch. And he says it was a gift from God that they weren't discovered because ISIS fighters were going around on their motorcycles and firing into the air during the whole time.

What saved them? The thick smoke from fires burning at nearby oil wells and a sulfur factory obscured the moonlight.

The only thing that he cares about right now he said is for the other families from the village. There's whose whereabouts are still unknown, to come back safely.

Among them, his eldest.

Danun, his daughter, who has a baby who's four months old, his name is Vanun. She's among those who are missing. She had taken another route with her husband.

After two nights, even though ISIS was still in the town. They decided to sneak back home. They hid under the staircase for another two nights, the children shaking with each gunshot, each explosion.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): The army came in the morning. But we didn't know until the evening. The neighbors came and said the army is in the streets. We went out and we were celebrating. We couldn't believe it. We still can't believe it. At night we are still scared they might come back.

DAMON: Still, Maryam can't wait to get back to school.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

DAMON: Oh, she wants to be a doctor. Hearing that briefly brings a smile to her mother's face, briefly allows her to escape the torment over her missing daughter.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Hamalali, Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SESAY: Time for a quick break. And coming up on NEWSROOM L.A., Turkey moves tanks and artillery to its border with Iraq as Iraqi force into Mosul, the action is raising tensions in the region.

VAUSE: Also ahead, South Korea's President in damage control after a political scandal.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WORLD SPORTS)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: South Korea's president has named three new senior officials to her cabinet as she faces a scandal which threatens her administration. There's widespread anger over allegations that a friend of President Park Geun-Hye had access to government documents.

SESAY: One man rammed a fork lift into the gate of the Prosecutor's Office saying he wanted to kill Choi Sun-Shil.

Meanwhile the window is closing on prosecutors to keep Choi under emergency detention.

Our CNN's Paula Hancocks is in Seoul with the very latest. And Paula, what more do we know about Choi Sun-Shil, this close friend of the South Korean President?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Isha, she's a woman who's believed to be in her 60s. We understand that her family has a long- standing connection to Park Geun-Hye. According to one man who's familiar with the matter. The father of Choi was actually the head of a cult-like religion back in the 1970s. And it is believed he started to mentor President Park Geun-Hye when she was just in her 20s.

So it is believed that this has been a long-standing relationship between the two families that Park Geun-Hye has had influence from Choi Sun-Shuil for some time. Now, frustration -- Sun-Shil is currently in detention. Prosecutor's office think, she might be a flight risk. They believe she may even try to destroy evidence if she's released. But at this point, Choi has denied the charges against her. Although she did apologize for what she said was committing a deadly sin.

SESAY: And Paula, just explain to our viewers how all of this came to light.

HANCOCKS: It was a CNN affiliate JTBC here in South Korea. They said they found an abandoned laptop that had details from Choi showing that she had actually seen and had access to classified documents from Park Geun-Hye and also presidential speeches.

And now, we did hear that the president apologized last week, a 90- second apology which didn't do much to assuage fears and anger here in South Korea. But we did see over the weekend as well thousands of people taking to the streets calling for the resignation of Park Geun- Hye. But this is how this came about, the fact that Choi is now accused of influence peddling for her own personal gains. Isha?

[02:25:04] SESAY: And why is this generating the level of outrage we're seeing there in South Korea? Give us some perspective.

HANCOCKS: Well, Park Geun-Hye came to power on an anti-corruption ticket. This is why many people voted for her. She vowed that she was going to clean up South Korean politics, which in the past has been fairly corrupt. We've seen a number of politicians being prosecuted in the past.

But now, of course, almost four years later she finds herself at the center of an almost unprecedented scandal that she had given this classified access to somebody who was not part of the government. She was not an official that she should have given this information to.

So certainly, that has many people extremely concerned that she would have this, what they consider a lapse in judgment to give this woman access to some classified documents.

SESAY: All right. Paula Hancocks joining us there from Seoul, South Korea with the very latest. Paula, appreciate it. Thanks so much.

VAUSE: Well, coming up next for our viewers in Asia, more on the final countdown to the U.S. presidential election. "State Of The Race" with Kate Bolduan starts in just a few moments.

SESAY: And for everyone else next here on CNN NEWSROOM L.A., Donald Trump's tax practices in the spotlight again.

A new report says he used a tactic so tricky even his lawyer suggested he shouldn't do it.

VAUSE: Also, baseball's lovable losers the Chicago Cubs are now just a win away from their first World Series title in over a century. We'll have all the drama from Game 6 in Cleveland.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:30:17] VAUSE: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.

SESAY: I'm Isha Sesay. The headlines this hour, central of the Mosul are making it harder. The Iraqi troops trying to enter the city from the eastern side. They've taken control of the last village outside Mosul and they're clearing explosives left behind by ISIS before moving in. About 20,000 civilians are still inside that village.

VAUSE: An aviation expert says new analysis debunks the theory someone was flying missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 as it spiraled into the Indian Ocean. The flight to Beijing vanished about 2014. Since then, only bits of debris from the plane have been found.

SESAY: New polls show the U.S. presidential race tightening less than a week before the election. The latest ABC News Washington Post tracking poll has Donald Trump ahead by one point, his first lead in that poll since May. CNN's poll of polls also shows the gap narrowing. But Hillary Clinton still leads by four points.

One report says that Donald Trump used an aggressive tax strategy to avoid paying taxes on hundreds of millions of dollars in income back in the 1990s.

VAUSE: This is coming from the New York Times, which also says it has evidence that Trump's own lawyers warn the practice was so controversial it might not be acceptable.

Drew Griffin has details.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: If you ever needed more proof Donald Trump will bend tax laws, push the envelope with the IRS, develop strategies to pay as little or no federal tax as possible, here it is. A 25-year-old letter sent to Donald Trump by his own tax attorneys warning him the strategy he's about to embark on could come back to haunt him in an audit.

"There can be no assurance," the attorneys write, "That the IRS will not challenge such a position or that a court would not sustain such a challenge."

The letter involved an analysis of an aggressive bending of the tax code, basically writing off Trump's financial losses as his own. In layman's terms he double dipped on someone else losing money, claiming he lost the same money and as a result was able to avoid paying federal taxes on other money he actually made. Was it legal? Was it a loophole? Was it as The New York Times called it "Legally dubious."

Tax analyst Lee Sheppard describes it this way.

LEE SHEPPARD, TAX EXPERT: Yes, it was aggressive. There was no law on this subject at the time.

GRIFFIN: Trump's anti-tax strategies have become familiar fodder from Democrats on the campaign trail, but as CNN has reported, back in the 1990s when Donald Trump was going through bankruptcy, developer booms and busts, and vaguely written federal tax laws, the idea of developers not paying federal taxes was pretty routine.

SHEPPARD: Back in the day did other people do it? Oh, yeah.

GRIFFIN: And real estate tax expert Richard Lipton says, it continues to this day.

RICHARD LIPTON, REAL ESTATE TAX ATTORNEY: Most real estate investors pay very little if any tax provided that they are active real estate investors.

GRIFFIN: Trump has embraced his tax prowess, making it part of his campaign. When portions of his 1995 state tax returns were leaked to the press, showing a $916 million write-of write-off that could have helped him avoid paying taxes for more than a dozen years, he said it was all legal, made legal by a Congress that he says just doesn't understand how to write tax codes.

TRUMP: See, I understand the tax code better than anybody who's ever run for president.

GRIFFIN: He also understands how to fight local taxes and property taxes too.

CNN analyzed 26 properties across the country owned by Trump. In all but one Trump had his attorneys fight to lower the assessed tax value so he could pay significantly less in property taxes. The Trump campaign didn't respond when we asked for comment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Thanks to Drew Griffin for that report. OK, let's head over to the World Series now, which is heading for a winner-take-all Game 7. The Chicago Cubs kept their hopes alive, jumping to an early lead over the Cleveland Indians in Game 6 Tuesday night. The Cubs won it 9-3.

SESAY: Chicago is looking for its first World Series title since 1908. The Indians haven't won it since 1948.

We spoke earlier with CNN's Andy Scholes who's following all the action for us from Cleveland.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: The Cubs, they've been waiting quite a while themselves. 108 years since their franchise has won a World Series title. Both, but one thing is for sure, one of those droughts will end on Wednesday night.

I tell you what, in Game 6 the air was let out of the building from the get-go. In the first inning Chris Bryant, third baseman for the Cubs, hit a solo home run. Then with two runners on Addison Russell hit the ball to right center field.

[02:35:04] And the Cleveland Indians outfielders just have a miscommunication and the ball just drops on the ground. Two runs come in to score for the Cubs, made it 3-0. And then Addison Russell came back up to the plate in the third inning with the bases loaded, absolutely crushed the ball to left. That was for a grand slam. He's the second youngest player ever to hit a grand slam in the World Series behind only Mickey Mantle. Hitter with six RBIs in the game which ties a World Series record. What a night for Addison Russell. The Cubs win this one 9-3, excited for them because they are now going to force a Game 7 on Wednesday night. And one of these two teams, like I said, will finally have their long championship drought come to an end.

SESAY: The stage is set for the incredible Game 7. But who has the edge going into it?

GRIFFIN: Well, Isha, there's a saying in baseball, you know, momentum is only as good as your next starting pitcher. And, you know, you would think the Cubs have all the momentum after winning the last two games, but the Indians have their ace on the mound in Game 7. Corey Kluber. He's been fantastic in this World Series so far. He's already won two games.

So if you go by the starting pitching match-up, you have to say the Indians have the edge, especially also since they didn't use any of their great bullpen pitchers tonight. Andrew Miller did not pitch. Cody Allen did not pitch. So, all of those guys are going to be rested. Cubs on the other hand, they're coming in tired. Aroldis Chapman pitched again tonight. So they might have some tired pitchers on the Cubs' hands but they might think history is on their side.

VAUSE: Andy's having a great time.

SESAY: He is.

VAUSE: Who wouldn't be?

SESAY: Grinning from ear to ear.

VAUSE: And you know how people love stats when it comes to baseball. So here's another one. If the Cubs can pull this off they'll be the first team to win the World Series after trailing three games to one since 1985. How about that?

SESAY: Write that down.

VAUSEL: A lot of stuff going on. OK, we'll take a short break.

When we come back, Turkish tanks rolling toward the Iraqi border. We'll have a live update from Istanbul. What the move could mean as Iraqi forces push into the ISIS-controlled city of Mosul.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:40:28] SESAY: Military sources in Turkey say a convoy of 30 tanks and bulldozers is moving to the border with Iraq.

VAUSE: The defense minister says the move is in preparation for "Important developments in the region," which is a vague reference to Iraqi forces entering Mosul.

Turkey has insisted that it will be involved in helping take Mosul from ISIS. The Iraqi government has warned Ankara not to interfere.

CNN's Ian Lee joins us now live from Istanbul. And Ian, a quick look to that map, you can see the tanks are about two hours away from Mosul in Iraq. So is this deployment of hardware, is it a show of force or is it a preparation for some direct military involvement in Mosul?

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, it kind of seems like a bit of both really. When you have the Turkish military releasing these pictures to the international media, to show that they are deploying these tanks and bulldozers to that part of Turkey, the Shernak and Silopi cities. Now, these are about 100 kilometers from Mosul and also from Tal Afar. And Tal Afar is very important. Currently you have these popular mobilization units also known as the Hashtashabi. These are Shiite militias backed by Iran moving towards Tal Afar.

Now, their objective is to cut off Mosul and ISIS fighters there from fleeing into Syria. But for Turkey Tal Afar is a red line. They do not want to see the Shiite militias going in there. They say which will cause a sectarian conflict.

And this part, Tal Afar, as Mosul historically belonged to the Ottoman Empire and that's why Turkey sees it as its duty to protect as they see it these cities, especially from sectarian clashes. So it could also be preparing for any sort of mobilization to go in that area if those Shiite militias make it to Tal Afar.

VAUSE: And Ian, right now we also have the head of Turkey's army in Russia talking about Syria. What has he made of that timing?

LEE: Well, they haven't released the details of this meeting but it is telling. In Syria, Turkey and Russia coordinating especially after Turkey shot down a Russian airplane. They don't want to see a mishap like that again.

But also as you see, as part of the operation Euphrates shield, Turkey is pushing down their troops inside Syria beating back ISIS as well as Kurdish fighters, and there could be a point where you do see Syrian troops and Turkish troops meeting up. And so there is likely to be talks about how not to turn that into anything greater, but also talking about the future of Syria.

And it also should be noted that this -- the head of the Turkish military Hulusi Akar was also in the United States just a couple weeks ago talking as well.

VAUSE: And then also separately there was growing concern about press freedom in Turkey. The European Union has been very critical after 13 senior staff members from one national newspaper were detained. And the Turkish prime minister had a very blunt response to the E.U. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BINALI YILDIRIM, TURKISH PRIME MINISTER, (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Today somebody from the European parliament says the detention of journalists from the newspaper is a red line. Brother, we don't care about your red line. It's the people who draw the red line. What importance does your line have?

The detentions took place at this newspaper, and just like a choir they immediately started to sing all together, press freedom is god. We got used to this. We will protect the press freedom to the end. We have no problem with press freedom.

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VAUSE: Brother, you can take your red line, it sounded like. But clearly the crackdown on journalists and on press freedom in Turkey which has been going for some time is not about to end. LEE: Well, that's right. And we've seen this crackdown really galvanize after the July 15th coup attempt, where you had a crackdown on press freedom as well as anyone really who disagrees with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Just over the weekend you had a 15 pro-Kurdish newspapers shut down and then you also had this very -- it's the main secular and opposition newspaper, Cumhuriyet, the editor in chief was arrested along with roughly a dozen other staff members.

[02:45:01] This same newspaper had its editor in chief, the previous one, also arrested. And talking to people at the protest outside, the one thing they're very concerned about is this crackdown is going to hit anyone who disagrees with the president, if they were part of the coup or not, if they are part of the Kurdish militancy or not. Anyone who disagrees with the president, they fear is going to be targeted. And that's why they're coming out trying to stop this.

VAUSE: Yeah, there's a reason why reporters without borders describe Turkey as the world's biggest prison right now for journalists. Ian, thank you. Take care.

SESAY: Now, France is moving about 1,500 children and teenagers from what's left of a migrant camp in Calais.

VAUSE: That they take into temporary centers across the country. They had been living in a camp called the Jungle, but France demolished it on Monday.

SESAY: France and the U.K. have been battling over what to do with these young people. Under E.U. law, Britain has to take any with verified family ties to the United Kingdom.

Now, pressure is mounting for South African President Jacob Zuma, with many people calling for his resignation. Critics say wealthy outsiders have influenced executive decisions, and on Wednesday opposition groups and the business community plan to march in protest.

CNN's David McKenzie joins us from Pretoria, South Africa with more.

And David, just give us some perspective as we see you out there amongst the crowds about why today is so significant.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's so significant today, Isha, because there's a great deal of pressure from the opposition, from civil societies and legal groups to really have President Jacob Zuma step down. The allegations have been increasing, snowballing, that he has been involved in a great deal of corrupt dealings and cronyism.

Today a high court in Pretoria will rule whether to release a report that could show very high allegations of that corruption. There's been a great deal of pressure. These opposition groups are here and their numbers out already early in the morning here in Pretoria. More are expected from other opposition groups. The pressure is building. But its early days yet, I think, and the ruling ANC, has said, "Do it." Or the head of the ruling ANC has said "Well, that Zuma should listen to his conscience, if people are calling for him to step down," Isha? SESAY: All right, David. I think maybe the sound is going to get a little better, got a little loud there for a second. The question is what are we hearing from Jacob Zuma amidst all of this pressure for him to step down?

MCKENZIE: He hasn't said very much at all. In fact, he's on his way to Zimbabwe for a meeting and he is rarely keeping quiet through this whole time. His lawyers are the ones who have been speaking, trying to desperately stop the release of this report that could have damning allegations against him. But I haven't seen those kind of groundswell in South Africa for some time.

Of course, Jacob Zuma is a long-embattled president. He survived many corruption and other scandals but the sense is today, but this might be the moment that more pressure will build. As you can see behind me, there will be potentially thousands here in the capital asking for him to step down.

But there is a sense that this moment including people, groups like the Nelson Mandela Foundation and a major union is pushing for him to step down. I don't think that pressure's going to result in him actually leaving right away. But it certainly will add to the pressure and that pressure's building, Isha?

SESAY: All right. David Mckenzie out there amongst the crowds, there in Pretoria, South Africa. They are calling for Zuma to step down, but will he listen? We appreciate, it David. Thank you so much.

VAUSE: He may not listen but he couldn't help but hear them. They were very loud.

SESAY: They were very loud.

VAUSE: Very loud? Sounded good too. I mean, as far as protest go.

[02:49:02] Well, next here on NEWSROOM L.A., a Moscow fast food chain is dishing out a new kind of balloting. What you eat is how you vote.

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VAUSE: A restaurant chain in Moscow is giving customers a unique way to show who they would like to be the next U.S. President.

SESAY: Our CNN Money Correspondent Clare Sebastian explains, they're saying it with sandwiches.

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CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In a shopping mall not far from the center of Moscow, a rather bizarre tribute to Donald Trump. First a man dressed to look like Trump sings what they say is the candidate's favorite song. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New York.

SEBASTIAN: Then a promotional master class, making the limited edition Trump wrap. It's all organized by this fast food restaurant. The question of course is why?

OLEG NAZAROV: I decided that it will be indeed very actual, very up to date just to invent such a dish and dedicate it to Donald Trump, who is very popular in Russia.

SEBASTIAN: The Trump-themed sandwich is made of beef, chicken, anchovies, and a full head of mustard, extra turmeric added to get just the right color.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And this must be hair, his hair.

SEBASTIAN: The chef apparently studied Trump's interviews and tried to match his favorite food.

TRUMP: And the Big Macs are great, the quarter pounder with cheese.

SEBASTIAN: There is a Hillary wrap too, though clearly an afterthought. Now, publicly, the Russian president has said he will work with whatever candidate is elected, be it Trump or Hillary Clinton.

But over the past few months Russian state media has often fed a sentiment favorable to Trump. Not openly supporting the Republican nominee but focusing heavily on scandals around Clinton's campaign and Trump's much friendlier attitude toward Russia.

TRUMP: And by the way, wouldn't it be nice if we actually got along with Russia? Wouldn't that be -- wouldn't that be nice?

[02:55:02] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe together drink with Putin, the situation between Russia country, American normal.

SEBASTIAN: The Trump and Clinton-themed snacks are only on sale until November 8th, Election Day. If this group is anything to go by, though, perhaps Russia has already made its flavor preference very clear.

Claire Sebastian, CNN, Moscow.

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VAUSE: Both those sandwiches have pretty high negatives.

SESAY: Deeply unfavorable.

VAUSE: Indeed.

SESAY: OK. Of course we wouldn't want to say good-bye without giving you a taste of how the late-night talk show hosts are tackling all things Trump and Clinton.

VAUSE: Here's "Late Show's" Stephen Colbert offering a prophecy of doom.

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STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW": Well, ladies and gentlemen, mark one's calendar because election is but one week away. Seven days. Time enough to tell your family you love them and make your peace with God.

As the captain of the Titanic once said, "This is not a drill." The polls are tightening. The latest ABC News Washington Post, let's say sunglass hot poll has Donald Trump moving ahead of Clinton by one point as enthusiasm declines. Though to be fair, anytime Donald Trump gets close to a woman enthusiasm tends to decline.

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VAUSE: Right.

SESAY: One and only Stephen Colbert. Well, you've been watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.

VAUSE: I'm John Vause. The news continues with Rosemary Church after a short break.

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