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Donald Trump's Ties to Russia; Authorities Focus on Florida Zika Cases; Candidates Launch Fight Over Battleground States; Trump Accuses Clinton Of Rigging Debate Schedule; Flint Prosecutor: Two Agencies Changed Data On Same Day; Riots Force Security Changes For Olympics; Olympics CEO: Village Is "Safest Place In The World" Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired July 30, 2016 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00] ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Some of the world's top video gamers have been locked in a computer combat playing Counter Strike: Global Offensive. They've been doing that since May. You can watch the best of three championship match this afternoon 4:00 eastern on our sister network TBS.
In case you didn't know, don't tell your kids to stop video games because you can now get a college scholarship to play video games.
CHISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: I am not telling my kids that. That's all I'm saying. And Fred is over there with me, she agrees as you can hear her. Andy, thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're welcome.
PAUL: And when you hear Fredericka, you know that we're ready to leave.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you so much for joining us this morning.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: You know that she has a really big mouth.
PAUL: No, you and me both. Bleeding into your microphone. No, no, no. No, no, no, from one mom to another, we get it.
WHITFIELD: I know, I know. My mouth will be shut on that topic at home for sure.
PAUL: I'm with you.
WHITFIELD: All right. You all have a great day.
PAUL: You too, Fred.
All right, so much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM. It's 11:00 on East Coast, I'm Fredericka Whitfield, NEWSROOM starts right now.
All right, we begin with that brazen cybersecurity, breach aimed, shaking up the American race for president. Just 100 days from the general election now. And the FBI and the Justice Department are both investigating a data hack of a computer program used by the Clinton campaign.
The breach is believed to be similar and maybe even linked to two previous intrusions that Democratic Party organization reported earlier this week when WikiLeaks published more than 20,000 private e- mails detailing internal party strategies. U.S. official say there is strong evidence that breach came from Russian hackers.
The latest reported hack comes after Donald Trump's controversial comments that seemingly encouraged Russians to do more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Russia if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Trump later said he was being sarcastic with those comments.
CNN's Dianne Gallagher has been following the story for us. So Dianne, you know, was any valuable Clinton data compromised?
DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Fred, what this basically, this is an analytic data program that was maintained by the DNC, and it used by Democratic campaigns including the Clinton campaign. So, this wasn't one of their official programs or anything like that. Essentially it was a voter database that kept information like, basically your contact information, it kept talking about your participation rate, things like that. We're not discussing social security numbers, credit card numbers, anything like that.
WHITFIELD: And now that the conventions are all behind this, how about the candidates in terms of beginning to receive intelligence briefings? Is this hack, you know, being seen as a possible threat in any way to national security going forward?
GALLAGHER: Well obviously there is cause for concern here because this is the third hack of a Democratic organization that we're finding about just this week alone. And the White House just on Friday actually phoned those particular campaigns, the Clinton and Trump campaign, and said that it's time to start getting the transition in process. Or time to start getting to the point where you are receiving these intelligence briefings. And granted both sides believe that the real security risk right now is the other candidate. There have been complaints from the heads of both parties saying that Clinton shouldn't get them or that Trump shouldn't get them.
But even Dianne Feinstein said she feels like all the campaigns, both Republicans and Democrats need to be more cautious and careful and they've got to do something to plug these holes.
WHITFIELD: All right, Dianne Gallagher, thank you so much, appreciate that.
All right, so whether he's being sarcastic or not, Donald Trump has made recurring comments about Russia and his respect for Vladimir Putin. But what exactly is his relationship with the Russian president? Here now is CNN's Jim Sciutto.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Wouldn't it be nice if we actually did get along with Russia?
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump trading complements with Russian president and U.S. adversary Vladimir Putin.
TRUMP: When people like me I like them. Even Putin.
SCIUTTO: Their relationship now under new scrutiny with U.S. officials now saying it is likely it was Russia that hacked 20,000 e- mails from the Democratic National Committee. WikiLeaks released the e-mails on the eve of the Democratic Party Convention. The timing raising questions about whether it was an attempt to influence the U.S. election, perhaps in Trump's favor.
Director of national intelligence James Clapper told us that while it's too early to say with certainty it was Russia, the Kremlin does have an interest in undermining the U.S. political process.
Is it your view that Russia has the intention of, if not influencing this election undermining confidence in the U.S. political process?
JAMES CLAPPER, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: They see a U.S. conspiracy behind every bush.
[11:05:05] They believe that we're trying to influence political developments in Russia. Their natural response is to retaliate.
SCIUTTO: That is a very serious concern for the U.S. government.
CLAPPER: Was this just to stir up trouble? Or was this ultimately to try to influence an election? And, of course, this is serious -- a serious proposition.
SCIUTTO: When asked by Erin Burnett, Trump's campaign manager discounted the fact that Russia leaked the information to put Trump in the White House.
PAUL MANAFORT, TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN MANAGER: It's just absurd. I don't know anything about what you said. You may know it, and if you do then you got to expose it.
SCIUTTO: In fact Trump maintains that he has no connections to Russia whatsoever. And CNN has not been able to find any current business operations there.
TRUMP: I have nothing to do with Putin. I have never spoken to him. I don't know anything about him. SCIUTTO: But when he brought his Miss Universe Pageant to Moscow in
2013, Trump said he spoke personally with Putin.
TRUMP: I was in Russia, I was in Moscow recently and I spoke indirectly and directly with President Putin who could not have been nicer.
SCIUTTO: And now Trump's favorable comments about Russia has U.S. allies worried about whether the U.S. would defend them against Russian regression.
CLAPPER: Really (ph) bothersome to our foreign partners. And I hear that from my counterparts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: The FBI and the Department of Justice are now investigating this newest possible attack on the Hillary Clinton campaign. In fact, it's the Justice Department's National Security Division which is involved and that typically means they are talking about a state actor or a terrorist group, and of course, when we talk about state actor in relation to these attacks, the strongest evidence points once again to Russia and Russian intelligence services. Fred?
WHITFIELD: All right Jim Sciutto, thank you so much. Appreciate that.
Let's talk about Russia's possible role here. And yes it could indeed influence the election. Joining me is Democratic strategist Robert Zimmerman, good to see you. CNN political commentator Lanhee Chen, he's also the former public policy director Mitt Romney, good to see you. And, Kelly Riddell, she is a columnist for the Washington Times and a Trump Supporter.
All right, welcome to all of you. So, Clinton's campaign spokesman Nick Merrill said in a statement, that campaign computer experts, "Have found no evidence that our internal systems have been compromised." But, Robert, the campaign has to be very nervous about what hackers were able to do and what WikiLeaks claimed are more e- mails that it plans to release. So how does the Clinton campaign try to get ahead of this or even protect, you know, its data?
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, it's very important of course to constantly update the system and improve the system. But Fred, let's also not forget that Russia or the hackers have the ability to also forge e-mails and also manipulate them. So they can be very misleading and be very misinterpreted.
So I think there are a lot of dangers to the actual e-mails being released and also e-mails being taken out of context. So that is a real concern. But all you can do is keep upgrading the system and hopefully encourage Donald Trump not to advocate felonies like encouraging Russia to hack into the American political system.
WHITFIELD: Yeah. The possible manipulation or forging, that's a huge concern. So money, you know, the Clinton campaign says its internal systems have not been compromised, but this is a concern. Even bigger than the Clinton camp, right? So what is at stake say for the Trump campaign to potentially seize on this breach that does threaten the Clinton campaign's cybersecurity?
LANHEE CHEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: There are a couple different ways into this, Fred. I mean obviously the first question is, who is in a better position to keep America safe from cyber attacks? And I think this is an issue that's been growing in intensity and significance, particularly since 2012. And so one of the things the Trump campaign can do is to say, "Look, we've got a candidate, we've got a team better positioned to do that." Now, of course, we haven't heard an exact plan on that yet. So the trump campaign is going to have to get there.
But the other big issue here is for the Trump campaign to go after Hillary Clinton as a flawed surrogate on the question of Russia, because remember she's the one who advocated closer relations with the Putin regime and with Russia several years ago when she was secretary of state. So that does make her, I think, a flawed surrogate in some ways. But overall, this could be a problem if there are continued relations that are exposed between Trump and Putin because so far at least it seems like he's relatively friendly towards the Russian leader.
WHITFIELD: And Kelly, doesn't that relationship or those very colorful complimentary words of Putin or even the encouragement of finding more e-mails, doesn't that flaw Donald Trump?
KELLY RIDDELL, TRUMP SUPPORTER: No. I don't even know where this conversation is going. I mean, it is so absurd. Donald Trump was making a joke, anyone who actually heard his comments in context knew that it was complete sarcasm. There is absolutely no, you reported yourself, there are no business dealings in Russia with Donald Trump currently. So there's nothing there.
[11:10:05] This story was planted by Robby Mook, Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, promoted by John Podesta to get the media, to look at Trump -- it's all pretend, it's all made up. There's no evidence Trump got in contact with the Russian oligarchy that hacked into the DNC ...
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: Are you ignoring what the FBI said?
RIDDELL: Yeah, that the Russians, that the Russians hacked into this political groups, yes, and that is concerning, and that's concerning to all Americans and that's a bipartisan issue. But there's no evidence that Donald Trump was behind it.
On one hand you have the Democrats saying that he's dumbest candidate ever, and then on the next -- on the other hand you have him saying, "Oh he's talking to Putin and they're going -- like get into -- you can't have it both ways." He can't be a master manipulator and a bad candidate at the same time. WHITFIELD: Kelly, hold it there for a second. How do you further defend this notion of it being sarcasm? Because, you know, very few people find that believable that he was sarcastic, that he's saying it or meant it in a joking way.
RIDDELL: All I urge is the American public out there to watch his context, to watch his remarks in context in full and not to take clips from CNN.
ZIMMERMAN: And Kelly, let me encourage you to look at the facts. Donald Trump is already on record acknowledging he had relationships with Vladimir Putin. And now he's lying about it.
RIDDELL: You know what? Hillary Clinton -- I would like to point out, Hillary Clinton ...
(CROSSTALK)
ZIMMERMAN: Excuse me Kelly, let me finish my ...
WHITFIELD: OK, wait Kelly, let Robert finish. OK, hold it Kelly, let Robert finish.
RIDDELL: OK.
ZIMMERMAN: So the first point is, Donald Trump is already on the record lying about his relations with Vladimir Putin. But much more significant than that, much more significant is Donald Trump's supporting an agenda that makes him Vladimir Putin's dream candidate. He's advocating dismantling NATO that will leave our allies in the region totally vulnerable to Russian aggression. And he's advocating staying neutral between Israel and Palestine. So more than that, speculation and gossip, he's advocating an agenda that clearly is Vladimir Putin's wheelhouse, and that's the real danger here.
RIDDELL: All right. Can we talk about Hillary Clinton's record? Her setting the Russian reset button and then leaving office telling President Barack Obama that the relations with Russia were at an all- time worse while she was -- when the Russian company wanted by 20 percent of the Iranian assets in the United States of America, at the same time they announced that they wanted to pursue that deal, Bill Clinton went over to Russia and gave a presentation to a Russian bank supporting ...
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: It seems no matter what side you're on, everyone has expressed some concern about what's happening right now with the cybersecurity breach and now we're talking about this week, both candidates will be receiving intel briefings.
And so I wonder Elani, how concerning it is, both sides are talking about distrusting the other. But when you have this week's intel briefings on the heels of what's happened with this cybersecurity breach, how concerning is it for voters, how concerning might it be, you know, for this sitting administration to share this information to either candidate, both candidates?
CHEN: Yeah, so ultimately this is one thing that's not really well understood, Fred. And that is that the administration ultimately can control the amount and the nature of the information that's being shared with either candidate. And having participated in this process four years ago, what I can tell you is that, basically the administration shares information that is more atmospheric in nature, generally. That sort of sets the stage that helps the candidates understand, look, these are the threats that America faces.
And I actually think this could be good, that both candidates are getting this information. Because hopefully it will help them both better understand what we're up against. Now, obviously, we're always concerned about candidates disclosing information that they're not supposed to that they received in classified briefings. But, to a certain degree, we're going to have to trust the process here that both candidates are going to be able to be adults about this, get the information, store it on their own and use it if they get elected president, because this process is happening. It is going to happen soon.
WHITFIELD: Right. Elani Chen, let's leave it right there. Thank you so much, and Kelly Riddell and Robert Zimmerman. Good to see you all. Thank you.
And we'll se you again a little bit later on in the hour. So, Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine, well, they're on the road this weekend canvassing more than 600 miles of Republican leaning areas of Pennsylvania and Ohio. We'll take you live onboard the battleground bus tour, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[11:17:55] KHIZR KHAN, FATHER OF FALLEN SOLDIER CAPT. HUMAYUN KHAN: Donald Trump, you are asking Americans to trust you with your future. Let me ask you, have you even read the United States constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: That was a part of a very emotional speech at the Democratic National Convention from Khizr Kahn. He is the father of a decorated Muslim-American soldier who died in the Iraqi War in 2004. Khan is now calling on Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and house speaker Paul Ryan to repudiate Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KHAN: If your candidate wins, and he governs the way he has campaigned, my country, this country will have constitutional crisis that never before in the history of this country. And there comes a time in the history of a nation where ethical, moral stand has to be taken regardless of the political cost. (END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Kahn says he's only delivered part of his speech at the convention and has so much more to say to Republican leaders and to America. He will actually join Jake Tapper on CNN "State of the Union" tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m. eastern time.
So, with just 100 days until the presidential election, Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine are in the midst of a three-day battleground bus tour, fresh off the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia. The Democratic ticket is bus touring in Pennsylvania making several campaign stops today before heading to Ohio.
CNN senior political correspondent Briana Keiler is on the campaign bus tour and joins us live now on the phone with the duo's goal, what is it, Briana?
BRIANA KEILER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Fred, and hello I should say from a bus that is behind another bus full of reporters, and we should be off soon behind these two buses that Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine will be on.
[11:20:09] But the message here trying to deliver today it is about the economy, it's about creating job. It's about manufacturing and investments in communities that are manufacturing stronghold and that by - you know, the description of the campaign have been left out, have been left behind. So I think there's going to be some acknowledgment of that.
But it's really a lot about who Hillary Clinton is trying to target and that is white folks ans class (ph) voters. If you look at our first stop today, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. This Cambria County, this is an area where manufacturing is big, and it actually is a base that went Democratic until 2012 and actually President Obama lost despite the fact there were more registered Democrats. Mitt Romney actually won 58 percent of the votes.
And then you look back into the primary season, Bernie Sanders bested Hillary Clinton in this county, not Pennsylvania overall but at this county by 3 percent. It is largely white community and it's a place where unemployment has been 6.7 percent, that's almost two points above the national average.
So, this is an area that has been certainly hurting economically more than some of the other areas in the country, and many people see this area a key to Donald Trump's success if he is going to make it to the presidency. He may have an aerial pass safety (ph) but this is an essential part of that. You know, could propel him to the White House.
WHITFIELD: All right. Briana Keilar, thank you so much. On the bus with the Clinton, Kaine bus tour going to Pennsylvania and then off to Ohio.
Be sure to watch CNN State of the Union tomorrow morning 9:00 a.m. eastern. Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine sits down with Jake Tapper.
All right. Coming up, aggressive screenings in Florida of new blood donations, and even going door-to-door to test residents for the Zika virus. As four new cases have held officials on high alert there. Next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:25:52] WHITFIELD: Welcome back, health officials are ramping up new screening of blood donations and even going door-to-door to two South Florida counties to test residents for the Zika virus, after the CDC confirmed the first local transmissions of the virus within the continental U.S.
All four cases are in Dade and Broward counties in South Florida. And officials are now focusing their attention on an area north of downtown Miami. CNN's Nick Valencia is following the story for us and he joins us live now from Miami. So Nick, officials say they expected this to happen sooner or later.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They did. And they are trying to temper the residents' fears here by saying they have been prepared, highlighting the preparedness saying in the weeks leading up to this announcement by the Governor yesterday, that they have been spraying in areas that they believed to be infected, like here in this neighborhood north of downtown Miami called Wynwood.
They've also been trying to get rid of standing water. And as you mentioned, going door to door to ask for urine samples, testing residents here to make sure there are not any other cases of those residents here who have contracted the virus.
Earlier yesterday the Governor here in Florida talked to the public about the concerns that many of them have.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RICK SCOTT, (R) FLORIDA: Testing mosquitos in this area has been happening in this area where the small area for about two weeks. While no mosquito traps have tested positive for the Zika virus, the Department of Health is aggressively testing people in the effected area to ensure there are no other cases of this virus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VALENCIA: They believe all the cases have been confined to this area. Earlier we saw officials from Miami Dade County going block to block spraying insecticides in the atmosphere. And you'd be surprise to learn though Fred, some of the people that we've spoken to here, mostly tourists hadn't heard about the news. And those residences here locally that had heard about it. They're not all that concerned. Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, CNN's Nick Valencia, thank you so much, in Miami. All right. Meantime, in just 100 days America will be heading to the polls to elect its next president. We'll take a look at the key states candidates must win to get to the White House.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:31:15] WHITFIELD: All right, hello again and welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Welcome. One hundred days that's all that stands between now and Election Day. Well, that and a few incredibly key states that Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton must win to get to the White House.
CNN's John King walks us through the battleground.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Conventions are over. The big question now, who can get to 270 electoral votes. You have to say Hillary Clinton has a head start, the Democratic home field advantage, if you will.
We give her at CNN 236 electoral votes, 191 for Trump. Easy to score, dark red, solid Republican, dark blue, solid Democrat. The lighter shading leans that way.
So how does Donald Trump get there? Well, he thinks he can win the state where we are right now, Pennsylvania. Donald Trump is going to spend a lot of time try to prove himself in the rust belt, hard lift, heavy lift, hasn't gone Republican since 1988.
But if he can win Pennsylvania, then he's most likely winning Ohio. Where does that put Donald Trump? At 229, so where do you go from there? He has to hold North Carolina, an Obama state in '08, but a Mitt Romney state in 2012.
Donald Trump has to hold that. That would put Donald Trump at 244. He's in play now, right? Boom, boom, bang. If he can win the state of Florida, he's over the top, Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, and Florida.
Hillary Clinton says, no way, I'm going to hold that. Now she thinks she's going to get to Ohio too so let's give it to the Republicans. We move down to the state of Florida, Hillary Clinton, 29 electoral votes. Tim Kaine can speak Spanish.
Watch this one play out. If Hillary Clinton can hold Pennsylvania and win Florida, and nothing else changes, guess what? She's already the next president of the United States and she thinks Virginia is the bonus. It puts her up close to 300.
Watch the numbers here, here, and here, and you'll know how tight this is going to be come November.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Wow. Good view there. Thanks so much, John King. So both campaigns are well aware the states are win or die and they have already been fighting for votes there. Right now, Clinton is on that three-day bus tour through the rust belt with her running mate, Tim Kaine in Pennsylvania and then on to Ohio.
They made a stop earlier in Harrisburg and then later on this afternoon, they will be set to pull over in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, before making it into Ohio.
So Trump, meanwhile, spent Friday in the blue leaning state of Colorado before going home to Manhattan for the weekend.
Let's bring back my political panel, Democratic strategist and Clinton supporter, Robert Zimmerman, CNN political columnist and policy director for Mitt Romney, Lanhee Chen, and Kelly Riddell, she is a columnist for "The Washington Times" and Trump supporter.
All right, welcome back to all of you. OK, so, Kelly, you first. You know, Trump was in Colorado yesterday and is back in New York this weekend with no public events that we know of. Mike Pence is in Indiana. So what is the strategy post-convention?
RIDDELL: I think he's going to go hard after the rust belt states and he really does have a chance in Pennsylvania which would be a big win for him. He's really resonating with the white working class Americans, who feel left out of the economy, who feels that the last eight years hasn't been great for them.
And his message really resonated with them at the end of the convention. That's why we saw up to a ten-point bounce at the end of his convention. We'll see where Hillary Clinton goes after her convention in Philadelphia.
But it's really going to be up to the independent voters and these Democratic voters, who are, you know, working class, who voted for Obama last time around but will -- could decide to go for Trump because of his populist message this time around.
WHITFIELD: So Robert, you know, that Clinton and Kaine are in Pennsylvania making their way to Ohio. How pivotal potentially might this be and how this is favorable territory, particularly for Kaine to offer a great assist to Clinton.
ZIMMERMAN: Well, you know, as John pointed out in his report, the rust belt is a key region in this election.
[11:35:06]And I think the point that was brought up before is that so many white working class voters or were among working class voters inclusively, they feel left out. They feel they are not benefiting as much as they really should be benefiting.
Hillary Clinton's got to stay on message empowering the middle class, creating jobs, providing greater educational opportunities and job training. That's her great strength.
Donald Trump keeps veering off message and keeps reacting and attacking Mayor Bloomberg, he was attacking General Allen. He seems almost incapable of standing on message because ultimately he doesn't really have a concrete plan.
And keep an eye on other states where Democrats will be more competitive than ever before, Arizona, for example, Utah possibly, Georgia, these are states where Democrats are competitive because of the reaction of Donald Trump. So it will be very exciting. Democrats cannot take this for granted.
WHITFIELD: So Lanhee, you know, Clinton is staying on that message, you know, particularly on the economy and jobs on this tour. And last night in her rally, she said something about Bill Clinton that perked up a few ears. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I feel like I have a very good idea about how a president can help create jobs because over the eight years my husband was president we created 23 million new jobs. And you know, I told Bill if he thought he was going to get to retire, he was wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right, so Lanhee, in a way she's reiterating what she said from the convention that she's likely to enlist her husband, a former president on the economy. How appealing might that be to voters, particularly those independents and undecided, which are crucial for either Clinton or Trump?
CHEN: Yes, Fred, this encapsulates the challenge Hillary Clinton faces, right, because on the one hand she's trying to wrap her arms around the Democratic Party's past, right? She's trying to show continuity with President Obama and her husband before that.
On the other hand, you heard the case of the Democratic National Convention that she's also the change maker. So she's going to have to make a decision at some point. Does she want to be the change maker or does she want to be the continuation of the Democratic Party over the last 20 years?
I think that is going to be the difficulty for her is figuring out which of those two message resonates. I think we are in a changed cycle. I think people are frustrated with where the country is headed, particularly in those middle rust belt states that you talked about.
So she's going to figure out and settle on what her message is going to be because right now there's a little bit of confusion around that I think.
WHITFIELD: OK, Robert?
ZIMMERMAN: Lanhee, if I can just point out, it's not mutually exclusive. You can embrace the success of the Clinton administration, 22 million jobs. You can embrace the success of the Obama administration, 15 million jobs, that actually brought us from the worst recession in history, and you can focus on the future. It's a false choice. Hillary Clinton's career and life has been about making change and she has the scholars to prove it from the groups that have gone after her.
But I think the most important part here for Democrats is to reach out to independent voters and also to the Libertarian and Green Party voters to realize they can be part of the change or if they stay up with their parties, they can ultimately turn the election over to Donald Trump. That's how serious it is.
WHITFIELD: All right, Kelly, I see you chomping at the bit. How does Donald Trump seize on this opportunity of this, you know, argument of is it change or is it a continuation of the same?
RIDDELL: Well, it's definitely change with Donald Trump. If we just look at this "Wall Street Journal" headline for today, the U.S. is in the weakest recovery since 1949. So I don't know how you think that Obama's been successful.
And wasn't it Bill Clinton who signed in the NAFTA free trade agreement? I mean, where does Hillary Clinton stand on TPP? I'm not sure Tim Kaine supports it. Terry McAuliffe said that she supports it.
She is going to clarify her issues on exactly where she stands in the economy and what she means by she's going to appoint her husband to take charge of it. Aren't we supposed to be electing Hillary Clinton?
In terms of wanting change, the "Wall Street Journal" poll that came out last week, 56 percent of Americans want change, only 41 percent want to remain on the smooth and steady path. So I guess we'll see how that bears out in November.
WHITFIELD: OK. You know, before November, there are the debates and Donald Trump just tweeted out last night saying this, quote, "As usual Hillary and the Dems are trying to rig the debate so too are up against major NFL games. Same as last time with Bernie. Unacceptable."
So Kelly, is that some inference that Donald Trump may pull off another "I'm not going to appear, I don't need the debates, I don't want to?"
RIDDELL: I don't think so. I think that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are neck and neck in the polls and neither one of them can afford to miss a debate.
WHITFIELD: Robert?
ZIMMERMAN: Here we go again. Donald Trump is now going to try to discredit the debates to set himself up to avoid being in the debates. If you notice during the Republican debates, he was always engaged when it came to insults but when it came to policy he fell off the stage.
[11:40:08]So what you're seeing now is the beginning of a campaign to diminish the debates even though they are done in a bipartisan fashion. The debate date was set over a year ago and part of the American Democratic -- our great American democracy and a great political tradition. He's trying to find a way out.
WHITFIELD: Yes. And so the inference, too, that the DNC or somehow Hillary Clinton had the foresight or in some way played a role in scheduling this debate to go up against some NFL games. So Lanhee, is there truth to that?
CHEN: Well, I mean, look the Commission on the Presidential Debates, which is a nonpartisan organization set these debate dates a long time ago. They have been on the calendar for a while now.
If I were Donald Trump and the Trump campaign, I would be looking forward to these debates, right? Because the debates are an opportunity to change public impressions. This happened with Mitt Romney in that first debate in 2012 in Denver.
President Obama had painted a certain picture of Romney, which was inaccurate. He came out with a great debate and change the public impressions.
Trump has the opportunity to come out to demonstrate, look, I actually have a plan and have substance, which so far has been a challenge for that campaign. So I think he is going to be able to do that. He should be looking forward to the debates, not denigrating them.
WHITFIELD: All right, we'll leave it right there. Lanhee Chen, Kelly Riddell and Robert Zimmerman, good to see all of you. Robert, get some hot water with some honey and lemon. My recommendation here.
All right, coming up, new criminal charges brought against state employees in the Flint water crisis. How prosecutors say they intentionally hid signs of lead poisoning. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:45:14]
WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. So more people are now facing criminal charges in the investigation into Flint disastrous water crisis. Prosecutors say six state employees tried to cover up warning signs of lead poisoning in the city's water. That's in addition to the three other employees already charged.
CNN correspondent, Sara Ganim, has been following this from the very beginning. So Sara, what is behind these charges?
SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Fred. These are very serious charges, official misconduct in office. This is shaping up, prosecutors say, to be the largest investigation in Michigan state history and they say this is just the beginning.
There could be more charges as they work their way up from the local level to now state officials. They are continuing to try to figure out all of the different moving parts, all the different people involved in this scandal.
What we found, the most shocking thing from the allegations yesterday, is that two different state agencies had two different reports that were both altered on the same day, deleted e-mails and changed reports to cover-up the fact that -- to allegedly cover-up the fact that is high levels of lead were found in Flint's water and also in Flint's children.
Two different reports and they were both changed. The special prosecutor who is in charge of this investigation talks about what that means to him. Take a listen.
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TODD FLOOD, SPECIAL PROSECUTOR FOR FLINT INVESTIGATION: Two agencies manipulating reports on the same day, so in that lock step to stage left that seems significant to me. But I'm going to let that play out in our investigation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GANIM: Now the state attorney general said that they are not done, they are continuing to investigate. He compared it to a mob investigation where he said you don't start at the top, you work your way up.
I think it is also important, Fred, to remember the human toll in all of this. There are children in Flint who are not growing physically, who have been lead poisoned.
There are parents who have told me their kids have trouble paying attention, everything from basic things like paying attention to also having auditory issues, not being able to sit in a room where multiple people are talking. Very scary things that these families are going through.
WHITFIELD: Yes. Some real long-term adverse effects. All right, Sara Ganim, thanks so much. Keep us posted.
In the meantime, the Olympics are just six days away, but riots near Rio threaten to overshadow the competition. What Brazil is doing about that, coming up.
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[11:51:28]
WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. So the Olympic ceremonies, the opening ceremonies to the Olympic Games is just six days away now.
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WHITFIELD: But this is foreshadowing just about everything, about 100 miles from Rio aren't expecting a playful mood with Brazilians furious about poor health services and not getting paid. They also mobbed the Olympic torch relay forcing it to change course and now riot police and soldiers are taking over some of the security there.
With us now is Carl Herron, a former FBI crisis response agent. So Karl, you know, these riots, is it a microcosm of the security voids, the problems potential there?
CARL HERRON, FORMER FBI CRISIS RESPONSE AGENT: Yes. I think it shows the potential, but with some of the things that they've done, bringing in additional police to take over for security, if you recall the London Olympics the same situation where the contractor could not meet the commitment for providing enough security and the government had to come in once again.
So that is quite the norm because of various reasons if the security contractor cannot -- the people they're hiring can't pass background checks or whatever.
WHITFIELD: Last weekend, we reported that more military reinforcements were moving into assist. Does the mere presence of that military offer a certain shield, a type of deterrent, for what could be kind of petty crimes, but really could mar an Olympic Game, something that is attracting, you know, thousands, hundreds of thousands of people, tourists.
HERRON: Yes, I think bringing the military in could be somewhat of a deterrent, but I don't think it would escalate anything. I think it might be a deterrent whereas the gangs and the criminals are used to dealing with the police, bringing in the military might be a bigger deterrent for some of that activity.
WHITFIELD: So they are petty crimes, but then on a much larger scale, there's the concern of terrorism.
HERRON: Correct.
WHITFIELD: What are your concerns as it pertains to that?
HERRON: Well, with the level of crime that's going on in the country, the easiness of able to obtain weapons, that in itself, it's not a country where weapons are somewhat banned by citizens because you have gangs and drug dealers that are using weapons against other gangs.
So weapons are available and in light of the recent attacks in France and in Turkey, they were on soft targets, events outdoors. There are a lot of street activity, parties or things, festivals going on so that would be a concern.
WHITFIELD: The U.S. Olympic Committee CEO says he's not at all concerned about security saying this, quote, "I feel like the safest place in the world is going to be in the Olympic Village and at the competition venue. I think our athletes will be among the safest people in Rio because of all the security that's going to be around them." Is that a reasonable feeling of assurance?
HERRON: Yes. Keep in mind that planning for these Olympics, each country has put a request to the government hosting the games that here are our security needs. [11:55:01]WHITFIELD: So they customarily bring their own kind of security detail or you're saying they are giving a laundry list of this is what we need to make our athletes feel good.
HERRON: Both. They can bring their own security detail to help out, but they also can give a list of this is our security needs. We are going to need for our athletes traveling to and for practice and venues, and this is our other needs for providing security.
WHITFIELD: All right.
HERRON: So apparently that (inaudible).
WHITFIELD: Excellent. All right, Carl Herron, thanks so much. Of course, everybody is hoping for a safe and prosperous Olympic Games. All right, I appreciate it.
HERRON: Thanks.
WHITFIELD: All right, Hillary Clinton and running mate, Tim Kaine, are crisscrossing Pennsylvania today on a bus tour. They are expected to stop in Johnstown this afternoon. We'll take you there live. Much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM after this.
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WHITFIELD: All right, hello again, everyone. Thanks for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We're just 100 days away from the general election and the Democratic Party has fallen victim to another major cyber security breach.
The FBI and the Justice Department are investigating a data hack of a computer program used by the Clinton campaign. The breach is believed to be similar and maybe even linked to two previous intrusions that Democratic Party organization reported days ago when Wikileaks published more than 20,000 private e-mails detailing internal party strategies.
