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FBI Double Standard; Clinton's Ambition Questioned; Iraqi Troops Clear Outskirts; Trump Condemns White Nationalist. Aired 9:30- 10a ET
Aired November 01, 2016 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:30:00] ROBERT WOLF, FORMER PRESIDENT & COO, UBS: You know, yes, I think it's important to find out what really happened. And I would like to think that the FBI's taking it much more seriously than this e-mail approach where actually they've already said that the secretary had no wrongdoing.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: So, Jack, does the FBI director have a responsibility to come out and inform the public about if there are, you know, Russian ties to this election?
JACK KINGSTON, SENIOR ADVISER, TRUMP CAMPAIGN: You know, I think if there were serious allegations -- I mean all I'm hearing really, frankly, is rhetoric in politics on that. But if there were serious allegations, I think all Americans would be interested. And I want to point out, this is all happening under Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton's watch. They had eight years to do something about cybersecurity. And what did Hillary Clinton do? She had her own e- mails, her own devices, and she carried classified information outside of briefing rooms?
COSTELLO: Well, Jack -- Jack, I mean, just going -- going back, doesn't the American public have the right to know if the Russians are trying to disrupt the American election?
KINGSTON: I think they do. And I'm -- I don't think you'd have any problem with the Trump campaign saying certainly if that -- if that's an issue, let's find out about it.
WOLF: If this -- listen, if --
KINGSTON: But -- but we're in this position right now, talking about Director Comey, he's become a household name because of Hillary Clinton, because she did not turn over her e-mails.
WOLF: NO, I know, but, congressman -- congressman, if Trump released his taxes --
KINGSTON: She destroyed 33,000.
WOLF: If Trump released his taxes, we would see whether there is interest that he owes or is receiving from Russian banks. We would see different loans and expectations (ph).
KINGSTON: (INAUDIBLE).
WOLF: You and I know that he's the --
KINGSTON: I under --
WOLF: First presidential candidate to not release taxes. And it's not because of an IRS thing. Because at the end of the day, if I wanted -- I've been under audit. I can release mine wherever I want.
KINGSTON: I understand. I would do -- be doing what you're doing. You're trying to pivot. The reality is, Hillary Clinton said she turned over all her e-mails. Director Comey said that was not true at all. She said she did not destroy any. Thirty-three thousand were destroyed with bleach bits 30 days after this had been -- after the Congress --
COSTELLO: But that investigation -- that investigation has been closed.
WOLF: Keep in mind, we're -- that -- that investigation was -- come on, the investigation was closed, congressman. Let's go forward.
KINGSTON: It was not -- and -- and what the director tells Congressman Lamar Smith of Texas and Jim Sensenbrenner is, I will reopen this if the standards, that the threshold is high enough to merit it. So this idea that, well, there's nothing significant, there's absolutely something significant.
WOLF: Wait a second. First of all --
KINGSTON: Or he would not have done it.
WOLF: You -- it's all speculation. One, they have not --
KINGSTON: It is not speculation.
WOLF: Wait a second. Let me just finish. I let you finish. They did not talk -- he has not reopened it and they have not mentioned anything significant. They said, could or could not be pertinent to the case. They don't even know. By that point, when the announcement came out, five days ago, by the way, and we're still talking about it, today we don't know one e-mail, we don't know if they went -- were to or from the secretary. We know none of it. You know none of it and I know none of it. And I'm (ph) just sitting there.
KINGSTON: Two -- well, two -- one way we would know -- would know is if Hillary Clinton had have turned over the evidence originally and had not have destroyed it. Huma Abedin has 650,000 e-mails. So she could still turn it over.
WOLF: That's not true. Not true. Huma Abedin does not have 650,000 e- mails.
KINGSTON: That -- well -- well, that's the number. But her --
WOLF: Her -- (CROSS TALK)
WOLF: OK, this is what I -- you're just -- that's just not accurate.
KINGSTON: Let me get back to this congressional hearing, though. It's very, very important. Jim Sensenbrenner asked him, he said, since you closed the case, there has been some disturbing evidence that has come forward. Does that make you want to reopen it? And Director Comey said, no, in my opinion, none of that reaches the threshold. If something does, though, I will reopen the case. And that is what has happened.
WOLF: And he -- and he has not reopened -- and the case is not reopened. Listen, you're just talking in speaking points. You're great at talking speaking points.
COSTELLO: I'm going to -- I'm going to end this here.
KINGSTON: Robert, you know it has reopened.
COSTELLO: Thanks to both of you. Thanks, gentleman. And I apologize for the technical difficulties.
WOLF: In seven days you'll come back on your own (INAUDIBLE).
COSTELLO: Jack Kington, Robert Wolf.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:37:48] COSTELLO: President Obama cut right to the chase and he minced no words when he sat down with "Full Frontal," Samantha Bee, for Halloween. He called Donald Trump's comments about Hillary Clinton's low stamina sexist and that's not all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAMANTHA BEE, "FULL FRONTAL": If and when Hillary is president, what do you think will be the female equivalent of "you weren't born in this country"?
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That's an interesting question.
BEE: Thank you, I have a lot of those.
OBAMA: I think the equivalent will be, "she's tired. She's moody. She's being emotional."
BEE: There's just something about her.
OBAMA: There's something about her. When men are ambitious, it's just taken for granted. Well, of course they should be ambitious. When women are ambitious, why? That theme, I think, will continue throughout her presidency. And it's contributed to this notion that somehow she is hiding something.
BEE: What a nasty woman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: With me now to talk about this is Mary Katharine Ham, senior writer for "The Federalist" and CNN political commentator, and Sally Kohn, a CNN political commentator and "Daily Beast" columnist and Hillary Clinton supporter.
Welcome to you both.
SALLY KOHN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: So, Sally, you could argue Donald Trump has called his male opponents low energy, too. Remember low-energy Jeb?
KOHN: I mean, yes, it's -- look, there's two layers here, right? Donald Trump insults everyone, right? He insults the male Mexicans and the female Mexicans. Hi insults the male Muslims and the female Muslims. So on some levels Donald --
COSTELLO: He insults white guys, too.
KOHN: Right. And on some level, Donald Trump is an all-purpose blankety-blank. I can't say what I want to say on -- but -- but there is also, at that level, there's also a gender particularly to it. So he can be a -- sort of a general jerk and then, within that, there can be particular sexist sort of versions thereof, when he says Carly Fiorina doesn't look presidential, or Hillary Clinton doesn't look presidential, right? When he says that she doesn't have the stamina. Not just low energy, right? It's a larger like stamina. She's not quite made for the job in the way that he is. Women all know what that means. And, frankly, in this day and age, most men can hear that, too.
COSTELLO: But, Mary Katharine, do you think that Hillary Clinton will really have to deal with that sort of thing, you know, if she becomes president for her full term?
[09:40:06] MARY KATHARINE HAM, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, first of all, what a pair, Samantha Bee and President Obama. One is an unfunny liberal ideologue boosting the base with lame, bad jokes, and the other is the president.
KOHN: Oh!
HAM: Look, I think -- I think this segment on the show probably did what they wanted it to do, which is reach the right audience and reach women with this message. And I think that Sally's right, that Donald Trump can insult everyone and also have this particular issue with women, which I think he does.
Will she face questions in her presidency? Will some of them be sexist? Will sexism disappear? No. But here's the thing. When he talks about -- when the president talks about her having something to hide, that doesn't just come from sexism. That comes from things like the e- mail scandal. When you look at the numbers for her trustworthiness and six in ten -- six or seven in ten voters saying they don't find her trustworthy on the honesty scale and almost as bad as Donald Trump, sometimes worse than Donald Trump in some of these polls, that comes from somewhere. And a lot of those people are women. It's not just sexism.
COSTELLO: But Mary Katharine is right, a lot of women don't like Hillary Clinton. But --
KOHN: Yes.
COSTELLO: President -- on the other hand, President Obama did go there. He said, because Hillary Clinton's an ambitious woman, that added to her untrustworthiness, and I like Mary Katharine can hear a lot of women saying, really?
KOHN: Right. I mean -- you know, listen, I -- unfortunately nuance is dead in this election by and large, so it's really hard to have nuanced conversations about these. But it is actually possible for both things to be true at the same time. That sexism plays a role in how we view a candidate like Hillary Clinton. And, at times, sexism has nothing to do with how we view a candidate like Hillary Clinton.
For instance, the fact that the media has, for up until fairly recently, gave Donald Trump a wild free pass, didn't go after him remotely, and hammered Hillary Clinton over the e-mails every single chance they got. So that now here we are again talking about the e- mail instead of, oh, I don't know, Trump dodging $100 million in taxes. That repeatedly combined with the 30 years of Hillary Clinton being attacked over and over and over again also contributes. Whether it's sexism or not, right? We -- we, I think, can walk and chew gum at the same time.
COSTELLO: Mary Katharine?
HAM: Well, I feel like we're talking about all of those things. And I also feel like the Clintons, including Hillary Clinton, have been attacked over many years because they've done many shady things and then they've tried to cover them up and then they've gotten themselves in trouble doing that, which is exactly the story of the e-mails and you see the truth of this and exactly what people think about her coming out in the WikiLeaks Podesta e-mails and in the FBI investigation. And voters have a gut feeling about her that is not wrong. It comes from things she has done, not from just who she is.
COSTELLO: OK. So, I will throw this in, because Samantha Bee makes no bones about it. She does want Hillary Clinton to become president and not Donald Trump. Proof, listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Yes.
BEE: Can you tell us a spooky story about what happens if people don't vote?
OBAMA: Donald Trump could be president.
BEE: OK. That was very scary.
OBAMA: Yes.
BEE: Let me make it even scarier for you.
OBAMA: OK.
BEE: Supreme Court justice Corey Lewandowski. Speaker of the House Louie Gohmert.
OBAMA: That was pretty scary. I'm not sure I'm going to sleep well tonight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: OK, so it's funny. The goal there was to get young people to get out and vote. And I always wonder if that sort of thing works, Mary Katharine.
HAM: Look, I think the president has fun doing it. He does a good job at it. Is this the place you're going to reach a ton of young voters? Not a giant number. But I think the Internet replays are probably what they're going for. Frankly, I think Michelle Obama on the stump is better at that than this particular show.
COSTELLO: Sally.
KOHN: Well, look, I do think, you know, as Mary Katharine has been suggesting, that over the 30 years of hammering at Hillary Clinton, I agree, often for some good reasons, but usually exacerbated in relation to that. Still, whatever skepticism voters have about Hillary Clinton is -- is buried by mounds and mounds of fear and doubt about Donald Trump. And, you know, Sam, I think Sam's great, and pointing out along with President Obama, you know, Halloween is over, but the scariness is not. The prospect of a Trump presidency is truly frightening to our children, our friends, our futures. This is -- this is some scary stuff. So I think hopefully that really does motivate young people to get out there and do something about it.
COSTELLO: And I would suspect the other side says exactly the same thing about Hillary Clinton's presidency.
HAM: Exactly.
COSTELLO: I've got to leave it there.
HAM: That's the essence of the race.
COSTELLO: Exactly. Mary Katharine -- Mary Katharine Ham, Sally Kohn, thanks to both of you.
[09:44:53] Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Iraqi forces have sealed off the last village they need to clear. Within hours, they will have a path towards the city of Mosul. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Iraqi forces face rooftop snipers, remotely detonated car bombs and a road block with boulders. ISIS fighters trying a slew of tactics to stop them from entering Mosul. It hasn't worked. Iraqi troops have now sealed off the last village they have to clear before breaking into that city.
In the meantime, the Turkish military says it's moving tanks and bulldozers toward its border with Iraq and the two cities closest to Mosul, but they won't say why.
CNN correspondent Michael Holmes live in Erbil, Iraq, with more.
[09:50:01] Hi, Michael.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hi, Carol.
Yes, that last maintain town, if you like, before the city limits of Mosul, a place called Kojali (ph), now Iraqi troops, the counterterrorism forces, have been besieging that town all day. They say they now have taken control of it. They're going through and clearing the last remnants of resistance. They had a bit of a tough time as you pointed out there. There were remotely detonated car bombs. There was a lot of sniper fire. It was not easy to take. They're now sealed it off and doing the clearing operation.
Next stop literally is Mosul, the outer eastern portion of Mosul, which is then going to be open to Iraqi troops. Whether they move in or not at the moment, what the timing will be, very much uncertain. A dust storm came in later in the day, which has now hit us here in Erbil. And that sort of slowed down the process in terms of visibility.
Once they get inside Mosul, well, that's when the real fighting is going to begin. There are so many civilians, 1.2 million civilians inside Mosul, and their situation is dire. There were thousands more trapped in from outlying villages and towns over the last week or so. And literally trucked in and left in the middle of town, women, children, the elderly, and told to fend for themselves, given no food or water, but basically put in town to add to the hundreds of thousands of people who are essentially human shields in Mosul.
It's going to be a very difficult effort to take this city. It's going to take a long time. It's not going to be as quick as the getting to Mosul, Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Michael Holmes reporting live for us inside of Iraq. Thank you.
Checking some top stories for you at 51 minutes past.
Bill Cosby back in court. Here he is arriving earlier this hour. This time he's there for a hearing on an attempt to get the sexual assault charges against him dismissed. The judge will consider whether a damaging deposition Cosby gave can be used in his trial. Last week Cosby's defense team declared he was legally blind, arguing the case should be dropped since he will not be able to determine if he has ever actually seen his accusers.
At least one worker is dead, five others wounded in an explosion and fire along the colonial gasoline pipeline in Alabama. Officials say the pipeline was undergoing maintenance when a crew hit it with a track hoe. It's the second time in two months that this crucial East Coast supply line had to be shut down. Gas prices in the southeast and mid-Atlantic states are expected to rise.
Nearly 5,000 Philadelphia area transit workers are now on strike. It started at midnight and is expected to affect subway, bus and trolley routes in the city. The workers are seeking better salaries, pension options and health care. Their transit agency hopes to reach an agreement with the union before Election Day. In the meantime, regional rail service does continue.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Trump condemns another white nationalist supporting him. Ahead, the robo call used to slam a third party candidate cutting into Trump's lead in Utah.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM JOHNSON (voice-over): Hello, my name is William Johnson. I am a farmer and a white nationalist. I make this call against Evan McMullin and in support of Donald Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:57:31] COSTELLO: Donald Trump condemning yet another extremist alt-right group supporting his campaign. This one a white nationalist making robo calls against third party candidate Evan McMullin, who, according to a recent poll, is cutting into Trump's lead with conservatives in Utah. CNN's Ana Cabrera has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM JOHNSON, CHAIRMAN, AMERICAN FREEDOM PARTY (voice-over): I make this call against Evan McMullin and in support of Donald Trump.
ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a robo call targeting third party presidential candidate Evan McMullin in Utah.
JOHNSON: Even McMullin is an open borders amnesty supporter.
CABRERA: The guy behind it?
JOHNSON (on camera): They put up a candidate to try to stop Donald Trump.
CABRERA: William Johnson, a Trump supporter and white nationalist.
JOHNSON: There are those of us who want to do our part to help him become elected. CABRERA: Listen closely to this part of the call that's creating the
most controversy.
JOHNSON (voice-over): Evan has two mommies. His mother is a lesbian married to another woman. Evan is OK with that. Indeed, Evan supports the Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage. Evan is over 40 years old and is not married and doesn't even have a girlfriend. I believe Evan is a closet homosexual.
CABRERA: Johnson doesn't even live in Utah. He is in California. He spent $2,000 to dial up 193,000 landlines in the state, where polls show McMullin, a Utah native, former CIA operative and devout Mormon, siphoning the conservative vote from Trump.
EVAN MCMULLIN, INDEPENDENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's a close race, but the momentum is ours.
CABRERA: Johnson admits he doesn't really know McMullin. In fact, he has a hard time pronouncing his name.
JOHNSON: Evan McCullen (ph) is the candidate.
CABRERA: When asked about the allegation that McMullin is gay.
JOHNSON: I don't know whether he is or not. I just said that I think that he might be.
MCMULLIN: I'm straight and that's all I have to say about that. It's, you know, not something I feel like I have to defend. Of course I'm not happy that he attacked my mother and I'm not happy about the approach it took, but I think it's going to backfire here in Utah.
CABRERA: The Trump campaign was quick to rebuke the robo calls, saying in a statement, "we strongly condemn this rhetoric and these activities of which we have no knowledge."
Ana Cabrera, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: It's all been leading up to this, Election Day in America. We'll have every race and every result. Stay with CNN until the very last vote is cast.
The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.
[09:59:08] And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me.
The end is in sight. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump making their final pitches to voters in key states. Clinton is laser-focused on Florida, making three stops there today.
