Return to Transcripts main page

Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Sources: FBI Investigating Hack of Clinton Campaign Data; Trump Campaigns In Denver; Trump: Now The Gloves Come Off; How Trump Voters Viewed Democratic Convention; Julian Assange On DNC Hack; Trump Ties Putin; Arrest Made In San Diego Police Shooting; Remembering Fallen Sheriff's Deputy. Aired 9-10p ET

Aired July 29, 2016 - 21:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:01:03] ANDERSON COOPER: Welcome back. We have breaking news this hour, another revelation in the hacking of the Democratic National Committee, this time directly involving the Clinton Campaign itself.

First, Donald Trump about to speak in Denver after promising earlier this evening in Colorado Springs that the time has come for the campaign gloves to come off.

Jason Carroll is covering Team Trump. He joins us now. So Trump has been criticized obviously in the past for his rhetoric and tone and how he's referenced Hillary Clinton. Today he said though, he's taking the gloves off.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. And I think there's a question among some of his critics if the gloves were actually ever on, given all the name calling that we've heard even through the primary. I mean just about everyone who has taken on Donald Trump, Trump has come up with a name for that person, whether it be Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton and you know, Trump told the crowd here that he was going to go after Hillary Clinton, he told the crowd that he's been Mr. Nice guy in the past but not anymore.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know what? I've been saying let's just beat her on November 8th but you know what? Well, no. You know what? I'm starting to agree with you, and I'll tell you. Every time I mention her, everyone screams "Lock her up, lock her up," they keep screaming. And you know what I do? I have been nice but after watching that performance last night, such lies, I don't have to be so nice anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Donald Trump's critics though say he lacks the discipline to be president. He addressed that today as well.

CARROLL: Well, he did. He said that -- first of all, it's not true. He says he has the temperament to be president of the United States. He also says he has the discipline. His critics say that he is thin- skinned. His critics say he does not have the discipline. And one of the things they point to is what just happened with New York City's former mayor Michael Bloomberg.

As you know, Anderson, he -- Trump told the crowd that one of his friends, a governor, suggested that he not go after Bloomberg, this after Bloomberg endorsed Hillary Clinton, spoke about him at the convention, basically saying that if he runs the country like he ran his business, god help the country.

Trump fired back, firing back on Twitter, saying the following. "Little Michael Bloomberg who never had the guts to run for president knows nothing about me. His last term as mayor was a disaster." He also said at one point during a rally in Iowa, Anderson, that he would really like to hit him, really like to hit him hard.

He clarified that position today basically saying he wants to hit him with words, not physically. It should also be noticed that back in 2012, trump actually praised Michael Bloomberg saying that he was a good mayor, but the point is, this all comes down to discipline. You heard his friend telling him look, stay focused on the message, stay focused on Hillary Clinton, something he did not end up doing.

COOPER: All right, Jason Carroll. Jason, thanks very much. Now, more on the breaking news. The FBI investigating a hack of the clinton campaign. CNN's Brianna Keilar has the latest on that.

First let's talk about the hacking. What do you know?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we knew, Anderson, was that the DNC was involved, then the DCCC, which is the political arm of House Democrats. Now it appears that the Clinton Campaign could be involved in this hacking.

The Department of Justice, the FBI looking into this, the Clinton campaign though pointing out that this is a hacking of the voter analytics data base that they share with the DNC and other organizations. And they say that right now, outside cybersecurity experts have been looking at their systems. And so far there's no indication that their internal communication systems have been hacked.

But certainly very alarming, especially as U.S. officials think this is hackers in cahoots with Russian Intelligence. But this is not what Hillary Clinton wants to be focusing on. She is trying to push her message the day after the convention on a bus tour through Pennsylvania and Ohio.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[21:05:04] CLINTON: I don't know about you, but I stayed up really late last night. It was just hard to go to sleep.

KEILAR: After making her pitch to the nation, Hillary Clinton now has to sell it aggressively until Election Day.

CLINTON: If you listen really closely to the Republican Convention, you know that Donald Trump talked for 75 minutes and did not offer one solution. In fact, his speech, his whole convention seemed more about insulting me instead of helping the American people.

KEILAR: She and running mate Tim Kaine are starting with a bus tour from Philadelphia into western Pennsylvania and Ohio, as she struggles to appeal to white blue collar workers.

CLINTON: And I'm also going to pay special attention to those parts of our country that have been left out from our inner cities to our small towns, from Indian Country to Coal Country.

KEILAR: 24 years after her husband took an upbeat thousand mile bus tour through Appalachia and the Midwest, she's seeking to build momentum coming out of this week's convention.

CLINTON: I accept your nomination for president of the United States.

KEILAR: With Clinton making history.

CLINTON: Standing here as my mother's daughter and my daughter's mother, I'm so happy this day has come. I'm happy for grandmothers and little girls and everyone in between.

KEILAR: And trying to convince voters she is the steady and safe alternative to Donald Trump.

CLINTON: Imagine if you dare, imagine, imagine him in the oval office facing a real crisis. A man you can bait with tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.

KEILAR: It was at times an unconventional Democratic Convention, with appeals to GOP values.

DOUG ELMETS, FMR. REAGAN ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I worked for Ronald Reagan. Donald Trump, you are no Ronald Reagan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Brianna, how long is this bus tour, what's the objective?

KEILAR: Well, the objective is pretty basic, white working class voters, Anderson. Hillary Clinton polls show she's doing pretty well with the Obama Coalition, Hispanic voters, black voters, but her campaign is worried about the appeal that Donald Trump may hold for white working class voters. Even Pennsylvania which has voted for a Democrat in the presidential election for the last several cycles, they're worried he could have some appeal. That's why she's moving through this state and Ohio where the polls are very tight between the two candidates.

COOPER: All right. Brianna Keilar, thanks very much. Back now with the panel. Marc Lamont Hill, Maria Cardona, Maggie Haberman, Margaret Hoover, Scottie Nell Hughes and John Jay Lavalle. John, are you concerned at all that essentially Donald Trump today on the campaign trail just sort of responded to everything Hillary Clinton said last night and sort of talking about his temperament, he's basically proving her right about if a tweet gets under your skin, you can't have -- you shouldn't have the nuclear codes? JOHN JAY LAVALLE, TRUMP SURROGATE: No not necessarily. The people that know Donald Trump speak glowingly about him. The people who know Hillary Clinton like the secret service agents that guarded her say she's a monster. You know, the real Donald Trump ...

COOPER: Well, I'll let -- stop it. That's ridiculous. Somebody wrote a book, plenty of people have written books about Donald Trump. There's plenty of people who know Hillary Clinton life-long.

LAVALLE: Not saying those things.

COOPER: I don't want to be in position defending Hillary Clinton because I'm not on her side. But ...

LAVALLE: Donald -- let me say this, Donald Trump is not a politician. He's not going to be politically correct. He's a successful businessman. He's a get it done guy. That's what he is. That's what he's always been.

He has had women at the top of his corporation before it was fancy to do so. They made the same money as men. He's had minorities in his corporation. Ivanka said it best. He only discriminates based upon performance. That's who he is.

COOPER: Maria, do you think that by kind of being the same Donald Trump today or even actually reverting back to a pre-convention Donald Trump where he's saying, you know, clearly people told him don't go along with the lock it up chant during the convention. Now today on his own you know what, actually I think maybe you're right.

MARIA CARDONA, 2008 SENIOR CLINTON CAMPAIGN ADVISER: He can't help himself, Anderson, which is why the guy that we saw at the convention reading his speech on a teleprompter, we knew that at the point where he got out on the stump he wasn't going to be able to help himself which is why I said earlier I hope this is the Donald Trump we continue to see during the general election because that is not a Donald Trump that is going to be able to appeal to more women, to more Latinos, more African-Americans and he's not going to get to the White House that way.

COOPER: But, you know, Marc, isn't there a danger in Democrats hoping Donald Trump continues to do what he's been doing? Because I mean it's been very successful for him. I know it's a primary and he only had to get a certain number of people in the primary but he's captivating and it's caught a lot of people's attention. I mean do -- are Democrats underestimating Donald Trump?

CARDONA: Yeah. Yeah.

(CROSSTALK)

MARC LAMONT HILL, HOST BET NEWS: I do think there is some logic ...

CARDONA: Not counting on that.

HILL: No, no, no, I think there is some logic in saying Donald Trump is undisciplined and simply doesn't have the discipline to carry out a full campaign. I think there's something to be said about that. That he keeps talking himself out of things.

However, you can't expect to win by that. You need to actually galvanize voters. Hillary Clinton has not galvanized voters in certain states. There are many young voters still not energized and many former Bernie supporters who are not energized. And if you just assume that people will going to hate Donald Trump so much that they will going to vote for you, maybe in these, you maybe the in this thing.

CARDONA: That's not the strategy.

HILL: Because they miss to do.

SCOTTIE NEIL HUGHES, NATIONAL POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, USA RADIO NETWORK: I have a question about, why are we demonizing him for the words he said today? I mean last night and to this entire week has been a scathing attack every single person has gone onstage, did scathing attacks saying they were saying truth but a lot of us say they were false and then Hillary Clinton's speech was the epitome of just absolutely trying to obliterate Donald Trump. So why is it wrong for him to go out there and be on defense? Why is that a bad thing?

COOPER: No, I'm not saying it's wrong for him at all.

HUGHES: And ...

LAVALLE: They hit him ...

HUGHES: ... but it wasn't physical. But I mean ...

COOPER: I just thought it was interesting that he basically spent a lot of time today.

CARDONA: Yeah.

COOPER: Kind of relieving ...

CARDONA: Yes.

COOPER: .. every insult, every controversial statement he has made, the blood out of the wherever, and he said it's the ears, or that the mouth and that making fun of the disabled guy which he continues to you know.

HUGHES: Yeah.

COOPER: But then he wasn't that.

HIUGHES: And he brings up those points within the middle of it -- he is bringing back the flame, he's reminding people of a very successful primary season, at the same time in there interweave is his policies. He's setting any insult on that but what policy.

(CROSSTALK) HILL: That, let may say this, he said insult ...

HUGHES: I have to on -- hold on, you say.

HILL: .. insult with no policy.

HUGHES: No policy.

HILL: Is that this.

(CROSSTALK)

HUGHES: Absolutely hilarious considering Hillary Clinton supposedly gave a foreign policy speech that every other word was why Donald Trump is wrong. Her entire speech in fact, she mentioned Donald Trump ...

COOPER: Right, that certainly was not much of a formal policy speech. It was more a frontal attack on Donald Trump.

HILL: Yes, fair point.

COOPER: Margaret, I mean, is -- I don't know how that the Donald Trump campaign is really organized with in terms of the RNC and Donald Trumps.

MARGARET HOOVER, REPUBLICAN COSULTANT: Yeah.

COOPER: But it does seem like there is this sort of bifurcation of what they want the message to be, and yet what Donald Trump actually ends up talking about on the trail and you can that.

HOOVER: It depends, I mean, who's they? If Donald Trump is like a walking rapid response to chain himself like ...

HILL: Right.

COOPER: Can - Mike Pence in the governor of Kansas is on the radio saying, you know, Barack Obama shouldn't use the word demagogue to thrown insult, I mean it sort of ...

HOOVER: I mean, what, it's almost like the strategy Mike Pence is employed to get through the rest of these election cycles, is just pretend like he doesn't understand who he's running with. But because he basically said that Donald Trump isn't insulting people. Right like he's been like all, I think it's really awful that he's insulting people or you know that that people are being negative in this campaign as though he's not running with somebody who is the ultimate insult factory.

Here's the challenge, right, in terms of who's running what campaign, Donald Trump is in Colorado right now. All right, there is no reason if you had a fully staffed campaign he would be in Colorado after Donald Trump but the accumulative polls there show that he's down as an average of eight points there. He should be in one of the 11 or seven toss-up states. HUGHES: No, I think Colorado actually ...

HOOVER: He's actually been.

HUGHES: The Trump campaign has called Colorado ...

COOPER: OK.

HOOVER: It doesn't, which shows you how little they understand how to be elected.

HUGHES: No.

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: I just want to -- Maggie I do want to ask about these, that the hacking, I mean we don't know the full extent of this. We don't know who's behind it. There are some intimations it could be Russia according to some officials but they are not willing to come out get and saying say definitively.

Do we know how this is been going to play out and not just for the DNC but even for the Trump campaign if it, in fact, is shown that Russia is behind this? Not that there would be any Trump collusion with Russia, obviously, but the fact, would there be blow back for the Trump campaign?

MAGGIE HABERMAN, NEW YORK TIMES PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN CORRESPONDENT: In the Clinton campaign is basically saying that there's collusion between Trump and Russia and without having evidence, and then the thing that I would say that the Clinton team has learned from watching Trump is that they can just say whatever, you know it doesn't have to actually be fact-based.

And they can say it as long as it gets heard and it goes out there, because Trump does that a lot and it sticks. I do think it is very problematic for her to have anything that relates to e-mails, e-mail security, internet security and I think more than that, my understanding we don't actually know the extent of this.

COOPER: Right.

HABERMAN: The Clinton campaign is suggesting it's very, very minimal, it's no e-mails. We don't know if that's the case or not. I know that in terms of these committee hacks, it's not just e-mails that they expect will come out. There's going to be more. They're all bracing for more. And what they are concerned about is that it's going to be memos to donors, it's going to be literally everything electronic and not for the thing.

COOPER: Donna Brazile said they were -- the hack was ...

HABERMAN: Yeah. Yeah.

COOPER: ... in the DNC will last for more than a year. HABERMAN: For it was -- if they were literally just in there, you know, rummaging around. And that's not the only committee, so you have the information that comes out is going to be problematic.

COOPER: We're going to get the Russia/Trump relationship coming up. We're going to take a quick break.

Coming up next, with Trump voters thought of Hillary Clinton's acceptance speech and what undecided voters thought a bit as they want of the post convention campaign, goes on latest tonight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:18:24] COOPER: Well, Donald Trump as you heard says it's time for the gloves to come off. And Hillary Clinton last night certainly not pulling her punches.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: Donald Trump says and this is a quote, "I know more about ISIS than the generals do. No, Donald, you don't."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Tough words seen by millions including plenty of Trump supporters. So, what did they make of it and how do they view some of their candidate's controversial remarks? Gary Tuchman tonight went to a Trump rally to find out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The line was long to see Donald Trump in Colorado Springs but on the day after Hillary Clinton's convention speech, it was she who was getting an extraordinary share of the attention here. And it wasn't kind.

CHUCK MARLEY, TRUMP SUPPORTER: I think she's a liar. I think she should be in prison.

TUCHMAN: What do you think of Hillary Clinton?

MARIA WIGGINS, TRUMP SUPPORTER: She's a liar.

MARY PEARSON, TRUMP SUPPORTER: I hate to say what I think of Hillary Clinton but I hope she isn't our next president.

TUCHMAN: Why do you hate to say what you think?

PEARSON: Because I think she's a liar.

TUCHMAN: The Democratic National Convention certainly energized Democrats but it's apparent that convention energized Trump's supporters too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lock her up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lock her up, lock her up, lock her up.

TUCHMAN: Then she said quote, a man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.

AL LOMA, TRUMP SUPPORTER: That's strange coming from a woman who was responsible for the murder of four of our civilians, of our people in Benghazi.

TUCHMAN: That is an allegation a lot of people have but ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on.

LOMA: Even still one of proceed, that was what happened there.

TUCHMAN: Trump supporter after Trump supporter here, say they could trust him with the nuclear codes.

[21:20:01] PEARSON: He has shown that he knows how to make right decisions.

TUCHMAN: And then there was this.

TRUMP: Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 e-mails.

TUCHMAN: The other day Donald Trump said that he hopes Russian hackers find Hillary Clinton's e-mails. Did you think that was an appropriate thing to say?

JEFF TAYLOR, TRUMP SUPPORTER: I think he was joking. It was a tongue in cheek comment.

TUCHMAN: Do you think he was joking when you first heard it?

TAYLOR: Oh, yeah.

TUCHMAN: How did you know it was a joke?

TAYLOR: Just from the tone of the man's voice.

TUCHMAN: Donald Trump is now claiming he was being sarcastic. So you're saying that it's OK for him to joke about something like that?

TAYLOR: This is America, freedom of speech.

TRUMP: I watched last night. I watched Hillary Clinton. What a sad -- what a sad situation.

TUCHMAN: Many who came here to see Trump say they like him even more now following the conventions.

BUD BRANDVOID, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well I kind of like rednecks and I think Trump's kind of a redneck.

TUCHMAN: But even among his most fervent supporters there was some introspection. Your dad was a veteran, your dad fought on World War II. Did you see during the Democratic Convention here about that a Muslim man or woman spoke, their son was killed in Afghanistan and the U.S. Military, he pulled out the constitution said Donald Trump, you should read this. What did you think of that moment?

SEAN FIPPEN, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well, it maybe he should read it. You know maybe that was a message to everybody in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: There was so much emotion at the Democratic Convention about the possibility of a first female president among Democrats. How did the women you talked to their feel about seeing and hearing that?

TUCHMAN: Once I talked to one particular group of women who said they watched all four nights of the democratic national convention, heard all the talk about the possibility of a woman president and grew very wistful because they wished they were watching the RNC and not the DNC. A lot of women feel very strongly about seeing a woman president some day but just don't think that woman should be Hillary Clinton. One particular woman I was talking to says this is what she wanted to see.

In 2008 she voted for John McCain. John McCain's running mate was Sarah Palin. She had hoped McCain would serve two terms and that Sarah Palin would today be running for president but that was not to be.

COOPER: Gary Tuchman, Gary thanks very much. Now having heard from Trump supporters, what about undecided voters? Millions were watching last night and many are still on the fence. Did Secretary Clinton win their votes last night?

Randi Kaye watched her speech with a group of undecided voters in the swing state of Florida. A week ago she was with them when they watched Donald Trump. Here's where they stand now after hearing both.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: The choice is clear, my friends.

KAYE: For some voters, that may be true. But in the swing state of Florida, the choice is anything but clear for this group of undecided voters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm like disgusted with everyone.

KAYE: Watching Hillary Clinton's convention speech, nearly all of these voters agreed Clinton came off softer around the edges.

MICHAEL BEARD, UNDECIDED VOTER: I thought it humanized her in Q&As and debates and everything else she seemed robotic.

KAYE: Who, after watching this speech, found Hillary Clinton more approachable? Who found her more likable after this speech? The biggest hang-up for these voters' trust most find Clinton dishonest in calculating and her speech didn't change at. BRYAN CAMERNO, UNDECIDED VOTER: I was looking for with a lot of times, her saying was, show us why we should trust you. And that's what I was looking for and nothing she said ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was nothing.

CAMERNO: ... nothing she said makes me want to trust and believe in her.

GABRIELA RYAN, UNDECIDED VOTER: Why is she still lying or avoiding when we know that she lied about so many issues?

Kaye: They were hoping the former secretary of state would address the mixed messages about the attack in Benghazi and her various explanations about her private e-mail server.

KIMBERLY KELLY, UNDECIDED VOTER: She said nothing. And she's had ample opportunity to present that to us and I think that that's holding me back.

KAYE: This voter needs to know more before deciding. Though he did like hearing about Clinton's formative years.

JASON, WOODSIDE, UNDECIDED VOTER: How her mother struggled as a child and how her mother taught her to be a fighter.

KAYE: You're still not ready to vote for her?

WOODSIDE: Well, it's a long way to November.

KAYE: Clinton's attempt to convey a sense of unity and hope fell flat.

CANDY LOWE, UNDECIDED VOTER: I did not buy into that.

KAYE: So you didn't believe her?

LOWE: I didn't. No.

KAYE: So did her laundry list of experience.

JAMEY KETTLER, UNDECIDED VOTER: When you talk about experience, she's got a lot of it but it's not been very successful.

KAYE: Still, statements like this did have traction with some.

CLINTON: We'll fix it together.

MELANIE ALVIN, UNDECIDED VOTER: I was drawn over to her because she says our. And if you so, because she always mentions our. It wasn't I am or I'm going to. It was our, meaning -- we, making it inclusive.

KAYE: Can she do that? Can she bring America together?

BRYANT CAMARENO, UNDECIDED VOTER: There are 13 million Bernie supporters who don't trust her. [21:25:00] So, and that's just Democrats.

KAYE: In the end, Clinton did make some headway. How many of you after watching this speech decided to vote for Hillary Clinton? Three. Though one of her new supporters told us his vote for her is really just a vote against Donald Trump.

DARIN BAHL, DECIDED TO VOTE FOR CLINTON: She won my vote tonight. And it's more not what she said, but it's what Trump said yesterday.

KAYE: This voter decided after the speech to support Trump after giving Clinton one last chance.

GABRIELA RYAN, DECIDED TO VOTE FOR TRUMP: I really wanted her to admit her wrong doings and she would have had my vote from that because she has the experience over Trump. She has the self-control over Trump.

KAYE: Three months to go until Election Day and here's the tally, two for Trump, three for Clinton with eight in our group still undecided and unhappy about their options. Randi Kaye, CNN, Tampa, Florida.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: A lot of undecided. Just ahead, given today's or tonight's new twist in the political hacking scandal, my conversation with Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder and the man who published all those hacked Democratic Party e-mails. I'll talk to him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:25:01] COOPER: Tonight's breaking news, the FBI and justice department are now investigating a computer hack directly involving the Clinton campaign data. The Clinton campaign spokesman says it's related to the cyberattack on the Democratic National Committee. The fund-raising committee for Democratic House members was also hacked.

As you know, WikiLeaks published thousands of leaked e-mails from the DNC hack just before the Democratic Convention began. U.S. officials have said there is strong evidence the DNC hackers were working on behalf of Russian intelligence. WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange said his website might release more e-mails relevant to the U.S. presidential race. I spoke to him earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: In terms of the timing of the release of these, how much of this on the part of WikiLeaks was -- I mean clearly you timed it to the start of the DNC. Was that for maximum impact, for maximum, you know, sort of marketing?

JULIAN ASSANGE, WIKILEAKS FOUNDER: It was for -- that's when we knew that there would be the maximum interest by readers. But also, we have a responsibility to, you know, if we published after, you can just imagine how outraged the democratic voting population would have been. So it had to have been before. It's quite a lot of work, as you can imagine, to verify such material and to organize it, index it, catalog it, put it into searchable customized database, et cetera.

COOPER: I saw an interview where you said you had, "a lot more material that you might release pertaining to the U.S. election." Are you referring to more e-mails from the DNC? Because I talked to Donna Brazile who has, you know, is now replaced Debbie Wasserman Schultz in the wake of this who says the hack went on for more than a year, they believe, and that there very well maybe a lot more things out there.

ASSANGE: We have more material related to the Hillary Clinton campaign. That is correct to say that. Of course, we have to be very precise in recording my statements, but you are always very precise. And yeah, those are extremely interesting and we will see what will come of them with a few cause.

COOPER: There is word today of a new FBI investigation into an alleged cyberhack of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee server which is said to be similar to the hack of the DNC committee or Democratic National Committee. Do you have any knowledge of this latest hack or if you do, any intention to publish any information obtained from it?

ASSANGE: I can't comment on anything that might reflect on sourcing or even to rule things in or rule things out. But I will just say and this is public information. It's not coming from me privately that there has been multiple hacks of the DNC over the last two years.

The DNC and the RNC have been Swiss cheese in terms of their security. And the DNC had been notified quite some time ago that that is the case and it has legal responsibilities that must carry out to notify its donors to be aware that their confidentiality has been breached by a hack.

Now, the e-mails that we published are a separate question to the various hacks that they could in community and state. We have not connected those e-mails to a hack of the DNC and no one else has connected them. There are other documents that are published by the few smoking gun and gawker that have been connected to the hack.

COOPER: I'm not even going to go bother to ask you about your sources because obviously you're not going to reveal your sources. You don't do that. But U.S. officials have said that they have, I'm quoting a little doubt was the term that Russian hackers were behind this. They haven't said it definitively.

Do you know -- I mean, again, I'm not asking you who did it, but do you know who did the hacking of the DNC server that got you the information? Do you know who provided you with these e-mails?

ASSANGE: We just -- as a matter of policy we don't go anywhere near commenting on sources, ruling things in ruling things out because it provides extra information that might be used to track down sources. But I can say that yesterday, James Clapper, the head of the DNI, the Director of National Intelligence oversees all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, stated that there was a lot of media hyper ventilation and "They didn't know enough about to ascribe motivation regardless of who it might have been." So, I mean, those kinds of statements are coming out of the man responsible for overseeing all U.S. intelligence agencies.

COOPER: There is a question whether you have a personal animus toward Hillary Clinton. You criticized her on a number of national security front policy issues.

[21:30:00] Obviously, she is obviously made statements against WikiLeaks. You gave an interview to the British network ITV back in June. You're suggesting that you're more concerned about Clinton at least in terms of press freedom than Donald Trump. Do you stand by that? Is this based on a personal animus?

ASSANGE: It is false reporting. You can go back and look at ITV interview. I never said that I wanted to do harm to Hillary Clinton, anything like that. It was the presenter that used that word. And in New York Tmes, it's, you know, that this candidate in this race now. So it -- there's lots of facts. No one was trying to get us in and then out.

COOPER: You see the question of anger that you're interfering in the U.S. election, you say this is what you're -- that your readers are American and therefore it's OK?

ASSANGE: Well, it's what our readers demand. It is also our based on principles that the publication of the true information and thus an important qualifier. True information about modern human institutions allows us to understand what they're doing and therefore to reform them. If we don't understand what our institution is doing we have no hope to reform them whatsoever.

COOPER: Julian Assange, I appreciate your time. Thank you.

ASSANGE: Thank you, Anderson.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: If he mention, you can watch the full interview with Julian Assange went longer than we have time to air on there, at a website AC360.com.

Coming up next, in light of the hacking story and possible Russian connection, 360 investigates Donald Trump's ties to Russia and Vladimir Putin. Trump walking back comments calling for Russia to spy on Hillary Clinton and now he's downplaying any relationship with Putin. So what's the real story? Well, stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:40:30] COOPER: This week, U.S. officials said, there are strong evidence the DNC hack we've talking about tonight traces back to Russian intelligence though they haven't proved that definitively at all.

Donald Trump jumped in, openly calling on Russia to hack Hillary Clinton's e-mails and release them. He since tried to walk back those comments saying he was being sarcastic. At a news conference he also said, he does not know Russian President Vladimir Putin and he's never met him. However, in 2013, Trump said on MSNBC that he does indeed know Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I do have a relationship and I can tell you that he's very interested in what we're doing here today. He's probably very interested in what you and I are saying today and I'm sure he's going to be seeing it in some form. But I do have a relationship with him and I think it's very interesting to see what's happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: So, what exactly are Donald Trump's ties to Russia and Putin if any? Senior investigative correspondent Drew Griffin has been looking into it for us tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: The current controversy over Donald Trump's Russian connection comes from a dug-up quote from 2008 made by his son, Don Jr. The younger Trump reportedly told a real estate conference that family members made a half dozen trips to Russia, that several buyers have been attracted to our projects there and Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross- section of a lot of our assets. And According to Don Jr. back in 2008, we see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.

But what you can't see in Russia is a lot of Trump. An attempt to build a Trump Tower in Moscow fell through before it began and CNN can find no projects that were actually completed in Russia, the only real ventures, an attempt to sell vodka to Russians which failed.

And in 2013, Trump made millions when he partnered with a Russian billionaire to host his Miss Universe Pageant in Moscow. Trump appeared in a music video with his billionaire Russian partner's rock star son.

TRUMP: You're fired.

GRIFFIN: And boasting of the pageant's success, Trump even tweeted, Trump Tower Moscow is next. He trademarked not one but eight different combinations of his brand and name in Russia and that was it.

DIMITRI SIMES, PRESIDENT AND CEO FOR THE NATIONAL INTEREST: He tried to negotiate major deals. He was present in Russia. He tried to arrange a meeting with Putin. It did not work out.

GRIFFIN: Dimitri Simes, the president of a Washington think tank that encourages stronger relations between the U.S. and Russia says when it comes to any relations, especially in business, between Trump and Russia, they are very hard to find.

SIMES: I'm not aware of any major business endeavor some Trump about in Russia.

GRIFFIN: The real story may be that Trump's business endeavors in Russia turned out to be failures.

SIMES: What I can say with certainty is that the Trump organization is not a major presence in Russia. When you talk to Americans who invest in Russia, they never mention the Trump organization as a serious player in Russia.

GRIFFIN: Trump has had better luck dealing with Russians living in the U.S., sort of. He partnered with the Bayrock group, a company run by Soviet immigrants and according and according to a law suit filed, financed by Russian and Kazahkstan money.

Together, they developed Trump properties in Fort Lauderdale in New York and they planned on opening a Trump Tower in Moscow. But Trump said in a deposition that plan ended after media reports started to question Trump's net worth and the partners with Russian ties in the U.S. backed out.

Trump did make news with another Russian related deal. He sold his Florida mansion to a Russian billionaire for $95 million. Trump walking away with a tidy $54 million profit. While Trump may have limited ties with Russia, the real connection may be the man who seems to be running his campaign.

Paul Manafort has been a U.S. Republican presidential campaign adviser for decades, but he raised international eyebrows when he became a political consultant to this presidential candidate, former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.

Manafort helped Yanukovych get elected in 2010. Back in those days, Yanukovych was still friendly with the United States. Manafort says he was trying to encourage the Ukraine to become closer with Europe.

PAUL MANAFORT, DONALD TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I was involved in activities that relate to directly and protecting positively U.S. and European foreign policy.

[21:45:03] GRIFFIN: Since then, Yanukovych's government crumbled. He fled to Russia and urged Vladimir Putin to invade his own country, which Putin did.

In 2014, the U.S. sanctioned Yanukovych for threatening the peace, security, stability, sovereignty or territorial integrity of Ukraine. CNN reporting finds Manafort has Russian clients, he's advised Russians in the United States, but has no ties to the Kremlin.

The question now is, is Paul Manafort now advising Donald Trump that Vladimir Putin may not be such a bad guy after all and that Russia had the right to invade the Ukraine and if elected, President Trump should just leave Putin and the Ukraine alone? A question silly to some that became serious when Donald Trump was asked about it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you became president, would you recognize the annexed peninsula a crime are as Russian territory and also, if the U.S would lift sanctions?

TRUMP: We'll be looking at that. Yeah. We'll be looking.

GRIFFIN: A point reiterated when Trump's campaign reportedly changed the Republican Party platform to take a much more pro-Russian view of the Ukraine conflict

MATTHEW ROJANSKY, DIRECTOR OF KENNAN INSTITUTE: There's a lot of this coincidence that is very troubling around this specific issue, especially, when you consider just how substance-free most of the other you know, issue areas in the campaign have been. But on Ukraine, they are taking this very firm position and it's not clear why. That I think is troubling.

GRIFFIN: So, is it really something? Is Donald Trump really somehow connected to Russian political interests, to Putin and Putin's view of the world because he has an adviser that advised a Ukrainian candidate six years ago or is this all just like Donald Trump's business endeavors in Russia?

Lots and lots of talks but in the end, as they say in Russian, xepula (ph), nonsense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Drew, a lot of confusion over Donald Trump's ties or non-ties with Russia seemed to be from his own making. I mean, just this week he insisted he's never met Vladimir Putin even though earlier he indicated he had and years ago he said he had a relationship with him. I mean, is there any proof that Putin and Trump have ever been in the same room together?

GRIFFIN: We couldn't find any, Anderson. We did find a tweet where Trump was trying to get Putin to come to his Miss Universe Pageant, it didn't materialize. So, Anderson, we even scanned the globe to see if there's an even picture of these two guys together and low and behold, there are, though obviously, photoshopped including this little horse riding adventure. Funny, yes, but to answer your question Anderson, there is no proof that we can find these two have ever met.

COOPER: All right, Drew, thanks.

Up next, there's breaking news in the deadly police shooting in San Diego. Plus the widow of another fallen police officer shares her memories of her husband, a father of four who died in the Baton Rouge police ambush earlier this month.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Some more breaking news. San Diego, the police have announced they have arrested the suspect after an officer was killed and another women (inaudible) shootout last night. The officer who died was 43-year-old, Jonathan DeGuzman known as "J.D." 16-year veteran, the job and the father of two, the chief-of-police say it's unclear if the officers were targeted when they try to make a stop. The suspect in custody was wounded during the shooting and that's in critical condition. DeGuzman is the 34th U.S. Law Enforcement officer who die in the shooting this year and 79 percent increased from the same period last year, that according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

Nearly, two weeks ago. Police were in fact ambushed as new member in Baton Rouge, the commander of the state police said the surveillance video shows the killer on the move provides proof that three officers were wounded, three more were killed including 45-year-old East Baton Rouge para sheriff deputy Brad Garafola who wasn't working extra duty in the convenience store when gun shots rang out. I spoke with his widow, Tanya, a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Tanya, I'm so sorry for your loss. What do you want people to know about Brad?

TANYA GARAFOLA, WIDOW OF FALLEN POLICE OFFICER: What I want people to know is what a great guy he was, how infectious his smile and laugh was for people and then there's not a negative thing that you can say about him and people knew that and people knew him.

COOPER: He loves being a dad.

GARAFOLA: Oh, without a doubt. He would want more kids.

COOPER: There -- he had four kids -- you guys had three and he had a -- he has a child that I think in Texas. What kind of a dad was he?

GARAFOLA: Yes. Oh, he was a great dad. He was a silly dad. They're -- playing horse playing kind of dad. And I just thought he was just a big kid himself.

COOPER: And he always wanted to be a police officer?

GARAFOLA: When he was already a police officer when I married him so yes. He did. That's what we give and that's what he loved.

COOPER: How did you two meet?

GARAFOLA: And we met at Walmart.

COOPER: Really?

GARAFOLA: Yes. We did.

COOPER: What was it about him that drew you to him?

GARAFOLA: His personality, his joy about talking about his son and how much he loved his son and that I had to meet his son and he had to cook us dinner so.

COOPER: I also understand he was kind of your alarm clock in the morning? GARAFOLA: Oh, he was.

COOPER: How sad.

GARAFOLA: Every morning he would send me a text that the morning that he would speak to me, I can -- he would say, "Good morning, my love, I love you" or it would say "Good morning, my beautiful wife, I love you."

COOPER: And, I mean this probably doesn't even -- does it seem real at this point?

GARAFOLA: No. It doesn't. I keep thinking. I'm going to wake up from a nightmare.

COOPER: How are your kids doing? I mean, I can't imagine you having to tell them.

GARAFOLA: They're -- no. That was really difficult. They're doing -- they have their moments. They have their moments. My youngest one, she's doing really good, she just doesn't want anybody to crown her watch.

COOPER: And when it happened I understand, you actually were kind of going to the area where it happened because you were having some car issues.

[21:55:00] GARAFOLA: Yes. So we wen tot have a car issues. We were dropping it of just to have the oil changed and to have it washed before vacation.

COOPER: And you found out there was some activity in the area but at the time you didn't know exactly what it happened.

GARAFOLA: As soon as I get off the interstate, I saw police coming up behind me and they had just started blocking off the road but I saw them in front of Be Quick and I immediately knew something was wrong.

COOPER: Is there anything else you want people to know about Brad.

GARAFOLA: I can't say enough about him to tell everybody what kind of person he was. He was a great person in and out of uniform. He loved everybody, he helped everybody. His -- all we had to say his biggest downfall was he couldn't tell people no.

COOPER: He was that kind of guy.

GARAFOLA: And he knew that. And then his friends knew that, he was that kind of guy. He would give anybody the shirt off his back.

COOPER: It's an incalculable loss and just so awful and I'm so sorry for what you and your family are going through and my thoughts and prayers are with you. Thank you for talking to us.

GARAFOLA: Thank you. I appreciate that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: It's been quite a week, you know, as we have the final 100 days of the campaign. It's only going to build stay tune to CNN for complete coverage throughout the weekend and throughout the night.

[22:00:01] That does it for us. Thanks for watching. I hope you had a great weekend. We'll see you again Monday, "CNN Tonight" with Don Lemon starts now.