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Erin Burnett Outfront

Trump Calls for Extreme Vetting of Immigrants; Trump Campaign Chair Under Investigation for Millions in Secret Cash; Biden Bashes Trump, Says "He Would Have Loved Stalin"; Trump Campaign Doubles Down on Cheating Claims; Boko Haram Releases Video of Missing Girls. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired August 15, 2016 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:18] ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: OUTFRONT next, Donald Trump's new planned to destroy ISIS calling it extreme vetting of new immigrants. Is this a new version of the Muslim band?

Plus, Trump's campaign chief under investigation tonight. Did he receive millions of dollars in illegal cash payments? And Donald Trump says the only way he will lose is if Hillary Clinton cheats. Where is the proof? We go investigate. Let's got OUTFRONT.

And good evening, I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight, extreme vetting. Donald Trump in a major foreign policy speech vowing to repeat radical Islamic terrorism calling for what he calls extreme vetting of people coming to the United States. Trump proposing what essentially is a test for entry into the United States, banning any member or sympathizer of a terrorist group as well as those with, quote, "hostile attitudes towards our country, including anti-Semitic or anti-gay beliefs."

Also band anyone who thinks Sharia Law should be part of the law of the land. Now, Trump read off the teleprompter, his tone is much more subdued than usual. And Jessica Schneider begins our coverage OUTFRONT tonight at Trump's headquarters here in New York.

And Jessica, there is a lot riding on the speech today.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Erin, the speech definitely carried some high stakes. Then after a week where Donald Trump was derided for distractions, today he hound in on that speech for 48 minutes talking about foreign policy and also talking about his plans to enact what he calls extreme measures.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We will defeat radical Islamic terrorism just as we have defeated every threat we have faced at every age and before.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Donald Trump staying on Teleprompter and on message outlining a three-pronged plan to destroy ISIS.

TRUMP: If I become president, the era of nation building will be brought to a very swift and decisive end. (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

SCHNEIDER: Trump promising to work with any country to fight terrorism and backing down from his previous plan to back away from NATO.

TRUMP: Since my comments, they have changed their policy and now have a new division focused on terror threats. Very good. Very, very good. I also believe that we could find common ground with Russia in the fight against ISIS. Wouldn't that be a good thing?

SCHNEIDER: The second thing, taking immigration screening to the extreme.

TRUMP: In the cold war we had an ideological screening test. The time is overdue to develop a new screening test for the threats we face today. I call it extreme vetting.

SCHNEIDER: And third, Trump plans to fight ISIS ideological.

TRUMP: Anyone who cannot condemn the hatred, oppression and violence of radical Islam blocks the moral clarity to serve as our president.

SCHNEIDER: Trump used his speech to attack the policies of the Obama administration and the fitness of his opponent, Hillary Clinton.

TRUMP: She also lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on ISIS and all of the many adversaries we face.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER: But in the hours before this big speech, the Wall Street Journal editorial board called on Donald Trump to get serious or get out of the race and turn the nomination over to Mike Pence. But the speech this afternoon, potentially Erin getting Donald Trump back on message and back on track.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Jessica. And we have much more on that. That call for Mike Pence in a moment.

Sara Murray is OUTFRONT in Youngstown, Ohio. That is where Trump is speaking earlier. Sara, you know, when we heard this speech and he was very subdued, not his, you know, boisterous or revealing itself, absent from this speech, was his attack line that he tripled and quadrupled down on last week when he said President Obama was the founder of ISIS.

SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's absolutely right, Erin. Last week, we saw Donald Trump come out and say that Obama and Hillary Clinton were co-founders of ISIS. He was asked to clarify that remark in interviews, including with conservative hosts. And he said, that's what he meant literally. And then he came out and said he was being sarcastic, that the media overplayed it.

Whatever was behind those remarks, he left them aside as he came here to speak in Ohio today. He did not reiterate this claim. Now of course, that's not to say that he had anything complimentary to say about Obama or about Clinton, he certainly did not. He was extremely critical of their foreign policy views, he even went after Hillary Clinton for both her mental and physical stamina, questioning whether she could be commander-in-chief. But as to that co-founders of ISIS line, it seems to be gone, at least for now -- Erin.

[19:05:09] BURNETT: And Sara, as you point out, all right, he stuck mostly to the script. But there were times when he didn't. And at one point, a little bit of length -- veering off, and making an unproven statement about the San Bernardino shooters home.

MURRAY: Yes. I don't know if there's ever going to be a day where Donald Trump sticks entirely to the script or entirely to the teleprompter. But this line were jumped out because he was talking about the San Bernardino shooters. He was talking about warning signs that should be caught in our immigration process, that should be caught for people who come to the United States. And among this, he said that neighbors saw suspicious activity from the San Bernardino shooters, including bombs on the floor of their home.

Now, of course this is an unsubstantiated comment. There's nothing to prove this was the case. There were no fact checking it out. And it wasn't in Donald Trump's transcript prepared remarks that were provided from the campaign. So, this does seem to be another one of those moments where Trump just gets wrapped up in the point he is trying to make and throws an off the cuff remark in there that's not based in fact -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. First facts to the wind. Thank you very much, Sara.

OUTFRONT now, Boris Epshteyn, senior adviser to the Trump campaign. Basil Smikle, Hillary Clinton supporter. Scott Taylor, former Navy SEAL and Trump supporter. And Kori Schake, former director of Defense Strategy for the National Security Council under President George W. Bush. Now a Hillary Clinton supporter.

David Gergen is also with me tonight. Corey, let me start with you. Trump didn't specifically used the words Muslim band but he said he wants a tax extreme vetting. So, part of the test, that I don't know whether you answer it verbally or on a piece of paper, if you believe in Sharia Law, you are banned. Now, first of all, putting aside for a second, whether a terrorist would be honest about whether they believe in Sharia Law in attempt. There are at least 30 countries, where Sharia Law is, in some way, part of the law of their land. Is this a way of implementing a Muslim ban?

KORI SCHAKE, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL MEMBER UNDER PRESIDENT BUSH: Yes, I think we should take Donald Trump at his words. What he said in his speech today was that this was an extension of his idea. And it sounds to me like it is. It's hard for me to see how you implement this in a practical way. First of all, as you rightly said, Erin, who is going to give an honest answer to that question if they are a terrorist. But second of all, what do we do about people like Afghan interpreters who were essential to our war effort who might well say yes to that but who are not only, not a threat to our country, they assisted our war effort. It's one more example of Donald Trump's contradictory, you know, the pieces just don't add up to a policy that is going to advance our interest. For example, how do you -- I'm sorry, go ahead.

BURNETT: Boris, it's interesting what Kori said, I take him at his words. She said, this is an extension. This isn't changing or pulling back on the Muslim band. It's an extension. It is an explanation.

BORIS EPSHTEYN, SENIOR ADVISER, DONALD TRUMP CAMPAIGN: It is a development of what he originally said back in December. And you start more about his policies, he's talked to his advisers about the policy. The policy now is for deeper vetting. And the test is only part of the vetting process. So, of course, somebody like an interpreter who wants to come into this country, as part of the vetting process, it would be beneficial to this country then potentially --

BURNETT: So, some believe that Sharia Law can come in, but not others?

EPSHTEYN: Well, hold on. If somebody who is in Afghanistan, at least the Sharia Law, why would they want to come to the U.S. where we don't have Sharia Law? If they want to come to the U.S. and establish Sharia Law here, then they should --

BURNETT: But they might want -- that they get in this country where they may want to live. But they've been targeted to work with American troops.

EPSHTEYN: But if they want to live in a country where Sharia Law is the law of the land over and above the constitution, they are not welcome here and that's the bottom line.

BASIL SMIKLE, EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, NEW YORK STATE DEMOCRATIC PARTY: This is the issue --

EPSHTEYN: They have no right to come into this country.

SMIKLE: This is such an unworkable policy. It is an extension of his Muslim band that he talked about earlier. And as a child of immigrants and he talks about immigrants and their children, as a child of immigrants myself, this is upsetting to me. This is not who we are as a country. If we talked about New Yorkers where he is a New Yorker and a child of immigrants as well. This is not who we are as New Yorkers. Excuse me. Excuse me. This is not who we are. And, frankly, if we look at New York specifically, three-fifths of New Yorkers are immigrants. Half of the work force is made up of immigrants. And if you multiply that throughout the country, this is one of the reasons why he's not doing well.

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: On a national security --

SMIKLE: On a national security process -- EPSHTEYN: I am an immigrant and I have no issues. We can make you

sure that people can come to this country --

BURNETT: But how do we do that?

EPSHTEYN: Citizenship do it. Why don't we have them? But we do --

SMIKLE: The test for citizenship -- the test for citizenship, basic information.

BURNETT: OK. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on.

EPSHTEYN: Hold on. It looks that the history of this country, in a lot of ways, it is ideological. And yes, this test is part of the deeper vetting process.

BURNETT: OK. And part of the test Scott is going to be how people feel about social issues. One of them, gay rights. He's trying to make the Muslim issues actually an issue about human rights and gay rights. Here is how he put it today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Nor can we let the hateful ideology of radical Islam. It's the oppression of women, gays. My administration will speak out against the oppression of women, gays and people of different beliefs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:10:08] BURNETT: Gay rights five times in this speech, Scott. Not something that plays to his base. Not something frankly you expect to hear from a Republican candidate.

SCOTT TAYLOR, FORMER NAVY SEAL: Sure. Well, you know, I think it's pretty, it's great to have, you know, the leader of the free world speaking about freedoms. And yes, and it's stricter form Sharia Law and it's stricter form of course anti-gay, bigotry and quite frankly ISIS wanting to march gays off the buildings. It's good to hear a president speak out against equality and freedom for folks. Yes, it might not play to the base, but around the world, they are persecuted just like a lot of Christians as well to and certainly under areas that are controlled by the Islamic states.

So, you know, I think it was -- it's something that's courageous for a president or aspiring president, if you will, to stand-up for freedoms across the world. I know Muslim interpreters that I worked with in Iraq. And I think the gentleman's comment saying that understanding that the constitution reigns supreme because of course there's different types of Sharia Law, some is marriage law, some of it is the strictest form is the law of God. Right?

But I think when folks come here to this country, they have to understand that our laws reign supreme. And I don't think anyone should have a problem with that if they come here. And I know Muslim interpreters who live here, who understand that, who believe in Sharia. They know that the laws of this country are supreme. EPSHTEYN: That's great.

BURNETT: So, now you are fine with Sharia Law coming here?

EPSHTEYN: No. In the strictest interpretation, Sharia Law is the highest law of the land. And listen, we were talking about a part of the National Security that was very extensive with a lot of detail. We should also be talking about how this country is going to fight ISIS. How a ticket to ISIS on, in terms of cyber-attacks, in terms of the financial attacks and military attacks. We should extend the conversation. But if you want to keep it to this --

BURNETT: OK.

EPSHTEYN: It is not about immigrants. It is not about immigrants. As an immigrant, I will tell you, it's not about immigrants.

SMIKLE: Sure it's about immigrants.

EPSHTEYN: It's about keeping this country safe.

BURNETT: He made extreme vetting a core and crucial part of the speech. Another thing, David Gergen, I want to ask you about is, when he talked about who should be commander-in-chief. He said, Hillary Clinton is not physically or mentally fit to be commander-in-chief. He said importantly she also lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on ISIS. Neither candidate has released their medical records. Is it fair to question her health for him to do so?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, you know, a lot of what's going on conservative circles. And we have seen this over at FOX of course, the new attack line on Hillary Clinton is she doesn't have the stamina, her health is in question. You know, and they have shown film clips that, I think, are misleading. Listen, I do think that both candidates, given their ages and so forth should be forthcoming about their health. Each one has released a letter from a doctor saying they are in good health. But in the past, we have had some candidates who have released their full medical records.

And I do think that at a certain time, you know, at a certain age you ought to be expected to produce a full medical record or certainly more than we have seen in either case right now. But let's just come back to it. There's no reason -- there's nothing that's happened here other than the fact that the conservatives have been looking for something or anything that they can get. You know, they can harpoon her with and are trying out this idea of physical stamina and mental stamina and Trump is picking it up and trying to deepen that conversation. That's what's really going on with the speech.

BURNETT: Which, of course, raises questions because he's doing that because she's a woman or not.

More on that next, explosive allegations against Donald Trump's campaign chairman. Did he receive millions of dollars in cash from a pro-Putin leader? Plus, Joe Biden slamming Donald Trump. Why Biden says Trump has

already increased the danger to American troops by a couple clicks, in his words.

And why is Trump talking -- spending so much time talking about losing?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: At the end, it's either going to work or I'm going to, you know, I'm going to have a very, very nice, long vacation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:17:18] BURNETT: Tonight, Donald Trump's campaign chairman is under investigation for allegedly receiving secret cash payments from allies of Vladimir Putin. Paul Manafort denies the allegations calling them unfounded and silly. But investigators reveal his name, was on an off the record ledger giving him $12.7 million for his work for the former president of Ukraine.

Drew Griffin is OUTFRONT. And Drew, I mean, this is going to be stunning, if true. Obviously, he is a crucial part of Donald Trump's efforts to become president. You have been going through the documents. What are investigators saying right now?

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: This is all coming from this black ledger. It's part of Ukraine's anti-corruption bureau, which is looking into the excess and corruption of the former and now much hated government of Ukraine. Paul Manafort, he was a campaign adviser for the party that ran that former government and that's why his name is being wrapped up in all of this. According to "The New York Times," some of Manafort's furniture and personal items could still be found actually in his office as recently as May.

Now, they are getting the information on this from 841 pages of all handwritten documents who seemed to be a record of party expenditures. This is what this handwritten ledgers look like. They have names, dates, amounts and even reasons for expenses like phone bills, seminars, car insurance. What you are not going to see on any of these that have been released so far Erin is Manafort's name.

But we are told from the spokesperson from the Ukraine agency that in fact in the hundreds of pages, there are 22 separate mentions of Paul Manafort's name linked with a corresponding $12.7 million in designated payments. According to the Ukraine Agency spokesperson, they do not have any proof yet that Paul Manafort received any of the payments.

BURNETT: I mean, let's just say he did, right? And he gets $12.7 million in cash. It may sound dirty, but is it? Would it be illegal?

GRIFFIN: The answer is, we don't know. Manafort worked for the party. Right? In Ukraine. That's no secret. And that is not illegal. What would be illegal is if this was illicit money or somehow paid in cash under the table that nobody recorded. Manafort himself calling this entire report silly. Here is his statement. He says the simplest answer is the truth, I'm a campaign professional. It's well known that I do work in the United States and have done work on overseas campaigns as well.

I have never received a single, off the books cash payment as falsely he says reported by "The New York Times" nor have I ever done work for the governments of Ukraine or Russia. The suggestion that I accepted cash payment is unfounded, silly and nonsensical. And CNN has asked for the specific documents that show cash payments may have been made to Manafort. We haven't received them yet. But the National Anti- Corruption Bureau spokesperson tells us Paul Manafort, Trump's campaign adviser is part of this investigation into potential illegal payments in Ukraine.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Drew Griffin.

OUTFRONT tonight, joining me now, Donald Trump supporter Paris Dennard, former George W. Bush White House staffer Margaret Hoover joins me along with Boris and Basil who are back with me.

Margaret, let me start with you. Under investigation, allegedly $12.7 million in cash payments, stunning amount. His excuses. Nothing was wrong about anything that I might have perceived and there's no story here at all. If the allegations are true, what do you say?

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, if he illegally took secret money, as a payment, first of all, you have to report your earnings. You have to pay taxes on earnings. And, why is he receiving money from a government that is hostile to the United States? I mean, there are two elements here. There's the potential illegality of it but it's also this continuing to reinforce its narrative that Russia is somehow not a bad actor on the global stage and it has hostile to American interests.

There is a normalization of Russia acting as though, by Donald Trump today in his comments, by Paul Manafort and many transactions that somehow Russia is this benign actor in global affairs and nothing for the United States to be worried about. In fact as Trump said today, he suggests, wouldn't it be great if we could find common ground with Russia. This totally undermines American interests. In Syria, in Iran, and other parts of the globe, and that's what's most troubling about this.

BURNETT: So, Boris, what happens if something is wrong here? Whether it just smells so bad that something is wrong or whether there is actually something proven illegal? What is it the campaign Paul Manafort goes away?

EPSHTEYN: A lot of words being thrown around like I don't know and if. These are all guesses. Paul Manafort answers the questions. I'm not here to talk about Paul Manafort. It is interesting as Margaret talks about Russia that the President you worked for -- looking about Putin's eyes --

(TALKING OVER EACH OTHER)

And the U.S. was very open to work with the Russia. So, you contradict with the President you worked for.

BURNETT: OK. All that may be fair. But let me ask you a question, because I do want to talk about Paul Manafort. Because Paul Manafort is crucial to this campaign. All right? Paul Manafort is now central to it. Without Paul Manafort, it would be a very different campaign. Last campaign, Corey Lewandowski of course was fired by Donald Trump. What would happen without Paul Manafort?

[19:22:23] EPSHTEYN: I'm not going to speculate. I'm here about the strength of the Donald Trump campaign. Donald Trump's candidacy. That's something to talk about as far as any of this issue. You know "The New York Times" is not friendly to the Trump campaign. And that article had absolutely no justification, it had no facts and whatsoever. Just a bunch of guesses as we are doing here now.

SMIKLE: But it's a little bit of a pattern. Right? Because this is Donald Trump who invited Russians to hack into e-mails. This is Putin who has some kind of relationship with Donald Trump. And there are reports that it was the Trump campaign that sort of softened the Republican platform's tone in Russia. There you go.

EPSHTEYN: Wait a minute.

SMIKLE: Being louder than me is not a talking point. That said, the pattern actually does matter. The pattern does matter

EPSHTEYN: Is there a pattern with the Clinton's?

BURNETT: OK. Go ahead, Paris. Go ahead, Paris.

PARIS DENNARD, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: The media has his obsession. Donald Trump campaign managers and his ridiculous. One thing that we know for sure is that this is all rumor and speculation. He's innocent until proven guilty. And he was a private citizen, and he was not the campaign manager. But this has nothing to do with his ability to lead the Trump campaign. And until he's convicted, which we don't know is going to happen, it is a moot point. Let's focus on the issues that matter not on this destruction.

HOOVER: The one thing I would just say to Republican friends of mine is imagine the thinking cap or the hat you have to put on to -- I mean, if Robby Mook, the director of Hillary Clinton's campaign was found to have been taking illicit or totally legitimate money from China or Iran or --

DENNARD: Nigeria.

HOOVER: -- direct payment, we would have the same conversation.

DENNARD: Well, it's just like what we used to say to Dianne Sawyer, show me the receipt. Until you show the receipt, until the proof --

HOOVER: Imagine the outrage. The moral outrage on the other side would be disproportionate.

EPSHTEYN: It's the Clintons that take the money. Forget the campaign operatives and the Clintons --

BURNETT: So, hold on, hold on a second.

EPSHTEYN: -- who is a convicted money launderer.

BURNETT: OK. This is all coming on the heels of the fact that the Wall Street Journal wrote an editorial today. Right? We all now know about it. It says in part, "If they can't get Mr. Trump to change his act by Labor Day, the GOP will have no choice but to write off the nominee as hopeless. As for Mr. Trump, he needs to stop blaming everyone else and decides if he wants to behave like someone who wants to be president or turn the nomination over to Mike Pence." Paris, those are damming words. And stories like this one about Paul Manafort don't help. But those are damming words.

DENNARD: They are damning words and they are not helpful. What is the purpose to have at the DNC when you have the GOP establishment working, actively working against our nominee? If these people who are -- works with and pass White House administrations over Republican and are currently working for the Republican Party cannot get on board and support this nominee, if we lose, it will be their fault, period.

BURNETT: So, let me give you a chance to respond.

DENNARD: Period.

HOOVER: You know, it's not me. It's me than 30 percent of Republicans Republicans and it is also, we are going to have to see, look, you are saying if, if, if. But it depends on what it looks like in November. Because, you know, it's up to Trump, it's up to any Republican nominee to win over the regional opposition. If he can't even win -- and if he can't even win red state that Republicans haven't had to defend for 40 years, Georgia, Utah, Arizona, forget about it. That's not on me, that's on the voter.

DENNARD: If you choose not to vote for him, it is about 14 million voters --

HOOVER: I spare you a terrible presidency.

DENNARD: A Donald Trump presidency is better than any Hillary Clinton presidency.

BURNETT: All right. Let's just pause on that. Because we are going to talk about that in a moment.

Next, the FBI set to release notes from Hillary Clinton's interview with federal agents. So, what exactly are we going to learn?

And when is the last time you heard someone running for president say this?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: Can you imagine how badly I'll feel if I spent all of that money, all of this energy, all of this time and lost?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:30:13] BURNETT: Tonight, Vice President Biden coming out swinging in his 2016 debut for Hillary Clinton. You heard me, debut, mid- August. Well, I guess it's happening sometime. They appeared together just hours ago at a rally in Biden's home town in Scranton. Biden did not hold back, warning voters giving Trump the code would be a threat to national security.

Pamela Brown is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This man is totally, thoroughly unqualified to be president of the United States of America.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Vice President Joe Biden hitting the trail with Hillary Clinton for the first time today and hitting her opponent, Donald Trump.

BIDEN: There's a guy that follows me, right back here, has the nuclear codes. So, God forbid, if anything happened to the president and I had to make a decision, the codes are with me. He is not qualified to know the code.

BROWN: Biden also hammering Trump's praise for Saddam Hussein.

BIDEN: One of the vilest dictators of the 20th century, a man who repeatedly backed terror attacks against Israel because he was supposed the reason he admires him, he was a killer of terrorists. That's why he likes Saddam. He would have loved Stalin.

BROWN: The vice president even argued Trump's labeling of President Obama and Hillary Clinton as the founder of ISIS put American lives in danger.

BIDEN: Ladies and gentlemen, does he have any idea the adverse consequence his comments have on all allies, friends and physical safety of our troops? Trump is already making our country less safe.

BROWN: It's no coincidence, the vice president and Hillary Clinton joined forces in Scranton, Pennsylvania, today.

BIDEN: It's good to be home.

BROWN: Biden's hometown and the birthplace of Clinton's father.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We both have a lot of memories of Scranton and Lake -- that's right. I know some of you may have friends up here in northeastern Pennsylvania who are thinking of voting for Trump.

(BOOS)

I know, I know. Friends should not let friends vote for Trump.

BROWN: This as the email investigation in the Clinton's private e- mail server continues to cast a shadow over her campaign. CNN has learned the FBI is expected to release notes from her interview with the review to Congress very soon. A move that will no doubt bring the controversy surrounding her e-mail use center stage, once again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And it's unusual for the FBI to release interview notes in a case where there was a voluntary interview with no charges filed such as this and, of course, there is a sensitivity to releasing politically charged in the middle of an election year. But the director of the FBI, James Comey, has said he wants to be as transparent as possible with this case. And releasing these interview notes is one way to achieve that -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Pamela, thank you very much.

The panel is also back with me now here as well. Democratic strategist Maria Cardona, Hillary Clinton supporter, her firm does some work for a pro-Clinton super PAC.

So, Maria, let me start with you because, Pamela, just ended on these interview notes were supposed to get about Hillary Clinton interview with FBI agents.

OK, here's what we're going to get. There were a few agents in the room, we are going to get their notes, we're not getting audio, we're not getting video. There is no conspiracy there. That's not how the FBI does interview.

However, is this going to mean the story never goes away? She can't prove what she said to the FBI is consistent with what she told the American people?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It is an unprecedented move, and completely unusual, like Pamela was talking about, because it's a completely political situation. Here you have a group of Republicans who are just beside themselves mad that Comey did not move forward with charges against Secretary Clinton. So, they're doing everything they can to question the FBI, to question the process, and they want to see everything that went into it, right?

So, Comey says he wants to be transparent, you know what? Let's be transparent. Let's get these notes out to everybody, to the public.

My fear is, is that if they are only given to the subcommittee or the committee members that are run by Republicans, they are going to start selectively leaking, selectively spinning it. So, let's be transparent. Let's get them out to everybody. Let's make them public so that everybody can know exactly what was said. BURNETT: Would you agree with that, Boris?

EPSHTEYN: Transparency is great. I'd love to see the 33,000 e-mails, I'd love to see the calendar entries that were erased probably

CARDONA: How about Trump's taxes? If you're talking about transparency, if you think it's so great, Boris.

EPSHTEYN: I would like to see the transcript from the Wall Street speeches that she's been hiding for so long.

Listen, as far as this process, Director Comey is, he knows how to handle it best. I disagree with him as an attorney. I think there was (INAUDIBLE) her use of the private email server, she knew better than to do it.

BURNETT: Well, there's ultimately the issue, of course, he said that she could be fired for that if she had the job, but then refused to. That is one of the issues.

SMIKLE: I agree with that. I think this is all in the spirit of transparency. I think the Director Comey for a lot of Republicans is at one point beyond approach, that somehow changed in this process. But I still think he has conducted himself very honorably in this process.

And, look, I go back to the statement I made all the time. I think the issue of the e-mails is baked into the campaign, baked into how voters believe about Hillary Clinton. She is still doing well in the polls.

BURNETT: That's the point. That's the point. As much as she is, she is doing better than he is in the polls. And as much as people don't like her, her unfavorables are very high, but Trump's are higher.

DENNARD: True. But hers is still significantly high. And back to your original point, this is not going to go away, because people don't trust her. They still have someone that is not trustworthy and honesty factor.

So, when the FBI does this unprecedented move and not do it completely, like we want them to do, it's going to reinforce the narrative of her trustworthiness and her ability -- she lied to Chris Wallace. She lied to Congress, she continues to lie.

CARDONA: If you are talking transparency, let's look at Trump's taxes. You know, all of these things you all talk about are not things that -- candidates have not done.

(CROSSTALK)

SMIKLE: He is a public figure now.

EPSHTEYN: He has complied with every rule and regulation. She has not.

CARDONA: So has Secretary Clinton.

EPSHTEYN: She continues to lie to people.

Now, two of you yelling at me.

(CROSSTALK)

BURNETT: Go ahead, Boris.

EPSHTEYN: She lied to the American people. She lied to Congress. She continues to lie. She could use the third circuit, as she says, but we all know better. Everyone knows better. She used her --

CARDONA: Why is she ahead in every poll? And every battleground state poll?

EPSHTEYN: Because we're 85 days out.

BURNETT: Quick, Basil, I give you the final word.

SMIKLE: Why Republicans, so many of them, including Susan Collins saying that Donald Trump is too dangerous to be the president of the United States. Clearly, there's a different --

BURNETT: We'll leave it there. We'll leave it there.

(CROSSTALK)

CARDONA: Fourteen million is not enough to win a national election.

BURNETT: I will say in transparency, medical records from both sides, taxes from Donald Trump, transcripts from Hillary Clinton, all these things should be on the table.

Next, stunning new video of some of the more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls showing what they have gone through during two years being held as hostages. Stunning, a father reacts to seeing her daughter among the living. You will see that only OUTFRONT.

And what evidence does Donald Trump have of this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The only way we can lose, in my opinion, I mean this, Pennsylvania, is if cheating goes on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:41:59] BURNETT: Tonight, the Trump campaign doubling down. Donald Trump and his aides refusing to walk back his comments and he will only lose the election if Hillary Clinton cheats. Is there evidence to back up the claims? The big thing to say and it's easy to dismiss. But is it true?

Tom Foreman is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amid roaring admirers in the critical Keystone State, Donald Trump insists Hillary Clinton cannot defeat him.

TRUMP: She can't beat what's happening. The only way they can beat him, in my opinion, I mean this 100 percent, if in certain sections of the state, they cheat, okay?

FOREMAN: It's an odd claim since almost every major poll in Pennsylvania since the Democratic convention has shown Clinton beating Trump, so badly, if these were election results, the alleged cheating would have to be massive, involving hundreds of thousands of fraudulent votes.

But Trump is tapping into a deep seated fed by studies like this from Pew in 2012. It's found one in eight voter registrations is significantly inaccurate or no longer valid, and 1.8 million dead people are registered. It's an invitation to fraud, Republicans say. And their solution?

TRUMP: Why aren't we having voter I.D.? In other words, I want to vote, here is my identification. I want to vote.

FOREMAN: But Democrats insist voter id laws discriminate by intimidating poor African-Americans and Latinos, making it harder to cast a ballot, while proven cases of election fraud are exceedingly rare.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The reality is, is that the elections are being very run smoothly.

FOREMAN: In recent weeks, federal courts have battered voter I.D. laws in several states. In Texas, changes were ordered because of the likely disproportionate effect of the law on minorities. In North Carolina, the court said the new provisions target African-Americans with almost surgical precision.

Still, Trump says in Pennsylvania, voter fraud is a real threat.

TRUMP: And we have to call up law enforcement and we have to have the sheriffs and the police chiefs and everybody watching.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: The real problem for Trump, however, lies on how badly he is trailing Clinton in the polls. If he can close the gap and say he were to lose by a few hundred votes, plenty of people might think the election was indeed stolen. But if the polls hold firm and she wins by a whopping margin, he'll have a much harder time making that case -- Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Tom.

David Gergen is back with me now.

And, David, all right. So, you see the piece here, Donald Trump saying voter fraud is going to be an issue. But when you look at the polls right now, eight points nationally, he's down by double digits in Pennsylvania. Could fraud ever make up that sort of a gap?

GERGEN: Absolutely not. This is a red herring if I have ever seen one.

[19:45:01] And it's understandable. I understand why he's frustrated. But this is exactly the kind of thing "The Wall Street Journal" was talking about today. Straighten out the campaign or he himself look in the mirror and understand he's the problem.

BURNETT: And as they said, go ahead and he should have Mike Pence go ahead and take over. I mean, he has been talking about losing, openly, David, several times now, and we are more than two months away from Election Day. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

TRUMP: Can you imagine how badly I'll feel if I spent all of that money, all of this energy, all of this time and lost?

Having a tremendous problem in Utah. Utah is a different place. I don't know -- is anybody here from Utah? I mean -- I didn't think so. We are having a problem.

At the end, it's either going to work or I'm going to, you know, I'm going to have a very, very nice long vacation.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

BURNETT: David, have you ever seen something like this from another candidate? Do you think he's actually in any small part of his brain contemplating, advocating the top of the ticket to Mike Pence?

GERGEN: Some tell me they think -- they wonder whether he wants to be president anymore. The closer he gets, the more he may feel it's not the job I want to do. I think he does still want to stay in, but, other tell me he's disoriented, he doesn't trust a lot of people around him, he's trying to wing this, and he's leading moments of depression and exhilaration.

BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, David Gergen.

GERGEN: Thank you.

BURNETT: And OUTFRONT next, more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped more than two years ago now. New proof now that they are alive, some of them. One girl's father speaks out and what happened to some of the others. Our special report is next.

And Jeanne Moos on Usain Bolt isn't the only smiling on the way to the finish line.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:50:33] BURNETT: Tonight, a new video showing proof of life for some of the 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by terrorists more than two years ago. You can see young girls holding babies, others fighting back tears.

Boko Haram released the video demanding their imprisoned fighters in exchange for the girls. The video though horrifically also shows images of what appear to be several dead girls.

We have exclusive reaction tonight from family members. I want to warn you that the video you're about to see is graphic.

Nima Elbagir is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ESTHER YUKUBO, MOTHER OF MISSING GIRL: No, it's not easy for a mother. But I also give thanks to God almighty that they say most of the kids are dead and mine is alive.

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Esther Yukubo told CNN that even wearing a head covering and shaky voice, she recognized her daughter, immediately.

YUKUBO: I give God the glory. But, really, I cried.

ELBAGIR: Dokos (ph) was featured front and center in the latest Boko Haram video release. It was the first time since this picture of taken on the afternoon of her abduction by the terror group two years ago that Esther had seen her. In the video, a masked militant stands alongside Dokos, asking her to say her name and the school she was abducted from. Chibok she says.

Then he asked her to recount the night the air strikes killed a number of her fellow abductees. A charge the government denies it.

As her voice cracks, the girls behind begin to cover their faces, visibly upset.

This eerie scene gives way to footage of the strike, footage too horrifying to show in full as the bodies of young women turn to face the camera. Some gruesomely disfigured.

This, the latest in Boko Haram's public campaign of pressure against the Nigerian government. A ransom note, the freeing of jailed Boko Haram soldiers in exchange for the Chibok girl's freedom.

The abduction of over 270 school girls from their beds by Boko Haram two years ago sent shockwaves around the world, reverberating all the way to the White House. As even First Lady Michelle Obama took up the cry to bring back our girls, a cry the Nigerian government promised would not go unheeded.

And yet, for the girls' families, still heartbreak with frustration. YUKUBO: Two years, four months yesterday, the fourteenth. Nothing

from the I.G., nothing from the Nigerian army, nothing from the federal government. If they are working on it. They should have done something by now.

ELBAGIR: As they wait for someone to bring their daughters back home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: I mean, Nima, it's horrific footage, that they would show those girls who had been killed. You see the girls crying, girls with babies. We all can only imagine the situation the babies were born. Is the government in Nigeria really trying to get these girls back?

ELBAGIR: That's the crucial question, Erin. And I think that's the question all the parents are asking themselves tonight and have been asking themselves for every night over the last almost two and a half years. As far as the parents are concerned, there seems to be very little proof that the government is doing really everything it should be.

Back in April, when CNN broadcast a proof of life video that had been similarly recorded, not quite as graphic or is horrifying, but similarly recorded and released to negotiators by the terror group. We spoke to the government. In fact, the Nigerian Senate tabled a motion that brought in the heads of security to give an account as to why the girls had not been found. They recommitted to finding the girls.

We're now four months on and for many of those families, no closer. The one glimmer of hope perhaps is the Nigerian government had been telling us they are now desperately reaching out to everyone, including the friends they have within the Obama administration, within the U.S. government to get greater support. But it is nearly two and a half years later, Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Nima, thank you very much.

And OUTFRONT next, Jeanne Moos on Usain Bolt's amazing victory.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:58:27] BURNETT: Here's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When you are running a hundred meters in under ten seconds, who has time to smile? Cheese.

Usain Bolt, that's who. His smiling photo had tweets flying.

"Bolt stops, takes a selfie and continues to win the race."

As for rivals, "Homey is fighting for his life and Bolt is posing for photos mid race".

Smiling like the Road Runner, beep beep. At least Bolt didn't stick out his tongue. Like the Road Runner.

"It is taking me longer to type this tweet than it took Bolt to run and win his event."

Soon, the Olympics semifinal race was transformed into the presidential race.

The Bolt smile may be an internet meme, but it's not yet a tattoo, as for as we know.

Michael Phelps steely stare was the first big meme to come out of the Olympics. Now it's tattooed on the owner of a Toronto tattoo shop called Chronic Ink.

Olivia Sang (ph) tattooed on her boss's right calf, working from a photo taped to his leg.

Did you have to shave his leg?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I did. I cut him a little bit.

MOOS: Somewhere we will see a cut if you look hard enough?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's right by HIS chin.

MOOS: It got the blessing of Michael Phelps.

MICHAEL PHELPS, U.S. SWIMMER: That's awesome. That is so cool.

MOOS: From the glare to the smile, the two Olympic memes couldn't be more opposite. But opposites attract eyeballs on the Internet. Take it away, Frank.

FRANK SINATRA, SINGER (singing): When you're smiling, the whole that is so cool.

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: Thanks for joining us.

"AC360" starts now.