Return to Transcripts main page
Erin Burnett Outfront
FBI Releases Files From 2001 Bill Clinton Pardon; Trump About to Speak at Wisconsin Rally; Trump, Clinton Hold Dueling Rallies Amid Tightening Polls; Report: Trump Used Controversial Tactic to Avoid Taxes; Interview with Sean Spicer. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired November 01, 2016 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:12] ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: OUTFRONT next, the breaking news. The Clinton campaign slamming James Comey asking why the FBI released information about a 2001 Bill Clinton pardon with only seven days until the election.
President Obama unleashing on Donald Trump as Trump continues to climb in the polls. And new details about how Trump gains the system using other people's money to avoid paying his own taxes. Let's go OUTFRONT.
Good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight the breaking news. Clinton crying foul with just one week until Election Day. The FBI releasing heavily redacted files from a 15-year-old investigation of one of President Bill Clinton's most controversial pardons. The FBI actually went on Twitter tweeting out the information about the pardoned of Marc Rich, he was of course a fugitive financier pardoned on Bill Clinton's last day in offense.
The Clinton campaign spokesman called the release odd. Asking, let me read you the tweet. "Will FBI be posting docs on Trump's housing discrimination in the 1970s?" At the same time, Hillary Clinton trying to change the subject away from the FBI and her e-mails trying to focus on Trump and his treatment of women. Former Miss Universe Alicia Machado who accused Trump of calling her Miss Piggy introducing Clinton at a Florida rally this afternoon. Clinton attacking Trump for his comments about Machado and others.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He calls women ugly, disgusting, nasty all the time. He calls women pigs. Rates bodies on a scale from one to 10. We just heard from Alicia. She was Miss Universe. Why does he do these things? Who acts like this? And I'll tell you who. A bully. That's who.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And as the busy night on the campaign trail. Dueling rallies right now. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton both going to be speaking live on those podiums. You see Reince Priebus at one of them right now in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Donald Trump will be taking the podium there very soon. Hillary Clinton about to get a rally underway in Sanford, Florida. We'll go to both of those in just a moment but the polls right now are neck and neck in crucial states.
We want to begin with our chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto in Washington. And Jim, today the Clinton campaign going on offense trying to slam the FBI and in particular just slam the FBI Director Jim Comey.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And now on two cases, both Friday's announcement of these e-mails possibly related to the Clinton e-mail investigation and now this oddly timed says the Clinton campaign announcement or release of FOIA documents going back 15 years to the Bill Clinton presidency and at the same time saying, why not similar disclosure for FBI investigations of Trump team ties to Russia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO (voice-over): Just days after disagreeing about going public with new Clinton related e-mails, FBI Director James Comey and Attorney General Loretta Lynch met behind closed doors on Monday. The first time they have been face to face since Comey sent his controversial letter to Congress. No comment however on the investigation and law enforcement official say, don't expect anything from Comey until the investigation is complete.
A review of thousands of e-mails for classified information or other evidence of wrongdoing. An investigation that likely won't be finished until after Election Day. Clinton's advisors continue to level fire at the FBI. Campaign Manager Robby Mook telling CNN that Comey's letter to Congress represents a blatant double standard.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBBY MOOK, HILLARY CLINTON CAMPAIGN MANAGER: It was shocking that every time people asks questions about investigations pertaining for Donald Trump, they are tight lipped and silent. Quote-unquote, "sticking with protocol." When it comes to Hillary Clinton, they don't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: The Clinton campaign is also calling foul after the FBI released documents Tuesday related to the 2001 investigation into the pardon of Marc Rich. A donor to President Bill Clinton's presidential library foundation. Hillary Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon took to Twitter saying, quote, "absent of FOIA litigation deadline, this is odd. Will FBI be posting docs on Trump's housing discrimination in the '70s?" That regarding a case that was settled years ago.
The campaign is now calling the FBI to release information on any investigations into Donald Trump and alleged ties to Russia.
MOOK: James Comey opened the store and we're just asking for him to make this right and treat everybody the same.
SCIUTTO: Law enforcement sources tells CNN that the FBI has been conducting multiple investigations of alleged connections between Russia and the Trump campaign or its backers. But men so far has yielded proof of criminal connections. Those probes include a yearlong investigation of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and his firm and their alleged ties to pro-Putin figures in Ukraine.
The FBI is also looked into alleged meetings between former Trump advisor Carter Page and Russian individuals under U.S. sanctions. And it continues to examine allegations against Roger Stone, a Trump supporter about possibly connections to WikiLeaks. Stone acknowledged communicating with WikiLeaks but denied any illegal behavior.
[19:05:20] ROGER STONE, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: I have a back channel communications with WikiLeaks but they certainly don't clear or tell me in advance what they are going to do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: CNN pressed the FBI multiple times today to explain why this FOIA release relating to Marc Rich today just a few days to the Election Day and a short time ago, we did get a statement saying that by law FOIA materials that have been requested three or more times are posted electrically to the FBI's public reading room it. It goes on to say that these are posted automatically and electronically implying, Erin, it just popped up there. There was no sort of command decision to put this out there now. It was part of the regular process. That is the FBI's explanation.
BURNETT: All right. And obviously, a crucial part of the conversation now. Thank you very much, Jim.
I want to go both rallies right now. Jeff Zeleny is in this Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Clinton's next stop tonight. And Jeff, there Clinton is trying very hard to change the subject going on offense about. The double standard that she sees at the FBI but she really wants to talk about Trump.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Erin, she's trying to turn the corner here revisiting Donald Trump's past. And at her side on the campaign trail today in Florida was the former Miss Universe Alicia Machado. She had very strong words for Donald Trump. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALICIA MACHADO, MISS UNIVERSE 1996: I'm standing here on behalf of women and Latinos across the country. Americans who have been horrified with his dangerous ideas and vision of America. And together who are going say loudly and clearly no Trump. He's not getting away with it.
CLINTON: He doesn't see us as full human beings with our own dreams, our own purposes, our own capabilities and he's shown that clearly throughout this campaign. Well, he is very wrong. He has shown us who he is. Let us on Tuesday show him who we are.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP) ZELENY: Erin, this is all about character. Hillary Clinton trying to make the argument that he's not fit for office and he's not temperamentally fit and doesn't have the character. She tonight at a rally is going to go after his taxes as well. Erin, so different from her posture a week ago when she was trying to close this campaign on a high positive note. Now the Clinton campaign is fortifying their effort in blue states across the country on the air once again in Colorado, Wisconsin, Michigan, Virginia. Those states they thought they had in their bag. I am told by a top advisor Erin, it is a safety measure, as they are slightly uncertain here and not as confident as they were a week ago. Now one week out before Election Day -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Jeff, thank you very much. And you know, you mentioned Wisconsin. Well, that is where Donald Trump is right now in Eau Claire. Jim Acosta is with him. Wisconsin, a state Jim that he now thinks he can really play in and he wants to win. You have been talking to the campaign. What is Trump going to be speaking about any moment there where you are?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right. And just to piggy back off of what Jeff was saying a few moments ago, as the Trump campaign sees a tightening race, they believe that these individual battleground states are going to become a lot closer and even those traditionally blue states that have been voting Democratic for decades now, and that includes here in Wisconsin. But yes a top campaign official said just a few moments ago that Donald Trump when he gets out here, a few moments here in Eau Claire, Wisconsin will be talking about the Clinton email saga. We'll hear more on that. WikiLeaks.
He is also going to go after ObamaCare. That is something we heard from Donald Trump earlier today talking about in Pennsylvania and other states that he would like to flip, to red. And, you know, it's been striking all day Erin, this is a candidate who can veer off course. Veer off message at any moment. But yet in the last 24 to 48 hours, ever since the Clinton e-mail story broke last Friday, he is been much more on message. Definitely much more on message today when he was going after ObamaCare.
And one other final thing to point out Erin, and that is, he has almost a united Wisconsin front at this event here in Eau Clair, Wisconsin. The governor of the state Scott Walker is on stage. Reince Priebus who is the RNC chair also from the state was on here. Ron Johnson who was running for reelection in the Senate, he is in a tight re-election battle. He is embracing Donald Trump. Was even echoing the catch phrase, "drain the swamp" here. One Wisconsinite who is not here tonight, House Speaker Paul Ryan who we heard earlier today on FOX News could barely even mentioned Donald Trump's name as he was saying he was voting for the GOP nominee -- Erin.
BURNETT: Right. Almost sound like he didn't even know it's in Wisconsin. But obviously very significant, you have Scott Walker there. The kind of surrogate support that Donald Trump has wanted. Thank you, Jim.
[19:10:05] OUTFRONT now, James Gagliano, former FBI special agent. Trump supporter Kayleigh McEnany, Clinton supporter Keith Boykin who was a White House aide to President Bill Clinton. Trump's former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, Clinton supporter Angela Rye, a former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus. And Patrick Healy, New York Times political correspondent.
OK, thanks to all. Let me start with you. Corey, Robby Mook, the FBI sticking to protocol when it comes to Donald Trump, refusing to comment but they say not so with Hillary Clinton, coming out with this letter and dumping these documents via Twitter today related to the Marc Rich part.
COREY LEWANDOWSKI, TRUMP'S FORMER CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Look, you know, I said this very clearly on July 5th when Director Comey came out and had a press conference and said, we're going to clear Hillary, I thought it was wrong at the time. I didn't think he should have done that. I think he should gathered the evidence and given to it a prosecutor to determine if they were going to move forward. He chose not do that. We didn't hear any complaints, we didn't hear any, you know, any chaos of, chaos from the Clinton side.
They said he's a great, reputable individual and what we saw Sunday was Tim Kaine saying the exact same thing. What we're not talking about is, the Trump and to be clear the package has it wrong. Paul Manafort was not the campaign manager. I want to be very clear about that, he was the campaign chairman. Two separate roles. And all of a sudden today we find that he's under FBI investigation. I find it very interesting that all of a sudden the Clintons aren't talking about that.
BURNETT: To many that would be a distinction without a difference. I understand, for you it was personal, right? Because you were the -- I get it, you were the manager.
LEWANDOWSKI: And Robby Mook, there's two very different roles. Paul was a position that he was not being paid for. It was an honorary position --
BURNETT: He's working for the campaign. He was doing something with the Russians inappropriately.
LEWANDOWSKI: Like John Podesta's e-mails. There's a different between John Podesta and Robby Mook, two very different things. So, I think --
BURNETT: I'm going to let others jump in here --
(TALKING OVER EACH OTHER)
KEITH BOYKIN, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: What is the point, I mean, John Podesta's e-mails have been a subject that Trump's people have been attacking him about for the past few weeks. So, the idea, you can't attack Paul Manafort because he's somehow not associated with the campaign. He's the chairman of the campaign.
LEWANDOWSKI: He's not the chairman of the campaign but more over --
BOYKIN: Yes. He was the chairman of the campaign.
LEWANDOWSKI: What I'm saying is, we don't hear today from the Clinton campaign is this outrage, all of the sudden, you know, the FBI is investigating Paul Manafort. Well, is that actually taking place and if so, worth the double standard there.
BOYKIN: But the FBI leaked the story last night apparently to the "New York Times" but there is no evidence connecting the Russian ties to Donald Trump. Where did that come from? Why is the FBI have been even leaking this information? Of course there is the double standard here. I agree with you on one thing, Corey. Comey should never have had a press conference back in the summer but after that he continues to be pressured and bullied by the Republican Party and the Republicans in Congress to release information that doesn't have to be released. It is time for him to shut up and just do his job.
LEWANDOWSKI: This is a Democrat administration. It's a Democrat Justice Department.
BOYKIN: And a Republican FBI director.
LEWANDOWSKI: Overseen by, who is appointed by a Democrat.
BURNETT: Well, he said he's no longer a Republican, he has donated to Romney and McCain though in the past.
Patrick, when you look at this though, the totality of it. Do you see a double standard?
PATRICK HEALY, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: I think it's very clear that Comey has followed a different standard with the Clinton campaign frankly, you know, sort of all along. I mean, what we saw in the summer in terms of him going out publicly, giving the press conference that he did and then sort of going before Congress, making different statements. You know, it basically played into a really kind of, you know, volatile explosive situation. And usually you have the FBI sort of stepping back.
And I would certainly defer to others but stepping back and making judicious statements and putting out information only at the end of a report when they are bringing charges, when they recommend them to the Justice Department. And in this case now, I think you are having basically a Clinton campaign that is -- that is sort of waiting to see what kind of drip, drip, drip comes. I mean, this is not what they want for the last seven days. And they are really just hoping that there is going to be silence.
BURNETT: James, when you hear this criticism, what do you say? I mean, you know, obviously, if he hadn't come out and exonerated her the way he did in July, he might not have had to come out now and say, I'm still looking it, right? He wouldn't have to say anything at all.
JAMES GAGLIANO, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Sure. The FBI has been around for a long time. They have been the investigative arm for the federal government since 1908. I think that the FBI from its inception was created to be an apolitical organization. We follow the evidence. We go where the evidence takes us. This director in particular. I served under four of them. Two that were appointed by Democratic presidents and two by Republican presidents. This director has a moral compass and has a level of transparency that in my quarter century in the FBI, I've not seen before. I think he was dealt a difficult hand. I think the case was brought to him by Congress. He didn't go seeking it out. He didn't go looking for it. He followed the evidence. And when he got, made his decision, I think it was a decision by his conscious, he felt was the right one to make.
BURNETT: All right. Yes.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: And the Obama administration came out and said, I still have trust in Director Comey. I'm not going to defend or not defend his decision but I have trust in him. I do believe he's independent. And for Hillary Clinton to try to blame this on Comey. We've seen her first blame this on Colin Powell, and then her aides and the FBI notes, now it's Jim Comey's fault. And as AB Stoddard wrote, Hillary Clinton owns this all. She owns every bit of this. But for a legal server that jeopardized top secret information, we would not be having this conversation right now. We're having it because the irresponsibility of your candidate. Bottom-line. End of story.
[19:15:19] BOYKIN: She's not blaming anyone I think. What she is saying is that there's a double standard --
(TALKING OVER EACH OTHER)
Yes. But saying that he made a mistake and there is a double standard is not the same thing as challenging his integrity. I don't think anyone is saying is that he's saying that James Comey is not a person of integrity. But I think there is clearly a double standard, when you are willing to release information 11 days before an election about Hillary Clinton but you're not willing to release information about Donald Trump a few weeks before the election --
BURNETT: Isn't that calling --
BOYKIN: No, I think it's a double standard. I don't know what the motivations were but he should have known that they would be perceived as the double standard and the idea that he had to go down this route in the first place as Corey mentioned by releasing that press conference --
BURNETT: So, let me ask you James about this other issue about the Marc Rich thing. OK? You heard the FBI statement that Jim Sciutto just had. His reporting. That they say, well, it just automatically happened. There had been multiple requests under the Freedom of Information Act. So it was available. So it automatically dumped. The timing does seem stranger. I mean, this was the most controversial pardon that Bill Clinton did. And dogged him ever since and that just magically hit Twitter today.
GAGLIANO: I understand that. You have to understand how Freedom of Information Act cases are handled. There is a department for that at the FBI. It is a separate compartment, department that worked. The FBI headquarters is compartmentalized. The folks who do that they come in first serve -- you know, when they reach the Freedom of Information Act folks. They work it. Sometimes there is a ton of redactions that can be made. You have to go through and make sure nothing sensitive that should not be released. Sometimes there are reams and reams and reams of documents. It takes a ton of time.
BURNETT: So you do not see any sort of collusion conspiracy, anything --
GAGLIANO: I do not. Because I do not believe that the folks are working on that that releasing those. As they come in and as they're completed --
ANGELA RYE, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: Wait. No, no, no, I have to chime in here.
BURNETT: Go ahead, Angela.
RYE: This is from an account that was not used since October 2015 before Sunday. On Sunday they released the IG report about Hillary Clinton's e-mails. On Sunday, they released surveillance requests about the Baltimore protests having to do with Freddie Gray. The only thing that they released on the Trump side was an investigation about Donald Trump and his father donating to city council members at the time. Hasn't been used since October and it just so happens that the Friday after, Director Comey makes this -- sends this letter out to Republic chairman on the House and Senate side. All of a sudden this account needs to be used against --
BURNETT: Corey?
(TALKING OVER EACH OTHER)
MCENANY: Questioning the integrity of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is not going to win you a single voter. Your candidate is under criminal investigation --
BOYKIN: Election is rigged is an okay thing to do. I mean, you guys are the kings and queens of conspiracy theories. You would actually accusing anybody of creating a conspiracy theory as a problem, doesn't it?
LEWANDOWSKI: I think this notion that the entire Federal Bureau of Investigation is on a witch hunt to go after Hillary Clinton is absolutely absurd. What we're doing is we're now questioning the integrity of not just the director but the people on the Freedom of Information Act Division who releases information and anybody who's ever worked there in a period of time when these requests --
(CROSSTALK)
LEWANDOWSKI: No, it's absolutely. They should not be questions any way shape or form. We have no proof --
BOYKIN: This is America. Every department of the government is subject to criticism in questioning. Including the presidency, including the Bureau of Investigation --
(TALKING OVER EACH OTHER)
LEWANDOWSKI: The entire Federal Bureau of Investigation can be called into question.
(TALKING OVER EACH OTHER)
HEALY: I mean, I think this is sort of playing right now to Mr. Trump and sort of his interests. I mean, the degree to which there are sort of the conspiracy theory element, the idea that, you know, the government is doing, you know, pulling this string, sort of pulling that string, it goes to a core concern that a lot of voters have and the states that he's going to and Michigan and New Mexico and other states, you know, that something is afoul. Something is a foot that powers behind the scenes are sort of pulling strings.
And I think there is a degree to which they can sort of plant doubt, that the Trump campaign can sort of plant doubts, reinforce them or even let them sit is also good. And you are seeing Hillary Clinton now trying to do this pivot that Jeff Zeleny talked about. And trying to talk about women, trying to talk about Mr. Trump's behavior. At least right now with a lot of voters --
BURNETT: Yes. Really. That's exactly what happened in this conversation. We are going to talk about what she had to say about women and Donald Trump coming up.
But next, we're watching the dueling Trump and Clinton rallies and could it all comedown to New Hampshire and its four electoral votes?
We're going to show you how Trump could win.
Plus, President Obama on the trail every single day this week. Can he deliver a win for Clinton?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. BARACK OBAMA (D), UNITED STATES: A man you can bait with a tweet is not somebody you want to trust with nuclear weapons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And you see them there. Meet Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Yes, that is who you are looking at. Is he voting for him? Is she voting for her? We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:24:02] BURNETT: Breaking news. Dueling rallies. Donald Trump speaking in Wisconsin right now, Hillary Clinton in Florida. The Clinton campaign has surrogates across the country tonight. Bernie Sanders and President Obama on that list.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OBAMA: This is not somebody you want your kids saying is the president of the United States. Because our kids will learn from it. The good news is Ohio, all of you are uniquely qualified to make sure he doesn't get that chance. All you have to do is vote. And these are not equal candidates.
BERNIE SANDERS (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So, I don't want to make all of you nervous here in New Hampshire. You are a battleground state. And the future of this company may rest on your four electoral votes for president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And he's right about that. Our political director David Chalian is OUTFRONT. I mean, David, Bernie Sanders saying the future of the country could rest on New Hampshire and it could.
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: It could without a doubt, Erin. First, let's take a look at the state of play in New Hampshire. The latest poll out of there still shows a significant Hillary Clinton lead, 46 percent to 39 percent. That seven point lead is why you see Donald Trump looking elsewhere. Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania for a blue state. Because right now New Hampshire, he's not there. But let's go into the electoral map and look at exactly what Bernie Sanders is talking about and why he can make a difference.
Let's flip New Hampshire from blue to red right now for Donald Trump. And then, let's give Donald Trump the rest of these yellow battleground states, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, this is best case scenario for him. Florida, North Carolina and Ohio. Boom. Two sixty nine to two sixty nine. That -- then you would hunt for that one Congressional district electoral vote in Maine to put him over the top but it is New Hampshire that makes this a tied race in this scenario and gets it thrown into the House of Representatives. I mean, that is incredible when you lay it out like that. People say, wait a minute, that would be an incredible thing indeed.
BURNETT: OK. Thank you very much, David Chalian. And as David said, that is why so much is riding on New Hampshire. Just imagine that. Two sixty nine to Two sixty nine. Florida House of Representatives. Trump tonight hammering Clinton on the e-mail issue but the question is, will it make that difference in the crucial state of New Hampshire?
Miguel Marquez is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): State Republicans hammering away at Clinton's e-mail issues.
JOHN SUNUNU (R), FORMER NEW HAMPSHIRE GOVERNOR: There is a culture of corruption that she's brought to the Democratic Party from top to bottom.
MARQUEZ: Democrats say the FBI bombshell has only hardened support, turning out more volunteers for Clinton over the weekend.
(on camera): The voters you are hearing from the people you are talking to.
TERIE NORELLI, NEW HAMPSHIRE ADVISER, CLINTON CAMPAIGN: They are not asking about it either.
MARQUEZ: New polling shows a tightening race. A fierce fight for New Hampshire's four electoral votes. Clinton still up by seven points but just a couple of weeks ago she was up by 15. Today, Clinton bringing in her biggest help. Bernie Sanders kicking off his nationwide tour for her with two stops in New Hampshire.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The differences between Secretary Clinton and Mr. Trump are day and night.
MARQUEZ: And last week it was Senator Elizabeth Warren, a favorite among liberals firing up women.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D), HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: Well, I got news for you Donald Trump.
MARQUEZ: Since clinching the nomination --
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Trump has visited New Hampshire nine times. Pence four. Hoping the e-mail revelations could put the state in play. But --
ANDREW SMITH, UNH SURVEY CENTER: We still have less than 80 percent of Republicans saying they are going to vote for Trump. He needs to have 90 percent plus of the Republicans --
MARQUEZ: With more female than male voters here, Clinton running well ahead of Trump among women. Her campaign now targeting men as well.
NORELLI: And what I've often heard men say is, I have two daughters and I want them to be able to grow up and have every advantage.
MARQUEZ: Both campaigns running full bore. 1.4 million door knocks and a hundred thousand calls for Republicans. Democrats counter nearly 600,000 individual doors knocked and more than two million calls in this tiny state.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the craziest I've ever seen.
MARQUEZ: This election, anything possible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Electoral College math is in a mess. I mean, you have Hillary going to red states. You have Trump going to blue states.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: John Sununu calling it like it is. What is still not clear is a tightening that were seeing here in New Hampshire. Whether or not that is the normal tightening that happens in this election or whether it is due to the e-mail. We probably won't know for another couple of days. Democrats here though haunted by what they called the ghost of 2000 when George W. Bush won the four electoral votes here. They say if that had not happened, Florida would not have mattered and history would have been much different -- Erin.
BURNETT: Hmm. All right. Thank you very much, Miguel. And my panel is back. Also joining me, CNN presidential historian Tim Naftali. Let me start with you, Corey. New Hampshire?
LEWANDOWSKI: It's not New Hampshire.
[19:29:05] BURNETT: You happen to know it for real. Can -- can this be a Trump state?
LEWANDOWSKI: It is a state where you have to remember there is no early voting in New Hampshire. There is no primitive absentee file which means 98 percent of the people actually show up on Election Day. It's a very important thing when you're looking at the next week of media coverage.
BURNETT: Right.
LEWANDOWSKI: And what could come out, we don't know, what we do know is that New Hampshire, the state motto is live free or die. An Independent state. People are there for a reason.
BURNETT: Right.
LEWANDOWSKI: It's a state that want smaller government traditionally. And I think what you look at is a state that they take policy very, very seriously.
BURNETT: Yes.
LEWANDOWSKI: Look at the Clinton record in New Hampshire. Bill Clinton did not win when he ran there. Hillary Clinton did not win when she ran there. You know, Bernie Sanders won. Donald Trump had a decisive victory in the primary up there against 16 people who maybe thought she shouldn't have won that race. He won by 18 points. You know, he has a great ground game up there. And I think he has a real opportunity.
BURNETT: So, about the latest ABC poll, 86 percent of Republicans now, this is nationally, OK? Back Donald Trump.
[19:30:01] It was up from 80 percent, OK? So, he's been getting people to what they say come home, right? Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, they're both voting for Trump. Unenthusiastically? Sure, but they're actually voting for Trump and they said so.
If Republicans come home, is that enough? If just Republicans come home, putting aside this independent Corey is trying to make?
HEALY: No, I don't think it's enough. And I think the reason why and this is Donald Trump's biggest disadvantage is surrogates or the lack thereof. You can't go into a state like New Hampshire and just count a victory when he doesn't have people like John Kasich who came in second in the New Hampshire primary that isn't even supporting Trump in Ohio let alone go and campaign and rallying Republicans for Donald Trump in New Hampshire for Trump.
He doesn't have Paul Ryan. He doesn't have Chris Christie who did pretty well New Jersey. Other problem is Hillary Clinton has this very large bench of high profile surrogates who can drive the news in. "Portsmouth Herald", "Foster's Daily Democrat", and "The Manchester Union Leader", while Mr. Trump is in Wisconsin doing his business there. He's not able because he doesn't have the same kind of bench.
You know, Corey Lewandowski maybe should go to New Hampshire and like, you know, put it --
BURNETT: But, Tim, this is interesting point, because, you know, I know Corey will make the point. The Trump children are out on the campaign trail and you had Eric, Donald Trump Jr. both on the trail today, Chelsea Clinton on the campaign trail. But yet, Hillary Clinton does have those big name surrogates, right? Whether it's Bernie Sanders and Barack Obama or Elizabeth Warren and Michelle Obama on any other day.
Donald Trump is doing a lot more rallies in a day because he doesn't have anybody else to do them for him. Will that matter?
TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, it is not just a matter of surrogates. Look, if Hillary Clinton wins the Obama coalition, she wins. The Republican Party, this is a reason there was the big rethink of 2012 realized that it had a demographic problem of the national level.
Now, one of the arguments that Trump has made is that he's expanding. He's actually getting some Democrats to come home to him. But if he can't get Republicans out to vote for him he has no chance, because the Obama coalition is strong enough. With President Obama was the best surrogate.
By the way, we haven't mentioned him, you have a man who can go out there and say the equivalent of one last one for the Gipper, all right? Do it for me.
And he's going to place this where, his coalition is going to place this where Hillary Clinton for example doesn't have the percentage of the African-American vote that she needs. And what he's doing is pushing for turnout. Look at the places he goes to. They are places that she is -- she's popular but she's not wildly popular. He is.
MCENANY: But it is not working. That's the point. Look, despite Obama being out there and Michelle Obama and all these great speeches that we've heard Democrats praise over the last few days, she has 6 percent fewer Democrats supporting her than Republicans supporting Donald Trump.
Donald Trump doesn't have the surrogates out there, but he doesn't need the Washington elites to stand beside him because he's prosecuting a case against the politicians. He's prosecuting a case where he says it's about you the American people. It's about these politicians. It's about the people who have failed you. I'm here to be your voice. And that is working.
That is why --
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: -- Democrats supporting in terms of their own party's support.
HEALY: -- certain states come through with a greater number of college educated whites, independent voters --
MCENANY: She's not.
HEALY: -- and Republican voters in certain states. That, between that and sort of the tightening with Democrats coming home, it could give her the --
MCENANY: -- early voting. Florida and all these states, she's losing in several key states in early voting. There's a reason for that, because she's not popular, she's behind --
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: Look, a new poll out of Missouri, Angela. Trump up 52-38 and this is a state that by the way he has to win, OK? So, I'm not making that point. I'm simply saying, in August, it's tied, in mid- October, he was only up by five. So, he's jumping there.
That is something that has the Democrats concerned including Barack Obama who's trying to go after the women issue in particular with Donald Trump. Here he was today on the stump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: By the way, this is not just one tape where he's bragging about how being famous allows him to get away with actions that qualify as sexual assault. This is a lifetime of calling women pigs and dogs and slobs and grading women on a ten point scale. If you disrespected women before you were elected, you will disrespect women once you're president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Can he make gains for her on this issue? The women issue?
RYE: I think he has to. One thing that I think is abundantly clear is that sexism whether it is implicit or explicit in this election is alive and well. And the president has always been a very effective surrogate. I think we saw him come out the DNC speech -- I think turning point for many Democrats who are still kind of on the fence. He's got carry this message for her and I think he's a more effective surrogate than many of the women who are in her campaign.
BURNETT: And he's out, Kayleigh, he's out doing interviews, lots of interviews, right? He's doing rallies. I mean, he's on his element right now and he went on some comedy shows, including Samantha Bee. Here's a little bit of how that conversation went.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[19:35:03] SAMANTHA BEE, HOST, FULL FRONTAL WITH SAMANTHA BEE: When Hillary is president, what do you think will be the female equivalent of you weren't born in this country?
OBAMA: 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 is 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)
BURNETT: She has a point. He has a point. He keeps saying how Hillary Clinton is sleeping and doesn't have the stamina.
MCENANY: I don't think so. I think Hillary Clinton does a remarkable job at playing victim which does a disservice to feminism and disservice to young women like me who are making more than our male counterparts, graduating at higher degrees. When she plays victim, be it on the stage with Rick Lazio when she went like this when he walked over her to her in the senate debate, that infamous picture that lost Rick Lazio the debate, or whether it's Bernie Sanders, where she says sometimes men interpret yelling -- when women talk loud as yelling, she uses gender to her advantage. She plays the victim card.
It does a disservice to the feminist community. It does a disservice to independent women who are working hard.
BURNETT: You are flanked by some faces that are being made.
Let me start with you, Tim.
NAFTALI: She didn't get pneumonia because she wanted to play victim.
I mean, look, when you assume something about someone without knowing the content of their character or having ever talked to them it is an ism, whether it's racism or sexism. It's an ism. The problem is that there is evidence that Mr. Trump treats women this women this way. And to say --
MCENANY: Have you ever heard of low energy Jeb? He happens to be a man. This argument, you're saying it's sexist against Hillary, but somehow when it's against Jeb --
NAFTALI: I was actually referring to some other things that Mr. Trump has said on tape.
But here's the point here, which is that Barack Obama is great unplugged. He's got to be one of the most interesting people when he doesn't have to run for election. And he's put his finger on something that we can predict, which is the ways in which a powerful woman among a certain community will be attacked.
And come on, Kayleigh, you know that this is what's happened. The earlier generation, not your -- my mother's generation of women. Strong women. Face this kind of thing. Whenever they were strong people turned to them and called them a word amount not going to use on air.
BOYKIN: And there is a reason women are the majority of the population and we've never had a woman president, it's because it's rampant sexism in this country. And Hillary Clinton is facing, she's facing two big issues. One is her gender, and the other is racism.
Sexism and racism are having a huge impact on the outcome of this election and they are influencing people to support Donald Trump and she's got to fight against those barriers if she wants. I think she can do it.
BURNETT: All right. We will leave there.
And don't miss our coverage of CNN "Election Day in America", every race, every result, all day coverage next Tuesday.
And OUTFRONT next, did Donald Trump avoid paying federal income taxes by gaming the system? Drew Griffin with the new details investigation tonight.
And why are some Trump supporters so afraid of a former undercover CIA agent Evan McMullin?
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
WILLIAM JOHNSON: I make this call against Evan McMullin and in support of Donald Trump.
Evan is over 40 years old, and is not married and doesn't even have a girlfriend. I believe Evan is a closet homosexual.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And you will meet the Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton who are not running for president.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [19:42:09] BURNETT: Tonight Trump's taxes. "New York Times" reporting Donald Trump avoiding income taxes by using a practice so controversial, his own lawyers advised him to not do it. Moments ago, President Obama hitting Trump for saying not paying taxes makes his smart.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Actually what it means is after this country has given everything to you, you are not going to give a single dime back, to our troops or our veterans, or building roads, or building bridges, or to our universities so that young people can get an education. Come on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Drew Griffin is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you ever needed more proof Donald Trump will bend tax laws, push the envelope with the IRS, develop strategies to pay as little or no federal taxes possible, here it is -- a 25-year-old letter sent to Donald Trump by his own tax attorneys, warning him the strategy he's about to embark on could come back to haunt him in an audit.
"There can be no assurance," the attorneys write, "that the IRS will not challenge such a position or that a court would not sustain such a challenge." The letter involved an analysis of an aggressive bending of the tax code, basically writing off Trump's financier's losses as his own. In layman's term, he double dipped on someone else's losing, claimed he lost the same money and as a result was able to avoid paying federal taxes on other money he allegedly made.
Was it illegal? Was it a loophole? Was it as "The New York Times" describe it legally dubious?
Tax analyst Lee Sheppard describes it this way.
LEE SHEPPARD, TAX ANALYST: Yes, it was aggressive. There was no law on the subject at the time.
GRIFFIN: Trump's anti-tax strategies have been familiar fodder from Democrats on the campaign trail. But as CNN has reported, back in the 1990s when Donald Trump was going through bankruptcy, developer booms and busts and vaguely written federal tax laws, the idea of developers not paying federal taxes was pretty routine.
SHEPPARD: Back in the day, did other people do it? Oh, yes.
GRIFFIN: And real estate tax expert Richard Lipton says it continues to this day.
RICHARD LIPTON, REAL ESTATE TAX ATTORNEY: Most real estate investors pay very little if any tax provided that they are active real estate investors.
GRIFFIN: Trump has embraced his tax prowess, making it part of his campaign. When portions of his 1995 state tax returns were leaked to the press showing a $916 million write-off that could have helped him avoid paying taxes for more than a dozen years, he said it was all legal, made legal by a Congress that he says just doesn't understand how to write tax codes.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: See, I understand the tax code better than anybody that's ever run for president.
GRIFFIN: He also understands how to fight local taxes and property taxes too.
[19:45:02] CNN analyzed 26 properties across the country owned by Trump. In all but one, Trump had his attorneys fight to lower the assessed tax value so he could significantly pay less in property taxes. The Trump campaign didn't respond when he asked for comment.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: Erin, the Trump campaign did, though, respond to his article in the "New York Times" saying "The Times" and its tax experts are engaged in pure speculation. And according to the statement, either don't understand the law or intentionally misreading it. The statement says, in part, that Trump is not unlike many taxpayers who "take the time, spend the money to try to comply with a dizzyingly complex and ambiguous tax laws without paying more than they owe" -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Drew Griffin.
OUTFRONT now, the chief strategist and communications director for the RNC, Sean Spicer.
So, Sean, I don't want to get on a whole debate over what he did or didn't do with his taxes. But merely to say this, we're a week away. We don't have Donald Trump's tax returns. Obviously, every nominee from every major presidential party in the past forty years has put them out there. If we did that, we would know his tax rate, we would know his charitable donations, we would have answers to all of these questions.
You frustrated that he's not come forth yet?
SEAN SPICER, RNC CHIEF STRATEGIST & COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: But he's asked to answer this for six months now. I mean, this isn't a new revelation. I think we just keep dredging up the same story over and over. He's asked the question. He's answered it.
BURNETT: Seventy-three percent of voters say he should put it out there.
(CROSSTALK)
SPICER: If they have a problem with it, then they can factor that into their decision. I don't think for a majority of them, he's filed over a hundred pages of the financial disclosure which states everything that he owns, all of his debts, all of his assets, which is a much more detailed form than a simple tax form.
So, releasing someone's tax bracket, whatever, it shows you what they did in a given year. He shows every asset that he owns, all the debts that he maintains. So, I think it is much more comprehensive, but all of this has been asked and answered for the last six, seven months.
BURNETT: So, just so people understand, he did put out a long form. Obviously, that wasn't something that was audited. It wouldn't have your income tax rate, charitable giving, things like that, which are questions.
But there is a heated battle under way for the state of Utah. I don't know if you saw earlier in our show, we laid it out. That you could end one 269-269 race --
SPICER: Right. I saw David Chalian's piece.
BURNETT: Yes, right, if he wins Utah. It would be a stunning thing that could perhaps happen to the electoral map, put this to the House of Representatives.
Evan McMullin has been surging in the polls. That led to a robocall --
SPICER: I think we'll make main two which is the second congressional district of Maine. So this won't be an issue to begin with.
BURNETT: But Utah --
(CROSSTALK)
SPICER: Utah -- this has become a media fascination. We're doing very well in Utah. We'll win it hands down.
BURNETT: There, though, Evan McMullin has been climbing the polls. A robocall came out from a man named William Johnson. He supports Donald Trump. And Trump campaign has come out and said they don't support what he said. He happens to be white nationalist. He put this robocall out in the state. Here's what it said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM JOHNSON: Evan has two mommies. His mother is a lesbian, married to another woman. Evan is okay 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.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BURNETT: Now, just a short time ago, Evan McMullin actually responded to this here on CNN. Let me just play for you, Sean. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EVAN MCMULLIN, INDEPENDENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is exactly the narrative and the approach of the Donald Trump campaign has had. So it didn't even surprise me when I heard news of the robocall. I jut thought, well, of course, this is more of the same.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Is he right?
SPICER: No, he's not right. The call is disgusting. It's reprehensible and it was appropriately denounced by the campaign.
But for him to then turn it back on them is equal -- is almost as reprehensible. We live in a country over 300 plus million people. Not everybody who supports Donald, not everyone who supports Hillary Clinton are exactly the kind of people that you want to support --
BURNETT: Not the first white supremacist robocall --
SPICER: But at the end of the day, he's denounced it over and over again and to continue to give this legs when they have made it very clear that this is not the kind of campaign they want to be associated with, not the kind of people or tactics we want to be associated with, to give it breath is to kind of -- to in fact help someone like this get their message out there which is not a good thing.
And so, but for Evan to turn it back to the Trump campaign that came back very forcefully and denounced is really not -- not in good keeping.
BURNETT: So, John Kasich, Republican governor of Ohio, as you know, has said he wrote in John McCain. Obviously, Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio are going to vote for Trump. They said they already have. But he wrote in John McCain.
You know, Rick Santorum was asked about it today and he said, I want to say John Kasich, John, you signed a pledge. You signed a pledge, saying you would support the Republican nominee for president.
Is Governor Kasich being disloyal to your party?
SPICER: Look, I think Governor Kasich has been a very good governor to Ohio, not just in terms of his policies but he's brought a lot of people into the party.
[19:50:01] We'd love have his support. I think it would send a good message. We're going to win Ohio regardless. And it is a shame because I think we could have won it more, or greater and bigger with John Kasich support.
But I think we're going to look back on this and it is not going to look good for the Kasich legacy. He did sign a pledge. He's been a really good governor. He's brought more people into this party. It would have been good to bring everybody home. You are seeing it.
We brought it up at the panel. We're seeing more and more Republicans get home.
A vote for anything but Donald Trump is a de facto vote for Hillary Clinton. It's a de facto vote for liberal judges. It's a de facto vote for more corruption, more scandal. And I think to make light of this is really misunderstanding the two trajectories that this country can go in.
BURNETT: All right. Sean Spicer, thank you very much.
And next, Jeanne Moos on the other Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. DONALD TRUMP: I'm Donald Trump.
DONALD TRUMP (R): I am officially running.
TRUMP: And I'm not running for president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: If you are Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, your name has been dragged but the mud. Here's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Will the real Hillary Clinton please stand up?
HILLARY CLINTON: Hi, my name is Hillary Clinton.
HILLARY CLINTON (D): I'm running for president.
CLINTON: And I'm not running for president.
MOOS: Will the real Donald Trump please rise?
DR. TRUMP: I'm Donald Trump.
TRUMP (R): I am officially running.
DR. TRUMP: -- and I'm not running for president.
[19:55:01] MOOS: But they can't run from their names. Twenty- something Hillary Clinton organizes music festivals. Dr. Donald Trump heads a cancer institute in Virginia.
OPERATOR: Can I get your name again?
DR. TRUMP: Donald Trump.
MOOS: Both say there are few perks and some drawbacks to sharing a presidential candidate's name.
CLINTON: Facebook won't let me have my name.
MOOS: You know who has it.
CLINTON: And so, I'm Hill Clinton on Facebook. Facebook, if you are listening, I want my name back.
MOOS: She also says most comments people make when she says her name aren't funny.
Dr. Donald Trump has actually met the Donald and tried to get him to go bald for bucks to raise money for cancer research but Donald refused to sacrifice his hair but he did make a generous donation.
And in a rare moment of something, these words escaped the lips of the Donald Trump.
TRUMP (R): So, I'd say Donald L. Trump, which is you, is probably more important Donald J. Trump, which is me.
MOOS: But what happens when Donald Trump calls the hotel.
TRUMP: My name is Donald Trump, I'd like to make a reservation for Saturday night please.
MOOS: Three seconds of silence is what happens.
They were willing to make the reservation after this Donald asked a most un-Trump like question.
TRUMP: What is your most economical deal?
MOOS: Trump said he's left of center voting for Hillary while there Hillary will vote for the other one. Not Trump.
CLINTON: I'm scared of him.
MOOS: This Hillary may never be president.
CLINTON: But can the other Hillary Clinton do this?
MOOS: We think not. Accept maybe on SNL.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: And we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: And thanks so much for joining us.
"AC360" starts now.
