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Trump Demands Special Prosecutor Investigation; American Service Member Killed; Iraq Pushes Toward Mosul; Restoring Louisiana Coastlines. Aired 8:30-94a ET

Aired August 23, 2016 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:43] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump attacking the so- called rigged system. He's questioning the DOJ and the FBI and their capacity to investigate Hillary Clinton's e-mail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: After the FBI and the Department of Justice whitewashed Hillary Clinton's e-mail crimes, they certainly cannot be trusted to quickly or impartially investigate Hillary Clinton's new crimes, which happen all the time. If the Justice Department fails to do so, it will make it even clearer that a second of four primary constitutional departments have been corrupted. It's as simple as that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Joining us now, CNN political commentator and host of CNN's "Smerconish," Michael Smerconish.

Michael, great to have you here in studio.

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The two of you as well, thanks.

CAMEROTA: What's the danger and what's the upside of claiming that some government - major government departments are corrupted?

SMERCONISH: Well, i think there are two separate issues here. One pertains to the e-mail issue, which I happen to think is a legitimate line of inquiry, especially with these new revelations that the two of you have been discussing this morning. You know, where, all of a sudden, do 15 or so thousand new e-mails that hadn't been released come from? I think there are legitimate questions. The second are his allegations of voter fraud, including about my home state of Pennsylvania, and those, I think, are wholly without merit.

CAMEROTA: You're right. OK, so you're OK with him saying that the FBI and the DOJ may not have been able to do an adequate investigation into Hillary Clinton's e-mails?

SMERCONISH: I don't like his word choice. I don't like him saying "whitewashing." I paid close attention to James Comey, read that statement, followed that case carefully. I think they did a legitimate investigation. But I think that there's an issue there that's a real issue as compared to him saying this system is rigged against me and if I lose Pennsylvania it's because it will have been stolen from me. That, I think, is bogus.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, well, let's unpack both of these because, right, he's got two different points he's trying to make, ham-fisted as it may be, about the FBI. One is about the e-mails. The other one is about the Clinton Foundation, right? So it's the second one where he's saying it's corrupted because the DOJ didn't bring the case that the FBI wanted. But this rigged thing is more specific about the election and could be more potentially destructive. Let's play his sound on it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You've got to get every one of your friends, you've got to get every one of your family, you've got to get everybody to go out and watch and go out and vote. And when I say watch, you know what I'm talking about, right? You know what I'm talking about. I think you've got to go out and you've got to watch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Essentially undermining confidence in the ability to have a fair election.

SMERCONISH: Terrible. And so, therefore, the result, should he lose, he'll be questioning, and people who support him will be questioning, and they'll wonder about whether there's any merit in the system.

Here's the most important point from my perspective. In my state of Pennsylvania, I'm not required to show a photo ID in order to vote. There was a requirement put on the books in the state legislature to require such a photo ID. The case was litigated all the way through the common wealth court. They couldn't document one single case of in- person voter fraud, which this sought to prevent. Not a single case could be documented.

CAMEROTA: So then why does he zero in on Pennsylvania and say, you know what I'm talking about there about voter fraud.

SMERCONISH: Oh, I - I think - yes, Alisyn, he did. And he - in Altoona, Pennsylvania, this is where he first started to launch this charge. I think because he's trying to draw on the unrest among some that regardless of that court finding there are bad things that happen out there. And much of it stems from the 2008 race where some members of the so-called new Black Panther Party were at a Philadelphia public housing development and people said, look at this, it's voter intimidation. I studied that case. There were a handful of Republicans to 1,500 Democrats at this one polling place. If you were looking to intimidate voters to vote for Barack Obama, this was the last place you'd have to go and do that. So the whole charge was just ridiculous. But it spins. You know, with Drudge putting those individuals on the front cover that day, it takes on a life of its own. CAMEROTA: Yes, so what were the Black Panthers - I mean since you

investigated it and went there, what were the Black Panthers doing there?

SMERCONISH: They were knuckleheads. I think they were intent on getting a reality television program. Who the hell knows? They wanted attention. But the point was, this was a polling place that Barack Obama was going to win because of its African-American composition, 98 percent to 2 percent. If you want to intimidate folks to vote for Obama, you'd have gone out to suburbia.

[08:35:07] CUOMO: But, you know, look, why does he do this? Because it works. That's why he does it.

SMERCONISH: For the base it works.

CUOMO: You don't have to make the case that there is a chance that an election could be rigged. That is pretty close to the surface in a lot of people's skepticism about the process. Every time we have an election it's not 100 percent deal. We know that. We know there are problems every time. Most notably in 2000 where we went all the way to the Supreme Court. We still don't really know a lot of the details of why this system doesn't work as well as it can. This works when he's saying it people. You say just to the base?

SMERCONISH: It's not grounded in fact. I think that it fires up the base, those tens of thousands who come out and hear him and cheer this on, are enthused about it. I think it probably costs him among moderates and independents. You know, in the same way that some of this outreach, I think, to African-American voters is really not targeted to black voters, but rather it's probably targeted to appeal to those individuals who could be swayed. There are a lot of different audiences that he needs to play to right now, and this one is strictly a base play.

CAMEROTA: But, I mean, I guess the question is, on the day after the election, if say he doesn't win, then what happens to the sort of fervor that everybody feels that were his supporters when he has said it's rigged? Then what happens?

SMERCONISH: Well, this is what I really don't like about it, and I think Chris was referring to this, because it then delegitimized a President Johnson administration or a President Clinton administration, whoever should win this race. People will be walking around and what a bad way to start a new presidency, whomever it might be, well, they really didn't win it in a legitimate way.

And you're worried about the day after the election? One other point. I'm worried about the day of the election because when he encourages these folks to go out and get involved, there's an organized process to be a poll watcher. I hope they follow it because we surely don't want a bunch of citizens acting as poll working vigilantes on that day and taking matter into their own hands.

CAMEROTA: Michael Smerconish, great to have you here.

SMERCONISH: You too, both, thanks.

CUOMO: A big situation going on in the world, of course, centers in Iraq and the war raging there right now. Iraqi forces are laser focused on Mosul. The city doesn't just have a million women, men and children living there, but it matters in the overall perception of progress. So how close are they from taking the city back? We have a live report from the ground there, ahead.

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[08:40:55] CUOMO: We have breaking news from Afghanistan. An American service member has been killed in action. CNN's Barbara Starr joins us live from the Pentagon with details.

Barbara, what do we know.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris.

The most difficult news, of course, for a U.S. military family. The coalition in Afghanistan announcing a short time ago an American service member was killed and another American service member wounded earlier today in southern Afghanistan, in Helmand province. They were on a patrol with Afghan forces. They were down there in southern Afghanistan advising and assisting Afghan forces, when on this walking patrol, they triggered an improvised explosive device. One soldier killed, another wounded.

This is a part of Afghanistan that has proven to be very difficult. The Taliban has been resurgent. The bigger picture for American forces in this part of Afghanistan, there are about 600 of them in total in this region of Afghanistan trying to advise and assist Afghan forces and that is what was going on today when this service member was killed.

Back to you guys.

CAMEROTA: Terrible breaking news from Barbara Starr. Thank you for that.

Now to the battle against ISIS. Troops are targeting the key city of Mosul in Iraq and they're trying to push the terrorists out. But, of course, it is complicated and dangerous.

CNN's senior international correspondent Arwa Damon has more from the front lines now in northern Iraq.

Arwa.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

And we are outside of the town of Qayyara. This is where the front line currently is, about 40 miles to the south of Mosul. And that black sky you're seeing behind me, that's not a storm coming. That - because ISIS is burning oil fields around here, trying to block the view of (INAUDIBLE) and (INAUDIBLE) last hour since this operation began at (INAUDIBLE) forces have had to detonate numerous (INAUDIBLE) vehicles laden with explosives. (INAUDIBLE) five (ph) suicide bombs. They've taken out -

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON (voice-over): Under apocalyptic skies, blackened by thick smoke, is Qayyara, the next target for Iraqi forces. ISIS used to move around 100 oil tankers of crude a day out of these fields, now set aflame by ISIS fighters to decrease visibility from above.

We are some 65 kilometers or 40 miles south of Mosul. Lands Iraqi forces have not stepped in since ISIS took over more than two years ago. Their corpses left to rot in the sun. And the commander tells us that ISIS appears to be weakening.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Before, as I told you, the majority of fighters attack us foreign fighters. Now they put some foreign fighters, local fighters. Now they - I think they have lack on the foreign fighters.

DAMON: On display, weapons troops found in residential homes. Among them, homemade mortar tubes and mortars larger than anything the Iraqis have at their disposal. Another significant gain in this area, the Qayyara air base, the third largest in Iraq, much of it destroyed by ISIS fighters as they withdrew, leaving, we are told, explosives under piles of dirt on the runways that need to be cleared. This will be a vital forward base for the Iraqis and potentially U.S. forces.

Families wearily haul what they can, stumbling away from the fighting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): They took half of our men. They forced them to fight for them. They killed my father.

DAMON: Tears for all that they've lost. Loved ones gone in a war that few can fully comprehend. The lives they knew and loved disintegrated years ago.

To the southeast of Mosul, the Kurdish Peshmerga have pushed their front line forward as well. The Peshmerga defensive berm snakes its way along the east and north. The village controlled by ISIS, visible in the distance. Here, too, they have noticed ISIS weakening, showing us how ISIS moves within nondescript buildings, like this.

[08:45:15] DAMON (on camera): The Peshmerga fighters did initially drop down and take a few steps into what appear to be some sort of tunnel. But rather than take their chances, they decided to then withdraw and seal off the entrance.

DAMON (voice-over): The chokehold about Mosul is tightening and the government's pledge to liberate the city by the end of the year is still the goal. The battle there with over a million civilians will potentially be starkly different from the ones out here. But success will be defined in land gained, not lives destroyed or lost.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON: And, Chris, just imagine there are at least, according to the Iraqi security forces, 10,000 families - 10,000 families who are right now stuck inside Qayyara and the concern, of course, is that ISIS is going to be using them as human shields as we have seen ISIS do in the past. And these are 10,000 families, parents who were unable to keep their children safe, who are unable to escape the fighting. And what we're seeing here in this one town is not only an example of the potential challenges that Iraq security forces are going to be facing militarily when it comes to assaulting Mosul, but it's also an example of the potential humanitarian crisis as well.

CUOMO: Arwa Damon, thank you for you and your team having the courage to be there. That black cloud behind her is because that city is on fire during the war that's taking place there right now. We'll check back with Arwa Damon throughout the day for a special series she's doing, giving you the state of play in the war on Iraq.

So, other news this morning, people in Louisiana are trying to get back on their feet after the region was swallowed by historic flooding. What is the state's long term ability to rebuild and survive natural disasters? We dig deeper.

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[08:50:42] CUOMO: Historic flooding in Louisiana. Tens of thousands have been sent from their homes once again. Thirteen people have lost their lives. Most will tell you, that's a surprisingly low number given what the state is dealing with.

The suffering along the major coastline because of erosion is bad news for communities there. It has been for generations. It's also bad for the oil industry. But that's another matter. The question is, what can we do, what can be done to make it better?

Joining us now, Bill Nye, "The Science Guy." He's also CEO of The Planetary Society.

We know what they're dealing with down there. We see it time and again. Reporters, such as myself, have stood in those waters and watched these people rebuild. Can anything be done?

BILL NYE, "The Science Guy": Well, for us, on my side of this, this is a result of climate change.

CUOMO: Right.

NYE: It's only going to get worse.

CUOMO: Right. We hear this all the time. But isn't there - or not just about temperature, not just about erosion and water, but the basic structure of this place, how New Orleans, from the weight of development and how it's been built up, the levies, is sinking.

NYE: (INAUDIBLE).

CUOMO: That when you're there, you stand on the ground and you look up at ships going past you in the Mississippi.

NYE: So I don't have the answer to this except it's going to get worse. Almost certainly it will get worse. Everybody - as the ocean gets warmer, which it is getting, it expands. Water gets - the molecules spread apart. And then as the sea surface is warmer, more water evaporated. And so it's very reasonable that these storms are connected to these big effects.

So what will probably happen is people will move. They'll move away from these areas. And then what's going to happen to all that copper wiring and all that copper plumbing? Somebody's going to show up to salvage it or is somebody going to show up to loot it? And will that lead to all sorts of criminal activity and all sorts of trouble that way? And where are these people going to go to get a job? And so - and this is the developed world. I mean this is the U.S., let alone places where you don't have all these resources.

CUOMO: Well, one of the things that we've been saying is, because this wasn't catalyzed by a hurricane, right, the hurricane's the headline. Because that didn't happen this time, this has been getting coverage but not the way it would have if this were a Cat 3 hurricane that hit the place. We'd all be there. How real and enduring is the risk to the place? Will it happen again?

NYE: Well, I believe it will happen again. But I - these individual storms are hard to predict. But you hit the nail on the head, this is not a big hurricane. This is a day at the office in Louisiana. And so as the ocean gets bigger and the sea surface gets warmer, you would expect more of these storms. And the idea that you can continue to build levies, the way people have done in Holland for centuries, is good for a while, but after a while it's going to catch up with you. And these are, you know, generally not high income people.

CUOMO: Right.

NYE: Resources. These are -

CUOMO: Well, that was a big story out of Katrina. I was at ABC News at the time, but, obviously, Anderson Cooper rose to national prominence by talking about the human tragedy down there because the levy system is fine until it's breached. Then it forces a bowl effect on the inside or what you guys call the basin effect down there -

NYE: Basin -

CUOMO: And just soaked those entire poor communities.

NYE: And when I was there, you were allowed to rebuild low without stilts because these are historic places. They have lived here for - for centuries or 100 decades, let's call it, and so they were allowed to rebuild in low -

CUOMO: Got to rethink that.

Now, this aspect -

NYE: That takes regulation. Ah -

CUOMO: Yes, I know.

NYE: Oh, we can't say this word. Oh, yes.

CUOMO: But you have to figure, look, after Sandy, we saw it along the whole East Coast. People always used to fight for air developments right. Now everybody's building up because they saw what happens when you don't. This $100 billion nightmare for big oil. Why should we care?

NYE: It's going to affect gasoline prices. But what we, on my side of this, would like to do is use that same technology, and by technology I mean the thing that enables you to build oil platforms in relatively shallow water but still essentially the open ocean, use that to build wind turbines. I'm not kidding. The big, unexploited renewable resource on the East Coast of the United States and Canada and Mexico is wind. So I encourage you - I am not a member of this, but I encourage everybody to check out The Solutions Project. A bunch of civil engineers who have done an analysis that you could power the United States, you could power most of the world, renewably, if you just decided to do it right now. You could - there's enough wind and solar resources, a little bit of tidal, some geothermal, to run the whole place. And then you would not - the previous story, just heart - just heartbreaking. You would not need to have a military on the other side of the world protecting oil fields. People would not be as motivated to set oil fields on fire if we had renewable electricity here in the first world.

[08:55:40] CUOMO: A big issue that we see -

NYE: Or the west.

CUOMO: We see hanging over lots of parts of life. Let's see what happens coming out of this.

NYE: And, you know, here at CNN, you have a - essentially a climate change denier meteorologist. And knock yourselves out. But this is a big problem. And it's not going to go away.

CUOMO: It is a bigger conversation for another day.

Bill Nye, appreciate it.

NYE: Thank you, Chris.

CUOMO: OK, after the break, it will be time for "Newsroom" with Carol Costello.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:59:50] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me.

With just 76 days to go until the election, Donald Trump is ramping up his attacks on rival Hillary Clinton and her ties to the foundation that bears her family's name. At an Ohio rally, Trump called for a special prosecutor to investigate Clinton, blasting what he says was a, quote, "whitewash" by the FBI and the Justice Department on her private e-mail server.