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Clinton Turns Focus From Emails To Trump's Character; Big Spending In Battleground States; Does Trump Have A Path To 270?; New Hampshire: Small State, Big Stakes; FBI In The Middle Of Political Firestorm. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired November 02, 2016 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:30:00] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: "Newsweek" found that "Over the course of decades, Donald Trump's companies have systematically destroyed or hidden thousands of emails, digital records and paper documents demanded in official proceedings, often in defiance of court orders." I'll stop there.
COREY LEWANDOWSKI, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: So, I --
CAMEROTA: Wouldn't that also be an irony alert?
LEWANDOWSKI: Well, this is the amazing part, right? Never once did Kurt allude --
CAMEROTA: The reporter.
LEWANDOWSKI: -- or intimate that Donald Trump was personally involved with any of this because he wasn't, and you know that to be the case. Donald Trump has never --
CHRISTINE QUINN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: How do we know that?
LEWANDOWSKI: So, Huma Abedin has 650,000 emails --
CAMEROTA: And you --
(CROSSTALK)
LEWANDOWSKI: The difference is we know, unequivocally because the FBI has announced it, that there's 650,000 emails to look at and what we have is a reporter who has no factual basis whatsoever that --
QUINN: Whoa.
LEWANDOWSKI: -- any of this has taken place.
CAMEROTA: He's been focusing on this and reporting. He went back and looked through all sorts of old court documents.
LEWANDOWSKI: What piece of evidence has he produced?
QUINN: But this -- Alisyn, this is what they do in the Trump campaign. They hit the reporter. LEWANDOWSKI: There's a big difference between an FBI investigation into a potential criminal matter with classified information or someone who intimates --
QUINN: No, no, no --
LEWANDOWSKI: -- that Donald Trump's company did nothing illegal.
CAMEROTA: It just hasn't risen to that, yet, Corey. I mean, if there's an email scandal --
LEWANDOWSKI: Was there a crime?
CAMEROTA: Yes, there saying --
LEWANDOWSKI: What crime?
CAMEROTA: -- he has hidden from --
LEWANDOWSKI: Classified information?
CAMEROTA: No, that he has hidden from all sorts of court proceedings and destroyed --
QUINN: That is a crime. Well, that is a crime.
LEWANDOWSKI: There's no evidence to document that whatsoever.
CAMEROTA: He says that he's gone through tons of court documents.
LEWANDOWSKI: Well, he has access to the Trump internal campaign corporate files.
CAMEROTA: OK, so basically, look, you're saying that this --
LEWANDOWSKI: It's absolutely not true.
CAMEROTA: -- is not true. There's not a single iota or shred of evidence.
LEWANDOWSKI: No, no, no. No shred of evidence did he say that Donald Trump was involved in any of these emails -- not one.
QUINN: First of all --
LEWANDOWSKI: If we want to talk about emails in this campaign, I'll have that conversation all day long between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
QUINN: First of all, this, actually -- this isn't about emails. It's about Donald Trump and his supporters trying always to divert the things that have gone wrong in the Trump organization. The things that have come out of Donald Trump's mouth and make them not about him.
LEWANDOWSKI: The FBI investigation is not Donald Trump. QUINN: And, actually, it is related to the Russians.
CAMEROTA: Got it.
QUINN: So this is an example of Donald Trump --
LEWANDOWSKI: The only person that the Russians have been involved with is Hillary Clinton and the Ukrainians --
QUINN: Corey, I let you talk. Stop, stop.
CAMEROTA: Corey, that's not necessarily true.
QUINN: No, that's not -- it's not true --
CAMEROTA: All right, guys --
QUINN: -- and this just shows that at the end of the day --
CAMEROTA: -- we've got to leave it here.
QUINN: -- the Trump campaign will say --
CAMEROTA: Yes.
QUINN: -- anything to deceive America.
CAMEROTA: Thank goodness we have six days left --
QUINN: Exactly.
CAMEROTA: -- to continue to debate all of this. Guys, thanks for being here -- Chris.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: It's not over after the election. You've got to stop telling yourself that.
It's time for "CNNMONEY Now". Both presidential candidates spending millions on T.V. ads in the final days before the election. Chief business correspondent Christine Romans in our money center. At the end of the day, money talks.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Money talks and every penny spent is so strategic here. Forty-four million dollars will flood local stations and cable channels. The Clinton campaign and her super PAC spending $25.5 million on ads in this final week. Donald Trump's campaign and outside groups are spending $18.6 million. And those numbers will likely grow.
Campaigns say they will dump millions more into battleground states. Now, Clinton has spent the most on national cable networks and she purchased $2.4 million worth of ad space in Florida. Pennsylvania and Ohio, also big targets. The campaign says it will spend six figures in Virginia, Colorado, New Mexico, and Michigan. You know, Michigan's polls show it's solidly blue right now, but they're spending some money in Michigan. Trump is nearly doubling Clinton on ads in Florida. His campaign bought almost $3 million worth of time on cable channels. He's also spending big in Pennsylvania and Ohio, you guys. Every penny, every campaign stop, every word matters in these next six days.
CAMEROTA: It sure does, Christine. Thanks so much for all of that.
How is the road to 270 electoral votes looking for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump today? Our political director brings us an update, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:37:45] CUOMO: So many numbers being thrown at you about this election, right? But, you know, focus it this way. This is all about getting to 270. That's what matters, ultimately, and that's why you're going to see Trump now digging into Hillary Clinton's turf, trying to win some states there and help his map effect. So let's take a look at that specifically.
CNN's political director David Chalian has a look at the battle for 270.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Donald Trump has been spending some time in some blue states of late, like Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania. This is all part of Hillary Clinton's blue wall of defense. We've got some recent poll numbers that show us in some states that wall of defense is actually holding for her.
Take a look at New Hampshire. There's a new poll out there. Shows a seven-point lead for Hillary Clinton, 46 percent to 39 percent. Let's go down to Virginia, another state that has been leaning Hillary Clinton's direction, and that firewall seems to be holding there, 48 percent to 42 percent in that recent poll.
And, in fact, even in battleground North Carolina, a true toss-up state, we have a new CNN Poll of Polls -- five polls out of North Carolina since the last debate, averaged together -- 46 percent to 42 percent. A four-point lead in a critical battleground state.
And let me show you why it's so important that this blue wall holds for Hillary Clinton. Here is our electoral map. All the yellow states are the true toss-up battleground states. And remember, if we were to give Donald Trump each one of them -- Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio -- he's still short of the 270 electoral votes he needs to be president. That's why we see him in blue states. He needs to dig into some of Hillary Clinton's turf.
And that is why we see the Clinton campaign now fortifying states like Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Colorado. They're going up with advertising dollars in states that they had never planned to advertise in because they're trying to fortify that blue wall of defense to keep him shy of 270 electoral votes.
(END VIDEOTAPE) CAMEROTA: That's cool.
CUOMO: Right?
CAMEROTA: Yes.
CUOMO: I love how you change different states because you're getting all these numbers thrown at you.
CAMEROTA: I know.
[07:40:00] CUOMO: So if you want to play the game, there is some gamesmanship to it.
CAMEROTA: The technology of this election -- I mean, everybody has it, also, on their own iPhones. And when you can just play the --
CUOMO: Yes.
CAMEROTA: -- electoral college --
CUOMO: What if she wins Arizona?
CAMEROTA: -- you know, college game.
CUOMO: What if she wins Nevada? OK, then he needs this and this. All right, let's bring in other political whizzes and discuss this path to 270.
CNN senior political analyst and senior editor of "The Atlantic", Ron Brownstein. And host of CNN's "SMERCONISH" and CNN political commentator, Michael Smerconish.
Professor Brownstein --
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.
CUOMO: -- what do you think people should pay attention to on the machinations of 270?
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, I think you have to look at the core and reach. That is really the way to think about it at this point. For Hillary Clinton, the core -- the easiest path to 270 are the states in the blue wall -- what I called the blue wall in 2009. Eighteen states that have voted Democratic in at least every election since 1992. If she holds all of those she would have 242 electoral college votes. And the key in holding all of those are three places -- Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. Those are the three in the blue wall that are truly competitive.
If she then adds to that New Mexico, Colorado, Virginia, and New Hampshire, as David Chalian said, she's done, even if Donald Trump wins all of the other battleground states. And what's striking about this election is that it has been fought almost entirely in the battleground states. In Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, none of which she truly needs to win in order to win. And Donald Trump's schedule this week tells you what you need to know,
which is, as David said, that even if he wins all of the battleground states he still has to take away one of these core Democratic states -- Colorado, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, or Michigan, or Pennsylvania as the most likely targets.
CUOMO: That's why they're --
CAMEROTA: So let's go the all-important land of Pennsylvania. Michael Smerconish, you're there. How do you see the path to 270?
MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I see it much the same as Ron. I would just present it, maybe, in a more straightforward way, which is to say that that big blue wall that he coined many, many years ago -- if, in fact, she can hold it together and throw in Florida, it's over.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
SMERCONISH: And so, that's why there's so much concentration on Florida. That's why there's so much concentration on North Carolina for similar reasons.
I'm also caught up in this early voter turnout data, which I think has some very interesting storylines to it. They're subject to interpretation but we know that 24.4 million Americans have already cast ballots and we know, in large part, where they're coming from and what party they're associated with. There's an edge for the D's when you look at those 12 states where we know six million Democrats, five million Republicans have come out.
We also know that we can say well, there are four states that seem to advantage the Democrats, there are four that seem to advantage the Republicans, but here's the twist. The twist is there is such an educational divide among these voters, according to the polls. So you don't want to get too deep into the woods and say more D's have come out, thus far, because those blue-collar Democrats who lack a college degree are largely, both men and women, supportive of Donald Trump. And I think that's what turns many of the models on its head.
CUOMO: Well, but then you look at a state like North Carolina and you have what's seen as the Obama coalition --
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
CUOMO: -- which is a piecey way of saying black voters aren't coming out in the numbers --
BROWNSTEIN: Right.
CUOMO: -- in early voting as expected. So, Ron, give us a look at the different demos and where you see --
BROWNSTEIN: Right.
CUOMO: -- advantage being played that matters. BROWNSTEIN: Right. The key question for Hillary Clinton in many states, but certainly above all in Florida and North Carolina, will be whether she -- there does seem to be diminished, at this point, African-American turnout and enthusiasm.
The question is -- as Michael, I think, was alluding to -- at least one half of that -- is whether she can offset that with improved performance among Hispanics, particularly in Florida. And then, among college-educated white voters in both of those states, as well as places like Colorado. I mean, that is the question for her.
The Hispanic turnout does seem to be very high so far, not only in battleground states but also in places like Texas. But, as well, Nevada, Colorado, and Florida. And if you combine that with the fact that she is -- she has an opportunity to become the first Democratic nominee ever to win most college-educated whites, that is where she has the opportunity.
On the other hand, in that ABC/Washington Post poll -- tracking poll -- Donald Trump is leading not only among non-college white men but, to Michael's point, among non-college white women by more than Ronald Reagan did against Walter Mondale. Now if that's real, it would be a historic kind of a statement and it would make it very hard for Hillary Clinton in Ohio and Iowa, and probably make Michigan and Wisconsin wobble a little bit, too.
CAMEROTA: You were looking inside that ABC News daily tracking poll, but in terms of just the headline from it --
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
CAMEROTA: -- it's that they are exactly --
BROWNTEIN: Yes.
CAMEROTA: -- tied at 46 percent-46 percent. So we, at CNN, use the Poll of Polls and we look at the most recent national --
CUOMO: It includes --
CAMEROTA: -- polls. The five polls --
CUOMO: It includes the ABC tracking poll.
CAMEROTA: So, in case any of them as an outlier --
CUOMO: Right.
CAMEROTA: And you see here, Clinton is up five percent, 47 to 42.
CUOMO: You've got the Quinnipiac poll in there, the Suffolk/USA Today poll in there, the FOX News poll, and then you have those ABC tracking polls. So you have five major polls.
[07:45:05] CAMEROTA: Right. So Michael, what do you see? SMERCONISH: What I see is that it's within reach for either. They're neck-and-neck in the national surveys. I think that she has a distinct advantage with regard to the electoral college means of electing a president, but let's put it this way. It's within reach for either and, therefore, it becomes a turnout election.
And I think it's fair to say that she's relying on a much more formal Obama-esque structure to get out the vote and his is organic. And I wonder if, in the end it will be the lack of a street organization, nationwide, that is a hindrance to Donald Trump?
CUOMO: All right, fellows, thank you.
CAMEROTA: Gentlemen, thank you very much. Great to talk to you.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks, guys.
CAMEROTA: So, the FBI, of course, has now been injected into presidential politics. Director James Comey refusing to talk about Trump's potential ties to Russia, if there's anything there. But he is weighing in on Clinton's emails. So is that a double standard? Our experts discuss that, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:50:00] CAMEROTA: So, let's look at the battlegrounds because the battle for New Hampshire appears to be tightening. The latest poll in that state shows Clinton with her seven-point advantage over Donald Trump. But her campaign is hoping that some big names will help shore up that support there.
CNN's Miguel Marquez is live in Manchester with more. Miguel, what are you seeing there?
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, those polls are tightening here but the question is whether or not they are due to the normal tightening that happens in these races or is it down to the email scandal. That poll was taken last Wednesday through Sunday, so only captured a couple of days of the email issue for Hillary Clinton. Of course, both sides saying that issue works to their advantage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: Granite State Republicans hammering away at Clinton's email issues.
JOHN SUNUNU (R), FORMER GOVERNOR OF NEW HAMPSHIRE: There's a culture of corruption that she's brought to the Democratic Party from top to bottom.
MARQUEZ: Democrats says the FBI's bombshell has only hardened support, turning out more volunteers for Clinton over the weekend.
The voters you're hearing from, the people you're talking to, it doesn't --
TERIE NORELLI, CLINTON NEW HAMPSHIRE ADVISER:They're 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.
Tuesday, 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 Sec. Clinton and Mr. Trump are day and night.
MARQUEZ: And last week it was Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a favorite among liberals, firing up women.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Well, I've got news for you, Donald Trump.
MARQUEZ: Since clinching the nomination --
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We love New Hampshire.
MARQUEZ: -- Trump has visited New Hampshire nine times.
MIKE PENCE (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hello, New Hampshire.
MARQUEZ: Pence, four. Hoping the email revelations could put the state in play, but --
ANDREW SMITH, UNH SURVEY CENTER: We still have only about less than 80 percent of Republicans saying that they're going to vote for Trump. He needs to have 90 percent plus of the Republican saying they're going to vote for him.
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 1.3 million calls for Republicans. Democrats counter nearly 600,000 individual doors knocked and more than two million calls in this tiny state.
SUNUNU: One of the craziest I've ever seen.
MARQUEZ: This election, anything possible.
SUNUNU: The electoral college map is in a mess. I mean, you have Hillary going to red states. You have Trump going to blue states.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: Now, that fixture of New Hampshire politics, John Sununu, calling it like it is. One thing that haunts Democrats here is what they call the "Ghost of 2000". That's when New Hampshire went for George W. Bush. They say that had it gone Democratic, as it has been trending the last 20 years or so, Florida wouldn't have mattered and history would have been very, very different. No one taking any chances here -- Chris.
CUOMO: Ifs, ifs, ifs. All right, thank you very much, Miguel, appreciate it.
Why did the director of the FBI reintroduce Hillary Clinton's emails without knowing anything new? And, does a file dump about a Clinton pardon from 2001 shed light on the answer to that question?
Phil Mudd is a CNN counterterrorism analyst and a former CIA counterterrorism official. He also served in the FBI. And we have Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a counterterrorism expert.
Phil, you've got experience with the FBI.
PHIL MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: Yes.
CUOMO: What is your take on why the director came out now, so close to the election, with all this talk of custom of not doing that?
MUDD: Pretty simple answer, Chris. FBI walked into the office. The agents walk into the director's conference room and give him a choice. You, Mr. Director, in July, said that there wasn't anything further to pursue, that there wasn't going to be a criminal prosecution, so you leave the electorate with the concept that this is a dead issue.
You either allow that misperception to live when you've decided to allow the FBI to investigate these new mails, or you come out now and say we're going to take a look, even though maybe in a month you're going to have to say we still found nothing here. It's a rock and a hard place.
CUOMO: Well, but that's that if. So let me bring that to you, Daveed. Mudd's assertion is you can't leave the electorate with a misperception. Isn't that what he just did by coming out and saying we're going to review new emails that he doesn't even know, as of the time of that disclosure, whether they're even significant to the case, by his own admission?
DAVEED GARTENSTEIN-ROSS, SENIOR FELLOW, FOUNDATION FOR DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES: I think it's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation that he's in.
[07:55:00] On the one hand, if it does prove to be significant to the case then the amount of political firestorm by him withholding that information until after the election will be enormous. On the other hand, it has actually swung people's opinion, so it could have the effect of misleading people as to the significance.
I think it's a very difficult decision to make. As you know, of course, Chris, you've had three former attorneys general, both Democratic and Republican, criticize Comey's decision on the basis that it's within 60 days of the election so he should have waited. I think there's merit to that, but I also think that the decision that he made was not a politicized decision and I do understand why he made it.
CUOMO: So, taken in a vacuum, you see it, rock and a hard place. Then, the FBI dumps a bunch of documents about Bill -- why are you smiling -- I'm not finished yet. They dump a bunch of documents from former President Bill Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich and say it's a FOIA request and that's why they did it. They're first come, first served. Uncompelling explanation?
MUDD: Look, as a guy who doesn't have much hair left, this is a bad hair day in the FBI. If you want to claim that the FBI director went to the Public Affairs office and to the people who review classified information and said hey, let's hatch a conspiracy, within a week of the election and release all this information from 15 years ago, no way. That's not how they would --
CUOMO: Then how do you explain it?
MUDD: I think this is an accident that is epically bad timed, but it is not a conspiracy. No way he did that.
CUOMO: I'm not -- I hate that word. Conspiracy has been given a bad word, as you guys both know. There are real conspiracies. They are defined by criminal law and that's where they should stay. What I'm saying is the account, Daveed, hasn't been used in a year, basically. And now, they reactivate it and this is what they decide to dump onto the public for consumption. It just doesn't smell good. Should it be qualified better than this explanation that oh, it's just a FOIA request, you know -- business as usual.
GARTENSTEIN-ROSS: I actually agree with Phil's explanation, though. As he said, it looks epically bad. I mean, those who are familiar with the FOIA request process know two things. Number one, that as the FBI has correctly said, when you have three people making a FOIA request on the same subject they do actually have to post it. But second, FOIA requests can sometimes take months or years to process.
CUOMO: Sure.
GARTENSTEIN-ROSS: It is a very lengthy process.
CUOMO: Yes.
GARTENSTEIN-ROSS: You know, I do think that the likeliest explanation is actually epically bad timing. But as you said -- I mean, it adds more fuel to the fire that's already in place based upon --
CUOMO: Semblance of impropriety.
GARTENSTEIN-ROSS: Yes.
CUOMO: That's the standard that you live by in these ethical situations. And again, we don't have any proof that Comey was doing anything. And, in fact, his reputation would lead us to believe otherwise. He's known as a straightshooter, pretty apolitical by disposition.
So, the Clinton campaign says OK, if everything Cuomo just said is true then how come Comey's mind tells him I can't talk about Trump and the Russians, even though we have several different layers of inquiry going on, because I just don't feel that there's enough there and I'm not going to do it with the election going on. In fact, I don't even want the FBI on the disclosure to the American people that the Russians hacked the emails. I just -- I don't want to get into that. I don't want that to be about the FBI.
But he does come out and, having not even reviewed the emails yet, speak on the exact issue that can sink Hillary Clinton -- explain.
MUDD: Look, let's look at these two separately because they are separate. This is not a package deal. The Hillary Clinton issue -- you've got information that indicates wrongdoing. That is classified information and the FBI has to decide whether to prosecute. Let's contrast that --
CUOMO: That was before, when he said we looked at it and we have no case.
MUDD: Correct, correct, and he gave the Americans the impression that was a done deal. Now let's shift over to the Trump issue. Here is the press conference. Let me tell you, American people -- let me report that I have nothing to report.
CUOMO: That's what he just said, though, when he came out and said he was going to look at more emails from Weiner's laptop.
MUDD: No. What I'm saying is in the Trump issue it's not clear that there's any fire behind the smoke. In the Clinton issue there was. I think the two cases are clearly separate.
CUOMO: Well argued, Phil Mudd. Daveed, quick button, got to go.
GARTENSTEIN-ROSS: I have to agree with Phil because when you look at the Russia issue, right now it's basically the intelligence community that's looking into it and doing the sophisticated digital forensic analysis. It hasn't yet become as much of an FBI issue. And also, he testified before Congress on the Hillary issue. He hasn't on the Trump issue so he doesn't have the same sort of obligation to report to Congress.
CUOMO: Strong points, very compelling, of use to the audience, and I direct them back to both of you. Mudd's not on social media -- smart move. But please, take your complaints to Daveed Gartenstein-Ross. There's only one online. Thank you, gentlemen.
There is a lot of news this morning, including something that we have to keep very intense focus on. There was a deadly ambush in Iowa. Two police officers were targeted. We have the information, let's get to it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Obamacare means higher prices, fewer choices, and lower quality.
CLINTON: I am sick and tired of the negative, dark, divisive, dangerous vision.
TRUMP: For any Democratic voter having a bad case of buyer's remorse, you can change your vote to Donald Trump.
CLINTON: The American dream, itself, is at stake.
TRUMP: Hillary is not the victim. The American people are the victims.
CLINTON: Why does he do these things?
