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New Day

Cubs Win World Series, Break 108-Year Drought; Clinton, Trump Hit Battlegrounds as Race Tightens. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired November 03, 2016 - 07:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: A hundred and eight-year shneid broken in Chicago. Welcome to your NEW DAY, and what a new day it is, for the Chicago Cubs. Making history, World Series champions. Ending baseball's longest championship drought and what an epic game seven, had an extra inning and rain delay. There was a home run that seemed to end it, but then Cubs came out on top.

[07:00:29] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: So, Cubs fans going wild through the night. The celebration in -- of the century in Wrigleyville is still going on this morning. We have all the bases covered for you.

Let's begin with Andy Scholes, who was at the game in Cleveland -- Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: Alisyn, I mean, what a game. Arguably the greatest World Series game in baseball history. The emotions that both of these fan bases went through throughout the night. I mean, enough to last a lifetime. The Indians down two in the bottom of the eighth inning, when Rajai Davis sent this crowd at Progressive Field into a frenzy, hitting a two-run home run that bounced right off the camera in left field.

Check out LeBron James is going nuts in the stands as the Indians tied it up. The game would go to extra innings, and after a short rain delay, Cubs left fielder Ben Zobrist coming through in the clutch with the RBI double in the tenth inning. He's your World Series MVP.

Bill Murray weeps as the Cubs win an absolute thriller, 8-7, to end their 108-year World Series drought.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THEO EPSTEIN, CUBS PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS: A hundred and eight years!

JAKE ARRIETA, CUBS PITCHER: A hundred and eight years doesn't mean anything anymore. It's the start of something new. A new chapter for the Chicago Cubs, for the entire city.

SCHOLES: What does it say about this team, the way you all came back 3-1 to win this? DEXTER FOWLER, CUBS CENTER FIELDER: We never quit. We always said

that we never quit. It's never over until it's over. When it's over, now we're on top.

KRIS BRYANT, CUBS THIRD BASEMAN: This is what you dream for as a kid and I'm 24 years old and I'm the luckiest guy on the planet, man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: That clubhouse party 108 years in the making. Never seen so many champagne bottles in my life, Alisyn. I was dodging left and right and unsuccessful. I ended up just completely drenched, and my eyes still hurt from the burn of the champagne.

CAMEROTA: Well, that is an occupational hazard, Andy. And it looks like you survived it somehow. Thanks so much.

SCHOLES: It was fun. It was fun.

CAMEROTA: It looks great. Thanks so much for all of that.

So the celebration may never end on Chicago's North Side. Cubs fans up all night partying like it's 1908. Most thought they would never see this day.

CNN's Brynn Gingras is live outside Wrigley Field with more. How is it looking at this hour, Brynn?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, Alisyn, I'm pretty sure everyone has just lost track of time here in the North Side of Chicago. Because there are still people out celebrating. You can hear them as they drive by, screaming, honking their horns. And I got to say, this is what I love about sports is even the fact that, if you're not a Cubs fan. There is just so much excitement for these fans, because they went through so much to get to this point.

I was speaking to one gentleman earlier today, a fan who was in the streets here into early morning hours. And he said, you know what? The reason this is so great is because it's a generational thing. He would watch baseball with his grandfather, his father. And his father actually passed away a year and a half ago and didn't see this win. But he said because they won, he was brought to tears today.

And it's just an incredible story that we hear repeated in several different versions of it throughout the early morning hours as fans continue to celebrate. Here outside of Wrigley Field, ground zero. Fans coming here just to get a nice picture of that sign. Of course, it says now "World Series champions." And the fans lighting up on social media. Two big fans, of course, we need to mention: Chicago natives President Barack Obama. He took to Twitter and he, of course, is a White Sox fan.

But he says he has to celebrate, as well. Happy for the Cubs, even inviting the Cubs to come to the White House before he vacates office. And, also, Hillary Clinton, also a Chicago native, freaking out when this win actually happened in the late night hours. And also taking to Twitter saying they did it 108 years later and the drought is finally over. And with that hashtag, #flythew.

So a lot of excitement here. It's just going to continue into the early morning hours, Chris. And we're hearing, of course, a parade that's going to happen. We don't know exactly when, but that's the next step in celebrations, Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Brynn, thank you very much.

We go from the hooray of good news to the "oy, vey" of the race for the White House. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump hitting the battlegrounds hard in this final stretch of the campaign. We have a series of new CNN polls, shows a tightening race, especially in the swing states. We're just five days away from election day.

Let's check in with CNN's Joe Johns, live in D.C. with more -- Joe.

[07:05:02] JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chris, and it can't come too soon for some people. Right now it's all about getting out the vote for both of these candidates, especially in those all-important battleground states. The challenge is to try to rev up voter excitement.

But for Donald Trump, it's also about message discipline, avoiding saying something regrettable. While for Hillary Clinton, it's all about motivating minorities and younger voters to show up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS (voice-over): Donald Trump reminding himself to stay on message.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We've got to be nice and cool. Nice and cool. Stay on point, Donald. Stay on point.

JOHNS: Making his big push in battleground Florida as new CNN polls show the race tightening in several swing states.

TRUMP: I've been watching Hillary the last few days. She's totally unhinged.

JOHNS: Hillary Clinton striking a grave tone, targeting minority voters in Nevada by using Trump's own words against him.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Someone who demeans women, mocks the disabled, insults Latinos and African-Americans.

JOHNS: Clinton also aggressively setting her sights on the red state of Arizona, where Trump holds a five-point lead.

CLINTON: If Donald Trump were to win this election, we would have a commander in chief who is completely out of his depth and whose ideas are incredibly dangerous. Or maybe, heaven forbid, start a real war instead of just a Twitter war.

JOHNS: Both candidates ramping up attacks, Clinton calling Trump "dark and divisive"... CLINTON: We know that the presidency doesn't change who you are. It

reveals who you are.

JOHNS: As Trump hits her on Trump's worthiness and on Obamacare.

TRUMP: Real change begins with immediately repealing and replacing Obamacare. You think Hillary's going to restore honesty to government? I don't know. I don't think so, folks.

JOHNS: And hammering away at the recent FBI scrutiny over Clinton's private e-mail server.

TRUMP: They just found 650,000 e-mails. I have a feeling those e- mails are going to be -- there's going to be some beauties in there.

JOHNS: In an interview with "People" magazine, Clinton calling the FBI e-mail review just noise and distraction, while remaining confident in the final stretch.

CLINTON: Everything he has said and done, both in his career and in this campaign, is a pretty good preview of what's to come.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: Today the battleground state focus continues, and where these candidates are going tells you what their priorities are. Donald Trump starting out in the state of Florida, going on to North Carolina today. Hillary Clinton making two more stops in the Tarheel State, as well -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Joe, thanks so much for all of that.

Let's bring in now Republican congressman from North Carolina, Mark Meadows. He's a member of the House Freedom Caucus.

Good morning, Congressman.

REP. MARK MEADOWS (R), NORTH CAROLINA: Good morning, Alisyn. It's great to be with you.

CAMEROTA: Great to have you. Before we get to what's going on in in the polls. Let me ask you what went on in your apartment yesterday. We understand there was a private meeting of you and your Freedom Caucus members, and you were all sort of, I guess, brainstorming on what you want after November 8. What can you tell us about that?

MEADOWS: Well, you know, obviously, it was a private meeting. And so, I don't want to comment too much on that, Alisyn.

I can tell you that the real focus of that particular meeting as we were together was really looking about trying to be prepared for a Trump administration as we go forward. How can we make sure that the things that are important to the American people, that we're prepared to carry out?

One of the things that we talked about was really term limits for members of Congress. You know, this whole "drain the swamp idea" that Donald Trump has talked about changing Washington, D.C. We actually had discussions about that. And so we're trying just to be prepared for a new administration so that we can hit the ground running.

CAMEROTA: Was there also talk, Congressman, about whether or not you would support Speaker Paul Ryan?

MEADOWS: You know, there really wasn't any focus on leadership elections. We tried to keep our focus primarily on how we can best legislate during the lame duck session and be prepared for a new Congress. It was almost a four-hour meeting. I'm a big planner. And, so, we had some of our board members there, trying to get ready for our entire caucus when it comes back here in just a couple of weeks.

CAMEROTA: But is it true that the Freedom Caucus is looking for more of a voice and looking for more leadership roles?

MEADOWS: Well, I mean, it is true that we are, obviously, looking to try to make sure that we can best represent our constituents. I've got the best job in the world representing the people of western North Carolina and being able to be at the table to make sure that their voice is heard, whether it's mine or anybody else's is certainly a critical aspect.

But, again, that was not the main focus. It was trying to focus on some of those legislative matters that we believe that are important to the American people.

[17:10:10] CAMEROTA: OK. So you talked about what you'd do if Donald Trump wins on Tuesday. What will you do if Hillary Clinton wins on Tuesday?

MEADOWS: Well, you know, I still think term limits would be a great thing if -- if Hillary were to be the -- the selection of the American people. I don't think that's going to happen. I can tell you, I'm here in North Carolina, Alisyn. I'll be with Donald Trump later today.

And I can just tell you that most Americans are tired of politics as usual. They want a different direction. And, so, as we start to look at that, it's critical.

But we did look at the Obamacare issue and trying to make sure that we can keep premiums down, how we make sure that people with pre-existing conditions are covered. Yet at the same time, make sure that their insurance is affordable. So, that was a focus.

So, whatever administration we have to work with, we're prepared to get down and work hard on behalf of the American people.

CAMEROTA: Let's look at what's going on in your state of North Carolina, because at the moment, the polls suggest that it is going for Hillary Clinton.

Let me show you the Quinnipiac poll that has Clinton at 47 percent and Trump at 44 percent. Then let me show you the CNN poll of polls where we crunch all of the most recent five polls together for an average, and that still shows Clinton at 46 percent, Trump at 42 percent. Do you think that Hillary Clinton is going to win your state?

MEADOWS: Well, I don't. I can tell you, I've been -- this is about ten hours from one side of the state to the other, and I've been at the far reaches of both -- both ends of the state. I can tell you what I'm seeing on the ground and hearing on the ground is a real frustration with the whole e-mail scandal, with what's happening with the Clinton Foundation; and that has really reverberated in the last week or so.

People just -- the trustworthy issue, whether you're -- if you're an decided voter, they're really focusing in on that, Alisyn. And as we start to see that, I see the momentum changing in North Carolina. I believe it will be a close election. Everybody has to get out. But I believe Donald Trump wins it by a point or two here in North Carolina.

CAMEROTA: Congressman, let's talk about voter suppression very quickly in your state, because President Obama was talking about it yesterday in North Carolina, and he echoed the sentiments of a judge who found that, in fact, African-Americans were being targeted.

The term they use, with surgical procession to try to keep them away from the polls and suppress their vote, be it purging the voter registration roles or moving polling places to less convenient places. What's your response to that?

MEADOWS: Well, I could just tell you that the president talked about yesterday about not operating on innuendoes. That's an innuendo. I'm actually here in western North Carolina on a college campus. We have -- we have polling places on college campuses which have never happened before.

And so when you really look at that...

CAMEROTA: Yes.

MEADOWS: ... if you look at the voter turnout, it is and it's cited that voter turnout across the way. And so any voter suppression is really more hyperbole than it is actual fact on the ground.

CAMEROTA: That's a court ruling. It's not innuendo. That was a court ruling. A judge found that there was voter suppression at play targeting African-Americans.

MEADOWS: No. Alisyn, if you look at the court ruling, what they were saying is -- is that what they actually made a court ruling, and we went ahead with the plans in compliance with that court ruling. So, that would suggest that there is no voter suppression. He was making the ruling to say that he wanted to make sure that they didn't do that.

So, as you look at the facts of the case, there is no voter suppression. And everybody wants to complain about what is fair and what's not fair. Let me tell you what happens.

We need registered voters to get out and vote...

CAMEROTA: Yes.

MEADOWS: ... and that's a privilege that we have. And so, everybody needs to take that on, and I believe that you'll see a record turnout. We're already seeing that here in North Carolina.

CAMEROTA: Congressman Mark Meadows, thanks so much for coming on NEW DAY today.

MEADOWS: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Let's get over to Chris.

CUOMO: How bizarre, Alisyn. Two weeks ago you could have flipped what Meadows was just saying, a Republican, with any Democrat in the country. And that's what was being said, because it was Trump saying that everything was rigged and the Democrats are saying this is mostly hyperbole. Now the rolls have switched. That's what this election is all about.

All right. Let's get the other side of this with Congressman Jim Himes from Connecticut. He's a Clinton supporter.

The polls are tightening and, in accelerated fashion, especially since the Comey bomb came out. Do you believe that it reinforced or created an opportunity for Donald Trump that could be the decisive edge?

REP. JIM HIMES (D), CONNECTICUT: No, I don't think it's decisive. Look, Chris, you know this better than anyone. that this whole election has been week in and week out, polls swinging back and forth, depending on whether it was the Friday disclosure of sexual harassment or whether it was Jim Comey's statement.

You know, the polls have swung back and forth, which is what they do.

What we're also seeing generally is that people are firmed up in their opinions. Of course, whatever the number is, 25 million Americans have already voted. So I think it's far from decisive, and there will be noise in the polls for the next five days.

But look, you look at the key states, and I mean, my colleague, Mark Meadows there, was trying to make an argument that North Carolina is not where the polls show it to be. If you look at those polls, you know, Secretary Clinton is still in a quite strong position.

CUOMO: Trust. That's what it has come down to. The Democrats are complaining how can Donald Trump be seen as more trustworthy than Clinton? Well, the e-mail scandal, how it was handled, seems to be a big part of it. But if this election comes down to which one of these two people are less uncomfortable with in the White House, what is the argument for Hillary Clinton with everything that's out there?

HIMES: Well, I'm not sure it comes down to, you know, one particular item. Americans are smart, commonsensical people. And, you know, when the curtain closes behind them in the polling places, they think about the nuclear trigger and the fact that one person controls the American nuclear strike. The one person is making nominations to the Supreme Court.

You know, I think we get sort of caught up in the moment by moment of the election. But at the end of the day, people revert to common sense.

On the one hand, you've got a guy who comes out of nowhere who says what he does. You know, Donald Trump out there with a set of values that doesn't reverberate with anybody in Western North Carolina around the country.

And Hillary Clinton who, you raise the e-mails and she's acknowledged and apologize that that was a bad idea, but a woman who was a senator, who was secretary of state, who was first lady and clearly prepared for the job.

And, you know, those Americans who think, well, maybe she played it a little fast and loose on the e-mails, you think there are a lot of Americans out there who think that anybody running for president has been a Boy Scout or Girl Scout all along the way.

So I think that, as we approach the actual decision point, people revert to common sense; and that's going to help Secretary Clinton.

CUOMO: Fast and loose versus a culture and history of arguable corruption. That's the case the GOP is making. They've been helped tremendously by WikiLeaks, and the authenticity of the e-mails has not been brought into question. We haven't had John Podesta say, "I never wrote that."

And in this latest offering, they have Podesta seemingly having e-mail exchange with a DOJ staffer. Giving him a heads up about an upcoming e-mail action through the DOJ. Do we have the e-mail to put up there so people can see it? So put it up there, OK.

"There is a HJC oversight hearing today where the head of our civil division will testify. Likely get questions on State Department e- mails. Another filing in the FOIA case went in last night or will go in this a.m. that indicates that it will be a while before the State Department posts the e-mails."

Does this show improper conflict between Clinton people and the DOJ?

HIMES: You know, it's not clear that it does. And, you know, every week we get a new allegation that there is some sort of quid pro quo. And I sat in this seat any number of times. And at the end of the day it terms out that there is no harm.

I mean, you know, Chris, step back away from this. For all the fact that we have been talking about e-mails for a year and a half, nobody -- nobody has said here is an example where this irresponsible behavior -- and Secretary Clinton has acknowledged that it was irresponsible -- led to a decrease in our national security. Nobody has said the Russians took this. The Chinese took this. Al

Qaeda took this. Nobody has an allegation that this misjudgment -- and she's acknowledged that it was a misjudgment -- actually led to any particular harm.

And, you know, look back 20, 30 years here. You know, Benghazi, eight congressional investigations. Absolutely nothing. Vince Foster, Rose Law Firm, you know, the Kenneth Starr fishing expedition. This has gone on for 30 years. So of course, there's been an accumulation of people or just stuff out there that have caused people to say, "Ah, she gets investigated a lot."

But we've got to remember that nobody -- and, you know, Jim Comey in July said we looked a$ this. It wasn't even close. There is no criminal case here. That doesn't stop, of course, Mark Meadows or anybody else from getting up there which says she should be jailed, which is just fantastical and based on zero evidence.

CUOMO: All right. So here we are. This is the last breath on both sides of this election. Tell our audience why Hillary Clinton should be president of the United States, purely positive, nothing about Donald Trump.

HIMES: Sure.

CUOMO: Why is Clinton the right choice?

HIMES: For her entire life since she left school, she has been dedicated. Even before she met Bill Clinton and before she got into -- into politics, she has been dedicated to the thing that America cares most about today, which is the welfare of families, of children, of their ability to get educated. And you cannot argue with that.

Whether -- you know, did she always succeed in those efforts? No. No more than any single one of us did. But for a period of 40 or 50 years, she has been singlemindedly dedicated to what is most important to Americans, which is, is my family going to have a chance?

Are my wages going to go up next year? Am I going to be able to send my kid to that vocational school or to that university? That is what Hillary Clinton's life has been about. The rest of this stuff is just noise, and when she is in the Oval Office, hopefully working with a Congress that is amenable to actually, for once -- I've been there for eight years -- passing programs that will help the American middle class, we are going to see this country move forward.

[07:20:16] CUOMO: Jim Himes, Democratic congressman from Connecticut, thank you for making the case for Hillary Clinton, as always.

HIMES: Good to see you, Chris.

CUOMO: All right. So coming up on NEW DAY, both sides. Always both sides. You're going to have Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway joining us live to make the case -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Well, Donald Trump and his surrogates hinting at impeaching Hillary Clinton if she's elected. Does that talk excite voters or exhaust them? We discuss that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: President Obama deep in the game on a campaign blitz for Hillary Clinton in this home stretch. And taking FBI Director James Comey to task over the agency's new review of e-mails from Clinton's long-time aide.

The president has been very cautious and hesitant about seeming to meddle in this, but he says the FBI is supposed to work on facts, not, quote, "innuendo."

[07:25:07] CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski live in Miami with more. The president, by all accounts, reluctant to weigh in on this situation, but he did. Why?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Yes, I mean, this is interesting. What the president clearly wants to do is just campaign and campaign hard like we've never seen him before, practically begging people to vote, saying things yesterday like "The fate of the republic rests on your shoulders."

And when he does seem to address Hillary Clinton's e-mails, he says things like, "She makes mistakes. I make mistakes. We all make mistakes."

But yesterday was the first time we heard him directly address the newest developments. And he only did that because he was asked about it directly in an interview.

So what he chose to do was, maybe in the vaguest way possible, seem to criticize the timing of the FBI director's release of this information to Congress. And this is despite the fact that earlier this week the White House defended James Comey: his character, his record, his intentions. But listen to how the president worded this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There is a norm that, you know, when there are investigations, we don't operate on innuendo, we don't operate on incomplete information and we don't operate on leaks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: And when the White House was asked what exactly was the president saying there, the White House said he was emphasizing the importance of long-standing norms and practices within investigations like this.

But, norms and practices. That's the same kind of language that former attorney general Eric Holder used when he wrote a scathing op- ed about Comey's release of this information. That's the same reason that the current attorney general and those in her office opposed the release of this information. So, it's pretty clear what the president was saying there. The White

House just wasn't to say that that's what he was saying there -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK. Thank you for parsing that for us, Michelle. Great reporting.

So, Donald Trump and his supporters are suggesting that, if Hillary Clinton wins the election, Congress could impeach her. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Assuming she wins and the investigation goes forward and it looks like an indictment is pending, at that point in time under the Constitution, the House of Representatives would engage in an impeachment trial. It would go to the Senate. And impeachment proceedings and removal would take place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Joining us now to discuss this, CNN political commentator and vice chair of the New York state Democratic Party Christine Quinn, CNN political commentator and political editor for RightsAlerts.com, Scottie Nell Hughes. Ladies, thanks for being here.

Scottie, what was that hypothetical salad that Mike McCaul just tossed our way? If the investigation continues, and if there is something found, and if there is an indictment and if Congress agreed, and maybe she could be impeached. I thought the Republicans didn't like engaging in hypotheticals?

SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, no, but it's not just coming from Trump supporters. As you saw, it's coming from ranking House and Senate Republicans that even Representative Jason Chaffetz, who has not necessarily been a cheerleader for Donald Trump has said, even before day one happens, they have two years' worth of material that needs investigated that has come up since her last investigation ended.

CAMEROTA: Says them. I mean, this is a Trump adviser, we should mention, Congressman Mike McCaul and, basically, I mean, haven't we learned that voters don't like government overreach? Voters don't like futile investigations that spend millions of dollars of taxpayer money. I know we've done that, but it has never amounted to much in this case.

HUGHES: But even more, voters don't like fraud. Voters don't like corruption. And right now we are looking at the accusations that are coming possibly out of the FBI.

CAMEROTA: Possibly. But there are no real accusations.

HUGHES: But right now it looks like the Clinton campaign is basically playing whack-a-mole, because every time they get one thing kind of settled, another mole bops up, and they're having to try to bop that one down. And the Clinton campaign is on offense right now. And that's not anything that they want to be.

CAMEROTA: Christine, the Clinton campaign?

CHRISTINE QUINN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know you talked about there -- I don't agree with the whack-a-mole, but you talked about politics, right, and a political campaign. And campaigns are always on the defensive or the offensive, moving back and forth.

That's completely different than that Congress member and Trump supporter saying things that are just factually incorrect.

HUGHES: Is the FBI -- is right now the FBI looking into Hillary Clinton? Or parts of Hillary Clinton that are relevant to her?

QUINN: There is no indictment pending, A. B, we have no idea what they're looking into on Friday, because they didn't know what they were looking into. And the story changed dramatically to one where it appears they're not even looking at the secretary's e-mail.

CAMEROTA: ... criminal case. Looking into a laptop.

QUINN: Right. After numerous investigations on everything related to the secretary over and over. And, again, what happened on Friday...

HUGHES: They haven't been investigated. That's the problem right now.

QUINN: Absolutely.

HUGHES: We don't know what is on Weiner's laptop. Obviously, it's enough to cause the political upheaval that it has done. Now you're having the FBI saying that there are some resources inside, saying that they're going to be looking even higher into the Clinton Foundation...