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FBI Clears Hillary Clinton Again In Email Review; Russia's Attempt To Influence The U.S. Election; How Safe Is Your Vote?; Trump: Clinton "Protected By A Rigged System"; 2016: A Race Like No Other. Aired 7:30-8a ET
Aired November 07, 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: Thank you very much for being here with your final thoughts on this interminable election.
Stay with CNN all day and night tomorrow for complete Election Day coverage. We have every race and every result covered for you -- Chris.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: There have been so many controversies in this campaign. Just to name one, how about Russia's influence on the election? Is Moscow casting a larger shadow than we even know? We'll tell you why many analysts say yes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CUOMO: The director of the FBI, James Comey, finds himself at the center of the 2016 campaign again, And, Vladimir Putin's attempts to influence the election are still out there raising questions, so how safe is your vote?
Let's discuss with CNN political analyst and author, Carl Bernstein. CNN political analyst and "New York Times" national political reporter, Alex Burns. And, "New York Times" national security correspondent, David Sanger.
David, let me start with you. What do you believe the plus-minus is on the election of this latest intrusion by Jim Comey?
[07:35:00] DAVID SANGER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Well, I -- in the end, I actually think that the (audio gap) are going to mean more for Jim Comey than they will --
CUOMO: Do we have him?
SANGER: -- for Hillary Clinton or for Donald Trump. That what you're going to see is many of the people who supported Sec. Clinton,I think in the end, didn't put a whole lot of credence in a last-minute announcement and now that's been confirmed. And those who believe that Sec. Clinton is guilty of something here probably aren't going to have their opinion changed very much by whatever announcement he's made.
But I think Mr. Comey didn't come out of it looking so good with these two -- you know, just before election -- seemingly contradictory announcements.
CUOMO: Carl, I just went at it with Jason Miller, the senior communications director for Trump, about two things. One is how does Trump justify saying that there was going to be an indictment and that that's what this reopening of the case meant, and refusing to acknowledge the FBI's decision now, but what's your take?
CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: My take is that Hillary Clinton exercised terrible judgment and that the FBI has shown that this is not a matter, thus far, and it seems to have done its conclusion to close the case for now that it's not a criminal matter. What she did was indefensible in terms of setting up the server. At the same time, to continue to debate this in terms of criminality in this campaign, the decision has been made for now. It's time to move on.
And the other terrible judgment throughout has been Comey. He has inserted the FBI into this process in a way that is irresponsible, that has tarnished the FBI and left our confidence in its role really hurting. So we've got a really bad situation in which we've got terrible judgment all around and, especially, Trump's judgment in terms of trying to turn this into something that it simply is not. This is not Watergate or anything like it in which a criminal president had to leave office and 48 people pleaded guilty.
CUOMO: All right, let's pivot. Russia -- their intrusion. We know about what the government believes their responsibility is for the hacks that led to the WikiLeaks dumps and Hillary Clinton, but what about Election Day? What are you hearing, Alex, in terms of what should be a concern and what should not be?
ALEX BURNS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, Chris, what the campaigns are mostly concerned about -- and it really is, disproportionately, the Clinton campaign that's concerned about this because they see Russia as intervening, specifically, against her.
What they're concerned about is that less, you would have some kind of hack of election systems. And more, that you would have just some kind of effort to disrupt the normal functioning of our society on Election Day. That you would have, you know, an attack on the Internet, right, so that people -- it would be harder for people to find out their polling locations. So if people want to guard against that they can go and look up where they're supposed to vote today.
For after the election, I think, is where a lot of the bigger questions about Russia's role in this campaign come in. And David, I think, can probably speak to that --
CUOMO: Yes --
BURNS: -- better than me.
CUOMO: -- you work at the same place. David, a lot of what I know about the potential here, I know from your reporting. How do you see it?
SANGER: Well, I think Alex had it just right, that --
CUOMO: Well, we've all been reading what you're putting out there.
(CROSSTALK)
SANGER: -- a denial of service attack. A denial of service attack that would, in many ways I think, blanket those parts of the country that -- where Sec. Clinton or Donald Trump are trying to get out the vote. It would just make it hard to figure out how you get to the voting polls and so forth.
The second big vulnerability is the registration rolls. These do face the Internet and we've seen that they were scanned by the Russians. We have not seen any effort, so far, to go change your address. If you went up, Chris, and you were trying to register -- you were trying to vote and they said sorry, we have you under a different address and you had to go do a provisional ballot. We haven't seen that yet. It's something to look for tomorrow.
And the last thing to worry about is the reporting of the informal results to the networks, to the "Times" -- other news organizations -- because at some point that data has got to come together, and if anyone gets in that channel and can manipulate the data you could have a variance between the informal early reports and what the real vote was.
CUOMO: Well, that's why we are all so paranoid about how we put out predictions. I mean, the protocols here at CNN are daunting, to say the least.
Carl, what an odd dynamic that you have a candidate, as a change agent, in Donald Trump -- that's what he says he is -- who is saying that everything is rigged -- that he can -- except when it comes to Russia and their role in the hacking of the WikiLeaks. What do you make of that unusual relationship?
[07:40:10] BERNSTEIN: Well, first of all, what I make is that Donald Trump is, by his very nature and to his core, an untruthful man with no interest in the truth whatsoever. And what the truth here is, and is demonstrable is, that Russia is engaged in an attempt to destabilize our electoral process. Whether they're trying to favor Trump over Hillary Clinton, that's not determinative at this point.
But there is no question that Putin is interested in fighting the United States in the same terms as the old Soviet Union fought the United States through destabilization, through undercover operations, through this kind of activity, and the new battlefield is cyber. So, we've got something that we've got to look at after this election and really guard against.
And the battlefield has shifted here. And of all things, we used to do -- the United States -- this kind of thing, during the Cold War, to other countries. We don't do it anymore and, especially, we don't do it trying to destabilize elections in Russia. And we've got to be on guard against this because we're vulnerable. And, hopefully, we're going to make it through tomorrow without this kind of horror happening that David has written about so well.
CUOMO: Fingers crossed. Alex, David, Carl, thank you very much, appreciate it. Alisyn --
CAMEROTA: All right, Chris, the 2016 presidential race has been full of bombshells and unexpected twists and turns, so we're going to take a look back at the last year and one-half -- a race like none other.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:45:45] CUOMO: We ain't never seen nothing like this. That's just the truth. The 2016 race is going to go down as one for the history books. The wildest, the most memorable -- anything you want to call it, and a lot it negative. Here's a look back at the highs and lows of this race that's certainly like no other.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEB BUSH (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm a candidate --
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- for president --
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am proud to announce --
BOBBY JINDAL (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm running for --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- for president.
BEN CARSON (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am a candidate --
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- for President of the United States.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST, "EARLY START": Donald Trump just announced he is running for president.
D. TRUMP: They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists.
BERMAN: We all might look back and say we remember where we were when it happened.
D. TRUMP: We will build a wall and you know who's going to pay for the wall, Mexico. They're going to pay for it.
Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.
I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CO-ANCHOR, "AT THIS HOUR": The Justice Department asked to open an investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails on her private server. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'd -- I'm -- I'm not -- you know, I don't -- I have no idea. That's why we turned it over.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You were in charge of it. You were officially in charge of it. Did you wipe the server?
H. CLINTON: What? Like, with a cloth or something?
Before there was something called Obamacare, there was something called Hillarycare.
I take a back seat to no one in taking on income and equality.
CUOMO: Republicans kicked off their first presidential debate.
MEGYN KELLY, FOX HOST, "THE KELLY FILE": You've called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and several --
D. TRUMP: Only Rosie O'Donnell.
You could see there was blood coming out her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever.
CARLY FIORINA (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said.
D. TRUMP: I think she's got a beautiful face and I think she's a beautiful woman.
BUSH: You're never going to be President of the United States --
D. TRUMP: You're real tough.
BUSH: -- by insulting your way to the presidency.
D. TRUMP: Well, let's see. I'm at 42 and you're at three so, so far, I'm doing better.
BUSH: It doesn't matter.
RUBIO: Have you see his hands? They're like this. And you know what they say about men with small hands.
D. TRUMP: He referred to my hands. If they're small, something else must be small. I guarantee you there's no problem.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The scene of the first Democratic presidential debate.
ROY COOPER (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Just for the record, are you a progressive or are you a moderate?
H. CLINTON: I'm a progressive, but I'm a progressive who likes to get things done.
SANDERS: The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails.
H. CLINTON: Thank you. They do, they do.
He is becoming ISIS' best recruiter.
I am not a natural politician, in case you haven't noticed, like my husband or President Obama.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": Dr. Ben Carson has risen to national frontrunner status.
CUOMO: A big night for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
CAMEROTA: Senator Ted Cruz dealt a blow to Donald Trump.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald, you're a sniveling coward and leave Heidi the hell alone.
D. TRUMP: He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured, OK?
CARSON: Many people know the story when I was 14 and I tried to stab someone.
D. TRUMP: He went after a friend and he lunged. But, lo and behold, it hit the belt.
H. CLINTON: If fighting for women's health care, and paid family leave, and equal pay is playing the woman card, then deal me in.
BERMAN: Hillary Clinton is the presumptive Democratic nominee.
D. TRUMP: We are going to make America great again but we're going to do it the old-fashioned way.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC360": Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee.
D. TRUMP: The next Vice President of the United States, Gov. Mike Pence.
H. CLINTON: The next vice president, my friend, Sen. Tim Kaine.
CAMEROTA: A lot of excitement as the RNC kicks off.
(VIDEO CLIP: DONALD TRUMP ENTERING RNC CONVENTION TO "WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS")
RUDY GIULIANI (R), FORMER MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: What happened to there's no black America, there's no white America?
(VIDEO CLIP: GLASS BREAKING AS HILLARY CLINTON ENTERS DNC CONVENTION)
SANDERS: Hillary Clinton must become the next president.
KHIZR KHAN, FATHER OF MUSLIM U.S. SOLDER KILLED: Have you even read the United States Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy.
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: You work hard for what you want in life.
MELANIA TRUMP, WIFE OF DONALD TRUMP: That you work hard for what you want in life.
M. OBAMA: That your word is your bond. That you do what you say you're going to do.
M. TRUMP: That your word is your bond and you do what you say.
CUOMO: Who takes the fall for cribbing Michelle Obama's speech in 2008?
PAUL MANAFORT, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: To think that she would be cribbing Michelle Obama's words is crazy.
[07:50:00] M. OBAMA: Our motto is when they go low, we go high.
BILL CLINTON (D), FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: She is still the best darn change-maker I have ever known.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There has never been a man or a woman -- not me, not Bill, nobody -- more qualified than Hillary Clinton.
IVANKA TRUMP, DAUGHTER OF DONALD TRUMP: When you have my father in your corner you will never again have to worry about being let down.
D. TRUMP: I am with you.
H. CLINTON: I will be a president for Democrats, Republicans.
D. TRUMP: I will fight for you and I will win for you.
H. CLINTON: For all Americans together.
Donald Trump simply does not have the temperament.
D. TRUMP: If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks.
H. CLINTON: You could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables.
D. TRUMP: She calls the patriotic Americans deplorable and irredeemable.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hillary Clinton, we've just learned in the last hour, diagnosed with pneumonia. It appears that the candidate fainted.
D. TRUMP: Do you think Hillary would be able to stand up here for an hour and do this?
KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Why all the furtiveness? Why the concealment?
H. CLINTON: I thought that there wasn't really any reason to make a big fuss about it.
CAMEROTA: Trump's surprise trip to Mexico today.
D. TRUMP: We did discuss the wall. We didn't discuss payment of the wall. That'll be for a later date.
CUOMO: Clinton and Trump one-on-one. People are saying this could be the most consequential debate in modern political history.
D. TRUMP: I have much better judgment than she does. There's no question about that. I also have a much better temperament than she has.
H. CLINTON: I think Donald just criticized me for preparing for this debate and, yes, I did.
He called this woman "Miss Piggy", then he called her "Miss Housekeeping" because she was Latino.
D. TRUMP: Where did you find this --
H. CLINTON: Her name is --
D. TRUMP: Where did you find this?
H. CLINTON: -- Alicia Machado.
One down, two to go.
D. TRUMP: Look, what do you have to lose? You're living in poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs. What the hell do you have to lose?
B. OBAMA: Donald Trump's closing argument is what do you have to lose. The answer's everything.
BERMAN: Donald Trump caught on tape is in his own words -- vulgar words.
D. TRUMP: And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything.
BILLY BUSH, FORMER NBC HOST, "ACCESS HOLLYWOOD": Whatever you want.
D. TRUMP: Grab them by the pussy.
I'm very embarrassed by it, I hate it, but it's locker room talk.
H. CLINTON: He has said that the video doesn't represent who he is. I think it's clear to anyone who heard it that it represents exactly who he is.
HARLOW: A ninth woman, now, has stepped forward accusing Trump of sexual assault.
D. TRUMP: These vicious claims about me of inappropriate conduct with women are totally and absolutely false.
H. CLINTON: It's just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country.
D. TRUMP: Because you'd be in jail.
The press has created a rigged system and poisoned the minds of the voters.
B. OBAMA: Donald Trump's already talking about how the game's rigged. That means he's losing.
CHRIS WALLACE, DEBATE MODERATOR: Are you saying you're prepared now to commit to that principle?
D. TRUMP: What I'm saying is that I will tell you at the time. I'll keep you in suspense.
H. CLINTON: Every time Donald thinks things are not going in his direction he claims whatever it is, is rigged against him.
TAPPER: News from the FBI. New information pertinent to the Hillary Clinton server investigation.
H. CLINTON: I am sure they will reach the same conclusion. There is no case here.
COOPER: The FBI director, James Comey, weighing in, yet again, saying in so many words the investigation is over.
D. TRUMP: You can't review 650,000 new emails in a day.
We will make American great again. Thank you very much, everybody.
H. CLINTON: I really believe America's best days are still ahead of us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAMEROTA: How did we fit all of that into just a year and one-half? There were moments that I'd forgotten. Bobby Jindal's announcement, I had forgotten. Some of the -- Carly Fiorina. I mean, it's amazing what has happened over just the past year and one-half with all of that.
CUOMO: I am overwhelmed by the negativity. These moments -- just bad thing after bad thing. The country -- it's basically like this election's been a sledgehammer. This has just been bashing at the foundations of it.
I want to thank Elizabeth Stuart, one of our best here on NEW DAY, for putting it away. I think you could add a little bit more of us in there -- that's just me -- constructive criticism -- for the next piece.
CAMEROTA: When history is written, Chris, I believe you will have played a prominent role in that.
CUOMO: Just saying, you know, just saying. No, it was a great job and there's no question that it's going to go down in the books of history. Why and how it's seen, I think, is going to be up for debate.
CAMEROTA: I have an answer for you right now. Let's bring in our guest. We want to bring in Julian Zelizer. He is the Princeton University historian and professor, and author of the "The Fierce Urgency of Now". Professor, thanks so much for being here.
[07:55:05] JULIAN ZELIZER, HISTORIAN & PROFESSOR, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: Thank you.
CAMEROTA: As a historian, what jumps out at you when you watch that mashup of the past year and one-half?
ZELIZER: Well, it's difficult to watch. It's, obviously, all the polarization in American politics. All the dislike of one side toward the other comes right out in that short clip. And some of it is also the superficiality of a lot of the day. We've had emotional elections, like 1968, where people are fighting over issues like Vietnam. You watch these clips, there's almost no issue. It's about the back and forth over character and insults.
CUOMO: But then, why does it seem intense? It is just the recency effect that we haven't seen anything like it, you know, lately? Is that why it seems too extreme?
ZELIZER: No, it comes out the electorate. I think, certainly, there are parts of the Republican electorate who like Donald Trump, who reflect his views. And some of the anger and vitriol that you see on the campaign at the top of the ticket come from changes that have happened within the Republican Party. So I don't think this goes away with Donald Trump. I don't think it was invented with Donald Trump. These are changes that have been going on in the electorate that are now front and center.
CAMEROTA: But, you know, we debate this all the time. Do you think that this race is the most polarized, partisan ever?
ZELIZER: No, I don't. I think we've, certainly, had polarized campaigns before. As I said, in 1968, people we fighting on the streets in Chicago at the Democratic Convention over issues like Vietnam. In 2004, people don't remember some of the animosity over George W. Bush and the war in Iraq. Campaigns are emotional so it's more about the content of this campaign and some of the particulars of how, certainly, the Republican ticket has conducted the campaign.
CUOMO: Oh, here's a good one. What does history suggest about what it will take to heal -- to have something positive come out of this?
ZELIZER: There's a lot of evidence we won't heal, so because -- CUOMO: That is not the answer I was looking for.
ZELIZER: Right, but because the polarization comes out of the electorate rather than just from Donald Trump, for example, it will continue. So, in 1964, when Barry Goldwater runs far to the right and he loses in a landslide election, that conservatism doesn't go away in the Republican Party, it's just remade through Ronald Reagan about a decade later in a more polished version. So, I'm not sure we will heal these divisions. I think they are very real and very deep- rooted.
CAMEROTA: A lot of people do think that the Republican Party, at least, comes out of this election looking different -- having a different sort of composition. Do you agree with that?
ZELIZER: That could. I think, clearly, what he's been able to do is build a blue-collar coalition within the Republican Party that's different than the business, financial kind of temperament of the GOP before. Whether the policies change, we don't know, but he's appealed to different groups. He's also brought into the mainstream associations with arguments that, before, were on the fringes about immigration, about the Islamic world and community. And I think that will also have an effect on the Republican Party as they try to broaden their reach.
CUOMO: So, when our littles are studying some 15 years from now for their advanced degrees, what do you think they will be taught about what this election meant?
ZELIZER: Well, the number one thing might be very obvious that we're not talking about. The first female President of the United States might be on the cusp of being elected. And if that happens, I think even with all this heat and all this anger which won't go away, that will be the first story that we talk about, just as we did in 2008. And that's very significant and it's a major development in the middle of what's been a chaotic and ugly campaign.
CAMEROTA: If she wins. So, if Trump wins, what do you think this will be most remembered for generations from now?
ZELIZER: Well, it will be about the change of the Republican Party. We'll look and say happened to the party of Ronald Reagan and how did it become the party of Donald Trump? How did these new voters, how did these new arguments move front and center? And how did some of the older Republicans -- the business Republicans, the national security Republicans -- lose their hold on this party?
CAMEROTA: Professor Zelizer, thanks so much. Great to have you here on NEW DAY.
ZELIZER: Thank you.
CAMEROTA: We're following a lot of news this morning so let's get right to it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) D. TRUMP: It's a rigged system and she's protected.
CUOMO: Hillary Clinton cleared by the FBI, once again.
JENNIFER PALMIERI, HILLARY CLINTON'S DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS: We're glad that this matter is resolved.
D. TRUMP: It's up to the American people to deliver justice at the ballot box.
H. CLINTON: There's a lot of anger in this election, but anger is not a plan.
D. TRUMP: Just think about what we can accomplish in the first 100 days of a Trump administration.
H. CLINTON: It all comes down to you, my friends. Our progress is on the line.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.
CUOMO: All right, good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. Up first, Clinton gets a late break. FBI Director Comey coming out and saying we looked at the emails. There is nothing there. There will be no indictment of Hillary Clinton with respect to emails.
What does Clinton say? Surprisingly, almost nothing.
