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New Day Saturday
Trump Heads To Connecticut, Trails In Swing States; Bill Clinton: Email Flap "Biggest Load Of Bull"; Katie Ledecky Wins Gold, Smashes World Record; Trump Clains He Can Only Lose Pennsylvania Through Cheating; Looking at Latest Poll Numbers; Severe Flooding in Louisiana; Colorado Rape Sentence Draws Protests. Aired 6-7a ET
Aired August 13, 2016 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Well, welcome to Saturday. We're so grateful to see you. I'm Christi Paul.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Your NEW DAY starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The only way we could lose, in my opinion, I really mean this, Pennsylvania, is if cheating goes on.
FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: This is the biggest load of bull I ever heard.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He refuses to do whatever other presidential candidates in decades has done and release his tax return.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The folks out here say they did not expect it to happen this way. They thought they'd get rain and some flooding maybe up to their front porches. Terrifying scene out here in St. Helena Parish. At this point, more rain to come.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael Phelps making Olympics history again. Breakout star, Simone Manuel also, making history becoming the first African-American woman to ever win an individual swimming event.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: Well, good morning. We're going to begin this morning with the race for the White House and Donald Trump who headed to Connecticut tonight where he's going to rally supporters.
BLACKWELL: Yes, and Trump's visit to Connecticut which hasn't voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1988 comes as he trails Hillary Clinton in several swing states including there in Pennsylvania.
PAUL: A recent NBC/"Wall Street Journal"/Marist poll shows Hillary Clinton with an 11 more point advantage there. That's sparking a new round of eyebrow raising claims from Trump. He says if he loses Pennsylvania, it will be because Clinton cheated. CNN's Jessica Schneider has more.
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor and Christie, Donald Trump trying to clarify his comments saying that he was somewhat sarcastic when he talked about President Obama and Hillary Clinton being the founders of ISIS.
But as he toured throughout Pennsylvania here in Altoona, he also made serious charges, controversial charges, saying the only way that he would lose this state, the only way Hillary Clinton would win here in Pennsylvania is if cheating was going on.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Donald Trump trying to clarify his comments about President Obama and ISIS.
TRUMP: I said the founder, obviously being sarcastic, then but not that sarcastic to be honest with you so I said the founder of ISIS, and in fact, very soon he's going over to pick up his most valuable player award? Did I say that? I'd say it all the time. So they knew I was being sarcastic.
SCHNEIDER: That after Trump reputedly insisted Thursday that the president was the founder of the terrorist organization.
TRUMP: I call President Obama and Hillary Clinton the founders of ISIS.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He meant that he created the vacuum he lost the peace.
TRUMP: No, I meant, he's the founder of ISIS, I do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not sympathetic to them. He hates them. He's trying to kill them.
TRUMP: He was the founder.
SCHNEIDER: Trump attacks on the president come as more evidence surfaces that Trump also wanted to rapidly pull troops out of Iraq including in this 2011 interview on CNN.
TRUMP: Iraq, we shouldn't have been there. I get them out real fast.
SCHNEIDER: It's not the first time Trump has claimed sarcasm to get out of a jam when he said this back in late July.
TRUMP: Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing.
SCHNEIDER: He layer dismissed the uproar.
TRUMP: I obviously was being sarcastic. In fact, the people in the room were laughing. They found it very funny. Everybody knew that.
SCHNEIDER: Trump supporter, Newt Gingrich this morning encouraging the street talking businessman to be more careful with his words.
NEWT GINGRICH, TRUMP SUPPORTER: One of the things that's frustrating about his candidacy is the emphasized language. He sometime uses three words and he needs ten. He has got to learn to use language that has been thought through and that is clear to everybody.
SCHNEIDER: As the latest NBC News/"Wall Street Journal"/Marist poll shows Trump lagging in key states trailing Clinton by 14 points in Colorado, 13 points in Virginia, 9 points in North Carolina and 5 points in Florida, Trump even acknowledging he's having trouble in traditionally red Utah.
TRUMP: Having a tremendous problem in Utah. Utah is a different place. I don't know. Is anybody here from Utah? I mean -- I didn't think so. We're having a problem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER: And Donald Trump actually seizing on some of Bernie Sanders words when making those remarks about cheating telling his supporters that the system is rigged. He's urging people to go out and vote.
Donald Trump, of course, acknowledging the importance of Pennsylvania, the importance of this state and the voters here. Telling his supporters we need to win Pennsylvania. Telling them to go out and vote.
He did talk very specifically and stick to his policy in this speech. He talked about job creation and lowering taxes also law and order and urging people here to stand behind him and make the polls go his way in November -- Christie and Victor.
[06:05:09]BLACKWELL: All right, Jessica, thank you so much. Let's talk about it now. We've got Scottie Nell Hughes, CNN political commentator and a Donald Trump supporter here with us.
We'll get to Maria Cardona, a Clinton supporter, who will joins us in just a moment. But first, Scottie, good morning to you.
SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning, Victor. It's been a great week in politics. Once again, we have a bunch of headlines that last week we could not have predicted it would have been this week what we are talking about.
BLACKWELL: We certainly could not have predicted this. We would have predicted this headline 24 hours ago. Donald Trump now claiming that the only way he'll lose Pennsylvania is if there's cheating going on. However, the latest poll has him 11 points behind. Why would he make that about accusation?
HUGHES: Well, because there's actually been a long time accusation from the Republicans of some sort of voter fraud that has happened within Pennsylvania specifically looking at Philadelphia.
Let's look at Romney, 59 of the Philly voting districts, Romney only got zero votes. That's 19,605 out there, zero votes went for Mitt Romney.
Let's go back to 2008, McCain, zero of 57 precincts --
BLACKWELL: Scottie, you know exactly where those precincts are. In 2012, those 59 precincts are in highly African-American populated areas of Philadelphia and the president won 93 percent of the African- American vote in 2012.
So that's why there were no votes for Mitt Romney. There were also, in Utah, several precinct where is Barack Obama got zero votes, but there are no claims of voter fraud there in Utah.
HUGHES: Absolutely. But let's -- this even go back to George W. Bush, George W. Bush, there were only five precincts within Philadelphia that went zero for Republicans. You mean to tell me in all of those areas that there wasn't one single Republican? There wasn't one person?
And I think Mr. Trump is getting this one because you're seeing a much more aggressive recruitment for the African-American, for the urban vote from his campaign.
And I think you saw from Mitt Romney, from John McCain, even from George W. Bush, Mr. Trump has really tried to go into these communities, reach out into a lot of their leaders and bring them into his campaigns. So I think where he's getting that's line.
Now, Victor, cheating is a harsh word. I think this is more like cheating on that diet by eating that cookie you shouldn't eat, but not necessarily cheating that would get us in jail but what Clinton did with the Clinton foundation or tax returns.
BLACKWELL: Let's get to that point and this imprecise language as the former speaker, Newt Gingrich, put it there, is he -- and I feel like, although I shouldn't have, to I should ask every time there's one of these statements made by Donald Trump, is this sarcasm, is this hyperbole? Is this a figure of speech?
So when he says that the only way we can lose, in my opinion, and I really mean this, Pennsylvania, is if cheating is going on, does he really mean it or something else here?
HUGHES: Well, you just verify why he put out the tweet this week? Look at all of these pundits on TV trying to figure out what I'm doing or where I am going. I think that's why he continues to keep in the headlines because constantly you're asking questions about this and --
BLACKWELL: But in the headlines is one thing, clarity, especially during a national election is another. Does he mean it or does he not?
HUGHES: Well, this is all about engagement, too. I think this is one things that this does is --
BLACKWELL: I feel like I'm not getting an answer to the question here. Does he mean this -- it's simply a yes nor. I'm not going to force you to give me a yes or no. Does he mean this or does he not?
HUGHES: That's a question you ask Mr. Trump when he comes back on CNN that we can ask him. I think it's all about why he's --
BLACKWELL: So you don't know?
HUGHES: Well, I know he doesn't cheating -- I don't think of Clinton going in there personally and stealing ballots --
BLACKWELL: OK, do you know if he means it or not, last time with that question because I've got to move on?
HUGHES: Well, I think that if he says it, he means it. We saw that with the sarcasm comment. We'll see if he clarifies it again tomorrow morning.
BLACKWELL: All right, Scottie, stay with us. We've got more questions. We'll be right back.
And when we come back, although Donald Trump has been struggling in recent polls, he says he doesn't plan to change his course of attack. Why that could work for him in November.
PAUL: Also -- oh, my goodness, what a night in Rio for Team USA. Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky, both raking in medals in multiple events. That's not what everybody is talking about, though, the growing backlash over comment it's made by Hope solo, why she called Sweden's soccer team cowards.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:13:16]
BLACKWELL: Welcome back. We're continuing with this race for the White House conversation. And now talking about Hillary Clinton and an interesting exchange between a voter and former President Bill Clinton last night.
That voter asked, why should Americans trust the Democratic nominee when she lied about her e-mails. Former President Clinton said, wait a minute, that's not true and he also said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: First of all, the FBI director said, when he testified before Congress, he had to amend his previous day's statement that she had never received any e-mails by classified. They saw too little notes with a "c" on it. This is the biggest load of bull I've ever heard.
They were about telephone calls that she needed to make. The State Department typically puts a little "c" on it to discourage them from talking in public in the event the secretary of state, whoever it is, doesn't make a telephone call. Does that sound threatening to the national security to you?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: All right, with me again, Scottie Nell Hughes, a Trump supporter, and joining us now, Maria Cardona, CNN political commentator and a Clinton supporter. Good to have both of you in this block.
Good morning to you. Maria, I just want to start here with the former president saying this is the biggest load of bull as this voter asked about lies from the former secretary.
Is this the way in which the campaign wants to frame this because we are hearing at least rhetorically, a very different style from the former president than we are hearing from the former secretary?
MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think what you're hearing from Bill Clinton is a very simplified way of looking at this, which is that Hillary Clinton never put our national security at risk. He was going into some of the details.
[06:15:02]And I think two of them really stand out. That really are important for viewers. The first one is that Comey was very clear in telling Congress that there's absolutely zero evidence that Hillary Clinton ever misled them or lied to them, number one.
And number two, he, under questioning, had to admit that the three e- mails that the FBI said were classified were actually e-mails that had very partial markings on them. That even a specialist and an expert on clarification material would not have deemed those to be classified.
BLACKWELL: Let me get some clarification.
CARDONA: Under any normal circumstance, that would not be the case.
BLACKWELL: I need to clarify. You said Director Comey said there was no evidence that he misled or --
CARDONA: That Secretary Clinton misled the FBI, correct.
BLACKWELL: OK, what about the American people, that's the question? Did she mislead the American people in some of her statements about her server and those e-mails?
CARDONA: Well, what she has said from the very beginning, I think, the most important thing here is that she has apologized to the American people. Let's get that out there. Several times in fact. She understands that having a public server was not the right decision. Not the right way to go. She has apologized for it and she will continue to that.
BLACKWELL: Understood, but did she mislead the American people or did she not? CARDONA: Well, no, because in her understanding of how clarification -- actually many people's understanding of how classified material gets classified, she never intently received or ever sent clarified material, knowingly received or sent classified material. That is what she has said and that continues to be the case.
BLACKWELL: OK. Let's watch this exchange back in September 2015 between Secretary Clinton and MNSBC's Andrea Mitchell, and then we'll hear an exchange from Congressman Trey Gowdy and Director Comey. Let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: And it took weeks, but they went through every single e- mail-- yes, every single e-mail. And they were overly inclusive. If the thought anything was inclusive, so inclusive, the State Department said we're going to return 1,200 e-mails because they were totally personal.
REPRESENTATIVE TREY GOWDY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Secretary Clinton said her lawyers read every one of the e-mails and they were overly inclusive. Did her lawyers read the e-mails individually?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Secretary Clinton says they went through every single one, it took two weeks. Director Comey said they didn't do that?
CARDONA: Well, you know, I don't know exactly what information Director Comey had or how he came to that conclusion. But the fact of the matter is, she turned over all of the work related e-mails to the State Department and the only ones that she kept, that her lawyers kept were her personal e-mails.
And you know what, Republicans continue to harp on this, Victor, because they have nothing else to go with her because they cannot compete on the battlefield of ideas because their comment is coming off the rails with ridiculous irresponsible statements that underscore each and every day just how unfit he is to serve as president of the United States. I understand their desperation --
BLACKWELL: Let me bring Scottie Nell Hughes in.
HUGHES: That was a beautiful pivot.
BLACKWELL: But the Clinton people believed that some of this is already bake into the numbers.
CARDONA: Yes.
BLACKWELL: And she's in some cases, according to some polls, double digits ahead?
HUGHES: Let's realize why she has to keep apologizing because with every week there's a new revelation of e-mails that they mysteriously find whether it's with the State Department or FBI, there's a new revelation that's brought up by some reporter and she has to again for a whole new round of scandals that happens because of these e- mails.
John McCain's daughter I can't believe I'm going to praise her because she's been highly critical of Donald Trump said it best yesterday when she said listen, Donald Trump's words are offensive, but what Hillary Clinton has done is lethal. It has put people's lives at risk.
CARDONA: Absolutely not.
HUGHES: Well, we don't know. The reason why there's an investigation by the FBI on the Clinton Global Initiative. We don't know the ties --
CARDONA: There isn't one.
HUGHES: -- between tying the State Department and favors that happened and putting people's lives at stake. State Department (inaudible) a lot of issues and when you sit there and pay for play for someone who hasn't had any knowledge on the international scene or national security, putting him on one of the biggest donor's doors, that puts us all at danger.
So you have to decide in this election right now, what scares you more, words or actions. Right now, we don't know all of the actions of Hillary Clinton. That's why this continues to come up.
BLACKWELL: Maria, I got to give you an opportunity to respond to that.
CARDONA: Thank you. We know more actions about Hillary Clinton in the last 30 years than we will ever know about any other candidate who is one running for president, number one. Number two, the American people are starting to solidify in terms of what choice they prefer.
[06:20:04]They prefer somebody who has had 30 years of public service, of focusing on making people's lives better, who has the knowledge, expertise, talent, and temperament to be president versus somebody who has only focused on lining his own pocket at the expense of middle class and working class people who has defrauded people.
Who says irresponsible things day in and day out, and who myriads of numbers of national security expert from the GOP have come out and said he's a -- that he is danger to the republic.
BLACKWELL: We've got to wrap it there. Maria Cardona, Scottie Nell Hughes, we'll continue the conversation throughout the show and starting at the top of the next hour -- Christi.
PAUL: Big night for the U.S. in the pool in Rio. On the soccer field -- that's where it gets dicey. The women's team losing to Sweden. Coy Wire, though, says Hope Solo is the one who is making headlines this morning. Hey, Coy. COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Good morning, Christi and Victor. We have great stuff for you this morning, a beautiful day in Rio, but wait till you hear what Hope Solo said about the team to whom they lost. We'll have that and much more coming up after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAUL: It's 24 minutes past the hour. And Katie Ledecky does it again. The 19-year-old swimming phenom wins a fourth gold medal of the Rio games. Sets another world record in the process.
Coy Wire is out watching all of the action and joining us live from Copacabana Beach. This had to be something to see, Coy, in person.
[06:25:04]WIRE: Absolutely, Christi. You know, I talked with Katie before coming down to Rio and I asked her simply what is fear. She kind of leaned in and said, what fear? She smiled, shrugged her shoulders and said, I don't know. Never heard of it.
I love her attitude. She's carefree, 19 years old, Katie Ledecky, we are watching a once in a lifetime talent, guys. She takes her fourth gold medal in the games in Rio. This time in the 800-meter freestyle. It's not that she won but how she won. Finishing 11 seconds over the top swimmer.
She's competing against Olympians here. The best swimmers the world has to offer. Katie was emotional after this win here. Michael Phelps said that was the first time he's ever seen her in tears. Seen true emotion come out of her. She has six Olympic medals and 13 world records.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATIE LEDECKY, 4-TIME GOLD MEDALIST: I was on the floor and just had a lot of fun with it soaking here. I mean, I just feel Olympics is the pinnacle of our sport, I have to wait another four years to have this moment again. I'm so happy with how the week has gone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: Other huge news from the pool, guys, Michael Phelps did not win his final individual race in the Olympics. Finishing in a three-way tie for the silver medal in the 100-meter butterfly. One more hundredth of a second, any would be in fourth place.
After the race, Phelps said, quote, "I'm ready to retire and I'm happy about it," end quote. Joseph Schooling of Singapore took the gold and this was the first ever gold medal for the country.
Get this, Schooling said Phelps is his idol. Back in 2008, Schooling's parents arranged a meet where he could meet Phelps for the first time and here he was beating his idol and the most decorated Olympian of all time for gold.
Team USA basketball surviving another scare. This time against Serbia, Bogdan Bogdanovich, plays for the Sacramento Kings and he missed a three-pointer with two seconds left in the fourth quarter, that shot would have send the game in overtime.
USA holds on to win, 94 to 91 extending its winning streak in international tournaments to 49 games. Next up for the U.S. matchup with Tony Parker and fans tomorrow afternoon.
Finally one of the biggest upsets in the games comes in women's soccer. Team USA gets knocked out of the tournament by Sweden in penalty kicks.
American goaltender Hope Solo who allowed Sweden's final penalty kick. Didn't hold back after the game. She told reporters, quote, "We lost to a bunch of cowards. The better team did not win," end quote.
That's not going to fare well, Victor and Christi, for her popularity contest here in Rio because she was booed earlier in these games by the crowds attending them when she was making fun of Zika virus that has been prevalent here. Not a good look for the U.S. women soccer team in their loss.
PAUL: All right, good point. Coy Wire, always good to see you. Thank you, sir.
BLACKWELL: All right, Hillary Clinton laid down the challenge again. She released her tax returns and now she's calling on Donald Trump to do the same.
Plus, deadly floods in Louisiana. One town surrounded entirely by that water and the rain seems to be coming down again. It just won't let up. We'll take a look at the forecast in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:32:21] PAUL: Good morning to you. I'm Christi Paul.
BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you. 87 days until the election. And now Donald Trump is lashing out telling the supporters in Pennsylvania, that if he loses the state in November. Well, voter fraud is to blame.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The only way we can lose in my opinion, I really mean this, Pennsylvania, is if cheating goes on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Well, the latest polls in Pennsylvania show that Clinton has an 11-point advantage there. And Hillary Clinton has sent a message to Donald Trump. Your move. The Democratic candidate released her 2015 tax returns. A movement to put the pressure on Donald Trump to release his, something he's repeatedly refuse to do because he says he's being audited.
Pamela Brown is here to breaking down Clinton's numbers. Pamela, good morning to you. PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Christi and Victor. Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine released their tax returns on Friday making the case that they have nothing to hide unlike Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Hillary Clinton is keeping the pressure on Donald Trump to release his tax returns.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He refuses to do what every other presidential candidate in decades has done and release his tax returns.
BROWN: Clinton and her husband Bill released their 2015 tax return which showed they raked in $10.6 million last year when she was running for president. Much less than the nearly $28 million they made in 2014. They paid roughly a third of their income to Uncle Sam, $3.2 million. Making their effective tax rate 30.6 percent. On part with their 32 percent effective rate in 2014. At the same time, the campaign disclosed 10 years of returns from running mate Tim Kaine and his wife Anne Holton. They reported $313,000 in income and paid nearly 63,000 in federal taxes for an effective rate of 20 percent. The Clinton says now it's Trump's turn.
SEN. TIM KAINE, (R) VIRGINIA: We will only know if he's a real deal or phony if he releases his tax return.
BROWN: Its part of a coordinated effort by the campaign that includes a new web video featuring prominent Republicans calling on Trump to release his returns.
MITCH MCCONNELL, (R-KY), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: For the last 30 or 40 years, every candidate for president has released their tax returns. And I think Donald Trump should as well.
SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) TEXAS: He doesn't want to do it because presumably there's something in there that is bad.
BROWN: Trump says he'll release his returns once an IRS audit is complete.
TRUMP: Well, look I'm in a routine audit. And every lawyer tells you, including Greta. Who is a lawyer, but she said, you know, when you're under a routine audit you don't give your tax returns.
[06:35:00] BROWN: As Clinton urges transparency on tax return. She is still not releasing transcripts from her paid speeches. A point that Bernie Sanders seized on during the Democratic primary and Trump could revive.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (D) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am going to release all of the transcripts of the speeches that I gave on Wall Street behind close doors not for 225,000. Not for 2,000, not for 2 cents, there were no speeches.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Clinton has said she'll release her speech transcripts when Donald Trump does. Meantime the returns out Friday show nearly 10 percent of the Clintons' income went to charitable contributions and most of that, $1 million was donated to the private Clinton family foundation. Christi and Victor.
PAUL: Pamela, thank you. CNN's Political Commentator and Political Anchor for New York one Errol Louis is with us. Errol, what was the biggest take away for you from Clinton release of her tax returns particularly the fact that so much money went to the foundation.
ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, what struck me was that they did not have to structure their taxes the way they did. Keep in mind, Christi, this was for 2015 when she knew she was going to be a candidate. She spent the entire year basically running for president.
And so, we don't have to pity her for making, you know, only $10 million plus while she was running for president. But it was striking to me there were some obvious things she could have done with that income that would have lowered her affected tax rate. She could have been invested in farmland. She could have invested it in rental property. She could have invested it in stocks and bonds and taken what they all passive income. All of which would have been taxed at a lower rate and resulted back in credits to her. And they chose not to do it.
So it's a very political document in a lot of ways, they basically paid more than they needed to. One point of clarification, when you talk about her personal family foundation. That's different from the Clinton foundation that we've all been covering and writing and broadcasting about.
The private foundation is really the kind of a clearinghouse, a place to put some of their personal charitable donates to myriad different sources. But it's not that sort of highly visible, politically charged Clinton foundation that's gotten so much attention. This is really just a way to sort of move their personal charity to local churches and other kinds of giving that they're giving, that's really just for family members to contribute directly to local charitable efforts.
PAUL: Thank you for that clarification. We appreciate it because the Clinton foundation is in the news. I want to read something from (inaudible) and investigation that was done on this. CNN was told at least three different justice department field offices all came to the conclusion that there should be an investigation launched into some -- any sort of -- I think it was call the corruption of some sort. Between the Clinton foundation and Hillary Clinton's time of secretary of state.
This of course, coming after Cheryl Mills traveled to New York. She was the chief of staff for Hillary Clinton. She traveled to New York to volunteer her time as the Clinton camp says for the foundation. So, a lot of foggy areas between the relationship that was there. And the work that was happening. Now again, CNN was told three different justice department field officers came to the conclusion there should be an investigation launched, higher up, but the justice department examined it, and they did not agree. Concluding that it was more political than substantive.
So, when you read that, Errol, even if there was no wrongdoing at all by Hillary Clinton, what does this do to speak to her trustworthiness, how toxic or damaging might it be?
LOUIS: Well, this won't help her trustworthiness numbers -- her honest and trustworthy numbers in the polls to say the least. It's worth keeping in mind. I thought this was true really all along with the e- mail controversy, it's that it this is something that will be and in my opinion should be litigated so to speak through the political process. In other words, tell the voters everything you know and let the voters make up their minds. And they're telling the pollsters they don't like the odor that this whole arrangement sort of gives off.
And I think the ultimate decision by the justice department was a right one. They could have gone in a different direction. As we know, the justice department, the fbi, these are prosecutors, these are people who do criminal investigations. It is the main tool that they have so, when you in fact have a hammer, almost every problem looks like a nail. There's always going to be a bias in the direction of let's do an investigation. Let's not give the target the benefit of the doubt. Let's see if there's a crime here. $ that really puts things in a of live that would - in a political season would harm the candidate, regardless of what the outcome of the investigation yields.
[06:40:00] So, I think we've got the right balance. I mean votes will just make up their mind if what they see really bothers then the Cheryl Mills thing an obvious conflict of interest and odds with both what the secretary of Clinton promised she would do and what most people what expect so many in her position to do.
PAUL: Yeah.
LOUIS: And we'll figure it all out on November 8th.
PAUL: And CNN by the way had a poll asking who was honest and trustworthy, both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump coming in at 64 percent as not trustworthy and honest. So, the rolleroaster continue, Errol Louis. Thank you so much.
LOUIS: Absolutely.
PAUL: And we're going to talk with him a little bit later too, about Trump criticism of the media. That still coming up.
BLACKWELL: And still to come, this flood emergency hit southeast Louisiana. The rivers there still rising. Desperately, rescuers are trying to save people from the raging waters. We'll take you there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAUL: Breaking news out of southeast Louisiana, dangerous floods that killed at least three people now. A father swept away near Baton Rouge is still missing at this hour. Louisiana's governor declaring a state of emergency. And in the meantime, the rain is still coming down. The town of Livingston has seen more than 17 inches just since midnight. At least two dozen rescues have already been carried out. People swept from their homes, cars and even trees were told.
BLACKWELL: Meteorologist Derek Van Dam victor joins us now. He's been tracking all of this rain. In some areas have seen the worst flooding on record in at least 100 years. How long is going to go on.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Victor and Christi, we see at least another 36 hours to 48 hours of solid rain across the south central sections of Louisiana.
[06:45:08] And he speak of records being shattered. This is a prime example. Some of the rivers flowing just outside of Baton Rouge crested three feet above the previous crest high. That was set back in the early 80s. That is amazing. And in fact, you can see that it rose 20 feet in the matter of 14 hours. That is incredible, and that is called flash flooding, my friends.
Take a look at this. Baton Rouge has received double it's nearly or its monthly average just in a 24-hour period. So extremely wet. Extremely saturate the conditions across this area. And as Victor just mentioned we have had reports of 17 to 20 inches of rain locally across the central and northern sections of Louisiana.
Here's the storm system the live radar, as we zoom into the heaviest rainfall. It continues to impact Baton Rouge down to the New Orleans region. But really, just to the west, that's where the bulk of the heavy rainfall exists at this moment in time. Flash flood warnings exist. Anywhere you see that shading of red watches around that, and that extends all the way to the Gulf Coast not including the Lake Pontchartrain region.
My concern here going forward is the potential for this rain to spread across the Ohio River Valley. In fact the National Weather Service has issued flood watches across this region. Look at how the rain spreads into Missouri, parts of Tennessee, into Kentucky, as well as Ohio and Michigan. We could potentially receive 3 to 6 inches of rainfall for that region. Christi back to you.
PAUL: All right. And Derek Van Dam, we appreciate it. Thank you so much.
We'll be right back.
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[06:50:08] BLACKWELL: Welcome back. Prosecutors in Colorado are upset with the judge in a college sex assault case. They say the sentence he handed down to a convicted rapist is too lenient.
CNN's Dan Simon has details for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 22-year-old Austin Wilkerson has been sentenced to two years in the Boulder County jail. But there's a catch, it's called work release. An arrangement where defendants are able to go to work or school during the day. Prosecutors say it's too lenient of a sentence for a convicted rapist.
LISA SACCOMANO, DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: We were hoping to see a prison sentence in the case. Obviously we feel that prison is appropriate for someone who commits a rape of this nature and then particularly given the aggravated facts here.
SIMON: They were students at the University of Colorado. It was March 2014. A St. Patrick's Day party. Lots of drinking, Wilkerson offered to look after the victim. Instead, prosecutors say he sexually assaulted her. Court documents say when confronted by investigators, Wilkerson she made repeated dances on the victim but that she rebuffed him each time. He later admitted to friends that she was pass out and let his hands wonder. But in court, Wilkerson's story changed, claiming the encounter was consensual and that the victim was sober.
SACCOMANO: He definitely in our opinion. And as we argued to the court throughout the process has given whatever version of the story of that moment is best going to serve him.
SIMON: In the end, jurors found Wilkerson guilty of sexual assault and unlawful sexual contact. Changing his story yet again, he admitted to his crime and apologized at sentencing. Judge Patrick Butler who also sentence Wilkerson to 20 years probation said he straggled with the decision. "Mr. Wilkerson deserves to be punished. But I think we all need to find out whether he truly can or cannot be rehabilitated."
The outcome, immediately draw in comparisons to sentence of Stanford swimmer Brock Turner who received six months in jail for raping a woman behind a dumpster. Victim advocates say the legal system is failing to recognize the seriousness of rape of college campuses. With the Colorado case being the latest example.
JANINE D'ANNIBALLE, MOVING TO END SEXUAL ASSAULT: In this case, we have kind of come to accept that light sentences in these kinds of crimes are the norm.
SIMON: Prosecutors requested a sentence at anywhere from 4 to 28 years in state prison. Wilkerson's lawyer did not respond to repeated request for comment but says his client is showing general remorse. It should be also noted that the judge bases decision in part on the recommendation from the probation department, which actually called for no prison time.
Dan Simon, CNN, San Francisco.
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PAUL: CNN Legal Analyst and Criminal Defense Attorney Joey Jackson with us now. Good morning, to you Joey. In a sentencing memorandum, they noted that this is equivalent to third degree felony sexual assault for which he was convicted. It's in that same class of crime a second degree murder and vehicular homicide. Do you think this was the appropriate sentence?
JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEAL ANALYST: Christi, I do not at all for many reasons. Now, when you look at the reasons why sentencing of any type would be appropriate. You look at the tenets of the system, punishment, deterrence, rehabilitation. I think the sentence failed in all those regards.
In terms of punishment, what is it? You know, you look at in terms of the offense that he committed it's a victim here that he promised we should remind viewers to get her home safely, he broke that commitment in as much as he raped her and the jury found him guilty. So the punishment is adequate.
Then you look at the deterrent value. What is the deterrent? What are others going to think out there? Can you can just rape someone, violate someone and get away with it? So does it deter? And with regard to rehabilitation, it's difficult to argue it's rehabilitative in terms of sentence if it's not really at the outset a recognition that this is serious.
And so, I think in all those regard to fail and then finally Christie with respect to the victim. The victim impact statement here just chilling in terms of what it did to her psychologically, what it did to her emotionally, the financial toll it took on her. And so I think that judges really need to be a little more considerate. A lot more considerate, I'm understating when they meeting at a sentence for something like this.
PAUL: This is something that stuck out with me. Again, in the sentencing memorandum they argued that actions speak louder than words. I think we have this suppose we can pull up. "The defendant raped a helpless young woman after duping the people around her into believing he was going to care for her. Tried to cover up his crime then repeatedly lied about what he did, including under oath at trial."
The state probation department as we heard there recommended no imprisonment because of his "Impressive acceptance of responsibility and empathy for the woman." The delayed empathy of involve someone of the serious sentence because it seem in this case that's what happened?
JACKSON: It's a great question Christi. And when you talk about delayed empathy. I didn't do it. I didn't do it. She consented during trial you fight it. But now that you caught red handed and of course you're convicted. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it. I'd never do it again.
[06:55:08] Now obviously, the system wants you to accept responsibility ultimately. But many defendants apologized. Do they get this treatment? And so I think to the extent that the judge relies upon a pre-sentence report where probation says "Well, he's accepting now". I think the judge is hiding behind that. I can tell you many times I have a pre-sentencing report that a judge disregards. And the judge does what they believe is appropriate for all parties concerned.
I think that was lost here. They had no delayed empathy should not in fact absolve someone of a conviction like this.
PAUL: You know, again, in the memorandum it urges the court to consider the ramification here and the message that that they sentence to the University Community as we saw in that piece. This has been an issue for a lot of university communities. How much responsibility does the court have to think about that, about the message that it sends?
JACKSON: I think it's huge, Christi. It goes back again to the tenets of the system, punishment, deterrent, and rehabilitation. And a judge, although given why discretion as we see here and we saw what the judge did with that discretion, 20 years' probation, OK. And of course these two years work release.
But the fact is that you want to send a message to deter so that this doesn't happen. You sir, you're convicted. You're not going to do it again. And anybody who would attempt to do this to a woman, they won't do it at all either. You need to send that deterrent effect and you need to punish adequately. And I'm all for rehabilitation. I argue that all the time.
PAUL: But you can have rehabilitation with prison sentences.
JACKSON: Exactly, that's right. They're not mutually exclusive. It's a great point. And I think that's what the judges did here.
PAUL: All right.
JACKSON: Unfortunately.
PAUL: Unfortunately, yes. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.
JACKSON: Thank you Christi.
BLACKWELL: At the top of the hour, new claims from Donald Trump about the November election. Despite being down in the polls, what he says would be the only way he could lose Pennsylvania.
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