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New Day Saturday
FBI Reviewing New Emails Related To Clinton Case; GOP Sees Uptick In North Carolina Early Voters Over 2012 Race; FAA: FedEx Plane's Landing Gear Collapsed; American Airlines Jet Erupts In Flames At O'Hare; Clinton to FBI: Release "Full and Complete Facts"; Trump: Clinton Can't Take Criminal Scheme to White House; Sources Say E-mails Linked to Weiner Sexting Probe; Russian Gamers Try to Stop "Nuclear War"; Russians Prepare for Nuclear Attack. Aired 6-7a ET
Aired October 29, 2016 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is incumbent upon the FBI to tell us what they're talking about.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is bigger than Watergate, in my opinion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You just put your head in your hand?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did. We've been waiting for something like this.
TRUMP: The FBI would never have reopened this case unless it were a most egregious criminal offense.
CLINTON: The American people deserve to get the full and complete facts immediately.
TRUMP: Hillary Clinton tried to politicize this investigation by attacking and falsely accusing the FBI director.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's in a terrible spot, Anderson, had he sat on this information, he'd be criticized.
CLINTON: It's imperative that the bureau explain this issue without any delay.
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CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to Saturday. I'm Christi Paul.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. New this morning, a sudden jolt in the race for the White House. The FBI says it is reviewing new e-mails related to Hillary Clinton's private e- mail server and now Team Clinton is going on the offense, calling on the FBI to release the full and complete facts. PAUL: But this stunning new development, invigorating Donald Trump's campaign, obviously, and apparently his faith in the political system. Trump saying yesterday, maybe the system will become less rigged. He's this latest Clinton controversy, quote, "bigger than Watergate."
BLACKWELL: A law enforcement official tells CNN the e-mails were sent or received by Clinton's longtime aide, Huma Abedin. The e-mails were uncovered during an FBI investigation into Abedin's estranged husband, Anthony Weiner, and his sexting scandal purportedly with an underage girl. CNN's Jim Sciutto has more for us.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Christi, this started with a somewhat cryptic statement from the FBI director. He did say where these e-mails came from or who they were to and from.
We learned throughout the day they were to and from Clinton aide, Huma Abedin, and resulting from a whole other investigation of Anthony Weiner.
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SCIUTTO (voice-over): Eleven days to the election, the FBI director informing lawmakers he is reviewing new e-mails related to the Clinton e-mail investigation. Law enforcement officials tell CNN the new e- mails were not from Clinton, but were sent and received by aide, Huma Abedin.
They were found on a device shared my Abedin and her estranged husband, Anthony Weiner, who is the target of a separate investigation into alleged sexting with a minor.
This three months after the FBI recommended closing the probe. In connection with an unrelated case, Comey wrote to eight congressional committee chairmen, "The FBI has learned of the existence of e-mails that appear pertinent to the investigation."
Director Comey continued that the FBI will, quote, "review these e-mails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation. I cannot predict how long it will take us to complete this additional work," he wrote.
All this after Director Comey declared on July 5th that Clinton had acted carelessly but not criminally.
JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: In looking back at our investigations into the mishandling or removal of classified information, we cannot find a case that would support bringing criminal charges on these facts.
SCIUTTO: In the key battleground state of Iowa, Hillary Clinton at first did not comment on the case, until her campaign arranged a surprise press conference where the Democratic nominee turned the tables on the FBI.
CLINTON: The director himself has said he doesn't know whether the e- mails referenced in his letter are significant or not. I'm confident whatever they are will not change the conclusion reached in July. Therefore, it's imperative that bureau explain this issue in question, whatever it is, without any delay.
TRUMP: They have discovered new e-mails.
SCIUTTO: Donald Trump, however, pounced at a rally in another battleground, New Hampshire.
TRUMP: Hillary Clinton's corruption is on a scale we have never seen before. We must not let her take her criminal scheme into the oval office.
SCIUTTO: Trump's campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, tweeted, "A great day in our campaign just got even better." House Speaker Paul Ryan, until now locked in a public dispute with his party's nominee, accused Clinton of mishandling, quote, "The nation's most important secrets," before renewing his call for the director of national intelligence to suspend all classified briefings for Secretary Clinton, until this matter is fully resolved.
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[06:05:00]SCIUTTO: Director Comey said in his letter, he is not certain if these e-mails are significant. Our reporting is, there are thousands of e-mails, determining whether there's classified information contained in them will require consulting with multiple intelligence agencies. It's not an exact science. There's the often disagreement. This is a process that will take longer than 11 days -- Victor and Christi.
PAUL: All right, Jim Sciutto, thank you so much. I want to talk about this with CNN senior law enforcement analyst and former FBI assistant director, Tom Fuentes.
Tom, we got some details from our justice reporter, Evan Perez this morning on FBI Director Comey's decision to alert lawmakers that the bureau is reviewing these new e-mails related to Clinton's server.
One official said that Comey didn't even seek the approval of justice officials. Instead, he made an independent decision to go against this long-standing Justice Department and FBI practice that they would not comment publicly about politically sensitive investigations within 60 days of an election. Did this decision in your opinion, did it go against normal protocol?
TOM FUENTES, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Christi, good morning. He had already gone against normal protocol on July 5th when he made a public announcement, really preempting the prosecutors at the Department of Justice, saying that we want to close the case and no reasonable prosecutor would take this case forward.
So that was already a breach in normal protocol. And then when he testified two days later on the Hill, he promised, Congress that if there was anything significant development, he would inform them. He would let them know if something came up.
And in this case, I think the internal discussion at FBI headquarters over the last two days has been, this is significant. It's too much to hold on to.
And if they wait until November 9th to say that they have this and that they have reopened the case, they'll look like they were trying to throw the election the other way after taking months of accusations that they were throwing the election in favor of Hillary Clinton.
Now they would be criticized for throwing it against Hillary Clinton. So I think that he put himself by the first public announcement in July and the promises to Congress, he put himself in the position of really having to do this, whether he liked it or not.
PAUL: So let's talk about the timing of this, to get this information out. His notes, his letter to these congressmen said the FBI cannot yet assess whether or not this material may be significant.
But based on the fact that they are releasing this just ten days prior to the election, does that give you the sense that there is something questionable or of great concern in these e-mails? That could incriminate Hillary Clinton in some way?
FUENTES: It's possible. We don't know, and it's hard to tell, but they've also said that we're talking about thousands of e-mails, not just a couple dozen. So, that becomes significant there.
So, I think that, you know, they had no choice but to inform Congress and therefore, inform the public that they were opening this to look at these messages again and see if they pertain to anything regarding the Clinton personal server.
Now, again, when the statements have been leaked out that none of these e-mails were from Hillary Clinton, but they may involve discussions of her closest personal aide, for years, Huma Abedin, that may relate to Clinton's knowledge of why she created this server.
That was always the talking point of Director Comey back in July, that they couldn't prove intent. He felt that it was more than just extremely carelessness. They needed somewhere to find proof that she intended to break the law and knew she was breaking the law in setting this up.
And we've had so many, also, Wikileaks revelations over the last few days and weeks that she may have known more than what's been made public. And Huma Abedin might be the one to know it.
PAUL: Tom, we've run out of time, but I have to get this to you. Do you believe the bureau should release more information, as Hillary Clinton's camp is calling for to try to clarify --
FUENTES: No, they're not in the habit of dribs and drabs of releases. I don't think that's going to happen. It might in this, because it's so unique, but we don't know.
PAUL: Because it's so unique, very true. Tom Fuentes, always good to have you here and your insight. Thank you.
BLACKWELL: Of course, the most important question is will this have an impact on the race in the final days to Election Day. Well, Hillary Clinton campaign chairman, John Podesta, he was not happy at all over this release of this letter and this sudden surprise.
He said this in a statement. In the months since the FBI completed its investigation, Donald Trump and his Republican allies have been baselessly second-guessing the FBI and in both public and private, browbeating the career officials there to revisit their conclusion in a desperate attempt to harm Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.
He goes on say, already, we have seen characterizations that the FBI is reopening an investigation, but Comey's words do not match that characterization.
[06:10:06]He says that they're taking investigative steps. We'll examine what those investigative steps amount to.
Let's bring in CNN political commentator, Errol Louis. Errol, first, let's go to John Podesta's point. This is one of those cliche situations, where you're damned if you do, damned if you don't. Do you see here any evidence that supports what Podesta is saying that possibly he just relented to Republicans' pressure on him?
ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: If you're going to speculate, I think there's some grounds for that. The uproar that happened, the immediate convening of a congressional committee that Comey had to come testify before. The calls on public media, public statements by members of Congress for him to be fired or to be demoted.
All of this stuff happened immediately back in July and it's impossible to imagine that Director Comey was completely impervious to all of that. So he was under political pressure. It looked at the time that he was willing to withstand on his principles, in addition to being the FBI director he is and, in fact, an attorney.
So he knows kind of a lot of what's going on here and the limits of what he can and cannot do and what's proper and what's not proper. So for him to have decided that it would be better for him out of caution, at least, at a minimum, to sort of let everybody know what he -- that he's got more to come.
I think was sort of a prudent thing, but it was also, sort of, dictated in part by politics. He wasn't going to come out of this without some criticism. And I think that was clear from July 5th, on.
BLACKWELL: You know, there's a line in "The Washington Post" write-up this morning about this. Let's put it up on the screen. "The Post" reports this came from a longtime Clinton adviser, who said, "Until we know more, this looks like a bombshell of October surprise proportions."
Reconcile what this looks like, and what it actually is. Because what it looks like, we've been talking about for the last 30 hours or so. What it is, we don't know yet and the political potency of the difference there.
LOUIS: Well, I'll tell you, Victor, I think what it looks like is going to be all that it really amounts to for political purposes, because what it really adds as Jim Sciutto, I think properly suggested in his reporting, is not going to be known before election day.
You know, thousands of e-mails, that level of complexity. It's hard to imagine that they'll do yet another bombshell announcement in the last 11 days. So I think what it looks like, meaning how we in the chattering class has characterized this and what the discussion is like is going to really be the only thing that matters.
And it will matter mostly, Victor, to late-breaking voters. People who are actually making up their minds just in the last 11 days. It's somewhat hard to imagine that there's a large group of them, but the reality is, there is.
Depending on the state, it could be a decisive number of people. And they're going to hear lots and lots of people talking. I think, you know, John Podesta is exactly right. You have to parse the statement.
There's going to be all this talk about the criminal investigation that's been reopened. That's not said anywhere in the Comey letter. And so, there's going to be a lot of spin. We're going to be in a spin zone for 11 days and I don't see any way around that.
BLACKWELL: All right, Errol Louis, thanks so much.
LOUIS: Thank you.
PAUL: Nearly 13 million people have already voted in this presidential election. If you're one of them, I'm wondering if you feel the same as some of those who CNN has talked to. We're finding out that many people say they're still undecided as they go into their polling place and step up to that ballot box. You can hear from those voters next.
BLACKWELL: Also, the terrifying moments onboard two Boeing aircraft. Amazing video to share with you. Look at this. We've got where the investigations stand.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody was professionals, pilots stopped the plane perfect, and we all started exiting. It was coordinated chaos, but it was unbelievable how we got off that plane.
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[06:17:37]
BLACKWELL: All right. By now you know the number ten, ten days until Election Day. Let's take a look at the road to 270. This is what the electoral map looks like this morning. Florida and Nevada, now toss- up states again, back into the yellow battleground column.
PAUL: They had been leaning Democrat, despite signs of a tightening race in those states. Clinton still holds a healthy lead in the CNN poll of polls. Five polls average together. We should point out, all conducted before the latest news from the FBI. But this shows Clinton at 47 percent, followed by Donald Trump at 41 percent. Johnson and Stein in single digits there, as you can see.
BLACKWELL: Now as we reported, the voting has begun for millions of Americans. Nearly 13 million have cast ballots thus far.
PAUL: Yes, as CNN's Jessica Schneider shows us, a lot of them were still undecided, even as they walked into their polling location.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm really having an issue with Trump this year and I don't really want to vote for Hillary either.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm just kind of stumped right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really not sure which side I want to go with.
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a must-win state for Donald Trump, and with just days to go, it's still a toss-up for some here in Apex, North Carolina. Al (inaudible) showed up to vote early at the town center, still undecided.
(on camera): You're walking into vote. Have you made up your mind?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I have not.
SCHNEIDER: What's keeping you from making that decision?
AL CASALETTO, EARLY VOTER: It's a tough decision this year. There's so many different aspects of the election this year.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): He prides himself on being independent, but this year's vote left him unsure of his decision, until the very end.
(on camera): You're going to wait in line a little bit, get that ballot, when are you going to make your decision?
CASALETTO: When I have the ballot in front of me, I'm going to say, this is my decision. I'm going to live with it and that's it. That's where I stand right now.
SCHNEIDER: Casaletto thinks he's just one of many of conflicted voters and he may be right.
KITTY SWENNES, EARLY VOTER: When you go in, you want to make sure you make the right choice for my children, for what's going on in the world. It's so hard with what's available to us.
SCHNEIDER: Shannon Martin usually votes Republican, but he's wrestling with his decision.
SHANNON MARTIN, UNDECIDED VOTER: If there was a third party option that I knew was going to make a difference that would throw it to whether neither candidate would get 270 electoral votes, then I would probably lean more towards that way.
SCHNEIDER (on camera): So you want neither candidate to get 270 electoral votes?
MARTIN: I'd rather that happen.
[06:20:00]SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Bev McKernie has always voted Republican. This year, she's not so sure.
BEV MCKERNIE, UNDECIDED VOTER: I am, I'm conflicted and I don't know what I going to do until I probably get there.
SCHNEIDER (on camera): You'll just close your eyes and vote?
MCKERNIE: Yes.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Her 26-year-old daughter, Shannon, is equally torn.
(on camera): Have you made up your mind yet, for your vote?
SHANNON MCKERNIE, UNDECIDED VOTER: No, I haven't. I'll probably lean towards Hillary because I don't like what's been said in the news about Donald Trump and what he's been saying.
SCHNEIDER: You'll look for divine intervention?
(voice-over): Many looking for divine intervention to help with their decision, but most people agree it is their civic duty and they plan to get out and vote. Jessica Schneider, CNN, Apex, North Carolina.
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PAUL: Two frightening incidents in one day involving Boeing jets. One o42icial saying if this that you're looking at here, engine failure in Chicago had happened any later, obviously, it could have been absolutely devastating. We have that story, straight ahead. Do stay close.
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PAUL: All right. Take a look at this. Can you imagine? Look at this thing! And you can listen, too, to the people that are watching it happen. This is in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, yesterday, at the airport.
The FedEx plane, listen to them, catching fire there on the runway. That fireball shooting out of the left side of the plane. Both of the pilots got out OK, which is important.
The FAA said the fire started when the plane's main landing gear collapsed as it touched the runway. The Boeing MP-10 was carrying about 20 tons of FedEx shipments and U.S. mail.
Authorities do not think any of that cargo was damaged. The NTSB is going to be at the airport today, in fact, to investigate. But the thing is, that was the second incident yesterday where a Boeing jet caught fire.
[06:25:07]BLACKWELL: Let's show you the first one. This is Chicago. It could have been an even bigger disaster. The O'Hare Airport fire chief says that if the engine on American Airlines Flight 383 had failed any later, it could have been absolutely devastating.
Instead, the pilots aborted takeoff and 170 passengers and crew used the emergency slides to escape that burning 767. CNN's Ryan Young has details for us there.
RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: An active, ongoing investigation here at O'Hare International Airport, after a plane leaving for Miami developed some engine issues. In fact, passengers onboard talking about an explosion and then they saw a fireball on the side of the plane.
Now, this is Flight 383. We're told that it landed from Heathrow Airport and sat here for three hours before taking off for Miami. But it never made it into the air because that explosion happened and everyone had to get off the plane.
Twenty passengers were taken to the hospital. We talked to one passenger who said it was the most terrifying experience of his life.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a big ball of red flames blew up from that window. That's all I can tell you. I got out of there as fast as I can, too, and we're all moving toward the exits.
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YOUNG: After watching the video of passengers trying to get off that plane and talking to that passenger about his experience, you can tell people were shaken by this.
Firefighters say they used foam to suppress that fire, but they're going to leave the plane where it is right now so the NTSB can come in and do an investigation to figure out exactly what happened.
Of course, we'll be watching and waiting to see. Originally, the FAA thought it was a blown tire, but now we've discovered that something a lot more happened, because obviously, it was an engine, a mechanical issue, that's sympathetic that American Airlines has actually confirmed. Reporting from Chicago, Ryan Young, CNN.
BLACKWELL: Good to see everybody made it off that plane. Let's talk now about this sexting investigation into disgraced Congressman Anthony Weiner that's turning up a new batch of Clinton-related e- mails used on a private server. How investigators made the link. That's coming up.
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[06:30:48] CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Well, welcome to Saturday. I'm Christi Paul.
VICTOR BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you.
PAUL: Yes. It is -- could be, we should say -- a blow to the Clinton campaign here, just 10 days to the election. FBI Director James Comey announcing a stunning revelation that the Bureau is revealing a new batch of e-mails related to Clinton's personal server. Now, Director Comey isn't explaining much about the discovery itself, only saying that the e-mails could be pertinent to the investigation.
BLACKWELL: Clinton responding to the announcement, saying it is imperative that the Bureau explain this issue in question, whatever it is, without any delay. And Donald trump seizing on the issue, as well, saying this.
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DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hillary Clinton's corruption is on a scale we have never seen before. We must not let her take her criminal scheme into the Oval Office. I have great respect for the fact that the FBI and the Department of Justice are now willing to have the courage to right the horrible mistake that they made.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: Now, sources say the newly discovered e-mails only surfaced during an investigation into Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of top Clinton aide, Huma Abedin.
Now, Weiner is accused of exchanging sexually explicit text messages with a teenager and a, quote, considerable number of e-mails were sent or received by Abedin on a device that was shared by her and her husband, Anthony Weiner. Chris Frates has the details.
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CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Anthony Weiner, a young congressman with a bright future and newly minted Senator Hillary Clinton started serving together on Capitol Hill in 2001. About a decade later, Weiner would marry one of Clinton's most loyal aides, Huma Abedin.
ANTHONY WEINER, (D) FORMER CONGRESSMAN OF NEW YORK: I've got an enormous respect for the Clintons. . They've been enormous friends, you know, to my wife and to my family.
FRATES: Now, Weiner's bad behavior has reignited the e-mail controversy Clinton's campaign hoped was behind them. The new e-mails come from the FBI's investigation into allegations that Weiner sent sexually explicit text messages to an underage girl.
At a Democratic Party retreat in 2001, Weiner asked Abedin, then an aide to the Senator, out for a drink. She told Weiner she had to work, but then Clinton gave her the night off according to Vanity Fair.
At their engagement party, Clinton said she considered Abedin a second daughter. And in July 2010, Bill Clinton officiated their wedding at a swank estate on Long Island, but the honeymoon wouldn't last long.
WEINER: Pardon me, sir.
FRATES: A year later, Weiner resigned from Congress after tweeting a picture of his crotch. Two years later, he ran for New York City mayor, a campaign that imploded after he admitted to having more lewd conversations with women he met on the internet.
WEINER: The level of guilt and pain that I feel, you know, I'm very sorry I put everyone in this position.
FRATES: And this year, the FBI launched an investigation into allegations Weiner exchanged sexually explicit text messages with an underage girl.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He'd ask me to undress, and he started talking sexually.
FRATES: Abedin and Weiner have since separated after six years of marriage, but the political damage was already done.
TRUMP: Who is Huma married to?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anthony Weiner.
TRUMP: One of the great sleazebags of our time.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: Anthony Weiner. Did you know that? No, think of it.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: So Huma is getting classified secrets. She's married to Anthony Weiner, who's a perv.
FRATES: Chris Frates, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: Let's bring in now Betsy McCaughey, former lieutenant governor of New York and a Donald Trump supporter and Danielle McLaughlin, Democratic strategist, attorney and Clinton supporter. Ladies, good morning to both of you.
BETSY MCCAUGHEY, (R) FORMER LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK: Good morning, Victor. DANIELLE MCLAUGHLIN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning, Victor.
BLACKWELL: Let me start with you, Danielle. This week started with Clinton seemingly looking beyond Donald Trump. She was talking about down-ballot races. Friday started with discussions of potentially Cabinet posts with Joe Biden. This seems to have washed out a bit of that confidence, has it not?
[06:35:01] MCLAUGHLIN: Yes, and I don't know that it couldn't. I don't think Hillary Clinton ever wants to hear the words "FBI" and "e- mail" in the same sentence. But I think what Clinton is trying to do is to get the FBI to clarify what it is that they have and what it is that they don't have because it's clear that this dust storm that's being kicked up is going to be made hay of by the GOP. We've seen this, frankly, within minutes of the letter being produced to congressmen, to the eight leaders of the congressional committees. We had Paul Ryan and others jumping up and down. And we had Donald Trump talking about, you know, criminal conspiracies, which is completely without basis in fact.
What matters right now is the voters, and what matters is that they get the facts that they need make the best decision. And I think what we could do is look at the reactions. Hillary Clinton has said, let's get this information out there because I want people to know what's really going on -- and, frankly, I think she wants to know what it is that they have or haven't found -- and Trump's out there jumping to conclusions and calling her a criminal.
BLACKWELL: All right. Let's go to you, Lieutenant Governor. What we don't know is what exactly is inside these e-mails. There's a difference between what --
MCCAUGHEY: Although, chances are --
BLACKWELL: Let me finish the question.
MCCAUGHEY: Yes.
BLACKWELL: There's a difference between what people think could be there and what is actually there. Shouldn't Trump, shouldn't the campaign, wait until what is discovered comes out?
MCCAUGHEY: Well, the issue isn't what Mr. Trump is doing or even what Director Comey is doing. It's what Mrs. Clinton already knows. I'm sure that she's talked about this with Huma Abedin.
The fact is Mrs. Clinton lied about having turned over all her e- mails. The FBI subsequently found thousands she hadn't turned over. She lied when she said she hadn't sent or received classified material. The FBI found over a hundred classified documents. And so now Mrs. Clinton, again, is looking very dishonest because here are more e-mails that haven't been discussed. And most importantly, a device.
She said at one point she had only used device. Ultimately, there were 13. Five of her aides had to turn over devices, some of them signing immunity agreements in order to do it. But, clearly, Huma Abedin did not turn over this device. We probably suspect that that's because this device contains two kinds of information, official State Department material and her estranged husband's penis pictures.
BLACKWELL: And you, of course, admit there that that's speculation. But let me come to this. You have made the case there succinctly. It's a concise case. Can Donald Trump do that?
You know, we have, for our viewers in just a second here, what Donald Trump said about this rigged system before the letter was sent to the leader of Congress and after. And I want you to listen to what he says and the rhetorical shift he makes and then we'll talk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The system is rigged when she's allowed to run because she has done many criminal acts. She's not allowed to run. She is not allowed to be running in this election. And the FBI rolled over and the Department of Justice rolled over.
The system is rigged. But with what I've just announced previously, it might not be as rigged as I thought. Right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: So, in the morning, it's rigged. In the evening, maybe not as rigged as I thought. I mean, is the degree to which Donald Trump believes the, quote, system is rigged, depend upon if he agrees with the outcome?
MCCAUGHEY: Well, no, but let me point out that the FBI treated her with kid gloves. They ignored the fact that Bill Clinton met with Attorney General Loretta Lynch on the tarmac in --
MCLAUGHLIN: That's not true.
MCCAUGHEY: -- just a moment, in her airplane. And the fact is that the statute under which her behavior supposedly was judged does not require intent, and yet when Comey made his statement letting her off the hook in July, it was because he said he didn't find evidence of intent. So much of the nation and many people in the FBI were shocked with what Comey did. But now with these new e-mails coming out, it certainly raises, in the minds of the public, is she continuing to behave as if the rules never apply to her?
The fact is, I've held many jobs in the public and private sector and in not-for-profits. And when I left any of those positions, I did not destroy my e-mails. Honest people don't do that.
MCLAUGHLIN: I have to respond to this, Victor.
MCCAUGHEY: And that is what the public should be asking. Why did Hillary Clinton decide that she could not let what she did as State Department head be on the public record? She had to shield her own actions from investigators and from the press by using a private server instead of the state dot gov information system. BLACKWELL: All right. Danielle, go ahead and respond and we got to
wrap it up.
MCLAUGHLIN: Yes. I mean, it's hard to know where to begin, frankly. But let's start with deletions. The FBI Director and the report that was released in redacted form found that there were no malfeasance in terms of redactions. They were done in the ordinary course.
[06:40:02] The redactions -- excuse me, the deletions that were done were done by com check (ph), absolutely in violation --
MCCAUGHEY: Hired by her.
BLACKWELL: Hold on. Hold on.
MCLAUGHLIN: -- of an order that came from the lawyers of Clinton. We don't know if these e-mails are duplicates. You may remember in August of this year, Judicial Watch had a party, had a field day, with 15,000 e-mails that were purportedly newly discovered and they were, in fact, duplicates of things that had already been found.
What I think Americans need to know is what we don't know. And they should try and push away the spin, make up their own minds based on the facts, and that's how you get to an electorate that is informed and makes good decisions.
BLACKWELL: Unfortunately, many of those of answers will not be coming out the next 10 days. We'll continue this conversation throughout the morning. Lieutenant Governor Betsy McCaughey, Danielle McLaughlin, thank you both.
MCCAUGHEY: Thank you, Victor.
MCLAUGHLIN: Thanks, Victor.
BLACKWELL: Christi?
PAUL: You know what, this is something sweeping the gaming world in Russia, how to prevent nuclear war with the U.S. Here's the thing. Some people are wondering if this game could become the real thing. That's coming up. Stay close.
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PAUL: It is the latest craze for gamers in Moscow, preventing nuclear war with the U.S. Now, for them, it's a fun game that harkens back to the Cold War. The renewed tensions, though, between the U.S. and Russia have some of them wondering if the game could be more of a reality. Here's CNN Senior International Correspondent Matthew Chance.
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Red alert in a Soviet-style nuclear bunker for a couple of Russians racing to prevent a catastrophic strike on the United States. [06:45:05] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nuclear bombs will be launched in one
hour.
CHANCE (voice-over): The aim of the quest, the latest gaming craze in Moscow, is to find the nuclear launch codes to deactivate the hidden red button that's already been pressed by a mad Russian general. Of course, it's complete fantasy. But amid the current tensions with Russia, it all feels a little unsettling.
CHANCE (on-camera): Are you worried that something like this could happen in real life?
MAXIM MOTIN, RUSSIAN GAMER: Of course.
ALISA SOKOLOVA, RUSSIAN GAMER: Actually, I'm not. No, I'm not thinking about it.
MOTIN: I'm worried because there's very stupid information from both sides. And I know that normal people in all over the world, they don't want any war.
SOKOLOVA: Now, I know that in school in Russia, they tell to the children the same, that our main enemy is the U.S. And it sounds ridiculous for me. And I'm totally sure that war isn't possible.
CHANCE: But not all Russians agree. National television has been broadcasting a mass training exercise involving up to 40 million people across the country to prepare responses, says the government, for a chemical or a nuclear attack.
It's the biggest rehearsal of its kind since the collapse of the Soviet Union and suggests the Kremlin, at least, wants Russians to take the threat of war very seriously.
Of course, all-out conflict between Russia and the West remains highly unlikely. The principle of mutually assured destruction still holds, just like it did during the Cold war.
But with tensions growing over Syria, Ukraine, and the Baltic states, analysts say a small risk of contact, misunderstanding, and escalation between the nuclear super powers has become very real.
And it's a risk the Kremlin seems keen to spotlight, releasing details of its latest intercontinental ballistic missile being added to its nuclear arsenal. The Satan 2, as it is known, will be one of the world's most destructive weapons, guaranteeing Russia's place as a top nuclear power.
State television has also upped its hardline rhetoric. In its flagship current affairs show, Russia's top state news anchor, dubbed by critics as the Kremlin's propaganda-in-chief, recently issued a stark warning of global war if, for instance, Russian and U.S. forces clash in Syria.
Brutish behavior towards Russia, declared Dmitry Kiselyov, could have nuclear dimensions. It is an apocalyptic vision that adds a further sense of realism to
the fantasy quest being acted out by gamers in Moscow.
This time, a Cold War nuclear Holocaust is averted. Hopefully one in the real world will be, too. Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACKWELL: Well, CNN is proud to announce the Top 10 CNN Heroes of 2016. Now, each honoree will receive a cash prize and a shot at the top honor, CNN Hero of the Year, which will earn one of them an additional $100,000 for their cause. And you get to help to decide who that person will be.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Now, that we've announced the Top 10 CNN Heroes of 2016, I want to show you how you can help decide who should be CNN Hero of the Year and receive $100,000 to help them continue their work.
Just go to CNNheroes.com where you can learn more about each hero. And when you're ready, click "Vote" over here, then choose your favorite. Now, confirm your selection using either your e-mail address or Facebook account and you're all set.
And this year, for the first time, you can also vote through Facebook Messenger and on Twitter. You can vote up to 10 times a day per method, every day through December 6th, then rally your friends by sharing your vote on social media. We'll reveal the 2016 Hero of the Year live during the "10TH ANNUAL CNN HEROES: AN ALL-STAR TRIBUTE," Sunday, December 11th.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[06:52:56] PAUL: Well, Hillary Clinton's e-mail controversy, again, front and center in this presidential election. The FBI saying it is reviewing new e-mails related to her private e-mail server. And with just 10 days until the election, what kind of legal fallout could Hillary Clinton or her camp face?
I want to discuss this with Page Pate, a criminal defense and constitutional attorney, and Danny Cevallos, CNN legal analyst, also a criminal defense attorney. Gentleman, thanks for getting up early for us. We appreciate it.
Danny, I'd like to start with you, if I could, please. New CNN reporting this morning is that Director Comey made this decision independently. He didn't get approval from the Justice Department to do so. He also went against the FBI's long-standing practice of not commenting about politically sensitive investigations within 60 days of an election. What is your reaction to why he might have done that?
DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: The why, I can't be sure. But one thing is for sure, this is an unusual, unconventional investigation for the Federal government. Anyone who practices federal criminal defense will tell you that this is not the way they typically investigate criminal activity.
Most people who are the suspect of a federal investigation sometimes, or usually, never even learn that they're the subject until they're indicted or until the statute of limitations expires. That's when they can comfortably feel like they will not face prosecution for whatever they're being investigated for.
PAUL: So, Danny --
CEVALLOS: So this is a very nontraditional approach, both in his earlier announcement that no charges would be filed. And for that very specific reason, the Director now finds himself in the position of possibly reopening something that he previously said was a done deal.
PAUL: All right. Page, I want to go to you now. You've been saying from the beginning that the investigation into this could have been handled differently. How so?
PAGE PATE, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, it's amazing to me that we have the FBI Director making the final decision on whether or not Secretary Clinton was going to be prosecuted. In any federal investigation, you always have a law enforcement agency, in this case, the FBI, investigating the case, but then they turn it over to a prosecutor.
And what happened here is, after the FBI completed their investigation, they were ready to turn it over to the Attorney General but she washed her hands of it and said, I'm not going to make this decision. I'm going to leave it to the FBI.
[06:55:13] And even though everyone has given Director Comey, at least up until now, a lot of credit for being independent and having unimpeachable character, he is still an employee of the Department of Justice. He still works for the Attorney General. So I think a special prosecutor should have been appointed at the very beginning of this investigation, so we at least had a prosecutor for the FBI to turn the case over to.
PAUL: Could one be appointed now, or is it too late?
PATE: Sure. No, one could still be appointed now, but I don't know how they'll finish or complete this investigation before the election. I mean, we're 10 days out at this point, and it sounds like there are thousands of e-mails to review. So perhaps it's too late, at least, to get it done before the election is over with.
PAUL: Right. And sources say there are thousands of e-mails to go through. Director Comey, Danny, says that FBI cannot yet assess whether or not the material may be significant. But the fact that he is releasing this 10 days prior to the election, does that give you an indication or any sense that there is something in these e-mails that could be very damning for Hillary Clinton? CEVALLOS: It's an indication that he thinks it's significant. But
the problem has always been, when it comes to the term "classified" or classification of documents, is that it's sort of an amorphous concept. And it's dynamic. It moves around. Things that are previously classified may become unclassified and vice versa, things that are unclassified can morph into something that is classified.
So it's clearly something that he thinks is important enough to reopen an investigation that he himself and the DOJ said previously was closed. So it may be out of an abundance of caution. He's keeping his options open.
Again, the strange part is, is that they have closed off a lot of their options by announcing no prosecution in the past.
PAUL: I've gotten seconds, Page. Paul Callan says that Comey should resign. Do you agree?
PATE: I do not agree. I mean, he's been put in a very difficult position. I don't think he had to issue this letter. I think his testimony to Congress was accurate at the time. The investigation was complete. Not closed, but complete.
Now, there's new information. They have an obligation to look at it, so I think he's doing his job. It would have been nice if they would have given him some help, given him a prosecutor to turn this over to.
PAUL: All right. Page Pate, Danny Cevallos, we appreciate seeing both of you. Thank you so much.
PATE: Thank you.
PAUL: We'll be right back.
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