Transcripts For CNNW Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer 201611

CNNW Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer November 6, 2016

Of Hillary Clinton. This news comes as the candidates make a final push and a final plea to voters. Take a look at this. Youre looking at live pictures right now of a Hillary Clinton rally in cleveland. Also a donald trump event that starts next hour in sterling heights, michigan. First, lets go to our justice correspondent, pamela brown. First of all, let me read a passage from the new letter from fbi director comey. Quote, based on our review, we have not changed our conclusions that we expressed in july with respect to secretary clinton. Pamela, this is shocking. The revelation, the timing, all of this happening two days before the election. Tell us more about the letter and, specifically, about the timing of director comy eor co conclusion. Another curve ball from fbi director james comey. Announcing today the review is complete of the additional emails. The fbi will not change its initial decision of no charges against Hillary Clinton. Were told from Law Enforcement sources the reason this was done so quickly, in part, was because most of the new emails were duplicates. In other words, emails the fbi had already reviewed as part of its initial private server investigation. There were several personal emails, as well. There was a large volume, as director comey says in the letter to congress, thousands of emails the fbi had to go to. It is clear from talking to officials, the fbi was aware of how high the stakes were. We know that director comeys letter to congress about a week and a half ago really set off a political fire storm, especially among democrats. The fbi wanted to complete this review as quickly as possible. Wolf, it is a surprise how quickly it was done. Last week, my colleague, evan perez and i were hearing from fbi officials it wouldnt likely wrap up until after the election. Of course, wolf, were learning now from our sources that it didnt take as long as anticipated because most of the emails had already been reviewed and they were personal emails. Of course, this raises the question about director comeys initial action and why he sent that letter to Congress Without knowing the significance of these emails. We know the search warrant was issued after that letter was sent and then, of course, now we know the fbi has looked through the emails and determined there is nothing new to change its initial recommendation. No matter who is elected president come tuesday, itll put director comey in an awkward spot, no matter if it is Hillary Clinton or donald trump, given all that has transpired recently especially, wolf. Basically, over the past nine days, since the original letter was sent to the congress on october 28th, fbi agents, Justice Department officials, they worked around the clock to go through the hundreds of thousands of emails on Anthony Weiners computer, to see if there was anything at all that could have incriminated Hillary Clinton. They came up with the same conclusion that comey recommended to the Justice Department, to congress back in july when he said she was extremely careless in dealing with classified information. No reasonable prosecutor would recommend criminal charges. Hes sticking to that original conclusion. Thats right, wolf. I can tell you from talking to Law Enforcement officials, the fbi worked as quickly as it could, according to these people familiar with the matter. The bar was always high for this recommendation from july to be changed. In the new emails, there would have to be information about intent that secretary clinton at the time knowingly and willingly sent classified information. We know, wolf, from the prior investigation, that the fbi did uncover some classified information on the private server, but there was no recommendation of charges because the fbi director comey said there was no direct intent. In the newly discovered emails, were learning they were from a laptop that was very old, were told by sources. About a decade old. Most of them, wolf, were duplicates and personal. We know loretta lynch, the attorney general who disagreed with director comeys initial letter to congress about the findings was on the same page with the fbi about the findings in this case. And sending this letter to congress saying that the recommendation has not changed. One official told me tonight, wolf, everyone is on the same page in the fbi and the Justice Department, about how this has wrapped up. The political fallout will be significant. Pamela brown, i know youre working your sources and were getting information on the background, the story behind the story. Im going to get back to you shortly. Right now, we have more on the breaking news. The political impact of all of this. I want to bring in cnns chief political analyst Gloria Borger and dana bash. Ballots have already been cast early voting. This letter, how far does it go in repairing the damage done to Hillary Clintons campaign over the past nine days . I think it is a little bit late, wolf. And i think that donald trump is going to continue to talk about the email issue. Hell continue to talk about the Clinton Foundation. Republican National Committee put out a statement where it mentioned the Clinton Foundation again. This argument against Hillary Clinton is not going to stop. I just got off the phone with a Senior Adviser to Hillary Clinton who said that theyre not going to say anything else about this either. Other than what theyve been saying, which is that theyre glad the issue is, quote, resolved, unquote. They want to go into the last 48 hours of this campaign with a positive message. They dont want to be talking about her emails or anybody elses emails. Theyre going to go to new hampshi hampshire. Some of the surrogates will talk about and it you can presume that republicans are going to say that the fbi is in cahoots with Hillary Clinton now. But i think that as for the Clinton Campaign, theyre going to continue to try to make a positive message now for the last two days. Were standing by to speak with jason miller, the trump Senior Communications adviser. Well get the Trump Campaigns official reaction to what has just unfolded. A major, major development. Dana, republicans are already issuing some reaction. The rnc, the speaker of the house, to this announcement, this decision by the fbi director james comey, that his original conclusion back in july still stands after the nine days of reviewing all the emails on Anthony Weiners computer. Thats right. Gloria mentioned the republican National Committees statement. Were hearing from other republicans. Donald trump himself, although he didnt mention this. He kept the sort of story going in terms of hitting Hillary Clinton on emails but also on the broader question of, as he says now, drain the swamp. From the republican perspective, they are saying that this doesnt change their overall message, that Hillary Clinton is an insider, that she is part of the problem and donald trump is not. He is obviously not a politician or hadnt been since he first ran for office a year and a half ago. So the question though is whether or not that is going to resonate given this news. I think the bad news for Hillary Clinton is probably yes. Because at this point, the specific specifics might not matter as much as the noise. When i say noise, i mean people hear fbi, Hillary Clinton, emails. Theyve been hearing about it pretty intensely since a week ago friday. It is never a good thing for a candidate, for the message and the subject to be about what she did or did not do. Both sides will tell you that. The reality also is so many people, millions of people, have will ev already gone and voted. You cant put the toothpaste back in the tube. Well see how this plays out and whether or not the fact that james comey did this with just, you know, 36 hours to spare, is going to make much of a difference in the minds of those who are reluctant to vote for somebody like Hillary Clinton because of the cloud that is over her. Nevermind the specifics. I want both of you to stand by. Gloria and dana, much more coming in. Moments after the new fbi letter went public, we heard this from the Clinton Campaign. Listen. We have seen director comeys latest letter to the hill. We were glad to see that he has found, as we were confident he would, that he has confirmed the conclusions that he really reached in july. Were glad this matter is resolved. Standing by. Well be speaking live with jason miller, the trump Senior Communications manager. Joining me now is the chairman of the black caucus, Hillary Clinton supporter. Thank you, congressman, for joining us. Good afternoon. Whats your initial reaction to this new comey letter, just released today, saying the fbis july conclusion stands . The conclusion that Hillary Clintons use of a private email server was careless, extremely carele lesless in the directors words but not criminal. Hes standing by that after reviewing all the new emails discovered on Anthony Weiners computer. Your reaction . Wolf, i read director comeys letter a few minute ago. It is finally over. The distraction of the emails has distracted from the campaign but we are glad it is over. Now we can get back to the central issues that faced this campaign. Director comey could have done this weeks ago. Rather than writing a better to congress and stirring up the president ial race, he could have taken the eight or nine days, reviewed the emails and made the pronouncements then. I was disappointed he stirred up the president ial election. The good news is this is now over. Now the American People can concentrate on choosing the next president and commander in chief. Does your confidence in the fbi director, has it been renewed . Director comey has a good reputation and has been a Law Enforcement professional for many years. Im still evaluating why he would send such a letter to congress. Well put it aside for right now and concentrate on this election and taking the American People in a positive direction. As you know, since the original letter came out at the end of october, a lot of ballots have been cast, about 40 million or so. Maybe another 70 or 80 million will still vote between now and election day. Does this new letter from comey, nine days after the original letter, does it really undo some of the damage that was done to the Clinton Campaign . Im not sure the letter that comey sent to congress did any significant damage to the campaign. The American People saw it for what it was. Right here in North Carolina, weve had 2. 8 Million People to already cast their ballots here in our state. 42 of democrats have already voted compared to 32 for republicans. The voters of North Carolina are engaged and involved in this election, as they are all across the country. We are poised to see one of the greatest turnouts america has ever seen. The reason i say it may have damaged the Clinton Campaign is because the polls in several battleground states, as well as nationally, seem to have narrowed over these past few days. Youve seen the polls, as well. I assume that the fbi letter may have had a negative impact on Clinton Campaigns but youre not confident of that . Im not confident of that. May have had a modest effect on the polling but i think all president ial elections such as this narrow right at the end. Weve seen that historically. There have been a few exceptions throughout the years. All president ial races are very close at the end. Hillary clinton has a decided advantage now. The letter issue is no longer the email issue is no longer a distraction. Now we can get ready to turn out our base vote and to provide Free Public College education for our young people and to move this country forward and get all the division behind us. Were ready for tuesday. Clinton Campaign Said they always thought this would be the outcome. Trump campaign chief, kellyanne conway, tweeted this. Why did you, your candidate and colleagues attack comey and his credibility . Respond to that. We knew this would be the outcome. This matter was closed back in july. The fact that director comey sent a letter to congress and stirred up the president ial race is a real confusing matter to me. That is behind us now. Were ready to move on. I talked to the campaign in brooklyn a few minutes ago. Were not giving a highfive on this. This is not what this is all about. Should have never been a distraction in the beginning. We are moving forward. Secretary clinton is continuing to travel the country. Were ready to face the American People on tuesday. Im confident we will win this election. Hillary clinton will be the next president of the united states. Because people are excited about this campaign. Congressman butterfield, thanks for joining us. Thank you. When we come back, what if the fbis email review influenced early voters, some 40 million americans already voted. Has the damage been done to the Clinton Campaign . Well talk about this, much more on the breaking news. Our political experts are standing by. Lots happening. Well be right back. Yeah. Well, we gotta hand it thto fedex. Glasses. Theyve helped make our ecommerce so easy, and now were getting all kinds of new customers. I know. Can you believe were getting orders from canada, ireland. This ones going to new zealand. New zealand . Psst. Ah, false alarm. Hey you guys are gonna scare away the deer idiots. Providing Global Access for small business. Fedex. Introducing the new turbocharged volkswagen alltrack with 4motion allwheel drive. Soon to be. Everywhere. It begins from the the second were born. Er. Because, healthier doesnt happen all by itself. It needs to be earned every day. Using wellness to keep away illness. And believing a single life can be made better by millions of others. As a Health Services and Innovation Company optum powers modern healthcare by connecting every part of it. So while the world keeps searching for healthier were here to make healthier happen. The world is full of surprising moments. Theyre everywhere. And as a marriot rewards member, i can embrace them all. The new marriott portfolio of hotels now has 30 brands in over 110 countries. So no matter where you go, you are here. Join or link accounts at members. Marriott. Com. Welcome back to a special situation room. Were following unexpected, major breaking news. Another dramatic twist in the race for the white house less than two days before the election. The fbi director james comey has Just Told Congress a review of newly discovered emails has turned up nothing new in connection with the investigation into Hillary Clintons use of a private email server while she was secretary of state. Comey says he stands by his july decision that no criminal charges should be filed against Hillary Clinton and the case for all practical purposes right now is closed. This comes nine days after comey upended the white house race with his controversial revelation of the new emails before they were reviewed. It also gave new momentum to Donald Trumps campaign, which used the issue to clip away at Hillary Clintons lead in the rolls. Were standing by at a trump rally. We want to hear what he has to say about the Major New Development. Were also going to be speaking momentarily with jason miller, the Senior Communications director for the Trump Campaign. Well get the reaction from the Trump Campaign, jason miller, joining us momentarily. Lets bring in our panel. Rebecca berg and david gregory, and mark preston. Also with cnn political commentator, david. Mark, this review, initial review nine day as ago seemed t have an impact in the polls. They tightened in battleground states as well as nationally. Two days to go. 36 hours or whatever. What will be the impact of this final letter from comey saying case closed . Couple things. One, i dont think were expected to hear from Hillary Clinton on it. She duoesnt want to continue t talk about it. Shell let her surrogates do it. Two things, there will be votes Hillary Clinton will never get back now that could be from republicans who were not necessarily enamored with donald trump, thinking of going to Hillary Clinton but saw the comey situation and said, ill cast an e

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