Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

Race for the White House; Crisis in Syria; Fighting for Iraq; Maduro Threatens to Arrest Opposition Lawmakers; Fantasy Fest in Key West. Aired 12-12:30a ET

Aired October 29, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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


[00:00:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is incumbent upon the FBI to tell us what they're talking about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): An old controversy throws a new wrench into Hillary Clinton's campaign just 11 days before the U.S. election.

Striking back in Aleppo: Syrian rebels launch a new assault in an attempt to break a government siege.

Plus less in Key West: our Richard Quest uncovers the bare facts about Fantasy Fest in the Florida resorts.

Talk about a plethora of news stories for you. It's all ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM. Thanks for joining us. We're live in Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

ALLEN: The FBI is taking another look at Hillary Clinton's private e- mail server after discovering a new batch of e-mails that may be pertinent to the case. A law enforcement source tells CNN the newly discovered e-mails are from one of Clinton's top aides, not Clinton herself.

Even so, the candidate is calling on the FBI to make public all of the facts immediately. Our Jim Sciutto explains how an unrelated FBI investigation led back to Clinton's e-mail server.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eleven days to the election, the FBI director informing lawmakers he is reviewing new emails related to the Clinton email investigation. Law enforcement officials tell CNN the new emails were not from

Clinton herself and were found on a device being examined as part of the probe into Anthony Weiner, who was recently separated from top Clinton aide Huma Abedin.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wow.

SCIUTTO: 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 emails that appear pertinent to the investigation."

Director Comey continued that the FBI will, quote, "review these emails 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 5 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: Arriving in the key battleground state of Iowa, Hillary Clinton ignored questions on the topic.

However, campaign chair John Podesta released a statement saying, quote, "The director owes it to the American people to immediately provide the full details of what he has is now examining. We are confident this will not produce any conclusions different from the one the FBI reached in July."

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.

Director Comey said in his letter he's not certain if these e-mails are significant. Our reporting is there are thousands of them. Determining whether there is classified information contained in those e-mails will require consulting with multiple intelligence agencies. It is not an exact science; there is often disagreement. It's a process that will certainly take longer than 11 days -- Jim Sciutto, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: CNN political commentator Ryan Lizza joins us now from Washington.

And Ryan, here we are, days from the election, about 11 days; early voting is well underway and the FBI says of emails, wait a minute, we have something else to check out.

What do you make of that?

RYAN LIZZA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean, just when you thought this campaign could not take another crazy turn, you know, it's tough to know what to make of it because Comey, the FBI director, sort of dropped this bomb today by --

[00:05:00]

LIZZA: -- writing this letter to congressional leaders, saying, hey, guys, there's another investigation that we've been a part of.

And we found a bunch of e-mails that may be pertinent to the investigation that I told you that was basically over back in July.

So you know, it's basically raised more questions than it's answered. The reporting that we've gotten throughout the day is that there are thousands of e-mails on a laptop belonging to Huma Abedin, long-time aide to Hillary Clinton, and her husband, who she is now estranged from, Anthony Weiner.

It is apparently Mr. Weiner's laptop. He was being investigated by the FBI over a sexting scandal -- sexting with an underage -- sexting with a minor, just to add another insane twist to this story.

ALLEN: I know.

LIZZA: And they are reviewing that laptop and, lo and behold, the FBI says, wait a second; there are e-mails here that may be relevant to this other investigation.

Comey is briefed on this yesterday and today he says, OK, well, I better go tell Congress about this because the last time I talked to Congress I told them that this investigation was over and now that we're looking into this, they need to know about it.

And that's where we are.

ALLEN: And isn't it correct that there is a principle, not a rule but a principle, that no announcements are made within 60 days of an election?

And also, Clinton at least came out and said, show us everything you got. It's imperative for her, important to her to prove to the American people she still hasn't done anything egregious to be prosecuted.

LIZZA: Yes, yes, two important points. That's right. A lot of former Justice Department officials have noted today that there is a ironclad rule at the Justice Department, do not do anything that could impact a presidential race.

And that means don't -- you know, there's this sort of a 60-day rule. Now Comey apparently believed that, because he'd already gone public with this investigation, he'd released all the internal documents from this investigation and he had told Congress in testimony that this investigation was over, he apparently believed that he had a responsibility to report back to Congress on this new development.

You know, I think the Clinton campaign is rightfully, you know, upset about this, that he sort of dropped this bomb with no further detail. So as you point out, she came out tonight and said, wait a second, you're throwing this out there without any information, allowing others to sort of fill in the blanks or assume the worst. Give us some more information about what's going on here, what exactly are you looking at...

ALLEN: And this gives new fuel to Trump, of course, who has previous seen his poll numbers increase again and this gives renewed oomph to his Crooked Hillary stance.

LIZZA: It sure does. And you know, this campaign has been very unusual in that when the focus is on Trump, Trump's numbers tend to go down. When the focus is on Hillary Clinton, her numbers tend to go down or, at the very least, Trump numbers seem to go up.

So Hillary Clinton lost 2-3 points the last time that this e-mail issue was -- there was a bright spotlight on this. And so just based on that pattern, I think you'd have to expect that this is not good for her.

The spotlight is back on questions about this sort of complicated e- mail scandal. And with 11 days to go, you know, she has to be concerned that this will turn off some of those final voters who are making up their mind.

And it's a tricky thing. She came out today and said she wants more information about this from the FBI director. On the other hand, that will also keep this in the news if the FBI does go forward with some more information. I was sort of curious that they did that.

I thought maybe the best thing for them would be to just not say anything and let the news cycle move on to something else. But it seems like we are going to be talking about it right up until Election Day.

ALLEN: That is bizarre, Ryan Lizza, we really appreciate you joining us. It will also be interesting to see if Trump starts rising, if he starts backing away from "the election is rigged." So we'll wait and see about that one. Thanks, Ryan.

LIZZA: That's right. My pleasure.

ALLEN: An engine failure caused flames to erupt from a commercial jetliner at Chicago's O'Hare airport. According to sources close to the investigation, everyone on this American Airlines flight got out quickly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN (voice-over): You can see why after the pilots aborted the takeoff on Friday. Just 20 people had minor injuries -- very fortunate.

And a FedEx cargo plane burst into flames, forcing the airport in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, to shut down for a few hours on Friday. This video taken by CNN shows an explosion shooting debris into the air. Investigators say the fire occurred after the plane's landing gear collapsed as it was landing.

No one was hurt -- thank goodness.

[00:10:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

ALLEN: At least 15 people are dead, scores more are wounded after a new round of bombings in Aleppo. Rebels launched an offensive on Friday.

ALLEN (voice-over): Video from an activist shows an unrelenting attack on the city. After the bombing started, the Russian military asked President Vladimir Putin for permission to resume its airstrikes. He said now is not the right time. For more, here's Ivan Watson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Residents of the divided Syrian city of Aleppo woke up to an awful sound on Friday, barrage of rockets, mortars and artillery launched by rebels.

It was part of a rebel offensive against the Western government- controlled part of the city, aimed at breaking through Syrian government siege lines around Aleppo's rebel-controlled east.

To punch through government fortifications, rebels unleashed at least three armored car bombs, equipped with devastating firepower. As the rebels attacked, the top diplomats from the Syrian government and its most important foreign patrons, Russia and Iran, met in Moscow, Russia's foreign minister blaming the rebels for the collapse of a brief unilateral cessation of airstrikes, declared by Moscow and Damascus last week.

SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): Today the situation in the region of Aleppo has seriously deteriorated. The cease-fire has been broken by the opposition. The United States and their allies in the region were unwilling or unable to maintain the cease-fire.

WATSON (voice-over): The Syrian government and Russia bombed besieged Eastern Aleppo for months, killing at least 400 people there in October alone, according to a top United Nations official.

STEPHEN O'BRIEN, U.N. EMERGENCY COORDINATOR: The Aleppo offensive by Syrian and Russian military forces has been the most sustained and intensive aerial bombardment campaign witnessed since the beginning of the conflict more than half a decade ago.

The results in human terms have been horrific. Aleppo has essentially become a kill zone.

WATSON: The fact is, there are no angels in this awful, grinding five-year war. In the last few days, independent observers have accused both the Syrian regime and the rebels of carrying deadly attacks against schools in Northern Syria.

WATSON (voice-over): The U.N. saying airstrikes against a school near the rebel-held city of Idlib killed dozens, including at least 20 children on Tuesday, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says rebel artillery killed at least six children in government-held Aleppo on Thursday.

And with the rebels' latest indiscriminate shelling of Western Aleppo, the grim death toll in Syria just continues to rise -- Ivan Watson, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: As Iraqi-led forces advance on Mosul, ISIS carries out mass executions. We'll have more about that straight ahead.

Plus: a campaign to oust Venezuela's president from power suffers a setback.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:15:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

ALLEN: The United Nations says ISIS has executed 232 civilians just outside of Mosul for being disobedient.

ISIS reportedly carried out the mass killings on Wednesday, as Iraqi security forces advanced on its last urban stronghold. Some of the dead are former special forces members, who refused to join the terrorists. The U.N. also says ISIS is holding tens of thousands of people as human shields.

Meantime, Iraq says they are make progress in the offensive to reclaim Mosul. Troops are holding positions just kilometers from the city.

Many of the families rescued from ISIS control are traumatized but happy to be free. CNN's Arwa Damon visited one refugee camp and heard horror stories of life before liberation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Despite the basic conditions at this refugee camp sprouted east of Mosul, there are still smiles.

It's over. They survived.

Nine-year-old Fatima hid with her family under the stairs.

(Speaking foreign language).

She says she was scared. And there were a lot of airstrikes.

Her uncle says an airstrike destroyed the wall in their home and they escaped by using a ladder to try to jump over the wall of their house into another house, where they thought that they would be safer.

Like everyone here Shansa Dinabas (ph) cannot stop talking about ISIS' iron fist. In this particular village, he's saying that ISIS took their cellphones away over a year ago. And then two to three months ago, they forced everyone to remove their television satellite dishes.

His friends, his neighbors had a little radio that they kept hidden and that's how they were getting snippets of news. Or sometimes they would turn on the radio inside their cars.

Outside his tent, we meet his grandkids. They have just seen their father for the first time in two years.

Oh, she kissed her father when she saw him. And this is his other son. He was 2 months old or 3 months old the last time he saw his father and they were finally reunited today.

These families all say they didn't flee when ISIS first arrived. They believed the fighters, who said we will not interfere in your lives. They had no idea what horrors ISIS would bring.

And for many, it was about long-term survival. They are shepherds. This is their livelihood, all they own in life, sheep and goats, now also being loaded into trucks away from the battle zone.

Dana says they lived in a constant state of terror.

So she's just telling us about the birth of her son. He is just 3 months old and ISIS did let her go out to the hospital to give birth. But she's saying it cost a lot of money, the equivalent of around $40. And that's considered cheap.

Others were charged double.

They brought their pigeons with them because pigeon breeding is quite a hobby here.

She's saying that it's the only thing that they kind of had left that they enjoyed. She's had pigeons in her family ever since she was a little girl. And for the last five months, there was no television at home. So the pigeons went from being a hobby to pretty much being their only source of entertainment, especially for the children.

And though they don't know what the future will bring, now, for the first time in over two years, they can sleep in peace -- Arwa Damon, CNN, Hazid (ph), Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Libyan forces are also battling ISIS. On Friday, they targeted militant snipers side hiding in Sirte but some of the commanders escaped. The North African city fell to ISIS more than one year ago.

Defeating ISIS there would destroy its main stronghold outside of Iraq and Syria. The group took control during factional fighting after the death of former leader, Moammar Gadhafi.

Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro says Friday's nationwide strike called by his rivals was a failure. Some businesses closed but others stayed open rather than --

[00:20:00]

ALLEN: -- risk arrest, which he had promised.

The opposition wants to recall Mr. Maduro in a referendum and some lawmakers want to put him on political trial in the legislature. Mr. Maduro says action against him is illegal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLAS MADURO, PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA (through translator): If they violate the constitution and hold an alleged political trial that is not in our Magna Carta, the attorney general of the republic in representation of all Venezuelans should file suit, file a complaint before the courts and imprison all of those who violate the constitution, whether they are deputies or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Polls show most Venezuelans want Mr. Maduro out of power. Many say 17 years of socialism helped ruin the oil-rich country and they've had enough.

Colombia says it is making progress towards saving a peace deal with the Marxist rebels known as the FARC. Both sides are back at the negotiating table in Havana, Cuba, trying to come up with a new deal after voters rejected the last one.

Opponents say the original agreement was too easy on the rebels, who waged decades-long insurgency. An icy sea off Antarctica is starkly beautiful and unspoiled. And concerned nations want to keep it that way. What they did to protect it -- after the break here.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

ALLEN: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM.

A remote bay is becoming a special sanctuary for the penguins, killer whales and every other creature that lives there. It's located just off Antarctica. As Jonathan Mann reports, it took delicate diplomacy to create the world's largest protected marine area.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN MANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Antarctica's Ross Sea, its icy, pristine waters are home to thousands of species, including penguins, seals and whales and will now become the largest protected marine park.

After five years of negotiations, 24 countries and the European Union agreed unanimously to the deal on Friday. Supporters cheered the decision at a meeting in Australia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a major step forward for marine conservation globally. So it's a wonderful moment.

MANN (voice-over): The new sanctuary covers more than 1.5 million square kilometers of ocean that will be protected from commercial fishing for 35 years. Scientists and supporters call the agreement a milestone in efforts to protect marine diversity and to understand the effects of climate change.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And so it has to do with the unique qualities of the Ross Sea that has led us to spend all this effort.

MANN (voice-over): Before agreeing Friday, Russia had blocked five previous proposals for the massive marine park. But a United Nations official gave credit to Lewis Pugh and what he called his "Speedo diplomacy" for bringing the Russians around.

Pugh, a swimmer and environmental advocate, actually swam in the near- freezing waters last year to bring attention to the issue. Now he and other Ross Sea supporters will work to make the protected area permanent -- Jonathan Mann, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Score one for the animals.

Key West, Florida, is in the midst of a 10-day annual --

[00:25:00]

ALLEN: -- party that rivals Mardi Gras in New Orleans. The event is filled with parades, libations, costumes and a lot of skin. Here's CNN's Richard Quest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a fantasy and it's a festival, so it's Fantasy Fest. You go crazy.

RICHARD QUEST, CNNMONEY EDITOR AT LARGE (voice-over): When it comes to the outlandish, Fantasy Fest is in a league of its own, a 10-day descent into decadence and debauchery, featuring exposed flesh in all shapes and sizes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fantasy Fest is liking risking it all for fun.

QUEST (voice-over): The naked truth is we can barely show you what goes on here in Fantasy Fest on a family network without a heavy dose of censorship.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The essence of Fantasy Fest is art. Now it's exposure.

(LAUGHTER)

QUEST: The more exposure the better.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right.

QUEST: Fantasy Fest is where normal, sane people who spend their time going grocery shopping and doing the laundry suddenly started to let it all hang out.

Now let me ask you a question, when did you last walk down a public street with everything hanging out?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) about three years ago.

QUEST: That took a long time to do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About 45 minutes.

QUEST: Did you have to think long and hard about this ensemble tonight?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was talked into it.

QUEST: Are you enjoying yourself tonight?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Most spectacular event.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

QUEST (voice-over): Hello, there.

In this fantasy world of Key West, it's easy to forget, if only for a night, the reality of the presidential campaign.

QUEST: It's a good way to escape from Donald and Hillary.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a hard one to do, but, you know, come to Key West and you'll do it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hillary and Donald (INAUDIBLE). They just need to kiss and make up already.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to win.

QUEST: Who is we?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are, the Vikings. The Vikings are going to win, we're taking over.

QUEST (voice-over): And after all this exposure, I need to lie down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dance!

QUEST (voice-over): Richard Quest, CNN, with the exposed flesh in Key West.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Wonder if he asked for that assignment?

Hmm.

Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen. Our top stories are right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)