REPORT-WI-01
Email Dump; Battle for Mosul; White House Campaign Strategy; Balance of
Power; Effect of English Only Teaching in Public Schools Debated; WikiLeaks
Releases More Emails of Hillary Clinton Staffers; Races for House and
Senate Seats Examined - Part 1>
John Roberts, Jennifer Griffin, Ed Henry, Benjamin Hall, Kevin Corke>
Elections; Telecommunications; Middle East; War; Congress>
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS CHIEF POLITICAL ANCHOR: This is a Fox News alert. I'm Bret Baier in Washington.
A major cyber attack affecting your access to some of your favorite Web sites. Millions of people inside the U.S. experienced trouble connecting to several familiar sites today. The Internet firm Dyn says it was hit by a massive cyber attack. The question now is, was it the work of another country? And the worries tonight from top officials are that this is just the beginning.
Chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge is here with the latest. Good evening -- Catherine.
CATHERINE HERRIDGE, FOX NEWS CHIEF INTELLIGENCE CORRESPONDENT: Well, thank you Bret.
Cyber security experts told Fox late today that aid the attack came in at least two waves with hackers targeting the Internet's critical infrastructure which is like a giant switchboard connecting and directing web traffic. This is called a distributed denial of service attack or a DDOS. And it's often used to probe a network in advance of a larger cyber event.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM KELLERMANN, STRATEGIC CYBER VENTURES: This is the first move on a chess board. Whether it's a cyber crime chess board or cyber espionage chess board is unbeknownst to me.
But what's interesting here is that this widespread denial of service attack taking down these Web sites would allow the hackers to create a fog of war while they sneak into the back doors of the networks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HERRIDGE: A New Hampshire based company called Dyn was affected causing outages on the Eastern Seaboard, parts of the West Coast as well as the U.K. and western Europe affecting Amazon, Twitter, Spotify, Reddit as well as AirBNB among others. This FBI web page that's available for public searches of investigative files was also knocked offline today for several hours and we have asked the bureau if there's a connection.
This afternoon the White House confirmed the Department of Homeland Security is investigating.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: They will take a close look at it. But at this point, I don't have any information to share about who may be responsible for that malicious activity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HERRIDGE: Because of the depth and breadth of the attacks, cyber experts said tonight a likely scenario is that the hackers are acting on behalf of a foreign government or launching the attacks to curry favor with a foreign intelligence service.
Though it's just too early to say whether there's any connection to the hack from the Democratic Party or WikiLeaks -- Bret.
BAIER: Ok. We will follow that.
Meantime speaking about cyber security, there's a new video out tonight surfacing of then-secretary of state Hillary Clinton warning Statement Department employees about how seriously they should take cyber security?
HERRIDGE: Well, that's right. Despite conducting government business on a personal unsecured server, in this 2010 video obtained by Fox News, then- Secretary Clinton lectured staff on the professional obligation to protect government secrets.
(inaudible)
HERRIDGE: The following year, Clinton again told them employees to follow the rules while she simply ignored them. Fox first reported that Secretary Clinton sent a department-wide cable in 2011 telling employees not to use personal e-mail for government business because of the severe cyber threat. There was no immediate response tonight from the campaign or the State Department -- Bret.
BAIER: Ok. Catherine -- thank you.
HERRIDGE: You're welcome.
BAIER: Now to the presidential race. A charity dinner in New York last night that started with civility and jokes ended with some tension between the two candidates. And today, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton did not put away the rhetorical knives.
Their face to face encounters are officially over as both campaigns head down the final stretch of the most unique election season in memory.
Trump continued to stay on the offense against Clinton during rallies in battleground states of North Carolina and Pennsylvania. And even started taking on a new target.
Senior national correspondent John Roberts is traveling with the Trump team in Newton, Pennsylvania tonight. Hello -- John.
JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Bret -- good evening to you.
You know, Donald Trump faces perhaps the most daunting challenge of his entire career. How to turn around sagging poll numbers and eroding Republican support to win the White House in just 17 days.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: In North Carolina today, where he trails Hillary Clinton by a narrow margin, Donald Trump took a sharp shot for the first time at Michelle Obama, reminding voters what she said in 2008 while campaigning for her husband.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Wasn't she the one that originally started the statement, if you can't take care of your home, right? You can't take care of the White House or the country. Where is that? I don't hear that.
ROBERTS: Trump, already a tireless campaigner, has ramped up his schedule to at least three big rallies a day, insisting he wants to leave nothing on the table between now and November 8.
TRUMP: At least I will have known, win, lose or draw, I will be happy with myself. Because I always say, I don't want to think back if only I did one more rally I would have won North Carolina by 500 votes instead of losing by 200 -- right?
ROBERTS: The political stakes were laid bare at the Al Smith dinner for Catholic Charities last night -- an election year tradition where the candidates engage in a good natured roast.
TRUMP: Hillary accidentally bumped into me, and she very civilly said, pardon me. And I very politely replied let me talk to you about that after I get into office.
ROBERTS: Trump managed some light-hearted barbs against Clinton but he also drew boos for what many people thought were jokes that crossed the line.
TRUMP: Here she is tonight in public pretending not to hate Catholics.
Hillary is so corrupt she got kicked off the Watergate Commission.
ROBERTS: While some Catholics describe the evening as cringe-worthy, Cardinal Dolan managed to find some humor in it.
CARDINAL TIMOTHY DOLAN, NEW YORK ARCHBISHOP: Pardon my congestion and cough. I'm afraid I'm coming down with a cold, which is completely understandable given the fact that for the last two hours I've had a seat between our two candidates in what's probably the iciest place on the planet. Where is global warming when you need it?
ROBERTS: One bright spot for Trump, the scandal surrounding his campaign appeared to be fading in the closing days. And it is clear he has no appetite to even entertain them, walking out of two interviews yesterday when the topics of racism and sexism were brought up.
TRUMP: I am the least racist person you have ever met.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Tomorrow, Donald Trump will use the historic setting of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to outline his version of a contract with America. According to his senior campaign officials, Trump will lay out a concise program that he will commit to execute on from the first day in office -- Bret.
BAIER: John -- I was at that dinner last night. And you're right, some of those jokes did fall flat. But on both sides, Hillary Clinton, she had some doozies as well, maybe not as much as Donald Trump.
I want to ask you about the stump speech. Has it changed significantly in recent days?
ROBERTS: I mean he's ramped up the intensity a little bit -- Bret. Obviously he knows that time is running out. And he has to hit his points on policy and his attacks on Hillary Clinton to a greater degree than he has.
Where he went today with the attack on Michelle Obama, that's some place that he hasn't gone before. I was told by a campaign official that was not in his prepared remarks. That he wandered off script and adlibbed that one. He hasn't done it since. We will see if he does it tonight here in Newton -- Bret.
BAIER: All right. John Roberts with the Trump campaign. John -- thank you.
Hillary Clinton was in Ohio late this afternoon -- one of the states she wants to make sure stays out of the Trump column. But there are concerns, continuing concerns in her camp tonight about Donald Trump's refusal in that debate to say he will go along with the election results if he does not win. Despite clarifying those remarks Thursday, the Clinton camp is focused on Trump's first response.
Fox News correspondent Jennifer Griffin has the latest tonight from Cleveland where a Clinton event has just concluded.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Maybe you saw Donald dismantle his prompter the other day. And I get that. They're hard to keep up with and I'm sure it's even harder when you are translating from the original Russian.
JENNIFER GRIFFIN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hillary Clinton used an evening of self-deprecation and humor to mock her opponent's apparent warmth for the Russian president.
CLINTON: Donald really is as healthy as a horse. You know, the one Vladimir Putin rides around on.
GRIFFIN: Allegations that Russia is trying to influence the U.S. election is no laughing matter, however.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You used to criticize me for even talking to the Russians. Now suddenly, you are ok with your nominee having a bromance with Putin.
GRIFFIN: And Clinton has some powerful surrogates making that case.
SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Why is Donald Trump so interested in standing on stage and being Vladimir Putin's defense lawyer when he won't even defend the democratic traditions of free elections in this country?
GRIFFIN: Trump has dismissed the intelligence community's findings that Russia is behind the recent hacks, suggesting a conspiracy between the U.S. intelligence community and the Clinton campaign to keep him from being elected.
TRUMP: She has no idea whether it's Russia, China or anybody else.
CLINTON: I am not quoting myself.
TRUMP: She has no idea.
CLINTON: I am quoting 17 --
TRUMP: Hillary -- you have no idea.
GRIFFIN: Director of National Intelligence James Clapper reiterated those concerns yesterday adding he has more evidence he hasn't released.
JAMES CLAPPER, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: We wouldn't have made it unless we were very confident. I am not going to discuss the underlying evidentiary basis for it. But when we say we're confident, you know, I think it speaks for itself.
GRIFFIN: Putin rejected the allegations Monday.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): I want to set everyone's mind at rest, including our American friends and partners, we are not going to influence the U.S. election campaign.
GRIFFIN: Julian Assange the head of WikiLeaks warned recently he has now set his sights on Clinton's running mate Tim Kaine and DNC interim chair Donna Brazile.
Quote, "We have a surprise in store for @TimKaine and @DonnaBrazile". And he said he would target Trump if he used email.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: Now in an apparent move to embarrass the United States and adding to the impression that Trump's concerns about a rigged election may be real, Russia says it will send monitors to U.S. polling stations on November 8. The State Department today described it as a stunt -- Bret.
BAIER: Jennifer -- thank you.
We are learning more tonight about the disarray within the Hillary Clinton team over what could be considered a $12 million appearance fee from a Moroccan king. And the latest WikiLeaks dump also reinforces doubts about how Clinton handles sensitive data.
Chief national correspondent Ed Henry has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, FOX NEWS CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The latest dump shows just how hard Huma Abedin was pushing to follow through on a $12 million contribution to the Clinton Foundation that Hillary Clinton had shaken loose from the King of Morocco in exchange for bringing a major Clinton Global Initiative event to his country in the spring of 2015.
In a November 2014 e-mail released by WikiLeaks today, Abedin wrote to fellow Clinton aides quote, "No matter what happens, she will be in Morocco hosting CGI on May 5 through the 7, 2015. Her presence was a condition for the Moroccans to proceed so there is no going back on this."
CLINTON: Thank you.
HENRY: Clinton's political advisers John Podesta and Robby Mook disagreed. And the Moroccan event went forward without her because they were worried more grist for pay to play allegations would overshadow the launch of her campaign.
In late 2014, the Clinton camp was also deeply concerned about whether they would face a primary challenge from Senator Elizabeth Warren. The aides obsessed over every detail of an eventual December 2014 meeting Clinton had with Warren in Boston. Mook writing quote, "It would just be such a big deal for this meeting to go well and have EW walk out feeling positive and on board."
At the time, Senator Bernie Sanders was not on the radar screen of the national media or the Clinton camp. By this past January, though, Sanders had gotten under Clinton's skin. And Podesta told a friend about the Senator's health plan, quote, "His actual proposal sucks, but we live in a lefty alternative universe."
There are also new questions about Clinton's handling of secure information after her time as secretary of state. In 2014 she sent to Podesta's Gmail account information that quoted a confidential source in Tripoli recounting sensitive details about the initial allied invasion of Libya. Quote, "The presence of two U.S. Navy jet fighters over the city brought all fighting to a halt for several hours as Islamist forces were not certain that these aircraft would not also provide close ground support for moderate government forces."
Clinton's goal was to give her future campaign chairman a look at her vision for the Mideast though the "Daily Caller" reported the details could violate operational security guidelines.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: Now, the State Department revealed late today that the FBI found one more Clinton e-mail that has classified information. This note was about the UAE and Abedin sent it to Clinton and then she forwarded it on to a household employee in Chappaqua and said, "Please, print this out," even though it had classified information -- Bret.
BAIER: Thanks -- Ed.
Let's take a look at the Electoral College map today, where we stand. This is the score card. This is including states leaning one way or another based on the polls tonight.
Light blue is lean Democratic; pink lean Republican; and yellow, tossup states. Look at the changes here -- Texas lean Republican; Arizona and Utah, traditional Republican states, now tossups.
This is the map -- Clinton 307 to Trump 181. You need 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.
Let's go back to our "what if" scenario and this is to give states to the leader in that state even if they have a razor thin margin. As of tonight, Donald Trump wins Georgia. He wins Iowa. He wins Ohio. That is it. The rest of the states on this map go Democratic -- Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida. That is an electoral blowout, 334 to 204. That's where the polls stand as of tonight -- the average of polls.
Can this change? Yes. And Trump supporters point to the Brexit vote and how those polls changed. This was the vote to take Great Britain out of the EU. As we take a look at the vote there, the average of polls before that vote, June 23, here is how it stands. Remain, 48 percent; leave 46 percent.
Now, what happened? You had a trend that developed that in the later days as you get closer to the vote, it started to change -- that the leave was moving up in the polls here. And at the end, on the vote, here is what you have. Leave 51.9 percent, remain 48.1 percent. It was a major shift.
Here is the director of the Fox News decision desk, Arnon Mishkin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARNON MUSHKIN, FOX NEWS DECISION DESK DIRECTOR: What happened in Brexit was everyone in the United Kingdom thought that Brexit was definitely going to fail. And so those people who supported remain who were traditionally sort of the Londoners, the more urban population, they didn't go to the polls. The Brexit supporters were able to overcome what was in fact a two to three point deficit in the polls heading into the Election Day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: So how potentially does that translate here in the U.S.? Here is the average of polls, the SPECIAL REPORT index. And this is 8.6, the difference between the two candidates. Can Donald Trump make that up in the final 18 days?
Again -- Arnon Mishkin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MISHKIN: I think without question, the conventional wisdom right now is that Hillary Clinton sort of has it in the bag. I think that could depress the turnout amongst the Clinton supporters. If Trump figures out a message that gets people to the polls and says, just make a statement on my behalf or on the behalf of our cause by going out to the polls, it's possible that that turnout will be higher than expected.
Polling is rarely off by more than two to three points. This year it's possible that it's going to be a little wider because Trump does not have as much strength amongst the Republican ranks as historically a Republican candidate would be expected to have.
If many of those people come back between now and Election Day, yes indeed, we could see a wider swing in the polling. But in general, polls are not off by more than two to three points as we get closer and closer to Election Day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: So the short answer is, yes, if there's a momentum that way. But seeing more than four or five, six points separating the two candidates -- that's a big uphill battle.
Up next, is President Obama taking a Hillary Clinton win in November for granted?
First here's what some of our Fox affiliates around the country are covering tonight.
Fox 4 in Kansas City as 52 people seek medical attention after a chemical spill at a distilling plant released a noxious cloud in northeast Kansas. Officials say the cloud formed when two chemicals were mistakenly combined at the NGP ingredients plant in Atchison. A hospital spokeswoman says one person remains in intensive care.
Fox 5 in New York as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's -- excuse me -- former deputy chief of staff testified against him about plans for a traffic study on the George Washington Bridge a month before they began in 2013. Bridget Kelly is fighting charges that she helped plot lane closings as political revenge against the Democratic mayor who would not endorse the Republican governor. She also talked more clearly than I am.
And this is a live look at Denver from Fox 31. The big story there tonight a federal investigation into allegations that documents about wait times at a veterans' hospital were falsified. It comes after the death of a veteran and claims that he waited too long to get treatment. The allegations follow cost overruns of more than a billion dollars at the Aurora V.A. Hospital.
That's tonight's live look outside the Beltway from SPECIAL REPORT. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: Senior defense officials tell Fox the sailing of a U.S. Navy war ship close to a disputed chain of islands in the South China Sea is not meant to be a provocative act. China claims the islands and the waters around them. Pentagon officials say the USS Decatur never left international waters. It was shadowed by three Chinese vessels. An accompanying navy surveillance plane was escorted away by several Chinese fighter jets.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte says it is in his country's best interests to maintain ties with the U.S. This comes one day after his pronouncement that his country is separating from the U.S. The White House says it wants to know more about Duterte's intentions.
ISIS terrorists tried a diversionary tactic today as Iraqi forces continue their bid to retake the city of Mosul.
Correspondent Benjamin Hall was on the front lines early today. He reports tonight from Erbil.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BENJAMIN HALL, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Today ISIS fighters reminded everyone that they were far from a spent force, launching a series of deadly coordinated attacks in the city of Kirkuk, 100 miles southeast from Mosul.
Early this morning, armed with assault rifles and explosives, the militants said to be part of sleeper cells attacked targets in and around the city. The attacks focused on government buildings and also a power station, killing at least a dozen, injuring scores more. The White House responded to the attack.
EARNEST: We stand ready to offer assistance or equipment or expertise or advice to the Iraqi government as they respond to this latest breach of their homeland security.
HALL: Back around Mosul, there was a sense of victory on the road as fighters returned from battle. But a couple of miles ahead at the front lines, the story was very different. And it became clear that victory was still far off.
The villages around us are all Christian. They have been liberated in the last couple of days by Kurdish fighters and Christian units. Many of whom have had to arm themselves. But liberating a town and clearing an area are two very different things. There are said to be ISIS fighters possibly in the areas around us.
This afternoon, after much fighting Bartella, one of the largest Christian villages near Mosul was liberated and a flag raised over its church. Much of the fighting over the last couple of days has been in Christian villages.
I met up with General Ahmad Shamon (ph) of the Christian Nineveh Protection Unit. He told me how they had formed two years ago to protect their villages and churches as ISIS approached. His men had had no military experience and had received no help from the government until recently. They had even been forced to buy their own weapons. He then said that Christians would never again feel safe here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HALL: And Bret, one of the other things we have been hearing is that ISIS have done so much damage to this country that even after Mosul is taken back, it will be very hard to rebuild those communities in the way they used to be. We also saw today that Christianity was another victim of the terror group -- Bret.
BAIER: Benjamin Hall, live in Erbil. Benjamin -- thank you.
Russia is extending the cease-fire that began Thursday in Aleppo, Syria into the weekend. This follows major problems in getting civilians and the wounded out of that city and allowing medical supplies in. A U.N. official says opposition fighters are blocking the evacuations because Syria and Russia are holding up deliveries of supplies.
Back here in the U.S., Amtrak is barring Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smart phones now. Samsung has recalled the devices, you may remember, after reports of overheating and catching fire. Airlines have already stopped allowing them on board.
President Obama appears to be turning his political focus from the Clinton campaign to other races down ballot.
Correspondent Kevin Corke is at the White House tonight to tell us how.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OBAMA: Don't boo -- vote.
KEVIN CORKE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Even as President Obama implored the Democratic nominee's supporters to stay focused on her, the White House was increasingly focusing its campaign energy down ballot.
OBAMA: And Patrick Murphy, when he is your United States senator, he is going to be doing his work. In fact, unlike his opponent, he actually shows up to work.
CORKE: so confident of a Clinton victory in November, the White House's core message has seeming changed from I'm with her to I'm against them, as in GOP candidates running for Congress. Mr. Obama's cut TV ads for at least five Senate candidates and several House candidates as well as some radio commercials.
White House officials acknowledge the shifting plan but they caution reading too much into it.
EARNEST: The President is not just guarding against but warning against complacency. And I recognize how that can be confused for trying to run up the score but the President understands the stakes of this election.
CORKE: High stakes and down ballot drama from the President's recent trip to Florida, to the First Lady's stop in Arizona; and the Vice President's visit to Nevada. It's a cross-country strategy to boost Democratic odds of recapturing Congress while protecting the Obama legacy.
Still there are risks. The Clinton campaign has made a concerted effort to target disaffected GOP voters, the President's fervor on the stump could backfire on that effort.
Add to that, polls that show softer than expected support for Mrs. Clinton among African Americans and millennials and the Democrats dream of a Clinton White House could become an unexpected November nightmare. Democratic strategists say they're not worried yet.
JOE TRIPPI, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Look -- there's always a risk that she loses a state or something happens that you weren't expecting. But given the lead that she has right now in a lot of these battleground states, the bigger risk is that you don't pick up the Senate because you didn't change your focus enough.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CORKE: Bret -- the President will be back out on the campaign trail in Nevada over the weekend before jetting off to California early next week. And for the record, Obama won Nevada in 2008 and 2012. But keep in mind, George W. Bush won it in 2000 and in 2004. It is a tossup state once again this year -- Bret.
BAIER: Kevin Corke, live on the north lawn. Kevin -- thank you.
So how important is it really for a political party to control Congress? Both chambers ideally.
Correspondent Doug McKelway has some answers tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DOUG MCKELWAY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: No matter who wins the presidency on Election Day, nearly half of the country will be angered or disappointed. The founders foresaw such deep division. Now their system of checks and balances will stand a new test, November 8.
Democrats need 30 seats to regain control of the House to elect a speaker and the immense power that comes with it.
JOHN, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: He sets the agenda. He sets the calendar. He effectively determines what comes up for a vote and what is killed in committee. And the ability to set that agenda does not just affect the House calendar or the bills that are filed in Congress, but it has a real impact on the national conversation around policy.
MCKELWAY: Years of redistricting have left most House Republicans in largely rural, safe seats so Democratic control of the House remains a long shot. But Democrats are increasingly hopeful given Donald Trump's recent decline in the polls.