clinton over new documents released by the fbi that show a state department official pressuring the bureau to declassify an e-mail on benghazi. >> also, melania trump decides to take to the air waves. she does interviews defending her husband. she does it with anderson cooper in a cnn interview. she says the women accusing him of unwanted advances are lying. there is so much at stake. we have just one day until the final face-off. last time you'll get to see clinton and trump head to head. it's tomorrow night. just 21 days until the election. let's begin our coverage. cnn's manu raju live in vegas. >> reporter: good morning, chris. yeah, donald trump really needs a stellar debate performance in this debate hall behind me tomorrow night. polls continue to show him struggling and losing both nationally and in key background states, which is probably repeatedly saying he's the

victim of an unfair system. >> they even want to try to rig the election at the polling booths. people that have died ten years ago are still voting. illegal immigrants are voting. >> reporter: donald trump ramping up his unfounded claim that the election is rigged. >> you look at what's going on in st. louis and many other cities. there's tremendous voter fraud. >> reporter: his willingness to accept the election results if he loses now in question. >> mr. trump, if there is overwhelming evidence of any kind of fraud or irregularities. >> reporter: trump frustrating many republican lead who are have rejected his allegations of rigging. >> as a republican, i want to reassure donald trump and all ohio voters and voters across the country that the system is not rigged. >> reporter: the republican nominee also intensifying his feud with house speaker paul ryan after he said he wouldn't defend trump. >> maybe he wants to run in four years, or maybe he doesn't know

how to win. maybe he just doesn't know how 20 win. >> reporter: trump taking his rage against the establishment and hillary clinton a step further in wisconsin. >> it is time to drain the swamp in washington, d.c. >> reporter: trump proposes a package of ethics reforms, aiming to tackle corruption in washington, including tighter restrictions on members of congress and white house officials taking on jobs as lobbyists. >> this will go a long way to ending our government corruption. >> reporter: a proposal sparked by his accusations that the fbi and state department engage in a criminal conspiracy. >> this is felony corruption. >> reporter: after newly released documents suggest a top state department official pressured the fbi to declassify an e-mail about benghazi that was on the private server clinton used while secretary of state, possibly in exchange for offering to help station fbi agents overseas. >> the allegation of any kind of

quid pro quo is inaccurate. there was no quid pro quo. >> reporter: clinton is not commenting. she's been off the campaign trail for days, preparing for tomorrow's final debate. clinton's campaign now setting its sights on historically conservative states as she widens her lead in the polls, deploying her daughter chelsea, michelle obama, and bernie sanders to arizona in hopes of turning that red state blue. now, part of that effort to go into those conservative states to deliver what the clinton campaign hopes is a landslide victory come november and also help deliver the senate to democrats, this is part of an effort to drop a million dollars into missouri and indiana, two states central to the senate majority. the question, chris, is whether or not hillary clinton will have the coattails to turn congress democratic. chris? >> i want to ask you to answer that question because i know you got the hot hand at the table, so get back to it.

let's discuss now with cnn political commentator and former donald trump campaign manager corey lewandowski and cnn political commentator paul begala. it's working. i saw in a poll 41 or even more percent of trump supporters believe the race may be stolen from him. i keep hearing the word rigged, rigged, rigged. your problem is there is no proof to pin these allegations of widespread voter fraud. let's move back the proof because you're never going to convince me. but why do you think this works for trump? >> well, i think what you have in this system is look what the pugh foundation put out. about 1.8 million people who are deceased still on the voter rolls. >> doesn't mean they get to vote. >> doesn't mean they don't get to vote. >> if there's one case of voter fraud, there's one case too many. we know that for sure. >> no, no. two different points. you're right. one case is one case too many.

no question. there's so much proof, there's so many studies of people who have looked at literally a billion votes and they find a handful of fraud, prosecuted cases. handful. no proof that any election could have been gjimmied by these typs of things. he's saying large-scale voter fraud. not provable. cannot be substantiated. the question is, why does he think it helps him? >> we don't know if it's provable or not until the election is over. >> that's a different point. he's already saying it exists. >> if donald trump wins by 30 electoral votes, it's no the a question. if he wins the state of pennsylvania by 200,000, no question. >> if he wins, it's not a question. he's not going to complain if he wins. >> if hillary clinton wins the state of pennsylvania by a million votes, one or two votes isn't going to make a difference. the question is, do we have the best system in place right now? do we know these people exist on the rolls in multiple states? are people taking advantage of it? of course they are. we know that unequivocally. what he's saying is let's do the

best job possible so we can maintain -- >> he's never said that. he said it's going to be stolen from him. >> can i just bring per spective here from planet reality? >> yes. >> the study you mentioned, loyola law school. >> that's just one of them. you have the brennan center, news 21. a whole bunch of them. >> the loyola study looked at 1 billion votes cast in america over a 15-year period, found 31 individual cases of voter fraud. 31 out of a billion. the bush justice department believed this hype, right, because they're all a bunch of political people. and they put together a task force. we're going to get voter fraud. they investigated, prosecuted. they found i think 86 cases out of hundreds of millions of votes over a five-year period. it does not happen in america. what undermines our democracy is people like donald trump saying the system is rigged when this is the greatest democracy in human history. what undermines our democracy is letting vladimir putin come in here and monkey around with our elections, who's trump's big bud buddy. so there is a threat to our

dmob democracy. it's a terrible message for trump. the system is rigged, go participate in the system. the system is not rigged. go vote. if you vote for trump, got bless you. you vote for hillary clinton, god bless you. this is a democracy. it works. it is really despicable the way he's undermining our democracy. >> very righteous this morning. >> i am. >> now he's going to get a punch in the nose. what do you make of these e-mails with kennedy, one of the undersecretaries of the state department, obviously in some kind of -- the way they're setting it up, it's like a desperate struggle to try to declassify e-mails to protect clinton, maybe even a suggestion of a quid bro quo. i'll give you more people to make something secure overseas if you take care of me on this. smells bad. >> ambassador kennedy is a career foreign servant. he's not a political hack like me. he's engaged with a career fbi official in the kind of to-and-fro that bureaucrats have all the time about what should

be classified and what should not. this is retroactive classification, looking at it after the fact. that kind of stuff happens every day. >> so you're saying the system stinks so don't blame anybody? >> i think we overclassify. i think your government hides way too much from you. i do. i worked at the government. i had top-secret security clearance. we classify way too much. but that's a different matter. you should have some separate sort of blue ribbon commission. >> trump calls it a felony corruption. >> please. that's nonsense. this is two bureaucrats wrestling over what should be declassified. >> fbi agents were upset. >> the fbi now says -- there are reports that say it's the fbi who asked for this deal, not the state department. >> there are varying reports. lewandowski, this means more to you. tell us why. >> in 25 years being involved with the federal government, never, ever, ever, and i had top-secret security clearance, have i ever heard of two bureaucrats in such a public way fighting over an e-mail. this is not a wikileak document.

it's a 302 the fbi agent filed that said exactly this. under secretary kennedy asked me to change the classification of an e-mail so we could keep that e-mail out from the public to protect hillary clinton. it says in the e-mail, quid pro quo. this isn't an allege. it says in the e-mail quid pro quo. and we'll give you billets overseas, specifically for fbi agents, to serve in iraq. it's not a potential. it's not maybe. >> paul says this is the way the system works. >> so for the last 30 years that you've been involved, have you ever heard a discussion like this about the classification of an e-mail between two quote/unquote bureaucrats to protect the secretary of state who said we'll give you something if you change the classification because we don't want this e-mail going public? of course not. you know what this is? this is typical one rule for the elite and a separate rule for everybody else. >> answer the charge. >> it's baloney. look, what you have, first off,

as i said before, there's also evidence in e-mail traffic that it was the fbi who asked for this deal. >> and the fbi does deny any quid pro quo. >> the state department says there's no quid pro quo. but donald trump, a professional liar, says there is. i'm going to believe the fbi. >> well, no, one of the agents. >> that phrase is used in there, but both sides now dispute that. >> except that somebody did say it. it didn't come from donald trump's mouth. it came from something he read in an e-mail. >> when undersecretary kennedy didn't get the answer he wanted from the first fbi agent, he asked three additional agents. whether or not it took place or not, changing that alone, asking for something like that, is a felony. that's the bottom line. he should step down immediately. >> hold on, hold on. why would it be a felony to ask to declassify an e-mail? >> because you can't do that under the laws of this rule for our quid pro quo. >> oh, you're including the quid pro quo. asking to declassify, that happens all the time. >> that's fine. but not for a quid pro quo. to say that i'm going to do this to protect hillary clinton so

that we will give you something in exchange is illegal and he should step down immediately. >> you think you should wait until you have proof of a quid pro quo before you say felony corruption? >> i read the fbi's 302. either the fbi agent is lying or secretary kerry. >> the only people spun up about it are mr. lewandowski and his pal trump. >> all right. i've got to go. corey, paul, as always. tomorrow night you get to see this on a much higher level. the final showdown between hillary clinton and donald trump. cnn's debate coverage starts at 4:00 p.m. eastern. alisyn, party at your house. don't buy the cheap chips. >> you got it. nachos all around, chris. see you at 4:00. meanwhile, what did melania trump think when she heard that audiotape with her husband making lewd comments about women? what she told anderson cooper, next.

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melania trump deciding to defend her husband. we're hearing from her for the first time since her speech at that republican convention. she's speaking to cnn's anderson cooper about this flurry of recent controversies and whether the media is to blame. >> i was surprised, of course. but i was not surprised that the tape came out. i was not surprised about that. >> why? >> because as i said, many people from the opposite side that they want to damage the campaign. why now? why after so many years? why three weeks before the election? >> your husband has said maybe that he felt the clintons had something to do with it or the media. what do you think? >> well, it was the media. it was nbc.

it was "access hollywood." it was left wing media. you could see that. the way it came out, everything was organized. every friday, every friday something comes out. so they play, they play, they play. and it was hour after hour. i watched tv hour after hour, bashing him. because they want to influence the american people how to vote. and they're influencing in the wrong way. >> the information about your husband's 1995 taxes were released right before the first debate. then this came out just days before the second debate. you're saying that's not a coincidence. >> no, that was all organized, yes. they planned that way. because they don't want to talk -- the opposition doesn't want to talk about wikileaks and the e-mails and benghazi and all

the rest of the stuff. they don't want to talk about it. so they said, let's do something so we will hurt his campaign. >> "the washington post" leaked the tape, released the tape. nbc had it for -- they said they had it for several days and were reviewing it. but you believe that it was -- that nbc could have released it. you think they knew about it long ago. >> yes, they knew a long time ago. i'm sure they did. "washington post" -- when did we hear or read any great stories about my husband or about me. the true stuff, the facts, the real stuff. or "new york times." we never read. they're bashing, bashing, bashing. >> you feel they've been very unfair. >> yes. >> right now the latest polls show, i think, more than 60% of

people believe your husband made some sort of unwanted advances. what do you want those people to know? what would you say to them? >> that my husband is kind and he's a gentleman. he would never do that. everything was organized and put together to hurt him, to hurt his candidacy. >> organized by the opposition? >> the opposition, yes. >> the media, clintons. >> yes. >> you think they're working together? >> yes, of course. >> here to discuss everything you've just heard, cnn political commentator and senior writer for "the federalist," mary katherine hamm, and "usa today" columnist, kirsten. melania blames the clinton campaign, the media, "access hollywood," she blames billy bush in a different part for, quote, egging her husband on. what did you think of that? >> some of it's more effective than other parts. i would say october surprises

are not coincidences. that's why they're called october surprises and not july surprises. she's got a point there. >> hold on a second. so you think that the women who have come forward, at least nine who have come forward with accusations of having been groped by donald trump, you think that they are coordinated somehow? >> no, i don't actually think they're coordinated. i think the media is fairly aggressive about finding folks at this point in october because they're always aggressive in october. i think that it's not crazy to think that, oh, this seemed to be quite a coordinated rollout as it was with alicia machado. that doesn't make the allegations not true. that's what she has to deal with. that's the part that i think was completely ineffective. but the idea that more things break in october is not some sort of made up thing. >> okay. kirsten, what did you hear? >> well, i heard her really playing the victim, i think much

the same way donald trump plays the victim and blaming other people for what happened. so blaming billy bush for so-called egging him on. of course, we're talking about at this point a grown man who is, you know, 59 years old, being egged on, i guess, by this "access hollywood" reporter, which raises a lot of questions about what would happen if he was president, how he could be egged on perhaps by vladimir putin or other people like that. so i guess i'm one of the few people who didn't find it very effective. i've heard a lot of people saying she was very effective. i think if you only saw an outtake of her saying that he didn't do it and this is not the man that i know, that's effective. but i don't think playing the victim and blaming other people and all but invoking a left-wing conspiracy much the way hillary clinton invoked a right-wing conspiracy when the monica lewinsky story broke, i don't see how that moves anybody, you know, to their side. >> mary katherine, what about that point that if he can be egged on by billy bush, what

would happen if he were in the white house? >> i think that's the argument many of his primary opponents made, that many conservatives like myself thought. this guy can be egged into pretty much anything in his twitter stream. that would be a problematic quality. that's the part of melania trump's interview that was not at upall effective for her husband. if you just hear the denial part and melania is a poised and interesting figure, then you go, okay, maybe that softens it a bit. then you hear the other stuff and think, maybe not. >> kirsten, she also said it's fair to bring up bill clinton's past accusers but not fair to bring up her husband's, who are -- there's no evidence, she says, and they're discredited. how does that logic work? >> it doesn't work. this whole time we have -- and remember, they were attacking bill clinton before this happened. we had donald trump actually sitting with accusers of bill clinton basically saying these

women must be believed. then when he's accused, everything is flipped on its head and now you're not supposed to believe anybody. so they really can't have it both ways. they can't go after bill clinton, who also isn't running for president, and then say don't listen to any of these women. i think another thing that she said that was problematic is this is boy talk and i have two boys at home, talking about her 11-year-old son and her husband, which again is not really reassuring. then another thing she said was anderson asked her, you know, do you think that what was said on this tape describes sexual assault. she said no. then she goes on to say he didn't say that he did it, but in fact, he did say that this is something that he did. that's kind of the point. i think that if these women had come forward absent that tape, i think it would actually be a little different because the problem is what he said on the tape. the problem isn't the timing of when it was released. the problem is what he said, that he said he does this.

>> okay. ladies, mary katherine, kirsten powers, thank you very much. great to talk to both of you. chris? the state department is facing tough questions this morning following the release of new e-mails in the hillary clinton private server investigation. is there evidence of quid pro quo? we get answers from state department spokesman john kirby next. you both have a perfect driving record. until one of you clips a food truck. then your rates go through the roof. perfect. ♪ for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident.

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all right. here's the situation. documents released by the fbi show undersecretary of state patrick kennedy trying to convince fbi officials of a particular e-mail being declassified that involves hillary clinton. in other notes released by the bureau, an fbi official said he told the state department he'd look into the e-mail if the department looked into his request for personnel in iraq, fueling allegations of a quid pro quo. this for that. here to respond, state department spokesman john kirby. you've got the chairman of the house oversight government reform jason chaffetz saying this is proof of a violation of law. donald trump says it is felony

corruption. is there proof of this quid pro quo? >> no. not only there is no proof, it's absolutely not true. completely false allegations. it just didn't happen that way. what did happen, half of what you said is right. pat kennedy did call the fbi and tried to get a better understanding of why they wanted one particular e-mail classified secret. we didn't see it that way. we didn't think it needed to be classified. but the fbi held firm to their position. the e-mail remained classified. that e-mail redacted is on our website. you can look for it yourself. but there was no bargain sought by the fbi. there was no bargain rendered. this was simply an inner agency conversation about the classification over one particular e-mail. there was no wrongdoing here. >> what do you make of these agents saying otherwise? one of them saying he asked for something, billeting other troops, security, and the other guy saying he felt it was a quid pro quo situation. what do you make of that? >> so there was a request by the fbi for additional slots in iraq.

that was a separate conversation than the one we were having with them about our concern over this particular e-mail. that conversation did happen. both those conversations happened. but to try to link them together and say there was some sort of bargain sought is not accurate. i can't speak for the individual who said this in an interview. remember, chris, what we're talking about are notes from interviews. we're not talking about this document that you're talking about that got released. it's not facts, it's not conclusions, it's not investigative results. it's notes from an interview. again, i can't speak to that individual and their re recollections. we looked at it and found absolutely nothing wrong. the fbi put out a lengthy statement about this phone conversation and what it was and more importantly what it wasn't. >> chaffetz says it's not like this was quick. it went up the food chain. it was being negotiated, being discussed. for me, we believe that's a violation of law and that kennedy engaged in those activities and that is wrong. >> well, i don't know what he meant by it was being discussed. if what the congressman means

is -- >> declassify this e-mail and this other issue about billeting extra security is on the table. >> again, no bargain was sought. the context of these conversations, there was never a quid pro quo sought or even discussed. there were, however, two conversations. both of them legitimate. it's not unusual for other agencies who have positions in our embassies to talk to us about more billets, more resources. that happens all the time. it's also not unusual through the course of the release of a 5,000 pages of e mal-mails that were going to have conversations about the degree of classification. we didn't agree with the fbi. we lost the argument. it stayed secret. there were also conversations we had with the intel community. we didn't win every one of those either. you have to think there has to be that kind of conversation. there's not only nothing wrong with that, it's a healthy, vibrant way of discussing how we're going to release documents through foia. >> the problem is this agent saying that there was a quid pro quo in play.

why would he say that if he didn't have any reason to say it? >> i can't speak for that individual, chris. all i can tell you is the fbi themselves said there was no quid pro quo sought and certainly none delivered. >> do you believe that the cease-fire in syria is holding right now, that russia is not bombing additionally? >> well, these are early reports, chris. i'm glad you asked the question. certainly we're gratified to hear the reports that there might have been a reduction here in the violence. it's a little too soon to tell how genuine this is and how long it's going to last. we've seen these kinds of commitments and promises before. and we've seen them broken. we're watching this very carefully. again, it's a welcome announcement. now we have to see if they can actually put the muscle behind it. >> donald trump says, i could see myself meeting with russia before my administration begins. the statement is up on the screen right now. i think i could see myself meeting with putin and meeting with russia prior to the start of the administration. i think it would be wonderful. good idea, bad idea? >> it's not for me to give any of the candidates political advice. we don't do that here at the

state department. what we're focused on here is our relationship with russia, which is complicated. i mean, there are things we absolutely don't agree with them on. you heard the secretary in london just the other day. he was very strong about our concerns about what they're doing in aleppo. there are also things we can cooperate with them on, like the iran deal, like climate change. we're going to continue to do that too. we're focused on the conversations we're having with russian leaders now. we'll leave it to the next president and commander in chief to determine how they're going to relate to russia going forward. >> quick take, i haven't spoken to you since christiane sat down with lavrov. the perception from that interview is that russia doesn't care what the u.s. wants. they're not scared of the u.s., and they will do what they want, when they want, and they fear no recrimination. >> i think that's a very simplistic view here. i'm certainly not going to speak for what russia is afraid of or not. we're not interested in having an adversarial relationship with russia. we're interested in having a more cooperative relationship with russia. that is okay on some fronts.

it's easy to do, like on climate change. it's much more difficult on others. their actions in ukraine, their illegal annexation of crimea, their siege on aleppo is unacceptable. those are the issues that we're going to continue to try to work through here. now, because of what they've done, chris, we have ceased bilateral engagement on syria with the russians. the meets in switzerland the other day was a multilateral setting. it wasn't just the united states and russia. we're not ready to sit back down at the table with them and have any meaningful discussions about what's going on until they prove they're willing to meet their commitments, which is to stop the bombing. back to your first question. we've seen this announcement that they're willing to do a temporary cease-fire. we'll see where it goes. >> john kirby, thank you for being on "new day." appreciate it. >> thanks, chris. good to be with you. >> alisyn? chris, donald trump says this election is rigged. so we'll fact check the issue of voter fraud next.

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they even want to try to rig the election at the polling booths. and believe me, there's a lot going on. you ever hear these people? they say there's nothing going on. people that have died ten years ago are still voting. illegal immigrants are voting. i mean, where are the street smarts of some of these politicia politicians? they don't have any is right. >> that was donald trump doubling down on his claim that the election is rigged and that if he loses, democrats, the clintons, and the media have

carried out one big conspiracy. but is there widespread voter fraud in america? here to discuss and debunk any myths, katy sanders is the deputy editor of "politifact" and chris ash is a republican campaign lawyer. katy, i want to start with you. let's get the facts on voter fraud. you have looked into this. what have you found about whether or not voter fraud exists? >> voter fraud is rare. this is not what you've heard from donald trump this week or even a few months ago when he said a similar claim. but unlike what he said, voter fraud is compeexceedingly rare there are multiple studies backing up that fact. we rated what he said pants on fire, which is our worst rating for statements made by politicians. >> and that's because what you found is there's only isolated incidents and that it's so rare that it was pants on fire? why did you go to that extreme?

>> well, he said it's happening on a large scale on and before election day. and there's just no evidence to back that up. when we contacted the campaign, they sent us a few reports about sloppy bookkeeping on the part of local election supervisors who have had people on the ballot rolls who have died. but it's not happening in person at the polls to the extent that he says. >> okay. chris, you are a republican. you're a campaign lawyer. you were so incensed by these words of donald trump's that you sort of launched out this tweet storm in the past couple of days. you sent out 33 tweets. i'll read one of them here. you said, ordinary citizens, not government bureaucrats, serve as election officials and conduct the election. they check in voters, confirm i.d.s, they keep the records. why did you feel so exercised by his claims? >> well, i think as a lawyer and particularly for me as a republican lawyer, i have an obligation to the rule of law and to our system of laws.

and the voting system is part of that. in this case, you know, donald trump's attacks on our system of voting are unfounded, and they're dangerous. i thought that somebody needed to put that out there. i thought that i had the experience of observing elections for 15 years and representing candidates to say what i knew. >> and so when you say they're dangerous, what do you mean? what could happen if people think that there's voter fraud? >> well, one thing that you've seen donald trump and his surrogates do is they're seizing on these isolated instances of voter fraud that katy mentioned. they're conflating that with the rigging of the system. they're telling people, telling their supporters to go to the polls and watch in certain places, as they call them. when these people show up at the polls, they're going to find out that they're not actually allowed in the polls in most states. in the states where they are allowed in, they're not going to be allowed near voters. they're not going to be allowed near the election officials. if they try to interfere with voting, if they try to communicate with voters or election officials, they're going to be removed.

and that's going to play into the suspicions they have that there's something going on in there, that they're not supposed to see. and that's just not the case. i think on election day, played out in polling places across the country and amplified on the news and internet and social media, this has the potential to have a destabilizing effect on the orderly administration of the election. >> and yet, katy and chris, we all hear the stories of dead people having voted, the entire starting lineup of the dallas cowboys having voted in some, you know, election. so katy, when you looked into this, are these urban myths, or do these things happen? >> i think in isolated cases, you do see examples of it happening, but i think that the key point is that it's not always intentional. i think we found one example of a dead person who was marked as voting, but it's because his name was so similar to another person, a dead person who was on the rolls, that they errantly

checked his name. when we've talked to experts, they've pressed that point. i think there was a loyola study that said there were 31 substantial cases of voter fraud, but those weren't 31 prosecutions. and that's looking at elections since 2000 and more than a billion votes cast. so it's very difficult to prove that in-person voter fraud has actually occurred. >> so chris, when you say that you really worry this will have a destabilizing and dangerous effect, what happens if donald trump loses and people feel as though the election was stolen or they feel as though they were disenfranchised somehow? >> well, that's an attack on the legitimacy of our government and the legitimacy of the representatives and leaders who we elect because public faith and confidence in our electoral system is foundational to our government. so what i think people need to know is that the system is not rigged. it's quite the opposite. it's designed to stop this, to prevent it, to catch it, and to

guard against it. instances of voter fraud, which do happen, are not the same thing as a rigging of the system. a rigging of the system is intentional and by design. what trump is saying is that the system has been corrupted, people's votes don't matter, and they won't count because someone else has already predetermined the outcome of the election. that's what a rigged election is. it's the opposite of a free election, and that's just not the case. >> thanks so much for the facts and bringing them to us this morning. >> thank you. >> chris? well, we've heard a lot during this campaign about allowing syrian refugees into the u.s., but you don't hear that much about who these people are. up next, we're going to introduce you to a syrian refugee family. they're going to talk about their journey to the states and what they are enduring. you should watch.

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with all the problems this country has and all of the problems that you see going on, hundreds of thousands of people coming in from syria when we know nothing about them, we know nothing about their values and we know nothing about their love for our country. >> all right. that was donald trump talking about syrian refugees.

it's located with a long vetting process. who are these syrian refugees? we spent a day with a syrian family who is trying to rebuild their lives here in the u.s. >> meriam and thaldel arrived in the u.s. four years ago with their young sons after escaping war in syria. they wanted to protect their children from the airstrikes and from the psychological damage of witnessing death and destruction. first, the family made it to a refugee camp and they say the situation was appalling. >> translator: my son ibrahim has scars. i wish we never went to jordan and that i came straight to the u.s. from syria.

>> after three years of violence, her family was chosen by the u.n. for relocation to the u.s. >> translator: we initially said no because we didn't have the money to move forward with this plan, but they assured us it was okay and told us that we would have jobs when we got to the u.s. >> last september they arrived in new jersey without money, job prospects, or a word of english. but they did meet two unexpected friends, kay mccaffrey and malina mcall. >> syria is a country, a country that's full of diverse people, doctors, nurses, welders, all kinds of people, grandparents and we demonize an entire nation of people on the basis of fear, of a few, and they just want an opportunity to have an ordinary life, to work, to go to school, to have a meal with their families. and they just want a degree of normal. >> malina remembers the moment

that she was compelled to take action when she heard the governor of her state say that 5-year-old syrian orphans could not be trusted. >> the fact is that we need for appropriate vetting. i don't think orphans under 5 are being -- should be admitted into the united states at this point. it just seemed so outrageous, heinous. he doesn't represent me and he doesn't represent many other people. >> just try to imagine your day-to-day life and then suddenly everything you know being torn away from you and then you finally find refuge somewhere and you're treated like pariah. >> kate and malina were so incensed, they came up with an idea. throw a dinner at your synagogue. one of the dinners was on christmas night. that's where they met meriam. >> she had this twinkle in her eye and a great smile and just warmth emanating from her.

she was definitely one of the personalities that shone in that evening without any exchange of words at all. >> meriam and thaldel could not communicate in english but they had something important they wanted to say during that gathering so they used google translate on their cell phone. >> it said, i am in a haven of peace and tranquility. >> translator: i remember when they first came to visit us. i was so happy that american people came to welcome us. >> despite that warm welcome and their new friends, life in the u.s. has not been easy starting with a $7,000 fee, a reimbursement that the u.s. charged them for the family's air travel. >> they were faced with this onerous monthly payment for the transportation loan so we decided to turn that around and we launched a campaign to raise $7,000 in 7 days and we were thrilled to be able to do that in less than 72 hours.

>> he's a welder by trade but he has not been able to find work in the u.s. at the moment they rely on government assistance to pay for their food and rent. >> translator: the one thing i hope for is to be constantly employed. we need a steady job. it's true we don't speak the language, but our english will get better as we keep working. >> and there's the emotional cost, the moving thousands of miles from home. meriam misses her friends and family who are still in syria and still in danger. >> translator: both my parents are sick. >> this is one of the hard things is that with cell phones they are in contact with their families and they can see terrible things happening. >> still meriam tries to focus on the positive. >> translator: i am overjoyed that my kids are going to school. this is the most important thing in the whole world for me. >> what do you want your fellow

americans who are watching to know about this entire experience? >> we have a large country, we have been built on immigrants, of people fleeing persecution and we encourage people to remember those american values. >> translator: we came to the u.s. and all the countries welcoming us thanks to god. we didn't expect all the different faith groups would welcome us. everyone made us feel welcomed. >> when somebody new comes into your neighborhood, reach out a hand and your little action just means the world to someone else. >> so joining us now to discuss this is a woman on the front lines of trying to fight islamophobia. she's the founder of muslimgirl.com. top muslim blog in the u.s. she is out with a new book. it is called "muslim girl, a coming of age." thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me.

>> it was eye opening for me to spend the day with this muslim family. i came away with pretty intense mixed feelings. they are so warm and lovely and welcoming and kind and yet they're in a really tough position having relocated here with no english and no jobs. what do you see when you watch their plight? >> to be honest, watching that segment made me think what is america if not the land of freedom and opportunity and tolerance? you know, just like we saw with them breaking bread with the jewish family. i think that really epitomizes the struggle. we have to really bond over the fact that we're all human beings and really open our doors in that way. >> yet on a practical level, the idea that they don't have money and they don't have jobs and they don't speak english, i mean, is this a situation that is ripe for alienation and resentment on both sides? >> i think that it is definitely a huge potential for alienation,

of course. they're coming to society where the lightning rod of contention in our elections is whether or not they should even be allowed here. of course, i think a lot of misunderstandings of some americans breeds some contempt. that's why it's important to extend our hands and reach out and get to know people. >> so for voters, particularly donald trump supporters who are nervous about letting people in who seem different and who don't speak a word of english, i mean, what do you say to them? >> i mean, donald trump wouldn't be here today if his grandparents didn't immigrate here, right? that's how our country has been built. it's been built by immigrants. for muslims, pbs released a study, 10, 15% of slaves that came here on boats were muslims. they literally built the country. the fact that we're only spoken about in the context of this refugee crisis, outsiders or immigrants is simply inaccurate. >> i know having read your book and blog you're also very

incensed that often you're spoken about in terms of terrorism. even when they're not painting you with a broad brush, there is a feeling of if only peaceful muslims would speak out about the radicals in their midst, this problem would be solved. what is the error in thinking there? >> it inherently implicates the muslim people as a whole for terrorism rather than looking at it as an individualistic act. it's to keep in mind the fact that there's 1.6 billion muslims in the world. the majority of us, yeah, not only do we speak out against terrorism, we have nothing to do with it. the fact that we're expected to constantly speak of it i think is very dehumanizing. >> also, i mean, people in muslim communities do call the police all the time. >> all the time. >> even on their own children. >> all the time. >> and on their neighbors. they do it all the time. the idea that this isn't happening is also a misconception. >> absolutely. >> i want to read one little portion from your book because you talk about how your lives as

a whole have changed since 9/11. after 9/11 it was like a curtain had been pulled back on my family casting them in a spotlight and revealing them in a world that seemed to have been festering behind a thin veil. is that how you still feel today? >> unfortunately, yeah. you know? i think especially with the current election cycle, that curtain has been pulled back even more. we really see the underlying sentiments that exist within america towards people that are different from us or that seem different. it's really difficult. you know, the fact that there are civil rights organizations saying that islamophobia hasn't been this high since 9/11. we should be progressing forwards rather than slipping back and getting worse. >> amani, thank you for having this conversation. the book is "muslim girl," it's a fascinating read. >> thank you. >> we're following a lot of news this morning so let's get right to it. this is a criminal act, a conspiracy.

>> donald trump is unqualified and unfit. and every single day his campaign proves that. >> i want to reassure donald trump the system is not rigged. >> he was egged on to say that. >> i have no doubt he is trying to rig this election. >> don't feel sorry for me. i can handle everything. >> this is "new day" with chris cuomo and alisyn camerota. >> good morning. welcome to your "new day." donald trump doubling down on claims of a rigged election, even blasting republican leaders who deny his allegations of large scale voter fraud. there is no proof. this comes as new documents were released by the fbi, and they show a state department official pressing the bureau to declassify an e-mail about benghazi. >> also, melania trump speaking out in a new interview with cnn. she says that her husband was egged on to say those lewd comments and she believes that trump never assaulted his

accusers. we are one day away from the final debate and 21 days until the election. let's begin our coverage with cnn's manu raju live in vegas. what's the latest, manu? >> donald trump's path to 270 electoral votes is getting increasingly narrow. his polls continue to show him losing nationally and in a lot of these key battleground states. so he's lashing out at the media, the political establishment and the rules by saying it's all working against him. >> they even want to try to rig the election at the polling booths. people that have died ten years ago are still voting. illegal immigrants are voting. >> reporter: donald trump ramping up his unfounded claim that the election is rigged. >> you look at what's going on in st. louis and many other cities. there's tremendous voter fraud. >> his willingness to accept the election results. if he loses