and good evening, thanks for joining us tonight. breaking news more appropriate to halloween than the day after. dead man's ghost returning to if not haunt the campaign, at least enrage one of the candidates. late mark rich surfacetion in fbi document dump in investigation that turned up no wrongdoing. about a guy dead for years. wondering why coming up now close to election day, you're not only one. pam la brown, why now? >> fbi is supposed to be apolitical agency but found itself in the middle of firestorm with today's unexpected document dump and timing is firing up democrats

who were already about directier comey's letter. >> tonight the fbi under increasing scrutiny after releasing documents to the pardon of mark rich. timing, seven days before the election on the heels of the fbi direct director's controversial letter to congress invited more criticism. >> absent a foil litigation deadline. >> this is odd. posting on trump's housing discrimination in the '70s, a case settled years ago? insisted not political and freedom of information accounts automatically posted when ready for the public to view. not posting would have been a change. fbi also posted documents relating to donald trump's

father. today director comey appeared at memorial service in washington alongside loretta lynch. learned the two talked on monday for the first time since comey went against the recommendation not to inform congress of the e-mails on wiener's laptop. he has not made contributions since made fbi director by president obama but tonight democrats say there's a double standard, speaking with the clinton server before there's clarity but not investigations around the trump campaign, those around them and connections to russia. tell cnn allegations of connections between russia and trump campaign have yielded little. including former campaign adviser connections.

and released by wicky leaks. this is what stone recently told nbc. >> have a back channel connection with wikileaks but don't tell me in advance what they're going to do. >> clinton campaign is crying foul. argued against tying russia to the campaign because close to the election. >> don't say a thing about investigations again donald trump but when it comes to hillary clinton for some reason more than happy to talk. >> cnn sources say comey's decision not wanting to name russia had nothing to do with the election. >> what more is the fbi saying about the timing? >> hours before the document dump, fbi says by law foia materials requested shortly after processed became available for release and posted

automatically and electronically to the fbi's public reading room in accordance with the law and established procedure. so essentially the fbi is saying look, the documents were ready, had foia requests, they're ready. not going to hold off posting them for political reasons. but what made matters worse for the fbi, automatically tweeted and saw weren't any tweets for entire year and suddenly started on sunday with the tweet with donald trump's father. told issue with the account and fixed on sunday but horrible timing obviously. >> it's fascinating. hillary clinton for her part is not focusing on this but going back to one of the things polls showed is working best for her. cranking up spotlight on donald trump's character and temperament and likability of her surrogates. >> reporter: hillary clinton in

battleground florida today. >> he hatz shown us who he is, let us on tuesday show him who we are. >> looking to shift focus from the fbi e-mail investigation to a familiar line of attack. donald trump and women. >> it's not okay to insult people, it's not okay. and look at what he does. he calls women, ugly, disgusting, nasty all the time. >> and clinton joined in the effort by former miss universe alicia matchdo who accused trump of calling her miss piggy after she gained weight. >> she does not respect women. she just judges us on our looks. he thinks he can do whatever he wants and get away with it. >> reporter: it's a message the clinton campaign is driving home in a new television ad. >> do you treat women with respect? >> i can't say that either.

>> highlighting trump's past offensive remarks about women. >> when they're a star they let you do anything. >> cnn has learned the clinton campaign is going on the air in several states looking to block efforts by trumps to make inroads in the democratic firewall. tim kaine in wisconsin who hasn't backed a -- for president since 1994. >> you can't take anything for granted baz it's been a season of surprises. >> as clinton zeros in on his fitness to be president. >> one week from today choosing next president and commander in chief for the united states. i don't think the choice could be any clearer. >> reporter: a new gallup hol

poll shows clinton has a clear lead in the qualities of president. and while selling skill as cross florida has high profile team of surrogates on her behalf. president obama in ohio. >> who you are, what you are, does not change once you occupy the oval office. if you disrespected women before, you were elected, you will disrespect women once you're president. >> joe johns in florida for us tonight outside of orlando. hillary clinton wrapping up a speech. did she mention the e-mail situation? >> reporter: that was yesterday in cincinnati. but earlier today didn't mention it at all. after these two events it's clear what the campaign is trying to do, shift the focus away from the e-mail controversy

and back onto donald trump. though if you talk to them what they'll say is trying to reframe the choice for voters in the final days before they actually go to the polls next tuesday. this was also very much a get out the vote rally for hillary clinton. she started out talking a little bit how she had a unified positive vision for the country and then she went into her greatest hits, some of the attack lines that got the most applause against donald trump. hillary clinton tonight staying away from the issue of the e-mail controversy and getting back to get out the vote. >> thanks very much. mrs. clinton on the way to ft. lauderdale and as the clinton campaign stays focused on the battleground, trump campaign looking for a place to flip. >> reporter: pulling into a

pennsylvania gas station before election day, hardly running on empty. with the race tightening trump eager to flip this state in tag team attack that rallies republicans. health care law that gop tried dozens of times to kill. >> when we win on november 8th, and elect a republican congress, we will be able to immediately repeal and replace obamacare. have to do it. i will ask congress to convene a special session so we can repeal and replace. >> reporter: but trump wouldn't need to call a special session as congress would be already in washington following inauguration. still the gop nominee is gaining steam at critical time. cutting poll in half in one

week. momentum shift before the former secretary of state's new e-mail mess and as she's asking about the fbi, he's staying on message. >> must cut ties with the bitter small petty policies of the past. >> reporter: and campaign safely in the clinton column. >> safer and more prosperous for everyone. >> but trump struggling to close the deal in his own policy. john -- u.s.ering the gop nominee's name. >> i'm supporting entire republican ticket. i have been all along. not changed at all. my focus right now is saving the house majority. >> pennsylvance says it's time

republicans who bailed to come back on board. >> it's time to come home and elect donald trump and republican majorities in the house of representatives and senate. >> did trump go after the e-mail controversy tonight? >> reporter: he did. saying she had nobody to blame but herself for all these problems and at one point talked about the wikileaks scandal and e-mails from john podesta, got a thunderous round of applause when he resurrected old line from "the apprentice" and said john podesta you're fired but piggybacking off joe johns, donald trump is not taking the bait. didn't comment on alicia mauchdo today. more on message than in some

time and speeches been shorter. theory inside the trump campaign is do no harm with everything happening with the clinton campaign. another interesting thing to note anderson on stage tonight in wisconsin a state that traditionally votes democratic. had scott walker, ron johnson a senator in a tight battle is campaigning. one wisconsinite not in attendance, house speaker paul ryan who earlier in interview on another network didn't mention donald trump's name. pretty close. i think the republican party is starting to come home to donald trump. >> thanks very much. seven days to go. six of which devoted to introducing the panel. gergen.

toobin, borger, lord and kingston and cardone and sellers. jeff first of all on the mark ridge document dump from the fbi. is it just a coincidence it happened now? >> perhaps. it is certainly bizarre. as someone who has made foia requests to the feeb, notoriously terrible about responding to them. take years and don't release in orderly way. it is conceivable it is a coincidence but coming on top of director comey's unusual and controversial release last week makes the fbi look at wing of the republican party. >> would that be something comey would weigh in on? or lower level?

>> it's lower level thing but some supervisor there had to say maybe shouldn't do this, maybe put it off. clinton campaign is saying why don't they disclose how the investigations of the trump affiliated people are. think that's a terrible idea. the justice department operates on the principle or it should that investigations should not be disclosed until they are completed. put up or shut up. what made director comey's statement so controversial was not just that it was on the eve of the election but that it was incomplete and just not a -- >> sure, raised more questions than it answers. >> yes. and if they did what clinton people suggested, make the situation even worse. >> it is interesting, would there have been a clamoring of saying they held back this mark rich information for eight days.

not sure there would but say this is procedure. >> this is in violation of the other procedural rule, don't throw anything in the middle of a political campaign and that's exactly what they did. it does raise questions about who is in charge. where is the attorney general. why not weighing in? >> she's compromised also. >> it's a circus. heard in the last 24 hours the director is not going to say anything more about the e-mails but also told the justice department is rushing investigations to see if could be resolved before election day. which is it. >> it's the gang that couldn't shoot straight. rind hand doesn't know what the left is doing and bosses seem to be out of the picture totally. >> but not stopping are the leaks. lots of leaks -- >> i'm not aopposed to leaks.

>> we're compromised here because always seeking out leaks to get the information. but problem is when you have this partial disclosures coming out through leaks some of which may be inaccurate. >> people leak for certain reasons. >> that's right. so you have information continuing to come out of the fbi and that's yet another reason why i think it was improper to disclose. >> there's a lot of dissatisfaction and grumblings and animus towards the clintons within the investigative staff of fbi. mark rich, i was waiting for the inauguration on that morning when president clinton pardoned him on inauguration day. it was huge deal, such a shocker you do it at last minute. and even then law enforcement agencies wornt happy. thought bill clinton made a political pardon without giving

them opportunity to argue it. so this goes back years and some frustration that the fbi director in july said case closed. >> i think pamela mentioned something finishing the report, but the twitter account, from this twitter account, hadn't tweeted since october of 2015, first tweet on sunday after the fbi director made his comment and sent his letter on friday. we can say it's not nefarious and all just happenstance, i might have been born at night but not last night. this just looks -- >> are you -- >> let me say this. >> vast right-wing conspiracy. >> why talking about this because hillary clinton. >> the sunday tweet was about trump's father. >> we're still here because one person. hillary clinton decided to use

private server. >> also here because of mr. comey. >> doing his job. we're here because she decided to use a private server and then not to cooperate and turn over the e-mails and destroy e-mails. >> let's talk about -- >> only reason it's a discussion. >> talk about the next six days. clearly the clinton campaign is attempting to fight two prongs. one go after the fbi and raise questions about fbi and comey, which trump was doing previously, now it's the clinton campaign. at the same time get the talk back on their opinion of the trump character. is that enough? there's nothing new there on the donald trump, her interpretation of donald trump's character. >> i think what has been one of the most interesting things that has happened in the last day, shows how much oxygen the hillary clinton e-mail stuff has taken, but it's been a bad 24 hour news cycle for donald

trump. if you see all the stories about him. the story about the legally dubious maneuver to not pay any taxes. story in "the washington post" about charitable donations or lack and story about erased e-mails and information during depositions of court dates and reason why a lot of the court dates haven't happened. you have a lot of these news focuses for donald trump that could certainly be made an issue and what hillary clinton is going to do is package all of that up and focus on the unfitness of donald trump to be commander in chief. >> but if those stories were so powerful, bringing out alicia machdo again. >> that's most powerful of course. >> the very fact that she is

attacking the fbi, this is like ken starring of -- >> wait a minute. donald trump has been attacking the fbi for months. >> but he doesn't have a record in office of going after a special prosecutor which the clintons did. let's remember that special prosecutors -- >> he does have familiarity with the justice department. >> and by the way -- >> wait. once upon a time special prosecutors were sacred. one of the interesting things, david you were in the nixon administration, when richard nixon demand of elliott richson. >> he's been going after the fbi saying the whole thing is rigged and they're in on it. >> he's not a sitting president. >> so. >> what's the difference? >> what is different here is you have fbi agents who are angry as heck because they believe that the administration is quenching an investigation of the clinton

foundation, into hillary clinton. >> okay. >> first of all, i have to repeat it, said it before. ken starr now a clinton supporter. but second, reason bringing out mach auddo because the clinton campaign switched into other gear and -- >> believe it's best. >> take a quick break. how voters are reacting to the headlines and how the race appears to be tightening. and lirt donald trump says he knows more about the isis than the generals do. one official and expert is fighting back. he joins us. approaching medicare eligibility? don't put off checking out your options until sixty-five. now is a good time to get the ball rolling. consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company.

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watching the polling to get a sense of the impact with so little time left and early ballots cast. a one point trump lead. statistical tie and another has clinton up four. far from the only read. what that means for the path to 270. john king is back. still not a lot of new polling but a couple of signs about the impact of the fbi announcement. >> that "washington post" national poll tells you, first time he's been ahead in that since may. some others, virginia is the state hillary clinton has led consistently, she's still ahead but six points. republicans say it's some evidence of a tightening. they link it more to obamacare and late in the race but a think they think could put in.

clinton says don't worry. must-win for donald trump in north carolina, just at beginning of the fbi. statistical tie. still in play, a huge priority. big blocking state for hillary clinton. talked about this last night. show it again because of the dates of the poll in the new hampshire, this captures throughs the 30th and some of the voters consuming the news and hillary clinton still with a lead. if you talk to campaigns, it's not public poling but what the candidates are doing. hillary clinton going back up and increasing ad buy. the advertising spending and shuffling surrogates around, concerned but not panicked yet. >> trump and pence in wisconsin after virginia, are they going to turn the traditionally blue states? >> not yet. if you look at pennsylvania, donald trump, that was big lead,

five point race for president bottom. and michigan was bigger even though mitt romney home state. these are states where clinton had five to 11 point lead. talking about pennsylvania. but verbally in wisconsin, some strategists saying some tightening. even the republicans involved in senate races see a little bit of movement only. hoping in the trump campaign something is boiling and couple of more days after the story will blow up. need to look at it. if going to get to 270, even if perfect in the other battleground states need to turn some of the big blues. >> hillary clinton, is that a risky move? >> yes and no.

don't want way out west. but she has president and first lady and vice president and bernie sanders and occur agaits. they think that latinos are rej sterg and think they have a chance. we have hillary clinton across the finish line. if she can take arizona and keep it blue, up to 280. let's say donald trump takes nevada, i'll leave utah alone because lot think the third party could take and leave it as toss-up. donald trump perfect and gets florida, north carolina and ohio, completely within reach. clinton campaign is fighting more but possibility of winning them all. 247. how does he get to 270?

he needs to turn a big blue. that's why testing the waters. maybe do better and get nevada & utah but has he turned them yet? no but only choice. >> bring in the rest of the panel. turn to the partisans. jeffrey where do you see the best bet of turning a blue state? >> they're trying pennsylvania and i think they stopped for a bit there and internal polling is telling them. there's only one reason to go back because polling is telling you this. going to exactly the right place, the suburban counties around philadelphia. western pennsylvania, i checked with a source, really strong for donald trump as is central pennsylvania. so you need that to help carry you through the east and if he can turn any one of those counties then he may be able to carry the state. >> maria?

>> i think that's certainly what they're looking at in terms of the possibility for donald trump but also tells you why -- we talked about earlier why hillary clinton is focusing on alicia machado, that's whiechlt all the suburban women and issue of how donald trump treats women is incredibly powerful and impactful. you just saw from john how difficult it really is as polls are tightening, which we all expected them to do. hillary clinton certainly expected to do that. what she has is ground game, volunteers, focus on pulling everybody out to vote. this is the infrastructure she's built for last year and a half and going to pay off. >> but pennsylvania doesn't have early voting. one of the reasons trump is smart to focus there. can he get it? incredibly hard.

george w. bush wanted it, romney. it looks winnable to republicans but haven't done it. >> trump campaign points to michigan as state where hillary clinton didn't do well in the primary. >> and point to michigan as place where they think is classic trump voter. a lot of people who have lost their jobs, maybe long ago to trade wars and other things and there are people who just feel like they can't catch a break even if they do have jobs, not well paying and so on. i remember back during the primaries talking to senior democrats in michigan, very worried about right now, the general election that donald trump is going to pull a lot of those old time classic reagan did t democrats but no evidence will

make enough. >> is it possible the obamacare impact, the premiums up but also the fbi, takes longer to register in polls. >> i was you cantaing to people saying we have to wait until the end of the week for all of this to click in. they believe they're seeing a tightening but not sure yet if its natural or if it's tightening that's result of all of these things. just one thing. trump today on the campaign trail was telling people who voted in early states to change your ballot. donald trump is saying if you've voted earlier in case of pennsylvania, if you voted absentee, there is a way for you to change your mind. i believe in pennsylvania you might just have to show up. >> in my case doing both abse absentee and -- >> early and often. >> all right. >> i think the impact of the fbi

and obamacare spike and that is not just in the polls but the way the campaigns are refashioned. hillary clinton two or three weeks ago was trying to expand beyond the base and now trying to consolidate within the base. looks like senate races harder to win for the democrats. ultimate victory if victorious may be smaller than would otherwise be. >> and not only is fbi story something that concerns voters but a big infusion of money for our team. other donors getting off the sidelines and focusing on the swing counties in the swing states. now you know where you have to go and design the ad for those areas. >> more ahead. up next how clinton and trump supporters are feeling about the candidates' characters. hear from voters at rallies in wisconsin and florida.

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in the home stretch of this election, so many voices vying to be heard when in the end only matters what the voters themselves think. gary tuchman at rally and randy, asked supporters for trump about the issue of the clinton campaign that they want back on the front burner. donald trump's character. take a look. >> they have no real issues to win on so only can pick on trump and his character. >> reporter: donald trump supporters defending candidate and character despite a new ad from the clinton campaign.

what do you think of donald trump's character? >> wonderful. a loving compassionate father. god chose for a time as this. >> reporter: are you concerned about candidate's character? >> absolutely not. we've all fallen short of what god expects. he missed the mark a few times. >> reporter: this voter supported ben carson but now backing trump. >> he's not perfect, looking for someone to save the country. >> reporter: many admit trump has flaws but given the options, look beyond them and forgive about groping on the "access hollywood" tape. >> reporter: does it bother you to hear him talk about women? >> yes but not a deal breaker. >> some of the media made it worse than it is. >> reporter: he said it on tape.

>> doesn't bother me. >> reporter: whatever sexual assau assault? >> i think those women need to grow personally. it's been a lot of years. get over it. >> reporter: despite this ugly clash between supporters and protesters, those in trump's corner went on to suggest it was a joke that hillary clinton would even attempt to hit trump on the issue of character. >> he may have said things will you hillary has done the things. >> character is so flaud, had so many problems. who is she to point the finger. >> reporter: where do you see problems? >> e-mails and benghazi. >> it's not that he's unfit but she has. she's done everything illegal and everything she possibly can to sell this country out. >> reporter: and about the

clinton e-mails? >> if her mouth is moving, not telling the truth. >> can't trust her as candidate. not reliable or honest. >> reporter: last thing this country needs trump supporters say is another career politician, even if their man is not perfect. >> i think better suited to run the country, more business that the country needs rather than dlaupgs clinton represents. >> reporter: willing to look past the character flaws to have the president that you want. >> does seem, even if they see character flauz willing to look past it and see far more in hillary clinton. >> reporter: absolutely anderson and don't see major flaws in trump. said talked too fast without thinking. nobody talked about the major issues, comments about women.

don't register with the supporters woe talked about. his apology after the "ache is hollywood" played well. every single one thinks donald trump is flawed. not just one or two. all think he's the guy to move forward and new ad from the clinton campaign means nothing. >> hillary clinton is in florida, last event ready to start. gary tuckman spoke with her supporters about the same issue. closing argument over character. >> reporter: the november sun is still broiling in florida but the heat doesn't seem to be wilting the spirit of these hillary clinton supporters awaiting her arrival. >> i am wildly enthusiastic about hillary clinton. >> reporter: the people in place

at this rally in pasco county, florida are part of the home stretch. should she be talking about donald trump a little bit? >> should be talking about donald trump and continue to challenge him. >> i don't like him. >> he's awful. >> reporter: and during this rally clinton spent considerable time challenging trump. >> when i think about what they now know about donald trump and what he's been doing for 30 years, he sure has spent a lot of time demeaning, degrading, insulting and assaulting women. >> reporter: but most of the people we're talking to here feel hillary clinton should focus on hillary clinton in order to build up enthusiasm. >> donald trump can speak for himself and get himself in trouble without hillary's help. and so i believe she should continue to talk about herself, her vision for this country, for the next four years and

hopefully the next eight. >> i think america knows where he stands. it's been clear, news covered it extremely well. >> reporter: polling indicates hillary clinton has enthusiasm gap. how many of you are enthusiastic about clinton? not among the rally goers but others who don't like trump. but even amongst the faithful. enthusiastic. >> yes. >> reporter: more about her than barack obama? >> no. >> we love barack obama. >> but hillary is cool too. >> reporter: how many more enthusiastic about barack obama than hillary clinton? in the back a little bit? who is more enthusiastic about hillary clinton than barack

obama? what? you think you are? >> i'm a big barack obama supporter but we're excited to see a woman break through and move forward and set history as barack obama did the same thing. >> reporter: hillary clinton may not have enthusiasm levels that president obama had when he ran, that's why clinton, her staff and supporters are pleased the president is on her side. >> republicans created trurngs t trump, the monster. now they have to live with him. we're going to win by a landslide. >> it's interesting comparison. do the clinton supporters address the e-mail thing, bring it up, talk about any flaws they may see in hillary clinton? >> yeah. they say that they hear the trump supporters talking about the e-mails but they point out

that hillary clinton has said now repeatedly she made a mistake, has no excuses and that's enough. they agree made mistakes but pales to what they believe donald trump has done for much of his career and certainly in the last 15 months on the campaign trail. >> thanks. the battle to retake mosul from isis at critical juncture and trump's criticism of the program. the first eye drop approved for the signs and symptoms of dry eye. one drop in each eye, twice a day. common side effects include eye irritation, discomfort or blurred vision when applied to the eye, and an unusual taste sensation. do not touch the container tip to your eye or any surface. remove contacts before using xiidra and wait for at least 15 minutes before reinserting them. if you have dry eyes, ask your doctor about xiidra.

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well, the final week of the presidential race is overlapping with one of the biggest battles yet against isis. tonight, iraqi forces are within striking distance of mosul. they've captured an isis-held village on the city's outskirts, opening a pathway into mosul. cnn's arwa damon has the latest. >> reporter: the iraqi counterterrorism forces moved in and over the course of the last two days attempted to sweep through from multiple directions, coming across what are now fairly common isis tactics, the suicide bombers, suicide car bombs, roads inlain with ieds. but what we also saw is something else isis has been doing fairly frequently, and that is leaving behind small groups of fighters, two, three, four people who lay in wait and

then launch counterattacks at iraqi forces' more fixed positions. >> the fighting in the days ahead expected to be fierce. fr in the planning for months. it has not been a secret. the iraqi military wanted to give civilians time to flee and warn them. donald trump, who obviously does not have military experience, has criticized the lack of secrecy surrounding the offensive. here's what he said in the last debate. >> let me tell you. mosul is so sad. we had mosul but when she left, when she took everybody out, she lost mosul. now we're fighting again to get mosul. the problem with mosul and what they wanted to do was they wanted to get the leaders of isis, who they felt were in mosul. whatever happened to the element of surprise? okay? we announce we're going after mosul. i've been reading about going after mosul now for about -- how long is it, hillary, three months? these people have all left. they've all left. the element of surprise.

douglas macarthur, george patton spinning in their graves when they see the stupidity of our country. >> trump's remarks didn't sit well with some actual military experts, including retired colonel jeffrey mccausland, former dean of the army war college, told "new york times," "what this shows is trump doesn't know a damn thing about military strategy." the colonel's opinion didn't seem to faze trump, who doubled down when he was asked about it in an abc news interview. >> the resistance is much greater now, because they knew about the attack. why can't they win first and talk later? why do they have to say three months before the attack, we're going in? so you can tell your military expert that i'll sit down and i'll teach him a couple of things. >> well, colonel mccausland joins us tonight. first of all, when you heard donald trump say that he could teach you a couple of things, i mean, after your decades of experience, what did you think? >> well, i thought i'd be delighted to have the opportunity to sit down with donald trump and have him teach me something about military strategy. and i would be happy to compare my experience across 45 years working in national security

affairs with his anytime he would like to do that. >> so this notion that donald trump has often repeated about, you know, patton would be rolling in his grave, macarthur, because secrecy, there's no longer secrecy, they're telegraphing, oh, we're going to go into mosul. how do you respond to that? >> strategic surprise is what he's talking about. and there's a political, a practical, and humanitarian reason why that's either impossible or not advisable. on the political standpoint we have to understand this is an iraqi imperative politically to announce in advance. as you said at the top, isis has controlled this city for two years and ever since it was captured by isis, the iraqi government, prime minister abadi, has said repeatedly to the iraqi people, we will liberate mosul. there's an old strategist that said war is politics by other means. and second -- >> so the political imperative you're saying is to basically give hope to iraqis that this is not going to be permanent, we are going to retake this. >> absolutely. he has a political imperative. >> just like i guess macarthur

said i'll be back -- >> i will return. exactly right. we'll be back -- we'll go back to normandy. and to go to the historical metaphor he uses, the germans knew we were going to invade france in 1944 and i dare say in the spring of 1945 the japanese knew that we were coming to iwo jima and okinawa as we moved closer and closer to the home islands and they fortified those islands not unlike isis is doing in mosul. so there's a practical part of this as well. and that is, how do you disguise 45,000 to 50,000 troops out in the desert? you've got to secure certain areas outside the city, which we've already done for logistical support and air bases. and last but not least, for humanitarian reasons. we dropped millions of leaflets in the city, why? >> to warn civilians? >> exactly. there's over a million civilians. think about it for a moment in this particular city. and we want to, a, reassure them that we are, in fact, coming. we the iraqi government in particular. second of all, give them guidance, how they can best protect themselves and their families during this particular very, very difficult offensive. >> the other thing that donald trump has repeatedly said and he

said it starting early on was we should have taken the oil from iraq. that he has quoted the old saying, to the victors go the spoils, which is not really something that most modern militaries actually use as a slogan anymore. it seems more something like the -- >> medieval. >> medieval times, yeah. but the notion, that i've never understood of this, and i've tried to ask him about it a lot, is iraq is a sovereign nation. they're actually our allies. of the people who don't already hate us in iraq, wouldn't taking their oil, which is their future, alienate just about everybody who doesn't think badly of the u.s.? >> absolutely. think about it. how many troops would it take to control all those oil fields? and does anybody really believe that 26 million iraqis will sit idly by while we loot their country of the major resource they've got? how many additional casualties will we take doing that? and if you even secure that, how many additional troops will it take to secure the pipelines from all of those oil fields to get it to a port so you can in fact export it expeditiously, and how many casualties are you going to do that?

we had enough problem trying to do that in support of the iraqi government because we wanted their economy to recover. and oh, by the way, even when i was in iraq a lot of iraqis believed we were behind the insurgency because it gave us an excuse to stay in the country because the rumor they had was we were looting the country of the oil back then. >> colonel mccausland, it's a pleasure to talk to you. thank you so much. thank you for your service. it's an honor. >> thank you. we are just seven days from election day. when that day comes, we'll naturally have nonstop coverage right here on cnn. be sure to join us for that. much more ahead tonight in the second hour of "360," nearly 25 million votes have already been cast. how is the early voting shaking out? john king will break it down for us by the numbers. i love that my shop is part of the morning ritual around here.

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this november is about more than just picking candidates its about voting for the future of our state. who are you voting for? i am voting for my kids so they keep getting the health and education opportunities they need. i am voting for my daughter to better understand the true cost of smoking cigarettes. i am voting so law enforcement can focus on serious violent crime. who are you voting for? to learn more and to join us please visit womenvoterproject.com and thanks for joining us for this hour of "360."

we are busy tonight. so are the presidential candidates. both holding late rallies. donald trump targeting states where he's running behind, trying to plant the seeds of an upset in those places. hillary clinton focusing squarely on the battlegrounds, hitting central florida earlier this morning, speaking in ft. lauderdale any minute. our jim acosta is traveling with the trump campaign. jeff zeleny is at the clinton rally. let's start the hour with jim acosta. trump pounding the pavement in the last days leading up to the election. what did he have to say about his opponent tonight? >> reporter: yeah, anderson, we saw a side of donald trump we don't normally see out on the campaign trail. message discipline. he stayed on the attack, on hillary clinton's e-mail saga and even went after her campaign manager, john podesta, whose e-mails were hacked and released by the website wikileaks. trump using one of his catchphrases from his days as a celebrity on "the apprentice." here's what he had to say. >> in a newly released e-mail, john podesta has been caught saying we have to dump all of