>> we will go live now to grand rapids, michigan where republican presidential candidate donald trump is

holding a rally this afternoon. it is the first of a couple campaign stops he will be making in michigan today. opening remarks right now. we expect the candidate to show up in just a few moments. live coverage when he arrives. that, a wait for discussion from this morning's "washington journal. host: jim pinkerton joins us and has served on republican presidential campaign going to the 1980's. i want to first get your reaction to this email investigation, the announcement on friday as somebody who served as a veteran campaign strategist. let's talk about it from that perspective. what do you think it means for the next eight days? guest: frankly, my first reaction to the email story on friday, 11 days before the election was the flashback to one of those other campaigns that i worked on which was the

1992 bush campaign, the re-election campaign where just a few days before the 1992 election, former reagan defense secretary caspar weinberger was indicted by the lawrence walsh, the quote, unquote independent counsel investigating the iran contra business and i think many observers believed that that last minute we we -- we called the last hit of weinberger broke bush's momentum and therefore any chance he had to win the presidency. i was amused to see hillary clinton, they're saying it's so terrible what they're doing to me even back in 1992 as the wife of bill clinton, saying oh, well, weinberger is just getting what he deserves and the process should work and so on. so, you know, who can assess the underlying merits of the case at this point?

but the proximity to elections made me think back to that earlier time. host: can we assess whether you think it's a vials of the hatch act, senator reid talking about concerns that violates the hatch act of political -- of government officials politicking and influencing elections? guest: it would seem to me the real story appears to be that the f.b.i. agents in the field offices in new york and three or four other cities around the country are saying look, we've got to do this. this is not being done right. so director comey, as i under it, was responding to incredible upward pressure from the career staff at the f.b.i., which is sort of the opposite of the hatch act. it wasn't comey getting a phone call from r.n.c. chairman and saying ok, what do you want me to do? it was his own staff saying look, this is a serious issue,

we found 650,000 emails according to reports on anthony weiner's computer. and some of them have state department water marks so we've got to study this. host: the clinton camp says they want more information released before election day. does donald trump's camp want this? do they want more information coming out on this? guest: i don't think the clinton campaign wants more information coming out. i think if they did they could huma abedin and pagliano, they could have press conferences today and come on your show and say here's what i learned, here's what i did. i think they're bluffing. i think they're saying we want more information because they're confident that they won't be more information. host: does james comey

when he said -- i am not going to quote this right, but in general, he said there was no criminal violation here, nothing prosecutable. you are aicans said dishrag for the clintons. moree is saying there is to investigate and the democrats are cooperating. the old joke about coming to washington is like coming to the nfl. the first time you get tackled, they look at you and say, welcome to the nfl. welcome to washington, director comey. he is a big boy. he knew when he seemed to take the clintons off the hook in july, he would get clobbered by the republicans. when he put them back on the hook in october, he would get clobbered by the democrats.

that is why we have fbi directors in 10 year terms. other thant part, exceptional reasons, they cannot be fired. although i admit that harry would love to walk over and -- host, let me give the phone lines. as viewers are calling in, we asked the question at the beginning, whether the e-mail investigation had changed people's opinion on the election. do you think it causes much movement? we did not get too many comments that it was influencing people ar.

between 5% and 14% have already voted, so what happened with them is moot. i have been in washington since 1980, so i can swing around my beltway wisdom with the best of them. if there is one thing this election has taught us, the same did,llywood screenwriters what have you learned in a hollywood in your four decades in tinseltown? nobody knows anything. it is important to learn things. if people call in and say i don't care about the e-mails, i do care -- whatever it is -- it means something. as the philosopher immanuel caught said, the actual proof is

impossible. host: fernando is up first, bel air, maryland. a trump supporter. i am a registered democrat but i changed. i will tell you why. had to sayl, if i the minor thing that hillary did , i would have been locked up a long time ago. this is preference, public .references for clinton she is having so many people support her. the region i changed from my previous democrat voting all the time for 15 years since i became a citizen in this country. when i saw that commercial, the advertisement about how mr.

trump disparages women, things advertisementthat portray,n were used to get this done. my children were there and they were asking me, what is this? that is child abuse. host go a couple of points there. i want jim bickerton to weigh in. he was talking about the most him, childrenor watching donald trump statements, the things that he said. this ad affected me.

it is important to hear what people say. character is important to people. the character of donald trump, when the character of hillary front ande center. the message was that you vote for a member of congress because you are a democrat or republican , or you believe in this issue. is theoval office, it quality of character and ethics and honesty of the person. if you are advising donald trump, what is the most important argument you need to make about this e-mail issue? the caller bringing up the idea of laws applying equally, regardless of who you are. that is right. the wrath on the clintons for the last 25 years is that they have been getting away with things that others have been in jail for.

today are full of military officers, government employees who have violated some little aspect of e-mail. there is a case of an army officer in afghanistan who heard about some talent and ambush coming up against other troops in the field and he sent an e-mail on his gmail account, and they court-martialed him for it. he was trying to do the right thing, save lives, and did it outside of the channels. host go is donald trump doing enough to make that argument? tweets yesterday about the controversy, one focusing on the media coverage, calling them dishonest for very the criminal investigation, one pointing out democrats former love of director comey before his letter from last week, and another one talking about the polls and where they are leading in the

polls before that announcement on friday. the second one about what the media is covering and uncovering, i think the public, , the publicr worse is on to the fact that the media are clearly on the democratic side. it has led to the success of fox news and the american ietbart, otherbr publications. at least a chunk of the country nbc, i am just hearing the dnc spin. at that point, people tune out. i know what i think in my gut. georgenot let martha or persuade me otherwise. i think that is where we are now as a country. of "thethe latest cover

american conservative." you are one of the authors on that story. guest: i wrote a piece on a trump foreign policy and what its elements might be. the heart of the story is, if you think about who donald trump is in his professional life, he is a dealmaker. so whereas we now have a foreign policy that is predicated on the accumulated weight of decades of precedent and ideas, procedures and so on, to the point when if you were to ask secretary of state john kerry or somebody else in the state department, including the bush 43 administration, what are your priorities? they would say democracy, empowerment, co2, 100

things that they think are thertant in the minds of accumulated bureaucratic ups well from the departments. if we have 100 priorities, that is effectively saying you have no priorities. it just means you are doing everything. you see this foolishness. in the middle of the syrian civil war, which has killed half a million people, made 5 million people refugees, he says, let's have elections. you don't have elections in the middle of a war. you did not plunk down in americayou did not plunk down in america in 1853 saying, let's have an election. again, this was one benefit of living in this town for so long, you see that if you are a cabinet secretary and if you just obey your inbox and say this is what this bureau and that department and that agency want me to do. i will just add them up and put

them in the teleprompter and give them the speech. it all makes sense at some level, but you look like a full. everybody'sng agenda and you are not articulating anything that is actually capable of happening. so to me, trump would say -- i support him -- you have to deal as greata and russia powers. you cannot give them lectures on human rights. you have to say, we have objectives in syria, iran, in the islands, so how do we make a deal? host: let's get some more calls in. st. petersburg, florida, a hillary clinton supporter. caller: i support hillary. people in america don't care about e-mails.

james comey should have taken care of the business all at one time. donald trump is not fit to lead the country. he raped a 13-year-old girl and no one talks about that. host: that's not something i have heard about. she said james comey should have taken care of business all at one time back in july. he said he had concluded there was nothing -- he was not going to recommend charges. then this happened friday is a concern. guest: it's entirely possible. this is the richest story of inside baseball legal procedure anyone can imagine since iran-contra and watergate.

it's possible that the judiciary committee and the appropriation committees got to james comey and said you are making a fool of yourself. he drew pressure from the democrats and from loretto loretta lynch. it's entirely possible that when he made the statement he made in july that the republicans said you did not do this right. host: let's go to bob in springfield, virginia, good morning. caller: people in third parties or who supported bernie are watching this the last couple of days. there are three things that bother us.

first of all, james comey was ok in july when he said what he said but now it seems the democrats are throwing him under the bus. the second thing is it looks like whatever proof that the russians are involved with the e-mails, those of us trying to be objective say it is the content of the e-mails, is what they actually say that is of concern. it's like pulling teeth to get those things in the light of day. i think the number one issue right now is the idea that people seem to be calling for more information. the people who seem to have control over this information are the people from whom the information originated, the democratic side of the occasion -- equation. guest: he's right, the information is still sitting

there. it's unbelievably tempting to any reporter or wikileaks for the russians, who knows -- hacking is the story of our lives. you tell every hacker in a foreign country or working in their parents garage, there are anthony weiner e-mails, go after them so who knows what will happen tomorrow? host: hillary supporter, good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. i am totally upset because of the new e-mails without saying what's on them all stop just say what's on them. also i would sincerely like to know who mr. trump owes his

money to on financing like a new post office, etc. and what has been found out about his so-called foundation that has been put on hold. show us his taxes and we would know if there is anything else involved. guest: i think the clinton foundation and the trump foundation are being closely scrutinized. you look at the front page of the newspapers, it's hard to find room or any other paper, as to where the foundations are. in a normal circumstance, the clinton foundation would be a bigger story. they are being overshadowed. it's hard to speak of media norm

in a time when more wikileaks could come. these things are getting lost in the shuffle. a clinton foundation official wrote a 12 page memo explaining how the clinton foundation and bill clinton worked. in normal times, that would have been a story right there. it got overwhelmed by everything else. host: let's show our viewers some of the papers from around the country.

i want to ask you about the obamacare premium hikes and how much you think they might have an impact on the election? guest: it's more personal. if your obamacare premium went up, that's real money that almost all people -- i wonder whether the obamacare issue is baked into the cake. people want to see it repealed and some say they like it. everyone kind of knew this was a

government program that would cost more than originally advertised. on the other hand, people say they need help sought not sure that one will move the needle. it was totally out of left field. there could be other surprises happening in the next eight days. host: more affordable care act stories tomorrow as that enrollment starts. springfield, west virginia is next supporting a third-party candidate. good morning. caller: good morning. i'd like to make a couple of comments. you mentioned wikileaks. that was not hacked from russia. that comes from the nsa and they have the men under arrest right now. they are keeping that secret. host: how do you know that? caller: i am a former member of the armed forces.

during the clinton administration, senator byrd and a former mother does member of the joint chiefs of staff asked me to keep an eye on things. the people staffing the nsa are not looking for a terrorist. they are watching political opponents and targeting them. it's the same with supreme court justices. it's why the health care law passed. as far as hillary clinton, she stole government property when she took those e-mails and destroyed them and then she lied to congress a national tv. i want to know why she is not being arrested now. martha stewart went to jail for that will stop they will not

arrest or for that. when federal agents step foot on my property, do i have a right to resist? guest: what you hear in that call is anger. that's what an enormous number of people feel, maybe a majority. donald trump has to do what he has to do but the thing making him competitive in this race is the anger people feel. in oregon, these ranchers who got in a tulsa with the government, i wrote a couple of stories about that. it was about what the government was doing on behalf of big companies trying to take land away from ranchers and armor so

they can use it for wind power plants. it led to these complications and a man being killed. that phenomenon is mostly ignored by the media and it's happening in real places like oregon or west virginia. people are angry. he alluded to hillary clinton possibly being arrested and that was another major departure in this election. i have never heard one presidential candidate say to another as donald trump said in a debate that you would be in jail. many people think that way. he can argue about whether it's good for civil democracy or so on but it is reflective -- host: do you think it's good for civil democracy? guest: no, but it's real.

the civil war was not good for civil democracy but it had to be fought. the union had to win and become the united states of america but in 1861 when the south was seceding from the union, you cannot pretend it was not happening. you had to suppress the rebellion. host: do these kind of attacks against the political opponents have to happen in today's politics? if so, why? guest: some people say is like a schoolyard fight. other people say if we are in a situation where a good chunk of the people say this is highly politicized, i think house republicans have made a good case.

if that level of abuse is being standardized and normalize, then you need dramatic action. host: how much of it is caused by a political news cycle that constantly has to be bad and you have to constantly win the day in the headlines? guest: to me, that's a tactic that depends on what the news is. the reality of cable news and twitter and instagram and whatever else did not force lois lerner to decide to run her own chapter inside the irs. it did not order acorn to say we

will turn federally funded lower education into a thing. i think it's a different phenomenon. the extreme politicization is a disturbing trend that calls for dramatic reform. i think the issue of the news cycle is something to think about. there will be plenty of columbia journalism conferences about it that it's a separate phenomenon. host: we want to get your comments. april, new albany, indiana is next, donald trump supporter. caller: hi, i am quite an independent and have been all my

life, and i have decided to support donald trump this election. the reason is because i am trying to watch it will stop it's tempting because of all the propaganda on television to become overly emotional and a lot of people succumb to what i would call tribal thinking. this is not a football game. you're not pulling for the democrats or the republicans, you are caring about the issues and i would like to see more people thinking independently, independent of race, of gender, of party. a good example of that is the outrage over the revelation of all of these e-mails being discovered. it people were really interested in getting to the truth, they would not be concerned about the politics behind it.

it's just plain of fact that all of these e-mails were discovered which changes the dynamic of the investigation where evidence was destroyed and manipulated by the woman under investigation and her political cronies and the people supporting her. that seems to have been just ignored. especially by the democratic party. guest: i hear the caller saying we should vote independent of gender, of race and to pick up on the civics point again, she is right. the only salvation of a democracy is it people are willing to vote against their own interests as would be determined. if democracy just becomes voter

blocs and those votes are guaranteed, that's not a democracy. that's a prelude to civil war. host: go back to 1984, 1988, campaigns you advised on. what work did appealing to different voter blocs work? guest: you have to be realistic. there is always some of that but ronald reagan back in 1980 one over huge chunks of democrats and independents and normally would be voting democratic. he won over on the issue of change.

that was a change election and it worked happily for the candidate. in 1992, it was a change candidate election against my candidate. 1988 was not a change election . 2008 was a change election. mike huckabee not get the republican nomination and lost to john mccain who lost to barack obama because barack obama was a change candidate. john mccain has his virtues that was easy to pin as more of a bush 43 which the country did not want. host: does it always come down to change elections or keep things going elections? guest: yes, that's as good as you can do. every day in your life you say is this something that you want to do?

there was a book written years ago that said there is exit loyalty. you can leave something or emigrate or be loyal to it or complain about it. we can sit here and say i will quit my job stay at my job or yellow my boss. caller: [indiscernible] we need to change the political lines in this country. [indiscernible] this president has been honest

with the country. he has appointed republicans. host: he was talking about this e-mail controversy might impact appointments in the future, that it might make the next president less likely to a point somebody from the other party to any position. guest: in the vetting process in campaigns and transitional offices and other hiring venues, it's routine. given what we have learned about private e-mail accounts, and not only that like hillary's but the former director of the epa and millions of others for all we know, you will have to not only ask but then verify to all of these jobseekers and would be appointees and cabinet secretaries that whoever wins,

did you use private e-mail and can we see it? host: what about reaching out to somebody who is not necessarily in your party? maybe they would be qualified but they would be disqualified because of their political affiliations. guest: whoever the next president is will have to face the challenge of unifying the country in some way. whether my party wins or loses, i hope the next president says yes, we have to do that. even though the vetting process will have to get more thorough, i hope we can find some way to bring in the best people of the other party to work together. host: a hillary clinton supporter in stevensville, michigan, good morning.

caller: with republicans its abortion and guns but why do they cut all the programs that help the women keep their children and don't have an abortion and why are they all connected? he sounds like larry flynt of hustler. guest: i heard the first part about pregnancies. host: let's stay on the first question. it was about essential programs that republicans have advocated for. guest: caring for a child is a sacred mission and important not

only to the individual but the nation. i admire greatly crisis pregnancy centers where groups say to a pregnant mother, don't have the abortion and we will help you get through this. i think that is to be applauded and i think that's the only answer to the abortion issue, to make sure if you carry the child to term, you will not suffer unduly. host: what about social programs for that child for the rest of their childhood with concerns about cuts it will impact that child later? guest: we don't want anybody to starve. it is frightening for me to say it. however, there are others who say you have to have a plan for

the child by the time he or she becomes an adult to join the workforce and the productive mainstream. there is an article in the new york times today about a metal basket making factory in baltimore that is hiring substantially ex-cons, felons, troubled people but they are making $20 per hour. good jobs and good wages and the kind of rough work that rough people can do. even 100 years ago when they immigrated they were doing this kind of work. do we have enough of those kind of entry-level jobs that do not require substantial education and they looked the other way on criminal backgrounds? the best social program which is a quote from ronald reagan is a job. that's not to dismiss health

care and other programs. at the end of the chute where society is not responsible for you after the age of 18, there has to be a plan for jobs. i was an advocate for it disability in conservation. if you cannot get a job, we will get you a job. it is vital that you are doing something productive and organizing your life. it makes you live longer. you are less likely to get in a gang. the civilian conservation corps cap the bodies of our young men together who would fight in world war ii 10 years later. host: a donald trump supporter, go ahead. caller: i've a few things to discuss. i am a trump supporter.

i was listening to the lady from south carolina talk about the e-mails with hillary clinton. if the fbi missed some things, that is on the fbi. would this woman say the same thing if her child got killed in the fbi was investigating something and they said this guy did not do it and they later found out that the guy really did do it? she would say the fbi missed it and would want to bring it back up. the second thing about obama and hillary, for donald trump to get an office, we need a change in america. we need a person who is down to earth and not a politician.

the republicans want to lower the taxes and democrats want higher taxes. if you lower taxes, you make the economy grow. if you raise the taxes, and puts a stop on everything. guest: yes, the parties have inverted. the republicans used to be the party of the rich of the democrats were the party of the poor. now that has kind of slipped. you can look at a map of the 2016 electoral college and compare it to the 1896 election. it is a complete flip. the south used to be democratic, now republican. it's an interesting phenomenon and makes political science fun to see how things change. host: there will be many books written about this election. jim pinkerton has written his own book.

you can check out his work at the american conservative and thank you for your time. live pictures from grand rapids, michigan, where we expect here from republican presidential candidate donald trump. he has another rally this afternoon in ward, michigan. we will record that and show that to you later. this gathering should get underway shortly. hillary clinton in the meantime on her way to ohio. she has two campaign stops in that state. live coverage of her rally this afternoon in cincinnati starts at 6:15 eastern. while i wait for donald trump to arrive, discussions from this morning's "washington journal," looking at the legal issues of play looking at the probe of hillary clinton's e-mails.

he joins us now to look at the legal issues at play in the fbi's investigation of hillary clinton's e-mails. considering where fbi director james comey was in july during that first press conference, how surprised were you on friday when you read about that letter to congress? i was five or guested. it is a very unusual step twos have that at any point in the new station. to have the director send a letter like that this close to the election, and to be clear, a letter that has not said that much because he has not looked at the e-mails that were , is unprecedented, and raises serious questions about the fbi director's judgment. there was no smoking gun, so we have to ask, why did he do it? host, considering how much they

talked about how much they found in the july prescott rinse, to you think he needs to explain more before election day? guest: i think it would help. there are a lot of questions that his friday letter raised but did not necessarily answer. among those questions, does he have any reason to believe there is anything in his new trove of e-mails that changes his analysis from july, any reason to believe the content of these e-mails, most of which are not actually involved with secretary clinton, are relevant to the election? how could you know that on friday. i believe there is more a claim to be done, and that is because of the director's own actions. he has the one that has created this awkward and unprecedented situation. upwards ofports of 650,000 e-mails to go through that may or may not relate to the original investigation. likely this will take longer

than the next eight days. do you think, regardless of who is elected president on november 8, there will be a push to wrap this up before the next president is sworn in? guest: i think the fbi will do as quickly as it can, if for no other reason, they really now have to. wholly unrelated to the timing of the next inauguration, i suspect we will see some movement on this investigation in weeks, not months. i think director moment -- director call me has put the bureau in a tight and difficult position here. host go with the hypothetical that hillary clinton is elected on election day, who defends her if this election -- if this goes past her swearing-in, what is the relationship that between the fbi and justice department if she is elected the next president of the united states, as the investigation continues? guest: the fbi director serves

at the pleasure of the president. there is precedent for a president firing the fbi director whom he or she believed was engaging in misconduct. bill clinton fired bill sessions in the 293. i think the real question is, if somehow despite everything we've heard so far, despite everything director comey has said, despite the outward appearance fthere is incriminating piece of evidence in the e-mails that suggest secretary clinton broke the law, and again, there has been no idea of that to date, frankly the real remedy would be the one the constitution prescribes, impeachment. we would see calls on capitol hill from members of the house and senate to proceed in that direction. but john, we're nowhere near that. the critical point to understand about jim comey's letter on friday, it revealed nothing about secretary clinton either way.

it revealed there were new e-mails, most of which have nothing to do with secretary clinton, he believes are relevant to an investigation that remains ongoing. we are a long, long way away from any suggestion that now there is going to be a smoking gun, some kind of incriminating statement that the f.b.i. had not previously found, but shows up in e-mails on who abedin and anthony weiner's social devices. host: we are 40 minutes away from the end of the program. stephen vladeck is with the university of texas school of law, specialize necessary constitutional law and a guest on this program in the past. here to take your questions and comments. stephen vladeck, let's begin on that line for independents. kirk in springfield, massachusetts. good morning. caller: how you doing, gentlemen? hope you are having a good day.

like everybody says, thank you to c-span. my problem with this whole investigation is there seems to be a smoke screen and it is very political and i'm disturbed and a bit concerned about the future of our republic, when one looks at the two candidates running for office, mr. trump seems to be under criminal charges, not criminal charges, civil charge necessary suits we never hear about and all this smoke around secretary clinton and none seems to have any fire attached. i'm concerned about the political nature of it. i would like you to address that. thank you very much and have a good day. host: professor. guest: sure. kirk. thank you for the question. the politics are distressing and complicated there is a reason why federal statute called the hatch act which make its illegal for federal employees like director comey to take steps that could influence or affect the outcome of an election, if that is their purpose. i don't know that we know enough

to say that is director comey's purpose or goal, but given the amount of scrutiny paid to secretary clinton's e-mails, given wikileaks' efforts to publicize the e-mails they have been able to obtain from russian hackers, it is rather telling that there has been no concrete evidence of any crime on secretary clinton's part. i'm certain that if the government looks at my e-mails, that much scrutiny and no fire, i think it is a really telling conclusion.

guest: sure. hatch act was enacted in 1939, actually after there were fairly substantial reports that members of the roosevelt administration helped congressional candidates get elected in 1938 mid-term election. on one hand, prevents most federal employees from directly engage nothing campaign activities, especially when they are on the job. federal employees can't wear candidate t-shirts to the office in most case. there is more general prohibition. any official conduct with the purpose of influencing or affecting the result of an election, and i think the real question that director comey's actions raise is whether his conduct throughout this process

his unusual july comments, testifying before congress shortly therefore and his friday letter to congress, come close to prohibition. the problem, john, for the hatch act to be violated, it would have to be comey's influence to affect the -- only comey knows what his purpose was. there has been some -- george bush administration from 2005-2007, given absence of good reason for sending that letter on friday, perhaps we might infer this kind of wrongful purpose from director comey's actions. the hatch act is not a criminal statute, the worst possible penalty for violating it is -- is being fired. but it is there for a reason, it raises a hard question about when and under what circumstances senior government officials like jim comey should be making statements like this

so close to an election. host: in the history of the match act, how many violations have been successfully prosecuted, handful or happen every cycle? guest: i wouldn't say every cycle, but numerous cases, probably dozens, hundred or couple hundred, reality, john, we don't know about most of the hatch act cases, relatively technical violation by relatively low level government employees. rare you have a senior government official and director of the f.b.i. at that making such a public and potentially election altering statement so close to the election. part because i think folks in those positions tend to understand the care and the skepticism with which they should approach such statements and john, part of it is because every federal agency or most, issue internal guidelines, reminding employees in the run-up to an election about avoiding the appearance of the hatch act violation. indeed pretty good case here, if

director comey doesn't violate the hatch act, run the guideline issued by sally yates in march, which went to all justice employees. host: eric holder bringing up those in the op ed, that is getting attention today. barbara, democrat, good morning. caller: good morning. i was just wondering if indeed there are criminal violations, why is the f.b.i. not investigating colin powell, he used public server, g-mail for e-mails and all e-mails had been deleted and are not retrievable. so why is hillary clinton being persecuted for this and not powell? thank you. host: professor. guest: yes, barbara, worth separating two different issues. first is use of nongovernmental e-mail server by secretary clinton, which as you suggest, we also know colin powell used.

condoleeza rice used this type of setup. i don't think anyone is suggesting that using a private e-mail server by itself is illegal, it may be inconsistent with federal record laws, those are modest penalties, not criminal statute. the issue in secretary clinton's case and the reason her critics have been making so much out of this affair is the extent to which in her private e-mails server may have been communicating about classified information and there are specific prohibition on the wrongful disclosure, unauthorized disclosure or transmission of classified information, that is where i think the hillary clinton e-mail affair has taken on a bit of life to itself. but barbara, the larger point is the one you suggest off the top. we've had months, if not years, of discussion of the e-mails, we've seen so many of them ha

thorough investigation by the f.b.i. including director comey, who i think we can agree is hardly a shill for the clinton camp. and it turned up nothing to date. did secretary clinton act in a way that was unwise? absolutely. did she act in a way that was unprecedented? probably not. did she act in a way that was illegal? so far, no evidence according to the f.b.i. that law enforcement, that she did so. i think the nuance helps us to see why secretary clinton's situation is different and why the end of the day we're still in a place where at most this is a misuse of documents, much in the same way the end of the george w. bush administration, we know the white house misapplied records rules, deleted tens of thousands of e-mails under legal obligation to hold on to. this is not new. if there is a twist here, it is whether secretary clinton

violated the laws pertaining to classified information. so far, no indication that she did. host: woodbridge, virginia is next, brian is an independent. good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. thank you. you did a really good job of clarifying the factual legality of the situation much more than all the major corporate media, i commend you for that. then this thing about hillary guilty of espionage, there is really no criminal activity or prosecution levels. it is really kind of political thing because nobody other than hillary was hurt by that, nobody lost their lives. her reputation is for good decision-making when handling confidential information is damaged and i'm pretty sure she learned from that. compare that to bush lying to go to war and torturing people. a lot of people lost their lives

or were damaged by that and the republicans or the senators and congress refuse to prosecute him and treat him like a hero. we are still trying to clean up that mess. it's like going to surgery with a person who has a mortal wound and they're paying attention to the pimple on their face or the makeover. you know, it's just obviously political when you compare it to that light. host: stephen vladeck. brian is right in that it is all political. in fairness to more responsible critics to secretary clinton, the concern about using private e-mail server is not just bad judgment, it is concern private e-mail server is more vulnerable to intrusion and hacking by anyone, but especially by foreign governments and there is heightened risk perhaps that classified information discussed

on private server could fall into the wrong hands and be used to detriment of national security. john, two critical responses to that, the first is again, no evidence, according to the f.b.i., secretary clinton was engaged in wrongful and illegal discussion of classified information on her private server. second, more important point, there is every indication the same hackers, the same fiber intruders have been successful in breaching our official e-mail networks and our government networks. it is not at all clear that if the real objection is to the increased vulnerability of e-mail on private server if it holds water given how many prominent hacks of official government databases and e-mail accounts we've seen over the last couple years. host: what is your opinion of wikileaks and has been coming out from wikileaks? guest: it is funny. wikileaks has seen its reputation change over the last six to eight months.

two or three years ago, a lot of people looked at wikileaks as radical, but neutral organization designed to expose to the public all kinds of government information that was previously secret. it now seems pretty clear -- wikileaks has an agenda in this election, and that agenda is to discredit, oppose, and try to block hillary clinton from being i have concerns with -- when any mostly foreign organization to play such an active role in our electoral process. it suggests that they have an agenda that would be benefited from having one person elected as opposed to another. host: san diego, california is not. joe is a republican. good morning, joe. caller: my question is this -- if she told the truth about her e-mails in the beginning, i

don't think that this would be up for discussion right now. i'm for trump and we need to get back to the basis of that. and my big thing is, hillary -- she's notrters going to do anything for this country. i'm a black man 100 sent. that's what i have to say. post: what about the timeline and how it impacted this investigation? had to do that if she it all over again, initial reaction to the story would have been very different and much more detailed and comprehensive and apologetic.

it's now clear, ironically thanks to e-mails we have from wikileaks, that the clinton campaign was not ready for how big of an issue this snowballed into and how big of a deal in was. especially to the extent that it reinforced many of her critic costs fair and unfair objections to her. that if we are really measuring the candidates based upon their general inclination to tell the truth, i don't tickets across -- close call. i don't think it comes out in favor of the last caller's support. i do think it is worth revisiting how this could have played out differently if secretary clinton had been much more apologetic from the get go. i suspect that is something everyone in the campaign has come to regret. host: swing state, nevada. keith is waiting period a -- waiting. a democrat, good

morning. caller: good morning. i want to follow-up on what your guest is speaking. i don't know if he knows the hatch act and i don't know if the president is a federal employee f. any federal employee had an e-mail that was bad for the country, they would be fired if they just wrote an off-colored one and hillary clinton hid her e-mails and lied about it. it is hard to follow that. yes, it is hard to follow a democrat who will believe in her, what she said because she lied from the get-go and people's lives are at stake. thank you. host: stephen vladeck, did you want to respond? guest: i think this is worth stressing, i don't think it is open and shut like the caller suggests. the reality is government employees communicate over e-mail all the time about things perhaps they are not supposed to. government employees routinely make mistakes or errors when discussing information that may or may not be sensitive or classified. part of the problem is not with the malicious intent of

government employees tis with the labyrinthine and backward system we have today for classification of national security information. everyone in washington and folks who study the issue around the country would agree we have a massive overclassification problem and one symptom of overclassification is government employees from the level of cabinet secretary, to line officer, struggle to figure out what they can and cannot communicate about on particular networks. the secretary clinton make mistake? no question she did. she admitted she did. but i think folks should think carefully and think with more

nuance about how hard it is for folks in her position who spend their day going back and forth between classified discussion and unclassified discussion who have obligation to act with this passion as expediently as they can to remember their eyes, doting i's and crossing the t's. which system, which e-mail situation. it is telling one of the other central charges against clinton is she didn't react quickly to the situation in benghazi there seems to be attention between the two things. we want our cabinet secretaries to act quickly, be unfettered by procedural constraint, do what is in the best interest of the country, but when they make a mistake, they are untrustworthy liars, that is a double standard. we have to be careful before we cast aspersions when we haven't been there ourselves. host: 15 minutes left with stephen vladeck. he is with university of texas school of law, previously worked at american university here in d.c. focussing on federal jurisdiction, constitutional law, national security. earlier in the program, we gave a hypothetical.

here is another hypothetical for you. if hillary clinton is elected in this investigation is ongoing, could president obama issue a pardon about anything that might come from this investigation before she then is sworn in? guest: i think he could. the pardon power in the constitution is pretty absolute. i think that would exculpate her from criminal liability. pardon would not necessarily block congress if it really wanted to from going after impeachment power. it is impervious to pardons, otherwise it wouldn't make sense. we have the possibility that a congress disposed against president clinton would try to impeach her. we have a pretty good lesson from the bill clinton administration about the difficulty of impeaching a president for reasons that smack of political -- as opposed to significant legal malfeasance. once again, john, we are so far from any indication that

secretary clinton did anything more than careful, that i think not even necessarily to think about hypothetical just because it is so hard to fathom how we get from here to there. host: nancy is waiting, a democrat, good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. my question is, could you elaborate a little bit more about a hatch act? i read what harry reid had put out, letting the f.b.i. director about a hatch act? know he may have violated it. what would the possible ramifications be for him? i hate to use the expression, but it looks like a witch hunt to me and i appreciate, i will take your reply off air. thank you. >> pictures from grand rapids,

we are so waiting for donald trump, who will hold a rally for you. as we wait for that, we will go to today's white house briefing, live with spokesman josh ernst. noting thatate you over the two years i have been s aboutng question secretary clinton's e-mail system, i have made it clear that we will be scrupulous about ourding the appearance of investigations in the white house. i was preserving the integrity ofand investigations conducted by the department of justice.

you raised a question about some of the could -- some of the decisions that have been made to communicate the information that has been made available to the public. what's true is that i don't have any pet -- any independent knowledge of how those decisions were made, how those were considered, dating all of the derek troo july when akoni in his investigation and ,poke at length to the public including in the news conference with rather harsh condemnations of the way that secretary clinton handled that situation. jacoby also testified before congress at some length, on camera, about the investigation. some of that provided fodder to secretary clinton's critics. over the course of the fall we have seen the fbi move forward in presenting all investigative

information. 302 forms and other documents, to congress. of fact is that my lack independent knowledge rents me from weighing in. i will neither defend nor criticize what the director has decided to communicate to the public about this investigation. what i will say is that the department of justice, in our democracy, is given expansive authority to conduct advanced -- investigations. the department of justice is given subpoena power and are allowed to compel witnesses to testify and are able to collect evidence that is not necessarily readily available. they are even allowed to impanel

a grand jury. it is important in the mind of the president that those authorities are tempered by an inherent's two long-standing tradition and practice dutch -- of standings and norms. the president believes that it ,s important for those norms traditions, and guidelines to be >> [inaudible] sec. earnest: you have to know that there has been a lot of discussion about this. public orting based on the multitude of sources at the department of justice. the president believes that there are a set of significant institutional responsibilities

that officials at the department of justice and the i must fulfill. he believes that derek jacoby is a man of principle and good character. presumably the reason that president bush chosen to serve in a senior position at the bush administration department of justice. these same character traits are what led a strong majority to confirm him to this job. these are the traits that led the president to bring him in as director of the f guy. these are tough sins. it's a good thing that he is a man of integrity and character to take them on. >> you will concede, i'm sure, that in the absence of information about this, voters are essentially left with speculation about what might be involved in what we might be looking at or not looking at for the election. will the president, in the interest of people not being able to rely on the sources

needed, see the fbi release more information than was released that letter prior to election day about what's going on? sec. earnest: in the same way i will neither criticize or defend decisions iny's the investigation, it's that i don't have knowledge about the decisions that were made to release this information. other people have the luxury of being able to opine, writing op-ed's serving as anonymous sources for reporters, but when i stand here representing the institution of the presidency, i don't have that luxury. in the same way that i will criticizefend nor director comey's decisions regarding what's been made public, i don't have any recommendations to make to him either with regard to what information should be

communicated to the public. >> in the past, including after the fbi announced that it wasn't receiving with the recommendation to bring charges in this case, the white house to defend him, defended him a number of times. is that a substantive shift in the language today, not defending? is that some signal to us that is reason for the white house to maintain additional distance year? sec. earnest: i think, josh, what i have observed in the past a man ofhe director is principle, integrity, well-regarded by senior officials in of parties and served in the senior position in the bush administration and is somebody got strong bipartisan support when his nomination to be director of the fbi was considered by the senate. all of those things are true and they speak to his good character.

-- thesident since president's assessment of his has integrity and character not changed. for example, the president doesn't believe that he is intentionally trying to influence the outcome of an election. he doesn't believe he secretly strategizing to benefit one candidate or one political party. he is in a tough spot. and he is the one who will be in a position to defend his actions in the face of significant variety ofrom a legal experts, including individuals who serve in senior department of justice positions in administrations led by presidents of both hearties. >> and we will leave this at this point. you can see the rest of it online at c-span.org. live now to donald trump in

grand rapids, michigan. he is being introduced by former indiana basketball coach, bobby knight. >> that's as far as i got. >> you got it. this is a five-star general you are looking at here area one of the best. cheers and applause] ight: let me take a moment to extend -- explain donald trump to you. donald trump is a tough son of a baitch. [cheers and applause] : there isn't anything around that he isn't in charge of. i know that i didn't go to one of your favorite schools.

i went to ohio state, instead of one of your favorite schools. -- booing] i knew you would give me that. but you know what? we beat your ass every time we played. let's talk about donald trump for just a moment. i was a major in history and government. i have studied it were all mine life -- all my life, presidential candidates, presidents and so forth. i believe very strongly that it life that weour needed a donald trump more than we ever needed anybody since george washington. [cheers and applause]

.nd we need a donald trump and i only know one. that's the only son son oof a bitch with that name that i know. we need somebody in there that is smart. .hat is tough and that loves the united states of america. [cheers and applause] donald trump doesn't care whether he has a salary. how many of you are really happy with our past eight years? [booing] i don't think any of us want that to continue.

and it won't continue under a donald trump administration. i will guarantee you two things. in a donald trump administration , there will never again be four americans set out on a hill somewhere in benghazi and left to die. [cheers and applause] mr. knight: that is the greatest criminal act in our history and government, what happened in benghazi. here's another thing. up"]ting "lock her mr. knight: one more guarantee is this -- there will never be a member in a trump administration

that receives money from foreign governments and puts it away somewhere. [cheers and applause] we lookht: i think that -- i'm not knocking his fault, but we spent eight years with probably the worst prepared president for the job we've ever had. it wasn't his fault. it was our fault for not finding somebody better than he was. and now, with donald trump, let's just think for a moment, donald trump is not national. it's international. everybody in the world knows donald trump.

you know isis, the people everywhere, there are problems for us. they don't want donald trump as president because they know how dam tough he is. [cheers and applause] mr. knight: and they know -- they know how dealing with him is a different situation than what we had. i am so sold, having been around him and known him for a number of years that there is nobody that can do a better job at what we need being done than this man, donald trump, can do. [cheers and applause] he is going right now, we have the highest deficit than we've ever had. the most we've ever owed to anybody. he will get that stuff all straightened out.

no one even begins to have the kind of background for this job the donald trump has. gives me a great deal of pleasure, here in michigan, with the great people here, great universities, great sports teams . let me tell you something. more than anything i have done in my life, it's the opportunity to have a chance to introduce two great american people the man who can put us back where we should be. i now give you that man. it's donald trump. [cheers and applause] i'm proud to be american where at least i know i'm free and i won't forget the men that died to give that life to me

and i proudly stand up next to you and defend her still today because there ain't no doubt i love this land god bless the usa i'm proud to be an american where at least i know i'm free and i won't forget the men who died who gave that life to me and i gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today because there ain't no doubt i love this land god bless the usa ♪ mr. knight: what's his name? [cheers and applause] -- there's ae want great thing about him that we can all be proud of. black, white, whatever our color is, we can be dam proud that we are americans.

[cheers and applause] and i want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, this is the best man that we would ever be able to have to take care of the circumstances we are in right now. that is mr. donald trump. [cheers and applause] -- mr. trump: thank you, coach. boy, oh boy. [cheers and applause] mr. trump: he's something. coach knight. no games, right? with him there's no games. thank you, coach. thank you, general. what a combination those two are, right? we set this up 24 hours ago.

we are doing great in michigan. we are going to win michigan. [cheers and applause] are doing great in every poll. i mean, we're doing amazing. we are winning in north carolina. we are winning in florida. we are winning big in texas. you know they say they are setting new voting records. we are winning all over the place. it's going to be something special. in eight days we're going to win the great state of michigan and we are going to win back the white house. 100%. let me start today by making a very important promise to you. when i win, on november 8, i am going to bring your jobs back to america.

[cheers and applause] you know it better than anyone else in this country. the long nightmare of jobs leaving michigan will be coming to a rapid end. we will make michigan the economic envy of the entire world once again. used to be the economic envy. the political class in washington has betrayed you. they have uprooted your jobs, your communities, and they have shipped your wealth all over the world. to mexico and all others. they put up new skyscrapers in beijing while your factories in michigan were crumbling. these are our politicians. i will end of american prosperity. believe me. i will fight for every last michigan job.

you will have plenty of jobs. get ready. when we win, it's going to be america first. so, you have to make sure that you get in your absentee ballots and get out to the polls on november 8. you have to get those ballots in. in the ballot? anybody? november 8, we will never have a chance to do this again. we have created a movement, it's like a great movement that the whole world is talking about. honestly, in four years, i don't care who it is that broadens, you will never have this chance. you have to get out and vote. vote with all of your heart and with all of your soul, this is it. show the whole world how much you love michigan and america by voting. back our jobs. we rebuild our military. other go -- do so many things. including a border, we are going

to have a border. [applause] i'm asking for your vote. [cheers and applause] [chanting] mr. trump: we will build the wall. do not worry about it. do not worry. [cheers and applause] mr. knight: we don't build the wall -- mr. trump: we don't build the wall, someone will be angry with me. and you know who is paying for it, right? [cheers and applause] 100%.mr. trump: they don't know it yet. i met with the president of mexico. the whole thing is great. we have to stop the poison from blowing in. you know the poison of the drugs? flowing in, poisoning your state, poisoning new hampshire.

hampshire tells me, for a year and a half they have been telling me stories, unbelievable, but every state, the poison is pouring in. we are going to stop the drugs. then we are going to work on the people that are so badly addicted. we will get them better. vote ofng for the republicans, democrats, independents, and first-time voters who want great jobs, safe neighborhoods, and a government that works for the people. [cheers and applause] importantly,u, so to believe in america once again . but to bring back your jobs we must also immediately repeal and replace obamacare. [cheers and applause] what a disaster. been announced that michigan residents are going to experience crushing double-digit premium hikes. congratulations.

congratulations. [booing] the numbers are so high, i don't want to give them to you. to have a good day. i don't want you to ruin your day. by the way, any place more fun to be then a trump rally? [cheers and applause] and honestly, the subject right now isn't so positive, it's about what's going on with our country, but we're going to make it so positive. we are going to make it so positive. with minnesota yet, the premium, you have to see what's going to happen. the democratic governor has said, and he's a big democrat, the affordable care act is no longer affordable. he took a little heat for that. hillary clinton once to double down on obamacare. making it even more expensive. in fact, much more expensive than ever before.

she's going to double down. in all fairness, though, folks, based him what we are reading? in all fairness right now i think she has your problems that obamacare. [cheers and applause] mr. trump: they have finally gotten wise to the clintons. or have stay have finally gotten wise. [chanting "lock her up"] mr. trump: wow. thank you. i love you, too. and i have to give the fbi credit, that was so bad what happened originally? comeyk guts for director to make the move that he made in light of the kind of opposition

he had where they try to protect her from criminal prosecution. you know that. it took a lot of guts. i really disagreed with him. i was not his fan. heell you what, what he did, brought back his reputation. he brought it back. he's got to hang tough. a lot of people want him to do the wrong thing. what he did was the right thing. i'm asking for your vote so that we can replace obamacare and save the health care. look, the health care of this country is in such dire straits. we are going to save health care for every family in michigan, for every family in our country. much less expensive, much better health care. repeal and replace. we have so many alternatives, so much better, so much less expensive. real change also means restoring honesty to our government.

know, the fbi has reopened this investigation into hillary clinton and discovered -- [cheers and applause] mr. trump: and discovered -- you heard this yesterday -- it's -- anotherieve 650,000 e-mails. she lied under oath when she turned over all of her work-related e-mails. just one more lie out of so many. you know, general cartwright, a four-star general lied one time. i think he did it actually for national security purposes. he lied one time. he may go to jail for five years . she has lied so many times, with the deletions.

this is the biggest scandal since watergate. hillary wants to blame everyone else for her mounting legal troubles. that she has brought all of this on herself. the one who set up any legal private e-mail server. private e-mail server. to shield herself from her illegal activities. probesre are five fbi into the clinton foundation and their pay for play activities. very, very deep investigations. hillary is the one who sent and received classified information on an insecure server, putting the safety of the american people under threat. that's what she did. [booing] 650,000.:

you know what i call that? that's the mother lode. the 33,000 will find that are missing, the 15,000 that are missing, the facts that are missing. you know they had boxes of e-mails missing two weeks ago? hit the mother lode, as they say in the good old mining industry. hillary is the one who lied to congress under oath. onlary is the one who lied so many different occasions to the fbi. and they know, they know. they know hillary is the one who made 13 phones disappear. someone a hammer. hillary is the one who destroyed 33,000 e-mails. after she got the subpoena. after. before, no good. but after?

no, that's why something should have happened then. hillary is the one that broke the law over and over and over again. we can be sure that what is in those e-mails is absolutely devastating. and i think we are going to find out, by the way, for the first time. you, huma. good job, huma. [laughter] mr. trump: thank you, anthony weiner. [cheers and applause] mr. trump: and you all saw the statements made about him a year ago? you know, in new york we knew weiner. and i made statements that were rough. like -- how can she be allowed to live with this guy? how can she have access to this

important information? and i was badly criticized, right? now they are saying -- wow, trump has good judgment. wow. got good instincts. got good instincts. victim.is not the the american people are the victims of this corrupt system. in every way. and this is your one chance. right now, november 8, to change it. hillary is likely to be under investigation for a very long time. supporters,ongtime pollster, goodc guy, smart guy, smart -- archive, doug jones, is now totally withdrawing his support. he supported that family for years. that youin an article

wrote in an article "i'm a democrat. i worked for bill clinton. that i can't hope for hillary." this is so important, he writes "i'm now convinced that we will be facing the very real possibility of a constitutional dimensions andy deleterious -- we all know that -- consequences, should secretary clinton win the election." that's goingthink to happen. if that happens, we did a bad job out here, folks. he warns that if hillary is elected, she would be under protracted criminal investigation and probably a criminal trial, i would say. we would have a criminal trial for a sitting president. in the meantime, vladimir putin, who she likes to say bad things

about, and all the other leaders, who she says bad things about, and then you wonder why the world hates us, all of these people will sit act and they will laugh and they will smile. the investigation the last four years. the trial will probably start. nothing will get done. i could tell you that your cars will continue to leave michigan. your production facilities, like the ford facility, will continue to leave michigan. nothing's going to get done. our country will continue to suffer. she's unfit and unqualified to be the president of the united states. mire ourion would government and our country in a constitutional crisis that we cannot afford. folks, we have to get back to work. we have to get back to work. we need to be going to work for the american people.

we can't do what hillary would like to do, and that's become it,ident -- you can't take i can't take it, i can take it, no one can take it. way, we do not need four more years of obama. that i can tell you right now. that i can tell you. four more years of isis? running wild? years of no borders? of losing all of your jobs? four more years of the depleted military? we are not building up the military for the great people in it. >> [inaudible] mr. trump: that's right. hillary clinton's corruption, eight days, you are right. democracy.at to the away way to save our democracy is to get out and vote the millions. the millions. don't leave it to chance. we are all hearing about our

system being so honorable, so honest. that's what they say? so honest. you can name 10 places, so can i. let's do this, let's not worry about it. get out and vote either millions and we won't have to worry about what's taking place behind the scenes. [cheers and applause] remember this, 1.8 million people that are dead are registered to vote. you know, they talk about -- oh, that's a threat to democracy, what i say. people areon registered to vote in two states. vote there.re, they so many things going on, folks. obama on television together today, talking about the bedrock government.

he was essentially talking about how corrupt the election system is issued -- in chicago. i saw it. i thought -- he is telling us how trump shouldn't be saying these things? eight years ago this guy was on television last night talking about how corrupt it is in chicago and saying -- i'm lucky i'm from chicago. in other words, it's corrupt. he's lucky that he's a beneficiary of the corrupt system? we can't let them take it away. [cheers and applause] mr. trump: the clinton crime spree ends on november 8. when we close the chapter on the clintons, we open a bright new chapter, focused on the american people. so, we want to be now a little uplifting. you know what? we have such tremendous

potential in our country. with the american voter begins with a plan to restore honesty and accountability in our government. i want the entire corrupt to hearon establishment and heed the words we are about to say. get ready. when we win on november 8, we are going to washington, d.c. and we are going to drain. the. swamp. we are going to drain the swamp. [cheers and applause] and speaking of draining the swamp, donna brazil did it again. wikileaks today, she gave the questions to a debate to hillary clinton. that was from a couple of weeks ago. happened again. but this time, far worse.

she gave the questions to a debate to hillary clinton. they are all blaming donna brazil. frankly, i think she just got fired from the network. she should be fired from the dnc. could you imagine if i did that? what would happen if i did that? electric chair, i think. the electric chair. if i did that, could you imagine? but here's the real problem. why not? mr. knight: i want to ask you, all of you folks that have been -- excuse me -- in any branch of the military, male or female, or you have had sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, that have been

in the military -- how many of you have done that? raise your hands. you that there will be no president that has ever been closer, or who has ever had a greater respect for our military people the donald trump will have. there's nothing more important , our army,world navy, coast guard, whatever, getting everything needs to have . this man will make sure it's done. i guarantee you that. [cheers and applause] mr. knight: now, you have listened to him. you heard him talk. he has got a couple of more things to say. i'm going to tell you one more thing.

no bullshit in a donald trump administration. thank you very much area [cheers and applause] mr. trump: there's only one. there's only one bobby knight. [chanting] mr. trump: thank you. thank you, bobby. [chanting] mr. trump: thank you. what a great place to be. thank you, bobby. we also have the endorsement of the great, great guy. jack nicholas. bobby is such a winner, jack is such a winner. we have so many endorsements. .uch great, great winners we love jack. at the corner of our contract is

my plan to bring back your jobs. michigan has launched more than one in four manufacturing jobs since bill clinton signed nafta. strongly supported by hillary clinton. into effect,t there were 280,000 auto workers in michigan. today that number is only 160 million. believe me, it's going down and going down fast. our country is launched, listen to this, 70,000 factories. i thought it was 700, i thought it was 7000. 70,000 factories since china enter the world trade organization. that was another bill and hillary disaster. we had nothing. what do we get? launches and unemployment.

$800 billion in annual trade deficits with the world. we do all of this trade. we have a trade deficit of $800 million. we are living through the greatest jobs in the history of the world. people of michigan, perhaps almost more than any other place know this. our trade deficit with china grew during hillary's tenure. it's massive. her trade deal with south korea, you know all about that, she was pushing it so hard. instead of making 100,000 it killed 100,000 the rusted out factories, the empty buildings in the long unemployment lines, remember, hillary clinton did much of this for you. she wasn't there. during the debates, you watch the debates -- did my win the debates, by the way?

-- didn't i win the debates, by the way? [cheers and applause] mr. trump:, the debates. i what -- i love those debates. i would say that hillary, you have been there for 30 years, why do you do it? changes -- i'm going to the tax code so that donald trump can do that. what she didn't say is that her donors are doing the same thing. i said to her, i don't mind if you do that, then change the code, nothing gets done. the reason she will never do it is because of donors don't want her to. -- her donors don't want her to. i will have 100 million dollars in my campaign. on the internet, i will tell you this, $61 on average. people, we are setting records. amazing. selling yourich jobs to the same special interests who pushed the jobs

out of america. the people who have given countless millions to her. she is not going to change. she gets rich making america poor. look at the devastation. delphi laid off 6377 workers. you know that. you know where they moved? different places. most of those jobs went to mexico. by the way, if she's working for mexico, i think she's doing a great job. we are going to fight for the workers at delphi. anyone hear from delphi? a few? they don't want to raise your hands. this guy had his hand up a little bit. he was like -- in other words, you will be proud of it soon. a raw deal and they deserve better. gm laid off 413 workers at the assembly plant in 2013 because of imports from the south korean trade deal.

the lear corporation laid off many people in rochester and moved their jobs to south korea. a place i know well, auburn hills. chrysler laid off 5300 workers. those jobs went to mexico, china, india, and numerous other countries. 2000 155 workers. their small car division is out, gone, moved to mexico. now they are moving a lot of different production facilities to a lot of different areas. when you look at what is going on in our country, we want them here. a trump administration will stop the plight of american jobs. country -- and another company they announce they wanted to move their jobs

to mexico or another country. i will pick up the phone and if i have to, i will do it personally. do i care? it's not presidential, sir. but i have some of the brick -- greatest presidentially -- business leaders endorsing me. we will use our great business people. we have the greatest negotiators in the world. makee political hacks to great deals. our trade deal with mexico, nafta, is defective. defective almost from the beginning. we have different tax systems. that is their system. we have our system. there is an almost 17% difference. every deal that we make, we are behind 17% before we even start. people have known that for years and years. no one has ever changed it. believe me, it's going to be changed or a quickly.

i will call the executives. and i will tell them that if they want to do that, where they take their factories and their everything and they are moving it and they think they can sell their cars, their air conditioners, back into the country? a 35% taxarge them when they try to ship their across what will end up being an extremely strong border. and you know what? just the fact that we would do that? they will never move. they will stay in michigan. nobody ever told them that. tosomebody ever went phillips and said that the stay and they say -- no, we're leaving, we go to mexico. you say, all right, here's the story, no more mr. nice guy. you make your air-conditioners in indianapolis. great place.

laid off, violently. 30 years? a laid them off. -- you i say is this want to build your plant in mexico, have a great time, but you think you are shipping your product across the border -- which will be a very strong border, by the way, for no tax code, nothing, we wind up with empty plants and factories and you end up with the money, the jobs, the plants, you can forget it. front,said that right up no one is leaving, folks. if you stop it right away, the politicians don't want to say that. most of them are too stupid to understand. like, the ones that aren't, are taken care of by the special interests and their donors. because they want those companies to move because it is in their benefit. cars were be that the made in flint.

and you couldn't drink the water in mexico. now the cars are made in the sicko and you can drink the water in flint. not good. but we are going to turn it all around. and we are going to rebuild flint. i told you what in flint, it's gone down a long way. and we are going to help you rebuild the try. -- detroit. [cheers and applause] mr. trump: and mr. gilbert has done a great job, by the way. friend of mine. great job. and we are going to rebuild michigan. we are going to keep your jobs and lots of other things. i'd like to share a special message with the african-american community in michigan, which has been so terribly harmed by the policies of the clintons and a lot of the democratic politicians.

detroit.he city of take a look. it used to be the manufacturing hub of the world. now nearly half of the residence don't work -- residents don't work. rate inhe highest crime the united states. the children are trapped in failing, horrible government schools. as the people of detroit suffer, hillary wants to spend trillions on benefits for illegal immigrants and refugees coming into the country. i have outlined a plan for urban soewal, which i believe strongly in. it's called a new deal for black america. to useal includes a plan the money we will save by securing our border and curbing refugee admissions, to invest in communities, like flint and detroit.

jobs. going to bring in tremendous. it includes a pledge of school choice for african-american children. includes a promise to cancel billions and billions of dollars in climate change spending for the united nations. [cheers and applause] mr. trump: it's insane. a number that hillary wants to actually increase. and instead, use that money to provide for american infrastructure. including clean air and clean water. use all this recently. we are going to spend billions and billions and billions of dollars for a plan where we don't even know where the money is going. they won't even be able to

compete. i want clean air. . want crystal clean water and i want safety. and we don't have to give hundreds of billions of dollars away people who are probably laughing at us. plan also includes a pledge to reduce violent crime. every child in this nation has a right to grow up in safety and in peace. and my plan includes a pledge to restore manufacturing in the united states. we are going to start making things again. hillary and the democratic already have run the inner and have onlyrs produced more poverty, more crime, worse education.

the time has come for real change. i am asking you for the honor of your vote. so that together we can turn decades of political failure in two generations of lasting access. for your children and grandchildren. hillary, on the other hand, wants to destroy what's left of thefacturing in michigan trump administration will stop the transpacific art ship. partnership. we are not going to have a deal that is 6000 pages long, tying all of these countries together. you have to see a bar chart. if someone does something wrong that you can't do, we will have single lines going to single different countries. ,nd if they don't do good by us

we send them a letter of termination. 30 days. during that 30 days, they will call. we will probably make a new deal that will be even better. simple deals, close -- they don't take care of monetary manipulation which is the single biggest weapon that foreign countries use to kill us. especially china, they're grand masters. we will renegotiate nafta, and if we don't get the deal we want, we will terminate nafta and get a much better deal. we'll make a much better deal. we are going to lower taxes on american business from 35% to 15%. we are going to massively cut taxes for the middle class. we will unleash american energy, including shale, oil,