we get more from chris frates in washington. >> reporter: good morning, john and christine. donald trump continues to push the idea that the election is somehow rigged despite not providing evidence to support his charges. on sunday, he tweeted the election is absolutely being rigged by the media, but also at many polling places. the facts don't bear this out. a 2012 investigative project news 21 looked at a decade of data and found ten cases of voter impersonation at the polls on election day. politically, democrats are trying to use the claim of a rigged election to paint him as a panicked candidate. a guy to delegitimize the election before he loses in november. >> especially in the last couple days as donald trump has started to go wilder and wilder, i think by all accounts, losing the first two debates, he is starting to make wild claims about the election being rigged, et cetera. we have to keep pultting out a message and speak out that we run elections and we run them well here. he should not engage in the scare tactics. we need to push that message. we uask the gop l

let's bring in chris frates. what else have we learned from "the new york times" interview, pretty revealing? >> yeah, it's pretty reveal. he had a lackluster debate performance. he had allegations that he called a former miss universe miss piggy. and trump's been dogged by the bad headlines and essentially on the defensive. yesterday in the interview with "the new york times" trump tried to get back on offense calling hillary clinton nasty but adding he can be even nastier. he also indicated he was rethinking supporting clinton if she does win the white house. on the debate on monday he said he would absolutely support her. now saying we're going to have absolutely see. let's pull up this quote, he said this to "the new york times." hillary clinton was married to the single greatest abuser of women in the history of politics. hillary was an enabler and she attacked the women who bill clinton mistreated afterward. i think it's a serious problem for them and it's something i'm considering talking about more in the

. >> chris frates, thank you so much. >>> digital correspondent with us now. chris is there a sense that donald trump can overcome all of this. and when might we hear more of that policy as opposed to all of the shenanigans that we've heard so far. all of these accusations from trump himself? when are we going to hear more from him? >> donald trump is in a fox hole right now fighting for his political life. with just a couple weeks left in the election, time is really running out. the major opportunity he has to try to turn this thing around is next week in las vegas at the presidential debate with hillary clinton. but looking at the electoral map, going into this election, it was already really title. hillary clinton already had a firm head start just because of the demographics of the country. donald trump needed or excuse me, needs to win states like ohio, florida, pennsylvania and others. really have a clean sweep of all of these battleground states in order to reach the 270 votes he needs to win the electoral college. that is getting harder and harder by t

cnn's chris frates. >> reporter: good morning. john and christine, the trump campaign has not disputed the accuracy or the facts in the times story. they put out a statement calling the times and media in general an extension of the clinton campaign. they argued that trump had a fiduciary responsibility as a businessman to pay no more tax than legally required. >> the times fails to point out he has an obligation as a head of a business to take advantage of and use the lawful deductions and tax advantages that are available to you. so the reality is this is part of the tax code. he is a genius. >> it shows the mess the federal tax code is and that's why trump is the best person to fix it. there is no one who has shown more genius in the way to move around the tax code. >> reporter: the clinton campaign jumping on this. they have pressured for months to release tax returns. this they reacted swiftly. robby mook says this reveals the colossal business failures. he stiffs small businesses and laid off workers and walked away from har

cnn's chris frates with the latest. >> reporter: good morning. the donald trump campaign has not disputed the accuracy of the story. they put out the statement calling the times and media an extension of the clinton campaign. that went on to attack clinton before arguing that trump had a fiduciary account to not pay. >> he has an obligation to take advantage of the lawful deductions and tax advantages that are available to you. the reality is, this is part of our tax code. the man is a genius. he knows how to operate the tax code. >> what this shows is what a mess the federal tax code. no one has shown a more genius and weight around the tax code. >> reporter: and the clinton campaign is jumping on this. they reacted to the story swiftly. in a statement, robby mook said this bombshell reports shows the colossal business failures and how long he avoided paying federal income taxes. he stiffed small business workers. he avoided paying taxes for deca decades. that statement ended with mook calling on trump to release his tax returns. this is not a s

we have chris frates with more. >> reporter: a lot to unpack, christi. it has been a bad week for donald trump. he had the lackluster debate. he called the former miss universe miss piggy. he has been on the defensive. yesterday in the interview with "the new york times" trump getting back calling hillary clinton nasty. he said he could be nastier. he would re-support clinton if she rewins the white house. now he is saying we will wait and see what happens here. that was interesting as well. another thing that trump said. he went back on this attack hitting clinton for what he says was her role in her husband's sex scandal. i want to bring up this quote. christi, he said, quote, hillary clinton was married to the single greatest abuser of women in the history of politics. hillary was an enabler. she attacked the women bill clinton mistreated afterwards. i think this is a serious problem for them. i'm considering talking about this more in the future. after a bad debate performance and a week of what were self inflicted injuries, trump on the attack and t

chris frates has more from washington with all of this. chris?ese hacked e-mails from hillary clinton's campaign chief continuing to dog her campaign and exposing the behind the scenes things on the most sensitive issues including transcripts to wall street go goldman sachs or where top staffers wondered if bill clinton should give a speech. houma abedin e-mails saying this, quote, hrc very strongly did not want him to cancel that particular speech. they replied saying i know this is not the answer she wants, but doing the speech is a mistake. they are clear on the potential consequences. it will be three days after she's announced and on her first day in iowa where caucus goers have a negative view of wall street. abedin responds back saying, robie just raised with her again. we are good to cancel especially if wjc, reference to bill clinton is good with it. they are not saying whether the e-mails are authentic. if they are, they provide a look inside the campaign that is clearly concerned with how the speech would play with primary voters sweat

fred. >> chris frates, thank you. we shall see. let's talk about this with cnn historian tim neptale and errol louis. voters measure a candidate on charisma. if donald trump does indeed get nastier during the debate. smart political move? >> no, not a smart political move at all. >> wouldn't the people around him know that? why move forward? >> okay, fredricka, i can't imagine any professional political operative in the country suggesting to the candidate that the candidate tweet in the middle of the night. clearly trump does things that his advisers don't want him to do. his problem is not charisma. he is charismatic. he knows it. his problem is he has to do something that most politicals don't have to do. he has to prove he is competent as a political leader. that means actually being more restrained and more boring than he would like to be. hillary clinton is the opposite. demonstrates better sense of humor and better charisma. his is restraint and look presidential. you can have fun and go overboard, but when pushes comes to sh

. >> cnn investigations correspondent chris frates joining me live now from washington. chris, tell us more about what goodlay had to say. >> so far, it seems that comey is not telling lawmakers much more than what he's saying publicly. look, at this point, it's nothing. here's how he described his conversation with fbi director comey. >> did mr. comey tell you he would be coming forward with more information? >> he did not. his answer was with regard to a number of questions i asked him that he was not going to answer those questions at this point, meaning the conversation i had with him and mr. conyers. but with regard to mr. comey making a mistake, i think that he is very conscious of the controversy that's existed in the fbi. >> so despite the call by both democrats and republicans for comey to release more information, the fbi director is really not budging here. that's largely because he doesn't even know yet what's in those e-mails. >> and so chris, how odd is that, that director comey would not know what was in the e-mails but would construct a letter to "the hill

let's begin with chris frates live in springfield, ohio. good morning, chris. >> good morning, alisyn. donald trump returns to battleground ohio where the last couple polls show him tied with hillary clinton. between dayton and cluolumbus. a town hard hit and median household income dropped by more than 25%. the biggest drop in the nation and only 15% of all adults here are college educated. this should be trump country and he hopes his message resonates with voters. >> reporter: with only 12 days until the election, a new national poll shows the race tightening and now more battleground states are up for grabs. hillary clinton in a dead heat with trump in nevada as trump edges out in the must-win state of florida. >> i actually think we're winning. >> reporter: trump will invest millions more into his campaign. the billionaire has spent $56 million of his own money. >> let me just tell you that i'll have over $100 million in the campaign. >> reporter: a source telling cnn that earlier this monthprieves asked trump to put more money into his

chris frates has more on that. he's live in washington. >> good morning. donald trump's continued refusal to say whether he supports what is essentially a bedrock of american democracy, the idea of a peaceful transfer of power, is drawing criticism from all corners, that includes leaders in his own party and republicans who are in real tough re-election races. donald trump is defiant, mocking critics who rebuked him for refusing to say whether he will concede if he loses in november. >> i will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election if i win. >> reporter: the republican nominee is doubling down on his unsubstantiated claims that the election is rigged against him and leaving the door open to contest the vote. >> i will also reserve my right to contest or file a legal challenge in the case of a questionable result. >> reporter: trump's unprecedented remarks are drawing backlash from both sides and rattling an already fractured republican party. senator john mccain, who lost the presidential race back in 2008, saying a con

that's what we're seeing there, poppy. >> chris frates live in washington, thank you. >> you're welcome. >>> what is the basis then, that trump is pinning this on, that this election is rigged and hijacked? is he setting up for possibly explaining if he doesn't win on november 8th? and bigger, potentially more importantly, what are the dangers of saying that to this democracy? my political panel joins me now. with me in new york, cnn senior media correspondent, host of "reliable sources," brian stelter. steven, cnn reporter and political congressmen cater and washington conspiracy for the "new yorker." brian, you made your feelings clear on your show this morning about it. let's talk about history. supreme court rules in 2000 against al gore. he doesn't win the election because he doesn't take florida. he conceded the race. he said that's it. that's the end. we have to accept it. that is our democracy. trump appears to be on a different path. unwilling to do anything like that if he loses. his running mate, mike pence this morning on all the morning shows, cbs, he called, quote, the pea

let's talk about all of this, and trump's comments to the new york times with chris frates from washington. tell me about what trump said in this article. and how clinton's camp is responding this morning. >> yeah, poppy. it was a really interesting article, where trump really went on the attack. he called clinton nastier, but said he can get nastier than that. and then, well, he got pretty nasty. he attacked clinton for what he says was her role in her husband's sex scandal. i want to pull up a quote that he gave the newspaper. he said this, quote, hillary clinton was married to the single greatest abuser of women in the history of politics. hillary was an enabler and attacked the women who bill clinton mistreated afterwards. it is a serious problem for them and something i'm considering talking about more in the near future. now, as for his own extra marital activities, well, trump told "the new york times" he never cheated on his whiefs, but when the paper asked him what about your affair with marla maple maples, trump said well, i don't talk about that. for her part, clinton has said s

so, huma is getting classified secrets, she's married to anthony weiner, who's a perv. >> chris frates, cnn, washington. >> let's bring in now betsy mccoy, former lieutenant governor of new york and a donald trump supporter and danielle mclaughlin, strategist and attorney. let me start with you, danielle. this week started with clinton seemingly looking beyond donald trump. she was talking about down-ballot races. friday started with the discussion of potentially cabinet posts with joe biden. this seems to have washed out a bit of that confidence, has it not? >> yes, and i don't know that it couldn't. i don't think hillary clinton ever wants to hear the word "fbi" and "e-mail" in the same sentence. but i think what clinton is trying to do is get the fbi to clarify what it is that they have and what it is they don't have. because it's clear that this dust storm that's being kicked up is going to be made hay of by the gop. we've seen this, frankly, within minutes of the letter being produced to congressman, to the eight leaders of the congressional committees. we had paul ryan and others

chris frates in springfield, ohio, where trump holds his first rally of today and joe johnson is following the clinton campaign. let's start with you, chris. good morning. >> good morning, carol. well donald trump coming back to battleground ohio where a couple of the most recent polls showing him tide with hillary clinton, including this suffolk university poll showing him 45-45 with hillary clinton. so he starts his day here in springfield, ohio. and that's between columbus and dayton, an area that's been really hard-hit over the last 15 years. median household income in springfield down more than 25%. that is huge. it's the biggest decrease in the nation. and 15% of adults here in springfield have a college education. so this really should be trump country. and he's hoping that message resonates with voters here. in fact he gave us maybe a little preview of what he's going to say later today when he went on "good morning america" hitting hillary clinton for her e-mails, and throwing some serious shade at the fbi director. >> she's so guilty. she deleted 33,000 e-mails. they're missing b

clinton is well-covered as she takes time of the trail for debate prep. >> chris frates, thank you soll ahead, the creator of the apprentice denouncing the rhetoric of donald trump's campaign, but still refusing to release footage from the show. do the tapes contain a potential bombshell? guess what guys, i switched to sprint. sprint? i'm hearing good things about the network. all the networks are great now. we're talking within a 1% difference in reliability of each other. and, sprint saves you 50% on most current national carrier rates. save money on your phone bill, invest it in your small business. wouldn't you love more customers? i would definitely love some new customers. sprint will help you add customers and cut your costs. switch your business to sprint and save 50% on most current verizon, at&t and t-mobile rates. don't let a 1% difference cost you twice as much. whoooo! for people with hearing loss, visit sprintrelay.com. you only earn double miles when you buy stuff from that airline. wait...is this where you typically shop? you should be getting double miles on every pur

that's what despite donald trump says, the polls are not rigged. >> chris frates, thank you so much. >>> we're awaiting a press conference coming up in about an hour involving a lawyer for one of donald trump's accusers. the attorney is going to address the media. this as a ninth woman now has come forward accusig the republican candidate of unwanted sexual advances. 63-year-old cathy heller says the incident happened nearly 20 years ago at trump's mar-a-lago resort in florida. jessica sni jessica schneider joining me with more on this. >> cathy heller told us she was alarmed by this uninvited kiss and aggressive behavior. it happened at a mother's day brunch in the late 1990s. her mother-in-law introduced her to donald trump and then she said i put my hand out and said hello and he grabbed me. i was standing and had heels on and almost fell back. he pulled me toward him. he was very strong. she tells me that's when he kissed her. now, she says her family saw what happened but they didn't dwell on it. it was, though, about a year and a half that she started telling friends about this

cnn's chris frates is covering the trump campaign. he's in ohio, standing by to hear from trump later this hour. cnn's jeff zeleny in north carolina covering hillary clinton. waiting to hear from her and michelle obama. they'll be speaking jointly. we'll have live coverage. donald trump about to speak where you are in springfield, ohio. this is the first of three ohio events. seen some poll numbers move in his direction. how's he planning to keep up that momentum? >> yes, he's planning to keep that momentum up by doing these big kinds of rallies. if you take a look at the polling we've seen, the last few polls out of ohio shows him typed with hillary clinton. a poll that was just out shows it 45/45. he needs to get the numbers up. that's why he's come to springfield, between columbus and dayton. it's had a tough time these last 15 years. the household median income has fallen 25%. that is the biggest amount that we've seen acontroross the coun. only 15% adults here have a college education. so that is a big, big sign that this is trum

cnn's chris frates has been digging into what it means and how it would work. s, is it a possibility? >> it's a possibility, fred, but first we should acknowledge we're in uncharted territory here. it's unclear if this rule could be used this late in the game. perhaps more importantly, the thing to remember here invoke rule nine donald trump would have to drop out of the race for the rule to take effect. trump has suggested this morning he'd never drop out. what we're talking about, we need to point out it's a long shot right now. if trump were to step aside, here is what would happen. according to the rules as they're written now, which are also vague and could be open to interpretation, either the rnc could hold another convention, that's unlikely. it's impractical to get all those people together. what's more likely is members of the republican national committee would choose a replacement nominee. now that replacement isn't chosen by a popular vote. the committee members vote by state. each state, they're entitled to the same amount of votes as it cast at th

i want to get straight to cnn's chris frates, who's been following this for us this morning. s, good morning to you. what are you learning? >> good morning, christi. we know that fbi director james comey says the fbi can't yet assess whether the new e-mails may be significant. he didn't know how long it would take to figure that out. and in a letter to fbi employees, comey said while the bureau usually doesn't discuss ongoing investigations, in this case, he felt an obligation to do so. >> reporter: fbi director james comey informing lawmakers he's reviewing materials related to the clinton e-mail investigation. law enforcement officials tell cnn the new e-mails were not from clinton, but were sent and received by one of her top aides, huma abedin. they were found on a device shared by abedin, and her estranged husband, anthony weiner, who is the target of a separate investigation into alleged sexting with a minor. all of this three months after the fbi director recommended closing the clinton e-mail probe. the fbi has learned of the existence of e-mails that appear pertinent

cnn's chris frates is following this for us. what are we hearing from her camp this morning? >> we're hearing from her camp they want to release these e-mails. fbi director comey says the fbi can't yet say whether knees e-mails may be significant and he doesn't know how long it will take to find out. in a letter to fbi employees yesterday, comey says while the bur bureau doesn't normally discuss these kinds of investigations, in this case he felt an obligation to do so. fbi director james comey informing lawmakers he's reviewing materials related to the clinton e-mail investigation. the new e-mails were not from clinton but sent and received from one of her top aides, huma abedin. she was found on a device shared by abebin and her estranged husband, anthony weiner, who is involved in a separate investigation. all of this after comey recommended closing the e-mail probe. he said in connection with an unrelated case the fbi has learned of e-mails pertinent to the investigation. the fbi should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these e

let's begin with cnn's chris frates live in springfield, ohio. >> good morning, chris. well donald trump returns to battleground ohio where the last couple of polls have showed him tide with hillary clinton. he starts in spring field ohio and it's been hurting over the past 15 years. the median ncc has dropped more than 25%. that's the biggest drop in the country and only 15% of adults here have a college education so this really should be prime trump country and he's hoping that his message motivates voters. >> with only twelve days until the election, a new national poll shows the race tightening. and now more battleground states are up for grabs. hillary clinton in a dead heat with trump in nevada as trump edges out in the must-win state of florida. >> we're going to have a tremendous victory. i actually think we're winning. >> reporter: trump will invest millions more into his campaign. the billionaire has spent $56 million of his own money. >> let me just tell you that we have -- i'll have over $100 million in the campaign. >> reporter: a source telling cnn that ea

let's bring in chris frates. chris, what more can you tell us about comey's decision, how he went about it and why the attorney general and others advised him against this. >> what we're learning from our own cnn justice reporter, evan perez, is that in fact attorney general loretta lynch objected to and was angered by the fbi director comey's decision to send congress a letter outlining how he's handling these newly recovered e-mails. in that letter comey wrote, quote, in connection with an unrelated case, the fbi has learned of the existence of e-mails that appear pertinent to the investigation. he went on in that letter to say the fbi should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these e-mails to determine whether they contain classified information as well as to assess their importance to our investigation. now, yesterday comey defended his decision to alert lawmakers to the investigation when he sent a letter to fbi employees. in that letter he acknowledged that it was

we have it covered with chris frates live in springfield, ohio. the battleground state of ohio. the last couple polls showed him tied with hillary clinton. he starts his day between dayton and columbus. a town where over the last 15 years, the median household income dropped by 25%. more than any other metro area in the country. 15% of adults here have a college education. this is prime trump country. he hopes his message resonates today. >> reporter: a new national poll shows the race tightening and now more battleground states are up for grabs. hillary clinton in a dead heat with trump in nevada as trump e edges out in the must-win state of nevada. >> i actually think we're winning. >> reporter: he says he will invest millions more in his campaign. so far he spent $56 million of his own money. >> let me just tell you that i'll have over $100 million in the campaign. >> reporter: a source telling cnn asked trump to put more money into his campaign to help compete with clinton's

chris frates in washington. we'll be right back. so pay less and get more only at hilton.com.iness be ready when growth presents itself? american express open cards can help you take on a new job, or fill a big order or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. find out how american express cards and services can help prepare you for growth at open.com. >>> welcome back. i'm fredricka whitfield. it's national bullying prevention month. this week's cnn hero is tackling bullying where it often begins, middle school. every year in the u.s., 7 million children are bullied either at school or online. when matthew realize zed his little brother was one of them, he took action even though he was only in the 8th grade. >> the term peer pressure is thrown around a lot. usually, it's a negative thing. i believe we can harness peer pressure for good. what if it was cool to be kind. that's what positive peer pressure is about. being kind is the norm. >> to see the peer pressure in action go to cnnheroes.com. >>> hillary clinton's campaign is now pointing the finger at russia for

we now have chris frates. what are your learning?the campaign has confirmed the e-mails are authentic and they're not distputing them. we know according to the hacked e-mails, in 2013, clinton told a closed door symposium that input from wall street insiders is key. she said there's nothing magic about regulations. too much is bad, too little is bad. how do you get to the golden key? how do we figure out what works. and the people that know the industry better than anybody are the people who work in the industry. it's in everybody's interest that we have a better framework. now, in together 2013 speech to the national multihousing council she said politicians need to have different positions in public than they hold in private. according to the hacked e-mail she said politics is like sausage being made. it's unsavory and always been that way. but we usually end up where we need to be. if everybody is watching all the backroom discussions and deals then people get a little nervous to say the least. you need both a public and a private

cnn's chris frates is live in washington with more. >> good morning, john. donald trump continues to refuse to say whether he supports what's a bedrock of american democracy, the peaceful transfer of power. and that's drawn criticism from all corners, including from gop leaders and republicans who are in pretty tough races. donald trump is defiant, mocking critics who rebuked him for refusing to say whether he will concede if he loses in november. >> i will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election if i win. >> reporter: the republican nominee is doubling down on his unsubstantiated claims that the election is rigged against him and leaving the door open to contest the vote. >> i would also reserve my right to contest or file a legal challenge in the case of a questionable result. >> reporter: trump's unprecedented remarks are drawing backlash from both sides and rattling an already fractured republican party. senator john mccain, who lost the presidential race back in 2008, saying a concession is "an act of respect for the