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Hot Air Balloon Crashes In Texas; The FBI and Justice Department Investigating Data Hack Of Program Used By Clinton Campaign; Trump, Clinton And Running Mates To Start Receiving Intelligence Briefings Soon; DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz Resigns. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired July 30, 2016 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[13:00:00] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: -- as well to give you a better idea about what happened in the location in which it happened.

Texas governor Greg Abbott has released the following statement saying in part our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families as well the Lockhart community. The investigation into the cause of this tragic accident will continue and I ask all of Texas to join us in praying for those lost, end quote.

All right. CNN is covering this angle from -- this story from every angle. With me now is CNN Sara Gamin and CNN aviation analyst Rene Marsh who is joining us on the phone. I also want to bring in Mark Dombroff, former FAA and aviation official with the department of justice.

So first Sara, to you, in terms of information we are learning the circumstances of this happening, what do we know?

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are still learning a lot here, Fredricka. What we do know is this. The NTSB has launched a go team. Many of those members deployed from Washington, D.C. They also say that two investigators happened to be in Texas at the time and they are on route to the scene. The FAA is also investigating. They are sending people to the scene as well.

As you mentioned, this happened just before 8:00, about 7:40 a.m. local time. The Coldwell County sheriff's office has said that they were responding to calls for a possible vehicle accident on this road that you see here in this photograph and it turns out when they made it to the scene they realized it was actually a hot air balloon basket that was on fire. It's unclear if it was on the road or in the pasture near the road but when they got to the scene that is what law enforcement found. They found a large hot air balloon basket on fire in this area. They now say they do not believe that there are any survivors, at least 16 people may have perished in this crash according to the FAA.

You know, I want to give you a little context here. It seems like a lot of people and a lot of people -- a large hot air balloon. You know, this is a very popular tourist and sporting activity, hot air ballooning. Before this 2013 was the last -- is really quite frankly the last time there was so many people injured or killed in a hot air balloon accident in Lexor, Egypt. Nineteen people were killed when a hot air balloon also caught fire.

Also before that in Australia in 1989, 13 people were killed when two hot air balloons collided, as I mentioned, in Australia. Generally this is considered a pretty safe form of flight. But you know, as we all know things carry risks. And any time you're in the air there is a possibility for something tragic like this to happen, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sara, thank you so much.

Renee Marsh also with us.

So Rene, the NTSB is leading this investigation. We understand the FAA also part of it. How do the two work together in this kind of tragedy.

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Well, Fred, I can tell you that I just got off the phone with one NTSB official who will be deploying from Washington, D.C. At this point they are still working to get more information and probably won't know much more beyond what we know now until they actually get on the ground. And their number one priority, both the FAA and NTSB when they get on the site there is they are going to want to look at the evidence, take a look at, you know, the debris field potentially where this hot air balloon went down.

You know, we do know that the NTSB in the past, as Sara pointed, has investigated hot air balloon incidents, but this one seems to be on a different magnitude here, a larger magnitude. We are talking about 16 people who lost their lives. So once investigators get there, they are going to break off in teams and the focus will be several areas. They will want to try and find out exactly what caused this crash, what went wrong and that is the primary role of the safety investigators, specifically the NTSB. Was a mechanical issue with the hot air balloon or was this pilot error. Those are going to be the two main function reports, though. They will want to look into the maintenance of this hot air balloon, things of that sort, quite similar to how they would go about any other aviation investigation. But first, Fred, the priority is to get on scene, collect the evidence, document the scene, which photos, if there is any video out there they'll want to get their hands on that, they'll want to talk to witnesses and then they'll begin this process of piecing together the story of what led to this crash because again that is their primary concern and hoping that if there is an issue with this particular balloon, you know, making the safety recommendations that are necessary to prevent such a deadly accident again, Fred.

[13:05:06] WHITFIELD: OK.

And Mark is back with us, a former FAA official and aviation official with the department of justice.

And so Mark Dombroff, when the sheriff's office puts out a statement telling what they know, including that the 16 people are all presumed to be dead, it also spells out that it believes that the fire took place in the basket portion of the hot air balloon. What does that information tell you in the initial stages of what we have since learned?

MARK DOMBROFF, FORMER FAA AND AVIATION OFFICIAL, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (on the phone): Yes. Thanks, Fred. I think probably in some respects very little. The role of the first responders here, whether it's the police or the fire department, and in the case of the police it's to secure the scene. It is to make sure that everything remains intact. The first responders, obviously, in context of the fire department is to control any fire, if there are survivors. As reportedly there are none here to deal with that.

But in terms of actually pinpointing of what where the fire originated, how it originated, the police really are not going to be doing that investigation. And to the extent they do they're going to be assisting at the request of the NTSB. Rene properly pointed out, you know, the NTSB has sent a team from Washington. They will be accompanied by FAA officials as well who are legally part of the investigation. The NTSB will include the operator, the manufacturers and so forth. And the very first thing they are going to do when they arrive and it will likely be later this afternoon or early this evening is have an organizational meeting because the scene is going to be intact. It's going to be preserved. The local law enforcement will have people there to make sure that's the case, nothing's removed, and they're going to organize themselves because the NTSB is very expert at this. And as Renee properly points out they are going to treat this just like any other aviation accident. They will look to see whether or not the burner or the fuel source, the propane malfunctioned in some way, did they strike power lines which think I think I have heard some reports there were high tension power lines in the vicinity, exactly what happened. And they will build this over as much time as is necessary in order to get the correct answer. But the ultimate goal is to ensure that whatever occurred here does not repeat itself on a going forward basis.

WHITFIELD: And so Mark, as these investigations go, you know, on the scale of hot air balloons when you hear 16 people on board is that considered a large hot air balloon, you know, medium, you know, very small, and does that affect or impact the way the investigations carried out?

DOMBROFF: That's really a good question. I think all of us have probably seen at one time or other the footage on certainly on your channel, your network as well as others of the out occurred people whom gathering, it is unusually those are very small condolence (ph), very small baskets with two, three people in them.

A 16 person basket is quite a large balloon in terms of the passengers and number of people. But in terms of the way the investigation is conducted, it really doesn't have any effect because we really have to recognize that the NTSB and the FAA investigate aviation accidents from one person on board, a small aviation accident to wide body jumbo jets. And so, it's really a function of taking that same investigative process, those procedures and breaking them down and looking at this like in effect -- I don't mean to minimize it any way any other aviation accident. And I think that's when we can expect. And I think it's certainly far more likely than not that we're going to have answers. WHITFIELD: Yes. All right. Thank you so much, Mark Dombroff, Sara

Ganim, Rene Marsh, all of you. Appreciate it.

All right. So again, 16 people dead in a hot air balloon crash in Texas. We will continue to follow this story throughout the hour. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:12:12] WHITFIELD: All right. This breaking news out of the Texas, at least 16 people dead after a hot air balloon crashes into a field. This is video from the scene. As you can see it a remote area. Witnesses say the balloon burst into flames before crashing. This happened in the city of Lockhart northeast of San Antonio just before 8:00 a.m. local time. The NTSB and FAA investigators are making their way to the scene. And of course, we will update you as soon as we learn more.

All right. Now turning to the presidential race. Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine are in the midst of a three-day battleground bus tour as they look for a post-convention bounce. This hour they are arriving in Johnstown Pennsylvania making several stops across the states before heading to Ohio.

But with just 101 days until the general election the campaign a major cyber security breach. The FBI and justice department are investigating a data hack of a computer program used by the Clinton campaign. The breach is believed to be similar and maybe even link to two previous intrusions that Democratic Party organizations reported days ago when Wikileaks published more than 20,000 private emails detailing internal party strategists. U.S. officials say there is strong evidence that breach came from Russian hackers.

Let's bring back our panel. Democrat Capri Cafaro is Ohio's former Senate minority leader, Boris Espshteyn is a Republican strategist and a Donald Trump surrogate and Ron Hart a libertarian commentator.

All right. Good to see all of you again.

All right. Boris, you first. You know, your thoughts on this before we get to the cyber security issue, the three day bus tour in an effort for, you know, Clinton to boost those blue-collar voters.

BORIS EPSHTEYN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: It's going to be a fail. And if you look at the history Clinton and Tim Kaine, Clinton has been a job killer her whole career as was her husband Bill Clinton. But NAFTA killed 700,000 jobs. The TPP would kill millions and millions of jobs which we know for a fact that she is in favor of the TPP even though she has been lying about it. Her close friends (INAUDIBLE) really but Hillary Clinton is in favor of the TPP. So those blue collar workers, those independent (INAUDIBLE) Democrats, they know better.

As far as Tim Kaine is concerned, when he came in to office as governor of Virginia, unemployment was at three percent and when he left it was seven percent. Contrast with Mike Pence in Indiana, when he came in unemployment is at about 8 percent. Now, it is right about four percent. So Tim Kaine, unemployment goes up by four percent. Mike Pence, unemployment goes down by four percent. Who is better? Trump has.

WHITFIELD: So Capri, you know, Clinton and Kaine, you know, are demonstrating that they want to work for this kind of support. You know, they are digging in, going into the trenches and trying to appeal to people who have already expressed or many voters who have expressed that, you know, Clinton is not the person they want to vote for. So how strategic is this? I mean she is not presuming, you know, that this is going to be an easy coast.

[13:15:16] CAPRI CAFARO (D), FORMER OHIO SENATE MINORITY LEADER: Hillary Clinton and the Clinton campaign along with their running mate and Tim Kaine are taking absolutely nothing for granted. Later today they will actually be right outside of my home community at East High School in Youngstown, Ohio in the honing county. This is ground zero for our working class blue collar Democrats, Reagan Democrats that have actually --

WHITFIELD: And I remember when we talked during the Ohio primary you talked about that being very favorable to Bernie Sanders and how it's super important to appeal to that audience there, perhaps the Clinton campaign was listening to you and that's where they are heading.

CAFARO: I don't know about that. I mean, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to recognize that northeastern Ohio in particular in the battleground state of Ohio is, you know, the bell weather, if you will. They are not taking anything for granted. And I think what we really need to look at is with those whether you are a Bernie Sanders supporter feeling that you are left without, you know, a man without a country or a Democrat that crossed over for Donald Trump in the primary, you really need to think hard about the contrast between the Democratic platform and the Republican's platform. There could not be starker contrasts and differences and they were exhibited I think very much and very eloquently between the differences of the Republican national convention and the Democratic national convention.

If Democrats care about maintaining progressive ideals whether it is, you know, economic justice, social justice, environmental justice, I know that Boris is probably going to say those are bunch of buzz words. The bottom line is Democrats have a much stronger track record fighting for working families than Republicans ever have. And you know, and I'm very fair to Republicans, but this is really -- this is a binary choice. And if folks go out and they vote for a third-party or if they stay at home or they skip voting for president of the United States, particularly my Democratic friends, you're going to end up with the Republican no different than our Ralph Nader voters. Ended up with George W. Bush.

WHITFIELD: OK. So, Ron, that is queue to you.

RON HART, LIBERTARIAN COMMENTATOR: Vote your conscience. Little Bernie Sanders said to do, right, to vote your conscience. So I think libertarian party has a voice. And they should have voice at the table. I mean, historically we have a lot of power. We usually been housed within the Republican Party. We have vowed as much power as (INAUDIBLE) Republicans (INAUDIBLE).

WHITFIELD: So how open might libertarians, independents green party, you know, voters be to this effort of Clinton and Kaine heading to these rustbelt locations, you know, trying to appeal to people on the economy, on a resurgence of jobs, equal pay.

HART: Right. I think it will be -- Pennsylvania and Ohio is where everybody goes. Those are the swing states, right. Pennsylvania was described to me one time as Pittsburgh on the west, Philadelphia on the east and Alabama in between. So it is a state maybe Trump can win. I mean, obviously, here's a lot of disaffected people in those middle parts that feel like Washington has betrayed them and that Trump speaks for them.

WHITFIELD: All right. Now on the issue of cyber security and the breach, this investigation into the ties of Russian counterparts in the U.S. whether in any way Donald Trump has been complicit or even encouraged it.

HART: Right. I don't think so. I think, you know, Debbie Wasserman Schultz had gone through emails. Hillary Clinton has had problems with the emails. The Democrats some kind of wish Al Gore haven't been (INAUDIBLE). It is a kind of dog (ph) a little bit. You know, Trump I don't think has a problem with them stealing his ideas to say in something (INAUDIBLE), something stupid on the emails. All you have do with Trump is wait on the next speech. You hot all you need.

WHITFIELD: Ron - I'm sorry, Boris.

EPSHTEYN: I appreciate the jokes but this is a serious matter, right. The election is a serious matter. We're not here to joke around. What we are here to do is to make a decision. And frankly the decision for the libertarian party is a little bit of a distraction. Those voters should come out and concentrate on the binary choice.

Capri was right. There are a lot of buzz words for what the Democrats have done. We have 1.2 percent GDP growth in the second quarter. The first quarter we were down to 0.8 percent GDP growth. That's terrible. That's about one-third of what the markets and economists expected. The Democrats are horrible in the economy. They are absolutely terrible at bringing jobs to those working class people. So those folks need to look at the last eight years. And ask themselves, are they better off, if there are hundreds of millions of people who are out of jobs. About a lot, they are not. They need to be worried about what the next four years will bring.

WHITFIELD: OK. Real quick.

CAFARO: I thought we were talking out cyber security. So that being the concern --

I got to respond to Boris and I have to remind folks that George W. Bush we were losing 800,000 jobs a month towards the end of his tenure because if the economic --. He had such high. high, high debt due to one of the largest entitlement expansions in our nation's history, Medicare (INAUDIBLE) not to mention it was compounded by a war in Iraq and Afghanistan. So we can argue all day long.

[13:20:28] WHITFIELD: All right, we are going to leave it right there. So everything is on the table, 101 days to go, everybody.

All right, Capri Cafaro, Boris Epshteyn, and Ron Hart, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

All right. Tomorrow Jake Tapper will interview Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine. Watch that tomorrow morning, 9:00 a.m. =eastern right here on CNN.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:24:29] WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back.

Presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton and their running mate will soon begin receiving intelligence briefing despite each party arguing that the other candidate is not worthy of receiving such information.

Let's bring in CNN's Dianne Gallagher. Both candidates expressing a lot of mistrust here.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's right, Fred. And you know, actually the White House chief of staff called both of the transition teams for these candidates on Friday letting them know they're now invited to start attending preparation sessions basically to give them an idea of just how complex the federal government really is. But at the same time they told them that both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are now eligible to start receiving these intelligence briefings, basically getting classified information from the department of national intelligence and the justice, not everybody is happy about that. Leadership from both parties is saying that for various reasons they think the opponent's candidate simply can't be trusted with this kind of information.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID (D), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: It's obvious he doesn't know what he's talking about. It's obvious he can't control his mind or his tongue. And what I have suggested is now because he's been nominated for the party and he gets his -- the briefings from the CIA I said give him fake briefings, don't tell him anything that you don't want to get out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: And Paul Ryan took it one step further. The speaker of the house actually sent a letter to the director Clapper telling him that because of the situation with then secretary of state Clinton's email sever, he didn't think that she deserved to get these briefing briefings. Obviously, director Clapper disagreeing with both Reid and Ryan, telling them as you can see that they are telling them that both candidates are going to get this information. And not just the candidates, Fred, VP running mates there, Mike Pence and Tim Kaine will both receive this as well. But one bit of solace maybe for Ryan and Reid is this is broad classified information. No really sensitive information will come to either candidate until after the election and they become the president elect.

[13:26:38] WHITFIELD: All right. Dianne Gallagher, thank you so much.

All right. We will continue to follow the breaking news out of Texas where a hot air balloon crash has left 16 dead. It's the deadliest hot air balloon crash since 2013. We will have more information after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:30:06] WHITFIELD: Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We are continue to follow a tragic story out of Texas for a hot air balloon has crashed killing 16 people. This makes it the deadliest hot air balloon crash since 2013. You are about to see video from the sense where it is a fairly remote area. Witnesses say the balloon burst into flames before crashing into field. All of this happening just before 8:00 a.m. local time.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is joining us right now on the phone on route to that location.

Ed, I understand this is just south of Austin, Texas, north of San Antonio. What do you know about this hot air balloon? Excursion was it part of a big group, was it this individual balloon on its own, what do we know?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on the phone): Well, that's what we're trying to figure out right now, Fredricka. But we do know that FAA officials are telling us there were 16 people on board inside of the basket of the hot a balloon when it caught fire and that there are no survivors. Sheriff's deputies there in the area tell us that there are just about 8:00 this morning that they got calls of a fire to respond to. And when they arrived the sheriff there in Lockhart county says that what was on fire was the basket.

So we know that investigators are on the way, including NTSB investigators that are responding to this call and will begin that investigative process. So, you know, a lot of questions slowing around just exactly how this could have happened but no real clues or determinations yet. Very early on in all of this, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And then, Ed, I know you're on route, but is there anything that you have learned about that area? I mean, we are looking at, you know, the fields there, what may be a type of farm- like community, but it's unclear from, you know, I actually do see livestock back there. So, yes, indeed, a farm in this Lockhart location where this went down. Do you know anything more?

LAVANDERA: Yes, Lockhart is a town about a 35 minute drive southeast of Austin, Texas. That area between Austin and San Antonio that's near San Marcus and Lockhart, pretty popular kind of weekend excursions. You know, in the area, I know there a lot of people who go out to these kind of areas and do sky diving and those types of things on the weekends. So this is kind of a -- definitely a very popular area, especially this time of year, for these types of weekend excursions. So the fact this was going on, you know, obviously not very shocking by any means. So this is very typical and very popular kinds of activities for this area this time of year.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ed Lavandera. We will check back with you as you are in route to Lockhart, Texas there. The scene of this hot air balloon crash, 16 people dead there.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:36:36] WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

So with the conventions behind us now, the 101 day march to the election is under way. Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine are in the midst of a three-day bus tour of battle ground states as they look for a bounce out of the Philadelphia convention. The Democratic ticket is crisscrossing Pennsylvania before heading to Ohio.

CNN's senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar is on that campaign bus tour and joins us live on the phone.

So Brianna, what kind of reception have they received when they made their stops?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (on the phone): Well, we are still waiting to go to this first stop of today. Yesterday in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, there was a very good reception for Hillary Clinton. But we're on our way to Johnstown, Pennsylvania where she is going to tour a manufacturing facility. And this is really -- this is a stop that's really illustrative of what she is trying to do. She is trying to target white blue collar workers in western Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Johnstown, for instance, is a place that has frequently gone Democratic in presidential elections. But in 2012 Barack Obama lost it. So she is trying to put that back in her column. And she is going to do that by talking about jobs, talking about economic prosperity for all Americans and trying to make Donald Trump out as an enemy of the middle class, probably stretching some of his outsourcing in a place where that's a dirty word, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Brianna Keilar, thank you so much on the bus tour there with Clinton and Kaine.

All right. Meantime, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton gave the most important speeches of their political careers at their respective party conventions. Each one laced with attacks and appeals to voters but both tried to underscore one central theme that they are the best person to tackle the problems facing this country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Nobody knows the system better than me which is why I alone can fix it:

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Americans don't say I alone can fix it, we say we'll fix it together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. But will those promises resonate with voters in the general election?

To breakdown the speeches I'm joined by Republican strategist and principal director of the victory group Adam Goodman and Lissa Muscatine who was a long time speechwriter for Hillary Clinton dating back to 1993. Good to see you as well.

OK, so critics of Donald Trump's residences speech say it was too dark, while Hillary Clinton is accused of painting too rosy of a picture. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The problems we face now, poverty and violence at home, war and destruction abroad, will last only as long as we continue relying on the same politicians who created them in the first place.

CLINTON: He wants us to fear the future and fear each other. Well, you know a great Democratic president Franklin Roosevelt came up with the perfect rebuke to Trump more than 80 years ago during a much more perilous time, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:40:05] WHITFIELD: All right, Adam, you first. Donald Trump has already said, you know, no more Mr. Nice guy. So it seems that that's the inference that he will continue on with this kind of strategy. What does he find this is beneficial to him?

ADAM GOODMAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Fredricka, I actually went to both conventions. It's storytelling 301. On the one hand you have Donald Trump who says we need a return to reality of getting a grip on the pact and we have a shrinking middle class, a much more dangerous world.

Hillary Clinton's message was entirely different. Here's was a return to Camelot, you know, the days of JFK. Everything is wonderful. American is great. Nothing to worry about, including the references from former president Bill Clinton trying to suggest that somehow he and Hillary fit in to little house on the prayie (ph) or (INAUDIBLE).

I think these are two diametrically opposed stories. And what it really comes down to, Fredricka, bottom line, is Donald Trump is saying this is a referendum on the system that has let us down. I think Hillary Clinton in the last four days made it very clear she sees this as a referendum on Donald Trump. WHITFIELD: I mean, so it sounds like, Adam, you're saying, you know,

people have essentially made up their minds already based on what we've already seen in Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

So Lisa, if that is indeed the case, when Clinton's bus which says, you know, stronger together, you know, rolls across the country saying that this unity is important, is she really just speaking to the choir or is it likely she is speaking to the voters who undecided or are Trump supporters and maybe she can convince them to the other side so to speak?

LISSA MUSCATINE, SPEECHWRITER FOR HILLARY CLINTON'S 2008 CAMPAIGN: Well, Fredricka, let me first say that I agree with Adam on one thing and that's if you watch both conventions or were at both conventions you say very diametrically opposed views of the world and the future of this country.

And I would dispute him, however, in making this point. Hillary is not just about Camelot and retreating from long gone past. In fact, she has laid out a vision for the future. But here is the distinction. It is grounded in the history and values of this country. That's what stronger together is about, that what she cares about and that's how she's seen progress and described progress we have made from the time of the founders who were under even greater duress than we are now. And at every stage we have made progress, it's because we have been stronger together.

So it's a very powerful message about the values and history of this country. And I think that's where she departs almost 100 percent from Donald Trump who basically is about fear-mongering and getting people to hate each other and divide us and he is going to be alone going to fix it which is one of the most (INAUDIBLE) claims that anybody could make, who is going to be vested with the authority of the presidency.

WHITFIELD: But it is interesting. It's all lost in translation too because of Donald Trump who says, you know, he and this is not fear and loathing. He says he is being realistic.

MUSCATINE: Well, she certainly did not paint an entirely rosy picture. If you listen to her speech carefully there's awful lot of acknowledgment of the pain, the severe pain that people are feeling in this country, the economic pain and anxiety that goes with a very fast changing world. And with, you know, coming out of an economic recession and coming out of a lot of challenges we face in addition to the threats of terrorism. So she is not suggesting that everything is perfect by any stretch. What she is saying, though, is that we have to be stronger together to get through all these challenges. We can't do it by being divided, by being hateful of one another and by not relying on one another.

WHITFIELD: So Adam, you are shaking your head a lot, but you know, if Donald Trump is indeed tapped into the anger and most people agree that's, you know, what is happening here, why is it that anger doesn't want to hear about hope or, you know, promise?

GOODMAN: I think hope and promise come in the form of getting things to work again. And I actually take exception with what is said. I mean, we have a country few researchers said that Americans are dissatisfied the way things are going. They have a real trust problem with Hillary Clinton and anything she says. At the convention, I think it could be argued, she was very strong on chase but very weak in terms of what she is going to do that's different than President Obama. Remember, Bill Clinton said a dozen times or more that his wife, Hillary Clinton, will be a change maker. OK. Let's take that on face value. What is she going to change? What doesn't she like? Isn't that a rebuke of to some degree of President Obama and his legacy? I think she was set off ---.

WHITFIELD: But didn't she say build on progress that has already, you know, come from the Obama administration. She did say that.

GOODMAN: It's interesting that the progress is hard to measure when you look at, again, the increasing economic distress in this country. And I do believe that the --.

WHITFIELD: She gave a few examples of that, too, from you know, healthcare, 20 million Americans who have healthcare to disabled children who have benefits that didn't before and even in terms of federal workers women who are getting just as much pay as men.

[13:45:09] GOODMAN: Well, she only up to that. That is the question I have got. Is does she own up to having any responsibility for any of that or is she simply going to start over again using Obama legacy from eight years which, of course, it is very clear her story line is I will continue what President Obama started for the next eight years. I don't think that's where America wants to go. I think she has to have a change message with Bernie Sanders but she has failed to find her (INAUDIBLE).

WHITFIELD: And simply on that message then, Lissa, might that be a fault of Hillary Clinton's that some people say they don't want a continuation in to and for her to say and promise that will be a continuation is translated into more of the same?

MUSCATINE: Last time I checked and I think probably you checked Barack Obama was pretty darn popular right now, so I don't think that's the best measure. I think it's what are we going to do for the future. And I want to just point out one other massive distinction between Hillary and Donald Trump and that's their temperament and their character.

And who is going to have their finger on the button? One of the great lines of that speech I though provided by a wonderful guy, by the way, name Jack Shessle (ph) of west wing writer, a former Clinton speech wit that this man can be baited with a tweet. Do we really want that person with their hands on the nuclear code? That's another incredibly important question because, guess what, if you don't have the temperament and you're not cool and calm and composed under pressure this is probably not the job for you. And that is one of the biggest differences between the two of them.

WHITFIELD: We're going to leave it right there. We've got 101 days. Lots of talk still to do. Adam Goodman and Lissa Muscatine, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

All right. Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine are expected to arrive in Johnstown, Pennsylvania very soon on the bus. It is one of the major stops on that three-day battleground states bus tour. We will take you to that event as it happens live. Coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:50:00] WHITFIELD: Welcome back. We are following two breaking news stories right now.

You're looking at live pictures out of Lockhart Texas right now where 16 people have been killed in a hot air balloon crash. That's on the left hand side of the screen. The NTSB expected to speak at any moment. We will bring that you live as it happens.

And then on the right side of the screen right there, now full screen, you are seeing Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine are expected to speak as they continue their three-day bus tour to court swing state voters.

All right. So meantime, it has been a very busy week of history and hurdles particularly for the Democratic Party. DNC chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz stepping down after emails were leaked that seemed to reveal a pro-Clinton plant among some staffers during the primary season.

Meanwhile, a Florida lawyer trying to wrestle away her congressional seat is getting a lot of new donations now. Tim Conova's grass roots campaigned has pulled in more than $260,000 since Wasserman-Schultz resigned.

Tim Canova joining me right now. She resigned from the chair post of the DNC but she still very much a Congresswoman and also seeking reelection.

All right. So Tim, good to see you. Welcome back to the program. You are challenging Wasserman-Schultz from her congressional seat. Given all that's happened this week with her position, with her resignation of that chair position, tell me how this has shifted your campaign.

TIM CANOVA (D), FLORIDA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Well, it has shifted the campaign to some degree. We already were well-placed. We built up a very good field operation. But we have the wind in our sails you can say. It's been a sad sight to see her meltdown but she has brought her trouble upon herself. And I think folks see that this has been the tip of the iceberg. She has been looking out for the interest of her big donors, big money interest and she has been neglecting the interest of people right here on the ground in south Florida on issue after issue.

WHITFIELD: And so we have invited her to join us to defend her position, especially given the remarks and the criticism that you are giving and our invitation continuous out there hopefully that she can join us this weekend.

Meantime, you know, how are you, you know, planning your campaign? What's your strategy this point forward, particularly as you are receiving more donations now? How do you use that to your advantage?

CANOVA: Well, first I will say that you are not the only one who has invited Debbie Wasserman Schultz. I have been inviting her to debate me for three months now. And the local media down here has been calling on her to debate as well and she just keeps dodging debates. But be that as it may, our campaign is taking off regardless of whether there are debates or not.

We are using the resources to communicate with the voters. I have lot of folks say that I should go to Philadelphia during the convention and chase the media spotlight the way my opponent often does. And we stayed right here on the ground. I have been here on the ground for the last eight months without fail and we have been meeting voters every day and communicating. We have four field offices, great field operation and we're gaining a lot of grounds on her every day.

WHITFIELD: Many have called this the year of the outsider. You are considered an outsider as well. You tweeted earlier in the week saying this DWS is the quintessential corporate machine politician. It's time to shake up Congress. But what are you offering to voters based on the fact that you are an outsider, that you feel you're qualified to challenge her as it pertains to, you know, this duty of public service to the constituents there in Florida.

CANOVA: Well, she is the insider. She has been -- her whole career has been in politics after college. She went straight into politics and she has never done anything else for a living. I have been a lawyer, a law professor for years. I worked on Capitol Hill and I'm an outsider. I don't take any corporate money, not a penny, and we raised $2.5 million in small contributions with an average contribution size of $17.

Meanwhile, she is taking a lot of big money from big sugar companies that have contributed so heavily to the environmental disaster we see unfolding in Florida sea shores with the blue green algae tide that is killing all the sea life and is really threatening even our aqua fur and our drinking water. She has also taken a lot of big money from Wall Street banks and pay day lender and she had been pushing interest of these payday lenders that prey on very vulnerable people charging them over 300 percent interest rates.

So on issue after issue, we're with the people and she's with the big corporations and that's resonating here in the district.

[13:55:20] WHITFIELD: All right. Tim Canova, thank for your time.

Again, we extend our invitation to Debbie Wasserman Schultz to defend her record as well as respond to the criticism that you are giving today, our invitation continues to be extended. Thanks so much.

CANOVA: Thank you for having me on. I appreciate it. WHITFIELD: All right. We are continuing to follow the breaking news

out of Texas as well where hot air balloon crash has left 16 dead. We are expecting an update from the NTSB at any moment. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:59:35] WHITFIELD: All right. Hello again. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We want to take you straight to Texas right now and this NTSB presser on this hot air balloon crash killing 16.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Also requested on a longstanding relationship with the federal bureau of investigation. We have asked the FBI's evidence response team out of San Antonio to come and assist us with scene documentation. This is a normal practice for the NTSB in events that are classify as major accidents and that's what this case is.

I'll take one or two questions. Again, I'm just here to tell you that we are performing a stake down until the rest of our team arrives later tonight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

END