CNN parts way with Donna Brazile after email leak about debate question

WASHINGTON - The Latest on the presidential election campaign (all times EDT)):

2:50 p.m.

CNN says it is "completely uncomfortable" to learn through WikiLeaks that former commentator Donna Brazile had contacted the Clinton campaign ahead of time about a question that would be posed during a presidential primary town hall last March in Flint, Michigan.

CNN announced Monday that it had accepted Brazile's resignation as a contributor two weeks ago. Her deal had been suspended in July when she became interim head of the Democratic National Committee.

The material released Monday from the hacked file of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta revealed at least the second time that Brazile had communicated to Clinton aides about questions Hillary Clinton might be asked on the air.

CNN said it never gave Brazile access to any questions or preparation material in advance of a network event.

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2:45 p.m.

Hillary Clinton is warning anew about Donald Trump having control of nuclear weapons as she makes her closing argument to voters.

Campaigning in Ohio, Clinton criticized Trump for talking "casually" about nuclear weapons and wondered if the Republican knows that a single warhead can kill millions of people.

Clinton was introduced by a former nuclear launch control officer who said that if Trump were president, he would "have no faith in his judgment."

Bruce Blair said he would "live in constant fear" of Trump making a bad call about using nuclear weapons. Blair is a former intercontinental ballistic missile launch control officer.

As Clinton took the stage, she said every American should hear Blair's story before Election Day.

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2:35 p.m.

Hillary Clinton is challenging the FBI's new email inquiry, saying "There is no case here."

Clinton says she's "not making excuses" for her use of a personal email address and personal Internet server at the State Department. And she says if the FBI wants to investigate emails involving one of her closest aides, "they should look at them."

But she says she's sure the FBI will reach the same conclusion it did earlier this year, when the bureau decided against prosecuting Clinton and her advisers for their handling of classified information.

Clinton is speaking at a rally at Kent State University in battleground Ohio, kicking off the last full week of campaigning before Election Day.

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2:34 p.m.

The White House says FBI Director James Comey's letter to Congress publicizing a review of newly discovered emails is having the opposite effect of what Comey intended.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest is walking a fine line in declaring the president's upmost confidence in Comey's integrity while also voicing support for the Justice Department and FBI following norms and traditions.

Senior Justice Department officials advised Comey against telling Congress about the new developments. But Comey has explained it would be misleading to the American people "were we not to supplement the record."

Earnest says the fact that Comey felt the need to explain his action to FBI employees indicates his notification of Congress has had the opposite effect of what Comey intended.

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2:05 p.m.

Donald Trump is warning again about voter fraud - but has a solution for his supporters.

The Republican nominee once again said there is widespread voter fraud, a claim for which he has produced no evidence.

But he told supporters at a rally Monday in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that they should "get out and vote by the millions and we won't have to worry about what is taking place behind the scenes."

Trump made his pitch during a foray into Democrat-leaning Michigan. The state hasn't gone for a Republican since 1988, but may prove essential for Trump's electoral map.

Several studies suggest that voter fraud is extremely rare. Trump's warning in Michigan came a day after he criticized the mail-in voting system in Colorado, suggesting that it is ripe for fraud.

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1:55 p.m.

Donald Trump is seizing on the ongoing flap over Hillary Clinton's private email server. He says that she "is not the victim, the American people are the victims."

Speaking Monday in Michigan, the Republican presidential candidate said Clinton "broke the law over and over again." He claims that she lied to the FBI and destroyed evidence on her phone and emails.

Clinton has not been charged with any wrongdoing. The FBI declined to recommend charges this summer over her use of a private email sever while she was secretary of state. But it is now looking at emails found on the computer of Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of a top aide to Clinton.

It is not yet known if those emails are connected to Clinton.

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1:45 p.m.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest says he will neither "defend nor criticize" FBI Director James Comey's decision to disclose that the FBI is looking into newly discovered emails that may be pertinent to their dormant investigation of Hillary Clinton.

Earnest said Monday that there are significant institutional responsibilities that the Department of Justice must fulfill. He said that President Barack Obama believes "Director Comey is a man of integrity. He's a man of principle and he's a man of good character."

Earnest said Obama believes that Comey isn't trying to help one presidential candidate over another.

He said Comey is in a tough spot, but the FBI director is in the best position to defend his actions in the face of significant criticism.

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1:40 p.m.

Donald Trump may not know the Big 10.

His two opening acts before his speech in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Monday each drew some jeers from sports fans in the audience.

Ret. Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn took the stage shouting "Go Michigan!" even though Grand Rapids is far closer to Lansing, home to Michigan's rival Michigan State. Michigan won when the two teams met on Saturday.

Then, longtime Trump booster Bobby Knight took the stage. Knight was the longtime head coach at Indiana University, a Big 10 rival of both Michigan and Michigan State.

Knight joked with the crowd and noted that he attended Ohio St. University - yet another Big 10 school.

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12:50 p.m.

Tim Kaine is ratcheting up Democrats' warnings about the possibility of Donald Trump leading U.S. nuclear policy.

Hillary Clinton's running mate told supporters Monday in Jacksonville, North Carolina, that the Republican nominee has "zany" ideas about nuclear weapons.

Kaine said Trump as "commander in chief scares me to death."

The Virginia senator referred to Trump saying that U.S. allies like Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia should maintain their own nuclear arsenals. Kaine recalled when Trump brushed off the possibility of North Korea starting a nuclear conflict in Asia by saying "good luck" and "enjoy yourself, folks."

Kaine's arguments come as the Clinton campaign has begun airing a new television ad in battleground states highlighting Trump statements on nuclear weapons that fall outside existing U.S. nuclear strategy.

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12:10 p.m.

The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee says FBI Director James Comey should tell Congress and the public whether his agency is investigating Donald Trump's former campaign manager about possible ties to Russian interests.

Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland said in a statement Monday that Democrats have been seeking an investigation into former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, who has been linked to pro-Kremlin elements in Russia and Ukraine.

Democrats have been criticizing Comey for revealing Friday, just 11 days before the election, that the FBI was looking into newly discovered emails that may be pertinent to their dormant investigation of Hillary Clinton.

Cummings says Comey's action could damage the FBI's credibility. He said its standing could be further damaged if the FBI investigated Manafort but kept that secret.

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11:40 a.m.

Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel says he is backing Republican Donald Trump because he is "the only outsider left in the race."

Thiel was speaking Monday at the National Press Club in Washington. He has donated $1 million to a pro-Trump super PAC and gave $250,000 to Trump's campaign and Republican partners.

A co-founder of PayPal, Thiel says he has a "strong bias for outsiders." In 2008 and 2012 he backed libertarian-leaning Rep. Ron Paul in his failed GOP presidential bids. Thiel also praised Trump while speaking at the Republican National Convention this summer in Cleveland.

Thiel says he does not support some of Trump's most controversial comments, including what he has said about women. Yet, he said, Trump voters favor the New York businessman who has never held political office "because we judge the leadership of our country to have failed."

Among the Trump issues with which Thiel says he agrees: international trade deals not benefiting all Americans and too much U.S. involvement in wars abroad.

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8:25 a.m.

Donald Trump's campaign manager says the Republican presidential candidate won't make the FBI's new email discovery the "centerpiece" of his campaign against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

FBI director James Comey notified Congress Friday that investigators were examining whether newly discovered emails may be relevant to the dormant investigation of Clinton's use of private emails while secretary of state.

Trump over the weekend used the development to hammer relentlessly at Clinton as the campaign enters its final week.

Despite those comments, Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said Trump plans to focus on health care, the fight against the Islamic State group, job creation and "certainly ethics." Conway said Monday "we don't plan on making the Comey investigation the main centerpiece of our messaging."

She appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

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5:50 a.m.

Former Attorney General Eric Holder is assailing FBI Director James Comey for divulging that the bureau is reviewing newly discovered emails that may be relevant to Hillary Clinton email server investigation. Holder says Comey unleashed "a torrent of conspiracy theories and misrepresentations."

"That decision was incorrect," Holder writes in an op-ed in Monday's editions of The Washington Post. "It violated longstanding Justice Department policies and tradition."

Holder was referring to Comey's notification to the Republican heads of congressional committees that the scrutiny of Clinton's emails was being resumed in light of information turned up in connection with an unrelated investigation. That probe involves former Rep. Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of Clinton aide and confidant Huma Abedin.

He said he respects Comey but "good men make mistakes."

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3:10 a.m.

Hillary Clinton enters the final full week of the presidential race on defense once again over her use of a private email system. Meanwhile, a newly emboldened Donald Trump is seizing on the discovery of a trove of new emails that may be pertinent to the FBI's investigation and trying to open new paths to victory by campaigning in traditionally Democratic states.

Clinton, who is set to campaign Monday across Ohio, vowed over the weekend that she would not be "knocked off course" in the election's final days by the discovery of new emails in an unrelated sexting investigation. It is unclear what is contained in the emails or if any of them was sent or received by Clinton herself.

"I'm not stopping now, we're just getting warmed up," Clinton told a crowd in Florida Sunday.

Trump campaigned with new vigor, He heads to Michigan for a pair of rallies Monday, It's a state that last voted for the Republican nominee for president in 1988.