Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley said Hillary Clinton is in a "deep jam" with the e-mail controversy and the Clinton Foundation in an interview on CNN this morning. Brinkley also said Clinton "was in such a defensive crouch" in her interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper last night.



"If there was somebody else besides Donald Trump running, he's such a poor candidate in so many ways, I think Hillary Clinton would be in a deep jam right now," Brinkley said Thursday.



He said even if Clinton does win the Clinton Foundation-State Department "scandals" will be something she will continue to deal with like Nixon and Watergate after the 1972 presidential election.



"It plagues her 24 hours every single day," he said. "She might on inauguration day still be dealing with charges of impropriety dealing with the Clinton Foundation and with the State Department e-mail scandals. It's just not going away."



Brinkley predicts an October surprise, talks about the weight of the charges against Clinton involving the State Department and Clinton Foundation, and more:





CNN: She touts her tenure of Secretary of State often as one of her qualifications to be president, and yet this scrutiny is not going away. In fact, in many ways it's only increasing in terms of the Clinton Foundation's interactions with the State Department during her tenure as Secretary of State. So how is that impacting not only her message but her credibility at this point?



DOUGLAS BRINKLEY: It isn't hitting her yet in the polls. It's not damaging her. That interview with Anderson, she was in such a defensive crouch. This is the season where you want to be full of optimism and feel like you're charging forward with a lot of joy and glee. Instead you feel she's just batting away all these charges...



The Clinton Foundation has done incredibly noble work around the world. But it was very large and when things get that big, sometimes you don't know all that's going on. So, I'm afraid there may be more documents from the Clinton Foundation connecting it with the State Department. We already know there will be a WikiLeaks October surprise of some kind. She may very well win the election but she's going to be doing so in a more defensive posture. That's why she hasn't done a lot of interviews in the last month.



If there was somebody else besides Donald Trump running, he's such a poor candidate in so many ways, I think Hillary Clinton would be in a deep jam right now. She's been unable to get rid of this e-mail controversy. It plagues her 24 hours every single day. I don't have an answer for how she stops it but part of it has been the drip, drip, drip. You know I'm already able to tell you there will be an October surprise with WikiLeaks and lord knows what they are going to find. It makes it an unusual circumstance. It reminds me of Nixon in 1972 where he won big and it looks like Hillary Clinton could very easily win but he had Watergate hanging over him. She might on inauguration day still be dealing with charges of impropriety dealing with the Clinton Foundation and with the State Department e-mail scandals. It's just not going away.