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G7 Leaders Meet in Japan; New Report Slamming Hillary Clinton's Use of Private E-mail Server; "Top Gear" Set for Debut with New Host; Migrants Trying to Reach Europe Face New Risk; Italy's Big Cleanup. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired May 26, 2016 - 03:00   ET

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


[03:00:00] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Terror and economic jitters dominate as leaders of the seven richest industrial nations meet in Japan.

ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Slammed. A new report says Hillary Clinton's private e-mail setup broke the rules during her time as Secretary of State. We'll ask what it means for her presidential aspirations.

Plus, this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two, three, four --

CHURCH: Roaring back. The new Top Gear gets set for its debut with a new host, a new look, and high expectations.

BARNETT: And welcome as we kick it into high gear. To those of you watching from all around the world. I'm Errol Barnett.

CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church. Thanks for joining us. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

BARNETT: The global economy. The fight against terror. And the so- called Brexit. All of them hot topics as seven world leaders head into the G7 summit.

CHURCH: The G7 is meeting right now in fact, in Eastern Japan and will work all day in hopes of tackling a number of those issues.

BARNETT: Athena Jones is standing by for new information out of that summit. She joins us now from nearby Toba. And Athena, as far as I know, there's nothing fresh we've heard from the meeting yet. Correct me if I'm wrong.

But after that harsh public criticism from the Japanese prime minister are there any theories as to why Shinzo Abe decided to surprise the U.S. administration in such a way earlier?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Errol. Well, it's likely simply that Prime Minister Abe felt strongly about this murder, this murder of a 20-year-old Japanese woman allegedly at the hands of a former U.S. marine. He expressed his profound resentment at what he called a self-centered and despicable crime that he says has shocked not just Okinawa but all of Japan.

And so, we heard from the president responding to that, expressing his sincerest condolences and deepest regrets and saying that the U.S. is cooperating and helping to get justice, making sure justice is done under the Japanese legal system just as you want to see justice done in terms of any horrific crime like this in the U.S.

The president also said that the Japanese people should know that we are deeply moved and working with the Japanese government to prosecute not only this crime, but to prevent these kinds of crimes from happening again.

And so, it seems as though, Prime Minister Abe was simply speaking from the heart. As he mentioned, we, the G7 meetings are underway. We do expect to hear from the president at a press conference in a little while, a couple hours from now, after one of the several working sessions.

There's also a working lunch and a working dinner. So, a lot of work being done on this trip. But as you mentioned, it started off with a bit of a difficult moment between the president and the prime minister when he arrived here in Japan last night.

BARNETT: Yes. And for our viewers who are just looking at some live pictures from in between some of those meetings. Now, the president surprised even the White House press corps back in Vietnam when he announced the lifting of the arms embargo.

He is not expected to apologize for the dropping of the atomic bomb while in Hiroshima. But what is expected, and what could be a surprise as we look for tangibles coming out of this G7 meeting?

JONES: Well, that's a big question in terms of what deliverables as we like to call them will come out of this summit meeting. There are so many issues on the table, so many global challenges, from getting the global economy back on track to dealing with migration and refugee crisis in Europe and fighting terror, and of course currency issues including Britain's vote on whether it's going to stay in the E.U.

But when it comes to Hiroshima, a huge surprise would be to see the president apologize because we've heard from the White House that this is not going to be any sort of apology, the president is not going to spend his time tomorrow at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park talking a lot about the past or revisiting that decision by President Truman back in 1945 to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and three days later, on Nagasaki.

Instead, he's going to use this trip to promote one of his big foreign policy agenda items, something that has been a big goal of his ever since the very beginning of his presidency, which is striving for a world free of nuclear weapons.

The White House says that because the U.S. is the only country to have ever used a nuclear weapon in war it has -- it bears a special responsibility to lead in this effort, not just to do things like securing nuclear materials, making sure nuclear materials stay out of the hands of groups like ISIS and groups like Al Qaeda, terror groups that have expressed sincere interest in getting their hands on such weapons.

[03:05:01] But also nuclear non-proliferation, all with the end goal of having a world that's free of nuclear weapons. The president has mentioned this in many of his speeches, and he's going to do so tomorrow in Hiroshima. Back to you guys.

BARNETT: And as you peak, we see President Obama taking a seat next to German Chancellor Angela Merkel turning to us, giving a wave as they continue to meet.

Athena Jones joining us from Toba, Japan just past 4. p.m. there. Thanks very much.

CHURCH: All right. Let's check some other news now. A labor dispute in France is getting worse.

Workers at the country's 19 nuclear plants voted to go on strike Thursday. Hundreds of petrol stations are running low because of fuel depot blockades. At issue is a labor reform that makes it easier for companies to hire and fire employees.

BARNETT: In the next hour, London Mayor Sadiq Khan will make his speech for keeping the U.K. within the European Union. The U.K. government is warning British citizens that a so-called Brexit could lead to the loss of almost 1 million jobs.

CHURCH: And it seems the U.S. nuclear program is still running on floppy disks. A government watchdog says the Pentagon is using technology from the 1970s and is warning other departments too, it's time to update your systems.

A new report says the U.S. is spending up to $60 billion a year on out-of-date technologies.

BARNETT: Wow.

CHURCH: Unbelievable.

And a new report is slamming Hillary Clinton's use of a private e-mail server while she was U.S. Secretary of State. A department watchdog says Clinton broke federal recordkeeping rules.

BARNETT: Clinton has always maintained that her use of servers was permitted, but the Inspector General's report disputes that.

Part of the report concludes that officials, quote, "did not and would not approve her exclusive reliance on a personal e-mail account to conduct department business," end quote.

Here's Sunlen Serfaty with more.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tonight, Hillary Clinton is back on the defensive. In a scathing 83-page report the State Department's own Inspector General determined that Clinton violated federal rules. It scolds the former Secretary of State for setting up and using her

private e-mail server to conduct State Department business. The report reads in part, quote, "At a minimum, Secretary Clinton should have surrendered all e-mails dealing with department business before leaving government service."

Clinton has pushed back on questions over her e-mails many times in the past, telling CNN's Brianna Keilar last July...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The truth is everything I did was permitted and I went above and beyond what anybody could have expected in making sure that if the State Department didn't capture something I made a real effort to get it to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: But the report says that, quote, "Sending e-mails from a personal account to other employees at their department accounts is not an appropriate method of preserving any such e-mails." Clinton has also maintained that she had permission to use personal e-mail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I opted for convenience to use my personal e-mail account, which was allowed by the States Department because I thought it would be easier to carry just one device for my work and for my personal e- mails instead of two.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: But not so, says the report. The Inspector's General office found no evidence that Clinton or her staff consulted anyone at state before she decided to use her private server.

The Clinton campaign today trying to downplay the significance. Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon saying in a statement, quote, "The Inspector General documents just how consistent her e-mail practices were with those of other secretaries and senior officials at the State Department who also used personal e-mail."

The report does call out past secretaries of state for their use of e- mail, but specifically notes the rules were updated the year Clinton took office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look, the e-mails, that's bad judgment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: The e-mail controversy has been a constant target for Donald Trump. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: She had a little bad news today, as you know, from some reports came down, weren't so good. But not so good. The Inspector General's report, not good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: And the new findings are likely to hand him even more ammunition to bring to the general election fight ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: For her to be able to continue to run is an absolute disgrace in my opinion to this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: Sunlen Serfaty, CNN, Cathedral City, California.

CHURCH: And our Wolf Blitzer asked a Clinton spokesman to clarify some of the findings in that report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: If she didn't get approval from anyone at the State Department, doesn't that mean she broke the rules?

BRIAN FALLON, CLINTON CAMPAIGN SPOKESMAN: No, Wolf. I think what the secretary has said is the use of personal e-mail by officials at the State Department was allowed and that was confirmed today by the report.

[03:09:59] The rules that were just cited that disallowed personal use for work purposes were enacted after she left. At the time that she took office and for the duration of her tenure there the use of personal e-mail for work purposes was not disallowed.

And in fact, as documented in great detail by the report, personal e- mail was utilized by 90-plus different top officials at the State Department over the years that they looked at including two other Secretaries of State besides Hillary Clinton. So the practice was widespread.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: CNN political commentator and democratic strategist Angela Rye joins me now from Washington. She's also a former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Angela, great to have you with us.

The State Department Inspector General found that Secretary Clinton did fail to follow the rules by not informing key staff that she was using a private e-mail server. Already we know she suffers from this public opinion that feels she

can't be trusted. What do you think needs to happen now? Does she need to speak out on this a bit more forcefully? Because that reputation could very well stick until November.

ANGELA RYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I think that Hillary Clinton's team is well aware of the trustworthiness issue, and I think they worked really hard to correct it. I think today the Inspector General's report is damning, and unfortunately, is another distraction that's keeping them from what their real goal is, which is to get to this primary to get to the general election.

She now has to focus on repairing her public image, focusing on trustworthiness, and trying to get people to understand her perspective, why she thought a private server was necessary to begin with.

I've said consistently that she is the first Secretary of State to be a former first lady and a former senator, and to that end she might have thought, you know, I need to protect my e-mails in whatever way.

Unfortunately, she's run afoul of the rules and potentially the law. So, they've got a lot of work to do to demonstrate to the American people what they're going to do to correct it. But I think it is unfortunate. It is distracting. And yes, she does need to answer for it.

BARNETT: And other people within the State Department were disciplined for following similar policies. There's another issue the democrats face. The national committee chairwoman Ms. Wasserman Schultz is losing support from within the party now.

Senator Bernie Sanders has long said she is biased toward Clinton and sacked the debate schedule because of that. She says she's been neutral the entire time.

But in the interest of party unity do you think she should step down before the July convention as some are discussing?

RYE: Well, look, I think it's distracting. It is distracting fodder. The kind that democrats can't afford right now. The party needs to be focused on unifying. And we have a lot to do to ensure that actually happens before July.

So replacing her, going on a search to figure out who would be is just another thing they can't afford to do. We were just talking with about this I.G. report that came out today. There is an FBI investigation that got to finish.

Bernie Sanders has to not only be a part of the platform committee at the convention, he's got to figure out how he's going to get his supporters to buy in full-fledged to a Hillary Clinton potential nomination at this point. And they're not ready to throw in the towel. They are still there, they are still waiting to get over for this.

(CROSSTALK) BARNETT: Well, let me just ask you this. Because you're a democrat but you don't necessarily support Hillary Clinton. Do you think the chairwoman has shown to be biased in the way she's conducted herself?

RYE: I think that even Bernie Sanders is surprised at how well he's done as a candidate. That said, I would be very surprised is if Debbie Wasserman Schultz didn't have the same surprise, right?

She is a past campaign co-chair for Hillary Clinton. That said, I'm not saying that she's biased at all. I just think that this is a distraction and this is something that the party's going to have to deal with after this primary season is over.

BARNETT: Just very quickly, Donald Trump continues to have an issue with women. He publicly spoke against the first female Hispanic governor of New Mexico because she refused to attend his rally.

He's now calling Senator Elizabeth Warren "Pocahontas" because of her claimed heritage. What are your views on the way the republican front- runner is speaking about other professional political women?

RYE: Well, it's not just how he's speaking about women, Errol. He speaks about everyone in this very crazy vitriolic tone. If he's not a bigot he sure sounds like one. If he's not a racist, he sure sounds like one.

And news flash, Donald Trump, "Pocahontas" was not Cherokee. That is what Elizabeth Warren marked on her application. This is like ridiculous. And at this point he needs to focus not on being politically correct, just on being diplomatic, on being presidential.

And at this point, Errol, it's apparent -- it's abundantly clear, it's very apparent that he has no idea how to do that.

BARNETT: All right. Democratic strategist Angela Rye. Thanks for your time today. Joining us from Washington.

RYE: Thank you.

[03:15:01] CHURCH: Officials from 11 U.S. States are suing the Obama administration over its new transgender directive in public schools. They range from Texas in the south to Maine in the northeast. The new guidance allows transgender students to use restrooms that match their gender identities.

BARNETT: The Obama administration says the directive ensures the students enjoy a supportive and non-discriminatory environment, but some aren't buying that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN PAXTON, TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL: By forcing through his policies by executive action, President Obama has excluded the voice of the people.

We stand today to ensure that those voices are heard. This crosses socioeconomic lines, republican democrat lines. This is about parents who are upset, grandparents who are upset. And they want to see -- they want to make sure that the safety of their children is taken care of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: But one republican is breaking with her party. She's speaking publicly in support of transgender rights which directly affect her son.

BARNETT: And she says it's not about bathroom rights but acceptance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN (R), FLORIDA: So, I encourage parents to talk to your child, to accept and love. And you don't want your child -- you don't want -- we were fearful of Rodrigo's safety.

You know, all these folks are saying oh, we're worried about our kids going bathrooms. No. We were the ones that were worried about Rodrigo having some acts of violence against him because people were not accepting. But people have a kind heart. And we have -- we're an accepting society. Change is hard.

RODRIGO HENG-LEHTINEN, LGBT RIGHTS ADVOCATE: I was still terrified to tell them. I had packed a bag, ready to live outside the home. I didn't know if I would be welcomed back. And I think that's heartbreaking. That's not something any parent wants to think about their child having to experience.

Thankfully, they did accept me and we're really here today, we're safe to say that this shouldn't be an uncommon experience. This should be a no-brainer, that we love our family no matter what. Family's everything and that doesn't have to change just because someone is transgender.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The American Civil Liberties union calls the lawsuit a political stunt and an attack on transgender people.

BARNETT: Much more to come this hour. The thousands of migrants trying to reach Europe face countless risks of course. And now there's an additional one.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This trade in human souls, it's awful enough until you think that perhaps ISIS are using this passage of human life into Europe to try and infiltrate the continent with sleeper cells.

BARNETT: Ahead an exclusive report from Nick Paton-Walsh.

CHURCH: Plus, Donald Trump unleashed. The new target for his attacks as he battles for the women's vote. We're back with that and more. Stay with us.

[03:20:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WORLD SPORT)

BARNETT: We have some dramatic images to show you. They underscore the often deadly dangers migrants face to flee to Europe. An Italian patrol boat approached an overcrowded migrant boat to offer life jackets and you see there the passengers rushed to one side. That caused the boat to rock violently before capsizing.

CHURCH: The Italian crew threw life jackets to the people who spilled into the sea. The navy says more than 560 migrants were rescued but five people died. Nearly 6,000 migrants have been rescued recently.

BARNETT: For a third day, Greek authorities are moving thousands of migrants from the border with Macedonia to state-run facilities.

A Greek government spokesman says the train line to the Balkans which runs through the Idomeni migrant camp should be open in the coming days. Protesters at the camp have been blocking those tracks since late March.

CHURCH: Well, the migrants face another risk besides the dangerous Mediterranean crossing.

BARNETT: That's right. Nick Paton Walsh has this exclusive report from Tripoli on how ISIS militants are infiltrating migrant groups to get to Europe.

WALSH: This is the moment when desperate dreams come to an end. We're with the Libyan immigration police inside a warehouse of migrant hopefuls they just raided right on the Tripoli beachfront.

As Turkey and Greece close their shores, the Libyan route to Europe has exploded again. Here, among the squalor that a lifetime's savings buys, is when fantasies of a future in Europe fall apart.

Where are you from?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nigeria.

WALSH: Bejim (ph) fled ISIS-loyal Boko Haram in Nigeria, whose bombs killed his father and brother. And he survived the desert trek until here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EUGENE, NIGERIAN REFUGEE (TRANSLATED): Today bomb blast, tomorrow bomb blast. We are not safe. After the death miff father and my brother let me go out, let me travel out. Every time I talk about them I feel sad. I feel sad. I feel sad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALSH: We leave quickly as this is the smugglers' neighborhood. But there is a new threat here. Smugglers and police telling us that ISIS have hidden fighters among other groups of migrants bound for Europe. This trade in human souls is awful enough until you think that perhaps

ISIS are using this passage of human life into Europe to try to infiltrate the continent with sleeper cells.

Police tell us off camera they've caught different other migrants with ISIS links and a top Libyan intelligence official warns us the threat is real.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISMAIL AL-SHUKRI, MISRATA POLICE COMMANDER (TRANSLATED): ISIS can be among the illegal immigrants on the boats. They travel with their families, without weapons, as normal illegal immigrants. They will wear American dress and have English language papers so they cause no suspicion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALSH: It is a huge and unpatronable coastline where smugglers rule. We talked to one disguised for his safety who says in the past two months ferrying ISIS has become part of the trade.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About two weeks ago, a boat left the ISIS stronghold serge. Among them were about 40 ISIS.

[03:25:01] They were heading to Europe but bad weather turned them back. Ten days later they tried again. I don't know if they got there. About a month ago, I got a call from a devout guy I knew was ISIS. He wanted a small boat for 25 people and was willing to pay about $40,000. I didn't take the deal.

WALSH: Do you and other smugglers feel comfortable moving people who you know may be ISIS toward Europe?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Smugglers are only interested in smuggling. ISIS, anyone. They don't care. Melon or watermelon. Only money matters.

WALSH: The Libyan state is torn apart by infighting. Its coast guard struggling to even find boats. Fighting the migrant trade across this, the whole coastline of the Libyan capital Tripoli, are just six boats like this, none of which are in particularly good service.

You simply can't imagine how under resourced things are here so close to Europe. These are the desperate scenes as they try to rescue some African migrants whose dinghy collapsed late last year.

Smugglers now prefer these dinghies, vulnerable to the slightest weather change. A trait born of human misery. Some fleeing ISIS themselves. Only to find ISIS now seek to hijack their deadly journey to spread more suffering.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Tripoli.

BARNETT: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. Still to come, a new report shows Hillary Clinton broke federal rules by using her own server for official e-mails. We'll ask our legal analyst whether that was criminal.

CHURCH: Plus, one of Italy's most famous cities has quite a cleanup ahead after a road collapsed in a popular tourist spot. We'll explain when we come back.

[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: And a warm welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett. It's our last half hour with you this week. Here's an update on our top stories.

Top world leaders are holding talks at this moment at their summit in Eastern Japan. The G7 is expected to work on issues including the global economy and international security. The summit will continue for part of Friday before U.S. President Barack Obama heads to the Hiroshima memorial site.

CHURCH: Five people died when an overcrowded migrant boat capsized off the Libyan coast Wednesday. The vessel rocked violently when the passengers rushed to one side as an Italian patrol boat approached. The navy rescued more than 560 people.

BARNETT: A U.S. State Department report is scolding former Secretary Hillary Clinton for breaking federal recordkeeping rules. It says her use of a private e-mail server for official business wasn't authorized as she has claimed.

It notes that previous secretaries used private e-mail as well and record keeping rules were updated in 2009 when Clinton took office.

CHURCH: We are joined now by CNN's senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. Jeffrey, always great to chat with you. So, how bad is this new State Department report on Hillary Clinton's e-mail server? And what are the legal implications here?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, certainly it's a political problem but it is a political problem that's been out there for a long time. The fact that she had this, her own e-mail system that did not conform to the State Department rules has been known for a long time.

This reinforces that problem. It is a very clear statement both that she did not have a correct legal system within -- I'm sorry, e-mail system within the State Department and also what's new is that she didn't cooperate with this particular investigation.

From a legal perspective, I think it's less of a problem. This is not a criminal violation to fail to follow State Department policies. The FBI investigation which is continuing, that will determine whether there is any legal sanctions she could face. And that's really a much more important inquiry than the internal State Department one.

CHURCH: And with your legal background, how much of a problem do you think that could be down the road for her? TOOBIN: Well, potentially it's an enormous problem if there is some

suggestion that she actually committed a criminal offense. I think most people are pretty confident that the FBI and the Justice Department will not reach that conclusion. But the stakes are absolutely enormous in that -- in that investigation.

But that is about whether she improperly handled classified information. The State Department report today was not about classified information. It was only about the procedures she used to operate her e-mail system while she was Secretary of State.

CHURCH: Jeffrey Toobin, many thanks for joining us.

TOOBIN: OK.

CHURCH: I appreciate it.

BARNETT: Now as you might expect the report on Hillary Clinton's e- mails has given Donald Trump more ammunition in his attacks against her. But he's also going after two other prominent women from both parties.

CNN politics reporter Sara Murray has more.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Donald Trump is campaigning across the Golden State.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Hillary, as I say crooked Hillary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: And seizing on a new report from the State Department's Inspector General, saying Hillary Clinton failed to follow the rules with her private e-mail server.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: She had a little bad news today, as you know, from -- some reports came down, weren't so good. But not so good. The Inspector General's report, not good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: Trump unleashing a spate of attacks against both Clinton and democratic senator Elizabeth Warren.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Pocahontas. That's this Elizabeth Warren. I call her goofy. She is -- no, no. Goofy. She gets less done than anybody in the United States Senate. She gets nothing done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: As Clinton slammed Trump for once rooting for the collapse of the housing market.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: And I want you to know that Donald Trump actually rooted for the housing crash that cost five million families their homes.

(CROWD BOOING)

I'm not making this up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: Trump is playing defense. Arguing he was simply speaking as a savvy businessman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[03:35:02] TRUMP: They've got some clip of me from many years ago where I'm saying yes, if it goes down I'm going to buy -- I'm a businessman. That's what I'm supposed to do. That's what I'm supposed to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: Meanwhile, Trump's efforts to unite the party hitting another rough patch Tuesday as he took a swipe at new Mexico Governor Susanna Martinez, a fellow republican.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: She's not doing the job. Hey! Maybe I'll run for governor of New Mexico. I'll get this place going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: And that prompting a sharp response from Martinez's office. A statement saying "The governor will not be bullied into supporting a candidate until she is convinced that candidate will fight for New Mexicans," adding she's disappointed that she didn't hear anything about that last night. All of this as the Clinton's piled on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: Last night he insulted the republican Governor Martinez of New Mexico. Just gratuitously. I don't know. He seems to have something about women. I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN political commentator and conservative radio host Ben Ferguson joins me now from Dallas. Always great to chat with you.

BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good to be here.

CHURCH: So, what is going on in the Trump camp? Now there's word he has fired his top aide, Rick Wiley, and what could that mean for Trump's campaign?

FERGUSON: I don't think it means much. He actually came over from the Walker campaign. He was brought in not by Donald Trump but by Donald Trump when he hired really a new team to come in when he was getting beaten in the delegate race. And this was part of the rebranding of Donald Trump.

So, this was never really a real Trump insider. This was more of the establishment that was supposed to be brought in to help mainstream him, help build fences and fix problems that he had with the establishment. I'm not surprised that he's gone. I'm not surprised.

Anybody that was brought on in the last couple months of Donald Trump's campaign could be gone at any moment. If you're not in the inner circle from the very beginning, Trump is a guy that is about loyalty and if he doesn't feel like you're totally loyal or you're second-guessing him, he's going to show you the door very quickly. And I think that's probably what happened here.

CHURCH: All right. Let's move to Hillary Clinton's problems.

FERGUSON: Yes.

CHURCH: How much of a gift for republicans is this new State Department report indicating that Clinton broke the rules about e-mail servers and will it likely change anyone's mind do you think?

FERGUSON: I think it's certainly going to have an impact on this race, especially when Donald Trump is yelling about it every single day and saying that Hillary Clinton is a liar.

She said that she asked permission to use a private e-mail server. The State Department now says that that is actually not correct, that never happened and they never gave her permission to use her own private server.

That puts her honesty and integrity back in the limelight. Remember, Hillary Clinton had a trust issue in the primaries with democratic voters.

The reason why Bernie Sanders is still around is because democrats said they had a trust issue. It was one of her highest issues when it comes to the numbers that she was going into almost every single state that she was having problems against Bernie Sanders. It was the democrats said they just didn't trust her on honesty. And now this makes it a lot worse for her.

CHURCH: On Tuesday night, Donald Trump attacked New Mexico's Latino republican governor, and on Wednesday she fired back, not exactly a recipe for party unity or any way to reach out to those women voters who appear to be reluctant to back Trump. What's the GOP establishment saying about this?

FERGUSON: Well, you know, it's interesting because this campaign has not been normal since the very beginning, but what Donald Trump has been able to do is say you either get on board or I'm going to run over you. And if you're part of the establishment it only makes me bigger than I am right now.

Donald Trump has been saying I am an outsider, I'm not an insider, I'm not a typical GOP candidate, I'm not of the establishment's liking, and every time you have someone that is an elected GOP official who is now, you know, still saying, well, I'm not going to be on board or I'm not going to get my endorsement yet.

Donald Trump actually helps his argument that hey, if you want the establishment then go with people like her. If you want a real person that's going to give you change in Washington and take on the establishment which everyone hates by default, then go with me. So, some of these I actually think are to his advantage to not have them come out and endorse him.

CHURCH: Ben, I do want to quickly squeeze this in. We're really out of time.

FERGUSON: Sure.

CHURCH: But why is House Speaker Paul Ryan holding back on his endorsement of Trump? What is he waiting for?

FERGUSON: I think he was waiting for decorum and class and to act like a presidential candidate. And I think his point, where he made it very clear early on, is look, you've got to start acting more presidential. You can't -- you can't quote the National Enquirer as a news source when you're attacking Ted Cruz and his father with absurd stories of him being connected to the assassination of a former President JFK.

His point was if you want us to come on board you're going to have to start acting presidential or at least act like a gentleman and not quote these insane articles.

[03:40:06] You want to attack Hillary Clinton, that's one thing. But don't make up things while doing it against other republicans or against democrats.

And I think his point was made very clear and it was -- I think it was a wise decision for him to not just jump on board. You need to have a real partnership. They're going to be speaking on the phone tonight. I wouldn't be surprised if you have an endorsement come out in the next week or so.

CHURCH: All right. We will watch that very closely. Ben Ferguson, always a pleasure to chat with you.

FERGUSON: Great to be here.

BARNETT: Now, we're seeing this happen all over the world, but India's heat wave is shattering records. And knocking people off their feet. Straight out of their shoes. That's right. Not even the roads can handle this heat. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BARNETT: There is some significant damage right in the heart of one of Italy's most famous cities. Take a look at a giant hole which swallowed up part of the street near the Arno River in Florence.

CHURCH: Unbelievable. Officials say a water main burst and the ground above it gave way, taking about 20 cars down with it. Not long after that another 10 meters of the street fell apart. No one, thankfully, was hurt.

BARNETT: You know it's hot when you can fry an egg on the street. It's even hotter when the street is like a fried egg. The roads in India are melting.

CHURCH: And some people couldn't even cross this street. You can see them there. Having -- struggling a little bit to get their shoes out of the tar. India recorded its highest ever temperature last week.

BARNETT: Do you go back and get the shoe? Do you just run to the other side?

(CROSSTALK)

CHURCH: It's hot.

BARNETT: Our meteorologist Derek Van Dam joins us now from International Weather Center with details on that heat wave. It's melting the street. But it could be deadly for people as well, we should note.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's true. And it has been deadly, by the way, Errol. I would say, you asked a question, should you get the shoe. I'd say leave the shoe behind, Errol, because if you step on asphalt that temperature, upwards of 70 degrees, you have about one second before you get second or third degree burns on the bottom of your feet.

[03:45:06] And you asked, well, can you fry an egg? Well, yes, you can. Asphalt needs to be 70 degrees Celsius in order to fry an egg in roughly five minutes.

Now, the World Meteorological Organization technically defines a heat wave of five continuous days of temperatures of five degrees Celsius above average. And that certainly fits the bill in India. They have had extreme heat, pre-monsoon there, just desperately waiting for the rain.

Now, take a look at this. Some of the common things that people have to deal with in terms of hot temperatures. And that is the asphalt, 50 to 70 degrees. It has to be the right temperature in order for it to get this hot. Of course when the sun radiates its solar energy we get very little wind. The sun is directly above the asphalt. Temperatures can be extremely hot.

And you saw it than that proof is in the pudding with that video with the asphalt actually melting and allowing for people's sandals to stick to the particular pavement. Now, some common household items, melting temperatures, ice zero

degrees obviously. My guilty pleasure, chocolate, melts in your hands sometimes, 36 degrees. Crayons and even plastics have a much higher melting temperature. That's just a little for your information.

Now you also mentioned that temperatures in India were recorded their hottest ever in the continent. That was back on the 19th of May just last week, 51 degrees. And you can only imagine what that does to asphalt paving.

Now let's switch gears to the United States because we have had 12 confirmed touchdowns of tornadoes across the Central U.S. And some impressive footage coming out of Kansas. You have to see this video, guys, because this is another scary moment.

Day after day after day of severe weather. This particular tornado, also known as a wedge tornado, was on the ground for an entire 90 minutes. That's an hour and a half. And it actually cracked roughly about 50 to 65 kilometers over the ground and destroyed 15 to 20 homes at last count.

So, authorities are still going through the area, combing through the rubble to see if there are any further injuries. Errol, Rosie.

BARNETT: And crazy to think people drive up to those tornadoes, the storm chasers, just to get us that footage twister.

DAM: I agree.

BARNETT: Derek, thanks a lot.

DAM: All right.

BARNETT: The former host of Top Gear now have a new project as the BBC's wildly popular program revs up for a comeback. More on that after this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAM: It has been an active week for severe weather across the Central United States with scores of tornado reports from the beginning of the workweek through the present moment in time.

Unfortunately, more severe weather a possibility today. Being Thursday across the plains. We'll highlight exactly where in just one moment. On the East Coast we're really starting to warm up. Temperatures heating into the lower 30s near the New York City region.

Quite a contrast over the West Coast, where daytime highs will be in the upper teens as we head into your Thursday afternoon. Here's a look at severe weather. Isolated large hail, damaging winds, potential of a tornado or two coming out of Omaha, Kansas City, into Oklahoma City. That's where we have a moderate risk of severe weather throughout the course of the afternoon.

A marginal risk stretching into the Chicago region as well. So something to consider as you make your travel plans. The windy city, 30 degrees. You can see thunderstorms in this forecast. Denver considerably cooler but chances of showers and storms for you.

There is a cooler weather yet along the northern coast of California. San Francisco 19.

[03:50:00] Look at New York City, 32 degrees. And these warm summer- like temperatures last right through the weekend. A little dip tomorrow but warming up to 32 degrees by Saturday, 29 on Sunday.

A few showers and storms across the central and eastern half of the United States right through the weekend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARNETT: Top Gear like myself can rejoice the popular BBC series returns this Sunday. The issue, though, is that it's without long-time presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.

CHURCH: Yes. And the show has some new faces now including one from a very popular U.S. sitcom.

Phil Black has a preview and a look at what the show's old crew's up to.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three, four!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go!

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The world is about to find out what the BBC has done to one of the planet's most watched programs. Top Gear is back. This is just a taste.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't want to mess it up. You don't want to...

BLACK: It looks the same. Fast cars, silly stunts, all beautifully shot. But the faces are new. If you're one of the show's 350 million viewers or even if you're not, you probably know why the line-up change was necessary.

Last year, presenter Jeremy Clarkson got a little punchy with a producer after a long day at work. So the BBC sacked him. Co- presenters James May and Richard Hammond decided to walk away too. And ever since the BBC has been working to save one of its most lucrative brands.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. No. It's like car tinder. She's hot.

BLACK: They made a big international hire. Matt LeBlanc, the former Friends star and self-confessed petrol head.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How far is Glasgow?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not that far.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Feel the heat, baby! BLACK: LeBlanc and British broadcaster Chris Evans will co-host.

There's a new wider team of presenters too. And the stig is, well, still the stig.

CHRIS EVANS, TOP GEAR HOST: We know that within 72 hours of the first show being broadcast it will have been seen in 83 countries on six continents. So, it's a pretty big audition for us. We're going to have to wait and see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACK: Chris Evans has become a regular target for Britain's tabloid press since signing on to the show. Reports have accused him of bullying, ranting, and other unstable behavior, forcing out senior staff and feuding with LeBlanc.

Evans, LeBlanc, the show, the BBC say that's all nonsense. And Evans says he has a lot of respect for LeBlanc's car cred.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EVANS: He loves cars. You know, he can fix a car. He can put a car engine -- he can strip a car engine and put it back together almost blindfolded. And he's a brilliant driver.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACK: Meanwhile, Clarkson, May, and Hammond are beavering away on their new project for streaming service Amazon prime. Their few promotions so far have focused on the search for the show's name.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEREMY CLARKSON, FORMER TOP GEAR HOST: The show I think will sit on the internet like, and this is what I'm suggesting for the name, a small puddle of excellence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACK: They eventually settled on The Grand Tour. Its premiere is still months away. Long before then Top Gear fans will have declared judgment on whether the new version of their beloved show is firing on all cylinders.

Phil Black, CNN, London.

CHURCH: You'll be watching that, huh?

BARNETT: Absolutely.

CHURCH: All right. Well, a crowd of protesters may have been gathered outside, but Donald Trump was greeted with applause inside Jimmy Kimmel's studios in Hollywood.

The republican front-runner in the U.S. presidential race appeared on the Late Night show just a few hours ago. BARNETT: Kimmel introduced Trump as a, quote, "Tangerine-tinted

Godzilla." Then asked him about some of the friendly words he once had for Hillary Clinton. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, JIMY KIMMEL LIVE HOST: In 2008, I want to get this right. You said you thought Hillary would make an excellent president. And as recently as 2012, you said you thought she was terrific. What did she do? What happened?

(CROSSTALK)

[03:55:03] TRUMP: Well, let me just explain to you.

KIMMEL: Yes.

TRUMP: I will -- I will tell you. When I'm a businessman, I had a beautiful story recently where they said Trump is a world-class businessman. All over the world we're doing jobs. I speak well of everybody.

If people ask me about politicians, I speak well. So, when they ask me about Hillary, she's wonderful. Everybody's wonderful. And that's the way it is. Including contributions. They asked me for contributions. I give contributions.

KIMMEL: So, you were full of (muted) when you said it.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: Cutting to the chase there.

CHURCH: Yes, actually. Now Kimmel also asked Trump about a challenge from democratic candidate Bernie Sanders. He wants to debate Trump directly before the June 7th primaries.

BARNETT: Now, that's something that's not usually done between parties during primary season. But Trump says he will do it if he can raise money for charity in the process. And get this.

Bernie Sanders has responded getting right to the point, let's show the tweet, quote, "game on," he said. "I look forward to debating Donald Trump." That Rosemary, I would watch.

CHURCH: Oh, yes. And I think a lot of other people would as well.

BARNETT: For sure.

CHURCH: We'll see what happens if it goes ahead.

BARNETT: Yes. Now we all know about the dangers of alcohol. It's been linked to liver disease, cancer, strokes. It's also generally classified as a depressant. CHURCH: But since we like to end with each hour on a lighter note,

how about some evidence that the so-called demon drink isn't entirely evil?

BARNETT: OK.

CHURCH: According to the Washington Post, researchers at the London school of economics have proven that drinking in fact makes you happier.

BARNETT: Who signed up to do this study? The team used an iPhone app called 'mappiness' to chart the mood of 31,000 people on a scale of 1 to 100. And get this. They found that when people were drinking their happiness level increased by nearly 11 points.

And having a little something to drink made otherwise tedious activities like cleaning, commuting, waiting, even anchoring a lot more enjoyable.

CHURCH: Oh, are you revealing something? Unfortunately, the study did not specifically recommend drinking at work. So, bad luck.

BARNETT: Always the fine print. That's it for us, guys. It's been a great week. Thanks for being with us.

CHURCH: I'm Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett. Have a great weekend. See you.

[04:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)