Return to Transcripts main page

New Day Sunday

Fallen Soldier's Dad: Trump "Faked Empathy"; No Survivors in Hot Air Balloon Crash; Streets Washed Out, Cars Carried Away in Baltimore; Trump Attacks Parents of Muslim-American War Hero; Miami Zika Virus Fears; Olympic Panel to Decide Fate of Russian Athletes. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired July 31, 2016 - 07:00   ET

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


[07:00:00] ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Jordan made every single one of the shots.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: You don't even miss on purpose.

SCHOLES: Not MJ. He always wants to show that I am in fact the greatest.

PAUL: All righty. Andy, thank you.

SCHOLES: All right.

PAUL: And thank you so much for starting your morning with us.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Next hour starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He attacked the distinguished father of a soldier who sacrificed himself for his unit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Disrespect is something that I think a lot of people are probably feeling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know what we call a person like that in Pittsburgh? A jag off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They believe the hot air balloon collided with these power lines, igniting the fire and the flames onboard.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We heard the popping sounds. I don't think any of them even had any idea what was going on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Water got up to right about where we were standing here. It would have been about waist high on me right here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can see a car actually into his channel.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm just happy I'm alive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: New this morning, Donald Trump is faking empathy. That's the accusation from the Muslim father of a U.S. soldier killed in combat, taking aim at the Republican nominee.

PAUL: At the DNC, Khizr Khan slammed the Republican nominee for proposing a ban on Muslims. Now, this is what started all of it, Khan saying that Trump had no idea what sacrifice means. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KHIZR KHAN, FATHER OF FALLEN U.S. SOLDIER: You have sacrificed nothing, and no one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Well, yesterday, Donald Trump defended himself in an interview with ABC News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INTERVIEWER: How would you answer that father? What sacrifice have you made for your country?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I think I've made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard. I've created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs.

INTERVIEWER: Those are sacrifices?

TRUMP: Oh, sure. I think there are sacrifices. I think when I can employ thousands and thousands of people, take care of their education, take care of so many things. Even in military -- I mean, I was very responsible along with a group of people for getting the Vietnam Memorial built in downtown Manhattan, which to this day people thank me for. I have raised and I have raised millions of dollars for the vets. I'm helping the vets a lot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Those comments sparking a new wave of backlash from Democrats and Republicans. Look at this from Ohio Governor John Kasich tweeting, "There's only one way to talk about Gold Star parents, with honor and respect. Captain Khan is a hero. Together, we should pray for his family."

Now, overnight, Donald Trump issued a statement in response. He called Captain Humayun Khan a hero, but he went onto say, quote, "While I feel deeply for the loss of his son, Mr. Khan, who has never met me, has no right to stand in front of millions of people and claim I have never read the Constitution, which is false and say many other inaccurate things", unquote.

In response to that, Mr. Khan told "The Washington Post," quote, "What Trump said originally, that defines him. People are upset with him. He realizes and his advisors feel the original statement was a stupid mistake."

So, in that ABC interview, Donald Trump also said he wanted to hear Khan's wife speak at that event. Khan's response, quote, "Those words are typical of a person without a soul."

BLACKWELL: Now, Khizr Khan will respond live on "STATE OF THE UNION" this morning at 9:00 Eastern.

But right now, let's bring in our CNN political commentators. We've got Scottie Nell Hughes back with us, a Trump supporter, and Hilary Rosen is joining us as well. She is a Hillary Clinton supporter.

And, Hilary, I want to start with you. Your reaction to this accusation from Mr. Khan that this is fake empathy on the part of Donald Trump.

HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, you know, I want to put this in a bigger picture, because what you had was Donald Trump's first reaction on ABC yesterday to a question about parents who lost their child, a Muslim-American family lost their son fighting for this question. And his first reaction is to just slam them.

And I think the problem is Donald Trump flies off the handle, says insulting things, because that's what's in his heart. He has either thin skin or a dark heart, take your pick. And that's not what we want in a president. So, then, his campaign last night had to issue a statement, oh, no, no, we didn't mean it, you know, what I said at first, it's just like what happened, you know, a few days ago where he encouraged the Russians to hack into Hillary Clinton's, you know, private server -- e-mail system.

This is not what we're looking for in a president. We're looking for thoughtful, strong leadership. He does not exhibit at any moment.

BLACKWELL: This is the statement, Scottie, that the Clinton campaign released.

[07:05:02] This is at least part of it. I put it up on the screen for you. "This is a time for all Americans to stand with the Khans and with all the families whose children have died in service to our country."

And I understand from our last conversation that you believe that Donald Trump should have expressed some empathy, some gratitude.

SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you for having me back on, Victor. Which I think he did and he actually clarified it more.

Let's make it clear. This is -- the interview has not run yet. We only have some bits and pieces that have been pushed up. When you read the transcript, we actually look at it, you see that this is an obvious trap. And the Clinton campaign, they're going to make this to try to demonize Mr. Trump, and the Trump campaign is going to continue to demonize Hillary. That's just how this is campaign season. What I have a problem with parents right now. If you're going to sit there on one hand and say that you're going to speak on behalf of military parents who have lost, Gold Star parents, let's speak on behalf of all of them. And yes, they lost their son back in 2004. I was actually in Iraq in 2004 and read the story, the tragic story of their son. My heart goes out to them.

Where was -- why were they not so angry at the commander in chief at the time, which was President Bush? And then going on to President Obama as commander in chief?

This is only coming out because of a religious belief. This has nothing to do with their son in the military. And Mr. Trump's ban has nothing to do with their son or their immediate family.

So, let's separate the issues. You can't just sit there and be blind and says, OK, just because they lost a son, they can criticize something that has nothing to do with the lost of their son.

BLACKWELL: Hillary?

ROSEN: Well, here's the important point, which is that the reason they spoke out now is because Donald Trump has been demonizing Muslims. What they're saying is, we are proud American Muslims and our son fought and died for his country. That's why it matters now.

You know, I'm just tired of Donald Trump's constant do-overs. No, no, no, this is what I meant. You all are wrong. You misunderstood what I said.

But in fact, we do understand. Muslim Americans understand what he says, because he is constantly separating and demonizing people despite their sacrifices, despite their patriotism. That is not a leader.

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: We'll continue this conversation throughout the morning. I want to get to the Democrats. You know that we're not done with this, of course.

But let me turn to Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine on the final leg of that bus tour there in Ohio. But they were in Pittsburgh yesterday. And they got the endorsement of Mark Cuban.

This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK CUBAN, ENTREPRENEUR: The leadership is having a clear, positive vision, outlining a plan and telling people how they could participate in that vision and how with the leader, we will pull them together and all of us can succeed together. It's not -- I won share my plans or details. That's a bluff, which is exactly what Donald Trump is doing. He's bluffing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Scottie to you. I mean, now you have a self-made billionaire reality show star who's from Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, which Trump says he's going to take in November. What's the value -- the impact do you think here?

HUGHES: Well, I'm actually kind of confused by Mark's endorsement, because I remember back in September, I'm actually being invited into his home, along with tens of thousands, it was 18,000, 20,000 total into the Maverick Center, Mark Cuban Center, and Mr. Trump going his first real mega rally there in his home.

Obviously, something has happened within the last nine months to make Mark Cuban go from basically being a friend and supporter and talking to Mr. Trump to now. I have to wonder if he's bitter because he wanted to president, want to be the first businessman, I don't know.

But I appreciate and respect what he's doing. But once again, this is just another political ploy. I don't know how much it will resonate with folks if "Shark Tank" doesn't endorse Mr. Trump after supporting him in the fall.

BLACKWELL: Well, Hilary, the polls in Ohio, and we've learned over this cycle that polls can be unreliable, but they show that there is a very tight race in Ohio and that in the primary, three times as many Democrats switched to registration of Republican Party as Democrats -- Republicans who switched to Democrats.

How does Hillary Clinton get out from under this characterization from Donald Trump that she's responsible for the job losses in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and so forth?

ROSEN: Well, first of all, there are -- Hillary Clinton is not responsible for job losses. She hasn't been president. And she has a plan to bring jobs back to invest in infrastructure, to invest in education, to adjust the corporate tax rates, to create different kinds of incentives.

Donald Trump doesn't have plans. That's the point that Mark Cuban eloquently made yesterday. That's the point that Michael Bloomberg eloquently made.

So, you're going to have people who are job creators who have businesses and credibility out there talking about how Donald Trump really doesn't have a plan, that he doesn't have this experience, and that he is not concerned about middle class jobs.

[07:10:09] In fact, his history shows that all he's done is kind of screw the little guy, not paying construction workers, letting people sue him instead of paying vendors.

Over and over again, you have someone with no credibility and no history. And you have Hillary Clinton with good plans that are being endorsed by solid, thoughtful business leaders.

BLACKWELL: Hilary -- Scottie, I'm sorry. Go ahead. HUGHES: Those talking points are so six months ago. They were so six months ago.

I mean, let's do some new ones here. It's real simple how they can justify it. And you had that divide last week at the DNC. TPP and NAFTA, Hillary Clinton supported and voted for and helped sign into it. That right there is why Pennsylvania people don't necessarily believe she's there for the jobs.

And while two businessmen are speaking of it, I assure you, Mr. Trump has created more jobs than Mark Cuban has. So, you know, you can sit there and talk about Hillary being a job creator or you can actually see one who actually has created job. That's what we've learned this election season. It's action.

BLACKWELL: All right. Scottie Nell Hughes, Hilary Rosen, thank you both.

HUGHES: Thank you.

ROSEN: Thanks.

BLACKWELL: And again, Khizr Khan is a guest on "STATE OF THE UNION" this morning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

PAUL: I want to show you some of the latest pictures we're getting in here. Take a look at this.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

PAUL: What a mess. Can you imagine being in this flash flooding emergency? This is in the Baltimore area. Cars were swept away. We're going to see how widespread these damages and what's in store yet today.

BLACKWELL: And a scenic balloon tour ends in heartbreak. CNN's Polo Sandoval is in Texas with more -- Polo.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Victor, good morning. Federal investigators getting ready to head out to this empty field just south of Austin coming up what they believe may have caused a deadly hot air balloon crash.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:15:00] PAUL: Fourteen minutes past the hour.

It is the deadliest balloon crash in U.S. history. Sixteen people killed yesterday, when a hot air balloon on a sunrise tour appeared to have crashed into power lines, bursting into planes and falling from the sky.

CNN correspondent Polo Sandoval is live in Caldwell, Texas, near the scene of where this happened.

Of course, we can see it's dark now, Polo. But what are you learning about what's going to happen there today?

SANDOVAL: Christi, it's important to keep in mind it is still early in this investigation, still day two. So, ultimately, the National Transportation Safety Board would have to be the one to conclude what took place.

However, we are told by at least one witness and two law enforcement sources here in Texas that this working theory is that this balloon, this hot air balloon likely clipped some high tension power lines, yesterday morning. In fact, obviously, it's dark, in the daytime, you'll be able power lines that lead directly to the crash site itself, which is where those, you may be able to make up some of those twinkling lights over my right shoulder.

And in a few hours, investigators with the NTSB will be back on here on scene as they try to not only process the evidence that's left behind, but also hear from some of those witnesses, including the one you're about to hear from right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMAE: First, I heard a "whoosh", a whooshing sound and then it just -- a big ball of fire up. I don't think any of them even realized what was going on, because we heard the popping sounds. I didn't look in time to see the balloon go down, but the way it went up, I don't think any of them even had any idea what was going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: We did some dig into the company that owns and operates this tour, the Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides, known to offer some of these scenic tours throughout Central Texas. About $300 to $400 a person will actually get you either sunrise or sunset view, which is something that was supposed to be a joyful event for those individuals and sadly, this ending in tragedy now as investigators hope to find out exactly what took place.

And last thing I should mention here, Christi, there are -- we are still to confirm there were 16 people killed, and that's important to point out. Simply understand that this ultimately had a capacity of about 16 individuals. We're also hearing from officials that nobody on board survived, but we are yet to hear from an investigative body that confirms that 16 people, at least that is the death count here in Central Texas, about 30 miles South of Austin -- Christi.

PAUL: But the point is, if it is, it is the deadliest. No doubt about it.

Thank you so much, Polo. We appreciate it.

BLACKWELL: A flooding emergency hits Baltimore as roads are washed out, thousands lose power. We'll take a look at the damage and when more rain could hit.

Plus, confirmed cases of Zika by Florida mosquitoes have some pregnant mothers on edge. We're going to take a look at what you need to know about this virus.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:21:19] PAUL: Well, heavy rain triggers a flash flooding emergency in Baltimore and these pictures are something to see.

BLACKWELL: Amazing. Look at this -- 4,000 pound vehicles here. We've go the video for you, tossed around through these trees like driftwood.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

BLACKWELL: Just unbelievable there. As you imagine, several roads were destroyed. Thousands of people also lost power.

PAUL: Yes, I want to get a better look at what happened here from CNN affiliate WJZ TV.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE SOLIS, WJZ-TV REPORTER: The damage intense, the aftermath of flash flooding all over the region in Maryland. This dramatic video of water so high one man had to be carried to safety.

COURTNEY WEGLEIN, FLOOD WITNESS: I literally came here. I thought we were going to have dinner. Within five minutes, I was panicking and my friend was pulling someone out of there and I've never seen anything like it.

SOLIS: This man telling WJZ the water got so high, cars were swept away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It started coming through pretty heavy. The water got up to where we were standing here. It would have been waist high on me right here.

SOLIS: To give you an idea of how intense the flood waters were, take a look behind me, you can see that these cars actually washed onto others. And if that isn't bad enough, take a look down here. You can see a car actually into this channel. And even worse still, this car completely totaled.

And take a look at this road flooded in Carroll County on Baust Church Road. One viewer captured this video under 83 at the backside Meadow Mill Club facing Jones Falls.

Tonight, some are counting their blessings.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All I can say is, you know what, I'm just happy I'm alive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: That is true. Just happy you're alive. You move (ph) the car.

BLACKWELL: Especially after all that. PAUL: Yes.

The flash flooding warnings have expired in the Baltimore area. But the folks that live there are being told just stay alert to more flooding.

BLACKWELL: Yes. So, what is next?

Let's go to CNN's Allison Chinchar for an answer -- Allison.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right.

Well, more rain is on the way. We take a look first at the system that rolled through last night. It is not raining there now as of this moment which is some good news because they've had so much rain.

This is the radar estimated rainfall. Again, notice, there are some pretty big pockets of four inches of rain and several smaller pockets of six-plus inches of rain.

Here's the radar going forward through the day today. Notice again, right around Washington, D.C. and even into Baltimore, more showers are expected throughout the day, same thing for New York and also into New Jersey. But this isn't the only spot we've had flooding.

Take a look at some of this video coming to us out of China. They've had days of rain off and on, in portions of southwestern China, around the Tibet area. Look at this. Again, just the speed at which this water has been rushing through some of these rivers and streams and on roads, which just look like they're rivers because of the amount of water that has been flowing through some of these towns.

Now, here we look at the monsoon rainfall that they've had over the last 24 to 48 hours. Again, you can see some of those storm systems that blew up over this region on Saturday, dumping a tremendous amount of rain. Same thing for Baltimore and D.C., we're expecting even more rain into this area.

So, again, notice around Tibet, we're talking an additional two, four, maybe even possibly six inches on top of what they've already had. So, Christi, Victor, again, we've got the problems in China but also back here at home. And I want to make a note too as well.

For the folks in New Jersey and New York, there is a flash flood watch out for that area through tonight for similar conditions to what we saw in Washington and Baltimore.

[07:25:07] PAUL: All right. Allison, thank you so much.

Well, Donald Trump is facing backlash from both sides of the aisle right now.

BLACKWELL: Yes. This is after this back and forth with the father of a fallen American Muslim war hero. We'll talk about the potential effect on his campaign, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: We appreciate your company. Welcome back. I'm Christie Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. A top political story this morning, the contentious exchanges between Donald Trump and the parents of a fallen Muslim American war hero.

PAUL: The father of Army Captain Humayun Khan is lashing out at Donald Trump, accusing him of, quote, "faking empathy", after a statement from the nominee attempted to clarify earlier comments he made in an ABC News interview.

Now, when Trump was asked about Mr. Khan's DNC speech, in that speech, Khan attacks Trump's plan to ban Muslim from entering the U.S.

BLACKWELL: Overnight, Trump issued a statement, calling Captain Khan a hero. But then went on to say, "While I feel deeply for the loss of his son, Mr. Khan, who has never met me, has no right to stand in front of millions of people and claim I have never read the Constitution, which is false, and say many other inaccurate things."

PAUL: In response to that, Mr. Khan told "The Washington Post", quote, "What Trump said originally, that defines him."

Now, in that ABC interview Trump also said he wanted to hear Khan's wife at that speech. And to that, Khan said, those are the words typical of a person without a soul.

Now, we want to get more on this from Stephen Collinson. He's our CNN politics senior reporter.

[07:30:00] Stephen, Ohio Governor John Kasich, let's point out this out, he tweeted that this, "There's only one way to talk about Gold Star parents, with honor and respect. Captain Khan is a hero. Together, we should pray for his family."

Now, in defense of Donald Trump, we have not seen this entire interview from ABC. What do you make of what may turn out to be a consequence from the rebukes towards Donald Trump?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: It's very interesting, Christi. You know, throughout this campaign Donald Trump has said and done things which would in any normal campaign year disqualify him as a candidate almost and end his campaign. That has not happened for Donald Trump.

Remember, way back he insulted John McCain's military service, saying that he prepared people who weren't captured as prisoners of war in Vietnam. Everyone in Washington and the media and the political world thought that would end Donald Trump's campaign and it didn't.

And I think one of the reasons why is that Donald Trump supporters so trust him, are so alienated from the political system, they want someone to blow up Washington and the political system and the establishment, that they're prepared to forgive him transgressions which would really hurt another candidate. The question is, that worked in the primary campaign. Donald Trump is

now at a point where he's trying to expand his political base. He's got to get up to 50 percent of the country to vote for him. The rest of the American electorate prepared to be as forbearing with some of these comments as the Republican primary electorate proved to be.

That's the big question, I think. And that's the question that will decide whether this is another event that sort of rages for a couple of days and goes away or if it's something that the Clinton campaign can use going forward to cast doubt on Donald Trump's suitability to be president and to be commander in chief.

PAUL: Well, let's talk about Mike Pence for a second, because he's long had a distaste for some of the negative campaigning. How might he be able to jump into the fray here? Can he do damage control, so to speak? Or would he?

COLLINSON: Right. Well, we've not heard from Mike Pence yet on this issue. We haven't heard from any other real senior Republican leaders. I think one of the reasons, if you look at the political strategy behind Trump issuing that statement last night, obviously he wanted to stop this controversy in its tracks. It appears to be damaging.

But he also called Humayun Khan a hero. At least that gives a Republican leader when he's forced to go on television to talk about this a way of saying Donald Trump did call him a hero. That's one way of trying to defend Donald Trump.

But you're right, it puts Republican leaders like Mike Pence in a difficult position. It's one of the reasons a lot of senior Republican leaders found it difficult to embrace Donald Trump and endorse Donald Trump. Some of them have given fairly tepid endorsements like Mitch McConnell, or Paul Ryan, for example, and the reason is every time Donald Trump says the something controversial like this, they're forced to either defend him or walk away from him.

They put themselves in a very difficult position. So, I don't think this is going to be the last time we're going to see this scenario unfold. It's going to be a difficult few months for senior Republicans heading up to the election.

PAUL: Stephen Collinson, thank you so much. Good to see you today.

BLACKWELL: And Mr. Khan is a guest on "STATE OF UNION" this morning.

CNN senior Washington correspondent Jim Acosta is hosting today.

Jim, good to see you this morning. I want to start where Stephen left off, the difficulties for Republican leaders. Mr. Khan has asked Speaker Ryan, Majority Leader McConnell to denounce Donald Trump. And he's putting some pressure on other Republican leaders to take stand on the comments from Trump.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, I think this is going to be a gut check moment for the

Republican Party. As we saw with the controversy regarding Judge Curiel, remember, the Mexican-American judge. Donald Trump said he wasn't qualified to deal with the Trump University case there in Southern California because of his Mexican-American heritage. That caused enough worry (ph) for several weeks. I suspect this will do the same.

Now, Donald Trump I think it is worth pointing out and you just did a few moments ago, did release that late night statement calling Humayun Khan a hero. But it just begs the question, why did he not do that from the beginning? And we're be talking to Khizr Khan, the father of that fallen soldier who electrified that Democratic convention about all of this at about 9:00 this morning on "STATE OF THE UNION".

BLACKWELL: All right. Looking forward to it. Jim Acosta, thanks so much.

ACOSTA: All right. You bet.

BLACKWELL: And as we mentioned, Hillary Clinton's running mate Tim Kaine, I don't know if we have mentioned this yet, but let's mention it now. Tim Kaine on "STATE OF THE UNION", 9:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

PAUL: Just so you know. You know, a former member of the Bernie Sanders team is speaking out about alleged racism she says she faced with venue staff while on the road campaigning for the senator.

[07:35:05] In an interview with the online newsletter "Lenny" published by "Girls" star Lena Dunham, Sanders' national press secretary Simone Sanders recalled instances where people didn't believe she was on the campaign because she was black.

This is what she says, "My breaking point was a time when I had let the event staff know I was having trouble getting in places and asked them could you please let folks know that I'm coming and that I'm black?" Simone Sanders said she told Senator Sanders about the incident and that he and his wife were both, quote, "horrified".

BLACKWELL: Well, as the U.S. sees its first cases of Zika transmitted by Florida mosquitoes, what precautions should you be taking both inside and outside of the affected areas?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Twenty-one minutes until the top of the hour now.

Expectant parents in Miami are worried about contracting the Zika virus. That's, of course, after Florida officials confirmed four cases of local transmission.

PAUL: Yes, and the fear really is for pregnant women, because we know they are greatest risk from Zika, as they can have devastating consequences on an unborn baby.

Here's CNN's Nick Valencia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE STERN, MIAMI RESIDENT: They attack me on the feet usually.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Grant and Christine Stern hope they're overreacting. For the newlyweds, their worst fear they say would be to contract the Zika virus, especially now.

C. STERN: My biggest concern right now as far as the Zika virus is having it spread through Miami/Dade county and possible the country.

[07:40:01] GRANT STERN, MIAMI RESIDENT: The area that's inside the box, it starts there, actually a little bit north of us, and it runs all the way that way and then about a mile west.

VALENCIA: They live a block away from the site of what health officials say is the transmission zone. The fact is not lost on them, but especially not on here.

G. STERN: I'd say she talks about it four or five times a week. Yes. I mean, this is like you know --

C. STERN: Well, we have a lot of --

G. STERN: We're seeking to make a baby together.

C. STERN: We also have a lot of tourism in Miami from South America. And, you know, every since the news broke about Brazil, that's why I've been concerned about it, because it's easy, easy for it to transmit, you know, to come here. It was just a matter of time.

VALENCIA: Even before knowing for certain, they changed some of their daily routines to take added precautions.

C. STERN: I've been avoiding taking the dogs at night at certain hours where the mosquitoes are really out and biting. Also, wearing bug repellant. That's pretty much all you can do in south Florida.

G. STERN: Yes.

VALENCIA: The state government has been at work too. In recent days, mosquito inspectors have gone door to door in the sterns' neighborhood to test residents for Zika. Miami/mosquito inspectors have also gone block by block to spray insecticides in the infected area.

C. STERN: We don't want to be right about this one, though.

VALENCIA: It still doesn't make the Sterns feel any better. The fact the virus is now in their backyard, looms large for the anxious couple. It's almost all they can think about.

C. STERN: Got to be careful. Especially women. Well, women and men.

G. STERN: Yes, I could -- you know, I could transmit it to her.

C. STERN: Yes. So --

VALENCIA: Her nervous laugh speaks for them both. Nick Valencia, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: Take good care of each other there.

All right. The first-ever Olympic refugee team arrives in Brazil.

CNN's Rosa Flores has more. Hi, Rosa.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christi, good morning. For the very first time in Olympic history, refugees have their own team. And hear this, they're not just here to break records. They're also here to connect families. I'll explain after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:45:57] PAUL: Do you believe there's just five days before the Olympics kicks off? The athletes are arriving in Rio. Members of the Olympic refugee team are in Brazil already yesterday. In fact, they visited the iconic Christ the Redeemer statute in Rio. Look at them here.

CNN's Rosa Flores is with us live from Rio as well.

So, Rosa, what have you learned about the team?

FLORES: You know, this is one of my favorite stories of the Olympics, because it really touches to the core of humanity really. I mean, we cover so many stories of war, persecution, of how people around the world are being persecuted and they're having to leave their countries to another country, to another land, looking for a safe haven.

And here we are, this is the first year that the Olympic Games has a refugee team. These are people representing refugees all over the world. Like you mentioned, they're here in Rio. They're enjoying the sites and sounds of Rio. They visited Christ the Redeemer.

And so, we're learning a little more about these refugees. There's one in particular who's hoping to connect with his family. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPOLE MISENGA, OLYMPIC REFUGEE TEAM MEMBER (through translator): It's been many years since I have seen my family, my two brothers. I wouldn't even know what my younger brother would look like if I saw him here today. I wouldn't recognize his face. But the older would I would recognize. I send many hugs and kisses to him and all of them.

I am here in Brazil. I'm participating in the Olympics and I thank God for that . If my brother can see me on TV, to know your brother is here in Brazil, striving to maybe see him, to be together one day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: So, when you see these athletes compete, this team of refugees, remember that for them, it's much more than just competing for the games and competing for these records, they are representing refugees all over the world -- Christi.

PAUL: That is really so profound when you really absorb what they're going through.

Listen, I wanted to ask you about the Olympic -- the panel. I know they're reviewing the case of these banned Russian athletes. We're five days out. Do these Russian athletes know if they're going to be able to compete?

FLORES: You know, Christi, they don't. And here's the back story. Of course, you know that the IOC decided not to ban all Russian athletes from the Olympic Games. We know that about a hundred are completely banned. So, this new decision does not impact them. That includes about 67 athletic team members. However, all of the other athletes that are a bit in limbo is because the IOC decided they were not going to do a blanket ban. So, they gave the power to the individual federations for them to decide which athletes are in and which athletes are out.

And now, with five days to the game the IOC has said, well, we're going to have a three-person panel that's going to review all of the decisions made by the individual federations. So, here you have athletes five days away, training, hoping to compete in the Olympic Games. And, Christi, they still don't know if they will be competing.

PAUL: That seems unheard of to me.

All right. Rosa Flores, we know that you're going to continue to follow that for us. Thank you so much, ma'am.

BLACKWELL: It was a moving start to the training camp for the Dallas Cowboys. The team opened training camp in California, but the day wasn't about football. It was about honoring the Dallas Police Department and those who lost their lives in the line of duty. You'll see more of this next.

(COMMERCIOAL BREAK)

[07:53:08] PAUL: Oh, it's a bird, it's a plane. No, it's not. It's a sky diver without a parachute.

BLACKWELL: Right, look at this video. Daredevil skydiver, the first person to jump from a height of 20,000 feet. Look closely. There's no parachute.

PAUL: No, no.

BLACKWELL: He landed in a net.

PAUL: Look how close he is. BLACKWELL: Look how close he is to the edge. He's in but he's just

in there.

He's name is Luke Aikens, he's 42 years old. He's got 18,000 jumps under his belt. But I still wonder why did he do this.

PAUL: He's an adventurer.

My question is when he's up there hovering on his way down, is he really enjoying the view or is he going, got to get the net, got to get the net. And how do you drive yourself to the net? There's no steering wheel.

BLACKWELL: Yes, that's true.

PAUL: That's some talent. Got to give it to him for that.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Good for you.

(LAUGHTER)

PAUL: All right.

A night of hard-hitting action in the octagon ends with a new champion. I probably could have said several times this year according to Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESONDENT: Absolutely. It's the year of the upset in UFC. You can't get over that.

BLACKWELL: I can't get over that.

SCHOLES: I'll tell you what? The net would have to be the size of Texas and I still wouldn't do it.

Anyway, to UFC, we have another upset. We've had seven title belt changes in the last seven months. Just incredible, the latest upset came right here in Atlanta late last. Robbie Lawler putting his welterweight title belt on the line against Tyrone Woodley in the main event of UFC 201. It didn't take long for the challenger to end Lawler's reign. Lawler landed a massive right how and jump on Lawler to win the fight just two minutes into round one.

This is Woodley's first fight in 18 months so he definitely made the most of it.

All right. Golf's last major of the year will have a marathon ending if it even ends today.

[07:55:01] Thunderstorms shut down the PGA yesterday for ten players. The players hoping to tee it up again this morning, but there's more rain in the forecast. It may actually push the final round to Monday. Americans Robert Streb and Jimmy Walker tied for the lead right now, 9 under par. Defending champ Jason Day, two shots off the lead.

All right. In an amazing show of solidarity, the Dallas Cowboys walked onto the field for their first practice in training camp yesterday, arm in arm with Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, Dallas Police Chief David Brown and the families of four of the Dallas officers killed by a sniper earlier this month. The mother of one of the officers said says she'll never forget arm and arm with quarterback Tony Romo and Mayor Rawlings.

Chief Brown spoke to the Cowboys players, urging them to have a voice on issues such as race and Mayor Rawlings told the team, there will always be Cowboys but this year, play for Dallas like they've never played before.

All right. And finally, guys, Michael Jordan may have been retired for 13 years, but he's still Michael Jordan. Clipper Chris Paul at one of M.J.'s camp bet if you miss three shots, every single camper in attendance, and there's lots of campers there, gets a free pair of Jordans.

Well, what does Jordan do as he goes, plays around the world? He made every single one of the shots.

PAUL: No.

SCHOLES: And he sent all those campers trying to their parents because they did not get a free pair of shoes.

PAUL: I would think he would miss it on purpose.

SCHOLES: Not Michael Jordan. He's always there to rip some hearts out.

(LAUGHTER)

BLACKWELL: Maybe he'll send them anyway.

PAUL: That was going to say. Maybe he'll say, hey, I still had it but I'm going to give you shoes, too.

SCHOLES: That is a bet. He won the bet.

PAUL: If he does, we'll tell you about it.

BLACKWELL: All right. Thank you, Andy.

PAUL: Thank you, Andy.

You know, if you played the right numbers, you could be waking up a half a billion dollars richer this morning. If you did, I'm thinking we're not telling you anything new.

BLACKWELL: Right, you know that.

PAUL: You know that by now. Lot more likely though if you bought your ticket in New Hampshire.

BLACKWELL: The winning combination told there. Here's the numbers 11, 17, 21, 23, 32, powerball five. The winner beats the odds of matching those numbers one in 300 million.

PAUL: And congratulations to whomever it was.

After a couple of intense weeks at the political conventions -- take a breath, yes -- we thought it was a good time for a look at the lighter side of campaigning reporting. And it does exist.

BLACKWELL: And who do you turn to for that? Jeanne Moos, of course. She's put together the good, the bad, and the awkward convention entrances and exits, and, of course, the balloon drops. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's nothing that nails a grand entrance or exit like a PDA, political display of affection, punctuated with a billion balloons. Hillary and her posse were drowning in them. She was batting them, so was Bill, even kicking them.

But entrance and exits can be hit or miss, like this miss of an air kiss. On the other hand, Hillary's shattered glass ceiling was a hit and had the audience chanting at her screen image.

But sometimes a miss can be memorable. For instance, when Baltimore's mayor was supposed to gavel the convention but forget to use the gavel. She walked off and came back 15 seconds later with a bang.

It happened two more times --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where is it?

MOOS: When the convention was being recessed, someone yelled gavel to remind the chair to swing that thing.

Taking a page out of Hitchcock, Donald Trump's somewhat less portly silhouette made an entrance, so dramatic it was parodied by actress Elizabeth Banks at the Democratic Convention.

The women on "The View" spoofed it. So did Jimmy Fallon with Michael Jackson moves. And Stephen Colbert made shadow puppet a girl.

From dancing entrance to exits, check out how DNC chair Donna Brazile sashayed off stage.

Howard Dean's exit was a scream.

HOWARD DEAN (D), FORMER GOVERNOR OF VERMONT: And Michigan! And Florida! And Pennsylvania! And then we're going to the White House!

MOOS: He left off the actual scream from 2004.

And then sometimes there are things that cause you to make an exit. In this case a premature one.

When a protester poured a bottle of water on Geraldo Rivera's head, his security guy hustled him away. Childish, yes, but at convention, even potential and past presidents

sometimes behave with all the delight of kids.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: Hope that gave you a smile and hope you have an awesome day today.

BLACKWELL: "INSIDE POLITICS" with John King starts right now.