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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Obama Responds to Iran Ransom Question; Trump Back on Message with Clinton Attacks; Rio Olympics Being Tonight. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired August 05, 2016 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:30:49] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama responding forcefully to Donald Trump's allegation that the election is rigged. The Commander-In-Chief's response and his take on other key issues, moments away.
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump turning his fire back to Hillary Clinton as he looks to revive his struggling campaign. But will another debunked allegation prove too much for him to overcome? We'll tell you what he said, next.
ROMANS: And they are ready to rumble in Rio. The Summer Olympics getting underway tonight, a preview of the opening ceremony. What to expect the next few weeks, live from Rio later this hour. Welcome back to "Early Start." I'm Christine Romans.
HOWELL: Good to be here. I'm George Howell. It is 4:31 this hour. And first up, President Obama firing back at critics who suggest he paid a ransom for Iran for the release of four American hostages. In a wide-ranging news conference, the President strongly denied that charge calling the entire process open and transparent. He also delivered a troubling assessment of the war against ISIS. But he seemed most anxious to discuss Donald Trump's recent claim that the presidential election in November could be rigged. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARRACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't even really know where to start on answering this question. Of course, the elections will not be rigged. What does that mean? The federal government doesn't run the election process. States and cities and communities all across the country, they're the ones who set up the voting systems and the voting booths. And if Mr. Trump is suggesting that there is a conspiracy theory that is being propagated across the country including in places like Texas, where typically it's not Democrats who were in charge of voting booths. That's ridiculous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: Now, as for that $400 million cash payment the U.S. made to Iran, the President says there was no ransom and there is no scandal insisting his administration has been transparent all along. We get more now from CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski. MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, George and Chrsitine, right. This is a wide ranging press conference. The transfer of that cash to Iran was going to come up. And the President sounding annoyed clearly wanted to put it to rest. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: We announced these payments in January. Many months ago. There wasn't a secret. We announced them to all of you. Josh did a briefing on them. This wasn't some nefarious deal. We were completely open with everybody about it. And that's interesting to me how suddenly this became a story again. We do not pay ransom for hostages.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSINSKI: And the President there didn't tell us anything that we didn't already know. He is right. The administration announced this transfer of money back in January. Everybody reported on it then. It's just that the recent release of these details seemed to convey maybe a sense of urgency that this plane load of cash had to get to Iran just before the prisoners were released.
It reminds us of the questions, the answers to which have not been completely clear. Was there urgency? Did that money need to get there just then? And does it bother the President that the timing of this then allowed Iran to call it a ransom? And if that money hadn't been there on time, would those prisoners then have been released? Now that may not be something we ever learned the answer to, George and Christine.
ROMANS: All right, thanks so much for that.
After a week of high profile missteps, Donald Trump back on the trail, he's back on message. At a rally in Maine, Trump refocused to the attacks on Hillary Clinton. Blasting his Democratic rival for what he calls a dangerous and weak position on immigration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hillary Clinton wants to have them come in by the hundreds of thousands.
[04:35:04] This has nothing to do with politics, folks. This is a whole different level. This has to do with pure raw stupidity. She has made everybody less safe. Those 33,000 e-mails are potentially a danger to our country. We're both supposed to be briefed in the not too distant future and I'm saying he can't brief her. You can't brief her. Let's protest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Trump did stumble on this though, he claimed again, he has seen video of the cash payment made by the U.S. to Iran even though his campaign admits that video does not exist. I want to bring you CNN Senior Media correspondent, host of "Reliable Sources," Brian Stelter. So, I guessed since we're on the subject of that video. Let's listen to what Donald Trump specifically said yesterday about this plane ...
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Right.
ROMANS: ... that he saw with money coming off of it for that Iran payment. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: And, you know, it was interesting because a tape was made, right? You saw that with the airplane coming in. Nice plane. And the airplane coming in and the money coming off, I guess, right? That was given to us, has to be, by the Iranians. And you know why the tape was given to us? Because they want to embarrass our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Brian Stelter, what is he talking about?
STELTER: I think even people in his campaign are unclear on that. That there's been a lot of reporting here that indicates that Donald Trump has not seen that video, that that video does not exist. There are other tapes of other planes getting in and out of Iran around the time that these Americans were released. But there isn't a video he's describing. And even some of the days have now walked that back, acknowledge that. I mean, the Democrats are now seizing on this as the latest example of Trump playing loose with the facts. Tim Kaine and (inaudible) this morning, says I have no idea what Trump's talking about. This tape doesn't exist. So, Kaine and Clinton maybe seizing on this has an opportunity.
ROMANS: Well we'll try to show. Here's the guy who's going to give security, he's going to get briefing, the Intelligence briefings that are going to be very, very sensitive. And I think that they're going to try to portray this as, look, you know, he doesn't have a grasp of what is real, what is not real.
STELTER: Yeah. It could have been a question mark of when he's start receiving intelligence briefings is really slip up and share something he learned in the briefings with the general public. And will he say something that was classified. And say that at a rally or interview? It's a fear that might sound farfetched but it's being repeated quite often by critics to Donald Trump.
HOWELL: Brian, let's take a snapshot of the campaign right now. The Trump-Clinton campaign, if we can take a look at the poll numbers this latest McClatchy-Marist poll showing that Hillary Clinton now up 48 percent ahead of Donald Trump's, 33 percent. And guys, if we can take a look also at the battle ground states, these various states, look at that Clinton ahead in New Hampshire, ahead in Pennsylvania, ahead in so many key states here. That's the snapshot of the race right now.
So, we're looking at Donald Trump, a candidate who seems too be back on message, Brian, but at the same time making these big gaps like this video that doesn't exist.
STELTER: We can view some of the comments, some of the messaging from Donald Trump as a reaction to these polls. And he's saying right now. He's not worried about the polls, not worried about being this far behind. That's a big change from the primary season when he was very focused on his numbers, frequently pointing out how well he was doing in various states. But these swing states in particular, it's important to note they're beyond the margin of error. You know what I'm talking about three or four-point race. We're talking about eight, nine, 10-point races. And to see national polls with Clinton anywhere 9 to 15 points ahead. That is an enormous amount of ground for Donald Trump to make up. However, we are in this post-Democratic convention bounce period.
ROMANS: Right.
STELTER: I've a feeling that some viewers are thinking of themselves. Wait. What about a couple of weeks from now. After the Democratic Convention period passes? And that's exactly what the Clinton campaign is saying as well.
ROMANS: Right.
STELTER: They are trying to tamp down expectation as much as they possibly can. Because they believe the polls will tighten in the weeks to come.
ROMANS: To, you know Team Trump trying to get him back on message. You know attacking Hillary Clinton, attacking Barack Obama. By the way, the President's recent approval rating is the highest right now in his presidency which comes at a really interesting time. If Team Trump is really trying to attack the President and then --
STELTER: The higher his rating is, the better benefits of Hillary Clinton.
HOWELL: (inaudible).
ROMANS: Yeah. And then the center of this morning in the New York Times Mike Morell is from the CIA. He said he has voted for Democrats. He's voted for Republicans. He's kept his preference for president, you know, private ...
STELTER: Yeah.
ROMANS: ... until now. He says in New York Times, I run the CIA. Now, I'm endorsing Hillary Clinton.
STELTER: Yeah. And this is really going to drive the morning. One of the quotes here in the Op-Ed it says, "Donald Trump is not only unqualified for the job, but he may well actually pose a threat to our national security." The essay concludes by saying, he believes "Hillary Clinton is the safer choice to be President." The fact that this is a long-time government official who doesn't identify as Democrat or Republican is the latest in a series of thousands of figures who put his weight behind Clinton. ROMANS: But if you're a Trump supporter. You see this and you say, OK, this is the man who sat next to George W. Bush who were attacked on 9/11. This is someone who was there in the room when Osama Bin Laden was taken out, you would say and ISIS is a threat today. So, you know if you're part of the security establishment, this is exactly what Donald Trump is running. He's running against the people who have been in power.
[04:40:10] STELTER: And this is an opportunity that the Trump supporters see they haven't seen before, you know, in their lifetimes to reset, to start over, to light a fire and bring in fresh perspectives. They're going to view something like morale as an example of just another elite reaction to Donald Trump.
HOWELL: In the President's briefing to reporters the other day, one thing that was a critical question that was asked, do you trust Donald Trump with the nuclear codes? Let's listen to that exchange for if we could.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: What is your assessment today as you stand here about whether Donald Trump can be trusted with America's nuclear weapons?
OBAMA: Just listen to what Mr. Trump has to say and make your own judgment with respect to how confident you feel about his ability to manage things like our nuclear triad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: So, the question of Trump's judgment. How does that play when it comes to the nuclear codes with Trump's most, you know, steadfast supporters?
STELTER: This is the ground I think that the Clinton campaign wants to be on because it's about whether Trump can be trusted, whether he has the discipline and the temperament to be president. This is solid ground for that campaign, maybe not so much for Donald Trump's campaign. He has repeatedly in the past flirted with the potential of using nuclear weapons. Something we've not seen past presidents or the candidates of the Democratic or Republican sides do.
So, this is, you know, solid ground for the Clinton campaign. And Barack Obama there has been her greatest allay by invoking this and talking about it. And saying to the base of the viewers at home and the journalists in the room, don't take my word for it, make up your own mind. Pretty clever rhetorically to put it on the audience and let them make a determination.
ROMANS: A lot going on this Friday morning. Brain, we'll - you'll come back next hour, I think yeah?
STELTER: Sure.
ROMANS: OK, good. Thanks. A time for an early start on your money, global markets mostly higher this morning after the Bank of England rolled out an aggressive stimulus package design to offset Brexit. Right now, you can see US Futures are higher.
Is the government making money off student loans? It's something that 43 million Americans with student debt have heard on the campaign trail, right? That the government is making money off your back on student loans, but is it true? According to the congressional budget office, one estimate says, the federal student loan program could make $1.6 billion this year which is small considering it lends about $100 billion each year.
Another estimate, one of the accounts for the risk like people to defaulting, it says the government would lose $20 billion this year. So, unfortunately, the answer isn't simple. But, there are two things we do know. Undergraduate loans always lose money for the government because they have such low interest rate. So, on undergraduate student loans the government's losing money. You can't refinance. Number two, unlike other loans, you cannot refinance student loans even when rates are low like right now. So, that's one thing that people can legitimately complain about it.
You have heard that, I have heard that, so many times. I do radio shows where people call in and they say, you know, it's just -- it's a crime that the government is making money off the back of student loans. Until we really looked into it and it's not that clear actually.
HOWELL: Yeah, that's good to get, you know, the facts.
ROMANS: Yeah.
HOWELL: Well, a tornado touches down in the south, leaving a path with destruction behind it. The damage report and the weekend forecast ahead.
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[04:47:30] HOWELL: Welcome back. Egypt claims that it killed the leader of an ISIS affiliate in the Sinai Peninsula. Military officials say the group's leader was taken out in a series of air strikes on Thursday. Nearly four dozen insurgents were killed. A number of ammunition at weapon sites also destroyed there. The Egyptian army though was not specifying how they know that ISIS leader is dead. There has been no response yet from the terror groups.
ROMANS: Israel's accusing the head of a charity of siphoning millions of dollars to aid the terror group Hamas. Officials say Muhammad El Halabi the point man for World Vision in the Gaza Strip managed to stir $50million, $50 million by doctoring receipts and creating humanitarian projects world vision the HRS said as these shocked by the allegations and plans to take appropriate action. It says base on the evidence.
HOWELL: In North Carolina, a man is in federal custody accused of trying to recruit people for ISIS-inspired attacks to the U.S., 35- year-old Erick Hendricks was arrested on Thursday, he's been charged with providing materials support to the terrorist group. Attorney say Hendricks is linked to a failed attack in Garland, Texas last year on the prophet Muhammad cartoon contest.
ROMANS: Dylann Roof, the man accused in last years Charleston church massacre was beaten by another inmate of the Charleston County Jail Thursday. Attorneys say Roof was out of his cell in protective custody unit and his on the way to the shower when an inmate attacked him. They say no weapons were involved between to royal group of accuse killing nine black parishioners at Charleston's historic Emanuel AME church.
HOWELL: Police in Georgia filing charges against the father of a 15- month-old twin girls who died Thursday in a hot car incident. They say officers responded to a 911 call last night at a home in Carrolton, Georgia and they found the girls immersed in a kiddie pool their father trying to revive them after taking them out of the car. The toddlers were then rush to the hospital but did not survive. Police have seized the car the scene and charged that father with two counts of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of reckless conduct.
ROMANS: It's a sad story. The mayor of Stockton, California facing charges involving minors, Mayor Anthony Silva was arrested yesterday at the youth camp he runs for intercity kids. It comes after a nearly year-long FBI investigation. Prosecutors alleged Silva supplied alcohol to minors and recorded a group of people playing strip poker in his bedroom at the camp. Other group included a 16-year-old boy.
HOWELL: There isn't severe weather to tell you about, a tornado ripping through parts of New Orleans. Look at this video you can see debris there flying toward that car.
[04:50:04] A twister touched down Thursday afternoon with winds gusting up to 80 miles per hour. At least half a dozen homes and buildings there were destroyed. The force of the twister caused the roof of this home that you see to cave in. Officials say several communities were hit very hard by the storm. So far though no word of injuries or death.
A lot to talk about in weather for sure. Let's get the latest from meteorologist Derek Van Dam.
DEREK VAN DAM, METEOROLOGIST: Seven tornadoes in total yesterday, George and Christine. One of which happened to be in New Orleans, just outside of the city center.
Louisiana only averages one tornado through the entire month of august and it happened to be yesterday. West Stales well had stronger storms that created downburst winds that actually tore the roof off of some of the buildings across the region. That was a picture taken from Phoenix, Arizona. And we also have the strong Pacific moisture streaming into the four corners region today that allow for a chance of thunderstorms and flash flooding. So be on the lookout for that in the four corners reaching as far west as Southern Nevada as well, Albuquerque to just South and West of Denver. Elsewhere across the U.S. we have a cold front that's going to bring thunderstorms on Saturday to New York City and the nation's capital. But by Sunday, we'll clear things out and lower the humidity levels in a comfortable weekend and in terms of the humidity into the East Coast, although the daytime highs will still be warm. Back to you.
ROMANS: All right Derek, thank you for that.
All right, could Donald Trump's campaign be hurting his business? Take a look at that during an early start on your money, next.
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[04:55:53] HOWELL: The Rio Olympics just hours away now from the official start and on the eve of tonight's opening ceremony, the IOC banned 118 Russian athletes from competing because of doping. T he committee's ruling though was actually a victory for the Russian team. CNN's Christina Macfarlane is live in Rio this hour. Christina, good morning.
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, George. The sun is rising on the opening day of the Olympic Games, but the end of the turbulent week for the Russia doping crisis. On Thursday night, we had confirmation, the long awaited confirmation from the International Olympic Committee that 271 athletes, Russian athletes had been cleared to compete here in Rio, but 118 have been banned and will be sent home.
That means that Russia now have fewer athletes competing here in Rio than 11 other countries. And there's a feeling that this is not the end of the story. There will certainly be questions asked over any athlete who steps on to the podium here at the Rio Olympic Games as to their credibility. And it will be fascinating to see what reception they get at the opening ceremony later tonight.
And speaking of which, the organizers are calling this a somber sensation event that we're looking forward to. Here's what we can expect, 6,000 volunteers, a 12-year-old rapper and 12 samba school dancers are going to be out on parade. Now, this event of course has only a tenth of the budget of the London 2012 games. But I guess, low on budget, big on stall, that's how they're selling it. And we hope, of course that the Olympic torch will continue its journey to the Maracana this evening without incident after we've seen some violent protest in the streets here in the past couple of days.
But, in the past few hours, the torch has passed by our live position here. And we can tell you that there were thousands of people who came out to meet it. They were happy to see it. Obviously, a very important moment for them to see it pass by and it is really beginning to feel now like an Olympic events and something we can all look forward to.
HOWELL: It does promise to be an exciting time. Christina Macfarlane live for us, covering the Rio Olympics there. Christina thank you.
ROMANS: All right, also an exciting time here. A time for an early start on your money this. This Friday morning, global markets around the world mostly higher after the Bank of England rolled out an aggressive stimulus package designed to offset Brexit. The bank officially says Brexit will shrink the British economy, kill 250,000 jobs and there's now a 50-50 chance of a recession in England. So it's rolling out the stimulus to try to blunt that.
Right now, U.S. Futures are higher ahead of that big government jobs report from three and a half hours. What can we expect from that? A CNN money survey forecasts 182,000 jobs, 4.8 percent unemployment, tune in this morning at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. We'll break those live for you on New Day.
Donald Trump's campaign to make America great again may be bad for his businesses. Trump branded golf courses, hotels, and casinos have seen a clear decline in foot traffic since he entered the presidential race. Now, that is according to data released yesterday by Foursquare.
To compare before Trump announces candidacy, traffic was steady year over year. So by the decline, this Foursquare report says, a key factor is the Trump's properties are overwhelmingly in blue states, where consumers are more likely to take issue with his policies and rhetoric.
A New York City now tops London as the most expensive city to live and work. That's according to new data that ranks cities around the world by residential and office rental costs for the past few years, London has topped the list. But now it's New York. The falling pound after the Brexit vote knocked it down to number three. Also in the top five, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Paris.
All right, more "Early Start" right now.
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HOWELL: President Obama pulling no punches. He's talking about Donald Trump, talking about ISIS and Iran and more on his final media event of the summer. So, what did he say about Trump's claim of a rigged election?
[05:00:00] ROMANS: Donald Trump looking to reset his campaign launching new attacks on Hillary Clinton. He's firing salvos at Hillary Clinton but another questionable accusation has critics pouncing. We'll tell you what he said.
And the eyes of the world on Rio, the games of the 31st Olympia just out --
