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Deadly Attack at Pakistan Hospital; Why Manbij Is So Important; Delta Cancels 800 Flights Following Power Outage; Political Mind Games Between Trump, Clinton. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired August 09, 2016 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:01:13] SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead this hour, dozens of top Republican foreign policy experts have a warning. Donald Trump would be the most reckless president in American history.
SIDNER: Plus a faction of the Pakistani Taliban claims responsibility for a deadly bombing at a hospital.
VAUSE: And after all the talk and the talk, a score is settled in the Olympic pool in Rio.
SIDNER: Hello, and thanks for joining us. I'm Sara Sidner.
VAUSE: Great to have you with us. I'm John Vause. Another hour of NEWSROOM L.A. starts now.
Donald Trump is facing another revolt from within the Republican Party. 50 national security experts, all Republicans, have come forward to say he is not qualified to be president. In an open latter, they write, "We are convinced that in the Oval Office he would be the most reckless president in American history."
The group includes former CIA director Michael Hayden, former director of National Intelligence, John Negroponte, and two former Homeland Security secretaries.
SIDNER: Trump has responded with his own statement, he says, quote, "The names on this letter are the ones the American people should look to for answers on why the world is a mess and we thank them for coming forward so everyone in the country knows who deserves the blame for making the world such a dangerous place."
VAUSE: And longtime Republican Senator Susan Collins says she will not vote for Trump because, in her words, he would make an already perilous world more dangerous. Collins is the second Republican senator to come out against Trump, joining Mark Kirk of Illinois.
COSTELLO: Collins has written an op-ed for the "Washington Post" saying, quote, "I had hoped that we would see a new Donald Trump as a general election candidate, one who would focus on jobs and the economy, tone down his rhetoric, develop more thoughtful policies and yes, apologize for ill-tempered rants. But the unpleasant reality that I have had to accept is that there will be no new Donald Trump, just the same candidate who would slash and burn and trample anything and anyone he perceives as being in his way or an easy scapegoat."
VAUSE: Trump tried to reboot his campaign on Monday with a major policy speech on the economy.
SIDNER: He even showed restraint when protesters interrupted his speech more than a dozen times but as Dana Bash reports Trump still doesn't want anyone to confuse him with the establishment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Back to basics.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need to stop believing in politicians and start believing in our great country.
BASH: Donald Trump delivered a detailed economic policy speech but his goal seemed to be more fundamental, reminding voters that he is an outsider eager to disrupt a broken system.
TRUMP: Our party has chosen to make new history by selecting a nominee from the outside. And that's outside of the very, very already proven rigged system.
BASH: Trump made sure to re-up his core anti-trade populist messages his campaign believes could play well in places like hard-hit Michigan.
TRUMP: American cars will travel the roads. American planes will connect our cities. And American ships will patrol the seas.
BASH: But he also used his speech to the Detroit Economic Club business people to talk tax cuts and court college educated wealthier GOP voters that polls show Trump may be at risk of losing.
TRUMP: We're reducing the taxes from 35 percent to 15 percent.
BASH: That's a 15 percent cap on taxes for businesses. He's also proposing a moratorium on new business regulations and renegotiating NAFTA.
[01:05:06] Trump even dumped his own tax reform proposal, wiped it from his Web site and adopted the House Republican plan.
TRUMP: My plan will reduce the current number of brackets from seven to three and dramatically streamline the process.
BASH: And he warned GOP voters considering voting for Hillary Clinton about her plans.
TRUMP: Hillary Clinton, who has spent her career voting for tax increases, plans another massive job killing $1.3 trillion tax increase.
BASH: Before he even spoke the Clinton campaign released a Web video trashing Trump's plans.
TRUMP: I would borrow knowing that if the economy crash you could make a deal.
BASH: CNN's Poll of Polls shows Clinton with a whopping 10-point lead over Trump. To turn that around Trump has to bring college educated women back into his column. He hopes his new tax break for child care developed with his daughter Ivanka will help.
TRUMP: Reduce the cost of child care by allowing parents to fully deduct the average cost of child care spending from their taxes.
BASH: Still one of the most noteworthy parts of Trump's speech was what he didn't say, no insults for protesters, even though he was interrupted 14 times. He bit his tongue except for this.
TRUMP: The Bernie Sanders people had far more energy and spirit. I will say that.
BASH: Dana Bash, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: This is Donald Trump's first major speech since accepting the Republican Party's nomination for president. It was so important he even read it from a teleprompter.
And joining us now for a closer look at Trump's economic plan, one of his economic advisers Peter Navarro who is also a professor of economics and public policy at the University of California Irvine.
SIDNER: Also with us, Robert Reich, professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkley. Robert also served as the labor secretary for President Bill Clinton.
Robert, I'm going to go ahead and start with you. After listening to Donald Trump's speech today, what are your concerns? What are your criticisms?
ROBERT REICH, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY: Well, basically the speech represented a move backward from the kind of almost inarticulate and incoherent economics that he was talking about before toward a more traditional supply-side approach that, for example, Speaker Paul Ryan has taken. And to the extent that there is anything to say about that, the criticisms are fairly standard that supply-side economics has not had, in the minds of many people and researchers who have looked very carefully at the economy, the kind of effects that supply-siders claim it will have.
SIDNER: So, Mr. Navarro, tell us what you think of the speech.
PETER NAVARRO, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE: Sure.
SIDNER: And perhaps what you thought of what Robert just said.
VAUSE: Yes, respond to what Robert Reich had said. NAVARRO: The difference between Robert Reich and myself, Hillary
Clinton-Donald Trump, is the Reich-Clinton approach is kind of a standard Keynesianism approach, treating things as a cyclical problem and you just throw a lot of fiscal stimulus on it. You threw in a little Robin Hood redistribution of income and life is supposed to be all good.
Well, Robert Reich and the Clintons have been trying that for the last 20 years. And what we have now is 15 years of misery in this country. We have a growth rate that's half of its historic norms, 20 million people out of work and zero income growth.
What the Trump plan is, it was a four-point plan. It was a coherent plan based on a structural approach. It included energy reform, regulatory reform, tax reform and trade reform. It's designed to double our GDP growth rate. Basically, when you do that, we will generate millions of jobs and trillions of dollars in additional tax revenues to pay for things like infrastructure, national defense, Medicare and Social Security.
So this was a 21st century version of Ronald Reagan with a trade deficit twist on it. It's much, much more than simple supply-side economics. And it's a certainly a far better alternative to the Robin Hood and John Maynard Keynes like we've been getting.
VAUSE: OK. Now Hillary Clinton, she's planning a major speech on Thursday. She's not waiting, though, until then to go out to Donald Trump's plans. This is Clinton just a few hours ago. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Economists left, right, in the middle, all say the same thing. That Trump's policies would throw us into a recession. The last thing we need.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Now the credit rating agency Moody's has looked at the economic policies of both candidates. This is what they said. "Clinton's would create more than 10 million jobs and GDP growth would increase to 2.7 percent." Of Trump's plan they said, "It would increase unemployment to 7 percent, spark a prolonged recession and would cause the value of houses and stocks to fall."
[01:10:00] So, Peter, that analysis was done before Trump scuttled his original tax plan, lowering the tax rate -- to increasing tax rate rather for the top income earners. But today there has been a lot of criticism from both sides of the political spectrum for this plan put forward by Donald Trump.
NAVARRO: Well, let's start with the Moody's plan. As good journalism, I think it's important to report that Mark Zandi, who wrote the report is a major donor to the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton as well. And he's also been the defender for the last eight years of the failed fiscal stimulus policies of the Obama administration. And Moody's was faulted for its terrible credit ratings for getting us into the housing bubble collapse and the crisis. So that report is not credible.
What we look at here is a four-point program, really, that is designed synergistically to double our growth rate. And if you look at, for example, the trade problem, we've got an $800 billion trade deficit annually. And in addition to that, we have our business investment domestically reduced because of offshoring to Mexico and China.
Now that's the structural problem with our economy here in the U.S. It's the same structural problem with the economy in Europe. And it speaks to the currency manipulation and unbalanced trade around the world. And until we solve that here in America, in Europe and around the world, we're going to have what we have which is consistently slow growth and no wage income growth.
And Donald Trump sees that. He's got the intelligence to understand we're fighting a structural problem. Keynesianism and Robin Hood is not the solution.
VAUSE: Robert, do you want to reply to that?
REICH: If I could -- yes, I could respond to that. First of all, an ad hominem attack on Mark Zandi from Moody's Analytic doesn't really wash. Moody's Analytic is not a left-wing. It's not a Democratic institution. It's a "Wall Street" institution. Mark Zandi was the chief --
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: He is a major donor to the Democratic Party.
REICH: Wait a minute if I can -- if I can please finish my sentence.
NAVARRO: But he's a major donor to the Democratic Party.
REICH: Professor Navarro, will you please have the courtesy to let me finish my sentence? He was also, Mark Zandi, the major chief economist to John McCain, the presidential candidate of the Republican Party in 2008.
NAVARRO: That's incorrect. That's factually incorrect.
REICH: I'm absolutely correct. Secondly let me just look if --
NAVARRO: Factually incorrect.
REICH: If we just -- who are you? Let me just finish my thoughts for a moment. Please, have some courtesy. You sound like Donald Trump. With regards to the Trump plans --
NAVARRO: You sound like Hillary Clinton.
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: Peter, please let Professor Reich finish his point, please.
REICH: The supply-side aspect of the plan can be shown. The Tax Policy Project, the Tax Policy Council has looked at the plan that -- from which this is derived that is the Paul Ryan's plan and found that it would generate for the top 1/10 of 1 percent an $800,000 tax cut per year. This will aggravate inequality. We know that. We've tried it before. We have seen that these kind of supply-side policies do aggravate inequality.
And that kind of inequality coupled with the deficit creation that is going to be made. This is not a good policy. I was part of the Clinton administration. We presided over an economy generating 22 million net new jobs.
For your guest Professor Navarro to say that somehow the Clintons and I have -- you know, have driven the economy into the ground expresses and displays a failure to understand economic history.
VAUSE: And on that, we shall call it a night. But this is a discussion, obviously, which could go on for an incredibly long time. It's very interesting listening to both of you talking about it. We appreciate your insights and sharing them with us today.
REICH: Thank you.
NAVARRO: Good talking with you all.
SIDNER: And before we go, want to make a quick mention -- thank you, guys, both for being here. A quick mention of Robert's latest book that's out, "Saving Capitalism for the Many, Not the Few."
VAUSE: And Peter, when you have a book come out, we'll plug it as well.
NAVARRO: I have a book come out, "Crouching Tiger," and it's on the bookstore -- bookshelves.
VAUSE: There we go. "Crouching Tiger" by Peter Navarro.
REICH: Thank you very much.
SIDNER: Thank you both, Robert Reich and Peter Navarro.
VAUSE: Thank you, guys.
SIDNER: Donald Trump is linking Hillary Clinton's e-mail scandal to the execution of an Iranian nuclear scientists. Clinton vehemently denies that but Trump insists the e-mail showed she is to blame for outing the Iranian nuclear scientist who received a death penalty for treason.
VAUSE: Shahram Amiri was tried in secret accused of spying for the U.S. and revealing Iran's nuclear secrets.
We have details now from Elise Labott.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER (voice-over): Shahram Amiri was greeted as a hero when the Iranian nuclear scientist returned home to Iran six years ago claiming he fled his American captors, turning down millions of dollars to spy on behalf of the U.S.
SHAHRAM AMIRI, NUCLEAR SCIENTIST (Through Translator): I was facing psychological warfare and pressure much worse than being in prison.
[01:15:01] LABOTT: But on Sunday he was executed for treason. Iran's Judiciary Ministry announced Amiri was hanged for sharing Iran's nuclear secrets with the enemy.
GHOLAMHOSSEIN MOHSENI EJEI, IRANIAN JUDICIARY SPOKESMAN (Through Translator): After due process he received his punishment.
LABOTT: Amiri disappeared in 2009 in Saudi Arabia on a religious pilgrimage. He mysteriously ended up in Arizona where he made a video that aired on Iranian state television claiming he was kidnapped and taken to the U.S. where he was allegedly drugged and tortured. U.S. officials say Amiri defected and willingly provided useful information about Iran's nuclear program. And in a subsequent video produced by the CIA have Amiri contradict his claims.
AMIRI (Through Translator): I am free here and want to reassure everyone that I am free.
LABOTT: By 2010 officials claimed Amiri changed his mind and wanted to go home. Iranian television aired a third video in which Amiri returned to his kidnapping story saying he escaped his captors. A claim publicly disputed by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
CLINTON: Well, he's free to go. He was free to come. These decisions are his alone to make.
LABOTT: Amiri demanded to be sent home when he arrived at the Iranian intersection at the Pakistani embassy in Washington. Officials believe he feared for his family's safety.
Clinton aides made veiled references to his requests in e-mails over her private server, one saying, quote, "Our friend has to be given a way out. If he has to leave, so be it."
Days after his heartwarming airport reunion with his son aired on Iranian state TV, Amiri disappeared. Clinton's critics seized on the e-mails suggesting they put Amiri's life at risk.
SEN. TOM COTTON (R), ARKANSAS: That goes to show just how reckless and careless her decisions was to put that kind of highly-classified information on a private server. I think her judgment is not suited to keep this country safe.
LABOTT (on camera): And Donald Trump took to Twitter to point out that many people are saying that Mr. Amiri was killed because of Hillary Clinton's hacked e-mails. The Clinton campaign shot back saying that Trump never met a conspiracy theory he doesn't like calling the accusations baseless and absurd.
Elise Labott, CNN, New York. (END VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER: Hillary Clinton is also facing accusations of wrongdoing on an issue that has dogged her since 2012. She is now being sued by the parents of two Americans killed in the Benghazi attacks. The parents of Shawn Smith and Tyrone Woods are seeking damages for wrongful death, defamation and international -- intentionally inflicting emotional distress.
VAUSE: Clinton's campaign spokesman said there have been nine different investigations into Clinton's handling of Benghazi. None found evidence of wrongdoing.
SIDNER: And coming up next on NEWSROOM L.A. a major showdown in the Rio Olympic pool. The story behind the feud between two Olympic swimmers and who came out on top in the end.
VAUSE: Also ahead, Delta Airlines still dealing with the fallout from a computer meltdown which left thousands of travelers stranded around the world.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
[01:22:01] SIDNER: Lilly King delivered on her promise to swim her heart out for the United States defeating her Russian rival in one of the most anticipated swimming races of the Rio summer games. King set an Olympic record to win gold in the women's 100 meter breast stroke on Monday night.
VAUSE: She beat out Russia's Yulia Efimova after criticizing the Russian for her history of doping. After winning the semifinal of the 100-meter breast stroke, Efimova put up her finger up to say she was number one.
SIDNER: But King wasn't having any of that. The American put up her own finger up, wagging it side to side in a sign of admonishment.
"WORLD SPORTS'" Christina MacFarlane joins us now live from Rio's Copacabana Beach with more on this story.
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN WORLD SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Sara. Yulia Efimova really is something of a controversial figure here especially after making that bold move to Lily King as we saw in the buildup to this race. And that's because she has something of a checked past. She's actually tested positive for drugs twice in the last three years. She was provisionally banned for taking the drug Meldonium earlier this year. You'll remember that's the drug that tennis player Maria Sharapova was banned for two years when it was found she was taking it in January.
And she actually didn't know she was going to compete here in Rio until Saturday. That was when she got cleared by FINA, the swimming governing body, to compete. And as you say boos rang out when she entered the stadium tonight in the tennis -- sorry, in the tennis, in the swimming area to take part. And these two went hammer and tongs at each other right down to the wire but it was Lilly King who came out on top winning by just under a second and Efimova in tears after the race was concluded. But she did say that she was just happy to be here. She was happy to walk away with that silver medal because as I said, you know, she didn't know a week ago that she was going to be here.
VAUSE: OK. Let's go over some of the other significant uplifting moments so far of the Olympic Games. And this is a new one. Gold for Japan in the men's gymnastics because it was against their archrival China.
MACFARLANE: Yes. That's absolutely right, John. We saw the men's team event take place today and Japan back on top for the first time since 2004, pipping their major rivals, China, to the post to take gold and of course spurring them on to greatness was their Kohei Ichimura who is undoubtedly one of the greatest gymnasts of all time. But I read an interesting fact about him tonight. You know, he's got 10 world championship records and medals but he's only got two gold medals.
So, you know, he's got quite a few more to pick up here in Rio. And he is, of course, the gymnast who many people had noticed earlier in the week because he managed to rack up a $5,000 bill playing "Pokemon Go" in the buildup to this team event.
But Japan on top here. Russia coming in close, pipping them -- Japan pipping Russia just to the point and into the bronze position of course was China.
[01:25:07] But we're very much looking forward to seeing the women in action tomorrow. Of course the USA, the hot favorites for that one and a certain Simone Biles will be on everyone's watch list.
SIDNER: Looking forward to watching her. But I do -- it is the Olympics and it's all about friendship I want to talk about the Australian women's rugby team because they did something pretty incredible, didn't they, John>
VAUSE: You bet. Poor New Zealand, oh, dear, in the rugby.
MACFARLANE: Yes, I knew you were going to bring this up again, John. We'll talk about this every hour. I can feel it. Yes, of course, the Australian women, a historic moment for them. They won Rugby Sevens first ever Olympic gold for the first -- and the first rugby medal since 1924. And it came down to the wire with two big familiar foes in rugby, New Zealand against Australia in the final. But it was Australia who saw it through winning it 24-7 in the end.
They're the ones who have the bragging rights and it will be the turn of the men up next in the next two days. I think it's going to be a tougher competition for Australia but don't despair, Sara, remember that USA are currently topping the medal table. They've got five gold medals, Australia just with four gold now.
SIDNER: They're close. VAUSE: Yes.
SIDNER: But not quite number one.
VAUSE: I think you stole our thunder because we're going to take a look at the medal count. But we'll do that anyway.
Christina, thank you.
Let's take a close look at the medal competition. As Christina mentioned, the United States, they are on top with five golds, tied -- China also with five golds.
SIDNER: And as you heard, Australia behind with four. And Italy, Japan and Hungary round out the top six with three gold medals each. The U.S. leads right now in total medals with 19.
VAUSE: And 15 gold medals in nine sports will be awarded Tuesday. American Katie Ledecky will be another one chasing gold in the women's 200-meter freestyle.
SIDNER: The Syrian refugee swimmer Rami Anis will make his Olympic debut in the 100-meter freestyle. And Team USA led by Simone Biles looks to defend its title in the women's gymnastics team final.
VAUSE: And with that, we'll take a short break here on NEWSROOM L.A.. But when we come back, claims of responsibility for a deadly hospital bombing in Pakistan.
SIDNER: Two terror groups are claiming responsibility for the suicide blast that ripped through that hospital.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:30:59] SIDNER: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm Sara Sidner.
VAUSE: And I'm John Vause.
Let's check the headlines this hour.
(HEADLINES)
SIDNER: An attack at a hospital in northwest Pakistan that killed more than 70 people is being claimed by two terror groups. TTP, a faction of the Pakistan Taliban, stepped forward first to say it was behind the suicide bombing. Hours later, ISIS claimed responsibility. CNN is unable to verify either of the claims.
VAUSE: The hospital attack happened just hours after a top Pakistani lawyer was gunned down in the same city.
CNN's Michael Holmes has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Chaos in the city after a suicide bombing at a busy hospital.
This man says, "There were bodies and blood everywhere," after the blast ripped through the crowded emergency ward.
And it appears this was a carefully targeted attack. Many lawyers and journalists were gathered at the hospital when the bomb went off. They were there to mourn the death of a prominent local lawyer who was killed in a shooting earlier in the day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The scene of the attack was utter horror. I mean, they assassinated a lawyer and then waited for lawyers to gather at the hospital to receive his body from the mortuary before sending in a suicide bomber.
HOLMES: Dozens were killed and more than 100 injured and the death toll is expected to climb according to local officials.
The Pakistan prime minister among the many to strongly condemned the attack.
NAJIB RAZAK, PAKISTAN PRIME MINISTER: This really is the terrorists saying we're still here despite all these counterterrorism operations which have had a big effect. The terrorists are very much saying with this marker we are still around and we can still hit you.
HOLMES: Several lawyers have been targeted during a recent wave of killings. This latest attack, a reminder that the militant groups are far from being defeated in Pakistan.
Michael Holmes, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Syrian rebels claim to have broken through government forces which have besieged the city of Aleppo and they claim to have opened up a much-needed supply line.
SIDNER: Rebels are calling the victory a miracle. But Syrian state news says the regime is holding strong and no breakthrough ever happened.
VAUSE: Not far from there, in northern Syria, U.S.-backed militias are close to clearing the city of Manbij of ISIS militants.
It's a crucial hub for the terror group and losing it would be a major setback.
Our Fred Pleitgen explains what makes that city so important.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are America's most important allies in the war against ISIS in Syria. The Syrian Democratic forces or SDF have been pushing the terror group back for months.
(EXPLOSION)
PLEITGEN: But this could be their most important victory yet. Fighters have all by liberated the town of Manbij.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): We have taken these areas away from ISIS.
PLEITGEN: This video, obtained exclusively by CNN, shows the Syrian Democratic Forces in house-to-house combat. The group is made up of Syrian Kurds, many of them women but also includes Arabs, and foreigners like, Damian, from France.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): First of all, I came to fight. I came to fight ISIS because they are also in France, because they are a common enemy. This is an enemy that we also have in France.
(GUNFIRE)
PLEITGEN: Manbij is a hub for ISIS that lies about half way between the Turkish border and the extremist's self-declared couple, Raqqa.
Taking it means choking off a supply of weapons and fighters. The U.S. is providing air support for the SDF fighters, strikes that have made a difference on the battlefield. But there are also reports of more than 100 civilian casualties. The U.S. military is investigating the deaths.
(GUNFIRE)
PLEITGEN: And even with American air power the going has been tough. ISIS booby-trapped much of Manbij. Some of its bomb making factories later discovered.
[01:35:28] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mostly they used handmade mines because we have surrounded them they had no manufactured materials left. They have nothing left. They even used teapots to make mines. This is also a belt for explosive materials. They fasten the belt, filled with explosives, to themselves.
PLEITGEN: The SDF fighters had to battle snipers and determined ISIS foot soldiers.
(CHANTING)
PLEITGEN: ISIS released this video showing its militants on the front lines using suicide truck bombs to halt the advancing U.S.-backed force.
The U.S. has called Manbij, quote, "a fight that we haven't seen before."
Many of the civilians are happy to have escaped with their lives.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translation): We were afraid of ISIS but today we are free. When we were in Manbij there were four snipers above our house and the snipers shot at us. ISIS didn't allow us to leave. If they capture us and see us they will kill us.
PLEITGEN: Some of the women saved from ISIS's grasp, burned the clothes they were forced to wear in celebration. But while these civilians rejoice for now, the SDF will have to fight many more tough battling before ISIS is destroyed.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER: Ahead, lines, lines, and more lines, some lasting for 12 hours and planes going nowhere. That is what Delta passengers are dealing with around the world and it's not over yet. Details ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:40:19] SIDNER: Delta Airlines and passengers are looking for answers after more than 800 flights were cancelled on Monday. And more announced for Tuesday along with delays to more flights.
VAUSE: Delta says a power outage triggered a computer system failure but doesn't know why the backup system didn't take over.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EDWARD BASTIAN, CEO, DELTA AIRLINES: I apologize for the challenges that this has created for you. The Delta team is working hard to restore and get the systems back as quickly as possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Joining us is Seth Kaplan, a managing partner at "Airline Weekly," and the author of "Glory Lost and Found: How Delta Climbed from Despair to Dominance in the Post-9/11 Era.
Thank you so much for joining us, Seth. We appreciate you being here.
SETH KAPLAN, MANAGING PARTNER, AIRLINE WEEKLY & AUTHOR: Likewise, Sara. Good to be here.
SIDNER: We're talking about Delta, which you know about. And experts saying the system failed because of a power outage and the question is don't they have backup systems or has there been less spending on things like that. I think it was a month ago that southwest had a problem with a router that caused a lot of delays.
KAPLAN: Southwest has been limping along with the reservation system and other systems that are antiquated that they are replacing. Delta is an airline at the top of the industry. But it seems not particular necessarily to the passenger service systems, as they are called themselves, the systems that deal with the issues at the airports but a switch that controls electrical currents. Those redundancies should be in place. You can bet they are busy trying to figure out how this could possibly go so wrong.
SIDNER: As a customer who flies around the world frequently, we have all been in the situations where something goes wrong. What is it that we customers need to know about what we should have to protect ourselves or help ourselves get back in the air quickly?
KAPLAN: There were reports of some veteran airport agents, who have been through this over decades, handwriting boarding passes. So one thing you know, all this technology it's great when it works. But keep a print out of your itinerary. It's really handy on -- during a week like what is happening here. This will take a day or two to get through. But yeah, you know, the apps and the mobile boarding passes. And Delta does about a good a job as any other airline. But today it was useful to have a print out. And beyond that, let the airline know what flexibility you have. These days airlines do a pretty good job. If you are flying to JFK Airport in New York of looking for that next seat to JFK. But if you don't mind flying to Newark instead, tell them that. They won't necessarily assume that. It could help you get where you're going more quickly.
SIDNER: So try to be flexible.
And I want to ask you this, did Delta respond properly? The CEO apologized and they offered 200 bucks in compensation. Did they do enough for customers? Is that what they're supposed to be doing?
KAPLAN: Yeah. There are customers who are very frustrated and individually don't feel that way. And it's early to really do, a postmortem on this thing and, look, if we're hearing from customers Tuesday, Wednesday, saying I'm still trying to get where I'm going and Delta hasn't helped me, that's a different story. But Delta seems to be saying the right things and the people on the ground seem to be doing what they can to try to get customers on their way on what is a really rough start to the week for what is by some measures the world's largest airline.
SIDNER: And we know all know people and maybe ourselves have said I'm never taking this airline again. You end up flying when they have the best price or the best route. So we'll have to wait to see what the fallout is.
Thank you so much. We appreciate you being with us.
Seth Kaplan, joining us with insight on what happened this week.
Thanks, Seth.
KAPLAN: Thank you.
VAUSE: And it is still happening by the looks of things.
There has been a lot of bad news for Tesla and its autopilot feature in recent weeks. Now one driver says it might have saved his life. Joshua Nealy was driving home when he felt extreme pain and had trouble breathing.
SIDNER: He was having a life-threatening pulmonary embolism, a block in an artery of the lungs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[01:45:10] JOSHUA NEALY, SAVED BY TESLA'S AUTOPILOT: A little past Highlandville, just hit where it was the most excruciating pain I have ever had. I called my wife and said something's wrong and I couldn't breathe. I was going to hyperventilating.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: Nealy said he trusted Tesla's auto pilot feature to keep the car on the road to get to the hospital, and he was able to drive himself the rest of the way. Nealy has recovered and is out of the hospital.
VAUSE: Lucky man.
Next here on NEWSROOM L.A., the head games between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
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(WEATHER REPORT)
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VAUSE: It is not an understatement to say this has not been an ordinarily presidential campaign. Some say it might have become a little unhinged, as of late.
SIDNER: Jeanne Moos looks at the political mind games between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
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[01:49:56] JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We're no longer hearing from the candidates. Now we're getting inside their heads. Let me out of here.
Donald Trump has had the lion's share of armchair analysis.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A screw loose.
JOE SCARBOROUGH, HOST, MORNING JOE: Everyone is asking about his mental health.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's easy to behave that way when you're mentally ill.
(LAUGHTER)
MOOS: Even the conservative "Weekly Standard" piled on, "Donald Trump is not of sound mind."
That sounded worse than the phrasing Hillary Clinton uses.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Temperamentally unfit. MOOS: That probably triggered Trump's temper and he is analyzing
Hillary.
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: Unstable. She's unbalanced.
MOOS (on camera): This is the Donald's preliminary diagnosis of Hillary.
TRUMP: She is really pretty close to unhinged.
MOOS (voice-over): By the next day, he apparently thought her condition had worsened.
TRUMP: He is a totally unhinged person.
MOOS: One host listed the diagnostic criteria for narcissistic personality disorder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Requiring constant admiration.
MOOS: And found Trump met all 12.
Tweeted the former dean of Harvard Medical School, "Trump doesn't just have it, he defines it."
The Donald was less specific about Hillary's symptoms.
TRUMP: Honestly, I don't think she's all there.
MOOS: After Michael Bloomberg threw Trump over for Hillary --
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, (I), FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: Let's elect a sane, competent person.
MOOS: -- Dr. Drew declared Trump --
DR. DREW: Not insane.
MOOS: And when John Oliver called him --
JOHN OLIVER, HBO HOST, LAST WEEK TONIGHT: Such a damaged sociopathic narcissist.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR, CNN TONIGHT: Is that unfair to call someone who is the nominee to the Republican Party a sociopath?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it is unfair.
MOOS: But clinical psychologist, Dr. George Simon, said this to "Vanity Fair" about Trump and narcissism: "He is so classic that I'm archiving video clips of him to use in workshops. There is no better example."
Here's another one for your files, Doctor.
TRUMP: I have been told you have the greatest temperament.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos --
CLINTON: Temperamentally unfit.
MOOS: -- CNN --
TRUMP: Totally unhinged.
MOOS: -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER: And we are joined now by clinical psychologist, Dr. Judy Ho.
Thank you so much for being here.
You heard from psychologists in that piece who said it seems like he is a narcissist and that's it. This has come up before. But in 1964, this happened to Barry Goldwater. And a bunch of psychiatrists responded to this questionnaire. And the American Psychiatric Association said it's unethical to just see them not in person but just on television and make these pronouncements. Is that still the case?
DR. JUDY HO, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: I believe so. If none of us have worked with or evaluated Trump, we cannot utilize these terms. And some of the people who are using these terms do not know about the diagnostic manual. Sure, he makes people mad but that doesn't a sociopath make.
VAUSE: Donald Trump, the public figure, from what I've heard is different than Donald Trump in private. When you meet him, he's a totally different man.
HO: Absolutely. He is a very high social monitor. He is a social chameleon. They know how to pander and play each situation. And that has largely made him a successful business man. But, we shouldn't believe that just because he is showing us his persona, and I think it's very calculated, even though it comes off a spontaneous and entertaining, he is a showman, he is a person who performs. And that is what makes him different from Clinton who is extremely experienced and buttoned up. People aren't responding to that as much because people vote with their emotions, at the end of the day.
SIDNER: Do you think it's working or both are now calling each other nuts --
HO: Yes.
SIDNER: -- or unhinged, which sort of leads you into this mindset that maybe neither one are ready to take this job and I think that's the whole point.
HO: That's right. I think they are getting direction from the campaign managers saying you need to be negative and attack. Yes, negative campaigns work but they can backfire. One small thing that you say that turns people the wrong way, if they were undecided about you they will remember that to the end, and they will take that to the voting.
VAUSE: There is an online petition which has been going around that has been signed by almost 30,000 people. It's calling for Donald Trump to be clinically diagnosed. There it is right now. It's funny, ha-ha. But doesn't this stigmatize people with mental illness. And by using these terms "the guy is crazy and nuts," what is that doing for people who are dealing quite successfully with mental health issues?
HO: That is a great question. Over one-fifth of Americans will have a diagnosal mental illness at some point, depression, anxiety and the like. Most are getting treatment and are stable. Now, is America qualified to say we want to know our president is OK? I understand where the sentiment is coming from, but using the words is really just further stigmatizing the mentally ill. We've come so far on that battle and I don't want us to lose it now.
[01:55:25] SIDNER: I do want to ask you, lastly, all of this negativity from a psychological standpoint does it make you want to give up and not go to the polls? Can it have that affect on people?
HO: You know, it's funny, whenever you ask people about negative campaigning, they say we hate it, but unconsciously, we are processing it. There is a channel of peripheral prophecy, and it sticks with us. Even if we don't love one of the candidates but we remember their negative message, we are going to vote with that negative message and remember what that meant to us.
VAUSE: There is a reason why they do it. It works.
HO: Yes.
VAUSE: Judy, good to speak to you.
HO: Thank you.
SIDNER: Thank you so much.
You are watching CNN NEWSROOM, from Los Angeles. I'm Sara Sidner.
VAUSE: I'm John Vause.
I'll be back with another hour of news right after this, along with Sara.
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[02:00:06] SIDNER: This is CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles.
