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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Trump Lashes Back at Media Over Second Amendment Comments; Hillary to Lay Out Economic Plan; GOP Report Shows ISIS Intel Doctored; Going for Gold in Rio; Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired August 11, 2016 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:31:43] ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump standing firm in the face of growing backlash over his comments many perceived as threatening violence against Hillary Clinton. Who he is blaming and what he is saying this morning.

RYAN NOBLES, CNN ANCHOR: And Hillary Clinton now pushing back on Trump's comments with heated rhetoric of her own. But will new questions about her e-mails throw her off script as she prepares to lay out her economic agenda.

KOSIK: And score another gold for Team USA. The women's relay team with a resounding win in the pool. But one individual swimming coming up short in her bid to secure another showdown.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Alison Kosik.

NOBLES: I'm Ryan Nobles. It is 32 minutes past the hour. Thank you for joining us this morning.

And Donald Trump not backing down in the face of criticism over suggestion that gun rights advocates could do something to stop Hillary Clinton from -- as he put it -- abolishing the Second Amendment. Critics say Trump was inciting violence against Clinton. Trump says he was just trying to unify gun owners. At a rally in Florida Wednesday, he went after the media for its coverage of the controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The biggest rigger of the system is the media. The media is rigged. Is rigged. It's crooked as hell.

(CROWD BOOING)

TRUMP: And look at the way they covered that story yesterday. Was that disgusting? Hillary Clinton wants to decimate our Second Amendment. Wants to decimate. We have to protect our Second Amendment, folks. It's under siege.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: Now a Secret Service official tells CNN that the agency has spoken to the Trump campaign more than once about the Second Amendment remark. Trump flatly denying that in a tweet saying that no such conversation ever happened. So more drama around the Republican campaign as a man scales Trump Tower demanding a meeting with the nominee. We'll have more on how that ended in a moment, but let's begin our coverage now with Jim Acosta -- Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Ryan and Alison, one day after Donald Trump ignited a controversy with his comments about Second Amendment people being able to do something about Hillary Clinton, he was tossing out more red meat at this rally here in Florida. At one point during this event, he referred to the president as Barack Hussein Obama and described him as the founder of ISIS. Here's more of what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: ISIS is honoring President Obama. He is the founder of ISIS. He is the founder of ISIS. He's the founder. He founded ISIS. OK. He's the founder. He founded ISIS. And I would say the co-founder would be crooked Hillary Clinton.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Trump did address the controversy created by his comments on Second Amendment supporters. He described the media coverage as disgusting. In response to that, the crowd chanted, lock them up, as in the media -- Ryan and Alison.

KOSIK: OK, Jim, thank you.

And the man who climbed to the 21st floor of the Trump Tower in Manhattan now undergoing a psychiatric evaluation. Police have not yet released the name of the 19-year-old from Virginia but his dramatic climb using high powered suction cups went on for three hours. Officers tried to talk him down before they finally cornered him by removing window panes and lowering window washing platforms.

[04:35:10] Emergency personnel grabbed the man, dragged him into the building. The man explained his motives in this cryptic YouTube video saying he simply wants a private audience with Donald Trump. The climber is expected to face several state charges later today.

NOBLES: And happening today, Hillary Clinton will lay out her economic plan at a speech in Detroit on the heels of Donald Trump doing the same thing earlier this week in the same city. But that's about where the similarities end. Where Trump spotlighted a pro- business agenda, Clinton is expected to focus on policies aimed at helping the American worker. Wednesday Clinton's attention was on Trump's Second Amendment comment.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more from Detroit.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Alison and Ryan, Hillary Clinton will be delivering an economic address here in Michigan today. She will be focusing on the economy in Macomb County. That is the county home to so many Reagan Democrats. Those Democrats who have shifted Republican over the years. She is hoping to win them back with her economic message.

Now it's no coincidence that Donald Trump was here in Detroit as well earlier this week also giving his economic message. This is a central theme of this campaign. No surprise. Hillary Clinton has been running behind Donald Trump on the economy until the conventions and then we saw a switch in our CNN polling.

Between the conventions, Donald Trump still was leading by nearly 10 points over Hillary Clinton on the economy. Now she holds a two-point lead on the economy over Trump. She is continuing to make that economic argument and she will do so today in Warren, Michigan. But as she campaigned in Iowa on Wednesday, she addressed for the first time those comments from Donald Trump that some critics said incited violence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Words matter, my friends. And if you are running to be president or you are president of the United States, words can have tremendous consequences. Yesterday, we witnessed the latest in a long line of casual comments from Donald Trump that crossed the line. Every single one of these incidents shows us that Donald Trump simply does not have the temperament to be president and commander-in-chief of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: The Clinton campaign also trying to fundraise off Donald Trump's comments, sending out a fundraising appeal asking supporters to have her back. But today here in Michigan, she'll be talking all about the economy. That's where campaign advisers believe this election will be won or lost. Not on all these extraneous things this campaign seems to bring up -- Alison and Ryan.

KOSIK: All right, Jeff, thank you.

New e-mails raising questions about the relationship between the State Department during Hillary Clinton's tenure as secretary and the Clinton Foundation. The conservative group Judicial Watch releasing almost 300 pages of State Department e-mails obtained through a Freedom of Information request. The heavily redacted e-mails show foundation officials lobbying Secretary Clinton's aides to give someone a job and put to foundation donors in touched with department officials.

Donald Trump accusing Clinton of engaging in a pay-for-play. But a Clinton campaign spokesman rejecting that charge in a statement saying this, "This is a classic Trump playbook move. Make a false statement that overreaches and hope it changes the conversation from his comments yesterday casually inciting violence."

NOBLES: The State Department slamming U.S. allies for having laws that infringe on religious freedoms. Its annual report on global religious freedom cites concerns over laws targeting blasphemy and discrimination against minority faiths, particularly in Muslim countries. Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Egypt and Indonesia are among those singled out for criticism.

KOSIK: All right. Hillary Clinton's economic speech later today will be focusing on the top issues for voters, the economy and jobs. Clinton would focus on these areas of job creation during her first 100 days in office. The biggest push is for infrastructure spending. $275 billion over four years. She'd also look to revitalize American manufacturing and crack down on trade abuses. Clinton will make a big push for investment in clean energy and she'll cut taxes and regulations to help small businesses. And finally support research and innovation to create new industries.

A report from Moody's last month showed Clinton's economic policies would create 10.4 million jobs over four years, but she also came under fire this week after the "Washington Post" reported that as senator of New York, she promised 200,000 new jobs will be created in upstate New York. That never happened. Her campaign tells the "Post" that she faced tough economic head winds and never gave up fighting for the jobs in the state.

[04:40:06] NOBLES: Well, did intelligence reports on ISIS paint a sunnier picture than they should have? Some Republican members of Congress say yes. We'll have more on those accusations next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: The campaign against ISIS may not be going as well as we have been told. According to an investigation by Republican members of Congress, intelligence reports from U.S. Central Command on the anti- ISIS campaign have been overly optimistic at best.

We get more from CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Ryan, Alison, this has been a report in the works for several months now. Republican congressional investigators looking at allegations that at the U.S. Central Command, CENTCOM, the part of the military that runs the war against ISIS, they may have cooked the books on intelligence. And now we've had a look at the report.

[04:45:04] Let me read you just one of the findings from this report. It says, and I quote, "CENTCOM produced intelligence that was also significantly more optimistic than that of the other parts of the intelligence community and typically more optimistic than actual events warranted." So, Central Command, the military, between 2014 and 2015, coming up with rosier intelligence, a better outlook about the fight against ISIS than the rest of the intelligence community had.

Why did they do this? Well, the report found that at Central Command military -- top military commanders were relying more on the intelligence from the field than the intelligence from their own analysts and that that was skewing part of the picture.

Now there are new commanders at Central Command, new analysts, new leaders in the command. They say they're trying to make sure that everything's in order now but this is not the last word. There is an inspector general investigation, a separate investigation, underway and no final word yet on what that review may find -- Alison, Ryan.

NOBLES: Thank you, Barbara.

A diplomatic ultimatum from Turkey to the U.S. over an exiled Islamic cleric. The Turkish government calling for Fettulah Gulen who was behind a failed military coup last month. President Erdogan saying that the Obama administration must choose either risk America's relationship with Turkey or extradite the leader who lives in self- imposed exile in the U.S. for decades. Now Turkey considers him and his followers to be terrorists.

KOSIK: With the U.S. engaged in air wars against ISIS in Iraq, Syria, and Libya, the Air Force has a desperate need for jet fighter pilots. Officials expect to be short 700 fighter pilots by year's end. A sharp increase from back in March when they said just over 500 would be needed to carry out current missions. Now the military is planning to increase retention bonuses to get pilots to stay in the service longer.

NOBLES: The federal government is set to authorize more research into the medical benefits of marijuana. An announcement with detail is expected to come out today. According to published reports, the government is not willing to consider requests to reclassify marijuana as a drug with accepted medical uses. Right now it is classified as a Schedule 1 drug and is considered dangerous and highly addictive with no medical benefits.

KOSIK: A veteran Arkansas police officer shot and killed in a five- hour standoff with a gunman. It began Wednesday morning when the father of 35-year-old Billy Monroe Jones called 911 to report his son had pulled a gun on him. Over 200 officers responded to the home taking frequent fire from Jones before he surrendered. Deputy Bill Cooper suffered a gunshot wound to the neck and did not survive surgery. Another officer was wounded.

NOBLES: A 73-year-old librarian attending a citizen's police academy course in Florida accidentally shot and killed by an officer during a role playing activity. Mary Knowlton of Punta Gorda volunteered to play a victim in a shoot or don't shoot scenario during the two-hour class when she was hit by a live round. The entire community and police officials stunned by the tragedy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM LEWIS, PUNTA GORDA CHIEF OF POLICE: We were unaware that any live ammunition was available to the officer at the time.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But how does that happen? How do you go unaware?

LEWIS: That is a great question. And the investigation is going to detail exactly how all those details were missed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: Making this even more tragic, Mary Knowlton's husband of 55 years was in the classroom and witnessed his wife's shooting death. State police are investigating.

KOSIK: Just so awful.

NOBLES: Terrible tragedy.

KOSIK: One big name stock that's just hitting an all-time high. And it's probably part of your 401(k). We're going to get an EARLY START on your money next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:53:21] NOBLES: Another gold medal for the U.S. in the pool at the Rio Olympics with Katie Ledecky anchoring the victory in the women's 4x200-meter freestyle relay. Also Wednesday a close call for the USA dream team in men's basketball and tonight Americans will be prospecting for more gold with swimmer Michael Phelps and gymnast Simone Biles taking center stage.

CNN's Christina MacFarlane, she's following it all for us. She is live in Rio this morning.

Good morning, Christina.

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN WORLD SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Ryan. And yes, it was gold medal number 11 for Team USA. Thanks to the exploits, of course, of Katie Ledecky who anchored this women's team to the win in the women's 4x200-meter freestyle relay. And what a win it was. You know, Ledecky came from behind to win this by almost two clear seconds. That is how good this young lady is.

It was, of course, her fourth medal of the games and her third gold medal overall. She'll have a chance to take her fourth gold medal here on Friday when she competes in the 800-meter freestyle race. That is of course the one that she's up to defend her title on. She won that as a 15-year-old back in London 2012.

Well, meanwhile, her teammate Lilly King crashed out of the semifinals of the 200-meter breast stroke earlier in the day whereas her Russian rival, Yulia Efimova, did not. She went through to the finals so we're not going to see these two going head-to-head again at these Olympic Games. The duel in the pool over for now. But I'll tell you the storyline is not.

On Wednesday, Lilly King said she didn't mind being called the poster girl for clean sports. That's after her comments about doping and her outspoken comments about Efimova's doping past.

[04:55:00] These comments, of course, highlighting the fact that many of the athletes here now feel that they can speak out about the issue of doping and they're not afraid to voice their opinion after the sports' governing bodies allowed Russian athletes to compete here in Rio.

Now if you were watching the men's basketball team or if you're watching the swimming 24 hours ago, you will have seen that many of them were smiling and taking selfies with Michael Phelps. Well, last night, the men's U.S. basketball team had a rather more serious matter to attend to on the basketball court because they were held by the Australians almost the entire way through the game up until the halfway point. Australia were actually leading the United States 54- 49. It's the first time in Olympic history that the United States have been -- have gone behind in a match for 12 years. Would you believe?

But it was Carmelo Anthony who pulled them back with nine three- pointers to get them back into it and to round off the game with a total score 98-88. I was sitting in the stadium alongside and I have to tell you that Australian team definitely came to play. And there were a few hairy moments in there.

Now looking ahead to Thursday. What have we got in store? Well, it's going to be the battle of the roommates. We're back in the pool with Michael Phelps against Ryan Lochte. Remember those guys are sharing an apartment here down in Rio. But on Wednesday in the semi-final of the men's 200-meter freestyle, it was Michael Phelps who had the bragging rights. So he beat Lochte to the win in a total time of 1:55.78. So can Lochte claw it back? We're going to have to wait and see later on today.

And over in the gymnastics arena, there's going to be another showdown, I'll tell you, because we've got two of the women's final five going up against each other in the women's individual all around finals. That's going to be Aly Raisman against Simon Biles. Simone Biles, of course, looking to become the first gymnast to win five Olympic gold medals in one game. And I'll tell you, I wouldn't put it past her. But let's not forget, of course, Aly Raisman is the more experienced of the two. She's 22 years old. She's competing in her second Olympic Games. And the pressure is going to be on them both to put in a perfect performance. I would expect nothing less.

NOBLES: And Christina, we had a problem with one green pool. Now apparently it seems that this problem is spreading? Is there now a second green pool in Rio? Tell us about this.

MACFARLANE: Yes, the mystery of the green pool continues, Ryan. It started in the synchronized diving pool. And today, it actually spread into the water polo pool. Now I went down there to have a look and I can report that it was a vivid green. And not that the spectators seemed to mind too much. And what was going on here is there was a reportedly a buildup of algae in the pool due to fluctuating alkaline levels. Not something the organizers were expecting. They said the water was totally safe to compete in, but it is of course now being called the Olympic swamp.

(LAUGHTER)

NOBLES: That doesn't sound all that pleasant but I guess these Olympians don't care if it means a gold medal, they'll swim in anything, I think.

KOSIK: Everybody is having a field day on social media, though.

MACFARLANE: Absolutely. KOSIK: I'm seeing pictures of swamp man. I'm seeing Jacque from

"Finding Nemo," where Jacque's position in the fish tank that's not cleaned and turns green

NOBLES: Right. Yes. Yes.

KOSIK: Anyway, we digress.

Thanks, Christina.

NOBLES: Thanks, Christina.

KOSIK: Let's get an EARLY START on your money. Dow futures are higher this morning after closing with losses Wednesday. Stock markets in Europe and Asia are mixed. We're seeing oil prices are sinking again now below $42 a barrel.

We're going to be keeping an eye on shares of Google today. That's the parent company of Alphabet. Today the stock hitting an all-time -- closing high yesterday. And it ends the day high on Tuesday. It's now above $800 a share.

Alphabet is one of the most widely held stocks in the U.S. It's been holding the top -- it's been the top holding in 401(k) accounts for the past three quarters. That's according to research firm e- Investments. So hopefully lots of consumers and investors are getting a bit on that.

All right. Oil prices taking a big hit this week. The big problem is the glut of supply around the world. And OPEC just announced it's pumping more oil than ever. The oil cartel produced 33.1 million barrels per day in July. That's a million barrels a day. More than it produced on average in 2015. And two million more than its daily hull in 2014.

So why the rush to produce so much oil when prices are so low? Well, it's all about market share. OPEC nations now produce about 35 percent of the global oil supply, that's up from the low point of 32.6 percent in April of 2014. So the idea here is that if OPEC builds its market share while other producers cut production, it will make more money when prices rebound.

NOBLES: These oil prices seem to be unpredictable.

KOSIK: Unpredictable.

NOBLES: Yes. All right. Thanks, Alison. EARLY START continues right now.

KOSIK: Donald Trump refusing to budge. He says he wasn't trying to incite violence with comments about the Second Amendment. Now he's lashing out against the reaction.

NOBLES: And Hillary Clinton responding to Trump's comments as she prepares to lay out her vision for the economy. How it will differ from Trump's plan and can she keep her campaign on message in the face of new e-mail question?

KOSIK: And --