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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Trump Lashes Back At Media &Clinton Over Criticism; Man Climbs Trump Tower; Trump: Obama Is "Founder Of Isis"; New Clinton Emails Raise Questions About The Relationship Between State Dept. & Clinton Foundation; Olympic American Swimmers Win 4x200-Meter Freestyle. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired August 11, 2016 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:00] RYAN NOBLES, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump standing firm in the face of growing backlash over his comment many perceived as threatening violence against Hillary Clinton. Who he's blaming and what he's saying this morning.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Hillary Clinton now pushing back on Trump's comments with heated rhetoric of her own, but will new questions about her emails throw her off script as she prepares to lay out her economic agenda?

NOBLES: And more gold for Team USA, the women's relay team with a resounding win in the pool. One individual swimmer coming up short in her bid to secure another big showdown.

Good morning, welcome back to EARLY START. Thank you for starting your day with us, I'm Ryan Nobles.

KOSIK: And good morning, I'm Alison Kosik. It's 30 minutes past the hour and this morning, Donald Trump not backing down in the face of fierce criticism over his suggestion that gun rights advocates could do something to stop Hillary Clinton from, as he put it, abolishing the Second Amendment. Critics says Trump was inciting violence against Clinton. Trump says he was just trying to unify gun owners. At a Florida rally Wednesday he went after the media for its coverage of the controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The biggest rigger of the system is the media. The media is rigged, it's rigged. It's crooked as hell. And look at the way they covered that story yesterday. Was that disgusting? Hillary Clinton wants to decimate our Second Amendment, wants to decimate it. We have to protect our Second Amendment, folks. It's under siege.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: 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 no such conversation ever happened. And still more drama around the Republican campaign as a man scales

Trump Tower demanding a meeting with the nominee. More on how that all ended in a moment, but first let's go to Jim Acosta with our coverage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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.

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

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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBLES: All right, Jim, thank you. The man who climbed to the 21st floor of Trump Tower in Manhattan now undergoing a psychiatric evaluation. Police say the climber is a 19-year-old from Virginia. His dramatic ascent 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. Emergency personnel grabbed the man and then dragged him into the building. The man explaining his motives in this cryptic You Tube video, simply saying that he wants a private audience with Donald Trump. The climber expected to face several state charges later today.

KOSIK: And you were there. Quite an event, right?

NOBLES: Yes. Oh my goodness, and the way that part of New York just kind of shut down as people stopped and watched this all play out. I mean, everyone was glad that it worked out and everyone was safe at the end.

KOSIK: Of course, of course. All right, so CNN politics reporter Eugene Scott joins us now to help us sort through the latest campaign scuffles. We won't talk about the guy scaling the building but we will talk about Trump and Clinton. Let's begin with Hillary Clinton because you've got Donald Trump saying the media -- I'm blaming the media for all the bad coverage I'm getting.

Hillary Clinton has her own controversies, her emails. It's not her private email server that we're talking about. There are new emails that are dogging her about the Clinton Foundation and its relationship between the State Department. So listen to what Donald Trump said on the campaign trail.

[05:35:00] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: -- but a couple of very bad ones came out and it's called pay for play, and some of these were really, really bad and illegal. If it's true, it's illegal. You're paying and you're getting things. But it came out that her people pay for play, and very big stories today. The problem is it will be big stories for about two minutes and then they're going to drop it because the media is so totally dishonest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: OK, well we're not going to drop it so these --

NOBLES: We'll talk about it for more than two minutes.

KOSIK: These emails that the Judicial Watch got a hold of show that aides of Sec. Clinton were lobbying for jobs for those who donated to the Clinton Foundation. Hillary Clinton -- she can't seem to get away from emails, whether it's about the private server or this -- or Clinton Foundation.

EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Yes, very much so. I mean, this is a problem for critics and supporters alike who are concerned about how poorly Clinton is doing with trust with voters. Whether or not anything was officially done, these are conversations that people would hope that she would not be having, or at least her staffers wouldn't be having, between the Clinton Foundation and supporters and the State Department. But, her campaign has come out and said very clearly that she didn't do anything in particular that was breaking the law.

KOSIK: But her name is attached to the Foundation --

SCOTT: Right.

KOSIK: -- so it does have that perception.

SCOTT: Absolutely.

KOSIK: At the same time, there's a Monmouth poll showing that those who were included in that poll say you know what, we do think that she lied.

SCOTT: Right.

KOSIK: We do think that Hillary Clinton is dishonest. But you know what, we're over it, we are done with it, let's move on. There were two separate polls. So as much as this is dogging Hillary Clinton it looks like some voters are willing to move on from it.

SCOTT: Yes. I also saw a poll that said, I believe, more than 60 percent of voters are over the emails. And so I think some people have accepted you know what, we can't trust her but she's what we have. Let's focus on ways to improve the areas that are in need of improvement, and also just the belief that to some supporters she's better than Donald Trump.

NOBLES: But there -- I mean, obviously still a big vulnerability there. Maybe not talking about the emails specifically but this broader issue of trust and it's interesting how Trump wants to expose that. And the other thing he really wants to hit Hillary Clinton on is the economy. She's going to talk about the economy today in a pretty big speech and Trump setting the stage for that with these remarks yesterday. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: She was a senator from New York and she made tremendous promises of what she was going to do for New York when she became senator, and she won the race and she was a disaster. We lost jobs, tremendous numbers of jobs. She said she's going to help rebuild Upstate New York and all these places where all these jobs were taken because of NAFTA and bills that her husband signed, the whole thing. But she said she was going to do a great job and it was a disaster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: I was living in Upstate New York during that 2000 campaign. I remember the call for 200,000 jobs. She was in the Senate until 2006 and those 200,000 jobs never materialized. Now she's promising she has specific state plans where she says her economic policies will create all these jobs. Is this a vulnerability for Hillary Clinton?

SCOTT: I think so. I've yet to hear, I don't know if you all have, her respond to why she did not deliver. That is a real concern to some supporters and they'll want to know why she didn't. Now, granted, everyone knows that Hillary Clinton, alone, is not responsible for creating jobs even though Donald Trump often takes credit for being a job creator, himself. But it does raise concern for people who want to know. If you weren't able to do this just for residents in your state, how could you do this for the entire country?

NOBLES: And I did see that her campaign did respond and say that well, we went through a tough economic cycle --

SCOTT: Right.

NOBLES: -- there in 2000, it was a recession. But if you're going to make this claim, and her campaign is doing this right now saying that in each individual state our policies will create all these jobs, there has to be some sort of substance to back that up, right?

SCOTT: Absolutely. It seems like what we see in these campaigns is when things go well for candidates they take credit. When it's not going well it wasn't their fault.

NOBLES: Right.

SCOTT: But what we're going to see in Detroit, we believe, is her communicating why she believes her proposal and her plans are best for the middle-class and why Donald Trump's are not.

KOSIK: All right, that speech happening at 1:15 today. Eugene Scott, thanks so much.

SCOTT: Thank you, guys.

KOSIK: And Hillary Clinton's economic speech, once again, happening later today. It's going to be focused on -- it's focusing on the top issues from 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 would look to revitalize American manufacturing and crack down on trade abuses. Clinton will make a big push for investment in clean energy. She's going to look to cut taxes and regulations to help small businesses. And finally, she would look to support research and innovation to create new industries.

[05:40:00] There was a report from Moody's that came out last month showing that Clinton's economic policies would create 10.4 million jobs over four years. But as you just heard, she came under fire this week after "The Washington Post" reported that as senator she promised 200,000 new jobs would be created in Upstate New York. That never materialized. Her campaign tells the "Post" that she faced tough economic headwind but never gave up fighting for jobs in that state.

NOBLES: 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 when we come back.

[05:40:40] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NOBLES: The campaign against ISIS may not be going as well as we've been told. According to an investigation by Republican members of Congress, intelligence reports from U.S. Central Command on the anti- ISIS campaign has been overly optimistic, at best. We get more from CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

[05:45:00] (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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. 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 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBLES: Thank you, Barbara. 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. It's a sharp increase from back in March when they said just over 500 would be needed to carry out missions. The military plans to increase retention bonuses to get pilots to stay in the service longer.

KOSIK: The federal government is set to authorize more research into the medical benefits of marijuana. An announcement with details 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.

All right, let's take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY". Brianna Keilar joining us now. Good morning.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Good morning, Alison and Ryan. We have a big day today. This controversy over Donald Trump's comments about the Second Amendment just keep on going, so we'll be talking about that. You have Hillary Clinton saying that words matter but then you have those who are backing up Donald Trump, saying hey, this was just a joke. So we'll be talking to Trump supporter and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani. He's going to be with us to discuss this controversy.

And then we also have this playing out, right? A man climbing Trump Tower. You had a protester rushing a stage as Hillary Clinton gave a speech. Just when you thought this election couldn't get any stranger we're now looking at some new security issues, so we'll be talking with two experts about how to keep these candidates safe, coming up on "NEW DAY", guys.

NOBLES: Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: Thanks.

KOSIK: All right, there is one big name stock that you would know about that's about to hit its all-time high. It's probably part of your 401(k). We're going to get an early start on your money, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [05:52:40] 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. Tonight, Americans will be prospecting for more gold with swimmers Michael Phelps and gymnast Simone Biles taking center stage.

CNN's Christina Macfarlane has been with us all week from Rio. She's there again this morning with the latest. Hey, Christina.

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Ryan, good morning. From sunrise on the Copacabana and a golden dawn for Team USA who took their eleventh gold of the Games on Wednesday night thanks very much, in part, to Katie Ledecky, who anchored this women's side to the win in the 4x200-meter free relay.

She was just spectacular. She came from behind in the fourth leg to win the race by almost two clear seconds. Katie Ledecky, of course, with her fourth medal of the Games, her third gold medal overall. And she could as well take her fourth here on Friday. Of course, she'll be competing in the 800-meter freestyle. That is the race she won back in London 2012 as a 15-year-old and you wouldn't bet against her to take it again.

Now, earlier in the night on Wednesday, her teammate Lilly King crashed out of the women's 200-meter breaststroke semi-finals. However, her Russian rival, Yulia Efimova, did not. That's means we're not going to see these two having a duel in the pool anytime soon or again during these Olympic Games.

But I tell you, the bigger story of dopings here will continue. 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 about Efimova's doping past. But what it does tell us is that athletes here are not afraid to speak up and voice their opinion over the decision of the sport's governing body to allow Russian athletes to compete here in Rio.

Now, 24 hours after they were smiling, taking photos and selfies with Michael Phelps, the U.S. basketball men's team had a rather more important issue to attend to on the court against Australia. Now, they were held in the first half by Australia, almost the entire way to halftime, Australia leading them 54-49 at the half. This is the first time the American men's team have been trailing in an Olympic match for 12 years at the Olympics.

[05:55:00] But Carmelo Anthony pulled them back into it. He scored nine three-pointers to pull them back into the game. Eventually, USA wrapping it up at 98 to 88, but it was a few hair-raising moments on the court there for one of the world's best basketball teams.

Now Thursday, it is here, you can see it behind me. What can we expect coming down the pike? Well, it's going to be two U.S. roommates going up against each other. I am, of course, talking about Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte. They are, of course, sharing an apartment here in Rio and they're going to be going head-to-head in the 200-meter freestyle final.

Now, on Wednesday night it was Phelps in the semi-final who picked Lochte to the win, securing the bragging rights, taking the win in one minute, 55.78 seconds. So can Lochte come back tonight? We'll have to wait and see.

Now meanwhile, over in the gymnastics we're going to see two other American athletes go head-to-head. It's going to by Aly Raisman against Simone Biles in the women's individual all-around team final. Now, Aly Raisman, of course, the more experienced of the two, 22 years of age, her second Olympic Games.

But let's not forget Simone Biles, clearly one of the biggest stars of this competition. She's looking to become the first gymnast to win five Olympics gold medals in one Games. And there's going to be a lot of pressure on these two ladies, everyone expecting them to be pinpoint accurate out there in the gymnastic arena.

But, of course, the United States leading the medal tally at the Olympic Games, thus far. They've won 11 gold medals, 32 overall, and they are trailed by China, coming in at 10 gold medals and 23 overall. So looking to extend that tally later today.

NOBLES: So Christina, the mystery, the controversy over the green pools apparently spreading. You actually went down to the aquatic center to check it out for yourself. Just how green are these pools?

MACFARLANE: That's right, Ryan, not my finest moment of journalism but we've got to pretty much talk about it here. I had to go see it myself and it -- what actually happened on Wednesday was that the green pool had spread from the diving pool -- the synchronized diving pool -- to the men's water polo pool. And I can tell you, it was Kermit the Frog green. It really was vivid.

Now, the organizers told me that it was, in fact, due to the alkaline levels that have been saturating in the pools and there was, therefore, algae in the pool. Now, no problem for the athletes. It's totally OK to swim in, it just looks a little bit unsightly.

KOSIK: Something tells me people are going to go around with cups after the Olympics is over and have some water for a keepsake -- that green water.

NOBLES: That will be their souvenir from Rio, the green water.

KOSIK: Yes. All right, thanks, Christina. 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. Oil prices sinking now below $42 a barrel.

Keep an eye on shares of Alphabet today, that's Google's parent company. The stock hitting an all-time closing high yesterday and an intraday high on Tuesday, so it's now above $800 a share. What? Alphabet is one of the most widely-held stocks in the U.S. It's been a top holding in 401(k) accounts for the past three quarters. 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 producing 33 million barrels per day in July. That's one million barrels a day more than it produced on average last year and two million more than its daily haul in 2014.

So the question is, why the rush to produce so much when prices are so low? It's about market share. OPEC nations now produce about 35 percent of the global oil supply. That's up from the low point of about 32 percent in April of 2014.

NOBLES: Donald Trump standing firm, saying he wasn't trying to incite violence with remarks about the Second Amendment. "NEW DAY" picks up our coverage right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Hillary wants to abolish the Second Amendment. Nothing you can do folks, although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Words matter, my friends.

TRUMP: Our Second Amendment is under siege. It's called pay for play. The media is almost as crooked as crooked Hillary Clinton.

CLINTON: Friends don't let friends vote for Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE WHO CLIMBED TRUMP TOWER: Mr. Trump, if you'll excuse my manner of appearance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The man scaling the 58-story Trump Tower in Manhattan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE WHO CLIMBED TRUMP TOWER: My purpose is not significant. I would not risk my life pursuing it.

NOBLES: Another gold for Team USA.

KOSIK: Katie Ledecky anchoring the victory.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: American swimmer Lilly King taking a stand against her Russian rival and all drug cheats (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's very outspoken about following the rules and doing it the right way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Thursday, August 11th, 6:00 in the East. Alisyn is off, Brianna Keilar and I are here for you.