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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Trump Announces Immigration Speech; Two Arrested in Death of NBA Star's Cousin; Italy Earthquake Recovery. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired August 29, 2016 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:34] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Does Donald Trump still think that 11 million undocumented immigrants throughout the United States need to go? The presidential candidate just announced he will give what he called a major speech on immigration, but what will he say?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: A tragic death on Chicago's Southside. NBA star Dwyane Wade's cousin shot while pushing her 3-week-old baby in a stroller. The shockingly high crime statistics for Chicago again in the national spotlight.

BERMAN: Overnight, reports of an active shooter at LAX. This just caused chaos there. People streaming out into the tarmac. We'll tell you the bizarre story of what actually happened and one thing you need to know. There was someone with a Zorro outfit and a plastic sword.

ROMANS: May or may not have been related to the said confusion at the airport.

BERMAN: No. But when you have Zorro there, it does add to the -- to the intrigue.

ROMANS: OK. Those tarmacs are now open by the way.

BERMAN: Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. Everybody who's trying to fly into or out of LAX this morning is concerned, but the airport is again open. 4:31 in the East.

The wait to hear Donald Trump clearly explain his immigration policy may be over or not. Trump overnight tweeted this, "I will be making a major speech on illegal immigration," all caps, "on Wednesday in the great state of Arizona."

Trump's speech, if it happens, comes after a week of vacillation, raising questions about whether he was backing off a central campaign promise. His team was on the Sunday shows, but neither his running mate nor his campaign manager could or would give a definite answer on what Trump plans to do with the millions of people, the millions of immigrants now in the U.S. illegally.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let's be very clear. Nothing has changed about Donald Trump's position on dealing with illegal immigration. He put this issue at the center of this presidential campaign in the Republican primaries. And his position and his principles have been absolutely consistent.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: The one issue that you didn't really address is whether or not the 11 or 12 million undocumented immigrants will be removed by a deportation force as you heard Mr. Trump saying in that clip from November of last year. Is that policy still operative?

PENCE: Well, what you heard him describe there in his usual plainspoken American way was a mechanism, not a policy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do they leave? Do they self deport or does -- is there a -- whether you want to call it deportation force or something that helps them leave the country immediately as he's previously said he'd like to see happen?

KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: That's really the question here, John.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: That is the question that has been asked and not answered now for several days. With less than a month to go before the first presidential debate, time is running out for a clear, consistent message on immigration.

We have the latest on that this morning from CNN's Dianne Gallagher.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, Christine, that first presidential debate less than a month away and a campaign official tells us that Donald Trump did spend part of his Sunday getting ready for it. We're told the Republican candidate and his advisers did some debate prep at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. And one topic that will likely dominate the debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton, immigration. Specifically what should happen to those 11 million undocumented immigrants who are here in the U.S., and is still one that is dogging the Trump campaign.

So late Sunday, Trump announced that he's going to be giving a major speech, this Wednesday, discussing illegal immigration. It's going to be in Arizona which has been key in the debate over what to do about it. Of course, this follows last week where he gave some contradictory answers about whether he believes all of those in the country illegally have to be deported, as he's previously stated, saying at one point he wanted a softening of his policy and then later saying that some might actually see it as him hardening on the issue.

So what Trump is emphasizing now is that immediately after being elected he would deport criminals who are not in the U.S. lawfully and that there would be no path to legalization for undocumented immigrants unless they leave the country, apply to return, and then pay back taxes. But what the campaign is avoiding saying is whether or not Trump still believes there should be a force to round up and then deport all of those who are here in the country illegally. Also whether all of them must actually leave the country, saying that he wants it done in a humane way. Well, politicians on both sides questioned exactly where he stood on

some of those points and some analysts say that Trump is hurting himself by delaying his planned speech. Vice presidential nominee Mike Pence, though, defended Trump's approach on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PENCE: You see a CEO at work. You see someone who is engaging the American people, listening to the American people.

[04:35:07] He's hearing from all sides. But I promise you he is a decisive leader, he will stand on the principles that have underpinned his commitment to end illegal immigration in this country, and that's what people will learn more about in the days ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: So, of course, all eyes are going to be on Arizona for some answers, come Wednesday -- John, Christine.

BERMAN: We will see if those answers actually do come.

Now Trump has been talking a lot also about issues involving African- Americans asking them in his words what the hell they have to lose by voting for him but made his pitch to largely white audiences.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONNA BRAZILE, DNC CHIEF: Donald Trump has not held an event in the black community. He has not gone to a black church as Hillary Clinton has done. He has not gone to historical black colleges as Hillary Clinton. He's not met with the mothers of children who have been slain and killed from violence in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Overnight, though, the Trump campaign announced that Donald Trump will speak to African-Americans via an appearance on a black Christian television channel, the Impact Network. The interview is set for Saturday morning, that's at 11:00. Still Trump probably has a long way to go to improve his standing among African-American voters. A recent Pew poll showed that Donald Trump has just 2 support -- 2 percent support among African-Americans. And Wall Street Journal" poll he just has 1 percent support among black voters.

Over the weekend Trump really invited more controversy when he tweeted about the tragic death of NBA player Dwyane Wade's cousin, Nykea Aldridge, who was shot while pushing a stroller in Chicago. Trump wrote, "Dwyane Wade's cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago. Just what I have been saying. African-Americans will vote Trump."

Now this drew some pretty furious condemnation from critics who accuse Trump of exploiting a tragedy. A little while later he put up a second tweet offering his condolences to the family.

ROMANS: Chicago police have charged two men with murder in the death of Nykea Aldridge. Police say they are brothers, they are both gang members, they are both on parole for gun convictions. Officials say the brothers were shooting at a man who had dropped off some women nearby. They say the brothers thought the man might be armed so they chased him started shooting, they missed, hitting Aldridge instead, pushing her baby stroller.

CNN's Rachel Crane sat down with Nykea Aldridge's mother who spoke about her daughter's total devotion to her four little kids.

RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, it was incredibly moving having this conversation with Dianne, Nykea's mother. She said that she wanted to celebrate her daughter's life. That she was a fashionista. She described her as simply awesome. She loved to do her hair, she was a wonderful writer, she liked to write poetry, and her whole life was about her four children.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIANNE ALDRIDGE, MOTHER OF SHOOTING VICTIM NYKEA ALDRIDGE: She was just trying to make a better life for her and the kids, you know. That's the most important thing in her life was her kids, you know, to make sure that they got out of situations that she had been in.

They tell each other, you know, they miss their mom. They want their mom. It just hurts to hear kids saying they want their mom and their mom won't be in their lives anymore, only through spirit, only through -- only through pictures. That's the only way they know their mom for the rest of their lives. The only thing they have to go on is what they had. It's just hard for a kid. It's really -- oh God, it's heartbreaking not to have her here to raise her own children.

I truly, truly, from the bottom of my heart, I forgive them, I forgive them. I can't bring her back but I forgive them. And I just pray to God that they pray to God to ask for forgiveness for what they've done. They've taken a person's life, senselessly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CRANE: Just heartbreaking hearing the pain that that mother is going through and remarkable that through that pain she still has a message of forgiveness for the men who committed this crime. And unfortunately this is not the first time that Dianne has gone through this kind of grief. Her eldest daughter was also killed from gun violence 10 years ago.

Back to you, John and Christine.

BERMAN: Our thanks to Rachel for that and our heart does go out to that family that's gone through so much.

All right. Amid the attention on Aldridge's death, there was more gunfire in Chicago. The Chicago Police Department said four people were killed, 24 injured just since Saturday afternoon. The "Chicago Tribune' reports there have been more than 2800 shooting victims so far this year. That is on pace to exceed last year's total.

San Francisco 49ers' quarterback Colin Kaepernick is standing by his decision not to stand during for the playing of the national anthem.

[04:40:07] He spoke to -- he spoke to reporters on Sunday. Kaepernick said the issue is bigger than football. And he is using his platform to protest racial injustice in the country. Kaepernick sat during the anthem before a pre-season game this weekend. He says he will stand when things change.

ROMANS: All right. Forty minutes past the hour. Time for an EARLY START on your money. Global stock markets mixed this morning after Fed chair Janet Yellen laid the ground work for an interest rate hike this year. The week is full of economic data including a jobs report. That will certainly cause lots of speculation on the timing of said rate hike. In the U.S., stock market futures are lower right now.

Trouble in Obamacare. A third of U.S. counties may have a single health insurer on the Affordable Care Act exchange next year. That's according to a new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The report found that a pullback from insurers could mean one option in 31 percent of counties. Two health care options in another 31 percent. That would give Americans far less choice this year.

So why? What's happening here? Well, companies like United Health Care and Aetna have said they lost money through the exchanges. Many smaller companies have even shutdown. The marketplace was designed to hold down prices by creating competition among insurers but a smaller number of insurers means those who remain may raise premiums this real.

BERMAN: Some real structural problem going forward.

ROMANS: It's a structural program. They got to fix it.

BERMAN: All right. Italy right now in grief over last week's tragic earthquakes. Towns demolished. There are people still unaccounted for. Search is still under way. We will talk about the rebuilding effort next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:45:56] BERMAN: New developments this morning in Italy where an earthquake struck last week killing at least 281 people. The focus is now shifting from rescue to recovery. And the question now facing some of the hardest hit mountain towns is whether or not to rebuild.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen live for us in Amatrice there in Italy. Fred, what are you seeing.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John. And Amatrice, of course, is the hardest hit town here in Italy. Of the 291 people who were killed, 230 were killed here alone.

And you're absolutely right. I want to show you what's going on here. This has indeed turned from a search and rescue into a recovery operation. You can see there the crews going through the rubble. They still believe that there are at least three to 10 bodies somewhere in there. Somewhere underneath that rubble. There is a very famous restaurant, called the Restaurant Roma, where they say there are definitely a few bodies still in there. But they can't get to them yet simply because the scene is, as you see it right there.

What you're also seeing is that some of the crews are actually starting to tear down some of the houses that had been badly damaged. And the reason for that is, John, that with every aftershock that happens here, and there have been over 1,000 aftershocks since the initial earthquake, some of those houses are in danger of coming down or at least more of them getting destroyed. And that of course is a big threat to those search crews that are working there right now.

So they say they have to make that environment safe for the guys that are working there. At the same time, of course, as you can imagine, the local population here, the survivors, still very much traumatized by what happened. Scared of the aftershocks. Mourning those who were killed. Almost every family here in this town was affected.

There are some, however, who are saying they are going to carry on with their lives no matter what. There was actually a wedding in the ruins of one church. They had to do it outside of the church where they said listen, this earthquake has done so much damage. We want to show that there is life here as well. So there are people who are trying to defy this situation, but at the same time, still very, very difficult for many people.

Many people very scared, very sad at the same time. Trying to pick up the pieces. And at the same time the rescue workers doing their best to try and clear up this situation for Italy to try and move on -- John.

BERMAN: I saw pictures of that wedding. Very, very moving. All right, Frederik Pleitgen, thanks so much.

ROMANS: All right. Tropical storms may be winding up to hit Florida and the Carolinas this week. Now to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri with the latest.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good Monday morning, John and Christine.

(WEATHER REPORT)

BERMAN: All right. We are watching that very closely.

Legendary CBS newsman Charles Osgood, he's calling it a career. Osgood who is about to turn 84 made the announcement at the close of the program he has hosted for more than two decades "CBS Sunday Morning."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES OSGOOD, "CBS SUNDAY MORNING": Some of you heard rumors I won't be hosting the Sunday morning broadcast very much longer. Well, I'm here to tell you that the rumors are true.

It has been a great run, but after nearly 50 years at CBS, including the last 22 years here at "Sunday Morning" the time has come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[04:50:01] BERMAN: Charles Osgood's last "Sunday Morning" broadcast will be September 25th. But as he famously says, you can still see him on the radio doing the "Osgood File."

I have to say, "CBS Sunday Morning," Charles Kuralt, and then Charles Osgood, they've had quite a run on that show.

ROMANS: And really have that voice. The voice.

BERMAN: Yes.

ROMANS: His cadence. The way he says just the simple sentence is just so powerful. All right. Good luck to you.

Beyonce showing why she is Queen Bey with an epic 15-minute performance during MTV's Video Music Awards. She won Video of the Year for "Formation." Britney Spears considered lackluster by comparison during her comeback to the VMAs. Critics calling her performance underwhelming. Kanye West took to the stage basically congratulated himself during a rambling four-minute speech. He compared himself to Steve Jobs. He was there to introduce his new music video "Fade" but also talked about his clash with Taylor Swift, the Black Lives Matter movement, and gun violence in Chicago.

And Rihanna winning the night's most prestigious honor, the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, showcasing why by performing her hits throughout the show. Rumored boyfriend, Drake, presented her with the Vanguard Award and revealed he's been in love with her since he was 22.

BERMAN: But who hasn't really?

ROMANS: And now you have all the information you need to make important decisions today because we have given you your download of the VMAs.

BERMAN: All right. You may see something new in the skies today. We're going to tell you all about the new rules for drones as we get an EARLY START on your money and an EARLY START on your drones next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: What a night at LAX. Simply chaos at the airport there. This morning, officials say reports of gunfire at LAX they were unfounded. They say no shots were fired. No injuries reported. As you can see here, people there just streaming anywhere. The mistaken report caused a terminal evacuation and snarled traffic. People went out on to the tarmac there as you can in these pictures.

ROMANS: Wow. BERMAN: That's what's going on. And the ripple effect delayed

arriving and departing flights due to a 30-minute ground stop ordered by the FAA. Officials blamed it all on loud noises. The airport's official Twitter account also noted police detained a man in a Zorro costume.

ROMANS: But Batman was allowed to go free.

BERMAN: Yes. Batman was walking free this morning. It's unclear if the Zorro thing is related to everything else but the everything else, as you can see there, was a real problem.

ROMANS: Yes.

BERMAN: I mean, people are going on to the tarmac.

ROMANS: There was recently an episode of JFK where suddenly there was pandemonium because shots were fired and they weren't. And you just have to wonder people are very nervous and skittish about these soft targets, these public places. But also how is ground control? You know? When you have all those people streaming on to the tarmac. That's --

BERMAN: Had it been something.

ROMANS: Definitely. Right.

BERMAN: Was that the right way to handle it.

ROMANS: Exactly. Exactly. All right. Authorities are searching for three inmates who escaped over the weekend from a jail in Louisiana. Prisoners identified as Michael Eliot, Walshea Mitchell and Willie Ethridge are considered dangerous. People are advised to use extreme caution if they are seen. Officials say the inmates jumped over two rolls of razor wire fencing to make their getaway.

BERMAN: Police in Louisiana say an unlicensed, undocumented driver was at the wheel of a charter bush involved in a deadly chain reaction crash on Sunday. The bus slammed into several vehicles at a scene of a previous accident on Interstate-10. Two people were killed, dozens injured. The bus was filled with undocumented workers heading to Baton Rouge to help with flood clean-up. The driver identified as Dennis Rodriguez is in police custody.

ROMANS: All right. 57 minutes past the hour. Let's get an EARLY START on your money this morning Monday morning. Global stocks mixed this morning after Fed chair Janet Yellen laid the ground work for an interest rate hike this year. She cited rosy data and strong labor market last week. But a solid monthly jobs report Friday may determine if we see that rate hike in September or later in the year. In the U.S., futures are down a little bit right now.

The federal government officially opening America's skies to drones. New FAA rules for commercial use go into effect today, meaning you may soon see drones used for crop monitoring, search and rescue, film making, news gathering, firefighting. The new rules restrict flying at night or higher than 400 feet. Drones also must be less than 55 pounds. They always must be in sight of a human operator. So while those rules are good for many businesses, lots of commercial applications, it means you won't see drones delivering your packages any time soon.

The U.S. Open already setting records. The tournament now offers the most prize money of any in the world. Winnings increased 10 percent this year to a total, look at this, $46.3 million. That means the top singles player will net $3.5 million. Doubles players rake in $625,000. This is even good news for those players that lose in the first round. They still collect more than $40,000 for competing.

BERMAN: The U.S. Open is also setting a record for the price of a bottle of water which is probably $76.

ROMANS: True. True.

BERMAN: Like a chicken sandwich, $438.

ROMANS: I can't confirm those numbers.

BERMAN: Close, though.

ROMANS: I can confirm that my backhand is not good enough to ever be -- ever in one of those competitions.

BERMAN: All right. EARLY START continues right now.

Donald Trump says he's going to give a big immigration speech this week, but will he clear up all the confusion about his current immigration policies? We're going to break down the details ahead.

ROMANS: Two known gang members arrested for shooting Dwyane Wade's cousin on Chicago's Southside as she pushed her 3-week-old baby in a stroller. The emotional plea from her mother.

BERMAN: And chaos at LAX. Passengers, you can see them on the tarmac there, fleeing reports of gunfire at the airport. You can see evacuations. The airport shutdown. There are reports that a man in a Zorro costume was taken into custody. What you need to know is that there was no gun fire. Flights now operating again. But there is a story to be told about what did happen there so stay tuned for that.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Monday, August 29th, it is 5:00 a.m. in the East. Good morning, everyone.