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Did Donald Trump's Visit To Mexico Help Or Hurt?; Spacex Says No One Was Injured In Explosion That Destroyed Their Vehicle And Its Payload; Hermine Moves Into Florida As Governor Declares States Of Emergency, Followed By Governor Of Georgia; Reports From Another Town Freed From Isis Rule; President Obama Dedicates Monument At Midway Atoll; Brazil Swears In The New President; Tampa Bay Hospital Evacuated; Nasa Astronomers Take Space Walk. Aired 10:30-11:00a

Aired September 01, 2016 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:31:45]

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN HOST, "NEWSROOM": And good morning, I'm Carol Costello, thank you so much for joining me. The Clinton campaign quick to criticize Donald Trump's visit to Mexico. Calling it nothing more than a photo op and a failure. Tim Kaine, Clinton's running mate says that when the time came, Trump was unable to back up his tough talk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR TIM KAINE (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump did a kind of a photo op slide by where he didn't even have the nerve at the last minute to bring up this issue about the wall. This is the central piece of his campaign, immigration and deportation, and we're going to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it. But when he looked President Pena Nieto in the eye, he couldn't even bring that up. That was a choke and I think it shows that diplomacy is not for amateurs. Donald Trump's an amateur.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And this from Hillary Clinton, "Trump just failed his first foreign test. Diplomacy isn't as easy as it looks." So was it a choke? Let's talk about that. I'm joined by the Director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, Larry Sabato. And columnist for The Daily Beast and Roll Call, Patricia Murphy. Welcome to both of you.

So Larry, was Tim Kaine right? Was it a choke for Donald Trump in Mexico?

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CENTER FOR POLITICS: Well look, I think Trump looked good in Mexico City, probably, by contrast to the President of Mexico, who seemed to whiff (ph). That was Trump's best moment of the day. He pushed a softer line, a more diplomatic line.

It's when he came back to Phoenix that I think people were stunned (ph). Because we got the hardline rabble rouser again. It all depends on where he is and who he's talking to. And that's really not how you make policy. So when I'm putting the day together, I would say it was one of his most interesting days in a most unusual campaign.

COSTELLO: That's an interesting way to put it Larry Sabato. So Patricia, when all is said and done, when you step back, and -- was it a good day or a bad day for Mr. Trump?

PATRICIA MURPHY, COLUMNIST, "THE DAILY BEAST," "ROLL CALL": I'm going to call it a new positive for Mr. Trump, actually. I think a lot of people are having a hard time envisioning Donald Trump as the President. The question I hear from a lot of voters is just what does that look like?

And when he goes to Mexico City and basically performs as if he's having a bilateral meeting as the President of The United States, he gave people a very clear vision of what it would look like. And I think his performance in Mexico City was really pretty strong.

You know of course, somebody on that stage was lying about whether they talked about who was going to pay for the wall. Because now there's a disagreement about whether they talked about that. But I think overall for Donald Trump, the visual image was very strong.

I think when he came back to Phoenix, as Larry said, it gets a little -- it gets much more confusing about -- again, about which Donald Trump would we get in The White House? You know he's -- it's not even flip-flopping, it's like an oscillating fan. It's just where is he at any given moment?

In his immigration piece there -- it's not, it's really not exactly what we've been hearing all along from him, either. So we are left with, again, many questions about what he would do as President, but the visual image in the morning, I think, was exactly what he needed.

COSTELLO: Well here's the thing, Larry. After his speech in Arizona he lost two very important Hispanic supporters. One of them, Jacob Monty from his own Hispanic advisory council, he resigned because of the tone of Mr. Trump's speech.

And also Alfonso Aguilar, the President of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, who does not like Hillary Clinton. He was a Donald Trump supporter. And because of the tone of Mr. Trump's speech he also is no longer supporting Mr. Trump. Should Mr. Trump worry about that? [10:35:25]

SABATO: Well he should. Because essentially, what he did with that evening speech, that fiery evening speech, was to negate the advantage that he might have gained with some Latinos with that meeting with the Mexican President. He -- all Trump did in the evening was speak to his base. He enthused the base. Well, they're already enthused.

He didn't broaden his support at all. And no matter what any individual poll says, when you look at the polling averages, it's pretty clear Hillary Clinton is still ahead and that Trump has got to expand his base if he's going to win. And he's not doing that.

COSTELLO: And Patricia, he appears this morning on Laura Ingraham's radio show, she's a conservative talk show host, and he again made a somewhat confusing statement about his immigration plan. He said once he deports all the drug dealers and criminals, right, he said, "then we're going to make a decision at a later date, once everything is stabilized. I think you're going to see there's really quite a bit of softening." Do you know what that means?

MURPHY: No, do you? Nobody knows what that means. And he's making a gamble here that the people he needs, the voters he needs don't care. That they will trust him enough to go forward on this policy.

What struck me the most, outside of the level of rhetoric that we heard in Phoenix last night, what he talked about was, in a lot of cases, just the status quo. He did not give a clear indication about what would happen with the 11 million undocumented immigrants here who are not criminal felons.

And that is the problem that this country has struggled with for more than 30 years. We have millions and millions of undocumented immigrants. What's going to happen with them? Donald Trump who came barreling into this race saying they've got to go -- every speech you hear him, he says, "folks, they've got to go, they've got to go."

We didn't hear that last night. I think there is a softening in there but again, what Donald Trump -- which Donald Trump are we going to see if he ever is actually elected to The White House? That remains very unclear. And I think that when he makes so many different statements every day within the course of a couple of hours, it gives people that he really does need to come over to his side no reason to do that.

COSTELLO: All right I have to leave it there. Patricia Murphy, Larry Sabato, thanks to you both. Still to come in the Newsroom, we are hours from landfall in Florida as tropical storm Hermine strengthens in the gulf. And on Monday night starting at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, CNN's Special Report will take an in-depth look at the life and times of the two major party candidates for President, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trimp -- or Donald Trump, I'm sorry. You won't want to miss it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:43:24]

COSTELLO: OK some more on that breaking news out of Florida. Aerospace company, SpaceX confirming now that no one has been injured in that explosion at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. SpaceX saying in a statement that there was, "an anomaly on the pad resulting in the loss of the vehicle and its payload."

Crews right now are dousing water on the wreckage. These images capturing the smoke as it billowed into the sky. There were reports of buildings shaking miles away, that's how violent this explosion was. We'll continue to get more information on this and of course pass it along to you. Tropical storm Hermine is now threatening to strike Florida as a

category one hurricane tonight. Conditions deteriorating in Tampa as rain moves in. Waves are even bigger than they were last hour. Hurricane warnings are in effect along the panhandle. Florida's governor declaring a state of emergency yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOVERNOR RICK SCOTT (R), FLORIDA: We have 6,000 members of our national guard ready to be mobilized. But just think, we've got a storm surge (ph), we're going to have rain, we have the risk of tornado. And this is going to go across the state.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And just about 15 minutes ago, Georgia's governor, Nathan Deal also declared a state of emergency for more than 50 counties. That emergency going into effect at noon today. CNN's Boris Sanchez live along Florida's Gulf Coast. Good morning.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol. The rain is finally starting to pick up here. It'd been coming down in bands all morning long. The wind also starting to get very, very strong. Hurricane Hermine, once it becomes a hurricane, is set to hit here at about 1:00 a.m. tomorrow.

We're expecting 11 to 20 inches of rain in some areas. Winds up to 60 to 70 miles an hour. The governor, as you said Carol, here in Florida declaring a state of emergency. He's set to speak in about half hour. He's asking all Floridians to prepare. He says it's critical that they prepare for this category one storm.

Despite that, I've talked to several people here who don't seem to be that worried about the storm. I talked to one restaurant owner who said that he was going to try to stay open today. He was sandbagging the outside of his restaurant today, and he had some provisions. He was hoping to stay open throughout the day.

We've also seen other businesses, one across the street here setting up sandbags as well. We also got a report, someone actually went to Home Depot to buy some flashlights and they were all gone. So certainly, preparations are being made.

Despite that, I've seen some people that have come out here. I asked one lady if she was bracing herself for the storm. She said that she had been through this many times before. She was just out here to take pictures with her camera.

That restaurant owner that I mentioned, he actually told me that about 10, 11 years ago, the last time they had a storm that directly hit the panhandle here in Florida, he said that a marina nearby overflowed with water. And that boats ended up inside the neighborhood here. So obviously, certainly cause for concern. Though people are just waiting and watching to see just how bad this storm is going to be, Carol.

[10:46:16]

COSTELLO: All right, Boris Sanchez reporting live for us this morning, thank you. Let's check in, your -- this is your money market update, that's what this is. The DOW trading lower this morning, just about 70 points. Still a rather quiet day. In fact, the DOW has not been this calm for a very long time, in more than 40 years. So there you have it, I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:43]

COSTELLO: It's main square was once the site of the horrors of war, torture and murders. But now a Syrian border town is marking its first week of freedom. Finally liberated from ISIS terrorists. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh was the first western TV journalist to get inside Jarabulus. He's now back in Turkey to tell us what he saw there. Good morning.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Carol, you think there's no real problem, right, with the Turkish military assisting Syrian rebels going into that town of Jarabulus and kicking ISIS out. Well that's true and those street scenes there going back to normal.

But it puts those Syrian rebels potentially in conflict with a very important force for the United States. Some Syrian Kurdish militants who've been fighting ISIS also, hard on the ground. Here's what we saw though, inside that town.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH (voice-over): We're headed inside yet another new chapter in Syria's endless war. Turkish officials want us to see the Syrian rebel control of the Syrian border town of Jarabulus that their military enabled. They kicked ISIS out of here a week ago.

We are the first Western TV they let in. ISIS had enough time here to remodel the town in their image. Getting into the minds of children, some of who they tried to recruit as soldiers. "My neighbor blew himself up in a car," says this boy. Hanza (ph) says he's 13 and carries water for the rebels. He says some of his friends became suicide bombers for ISIS. "They tortured and beat people, everything here. It was just down there," he says.

WALSH: He shows us the square where ISIS gruesomely filmed their murders. It's a very strange game for these children to play with newcomers. They're showing us exactly where it was that ISIS would display the heads of those they decapitated in punishment. But yet again, another central square in yet another town cleansed of ISIS's dark (ph) world.

WALSH (voice-over): Yet there is another key building here, the recruitment center. Where they found a torn up ledger of names near the basement jail. WALSH: They're showing us further inside this building which is the

first point people who would've crossed in from Turkey to join ISIS, would have thought to register with the group.

WALSH (voice-over): No longer here can ISIS welcome outsiders to their twisted world. But other problems have arisen. As these men's fight isn't simply against ISIS, it is also against America's allies against ISIS, the Syrian Kurds that Turkey considers terrorists.

UNKNOWN SOLDIER (via translator): We don't want to fight all the Kurds. Just the Syrian Kurdish BKK, just those who want to break up Syria.

WALSH (voice-over): There is optimism here. Early signs of a new project Turkey has undertaken to flood this area with moderate sympathetic rebels who will then tackle the kurds but also create a safe zone free of ISIS. Only the second half of that is what Washington has wanted.

WALSH: To some degree this is what American policy has yearned for for years. Moderate Sunni Arab rebels here, having cleaned the town out of ISIS extremists, now controlling what many have sought, a kind of buffer zone for Syrians fleeing the regime.

WALSH (voice-over): Smiles calm busy streets. You've seen them before in Syria's intractable war (ph) and watched them turn sour again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH: Asymptomatic of what a very complicated conflict this is for American policy, that yes, there, (ph) America seems to be getting what it wants. That's moderate Sunni Syrian rebels kicking ISIS out of towns. They've been looking for that for years.

But at the same time, those forces now backed by Turkey, who consider the Syrian Kurds to be terrorists, told us that yes, those Syrian Kurds were likely in their sights further down the road. No such thing as completely good news in this war, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Nick Paton Walsh reporting live for us this morning, thank you. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:58:53]

COSTELLO: Checking some top stories for you at 58 minutes past. President Obama spends the day in his native, Hawaii, designating the world's largest marine national monument at Midway Atoll. The monument was first created by President George W. Bush, about a decade ago. President Obama has expanded it to more than four times its original size. Which is expected to protect some 7,000 marine animals, including endangered whales and turtles.

Brazil's new president has been sworn in. Michel Temer has already met with his cabinet promising to address the country's economic issues. In the meantime supporters of the previous president took to the streets last night protesting her impeachment. Some even setting fires and clashing with police.

A Florida hospital was forced to evacuate more than 200 patients after an electrical fire. The fire started in the generator room of Regional Medical Center Point last night. And knocked out power to most of the building. Patients were moved to other hospitals in the Tampa Bay area.

Happening right now, two NASA astronauts walking outside the International Space Station. It is the second space walk of its kind in two weeks. These are live pictures from space. Pretty cool, right? Part of their jobs includes installing HD TV cameras that will be used to monitor activities outside the station.

Thank you so much for joining me today, I'm Carol Costello. AT THIS HOUR with Berman and Bolduan starts now.

[11:00:13]