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New Day

North Korea Launches Projectiles; Dayton Killer Had Cocaine in his System; Economy and Trump's 2020 Bid; Harper Crushes Walk-Off Grand Slam. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired August 16, 2019 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:50] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We do have some breaking news.

North Korea has launched two more projectiles. This is the latest in a string of provocations. And this comes as Pyongyang rejects talks with South Korea.

CNN's David Culver is live in Seoul with more.

What do we know, David?

DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, good morning to you.

This is the sixth launch in roughly three weeks. Now, North Korea says they're doing this to protest the joint U.S./South Korean military exercises that are currently underway. But I spent the past few days speaking with South Korean defense military experts here in Seoul and they stress this goes far beyond protesting the drills. In fact, they say they have been analyzing these recent launches and they have detected enhanced technological and military capabilities on behalf of the North. In their words, ingenious and creative. That's what they characterize as some of this new technology coming from North Korea. And they suggest these missiles could potentially invade the South Korean and U.S. military defense systems.

Now, North Korea says that they are doing all of this as part of a self-defense, if you will. In fact, they use President Trump as part of their justification. Just last week, President Trump downplayed short range missile launches in North Korea. He suggested that they're not a big deal because they're not intercontinental ballistic missiles, they're not nuclear tests. However, his own national security adviser, John Bolton, just yesterday, speaking to Voice of America, he said that these short range missiles still pose a threat, particularly to South Korea, the folks here, to Japan. And both of those are major U.S. allies. Along with tens of thousands of service members and their families who are based in this area.

The question here is, how is all of this going to affect the peace talks going forward? One thing we know for sure, John, is that North Korea wants nothing to do going forward with their neighbors right here in the South. In fact, they said they don't want to go forward with the peace talks and dealing with South Korea directly. They only want to focus on dealing with the U.S. So that leaves it in the hands of President Trump and the United States.

BERMAN: Thank you so much for that report. Great to have you at CNN. Great to have you on NEW DAY. Look forward to seeing you again soon.

Investigators, this morning, are revealing new details about the Dayton killer. The coroner says he had cocaine and other substances in his system.

CNN's Ryan Young live in Dayton with the latest on this.

Ryan, what are they saying?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, we are learning more information about this. According to the coroner, Connor Betts apparently had Xanax, alcohol, cocaine in his system and cocaine in his pocket. And despite all that, he also had that body armor on, but officers were able to shoot him some 24 times before taking him down.

Let's not forget, within 30 seconds he was able to shoot and kill nine people while wounding some 20 others before those officers were able to surround him and take him out.

We also learned yesterday, because he went to court, Ethan Kollie, his friend, was denied bond because federal investigators thought it wouldn't be good for him to be out in the public. They thought he had some mental health issues and with the weapons that he had, they were concerned about public safety.

All this to be said, there's still the work to figure out exactly what his motive is. They're still going through that phone. John, not a lot of information about the motive, but at least right now we're figuring out about that combination of that cocktail of drugs in his system.

BERMAN: All right, Ryan, keep digging. Keep us posted what you learn. Thank you for being there.

YOUNG: Absolutely.

BERMAN: So just how important is the economy to President Trump's re- election hope? What do the numbers tell us? Harry Enten digs inside. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:38:22] CAMEROTA: All right, President Trump, as you know, likes to tout his economic record. So what is this week's volatility doing to his political standing?

Let's get the forecast with CNN's senior politics writer and analyst Harry Enten.

Hi, Harry.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICS WRITER AND ANALYST: Bonjour. Good Chaves.

CAMEROTA: Bon Jovi, how are you.

ENTEN: Bon Jovi. You know, I'm not New Jersey, so, you know, I'm New York.

Look, I -- let's just lay the groundwork here. You know, we've said this all along, this is a favorite little slide of mine, look, Trump's overall approval rating, 44 percent. Really the only thing that he can look forward to, to help raise that is the economy. A 53 percent approval in our aggregate of CNN polls, April through June, basically that 9 percent approve of Trump and the economy but disapprove overall.

And I think, you know, look, the economy is the reason Trump is doing as well as he's doing. Putting aside the issues, you know, that he has, you know, with race and all that. Look, the number one reason that people approve of Trump at this point, 26 percent in our poll back all the way a few months ago said the economy and 8 percent said jobs and employment. No reason to disapprove of Trump because of the economy. The economy is what is keeping Trump afloat right now.

BERMAN: And you're looking at correlations between re-elections or elections at all, the economy and job growth is often one of the biggest, right?

ENTEN: Yes, exactly. So go back, take a look, this is a chart -- this is different, folks, this is a chart. It's math. Oh, my God. But I'm going to make it simple for you.

Take a look. This is the weighted yearly average job growth over the final two years of the administration, say a presidential term with the final (ph) year weighted a little bit more, versus re-election margin. And look at this. You see a very clear relation here. The more growth you have, the better you do in your re-election margin. The worse you do, look at these, these are the two presidents who ran for re-election and lost. Those two had the worst job growth in 1992 with George H.W. Bush and 1980 with Jimmy Carter.

[06:40:02] BERMAN: Can I help people out here? Can I draw on it?

ENTEN: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Yes, that's fun. Connect the dots.

BERMAN: So this is zero. If you have -- if you have negative job growth, or it's not good, you lose. Everything below this line, you lose. And everything above, you --

ENTEN: Right.

CAMEROTA: That is helpful.

ENTEN: Basic --

CAMEROTA: Thank you for that line. ENTEN: Basically 1 percent job growth and greater, you usually win

with the exception of Ford in '76. Obviously he was dealing with Watergate in that situation. But '92 and '80. Of course if you had massive job growth, as you do up here, you'd be on your way to a big re-election margin. There were the four blowouts (INAUDIBLE).

CAMEROTA: I liked your line, John. It helped.

BERMAN: Where's the president?

ENTEN: Yes. So take a look. This is where the president would be if we were looking under this. He's part of this group right here, which would essentially suggest a close re-election, '76, 2012, 2004. All these elections were within five points either way. This suggests, if we were just looking at job growth, that Trump would be a slight favorite for re-election, but it would really be a close call. We wouldn't know which way it would go. And with the issues that this president's facing, he might, in fact, be a slight underdog. But it'd be close.

BERMAN: But if it goes this way, then he ends up down here.

ENTEN: Take a look at this. Look at this. I even -- here we go.

BERMAN: There you go.

ENTEN: So let's say job growth got slashed in half, right, and -- and this was basically what we were dealing with. Now the president has under 1 percent job growth and he's part of this group here, '92 and '80, the two presidents who lost re-election in the latter half of the 20th century. And so that I think is the big fear, right, folks, this week that we've been dealing with the president is, if the economy stays the course, the economy can help him out. But if the economy slows down, then he, in fact, could be in major trouble.

BERMAN: And it's right at that tipping point right now. Any slower, he could be in real problem (ph).

ENTEN: That's exactly right.

CAMEROTA: What do you want to tell us about the Democrats?

ENTEN: I just want to say, you know, look, we had this Fox News poll that came out and I basically averaged in the Quinnipiac University poll. Biden pretty much still leading the pack, 34 percent, 32 percent post-debate. But, look, Elizabeth warren, she is most definitely up. She's up 7 points in the average of these two polls. Everyone else lost a little bit. So right now Biden up ahead, but Warren has big momentum.

BERMAN: And in terms of the Obama factor here you've been looking at since that second debate.

ENTEN: Right. SO, you know, there was a whole thing about Obama. Forty-eight percent of Democratic primary voters want to build on Obama's legacy, 47 percent want a new approach. That's a major dividing line. Those who want to build on it, Biden well ahead by 26 points. Those who want a new approach, he's actually trailing by five.

BERMAN: Yes, but not by that much. The thing is, he's crushing on the Obama legacy and he's not getting crushed on new approach.

ENTEN: That's exactly right.

And I just want to point out one other thing. What the heck, Berman? I'm a Yankee hater. The should be -- the Red Sox are my only hope. But now the Red Sox only have a 6 percent chance of making the playoffs according to FiveThirtyEight. Less than a 1 percent chance of winning the World Series. This is awful. Awful!

CAMEROTA: And this is sad Berman.

ENTEN: And this is sad.

CAMEROTA: Sad.

ENTEN: Look at that, we got a sad Berman in there.

BERMAN: My answer to that is so you're saying there's a chance. There's a chance. That's all I need.

CAMEROTA: That's what he got out of that.

ENTEN: Yes, there's a chance I won't eat fried chicken for lunch, but it's a very low chance.

CAMEROTA: Very low.

BERMAN: We were down -- we were down 3-0 in the ALCS in 2012 (ph).

ENTEN: Yes, I remember that. I wasn't born yesterday.

BERMAN: There is a chance.

ENTEN: Although it was the day before yesterday.

BERMAN: We appreciate (ph) it.

CAMEROTA: Hard wrap. Hard wrap.

ENTEN: Hard wrap.

CAMEROTA: Thank you, Harry.

ENTEN: Bye, everyone.

CAMEROTA: Have a great weekend.

BERMAN: All right, Antonio Brown hasn't taken the field yet for the Raiders, but he is already -- he already does have fans cheering.

CAMEROTA: He's doing something. Something exciting is happening.

BERMAN: That's next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:47:00] BERMAN: Bryce Harper is earning several zillion dollars as a new member of the Philadelphia Phillies, but the season hasn't been all good. Last night, finally way different.

Andy Scholes with more in the "Bleacher Report."

Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, John.

You know, this is what Philly fans were hoping for when the team signed Bryce Harper to that mega $330 million contract. They wanted big moments like last night. And this was big. The Phillies were down 5-3, bottom of the ninth, bases loaded and Harper crushes that ball to right. A no doubter. Harper watches it for a moment at the plate before finally sprinting around the bases. He was pretty pumped up about it as he wins the game with a walk-off grand slam. He ends up, of course, getting mobbed by his teammates at home plate. Harper actually said this was the best moment of his life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRYCE HARPER, PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES OUTFIELDER: That was sick. Wow. I don't even know. I mane that was just -- that was awesome. Oh, my gosh. I saw my parents' lights are off in the suite right now. So they probably didn't see that. So, thanks, mom and dad, appreciate you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yes, Harper's parents are going to hear about that one for a while.

All right, Antonio Brown warming up before the Raiders preseason game. He's finally back with the team after his helmet grievance and his frostbite injury to his feet. Didn't play, but he did make some young fans' year before the game. Look at this. He gives them his gloves. And the one kid, Brandon, on the left, so happy, he starts crying. Gets a big hug from Antonio Brown. And Aunt Marissa posted this pic later of those boys holding up all the items they got. And look at Brandon on the right, still emotional about getting Antonio Brown's glove and towel.

And, Alisyn, I can only imagine how much sobbing Berman would do if he got Tom Brady's towel and hugs.

CAMEROTA: Oh, oh, please, it would be like Niagara Falls, the waterworks here.

BERMAN: I'm getting choked up even thinking about it.

CAMEROTA: I know.

Andy, thank you.

SCHOLES: All right.

CAMEROTA: All right. So, of course, you know Stephen Colbert as a comedian. But this morning we see a different side of the king of late night. He discusses grief with our Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN COLBERT, LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST: It's a gift to exist. It's a gift to exist. And with existence comes suffering. There's no escaping that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: All right, this emotional interview is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:53:32] CAMEROTA: We are about to show you a side of late night comedian Stephen Colbert that we, at least, have never seen before. He sat down with our Anderson Cooper. And instead of cracking jokes, Colbert got serious. He talked about losing his father and two brothers in an accident when he was only 10 years old.

Here's part one of Anderson's interview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "AC 360": Your dad was killed in a plane crash. You were 10 years old. Along with your two brothers, Peter and Paul.

STEPHEN COLBERT, LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST: Yes.

COOPER: And they were the closest brothers to you in age.

COLBERT: Right. It goes, Jimmy, Eddie, Mary, Billy, Margo, Tommy, Jay, Lulu, Paul, Peter, Stephen. There's 11 (INAUDIBLE).

COOPER: You're the -- you're the -- 11 of you.

COLBERT: I'm the youngest of 11, yes.

COOPER: Right.

My dad died when I was 10 too. And I think -- I mean it's such a horrible age to lose a father. I can't imagine losing both my brothers at the same time as well.

For me, losing my dad then, it changed the trajectory of my life. I'm a different person than I feel like I was meant to be. And I feel like there are times I -- yes, I -- I'm -- I feel like the person -- I -- I -- I remember when I was 10, I felt like I marked time -- and to this day I mark time between while my dad was alive and after.

COLBERT: Of course.

COOPER: It's like the new year zero. It's like when Paul Pod (ph) took over Cambodia.

COLBERT: Without -- without a doubt. Without a doubt. Yes. There's another guy -- there's another Steve. There's a Steve Colbert. There's that kid before my father and my brothers died. And it's actually kind of difficult. I have fairly vivid memories from right after they died to -- to the present.

[06:55:07] COOPER: Right.

COLBERT: Like, it's -- it's -- it's continuous and contiguous, you know, like it's all connected.

There's this big break in the cable of my memory at their death. And everything before that has got an odd ghostly --

COOPER: To me it's like shards of glass.

COLBERT: Yes.

COOPER: Like I feel like I --

COLBERT: Flashes. Little bits of it.

COOPER: Flashes.

It's always interesting to me how when you -- you know, I bring it up meeting somebody for the first time and -- and they say, oh, I'm sorry to bring it up. I -- you know. And it's if -- I --

COLBERT: As if you ever forget the person who died.

COOPER: What they don't realize is I'm thinking about it all the time.

COLBERT: Constantly. Exactly.

COOPER: I mean it's -- it is, as you say, it is --

COLBERT: Exactly.

COOPER: You know, it's one of my arms. I mean it is an extension of who I am.

COLBERT: And, you know, quite possibly for the rest of your life.

COOPER: Oh, oh, without a doubt.

COLBERT: Yes.

COOPER: It's been 31 years since my brother died and --

COLBERT: Yes.

COOPER: You know, more since my dad. And there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about them.

COLBERT: To the point sometimes where I'll go, like, why is nobody asking me about this? Honest to God. Look, my brothers died 45 years ago and sometimes I'll go like, how come nobody's asking me about Paul?

COOPER: This --

COLBERT: But -- but how would they have known to ask?

COOPER: Right.

COLBERT: They don't know I'm thinking about him.

COOPER: Right. And they would be uncomfortable to ask.

I actually -- it's going to sound weird, but I -- for a long time -- and -- and probably still to this day wish that I had a scar. I wish I had like a scar --

COLBERT: Harry Potter.

COOPER: Yes. You know, like Harry --

COLBERT: Is that what you mean?

COOPER: More like a Bond villain. Like running down my eye and my face that's unavoidable for people to see because it would sort of -- it would just be a silent signal to everybody I meet that I'm not the person I was meant to be or I'm not the person that I started out being.

COLBERT: You are -- but you're entirely the person you were meant to be.

COOPER: I don't know. Maybe not. Maybe this is a warped version of -- of --

COLBERT: So there's another timeline with a happier Anderson Cooper?

COOPER: Yes. I mean, no. I mean there's not -- it doesn't exist in an alternate universe, but it -- but -- yes, I guess if you --

COLBERT: I guess that's what I mean about, like, my -- my -- my experience.

COOPER: But that's your faith. That's your --

COLBERT: My experience in the (INAUDIBLE) example of my mother --

COOPER: Right.

COLBERT: And from what I read and experience of my particular faith, extremely imperfectly admittedly, is that there isn't another timeline and this is it and the bravest thing you can do is to accept with gratitude the world as it is. And then, you know, as Gandalf says, so do all people who are in such times.

COOPER: You told an interviewer that you have learned to, in your words, love the thing that I most wish had not happened.

COLBERT: I remember saying it.

COOPER: You went on -- you went on to say, what punishments of God are not gifts.

Do you really believe that?

COLBERT: Yes. It's a gift to exist. It's a gift to exist. And with existence comes suffering. There's no escaping that. And I guess I'm either a Catholic or a Buddhist when I say those things, because I've heard those from both traditions. But I didn't learn it that I was grateful for the thing I most wish hadn't happened, is that I realized it, is that -- and it's an oddly guilty feeling.

COOPER: It doesn't mean you are happy (INAUDIBLE).

COLBERT: I don't want -- I don't want it to have happened. I want it to not have happened.

COOPER: Right.

COLBERT: But if you're grateful for your life, which I think is a positive thing to do.

COOPER: Yes.

COLBERT: Not everybody is and not -- I'm not always. But it's the most positive thing to do, then you have to be grateful for all of it. It's -- you can't pick and choose what you're grateful for. And then, so what do you get from loss? You get awareness of other people's loss.

COOPER: Well that's true. Empathy.

COLBERT: Which allows you to connect with that other person.

COOPER: Right.

COLBERT: Which allows you to love more deeply and to understand what it's like to be a human being if it's true that all human sufferer.

COOPER: Right.

COLBERT: And so at a young age, I suffered something so that by the time I was in serious relationships in my life with friends or with my wife or with my children is that I say I'm understanding that everybody is suffering. And however imperfectly acknowledge their suffering and to connect with them and to love them in a deep way that not only accepts that all of us sufferer, but also then makes you grateful for the fact that you have suffered so that you can know that about other people.

And that's -- that's what I mean. It's -- it's about the fullness of your humanity. What's the point of being here and being human if you can't be the most human you can be? I'm not saying best, because you could be a bad person and a most human. I want to be the most human I can be. And that involves acknowledging and ultimately being grateful for the things that I wish didn't happen, because they gave me a gift.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:00:03] CAMEROTA: That is very poignant. I mean I do find the whole notion of pain being a gift to be very poignant. And, obviously, you can see Anderson.

END