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The Lead with Jake Tapper

New Signals Narrow Search Area to 3.1 Mile Radius; Superbug Resistant to All Antibiotics Now in U.S.; Trump Profits From Cheap Overseas Labor; Dee Snider On the 80's, Music, Politics And Spandex. Aired 4:30-4:59p ET

Aired May 26, 2016 - 16:30   ET

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

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: So, what the head of the investigation here in Egypt told state media TV is that he said Airbus had contacted him.

[16:30:04] They told him that they picked up via satellite one of those ELT emergency locating transmitter transmissions. What this has done, effectively, though, has massively reduced the search area. Just two days ago, an Egypt airline official said that the search area was the area the size of Connecticut. This reduces it down to an area, to a circle, radius of about three miles.

The other piece of information that's just coming to us is that the French now have a ship on the way. Should be there in the next couple days at this precise location, and they have the acoustic detecting equipment that can listen for the beacons on the black boxes that are presumably on the bottom of the ocean right now, transmitting out signals so that they can be located, Jake.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: And, Nic, CNN just got a statement from French investigators saying that the underwater search for the wreckage will begin, quote, "in the coming days". How will these signals affect the search?

ROBERTSON: The fact that this ELT has given a more precise location is a massive help because it will really reduce the area that they need to search. We saw this during MH370. There were a lot of false pings where the detectors picked up erroneous signals.

If they get it right, once those detectors get in the water, because they have a relatively small area now to search in effectively, that this should make their job much easier and they should be -- we'll see them, we can expect to see them -- the report may be picking up a signal that they've heard the black box and they will triangulate it, say readings from three different locations so that they can then give a precise location.

Then, of course, the difficulty is going down 3,000 meters into the sea to try to retrieve the boxes once they locate them, Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Nic Robertson for us in Cairo, Egypt -- thank you so much.

In our health lead today, doctors call it nightmare bacteria, a superbug resistant to all antibiotics and now, it's a reality and it's here in the United States. Health officials are warning that his could mean the end of the road for antibiotics. That story is next.

(COMMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:36:26] TAPPER: Welcome back.

We have some breaking news and rather upsetting news in our health lead. A startling announcement by the Centers for Disease Control here in the United States. There is now a confirmed case of a superbug that no antibiotic can apparently combat. A Pennsylvania woman has developed an infection that officials call, quote, "a nightmare bacteria". CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden sounded the alarm today, saying that this antibiotic resistant strain could be, quote, "the end of the road for antibiotics."

Let's bring in CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Sanjay, do we know how this woman became infected and what do we know about this so-called "nightmare bacteria"?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we don't know how this woman became infected. What we do know is that she went to a clinic. She was not in the hospital when this bacteria was found. We also know that she hadn't been traveling overseas. So, this isn't something that, you know, could have been brought back from another country, for example.

So, typically what happens: when there's a lot of antibiotic use in the community, bacteria become resistant. This particular bacteria, something known as E. coli, something that we've talked about a lot, does have a lot of classes of antibiotics to treat it, at least seven different types of antibiotics. Not just antibiotics but entire classes of antibiotics. And this particular bacteria didn't respond to any of those. And that's the big concern.

I will tell you, Jake, people have been anticipating something like this happening for some time and we don't know that for her -- it's -- her immune system may still fight off this bacteria, but I think it's a little bit of an indication of what might be to come, more of these types of bacteria.

TAPPER: What does take to theoretically develop a new antibiotic that might be able to fight this strain?

GUPTA: Well, there are sort of three ways to look at this. One is that, are there existing classes of antibiotics that you bolster up, that you make more powerful? The class of antibiotics work is just not strong enough. The second thing is that there an entirely new class of antibiotic, a new synthesized class of antibiotic. You look at this bacteria, figure out how to synthesize an antibiotic to try and treat it and then finally looking to nature.

I mean, there's been a lot of expeditions to various parts of the world within rainforests, within the depths of the ocean to see if you can find material that can be sort of the boiler plate or genesis of an entirely new antibiotic. And that's ongoing. I mean, there may be things that are sort of in the pipeline but not quite ready yet, and certainly, you know, that's the hope, Jake.

TAPPER: And while I have you, as if this discovery is not alarming enough, we're learning today about more potentially staggering consequences of the Zika virus.

GUPTA: There was a couple of the interesting things that sort of came out about Zika. One is that, you know, the sort of how -- what is the association really between getting a Zika infection and this condition known as microcephaly, this birth defect? And a new paper sort of suggests that anywhere between one to 13 percent of mothers who have the Zika infection during the first trimester will have a child with microcephaly.

It's a large range still, but, you know -- remember, this is a relatively new thing and we're starting to put some edges on just how much of a risk this is for a woman who develops the Zika infection.

Also, this idea that it's not just the head, it's not just the brain but really the entire central nervous system affected by Zika, including ocular or eye problems, one of the studies showed today.

So, they're still defining this more and more, Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you so much.

Donald Trump pulls his clothing line out of one factory because the workers there were paid too much. What were they making? A hint, it's less than the price of a cup of coffee.

Plus, he's pals with Donald Trump.

[16:40:01] So, why doesn't he want the Republican presidential candidate to use his music at rallies? 1980s legendary music performer Dee Snider will be here and he'll tell me, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

In our money lead, when it comes to snacks, there's a brand that is off limits for Donald Trump. Oreos. That's because Nabisco, the cookie maker, moved some of the production of Oreos to Mexico.

But how strong is the determination not to use products that could be made here that are instead made for dirt cheap labor abroad?

Well, ever since Trump entered the race last summer, we've been reporting that regardless of his stance on trade, many of his products from his clothing line were in fact made in China. But according to a CNN investigation, it goes even farther than that.

Let's bring in CNN senior investigative correspondent Drew Griffin.

And, Drew, the tags on Trump's clothing, it reads like a roll call at the United Nations.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, they certainly don't say "made in America," quite the opposite. And that's why we decided to ask, if he's going to bring jobs back to the United States, why doesn't he start with the shirts on his own back?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[16:45:20] GRIFFIN (voice-over): The dress shirt is made in Bangladesh, the two-piece pinstripe suit, in Indonesia and silk giant cuff links made in China. What brings this ensemble altogether is the name on the label. They are all Donald J. Trump's signature brand.

(on camera): What can you tell me about where these were made.

SCOTT NOVA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WORKER RIGHTS CONSORTIUM: Well, Bangladesh, for example, has the lowest wages and the worst and those unsafe working conditions of any major apparel exporting country.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Scott Nova has an independent labor rights that conducts investigations of the garment industry, which he says is an industry on the hunt for ever cheaper labor and shipping documents reviewed by CNN confirmed Trump's signature brand is no different.

Take this shirt, in 2014, it would have been sewn together in a factory in Honduras where workers make an average of $1.37 an hour. It wasn't cheap enough. That same year, the company of Donald Trump hired to make his shirt in Honduras ended the Honduran contract.

Our Donald Trump shirt bought recently over the internet was made in Bangladesh, where the average garment worker earns 30 cents an hour. What's Trump's explanation for manufacturing his clothing overseas?

Listen to what he told Jake Tapper as Jake showed him his "made in China" Trump tie.

TAPPER: It's a lovely tie. It's made in China.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Correct.

TAPPER: Is it hypocritical at all for you to talk about this?

TRUMP: No, not at all. My ties many times are made in China, not all of them, by the way, but a lot of them are made in China because they've manipulated their currency to such a point that it's impossible for our companies to compete.

GRIFFIN: Why should you care?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you ought to take a look at --

GRIFFIN: In Fall River, Massachusetts, Bob Kidder still makes an American-made shirt. His New England shirt company employs more than 60 people. He pays them $12 to $13 an hour. He admits it's a barely livable wage.

Head up a narrow staircase through a dilapidated section of this huge warehouse, he can show you where workers no longer make any wage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now there's nothing. There is nothing left. It's all gone.

GRIFFIN: First, it was NAFTA, he says, and then other international trade agreements and the manufacturers found cheaper labor and left. He survives by producing a high-quality shirt custom made that sells for a minimum of $125. Workers who sew them can't afford to wear them.

We showed him a Donald Trump signature brand shirt made in Bangladesh that we bought for $16.96.

BOB KIDDER, PRESIDENT, NEW ENGLAND SHIRT COMPANY: This is a product that is made by somebody in Bangladesh that sits at a machine for 10, 12 hours a day and just pumps them in and pumps them out and makes 30 cents an hour. How do you talk about this and being made in an American factory versus this being made in a factory in Bangladesh?

GRIFFIN: That is a conversation being that has made this election extremely personal to Bob Kidder.

TRUMP: The fact is that our country is being killed on trade by China, by Japan, by Mexico.

GRIFFIN (on camera): Trump, right, is talking in way that I think would make you feel good.

KIDDER: The reality is it's in front of me. Even though the reality is this is the product -- he made this shirt in Honduras two or three years ago and now it's being made in Bangladesh and you know, maybe next year it's made in Vietnam and maybe the year after Indo-China. It moves to wherever the labor becomes the cheapest and his margin becomes higher and higher.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): We asked Donald Trump's campaign spokesperson why Trump's clothing and accessories were made overseas and we're told Donald Trump has been very open about the fact that most of these products are, unfortunately, not manufactured in the United States due to the extreme currency manipulation by countries like China that make it nearly impossible to compete and manufacture these products in America.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: Here's the problem with that explanation, Jake. A CNN reality check found that it's just false. China's currency actually has been strengthening for the last ten years making it even hard for their manufacturers to compete. So that explanation just doesn't rise to any kind of understandable level.

TAPPER: And drew, you just spoke with Mr. Trump. He attempted to explain why these veterans' charities that he claims he's raised millions of dollars for have yet to get that money. What did he have to say to you? GRIFFIN: You know, I've been hounding this campaign for a long time and finally, Donald Trump gets on the phone and has a perfectly understandable explanation, Jake. He said, look, in these kind of big fundraisers, we had to remind people of their pledge. We were just getting those checks in. They have now got the checks in.

He also said there was a slow down because some of the veterans groups that they were going to give this money to didn't quite clear the vetting process. He says, number one, it is going to be very close to $6 million, if not $6 million. They have the tally now.

[16:50:10]They are just going to release it on Monday to make sure that they are all fine and he gave a million dollars himself. Understandable.

TAPPER: All right, good stuff. Drew Griffin, thank you so much.

There is still a cloud of hairspray hanging high over Giant Stadium from that John Bon Jovi show in 1988. CNN looking back at the music that made the 80s the 80s with the help of a heavy metal legend, "Twisted Sister's" Dee Schneider will be here next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:55:02]

TAPPER: It's throwback Thursday in the Pop Culture Lead today. A time of big sounds, big hair, metal anthems, power ballads, when hip hop met rock & roll. Yes, we're just a few minutes away from the premier of CNN's "The Eighties," coolest episode yet on the music of one very narrowly times.

My next guest was in the middle of it all. In fact, he's part of a new exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame called "Louder Than Words On Music's Power To Change Politics."

And joining me now is the front man for "Twisted Sister," singer/songwriter/screenwriter, movie producer, Mr. Dee Snider. Mr. Snider, great to see you. Thanks for joining us.

DEE SNIDER, TWISTED SISTER LEAD SINGER: You forgot actor and actor --

TAPPER: And actor.

SNIDER: Thank you, Jake. Pleasure to be on the show.

TAPPER: I felt like I didn't even need to say that. But let me ask you --

SNIDER: Yes.

TAPPER: Back as we all were first introduced to you as a musician, MTV helped launch "Twisted Sister" and Dee Snider into the stratosphere. You really helped define the early years of the network when it had a strangle hold on teenagers. I have to say, it bothers me that MTV doesn't show music videos like it used to. It must bother you.

SNIDER: Surely. I mean, they have seemed to have forgotten what the "m" stands for. It was music television and it was such a uniting force too because it was the only outlet where you got to see all forms of music under one heading.

You know, normally a radio station needs a classic rock or hip-hop or pop, but here you got them altogether so people were exposed to a wide range of sounds.

TAPPER: And you were the man who led, in many ways, the counter attack in this fabled war against racy lyrics in rock in the 1980s. Back in 1985, you testified in front of senators and their spouses who made up the Parents Music Resource Center. It was led by Tipper Gore (ph). Let's relive just a part of that testimony.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SNIDER: As a creator under the blade, I can say categorically that the only sado (ph) masochism bandage in rape in this song is in the mind of Miss Gore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Ouch so there you are on Capitol Hill suggesting that the future of the vice president's wife was into bondage and sado (ph) masochism. Now you're actually part of a new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame exhibit featuring this. Take us back to that day.

SNIDER: You know what, at the time, I was asked to go and testify, I thought I was being asked to carry the flag into battle for rock and roll, for young people, and for everybody and I went there and I thought I hit it out of the park.

Unfortunately, at the time, the audience was mostly -- largely epithetic about the significance of the first amendment and what was going on, which was unfortunate.

TAPPER: One of your greatest songs, "We're not going to take it" has been used by Donald Trump during his rebellion against the political system. Now you've said you consider him a friend although he did fire you on "The Apprentice," I believe. What do you think of Mr. Trump using your song and what do you think of his run?

SNIDER: He gently fired me on "The Apprentice," because he liked me and we became friends subsequently for doing the shows and friends with his children, his family, a great family. But like many of us out there, you know, we have great friends who we never discussed the big three with, sports, religion, or politics.

Because we know if this discussion breaks out, that's the end of the friendship. And I've got friends who I know have far differing political opinions than I do.

And when Donald started running for office, he called me and said, can I use a song? And he's a buddy and I said, yes, go ahead. As the months went on, I just heard the litany of his beliefs that I never discussed with him.

I finally called him and said, man, you've got to stop using the song. People think I'm endorsing you here. I can't get behind a lot of what you're saying.

And that night, he has not used it since, he said, Dee, fair enough. He's a friend, as a friend he called me. As a friend, I called him and he stopped using it. I still like him but, man, I did not know some of the things that he stands -- believed in or stood for.

TAPPER: That's very interesting. But I guessed you dealt with him respectfully so he responded in kind.

SNIDER: Absolutely. And honestly, Jake, do you not have some friends who you disagree with politically and your belief systems differ yet you are still friends, you can go out to dinner and have great time. You just don't talk about those things.

TAPPER: Right, absolutely. Every friend. Lastly, sir, you're a man of many words. Give me three to describe the '80s.

SNIDER: Loud, riotous and flamboyant. You know, the dress, people say, what do you miss and I say spandex. It was fantastic. It was so giving and it let everybody know what you had.

TAPPER: I'm guessing that you had an excellent '80s. Dee Snider, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

SNIDER: I'm having an excellent 2000s, Jake, still rocking.