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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Donald Trump Blames Media for Anti-Semitic Attack; President Obama on the Campaign Trail; Hundreds Killed in New ISIS Attacks; NYPD on Fourth of July Security. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired July 05, 2016 - 04:00   ET

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

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[04:00:13] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump blaming the media and denying accusations. He twitted an anti-Semitic graphic to attack Hillary Clinton.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama on the campaign trail with Hillary Clinton in a key swing state. Can the president's popularity boost Clinton's failing poll numbers?

ROMANS: Hundreds killed in new attacks as Ramadan comes to a close. ISIS with the forefront of a new wave of terrorism, live team coverage breaking it down ahead.

Good morning everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

HOWELL: I'm George Howell. I hope we had a good Fourth of July. Today is Tuesday, July 5th, 4:00 am on the East Coast and breaking overnight, the Trump campaign is under fire and now offering an explanation for how a graphic that some are calling an anti-Semitic ended up on Donald Trump's Twitter feed.

That image with a pile of cash and a six-pointed star appeared on a white supremacist message board two weeks ago, accusing Hillary Clinton of corruption. But last night, after being pressed on the issue over the weekend, the Trump campaign social media director posted a statement on Facebook saying that the graphic, "Was not created by the campaign nor was it sourced from an anti-Semitic site. It was lifted from an anti-Hillary twitter user where countless images appear." It goes on to say, "The social media director for the campaign," as that person, "I would never offend anyone and therefore chose to remove the image." Critics though are still hammering the Trump campaign over that graphic.

CNN Sara Murray has more for us.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Good morning Christine and George. Donald Trump is still dealing with this firestorm after he put out a tweet that appeared previously on a white supremacist message board. It slammed Hillary Clinton as crooked Hillary, but it also included a six-pointed star that evokes the Star of David and therefore, anti-Semitic imagery, come did put out a statement trying to turn this around on Hillary Clinton.

Now, in that statement he said, these false attacks by Hillary Clinton trying to link the Star of David with a basic star often used by sheriffs who deal with criminals and criminal behavior showing an inscription that says, "Crooked Hillary is the most corrupt candidate ever with anti-Semitism is ridiculous. Clinton, through her surrogates, is just trying to divert attention from the dishonest behavior of herself and her husband."

And, of course, the Clinton campaign was highly critical of that tweet saying it shows a pattern of behavior of Donald Trump sort of highlighting this extreme act.

Now, for Trump's part, he's also been trying to turn the attention away from the scandal to the veepstakes. He met yesterday with Iowa Senator Joni Ernst.

What's not clear is how interested she would be in taking this V.P. job or even whether the Trump campaign is very serious about considering her for that second-in-command flat. But aides say that the meeting went very well. Back to you guys.

ROMANS: All right Sara, thank you for that.

Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, jumping in the crucial swing state of North Carolina today. Clinton campaigning with President Obama for the first time, starting in Washington this morning then hitching a ride on Air Force One to Charlotte. The president hoping his renewed popularity rubs off on Clinton.

Look at this, a new poll says she might need a help. The USA Today, Suffolk University Survey shows her six points ahead of Trump, a significant narrowing of her double-digit lead in the same poll two months ago.

The very latest on that, we'd turn to CNN's Sunlen Serfaty in Washington.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine and George. Well, coming off this weekend, the FBI interview over her use of a private e-mail server as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton will try to take back control of the narrative today. She will be campaigning for the first time with President Obama in Charlotte, North Carolina.

And giving her visit bit more presidential flair, Clinton will actually hitch a ride down there with President Obama on Air Force One, which Donald Trump quickly seized on twitting quickly last night, "Why is President Obama allowed to use Air Force One on the campaign trail with crooked Hillary? She's flying with him. Who pays?"

Now North Carolina as a setting for today is a strategic move for the Clinton campaign. They see this as the biggest must-win for the Trump campaign so certainly trying to under cut him a bit there. Now, aides to Clinton tells CNN they do expect Obama today to tell the story of his rival to friend relationship with Secretary of State Clinton as well as likely laying into Donald Trump. He -- They expect him to echo the message that Clinton has been pushing herself that Trump is unqualified for the presidency.

Christine and George.

HOWELL: Sunlen, thank you.

So, the question about Hillary Clinton's running mate, speculation now running rampant over who the pick will be. Could it be this person? Jersey Senator Cory Booker over the weekend, he abruptly stopped denying that he has been vetted for the job, referring questions now to the Clinton campaign.

[04:05:00] Other names that are widely being floated, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, HUD Secretary Julian Castro and Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown. Up to this point, the perspective pick that we've seen doing the highest profile campaigning with Clinton is Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.

ROMANS: Bernie Sanders back at work in the senate, but because he hasn't formally dropped out of the race, he is still getting secret service protection. And taxpayers are footing the bill, a federal official familiar with the Homeland Security budget tells CNN the whole entourage of agents cost about $40,000 a day. That adds up to more than $500 a million in counting since the last primary three weeks ago.

HOWELL: The House is back in session this morning and the bitter battle over gun control is front and center. Speaker Paul Ryan announcing that he will hold a vote on an NRA-backed bill this week, that measure creates a process to bar terrorism suspects from buying weapons. But Democrats call it an empty gesture. And the measure is thought to likely fail.

ROMANS: All right, six minutes past the hour, time for an Early Start on Your Money. Hillary Clinton heading to Atlantic City Wednesday to attack Donald Trump's business practices.

A campaign official told CNN the presumptive Democratic nominee will discuss among other things Trump's record in the gambling center including those controversial casino bankruptcies. Four different Trump properties in the New Jersey city have filed for bankruptcy since 1991. The most recent was in 2009. And the Clinton campaign claims the trip will highlight how Trump makes money at the expense of investors, and at the expense of workers.

This isn't the first time Clinton has criticized Trump's business dealings. Trump himself has defended using bankruptcy laws to help his business and employees.

HOWELL: The story we're following on hundreds of people killed in new attacks as Ramadan draws to a close. A new wave of terrorism quite frankly could strike anywhere. Live team coverage on CNN, next.

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ROMANS: A string of major terror attacks in the Muslim world leaving hundreds dead as the holy month of Ramadan comes to an end.

[04:10:01] ISIS said to be responsible for bombings in Turkey, Bangladesh and Iraq. And then those strikes followed by suicide bombings in three Saudi Arabian cities over a 24-hour period including a suicide bombing near the U.S. consulate in Jeddah. We are covering development here from Baghdad to Dhaka to the Saudi attacks the way only CNN can, beginning with CNN International Jomana Karadsheh live in Amman. Good morning.

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Christine. And more than 48 hours after that devastating attack in Baghdad, emergency services are still on the scene. They are digging through the rubble trying to find bodies, body parts. And we're seeing families still arriving at the scene of that horrific attack searching for their loved ones.

So many tragic stories, a mother and a father for example who showed up looking for their teenage son saying he was celebrating his birthday with his friends when the attack happened, and they were looking for him. A mother who has gone around four different morgues in Baghdad searching for her son.

We're talking about 215 lives that were lost in this attack, more than 100 others who are wounded. You can imagine how many people have been impacted by this attack. This is the single deadliest attack we have seen in Iraq since 2003. And this kind of high profile devastating spectacular attack is something we have not seen in the Iraqi capital in years.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for this attack. Really, here a tragic reminder, an unfortunate reminder that, yes, the group has lost lots of territory in Iraq, but it still has this ability to carry out devastating attacks. And it is a reminder more needs to be done to fight ISIS. It is not just a fight on the battlefield. It is not only a military plan when it comes to fighting ISIS. More needs to be done to fight the group, its ideology, to try and stop attacks like this. Christine.

ROMANS: Just unbelievable there, the scope of that, of that loss of lives. Jomana Karadsheh for us this morning in Amman, Jordan, thank you for that.

Now let's go to Bangladesh and the terror attack in Dhaka. ISIS claimed the responsibility also there but officials said the attack was carried out by home-grown militants. Our Alexandra Field is there for us, she is live in Bangladesh this morning. What can you tell us Alex?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, this is something that the families of the victims are struggling to deal with especially for Bangladeshi woman who was killed inside that restaurant, Christine, the fact these were all Bangladeshi nationals who carried out the attack, five of them, militants who were known to the authorities.

Obviously, this attack has been claimed by ISIS despite the fact with the officials here are investigating the possibility that it was led by a local domestic terror network, an Islamist group that has been banned here in Bangladesh.

Ishrat Akhond was the Bangladeshi woman who was killed. She was there dining with friends that night. We spoke to her uncle who is trying to understand how this attack could have happened, how she could have been killed at the hands of her own countrymen in her own city. Here's what he said.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Their attitude and they were barely raised and educated. They went to school in the same as my daughter went to. And I see them as my children. But when I see these people, these children, they've been brainwashed, despite the fact they had a good education, despite the fact they had good university and school education. I feel so sad. Why would this happen?

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FIELD: The attackers ranged in age from 18 to their mid-20s as you heard there. They're all described as having high levels of education and being from upper middle class affluent families.

We spoke to the owner of the cafe that was attacked that night, that cafe where 20 people died and where two police officers were also killed. He says he can't imagine reopening the restaurant at this point. Many members of his staff were able to flee. The gunmen seemed to be targeting the foreign nationals who were inside. He tells us that his staff member survived by hiding in the kitchen, hiding in the bathroom and running up to the rooftop where some of them jumped off to save their lives. Christine.

ROMANS: Terrifying, all right, Alexandra Field for us in Bangladesh. Thank you for that Alexander.

HOWELL: Let's now talk about the string of bombings seen in Saudi Arabia. Our International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson joins us now live in London with more on this. Nic, good day.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, good morning. Well, the most deadly of those attacks came in the Holy City of Medina, close to the shrine -- the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad. This is a very, very sacred place in Islam. It is probably the most -- the second most sacred place.

The suicide bomber was approaching a police or security services check point there. When he got to it, he donated his explosives, four police officers were killed, several others were wounded.

[04:15:09] And right around the same time all the way across the country in the east of the country, another suicide bomber was trying to get into a Shi'a mosque. He detonated his explosives without killing anyone only himself.

And these two attacks came at the end of a day that it begun with a suicide bomber trying to blow himself up and a car full of explosives right next to U.S. consulate in the port city of Jeddah. He failed. He only was able to detonate his own explosives. Police dealt with the other explosives that were in his vehicle. The Interior Ministry in Saudi Arabia have identified this attacker in Jeddah as being a Pakistani national. Abdullah Kahn, they say. He works in Saudi Arabia for 12 years as a driver, lived there with his mother and his mother-in-law.

This is out of the normal in Saudi Arabia to have a national from another country involved in an attack in Saudi Arabia. No one's claimed responsibility yet. But of course, this does put the Saudi security services on absolutely high alert right now, George.

HOWELL: Certainly from Saudi Arabia to Iraq and in Bangladesh, we're just seeing more and more of this. Our International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson live for us at London. Nic, thank you.

Turning now to the man who sparked the brexit movement and spent nearly two decades pushing for it, he's now taking a leave from politics. Nigel Farage, resigning as the leader of Britain's right- wing Independence Party. He says he's done his part and wants his life back. The 52-year-old Farage quit his post twice before. But insiders say it means -- he means it this time. Farage's critics often accuse him of racism and xenophobia and are celebrating that announcement.

ROMANS: All right, about 17 minutes past the hour, an explosion in Central Park over the weekend creating panic across New York. What we're learning new about the case next.

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[04:20:27] HOWELL: Welcome back. In Chicago, the July 4th holiday amounted to another bloody weekend on that city street. Despite of beefed-up police presence, there were at least 32 people shot in the city from Friday until Monday morning. Two of the people shot died. Final totals for the 48 period are set to be released later this morning. Just last year in Chicago, 10 people were killed and 55 others wounded during the Independence Day holiday.

ROMANS: We're learning more now about the police response to the massacre at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando last month. A report by the Seminole County Sheriff's Office details what deputies experienced when they arrived on the scene. Nearly a dozen officers jumped in the service alongside Orlando police. Deputies reported seen wounded and dead victims all over the floor of the club and improvising medical transport and pickup trucks. Gunman Omar Mateen killed 49 people inside that club.

HOWELL: Just remembering from covering that story, we just don't forget the things that people were saying there.

The highest ranking police officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray goes on trial this morning in Baltimore. Lieutenant Brian Rice faces manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct charges.

Today, there will be a hearing on pretrial motions. Jury selection scheduled for Wednesday. That is if the officer chooses a jury trial over a bench trial. Of the officers already tried, there have been two acquittals and one mistrial.

ROMANS: Overnight tight security in New York for the Fourth of July celebrations after just a day after an explosion in Central Park severely wounded a college student and sparks near panic in the city.

CNN's Jean Casarez has new details on what we've learning.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: George and Christine, the New York Police Department wanted to make it very clear that there were no specific credible threats at all over the Fourth of July. But there definitely wasn't enhanced police presence.

And the people down here where the Macy's Fourth of July fireworks show took place, they were here to have a good time but they still had questions about over the weekend. The explosive materials that went off, three young men walking in Central Park, one of them who is now the victim, a University of Miami student actually stepped on those explosive materials. And forensic testing is currently going in to find out exactly what it was. Police don't believe that it was intentionally put there to do harm to someone, but they still don't know exactly what the materials were and what it was all about.

Meanwhile, the NYPD planned the Fourth of July celebrations for over a year now deploying for the first time over 500 police officers that were part of the critical response command team because of the day and age we live in.

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WILLIAM BRATTON, NEW YORK CITY, POLICE COMMANDER: What we have out today, we believe this is the largest detail in modern times for this event, reflective of the changing world conditions, which we've been watching very closely this past week and indeed this past year.

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CASAREZ: In addition to NYPD officers having radiation devices being in helicopters, on boats, coastguard called out and even cameras to monitor the situation. There were eight dogs that were taken out amongst the crowd. These were bomb-sniffing vapor alert dogs that actually on search mode all the time. So they went through the crowds, were able to sniff out anything potentially that they thought could be a bomb-making materials.

Now, this is different from a regular bomb-sniffing dog that is put on search mode at a certain point for a package or something suspicious. These dogs were on search mode all throughout the evening of July 4th. George, Christine.

HOWELL: You know what's interesting? When I got out of the plane the other day and got to the city, I noticed that the security presence stepped up.

ROMANS: Oh yeah. HOWELL: You noticed that. You see it.

ROMANS: Absolutely. And, you know, that young man, it's a tragedy for him. The latest news is that his leg was amputated below the knee. And still don't know exactly who placed that, apparently, a bag of chemicals and why? The police are saying they don't think it was placed intentionally as a bomb or device. So, still a lot of questions about that story are real mystery.

HOWELL: Major questions. Well, look, if you failed to get your fireworks fixed This fourth of July weekend, let's take a minute to look at some of the highlights from America's most spectacular shows, starting of course in the nation's capitol.

Take a look there. You see hundreds of thousands of people there at the National Mall last night. An 18-minute show, it lit up the D.C. skyline. The fireworks launched from D.C.'s iconic Reflecting Pool.

Here in New York, there was a little light rain and a little security. As you saw there, tight security but it didn't stop an estimated one million spectators from lining the East River for spectacular 30- minute show presented by Macy's.

[04:25:10] And now on to Florida, a crowd of 150,000 people turned out for that city's annual fireworks at the Fountain. But this year, 49 red flares were used in that show, one for each of the victims who died in the Pulse Nightclub terror attack.

In the City of Chicago, a capacity crowd of more than 100,000 people jammed in the Navy Pier. Take a look at that, watching the big show there. In fact, so many people showed up, the gates had to be closed for one hour before that 15-minute show started.

ROMANS: Chicago puts on a very good show.

HOWELL: They do. They do.

ROMANS: All right, millions of people in Kentucky and West Virginia facing the threat of flooding today. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has the latest.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Christine and George, good seeing you guys. Let's talk about what's happening here across parts of the Mid-Atlantic States really and parts of the Ohio Valley because 12 million people underneath flood watch this morning.

The main area of concern I think is going to be right here on the West Virginia where we know what occurred in recent days, of the devastating floods and of course rain showers already abundant across this region. Generally, on the light to moderate side from New York City southwards Philly this morning, Baltimore getting in some strong storms this morning, but again showers scattered in nature back over the Louisville as well. Some of these certainly impacted some of the Fourth of July event but if you take a look down into the soil, the soil across parts of this region from Tennessee on into Kentucky, Virginia even parts of let's say West Virginia. We're talking about highly saturated soils where 15 to 20 inches of moisture locked in to the soil.

So thunderstorm this morning pushing right through Birmingham, Atlanta eventually out towards Charlotte. How much rain are we talking? Well, pretty significant amount right there on Northern Alabama, potentially 2 to 3 inches. This is over the next several days and working way into Nashville, to south of Nashville, we could get a couple of inches out of this, you know, parts of, say, Kansas onto Missouri, we could see some very heavy rainfall. A lot of these areas underneath the flood watch this morning guys.

ROMANS: There's a lot of raining there. I can ...

HOWELL: Oh yeah.

ROMANS: All right breaking overnight, the Juno spacecraft now orbiting the planet Jupiter. While millions of Americans are watching fireworks last night, NASA scientists were focused on deep space as Juno completed a complicated engine burn so it could be pulled into Jupiter's orbit.

The spacecraft is expected to circle the planet 37 times over the next 20 months. Coming within 2,600 miles for scientific experiment, it took Juno nearly five years to reach Jupiter.

HOWELL: That is so cool.

ROMANS: It is very cool.

HOWELL: Donald Trump blasting the media and defending the tweet attacking Hillary Clinton that many were criticizing as anti-Semitic. Donald Trump's explanation as Early Start continues.

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