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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Trump: Clinton "Bribing" Attorney General; Cellphone Video Captures Deadly Police Confrontation; Sentencing for "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired July 06, 2016 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:19] GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump attacking Hillary Clinton and the FBI after no charges are recommended with Clinton's e- mail controversy. Trump says the system is rigged and accuses the Clintons of bribery.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Protest breaks out overnight. Disturbing video capturing the moment two police officers pin down a man, then shoot and kill him.
Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START this morning. I'm Christine Romans.
HOWELL: And I'm George Howell. It is Wednesday, July 6th, 4:00 a.m. on the East.
And now, it's not just Hillary Clinton. It's also the FBI that's getting the ire of Donald Trump in his newest attack. The presumptive Republican nominee calling the system, quote, "totally rigged", this after FBI Director James Comey recommends no charges against Clinton in the way she handled her e-mail as secretary of state.
Trump on the campaign trail late last night in North Carolina telling a crowd of thousands of people that Clinton must have prescribed Comey's boss, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, to avoid jail time. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I mean, the attorney general is sitting there saying, you know, if I get Hillary off the hook, I'm going to have four more years or eight more years, but if she loses, I'm out of a job. It's a bribe. It's a disgrace. It's a disgrace.
She is laughing at the stupidity of our system. She is laughing and so is her husband Bill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: The Trump campaign obviously taking advantage, seizing a political opening against his rival.
Let's get the very latest from CNN politics reporter Sara Murray traveling with the Clinton campaign in North Carolina.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, Christine and George.
Well, the FBI may not be moving forward with recommending charges against Hillary Clinton but that did not stop Donald Trump from offering a searing indictment not only of Hillary Clinton but also Bill Clinton and President Obama when he was campaigning in Raleigh, North Carolina, yesterday evening.
Here is just a sampling of what he had to say about Clinton.
TRUMP: And we've got Hillary Clinton who's weak, who is ineffective, she'll never be able to do the job. Her judgment is horrible. Look at her judgment on e-mails. Who would do it? Look at her judgment.
Her judgment is horrible, all right? Her judgment is horrible. Now, who said that about Hillary? Bernie Sanders her judgment is bad. She's got bad judgment. OK?
Now, let me tell you, whether it's ISIS, whether it's trade, whether it's borders, whether it's jobs, it's going to be four more years of the same thing. The last thing we need is another Clinton or the last thing we need is another Obama/Clinton in the White House.
MURRAY: Now, Trump tried to use this as a way to drive home his message that the system is rigged against average Americans and stack in favor of people like the Clintons who put special interests ahead of common working men. But he also took some swipes at President Obama, saying looking at the White House is like watching a carnival act. And, of course, the backdrop to all of this is what continues to go on within the Trump campaign which is a hunt for V.P.
Trump appeared tonight with Tennessee Senator Bob Corker. That is someone he doesn't know particularly well, but he spent an awful lot of a good time with today, getting comfortable with one another.
Ands that's not the only veepstake tryout that we are going to see this week. He's expected to campaign with Newt Gingrich in Ohio today.
Back to you, guys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. A very busy Sara Murray on the campaign trail for us this morning.
A huge uncertainty is now out of the way at the Clinton campaign this morning after the FBI Director Comey announced he was recommending against charges related to Hillary Clinton's e-mail because no reasonable prosecutor he said would pursue a case against her. But Comey's scathing criticism of Clinton, calling her use of the private server, quote, "extremely careless", and questioning her judgment could further damage Clinton's credibility in the eyes of voters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: Although we did not find evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws with mishandling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, classified information.
Even if information is not marked "classified" in an e-mail, participants who know or should know that the subjects matter is classified are still obligated to protect it.
To be clear, this is not to suggest that in similar circumstances a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences. To the contrary, those individuals are often subject to security or administrative sanctions.
[04:05:05] But that's not what we're deciding now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The FBI found that of 30,000 e-mails Secretary Clinton handed over to the State Department, 110 contained information that was classified at the time they were sent. And of those, Comey said a very small number were marked classified.
Now, that contradicts Clinton's repeated claims that none of the e- mails were classified when she sent or received them. The Justice Department will have the final say on whether to charge Clinton, but it is expected to follow the FBI's recommendation. In fact, virtually no legal experts think that the Justice Department would actually file anything at this point.
HOWELL: But, still not out of the woods yet. It seems though that the fight over Clinton's e-mails is far from over. House Speaker Paul Ryan says the FBI's decision not to file charges against Hillary Clinton defies explanation. So, he is promising new investigation and calling that ruling a terrible precedent. Ryan is vowing to press on until he get answers from the FBI director himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: What bothers me the Clintons are living above the law. They're being held by a different set of standards. This is clearly what this looks like. This is why we're going to have hearings. This is why I think that Comey should give us all the publicly available information to see how and why they reached this conclusion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: All right. President Barack Obama embracing Hillary Clinton, a huge public show of support, and making no mention of the FBI's finding or the e-mail investigation, as the president made his debut on the 2016 campaign trail. There they are, trying to rub some of his rising popularity off on Clinton. The president showered praise on Clinton, giving her a glowing endorsement. This big rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, their first time on the stage together after his endorsement.
CNN's Brianna Keilar was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine and George, if you were only at this event with President Obama and Secretary Clinton, you almost wouldn't have known what had happened with this announcement from the FBI director. There was no mention of it. And yet, the trust gap that has resulted in part because of it, polls showing that many voters don't see Hillary Clinton as trustworthy. That's a big reason that President Obama was here, vouching for Hillary Clinton's character.
He also took on Donald Trump, not by name, but he was so clear who he was talking about. He essentially said that he had been lying. He said Republicans don't know what he was talking about, and he implored North Carolinians to value Hillary's experience and temperament.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Sometimes, we take somebody who has been in the trenches and fought the good fight and been steady for granted. Sometimes, we act as if never having done something and not knowing what you're doing is a virtue. We don't do that, by the way, for airline pilots. We don't do that for surgeons. But somehow, we think president of the United States, let's just give it, I don't know, who's that guy, come on.
KEILAR: And when it came time for President Obama to endorse Hillary Clinton, he did so in a pretty grand way. He said there has never been any man or woman more qualified for this office than Hillary Clinton. You're seeing a bit of a symbiotic relationship, of course, laid out on the campaign trail. President Obama needs Hillary Clinton in the White House in order to protect his legacy and Hillary Clinton is trying to borrow the president's popularity as she tries to take on Donald Trump -- Christine and George.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Brianna, thank you.
Clinton hoping obviously that the best defense is a stronger offense. Now set to attack Donald Trump where it could hurt him the most with his business record. Clinton is set to hold a rally today in Atlantic City, planning to hit her Republican rival over his casino bankruptcies as well as his controversial plans for the U.S. economy. Income inequality is expected to be part of her speech, with Clinton claiming Trump's policies would favor the rich.
ROMANS: Clinton expected to mock Trump's business practices right there where his name is actually still emblazoned on casinos. Donald Trump says he has used business laws to protect his businesses and no company has used those laws more often. Trump has filed four bankruptcies, all involving his Atlantic City hotels and casinos. The most recent in 2009 with Trump Entertainment Resorts. Trump Hotel and Casino Resorts filed for bankruptcy in 2004, two more Trump properties filed in the early '90s.
The Trump Taj Mahal may have been the most personally painful. Trump gave up half his stake in the company. He had to sell his yacht and his airline business. His largest creditor at the time was billionaire investor Carl Icahn who was a friend and Trump supporter. Chapter 11 protection wants the company stay in business while shedding debt. It owes banks employees and suppliers. Trump has never filed for personal bankruptcy protection. But no public company has filed more times over the past 30 years. That's according to bankruptcy.com and S&P capital IQ.
And that is why Hillary Clinton is going to Atlantic City to give that economy speech today.
[04:10:03] She's going to try to say, look, this is a guy who has enriched himself by taking a lot of debt, by filing for bankruptcy and letting workers, suppliers and his investors take the rap, take the fall, when he can't make his business succeed.
HOWELL: But, you know, when you talk about business dealings, also when you talk about the Trump University situation, there are many people part of his core who don't seem to --
ROMANS: They think he is the gold standard of a good businessman. We'll see if it has any effect at all.
HOWELL: We'll see.
Well, you know, the conventions are coming, today, the Republican Party and Donald Trump's party, his campaign, they're both set to unveil the list of speakers at the GOP convention in Cleveland. It is less than two weeks away. At Tuesday, Wednesday, rather, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker announced one name in the lineup. His own name. Walker ran the Republican nomination and then dropped out last September.
Trump says all the speaker spots are filled and there's a long waiting list at this point. A Trump advisor tells CNN a keynote speaker has not yet been decided and they're still working on the convention program.
ROMANS: A week away.
HOWELL: It's not too far away.
ROMANS: A week away. Almost there.
All right. The partisan fight in Congress over gun control legislation rearing its head again today. House Democrats led by Nancy Pelosi continue to push for new gun laws. They'll hold a news conference later this morning, demanding a vote on heir bills. It comes as Republicans decide whether Democrats should be punished for their 16-hour sit-in on the House floor. Speaker Ryan says he has no intention of citing them for breaking the rules. HOWELL: Despite pumping billions of taxpayer dollars into the V.A.,
the agency still requires urgent reform and remains plagued by many profound inefficiencies. That is the finding of a congressional commission report that has been obtained by CNN. It is set to be released later today and says some so-called improvements implement from the last two years have actually made things worse. The report concludes America's veterans, quote, "deserve a better healthcare system".
ROMANS: All right. Twelve minutes past the hour.
Breaking news overnight, protests erupt after this video captures the moment police shoot and kill a black man outside a Baton Rouge convenience store. What in the world led up to this shooting? We've got that for you, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:16:25] ROMANS: In just hours, the family of an African-American Louisiana man killed by police will hold a news conference at city hall in Baton Rouge. Graphic cell phone video capturing the moment police shot Alton Sterling in front of a convenience store. Now, authorities say officers responded when an anonymous caller reported that a man selling CDs outside of a store had pointed a gun at someone. Witnesses say the officers tried to taser the suspect but when the shot didn't disable him, they tackled Sterling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(INAUDIBLE)
(EXPLETIVES DELETED)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my goodness.
(EXPLETIVE DELETED)
CPL. L'JEAN MCKNEELY, BATON ROUGE POLICE SPOKESMAN: This is an ongoing investigation. We're going to review the video. We're going to review the audio. We have witness, nonbiased witnesses here. We're going to bring them down to our station and interview them.
MIGNON CHAMBERS, SHOOTING VICTIM'S SISTER: I really want to know really what happened about the situation because my brother didn't deserve it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Clearly, we froze that video just before the shots were fired, just very disturbing to watch.
Late last night, more than 100 people gathered outside of the store protesting the shooting. Some carried signs chanting, "Black lives matter, and hands up, don't shoot."
HOWELL: The University of Tennessee has settled a lawsuit filed by six women who claim they faced a hostile environment, that is after they filed a sexual assault allegation against student athletes there. According to documents obtained by ESPN, the school will pay the women more than $2.5 million. The university is not admitting guilt in the settlement.
ROMANS: Sandy Hook families finally getting their day in court. Depositions are set to begin today in their lawsuit against the gun manufacturer Remington. That's the company that made the Bushmaster semiautomatic rifle Adam Lanza used to killed 20 first graders and six educators in the 2012 massacre. Now, the suit claims that the rifle was meant for the military and too dangerous to sell to civilians.
HOWELL: Never forget that story.
ROMANS: No.
HOWELL: Severe weather, it is slamming parts of the Midwest.
Take a look at the video of a tornado that was forming in Holloway, Minnesota. My goodness, damaging winds throughout the state. More than 110,000 customers in the central part of Minnesota, to the Twin Cities, left without power overnight.
And then check out this video tweeted by a Minneapolis resident, showing an overwhelmed sewage system erupting in the neighborhood.
ROMANS: What a mess.
HOWELL: My goodness.
ROMANS: All right. Nineteen minutes past the hour.
Happening right now -- the Olympic star who shot and killed his girlfriend being sentenced for the crime. What will Oscar Pistorius' punishment be? This is happening in a Pretoria courtroom right now. We go there live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:23:41] ROMANS: The Oscar Pistorius saga coming to a dramatic conclusion in a South Africa courtroom right now. This is the scene live at this moment in a courtroom where a judge is sentencing the Paralympic gold medalist -- he is known as the blade runner -- for the murder of his girlfriend three years ago.
Let's get right to CNN international correspondent David McKenzie live in Pretoria for the very latest.
Good morning, David.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine.
Yes, this legal saga and soap opera has gripped South Africa and the world for several years now. It could be coming to its final act. And the same judge who was there for the lengthy trial is now reading out his sentencing judgment.
It appears she is saying mitigating circumstances aggravating ones. In other words, she has bought some of the argument of the defense in last month's sentencing hearings. We saw dramatic moments of Oscar Pistorius coming up in front of the court without this prosthetic legs to show his vulnerability.
And also emotional testimony from the father of Reeva Steenkamp, the model girlfriend he shot on Valentine's Day in 2013. He said their family has been devastated and will not recover.
And certainly it seems now that in the coming hours, it could be the moment that Pistorius leaves his court behind me and heads straight to prison, though there is the option for him to continue with a form of house arrest.
[04:25:11] We just wouldn't know until the judge has finished the final sentencing.
ROMANS: All right. David McKenzie for us in Pretoria. Keep us up to date if there are any developments there inside that courtroom. Thank you.
HOWELL: Donald Trump attacking Hillary Clinton and the FBI, blaming a rigged system and accusing the Clintons of bribery after no charges are recommended in Clinton's email controversy.
We'll have that story as EARLY START continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Donald Trump attacking Hillary Clinton, accusing her of bribery after the FBI recommends no charges. No charges in the use of e-mail as secretary of state. But the report isn't all good news for the Clinton campaign.
HOWELL: Breaking news: protests erupt after grabbing cell phone video captures police shooting at an African-American man and killing him outside a convenience store in Louisiana.
