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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Trump Calls System "Totally Rigged"; Cellphone Video Captures Deadly Police Confrontation; "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius Sentenced. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired July 06, 2016 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: 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.
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: 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.
[04:30:06] What led up to that deadly confrontation? A story we'll certainly follow here on CNN.
ROMANS: Yes.
HOWELL: Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm George Howell.
ROMANS: Nice to see you this morning again, George.
I'm Christine Romans. It is 30 minutes past the hour.
And now, it's not just Hillary Clinton but also the FBI getting the ire of Donald Trump in his newest attack. The presumptive Republican nominee calling the system totally rigged, this after FBI Director James Comey recommends no charges, no charges against Clinton for 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 that Clinton must have bribed Comey's boss, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, to avoid jail time.
(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) ROMANS: The Trump campaign seizing on a political opening against his rival.
Let's get the latest from CNN politics Sara Murray traveling with the Trump campaign for us 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)
HOWELL: Sara, thank you.
No doubt there are sighs of relief that the Clinton campaign this morning after the FBI director announced he was not recommending charges related to Clinton's e-mail because he said no reasonable prosecutor would pursue a case against her. But Comey's scathing criticism of Clinton, calling her use of a private server extremely careless and questioning her judgment could further damage her credibility in the eyes of voters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly 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. But that's not what we're deciding now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: So, here's how it all broke down. The FBI found that of 30,000 emails that Clinton handed over to the State Department, 110 contained information that was classified at the time they were sent. Of those, Comey said a very small number were marked "classified". That contradicts Clinton's repeated claim 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.
[04:35:01] ROMANS: Still, it seems the fight for Clinton's e-mails is far from over. House Speaker Paul Ryan says the FBI decision not to file charges against Hillary Clinton, quote, "defies explanation". He is promising new investigations, calling the ruling, quote, "a terrible precedent". And Ryan is vowing to press on until he gets answers from the FBI himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: What bothers me about this is the Clintons are living above the law. They're being held by a different set of standards. That is clearly what this looks like. And this is why we're going to have hearings. And 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)
HOWELL: On the campaign trail, Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama making no mention of the FBI's finding or the email investigation. This as the president made his debut on the 2016 campaign trail, trying to rub some of his rising popularity off on to Clinton. The president showered praise on Clinton, giving her a glowing endorsement at a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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)
ROMANS: All right. A very busy Brianna Keilar on the campaign trail for us. Thanks, Brianna.
Hillary Clinton said to attack Donald Trump where it could hurt him the most, his business record. Clinton 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 a big part of her speech. Clinton claiming Trump's policies would favor the rich.
Today, both the Republican Party and the Trump campaign are set to unveil the list of speakers at the GOP convention in Cleveland. It is less than two weeks away now. Tuesday, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker announced one of those names in the lineup. He announced his own name. Walker ran for the Republican nomination but then he dropped out last September.
Trump says all of the speaker spots, they are filled but that there is a long waiting list at this point. A Trump adviser tells CNN a keynote speaker has not yet been decided and that they are still working on the convention program.
ROMANS: The partisan fight in Congress over gun control legislation rearing its head again today. House Democrats led by Nancy Pelosi pushing for new gun laws. They will hold a news conference later this morning, demanding a vote on heir bills. This comes as Republicans decide whether Democrats should be punished for their 16-hour sit-in on the House floor. Speaker Paul Ryan says he has no intention of rewarding them for breaking house rules.
HOWELL: Despite pumping billions of taxpayer dollars into the V.A., the agency still requires urgent reform and remains plagued by many profound deficiencies. That is the finding of a congressional report obtained by CNN. It is set to be released later today and it says some so-called improvements implemented in the last two years have actually made matters worse. The report concludes America's veterans deserve a better health care system.
I remember CNN was all over this with our Drew Griffin. And, you know, just the fact that that agency is still having these problems.
ROMANS: It's a shame and it's just horrible for those veterans who have to wait so long.
HOWELL: It is.
ROMANS: All right. Let's get an early start on your money this morning.
The aftershocks of the Brexit vote still rattling global stock markets, actually global markets of never stripe.
[04:40:03] Dow futures are down. Stock markets in Europe opened lower, and the shares in London have rebounded. Asia closing with losses overnight. Investors fleeing the British pound pushing it to a new 31-year low against the dollar. About $1.29 if you're doing business or traveling to the U.K. right now.
Back here in the U.S., the Dow has posted triple digit moves seven out of the past eight sessions, all but one of those are gains or losses of 1 percent.
So, how do you protect your investment in the wild stock market? Diversify. Research from Wells Fargo shows most diversified accounts are still posting gains for the year. Many investors are rushing into safer options, by the way, out of stocks into bonds.
Look at this, the yield on the ten-year treasury, lowest ever, this is a record low -- 1.34 percent. When there's more demand for bond, the yield goes down. When there's less demand it goes up.
The good news for many Americans is bond yields are tied to mortgage rates. So, mortgage rates, 30-year fixed mortgage, 3 1/2 percent.
If you haven't refinanced in the past few years, do it now. It's time to do it again. I mean, these rates are unbelievably low.
HOWELL: We're following breaking news this morning at CNN. The judge in the Oscar Pistorius case just now sentencing the Paralympic athlete to six years in prison. Again, six years in prison. Pistorius shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp through a bathroom door in their apartment three years ago. An appeals court overturned the original verdict of culpable homicide, leading to today's six-year sentence for murder.
Again, we will have much more on Pistorius' sentencing with David McKenzie joining us here in just ten minutes here.
ROMANS: Yes, he's in that courtroom. We'll get to him as soon as we can.
Breaking news this morning, cell phone video capturing the very moment police kill an African-American man outside of a Louisiana convenience store. What in the world led to that deadly confrontation? We've got that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:46:06] HOWELL: Welcome back.
We are following the story of an African-American man killed by police in Louisiana. His family set to hold a news conference in city hall in Baton Rouge just hours away. This graphic sell phone video captures the moment that police shot Alton Sterling in front of a convenience store. Authorities say officers responded when an anonymous caller reported that a man selling CDs outside the store had pointed a gun at someone. Witnesses say the officers try 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)
HOWELL: The family demanding answers. Bear in mind the video that you saw, we actually froze the video the moment before the shooting but you heard the audio during that time.
Late last night, more than 100 people gathered outside of the store to protest the shooting. Some carries signs chanting, "Black lives matter" and "Hands up, don't shoot."
ROMANS: The University of Tennessee has settled a lawsuit filed by six women who claim they faced a hostile environment at the school. That is after they filed sexual assault allegations against student athletes. According to court documents obtained by ESPN, the school will pay the women nearly $2.5 million. The university is not admitting guilt in the settlement.
HOWELL: Sandy Hook families finally getting their day in court. Depositions are set to begin today in their lawsuit against the gun manufacturer Remington, they made the Bushmaster semiautomatic rifle that Adam Lanza used, as you'll remember, in the elementary school massacre, killing 20 first graders and six educators back in 2012. The suit claims the company knew the rifle was meant for the military and too dangerous to sell to civilians.
ROMANS: All right. Forty-eight minutes past the hour.
Severe weather slamming parts of the Midwest, folks. Take a look at this video of a tornado. This is forming in Holloway, Minnesota. Damaging winds and flooding reported throughout Minnesota. More than 110,000 customers from the central part of Minnesota to the Twin Cities left without power overnight. Check out this video tweeted by a Minneapolis resident showing an overwhelmed sewage system erupting.
HOWELL: I feel bad for people in that neighborhood. Yuck.
And there is more weather, more severe weather for the Midwest. Not out of the woods. Let's get more from meteorologist Pedram Javaheri in Atlanta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: George and Christine, watching the severe weather concern this morning mainly across part of the Upper Midwest. In fact, the early morning hours, I counted over 6,000 lightning strikes in a couple of hour period outside of Minneapolis. Now, the storms are working their way through the Chicago metro area. By this afternoon, I think the most intense storms, I want to fire off towards Sioux Falls, Rapid City. That's where the highest concern is for severe weather across that region. And notice the storms will push through Chicago and the Great Lakes over the next several hours as we approach sunrise.
But here we go, the big time heat developing over 40 million people, at least nearing 40 million that are going to be on watches and advisories and warnings even in portions of the Philly metro area. Some of these areas could get up as high as 110 degrees. That mainly locked in across parts of Texas. Look at this, in places like Oklahoma City, going to feel a little more toasty, right after Kevin Durant out of the building there, 107 degrees there across that region. And the perspective as far as temperatures go, 96 in Jackson, Mississippi and Boston, and 92-degree day in store by this afternoon, guys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[04:50:05] HOWELL: Hot, hot, hot.
ROMANS: That is a hot afternoon. Be careful, everybody, out there.
All right. Millions of Americans will be making one of the worst investments ever this week.
HOWELL: Oh, no.
ROMANS: You're going to do it anyway, no matter what I say. I'll tell you what it is when you get an early start to your money, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOWELL: We are following the breaking news this morning in the case of Oscar Pistorius. That saga coming to a dramatic conclusion in a courtroom in South Africa. A judge just sentenced the Paralympic gold medalist known as the "Blade Runner" to six years in prison for the murder of his girlfriend.
Let's get straight to CNN international correspondent David McKenzie who joins us live this hour in Pretoria.
David, this sentencing came as a surprise to many people.
[04:55:00] DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: George, good morning.
Yes, it did come as a surprise to many people because the minimum sentencing in South Africa for murder is 15 years. So, the six years is significantly underneath that. However, the judge in this case, in any case like it, has a great deal of discretion. And she clearly said the remorse that Oscar Pistorius showed in killing his girlfriend on Valentine's Day 2013, the level of public perception out there that was unfair in her mind to Pistorius. As well as the fact that he already spent time in prison were all mitigating factors in giving him that six year sentence -- George.
HOWELL: Given that sentence, as you mentioned, lower than what many people expected, what would be, say, the reaction to this case?
MCKENZIE: Well, certainly, the reaction will be mixed. And it's polarized South African society. Since the very beginning of the trial, George, through this whole legal saga, soap opera, people have been split, those saying that Pistorius was thinking that it was an intruder when he shot four times through the door. And that should face leniency in the law.
And others who felt he was a murderer and should get the maximum. I think again, you'll have those polarizing actions. But what is clear is Pistorius will be heading through the door behind me, straight to a prison cell where he will spend at least half of that sentence in prison before he has the option of parole. The reaction of the family of Reeva Steenkamp was impassive. They
didn't react much at all. And certainly, this has been a lengthy saga for them. And something that they say has destroyed their family -- George.
HOWELL: David, and just to give some context on this case, there have been many twists and turns.
MCKENZIE: Well, that's right. There are many twists and turns. Originally, Pistorius was sentenced and convicted for culpable homicide which is effectively manslaughter. That then was taken by the state to the supreme court of appeal where they then overturned that conviction and changed it to the more serious murder charge.
There have also been dramatic testimony through the trial and at the sentencing hearing where you saw the father of Reeva Steenkamp, the victim, coming on the stand and explaining just how badly her death has affected their family. how he would at some point take his diabetes needle -- he injects himself with insulin and stabbed himself in his arm and in his stomach to kind of feel any kind of pain that his daughter felt.
So, it's torn families apart. And it's gripped South Africa as a nation. It does seem now this long saga is coming to an eventual close -- George.
HOWELL: And again, the breaking news this morning, Oscar Pistorius sentenced to six years in prison for the murder of his girlfriend David McKenzie live for us in Pretoria. David, thank you for your reporting.
ROMANS: All right. About 58 minutes past the hour. Let's get an early start on your money this morning.
Brexit aftershocks shaking markets around the world. Dow futures pointing to an open. European stock markets dropping. Shares in Asia down overnight. And the yield on the 10-year treasury bond, an all time low. Now just 1.33 percent. Also, you've got the pound tumbling anew.
A new chapter in the backlash against profitable tech companies in San Francisco tax them to help pay for homeless programs. San Francisco lawmakers are weighing a proposal that would slap tech companies with a 1.5 percent payroll tax. It would target tech firms and startups to generate $1 million in gross receipts basically revenue plus interests.
It would generate more than $100 million for the city of San Francisco. What would San Francisco do with the cash? Well it would help the growing homeless problem. The supporters argue that tech companies have driven up prices which have fueled a rise in homelessness. Opponents called it a misguided proposal that would hurt job creation.
All right. You did not win the mega millions jackpot last night. And neither did anyone else. That means the next jackpot will be at least $508 million or $357 million. The odds of winning are terrible, 1 in 259 million. And it that will not stop any of you, millions of you from buying tickets ahead of Friday's drawing.
Each chance to win is only a buck, I get it, but it's probably the worst retirement plan known to man. But, hey, you're paying for a dream right.
Maybe some camaraderie at work if you all do it together as a pool.
HOWELL: I'm embarrassed to admit I've got a ticket.
ROMANS: Well, it's OK, George, as long as you're fully funding your 401k.
HOWELL: I am doing that as well.
ROMANS: All right. I'll allow it.
HOWELL: EARLY START continues right now.
(MUSIC)
ROMANS: Donald Trump attacking Hillary Clinton and the FBI after no charges, no charges are recommended in Clinton's e-mails controversy, claiming a rigged system and accusing the Clintons of bribery.
HOWELL: Protests break out overnight, disturbing video capturing the moment two police officers pin down a man and shot and kill him.
