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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Trump Lashes Back at Slain Soldier's Family; Clinton Speaks Out on Soldier's Family; Texas Hot Air Balloon Tragedy. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired August 01, 2016 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:14] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Political controversy swirls around Donald Trump this morning. A heated debate with a Muslim- American family who lost their son in Iraq. New criticism from the left, the right and the soldier's father himself.
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Monday, the 1st day of August. 99 days to go until the -- the presidential election, folks. It is exactly 4:00 a.m. in the East.
An unprecedented beginning to the general election campaign with Donald Trump facing an unprecedented controversy locked in a face-off with the parents of a Muslim-American soldier killed fighting for the country overseas. Khizr Khan and his wife caused one of the most dramatic moments, if you'll recall, at the Democratic convention last week challenging Donald Trump's American values. And Trump's response this weekend shocked many even within his own party and overnight his own running mate stepped in to try to calm the storm.
CNN's Kristen Holmes has more from Washington.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, Donald Trump is taking heat from all sides after lashing out at the parents of fallen American soldier. Gold Star father Khizr Khan, who while honoring his son on stage at the Democratic National Convention, said Trump has sacrificed nothing. Over the weekend, Trump responded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I've made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard. I've created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs. When I can employ thousands and thousands of people, take care of their education, take care of so many things --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Khan hit back during an interview on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" telling Jim Acosta he hoped Trump's family would teach him some empathy. Here is more of what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KHIZR KHAN, FATHER OF DECEASED MUSLIM U.S. SOLDIER: This person is totally incapable of empathy. I want his family to counsel him, teach him some empathy. He will be a better person if he could become, but he is a black soul, and this is totally unfit for the leadership of this beautiful country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Trump also suggested that Khan's wife, Ghazala Khan, who stood next to her husband during the speech but did not take the mic, wasn't allowed to speak. In an emotional Op-Ed published by "The Washington Post" the Gold Star mother fired back saying, "Walking on to the convention stage with a huge picture of my son behind me, I could hardly control myself. What mother could? Donald Trump has children who he loves. Does he really need to wonder why I did not speak?"
Now Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, one of many Republicans distancing themselves from Trump's comments, issuing a statement praising Captain Khan, calling him a true American hero, adding that the agreed with the Gold Star family that a travel ban on, quote, "all members of a religion," is simply contrary to American values -- John and Christine.
ROMANS: All right, Kristen, thanks for that.
You know, that interview with Jim Acosta and with Mr. Khan was really moving. And he said, he said, look, my wife knew -- she saw the picture of our son on that stage, she would barely be able to stand up, let alone open her mouth and speak. But he said that she had a hand in what he said and didn't say in the speech, that she helped him review his comments.
BERMAN: And in her op-ed, she said her silence speaks to the pain of Gold Star families across the country. I should say that both the Khans, the mother and father, will be on "NEW DAY" later this morning. So we'll hear from both of them.
ROMANS: We have heard now from Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, overnight. He issued a statement calling Captain Khan an American hero, adding this, "By suspending immigration from countries that have been compromised by terrorism, rebuilding our military, defeating ISIS at its source, and projecting strength on the global stage, we will reduce the likelihood that other American families will face the enduring heartbreak of the Khan family."
BERMAN: Mike Pence has a son who was a Marine like them.
New controversy from Donald Trump this morning on another front. This fall's presidential debates. Trump now claims he wants two out of the three debates rescheduled. The complaint is that the debates fall on the same nights as nationally televised NFL games -- football games. Donald Trump tweeted that Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party are trying to, quote, "rig" the debates by minimizing their audience. The Clinton campaign called Trump's complaints malarkey. In fact, these debates were scheduled without the input of either campaign or either party. In a statement the bipartisan commission that organizes the debates
said the Commission on Presidential Debates started working more than 18 months ago to identify religious and federal holidays, baseball league playoff games, NFL games, and other events in order to select the best night for the 2016 debates. It is impossible to avoid all sporting events. And there have been nights on which debates and games occurred in most election cycles. A debate has never been rescheduled as a result.
[04:05:08] ROMANS: Donald Trump promised Sunday that Vladimir Putin would not invade Ukraine if Trump were in the White House. Then backpedalled when it was pointed out the Russian president already did. Trump told ABC News, quote, "He's not going into Ukraine." But Trump had to reverse course after host George Stephanopoulos noted that Putin annexed Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula two years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He is not going into Ukraine, OK. Just so you understand. He's not going to into Ukraine. All right. You can mark it down. You can put it down. You can take it anyway you want.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS HOST: He is already there, isn't he?
TRUMP: Well, he's there in a certain way. But I'm not there yet. You have Obama there. And frankly that whole part of the world is a mess under Obama.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Donald Trump campaigns today in Columbus, Ohio, just after Hillary Clinton wraps up her bus tour there. Then this evening Hillary Clinton will be in Nebraska. She will speak about the economy.
Hillary Clinton has also been taking on Trump's remarks about the Khan, the Muslim-American parents of the soldier who was killed in Iraq.
CNN's Brianna Keilar has more now from Ohio.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine. Hillary Clinton's approach to the Khizr Khan- Donald Trump controversy changing over the weekend. At her first stop in Pennsylvania on Saturday on her bus tour, there was actually a line in the teleprompter about this and she skipped over it. It wasn't until Saturday night at about 11:00 p.m. that she mentioned it publicly and even then it was just a passing reference. Well, fast forward to Sunday. She went to church, she spoke about it. When reporters asked her about it and she was much sharper in condemning his remarks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He has, throughout the course of his campaign, consistently insulted and demeaned individuals, groups of Americans, people around the world, and one doesn't know where the bottom is.
It's hard to imagine anyone who has ever run to be president of the United States saying any of what he said. And the accumulation of it all is just beyond my comprehension.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Now what could have affected her calculus through the weekend was Saturday night during her remarks, it wasn't until after she gave them, there was a statement put out by the Trump campaign trying to clarify some of his remarks. But the Clinton campaign viewed it as Trump digging more of a hole on this issue.
And also Ohio Governor John Kasich, a Republican, condemning Donald Trump's remarks as well. The Clinton campaign actually re-tweeted that as Hillary Clinton tries to hit Donald Trump with some of these white working class voters and pull away some of his support here on this bus tour -- John and Christine.
ROMANS: All right, Brianna. Thank you for that.
President Obama claims progress is being made on the most critical issues faces the nation's veterans. He will speak at the 95th National Convention of Disabled American Veterans this afternoon. And despite a significant backlog in patient wait time, the president is expected to point out that homelessness among vets is down 47 percent under his watch. The president had promised to end veteran homelessness by the year 2015.
All right. It is Monday morning. Time for an EARLY START on your money. Want to know who's going to win November's election? Hey, watch the stock market. Starting today the direction the S&P 500 moves during August, September and October, has done a great job predicting presidential elections since World War II. If stocks rise 82 percent of the time the party that currently controls the White House wins the election. You got that? If stocks fall, that party loses 86 percent of the time.
The basic idea is that if the economy is growing and people think the good times will continue, they'll like the one that stick with the same presidential party. If they're fearful, stocks tend to fall, voters want new leadership. An early indicator shows stocks' slow start with August gains. Look at that. Stock futures higher. Stock market in Europe and Asia are rising. Oil is down. It is the first trading day of the month. And we've had London, Paris, Frankfurt have been open for about an hour. And they're starting the month with gains just like July. July had very good gains for stocks in the U.S.
BERMAN: Very nice.
All right. Nine minutes after the hour right now. Just incredible flooding. Deadly flooding in parts of Maryland. The destruction left behind. We'll give you the damage assessment and the new forecast for today. That's next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:13:34] BERMAN: New developments this morning in the deadly flash flooding that devastating the Baltimore suburbs this weekend. Two people died in separate incidents Saturday night when flood waters raging through Ellicott City swept away their cars.
Dozens of frantic water rescues needed on street after street. In one case, residents had to form a human chain to pull a woman from her car before that car was swept away. Just stunning pictures here.
Half a foot of rain fell in the area in one four-hour period. What does today hold? Let's get the latest forecast now from CNN meteorologist Karen Maginnis.
(WEATHER REPORT)
[04:15:20] ROMANS: All right, thanks for that, Karen.
A bloody weekend in downtown Austin, Texas. Two separate shootings, seven minutes apart early Sunday morning. Now in the first incident, four women were shot on Sixth Street. That's a very popular nightlife spot. Police say a suspect pulled out a weapon and began firing into a crowd and then escaped. He is still at large. There was also a shooting in a nearby parking lot. No one was hit there. And the gunman was captured.
BERMAN: Different tragedy in Texas to tell you about. A hot air balloon crashed down killing more than a dozen people. What officials now say is behind that disaster. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:20:24] BERMAN: Breaking overnight. The Taliban is claiming responsibility for a suicide truck bombing in Kabul. The attack targeted a hotel in the Afghan capital. Three of the attackers were killed in a firefight with Afghan police when they tried to storm the building after the explosion. Now this comes a week after an ISIS suicide bombing killed 80 people in Kabul during a protest by a Shia minority group.
ROMANS: We are learning new information about what may have caused the crash of a hot air balloon in Texas this weekend. All 16 people on board the balloon were killed. Overnight, two additional victims, Joe and Tressa Shaffer Owens, were identified. Authorities say their balloon pilot is one focus of their investigation.
Let's get more this morning from CNN's Polo Sandoval.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John and Christine. Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board confirming for the first time that they believe that this hot air balloon likely tripped some of the power lines that you see over my head which basically goes with what we were hearing just moments after that happened early on Saturday morning. And now the focus will be on three key things. The weather, the pilot and that hot air balloon to make sure that it was up to standard and it was actually inspected on a regular basis.
Now when it comes to the pilot, we are told by those who were close to him and those who knew him, he's been identified as Alfred Nichols. Very commonly referred to -- called "Skip" in and around the Central Texas area. Somebody who was very well-known for offering these sorts of sunrise and sunset scenic tours here in and around the Austin area.
We do understand that he held a commercial pilot's license with a hot air balloon rating. But ultimately the NTSB will have to gather the rest of the records that have been pulled in the last few -- in the last few days. Now when it comes to the actual hot air balloon, we are told that it actually took off early Saturday morning and crashed about eight miles away from where it actually took off. The envelope of the actual balloon itself came to rest about three-fourths of a mile from where the victims in that gondola were actually found by authorities.
Meanwhile we are also learning more about the victims, at least two of them now, identified as Matt and Sunday Rowan. A newlywed couple from nearby San Antonio. As for many of the other victims, a local justice of the peace here, John and Christine, telling me that dental records will have to be necessary in order to positively identify them.
BERMAN: All right, Polo, thanks so much.
A top federal health official says the U.S. will almost certainly see more locally transmitted cases of the Zika virus in the future. This follows the first reported local transmissions in Florida where four people were infected with the virus. This virus can cause a serious birth defect. Dr. Anthony Fauci said it is highly unlikely that the Zika situation will ever get as bad in the mainland of the United States as it has in Puerto Rico and Brazil.
ROMANS: All right, 23 minutes past the hour. New controversy surrounding Donald Trump under fire for his questioning of the patriotism of the Muslim-American family. And possibly laying the ground work to pull out of the presidential debate? All of that and more on the 2016 race next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:27:30] ROMANS: Donald Trump calling out a Muslim-American family who lost their son in Iraq offending a Gold Star mother and now weathering a weekend full of criticism from the soldier's father and politicians in both parties.
Can Trump weather this latest self-created storm with just 99 days until Election Day?
Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BERMAN: Great to see you today. I'm John Berman. About 28 minutes past the hour right now. And Donald Trump begins this week in the midst of this new political firestorm. Locked in an unusual and some say ill-advised battle with the parents of a Muslim-American soldier killed in Iraq. Khizr Khan electrified the Democratic convention last week,
challenging Donald Trump to read the constitution. Now Donald Trump's response has drawn criticism from veterans groups, Democrats and now some Republicans. Khan himself calls Trump a man with a black soul. And overnight, Trump's running mate Mike Pence issued a statement that seems to differ in tone from Donald Trump himself.
CNN's Kristen Holmes has the very latest from Washington.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, Donald Trump is taking heat from all sides after lashing out at the parents of fallen American soldier. Gold Star father Khizr Khan, who while honoring his son on stage at the Democratic National Convention, said Trump has sacrificed nothing. Over the weekend, Trump responded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I've made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard. I've created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs. When I can employ thousands and thousands of people, take care of their education, take care of so many things --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Khan hit back during an interview on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" telling Jim Acosta he hoped Trump's family would teach him some empathy. Here is more of what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KHIZR KHAN, FATHER OF DECEASED MUSLIM U.S. SOLDIER: This person is totally incapable of empathy. I want his family to counsel him, teach him some empathy. He will be a better person if he could become, but he is a black soul, and this is totally unfit for the leadership of this beautiful country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Trump also suggested that Khan's wife, Ghazala Khan, who stood next to her husband during the speech but did not take the mic, wasn't allowed to speak. In an emotional op-ed published by "The Washington Post" the Gold Star mother fired back saying, "Walking on to the convention stage with a huge picture of my son behind me, I could hardly control myself. What mother could? Donald Trump has children who he loves. Does he really need to wonder why I did not speak?"
