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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 4:30-5a ET
Aired August 01, 2016 - 04:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:01] KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 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.
BERMAN: All right, Kristen. Thanks so much.
Now a lot of people have been thinking, what does Mike Pence, Donald Trump's running mate, think about this? Pence has a son in the Marines. Finally overnight, he weighed in on the controversy. He issued a paper statement and called Captain Khan an American hero. But he added, "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."
ROMANS: Another new controversy from Donald Trump this morning on another front. This fall's presidential debates. He now claims he wants two out of the three debates rescheduled. His complaint, the debates fall on the same nights as nationally televised NFL games. 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, the debates were scheduled without the input of either campaign or party.
In a statement the bipartisan commission which organizes 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 nights 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."
BERMAN: 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 that the Russian president already did. Trump told ABC News, quote, "He's not going into Ukraine." But Trump had to reverse course after George Stephanopoulos noted that Putin annexed the 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: All right. Let's try to get through these flare-ups at least. Helping us breaking it all down, senior media correspondent, Brian Stelter, host of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES."
Brian, what a phenomenal show this weekend.
ROMANS: Great show this weekend.
BERMAN: Thanks very much.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Thank you.
BERMAN: Let's start with your wheelhouse. TV. The presidential debates right now. The media. Let me show you what Trump had to say to George Stephanopoulos this weekend about the scheduling of the debates, how the first one, especially, another one, too, is up against an NFL game. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Well, I tell you what I don't like. It's against two NFL games. I got a letter from the NFL saying this is ridiculous. Why are the debates against us? Because the NFL doesn't want to go against the debates because the debates are going to be pretty massive from what I understand. OK. And I don't think we should be against the NFL. I don't know how the dates were picked. I don't know why those particular dates.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So you don't like the dates that are out there?
TRUMP: I don't like the dates against -- you know, Hillary Clinton wants to be against the NFL. She doesn't -- maybe like she did with Bernie Sanders where they were on Saturday nights when nobody was home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: All right. Two things, Brian Stelter. Was there a letter from the NFL? STELTER: There was not a letter from the NFL. The NFL quickly said
it never sent a letter to Trump. Yesterday the campaign backpedalled saying actually it was a source close to the league that told Trump about the date conflict.
Trump is right, though, when he says the debates are going to be massive. That part, I think, we can all agree is true. Everyone looking forward to these debates, which start eight weeks from today. The fact that Trump is already stirring the pot about this, getting people talking about whether he's going to show up or not, well, it's classic Trump.
BERMAN: But, just to be clear, a few things. One, there was no letter. That is untrue.
STELTER: Yes.
BERMAN: Number two, to suggest the Clinton campaign somehow scheduled the debates against NFL games also not true.
STELTER: Right.
BERMAN: These debates scheduled by the bipartisan debate commission which has in place since 1988. They put the calendar together before there were candidates without the parties. Now you can criticize it. Look, a lot of people have criticized the debate commission.
STELTER: Yes. Oh, yes.
BERMAN: Over the last 20 years.
STELTER: Yes.
BERMAN: I mean, they faced criticism. But to say the Clinton campaign was behind it, just factually false.
STELTER: Yes. Democrats and Republicans together distinguished representatives of both parties work on this calendar a long time in advance. There is an understandable issue, though, involving the NFL games. We do know these games are going to get lots of viewers. I can understand why Trump wouldn't want them on the same night, especially given his sensitivity to ratings, his desire for the biggest audience possible. You can see why he wouldn't want games to conflict. However, NFL games also conflicted in 2012 and in prior years. This is something that comes up every four years.
[04:35:02] BERMAN: And the debates crush the games.
STELTER: That's right. That's right.
ROMANS: Is there --
STELTER: And frankly, can't people skip one NFL game to watch the debates? Or if you really want to watch the game, which I understand, they actually can watch the debate on the DVR or video on demand or on YouTube? (CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: Is there any suggestion that Donald Trump is -- can he skip one of these debates?
STELTER: No.
ROMANS: Can he do that?
STELTER: Not yet. And we should be clear, he hasn't said anything about skipping or boycotting or dropping out. However, I think some critics would say this is the beginning of Trump negotiating or haggling for more leverage in these debate negotiations.
ROMANS: I want to switch to this story of -- of the Muslim-American family who Donald Trump is now in a battle with.
STELTER: By the way, day four of the story.
ROMANS: I know. And I want to know -- I want you to listen to Trump talking about the Gold Star mother at the DNC. She was standing next to her husband as he gave this emotional speech where he held -- you know, held up the Constitution. And here's Donald Trump again stirring the pot on this. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: His wife, if you look at his wife, she was standing there. She had nothing to say. She probably -- maybe she wasn't allowed to have anything to say. You tell me but plenty of people have written that. She was extremely quiet. And it looked like she had nothing to say. A lot of people have said that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: She wrote a very emotional opinion piece where she said she could barely breathe. Her son's picture was on that stage. Very large. Her husband spoke yesterday to Jim Acosta and said that his wife felt like she could fall over actually. She was so -- just in so much pain. It wasn't that she wouldn't speak or couldn't -- you know, wasn't allowed to speak. Why -- what are the optics of this for Donald Trump here?
STELTER: Something he said in his answers is very revealing. He said a lot of people have written this, a lot of people wrote this idea. That's a common Donald Trump line in order to put what he said in the words of other people. Things that he's read on the Internet or that's been printed out for him. However, it is not a mainstream thought that this woman was standing on stage and not allowed to speak because of her faith. That's a fringe, radical thought. And I'm glad that she expressed that.
BERMAN: We also can't separate Donald Trump from that fringe, radical thought. I'm sorry. Just by saying other people said it, he is trying to separate himself.
STELTER: Right.
BERMAN: I mean, he's bringing it up there in an interview.
STELTER: That's right.
BERMAN: A nationally televised interview with George Stephanopoulos right there.
STELTER: That's right. This happened on Thursday, by the way. The DNC, this is on Thursday night. It was not in the primetime 10:00 p.m. hour when all the broadcasters were live. It was actually earlier at 9:00 p.m. hour. The speech has gotten so much more attention because Donald Trump has gone back to it again and again, and criticized the family.
The idea that he had to release a statement on Saturday trying to explain himself and then Pence last night releasing another statement, trying to clean this up, the story continues to sort of snowball for the campaign in a way that can't be possibly helpful. Then again, you know, what does it news cycle tell us? All these stories involving Trump it's like fireworks.
ROMANS: I know.
STELTER: They are in the air and they are so bright and they look so dramatic in the moment. But then they vanish and people move on to the next firework, the next bright light in the sky. So will Khan be one of the only exceptions to that rule? Guess we'll see as polls come out in the days to come.
ROMANS: And you know, these political cycles have been up and down, down is up, day is night. I mean, honestly.
STELTER: Right.
BERMAN: And so in any other universe, you know, attacking this family or going after this family and questioning this family would be seen as, you know, political suicide. Except in Donald Trump's case, things in any other political cycle would just end the candidacy.
BERMAN: Here's the thing.
STELTER: Right.
BERMAN: When he had the controversy over the Judge Curiel, the Indiana-born judge.
ROMANS: Right.
BERMAN: Who Donald Trump said couldn't be objective because of his Mexican heritage. It undeniably hurt him in the polls.
ROMANS: Yes.
BERMAN: It hurt him within the party as well. These things have had an impact. Do they last forever? No, nothing last forever in politics these days. But they do have an impact and having this come right after the convention and having members of your own party now in an incredibly awkward position of having to answer for it. Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell have both put out statements.
Now notable, neither McConnell nor Ryan has criticized Trump.
STELTER: Yes.
BERMAN: They've merely criticized the words and stood behind the family. But other Republicans have criticized Trump directly.
STELTER: You have to wonder what kind of political advice Trump is getting or not getting with regard to a subject like this. You and I and three of us could sit here and we can actually just, as journalists, write a statement that a normal politician would put out responding to a situation like this. It's something we've seen 100 times before. You also imagine what if the roles were reversed and if Hillary Clinton was the one criticizing a Gold Star family? It's mind boggling, you know, what the Republican reaction would be. So to see the Republican reaction to Trump, you can tell different to this.
ROMANS: Trump supporters don't want a normal politician. They don't want a normal statement.
STELTER: That's right.
ROMANS: They don't want -- they don't want -- that's his allure. He's not the status quo and he doesn't react as you would expect politicians to react.
STELTER: And today, he has two public events. So his tone with regards to this controversy will be very, very interesting to see. Given the weekend of criticism and onslaught of criticism. Will he blame the media or will he take some responsibility or really try to move on altogether?
ROMANS: Thanks, Brian. Nice to see you.
STELTER: Thanks.
ROMANS: Donald Trump campaigns today in Columbus, Ohio, just after Hillary Clinton wraps up her bus tour there.
[04:40:03] And then this evening she will be in Nebraska to talk about the economy. Hillary Clinton has been taking on Trump's remarks, those remarks we've just been telling you about.
CNN's Brianna Keilar has more now from Columbus.
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.
BERMAN: All right, Brianna. Thanks so much.
President Obama claims progress is being made on the most critical issues facing the nation's veterans. The president will speak at the 95th Convention of Disabled American Veterans this afternoon. And despite a significant backlog in patient wait times, 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 2015.
ROMANS: All right. Hillary Clinton scoring a big endorsement from the business world this weekend. Billionaire Mark Cuban.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK CUBAN, BILLIONAIRE ENTREPRENEUR: Leadership is creating consensus in our amazing country and letting everybody know that American exceptionalism and the American dream are alive and well.
I'm ready to vote for a true leader. I'm ready to vote for the American dream. I'm ready to tell the world that I'm here to endorse Hillary Clinton.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Cuban and the Clinton campaign spoke multiple times throughout the 2016 primaries, according to an aide. They also met at Clinton's Brooklyn campaign headquarters a few weeks ago. You know, Cuban tells CNN he talked to Donald Trump before endorsing Clinton and urged Trump to adapt and learn policy.
BERMAN: Cuban dressed up for the endorsement, by the way.
ROMANS: Yes.
BERMAN: He was wearing --
ROMANS: That was his best T-shirt.
BERMAN: He was a full T-shirt. That was his best T-shirt.
(LAUGHTER)
BERMAN: All right, widespread devastation, deadly floods tear through parts of Maryland over the weekend. Some of the pictures are simply stunning. What will the forecast bring today. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:47:39] ROMANS: New developments this morning in the deadly flash flooding that devastated the Baltimore suburbs this weekend. Two people died in separate incidents Saturday night when flood waters raging through Ellicott City swept away their cars.
You could see here. Just watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got it. You got it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have to. Come on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Dozens of frantic water rescues needed on street after street. In this case, residents formed a human chain to pull a woman from her car before it was swept away. Half a foot of rain fell in the area in just one four-hour period.
Want to get the forecast now from CNN meteorologist Karen Maginnis.
(WEATHER REPORT)
BERMAN: All right, Karen. Thanks so much.
A bloody weekend in Austin, Texas. Two separate shootings, seven minutes apart. In the first incident, four women were shot on Sixth Street. That's a popular street with a lot of concert venues and restaurants.
[04:50:03] Police say a suspect pulled out a weapon and began firing into a crowd before escaping. He remains at large. There's also a shooting in a nearby parking lot. But no one was hit. The gunman there was captured. ROMANS: All right. July was a very hot month for the stock market.
Will the major averages cool off in August? We'll get an EARLY START on your money -- your money, in particular, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Breaking overnight. The Taliban 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. Comes a week after an ISIS suicide bombing killed 80 people in Kabul during a protest by a Shia minority group.
BERMAN: We have new information about what may have caused the crash of a hot air balloon in Texas this weekend. All 16 people on board were killed.
[04:55:01] Overnight, two additional victims, Joe and Tressa Shaffer Owens, they were identified. Authorities say the balloon pilot is one focus of the investigation.
Let's get more now 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. 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 of course can cause serious birth defects. But Dr. Anthony Fauci said it is highly unlikely that the Zika situation will ever get as bad in the mainland U.S. as it has been in Puerto Rico and Brazil.
ROMANS: All right. Time for an EARLY START on your money. Welcome to August. Dow futures pointing higher, European stocks have been opened almost two hours now, they are higher. Asian shares closed at the highest level in a year. Oil prices down here. July was simply awesome for investors. Dow up 2.6 percent, Nasdaq -- look at the Nasdaq up 6 percent in one month. The S&P 500 up 3.3 percent.
There was a solid jobs report to start the month. The Dow and the S&P 500 notching record after record over the past four weeks. That's right, record highs.
A powerful advertising executive will not be going to work this morning after he made comments about women in his industry. Kevin Roberts is the chairman of advertising Saatchi & Saatchi's. He's been put on leave after saying gender diversity is not an issue in the advertising industry and more women don't become bosses because they price work satisfaction over moving up. He told Business Insider, quote, "Their ambition is not a vertical ambition. It's this intrinsic circular ambition to be happy. So they say, we are not judging ourselves by those standards that you idiotic dinosaur like men judge yourself by," end quote.
Those and other comments drawing backlash from some who say it is still a male dominated industry. It is still a boys club that needs more female leadership. Saatchi & Saatchi's is a huge player in the global ad industry. Its clients include General Mills, Visa, Toyota and T-Mobile.
All right. Someone in New Hampshire turned two bucks into $487 million this weekend.
BERMAN: That's a good return.
ROMANS: That's a nice return. The lone winning ticket for Saturday night's Powerball Jackpot was sold at this supermarket in the Granite State. It's the fifth biggest Powerball jackpot ever. The eighth largest U.S. lottery grand prize in history. The winner has not come forward. It can take a 30-year payout worth the full $487 million before taxes of course, or you can choose a lump sum, that's around of $330 million. The odds of winning one in 292 million.
You almost have the same odds of finding a winning ticket in a subway grate as you do buying it.
BERMAN: You know, it's a good practice, though. If you're going to win Powerball, to have no one else win also?
ROMANS: That's a lot of money. BERMAN: See, so splitting the pot. Your strategy should be never to
split the pot if you can avoid it.
ROMANS: That's --
BERMAN: True story.
ROMANS: That's a lot of money.
BERMAN: All right. EARLY START continues right now.
ROMANS: Donald Trump standing firm in the face of fire after calling out a Muslim-American family who lost their son in Iraq. New criticism this morning coming from the left. Coming from the right. And from the soldier's father.
Good morning. And welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
BERMAN: I'm John Berman. Nice to see you. It is Monday, August 1st. Just 99 days to go until the presidential election. But who's counting? It is 5:00 a.m. in the East. We do have an unprecedented beginning to the general election campaign this morning with Donald Trump facing an unprecedented controversy. Locked in a face-off with the parents of a Muslim-American soldier killed fighting for the U.S. overseas.
