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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Trump Lashes Back At Slain Soldier's Family; Trump Wants Debates Rescheduled; Mark Cuban Endorses Hillary Clinton; NIH: More Zika Cases In U.S. Likely; Futures Point To Positive Start To August; Uber To Merge Its China Business With Didi Chuxing. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired August 01, 2016 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:30:00] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Trump's response has drawn criticism from veterans groups, from Democrats, and from some Republicans. Kahn, himself, is now calling Trump a man with a "black soul". And overnight Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, issued a statement that differs in tone from Trump, himself. CNN's Kristen Holmes has more from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN REPORTER: 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 Kahn, who while honoring his son on stage at the Democratic National Convention, said Trump has sacrificed nothing. Over the weekend, Trump responded.
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 --
HOLMES: Kahn 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 stay.
KHIZR KAHN, 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.
HOLMES: Trump also suggested that Kahn's wife, Ghazala Kahn, 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 onto 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 Capt. Kahn, calling him a true American hero. Adding that the agreed with the Gold Star family that a travel ban on "all members of a religion" is simply contrary to American values -- John and Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right, Kristen, thank you for that.
Trump's running mate, Mike Pence -- he weighed in on this overnight. He issued a statement calling Capt. Kahn an American hero. He added 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."
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, new controversy this morning from Donald Trump on another front. This fall's presidential debates at issue. Donald Trump now claims he wants two out of the three debates rescheduled. His 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 "rig" the debates by minimizing their audience. The Clinton called Trump's complaints malarkey. In fact, the debates were scheduled without the input of either campaign or either party.
The bipartisan debate commission sets up -- organizes these debates. They put out a statement that 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."
Now, the commission has faced criticism over the years for a variety of things. That part, you know, it's fair game. You can question whatever they do. You can't suggest that it was the Clinton campaign --
ROMANS: Right.
BERMAN: -- behind it because it is an independent commission.
ROMANS: Right. OK, let's break all this political action. So much happened over the weekend. I want to bring in senior media correspondent Brian Stelter. He's the host of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES". And CNN political reporter Eugene Scott is in Washington. He joins us again.
Guys, let's just listen to what Donald Trump said yesterday about Mrs. Kahn at the DNC. So this was an event that happened last Thursday, right? This electrifying moment on the stage at the DNC where her husband held up this copy of the Constitution. They said they wished that Donald Trump had read it. She did not speak and this is what Donald Trump had to say about that -- 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: Brian Stelter, a lot of people have said that, a lot of people have written that. That's right out the Donald Trump playback, isn't it --
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: It is.
ROMANS: -- for bringing the fringe into the mainstream.
STELTER: It's also downright conspiratorial. What he's hinting at, and I think what some of his supporters understand, is this notion -- this conspiratorial notion that the Muslim women are obedient to their husbands and, thus, are silent in a situation like that. In some ways, it's almost like Trump was baited here by the Democrats to criticize this family. Successfully baited by the Democrats because now this is a four-day long story.
[05:35:00] I have to say, when I saw the front page of "The New York Times" this morning --
ROMANS: Yes.
STELTER: We have the headline here. The headline on the front page of the Times is "Trump Struggles in Feud with Fallen GI's Family". It's sort of -- it's almost --
ROMANS: And it goes on to say that --
STELTER: -- stunning that it's actually happening this way.
ROMANS: -- his toolkit is failing him. I mean, this is "The New York Times", but the toolkit is failing him. Do we know if that's true? Is he struggling here?
STELTER: I don't know if I would go that far. I think we've got to see what happens today and tomorrow, especially when Trump is on the trail in Pennsylvania and Ohio, and especially when we start to see polls after the Democratic Convention. We know, time and time again, that Donald Trump has been able to repel these sorts of -- the stories that would -- that would hurt or doom other candidates. I don't know if we can say this time is different, yet.
BERMAN: One sign you can tell -- when you can generally tell when Donald Trump is in the middle of a controversy that may be hard to dig out is when he starts to get criticism directly from members of his own party. Let me read you what Jeb Bush -- and Jeb Bush is no Donald Trump fan. He's made clear that he's not going to vote for Donald Trump --
STELTER: Right.
BERMAN -- Jeb Bush, but this is what Jeb Bush said. "This is so incredibly disrespectful of a family that endured the ultimate sacrifice for our country." That's Jeb Bush. Lindsey Graham was also highly critical. Meghan McCain also highly critical.
Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the House, issued a very carefully worded statement here. Let me read that to you. It said, "Many Muslim Americans have served valiantly in our military and made the ultimate sacrifice. Captain Kahn was one such brave example. His sacrifice and that of Khizr and Ghazala Kahn should always be honored. Period."
Now, Eugene Scott, what's interesting here is that Paul Ryan is refusing to criticize Donald Trump specifically, though he is coming out in support of the Kahns. And there are some buzz words here -- some dog whistles here for people who have been paying attention to this controversy. He is talking about sacrifice. He says his sacrifice and the ultimate sacrifice, meaning that of Capt. Kahn and the Kahn parents.
Donald Trump, over the weekend, and George Stephanopoulos when asked what's he sacrificed, he says he's sacrificed a lot in building his businesses. But, Paul Ryan seems to be drawing a distinction between the types of sacrifice here.
EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Yes, I agree very much with Brian in the sense that it seems as if the Democrats were trying to bait Donald Trump. Everyone knows that Donald Trump has made sacrifices in his personal and professional life because he is a human being. But Donald Trump could not let that moment go and, in a moment, compared his sacrifices to the sacrifices of two parents who lost their son in a war.
The optics of that don't look good to some people -- to his critics -- because we all know that not all sacrifices are equal and Donald Trump failed to acknowledge that in his response.
STELTER: This is where comedians see an opening. And so it's Monday morning, all the late night shows tonight, I'm sure, are going to talk about this. But, John Oliver, guys, started last night. He was talking about his issue of sacrifices and then he said this about Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN OLIVER, COMEDIAN: Honestly, the main takeaway from these two weeks is that, incredibly, we may be on the brink of electing such a damaged, sociopathic narcissist that the simple presidential duty of comforting the families of fallen soldiers may actually be beyond his capabilities. And I genuinely did not think that that was a part of the job that someone could be bad at.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STELTER: That's obviously harsh from Oliver and Oliver's obviously a liberal-leaning comedian, but I think it's maybe a taste of what we're going to see from others later today.
CHRISTINE: Well, Meghan McCain, this is what she tweeted. "I would ask what kind of barbarian would attack the parents of a fallen soldier, but oh yeah it's the same person who attacks POW's." Here's my question. Judge Curiel, John McCain and the POW scandal at the very beginning of this whole thing, calling Mexican immigrants rapists --
Donald Trump has only moved forward and only built his momentum during this entire campaign, Eugene. What is the thing that is the final straw for Donald Trump or is it that all of this just plays with his voting base?
SCOTT: Donald Trump has been very clear, Christine, that there is no final straw with his most loyal supporters. He has said that he could shoot someone in the middle of the street in New York City and still maintain support from some people. I know that's a very extreme example but some people are not giving him a second look or backing away from him, even in this midst of this situation, in part because they do believe that the Democrats have played politics in using the Kahn family, and so --
ROMANS: Yes.
SCOTT: -- everything is very partisan right now and people cannot see past their personal politics and look at the issues individually sometimes.
BERMAN: You know, Brian Stelter, it's so interesting. I'm just reading my Twitter feed right now and we're hearing -- I'm hearing from some Trump supporters telling us that we're shills --
STELTER: Sure.
BERMAN: -- for Clinton by even talking about this story, by saying that Donald Trump is taking on this family. But we're also hearing from liberals -- from people on the left -- who are saying you're playing into Trump's hands by just letting him eat up this air time by focusing on controversy over controversy. You know, it's -- you can't please anybody in something like this. But I will say -- look, when a presidential nominee -- he is now the --
[05:40:00] STELTER: Yes.
BERMAN: -- Republican nominee. When he says things and when he does things that are unusual and unprecedented in a campaign setting you've got to point it out.
STELTER: I think so. I think we saw this George Stephanopoulos interview we've been playing clips from. Trump made a lot of news in that interview and a lot of people saw that interview and thought he stepped in a lot of pits and hit a lot of landmines in that interview talking about a lot of things that were troubling. He talked about Ukraine and Crimea and Russia.
There was a lot of news in these interviews. So as much as -- as much as the press is giving Trump an enormous amount of attention, I think it's an enormous amount of scrutiny that's being applied, and it will have to because it's going to be applied.
ROMANS: There are going to be a couple of campaign events, I think, for Donald Trump. It will be important to see how he reacts.
STELTER: Yes.
ROMANS: Then there's this "Washington Post" Op-Ed. I want to just read a little bit from. It's from Ghazala Kahn. This is what she wrote responding to that statement yesterday from Donald Trump on "ABC" saying that maybe she wasn't allowed to speak.
She said he said "maybe Iwasn'tallowed to say anything. That is not true. My husband asked me if I wanted to speak but I told him I could not." You know, she talks about how she had this huge picture of her son on the stage --
STELTER: Yes.
ROMANS: "Trump is talking about Islam, he is ignorant. If he studied the real Islam and Koran, all the ideas he gets from terrorists would change because terrorism is a different religion. Donald Trump said he has made a lot of sacrifices. He doesn't know what the word sacrifice means." She just wanted to make sure she had everyone --
STELTER: More than 6,000 comments on that "Washington Post" Op-Ed. I can't think of the last time I saw that many comments --
ROMANS: Really.
STELTER: -- on a single article. I believe it just speaks to how this story really resonates with people. It is such an emotional and evocative story and that's, of course, why the Democrats invited them to speak on stage last week.
ROMANS: All right.
BERMAN: OK.
SCOTT: I was also going to say one thing that was very interesting in terms of the pushback that Donald Trump has received regarding how he responded to the soldier's mother, is that for a candidate that's not doing really well with women, the optics of him appearing to attack a war mother just didn't play well with quite a few people who already are supportive of Trump.
I think when people say that the media is just playing into Trump's plans in covering this issue, this is notable because this is a situation where veterans and the Republican leaders are attacking Donald Trump. These are people who are pro-Trump. And so, it's notable when your own side finds things that you say problematic.
ROMANS: All right, Eugene, thank you so much -- also, Brian. Nice to see you bright and early this Monday morning, guys, thanks. All right, Hillary Clinton scoring a big endorsement in the business world this weekend from 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 -- they spoke multiple times throughout the primaries. That's according to an aide. They also met at Clinton's Brooklyn campaign headquarters a few weeks ago. Cuban tells CNN he talked to Donald Trump before endorsing Clinton and he urged Trump to adapt and learn policy.
BERMAN: All right, widespread devastation after deadly floods ripped through parts of Maryland. We're going to look at the damage in stunning pictures. We're also going to talk about the forecast for today. That's next.
[05:43:40] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:47:45] ROMANS: Breaking news, a police officer shot during a high-speed car chase in Carbondale, Illinois. Officials say officers heard gunshots and saw a tan, four-door car which they tried to stop, leading to that chase. A suspect in the car fired on the patrol car hitting one officer. He is reported, right now, in serious condition and has been taken to St. Louis for further treatment. The hunt for the suspects still underway.
New developments this morning in the deadly flash flooding that devastated the Baltimore suburbs this weekend. It left two people dead and dozens of frantic water rescues. (Video playing) In one case -- look at this -- residents forming a human chain to pull this woman from her car before the car was swept away. About half a foot of rain fell in the area in one four-hour period. We want to get the very latest from CNN meteorologist Karen Maginnis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAREN MACGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: What really is amazing, John and Christine, is that there were so many cell phones that were looking at this six-inch rain event in two hours. It really gives you such a startling perspective. But let's look at it by the numbers. After 10 minutes, about an inch and one-half of rainfall. That's when the significant rainfall event began. And then, over that two-hour time period, just under six inches of rain.
Ellicott City, a city that really historically has had some very significant flood events that have taken place. Well, what happens for Baltimore -- Baltimore City, Ellicott City? Just some isolated storms. It will give you a little bit of breathing room for the afternoon. We start to see that change a little bit by the middle of the week.
And eastern Pennsylvania into northern New Jersey, some showers and thunderstorms. Flash flood watches could be issued with one, two inches of rainfall possible there. The mouth of the Chesapeake will see some pretty good storms. But elsewhere around Washington, D.C., Baltimore, just scattered activity. Can't predict where those are, it's hit or miss.
And then, as I've mentioned, right around Ocean City into the Toms River area, also Rehoboth -- you could see a little bit more significant wet weather expected for the afternoon. And the heat is on in the Midwest. Some areas in the Midwest could expect some significant rainfall over the next day or so and soaring temperatures approaching the triple digits. Back to you guys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right, thanks for that, Karen Maginnis. All right, let's take a -- take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY". Poppy Harlow joins us now. Good morning -- good Monday morning, Poppy.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Good Monday morning, Christine. Hope you had a good weekend. We have a lot ahead today on "NEW DAY". Donald Trump's war of words with a Gold Star family. You've heard all about it. It is making political waves this morning.
[05:50:00] Ahead on "NEW DAY" the Kahn family will sit down with us. They will tell us what the past few days have been like for both of them and their family. What they think about Donald Trump's response to their emotional message on stage there at the Democratic Convention.
Also, a deadly hot air balloon crash over the weekend, 16 people dead as a result, is bringing new calls to make those rides safer. Also, we're going to dig into the recommendations -- the safety recommendations that were made years ago back in 2014 to the FAA. Why did they never take place? All of that ahead on "NEW DAY" -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right, sounds like a really stacked lineup. Thanks so much, Poppy. July was a very hot month for the stock market. Will the major averages cool off in August? We'll get on EARLY START on your money, next.
[05:51:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:55:00] ROMANS: 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. It comes a week after an ISIS suicide bombing killed 80 people in Kabul during a protest by a Shia minority group.
A bloody weekend in downtown Austin, Texas. Two separate shootings seven minutes apart early Sunday morning. In the first incident, four women were shot on Sixth Street. That's a very popular nightlife place. Police say a suspect pulled out a weapon and began firing into a crowd before escaping. He remains at large. There was also a shooting in a nearby parking lot. No one was hit there and that gunman was captured.
A top federal health official says the U.S. will almost certainly see more locally transmitted cases of the Zika virus. This follows the first reported local transmissions in Florida where four people were infected. But officials says it's highly unlikely the Zika situation will ever get as bad as it has been in Puerto Rico and Brazil.
All right, it's Monday morning. Let's get an EARLY START on your money. Welcome to August, folks. Dow futures pointing higher, European stocks turned lower at the pop of the open there. Asian shares closed at the highest level in a year. Oil is down.
You know, July was awesome for investors. The Dow up -- look at that -- almost 2.7 percent, Nasdaq more than six percent, and the S&P 500 adding 3.3 percent. The gains were fueled by a solid jobs report at the start of the month. The Dow and the S&P 500 notched several record highs over the past four weeks.
A powerful advertising executive will not be reporting to work this morning after making comments about women in the advertising industry. Kevin Roberts is the chairman of advertising giant Saatchi & Saatchi. Now, he is on leave after saying gender diversity is not an issue in the advertising industry, and more women don't become bosses because they prize work satisfaction over moving up.
He told "Business Insider" this. "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."
Now, those and other comments drawing backlash from some who say it is still a male-dominated industry and needs more female leadership. Advertising still is too much of a boy's club. Saatchi & Saatchi a huge player in the global ad industry. Its clients include General Mills, Visa, Toyota, and T-Mobile.
Uber's new strategy in China, if you can't beat them, join them. Uber is merging its China operations with the Chinese rival, Didi. It's a landmark deal that would end Uber's quest to dominate one of the world's largest markets. The deal values the combined company at $35 billion. Reports say Uber was losing as much as $1 billion a year trying to figure out the ridesharing market in China. Neither company has turned a profit yet in China.
All right, 58 minutes past the hour. Donald Trump, top story this morning, facing new outrage for his response to a Muslim-American family that honored their son at the Democratic Convention. "NEW DAY" picks up that story now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAHN: You have sacrificed nothing and no one. TRUMP: I think I've made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Trump poses a serious threat to our democracy.
KAHN: He is a black soul and this is totally unfit for the leadership of this beautiful country.
TRUMP: Did Hillary's scriptwriters write it?
JULIAN ASSANGE, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, WIKILEAKS: The DNC and the RNC have been Swiss cheese.
JAMES CLAPPER, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Was this just to stir up trouble or to influence an election?
ASSANGE: We have more material related to the Hillary Clinton campaign. We have clear proof of sabotage.
BERMAN: Deadly flooding in parts of Maryland.
ALLAN KITTLEMAN, COUNTY EXECUTIVE, HOWARD COUNTY, MD: It has never been close to being this bad. It's look like a war zone, like a set for a disaster movie.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.
BERMAN: All right, good morning, welcome to your new day. It is Monday, August 1st, 6:00 in the East. Chris and Alisyn are off so Poppy Harlow, John Berman here. We are in charge this morning.
This morning, Donald Trump smack in the middle of a new political firestorm on the first week of the general election campaign. Trump's feud with the Muslim-American family who lost their son in the Iraq war dominating all the talk this morning on the campaign trail.
HARLOW: No question about that. Politicians on both sides of the aisle denouncing Trump for attacking this Gold Star family. The mother and the father of this decorated American war hero firing back, saying Trump lacks the empathy and moral compass to be the commander in chief of this country.
We being our coverage this morning with our Phil Mattingly. Good morning, Phil.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, guys. The reality is this. Republicans officials are waking up this morning with their nominee in an escalating battle with the parents of a slain U.S. soldier. It's not necessarily something they wanted to start the week with, but it's still something that's happening and it's causing a growing rift in the party.
