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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Donald Trump Calls Hillary "The Devil"; Trump's New Words for the Khan Family; Clinton Leads Trump in New Polls; CDC's Historic Zika Warning; U.S. Launches Airstrikes Against ISIS in Libya; Is Rio Ready for the Olympics? Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired August 02, 2016 - 05:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[05:00:01] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. EARLY START continues now.

(MUSIC)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight: Donald Trump calls Hillary Clinton the devil and steps deeper into his war of words with the parents of a U.S. fallen soldier.

BERMAN: Hillary Clinton retaking the lead over Donald Trump at a brand new CNN poll. A convention bounce, but how high and how long will it last?

ROMANS: The CDC issuing historic travel warning to pregnant women traveling to some Florida. Local transmission of the Zika virus in this country, folks.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman. It is Tuesday, August 2nd, 5:00 a.m. in the East.

And breaking overnight: new developments in the unprecedented political feud between Donald Trump and the Gold Star parents of the fallen Muslim-American soldier. Khizr and Ghazal Khan, they stood up at the Democratic convention last week, they took aim at what they called Trump's smears of Muslims.

All day yesterday, on TV, the Khans repeated their criticism of Trump all over television, including twice here on CNN.

Late last night, Trump lashed back saying the real reason for Khan's attacks is Trump has a plan -- a specific plan for keeping terrorists out of the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I was very viciously attacked, as you know, on the stage. And I was surprised to see it. And so, all I did, I have great honor and great feeling for his son, Mr. Khan's son. But, you know, as far as I'm concerned, he's a hero. INTERVIEWER: You've talked a lot about border security as a way to

prevent terrorists from getting into the United States.

TRUMP: It's very big subject for me, and border security is very big. And when you have radical terrorists probably all over the place, we're allowing them to come in by the thousands and thousands. And I think that's what bothered Mr. Khan more than anything else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: This controversy seems to follow the campaign, including his running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, who has a son serving in the Marines. At a rally overnight, a self identified military mom condemned Trump's criticism of the Khan family.

Now, the mother's question, it drew boos from the crowd. Pence did not directly address Trump's criticism of the Khan family, but he did praise that woman, the questioner. He praised her son and he praised the Khans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MILITARY MOM: My question, Mr. Pence, is, time and time again, Trump as disrespected the armed forces and veterans. And his disrespect for Mr. Khan and his family is just an example of that.

(BOOS)

MILITARY MOM: Will there ever be -- will there ever be a point in time when you are able to look Trump in the eye and tell him enough is enough? You have a son in the military.

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R-IN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It's OK.

MILITARY MOM: How do you tolerate his disrespect?

PENCE: Well, I thank you for the question.

Let me just say, first, I want to honor your son's service to the country and your family's service to the country. I truly do, ma'am.

(APPLAUSE)

Let me say, I know this has been much in the news of late, in the last few days. As I said last night, as Donald Trump said Saturday night, Captain Khan is an American hero. And we honor him and honor his family as when we do all Gold Star families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: It's really interesting to hear Mike Pence speak there. Governor Pence has a son who is a marine, handling this in a different way than Donald Trump is. In a way, they are running just alternate campaigns, very different campaigns with different styles.

Today, Donald Trump, he will be in Ashburn, Virginia. He has not addressed this on the trail. Mike Pence, he is going to a town hall in Tucson, Arizona. Arizona, the home state of John McCain. John McCain, is highly critical of Donald Trump right now.

So, will this Gold Star controversy, will it follow them or is it going to fade away?

Let's bring in CNN politics reporter Eugene Scott in Washington, and here in New York, I want to bring in CNN senior media correspondent Brian Stelter, host of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES."

Gentlemen, I want to play you sound of Khizr Khan. Khizr Khan was on "NEW DAY" yesterday, along with his wife Ghazala. He was on TV really all day yesterday, appeared on other morning shows and then again on "CNN TONIGHT WITH DON LEMON".

This is what he said, continuing really to go after Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KHIZR KHAN, GOLD STAR FATHER: Well, this is political season. You are a candidate for an office. And I have same rights as you do.

You can attack Mitt Romney. You can attack John McCain. You can attack Ted Cruz. You can attack Jeb Bush. You can attack women. You can attack minorities. You can attack Muslims. You can attack judges and nobody can question your caliber? Your lack of empathy and you want to be commander in chief?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Eugene, it is interesting. Other people Trump has been in fights with. Judge Curiel, for instance, hasn't been able to respond because of legal or professional reasons.

In this case, Khans are very, very public. So, it's a different type of opponent for Donald Trump. On the other hand, Donald Trump says, what am I supposed to do? This guy is just there all day and going after me in harsh terms. It's a real challenge for Trump right now.

EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: I think that is a reason he is receiving so much criticism. So, Donald Trump would consider what we just saw him being viciously attacked. That is why he says he responded.

I think a lot of his critics don't understand how he can one interpret that as a vicious attack and have a problem with being pushed back the way Mr. Khan did, considering Donald Trump's history of viciously attacking President Obama and even President George W. Bush. I think we're seeing major divisions within the Republican Party when you show the clip of the mom being booed in terms of what people believe is the right way for Donald Trump to respond in this situation.

ROMANS: You know, Brian Stelter, at this time, there is criticism from within the party and outside the party, in general about the treatment of the Khan family. You have the campaign, you have Donald Trump himself even criticizing the media anew for what it thinks is unfairness.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes, very much so. He has been an anti-CNN campaign the last 24 hours, also more broadly criticizing the press. I think probably because there is saturation coverage of the Khan family remarks. He is reading that and he's getting frustrated by it.

It is understandable by Trump, even though I think it's somewhat dishonest as well. You know, frankly, we are covering the Khans because it is a dramatic and important story to see this family coming forward and speaking out about Trump the way they are. I always appreciated Donald Trump's unwillingness to back down, I think a lot of supporters love how he stands up for himself, defends himself, and will not apologize. This is the ultimate example of that stance he takes.

BERMAN: It is an interesting cocktail here, guys, it is not just --

ROMANS: Cocktails at 5:00 a.m.

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: We should be so lucky.

Because there is no question that Khizr Khan. We are seeing him now and he is a political figure now. He is going on TV as an advocate for his positions again and again and again.

The word vicious, it is a loaded word. Let's leave the word vicious out of it. No question that he is attacking Donald Trump.

So, the question is, how does Donald Trump choose to respond? What is the right response morally and politically? That is what his campaign is dealing with. And his critics, including critics on the Republican side says? The way he has done this has gone too far, specifically when he's talked about the wife, Ghazala Khan, and question why she choose to be silent. You can respond to certain things with a certain touch.

Governor Mike Pence of Indiana responded to these questions yesterday without questioning exactly what the motives of the Khans were. So, it's a really -- I'm not saying this is easy for Donald Trump, at all particularly, where he's coming from. But sometimes, politically speaking, the best response times is no response.

STELTER: Maybe it's worth nothing that actually at his rally last night, Trump did not talk about the Khan family. He made a choice not to discuss this. Now, he did in that interview clip that we played. In the clip, he said things inaccurate. He referred to Islam radical terrorists, allowing them to come in by the thousands.

The quote was, we're allowing them to come in by the thousands and thousands. There is no evidence of the American government is allowing thousands of terrorists into the country. For that to happen would be treasonous. So, that quote is inaccurate. But the comment from Trump, that's the only thing he said about the Khans last night, he did not bring them up at the rally.

ROMANS: Really fascinating.

SCOTT: I will say, though, that Donald Trump did continue his attacks on social media. So, at this point, we're not just talking about previous attacks. Yesterday, he criticized Mr. Khan saying that his interview was all over the place. That is another jab.

So, here we are a week after Mr. Khan's speech and we're still talking about this. This is not that we are talking about this because we want to talk about it, Trump is talking about it. It is interesting to see if he really pivots and brings the focus of the election back onto the issues.

ROMANS: You know, a traditional or seasoned political campaign, you have ten people saying this is how we turn the story line. This is how we turn the news cycle, you know? This is how we want to turn back into Hillary Clinton and her trustworthiness, which is what they want to be really focusing on.

At the same time, Hillary Clinton yesterday in Nebraska. She is with Warren Buffett, you know, who is a folksy billionaire. Let's listen to what he said. He had his challenge for Donald Trump on the tax issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WARREN BUFFETT, BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY CEO: One point and he said it several times. He can't release it because he is under audit. Now, I've got news for him. I'm under audit, too, and I would be delighted to meet him any place, anytime between now and election. I'll bring my tax return.

[05:10:01] He can bring his tax return. Nobody's going to arrest us. It is -- there are no rules against showing your tax returns. Just let people ask questions about the items on there. You're only afraid if you've got something to be afraid about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Warren Buffett, the folksy billionaire, the Oracle of Omaha. Eugene, does that help Hillary Clinton? Does Warren Buffett and this other stable of Mark Cuban and Sheryl Sandberg and other successful business people. Does that help Hillary Clinton blunt Trump's success on the campaign trail?

SCOTT: In some ways, absolutely, not just because they are successful business men. They are also men, a white group of men that Hillary Clinton is having a hard time reaching. And so, the hope is that they can connect with voters that Hillary Clinton has yet to connect with.

I will say though that the issue of the tax returns is an issue for Democrats. I mean, I don't think we have not seen polling or data that says that Donald Trump's base or Republicans in general are pressing him to issue to release those tax returns. So what the Clinton campaign is hoping to do is paint him as more transparent and he has other things to hide. I don't think Republican voters are buying it. They don't care about that.

STELTER: His supporters want to see Hillary's transcripts of her Wall Street speeches.

ROMANS: That's right.

STELTER: They want to see that instead.

Meanwhile, the other headline was the poll that came out showing Clinton nine points ahead of Donald Trump. At the end of the day, that national poll and the state polls that are showing progress for Clinton are probably the most important thing that Donald Trump doesn't want us talking about today.

ROMANS: Eugene and Brian, we will talk about those polls in a half hour. So, don't go away. Go get a cup of coffee. A tease as they say in TV.

Let's talk more, guys, about Warren Buffett. He's just the latest billionaire to hit the stump with Hillary Clinton. He officially endorsed her back in December.

And Clinton's list of wealthy business leaders grows. Here it is, tech entrepreneur Mark Cuban. He endorsed Clinton over the weekend. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke at the Democratic National Convention, endorsing Clinton there and tearing apart Donald Trump. Marc Benioff is the CEO of Salesforce. He's on Team Clinton. George Soros, the hedge fund who has donated millions to Clinton super PAC. Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer at Facebook. Their support comes despite Trump's plans to lower the corporate tax rate and cut taxes for all Americans, including huge tax cuts for the wealthy.

Another billionaire powerful bank chief says he knows how the next president can double economic growth, the JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. He says, regardless of who wins, he's not endorsing anybody. He says, regardless of who wins, if the next president focuses on immigration reform and infrastructure spending and lower business taxes, the economy can grow at 4 percent. A huge move from the 1.2 percent this spring.

It's so interesting. He says, proper immigration reform and proper infrastructure spending suggesting that maybe we haven't done this correctly in the past. But those are the three things he says the next president could do to get the economy moving quickly.

BERMAN: All these big investors, they think they so smart, they think have all the answers, don't they?

All right. The CDC issuing an unprecedented travel warning to pregnant women: avoid one major U.S. city. We will have the details, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:17:22] ROMANS: The Centers for Disease Control has issued an unprecedented travel warning over a Zika outbreak in Florida. The CDC is advising pregnant women to avoid travel to a small neighborhood just north of downtown Miami. This comes after a number of local Zika transmissions from mosquitoes in the area more than tripled from four to 14. Officials also say women who live or travel there should be tested for Zika infection in the first and second trimesters of pregnancy even if they have no symptoms.

BERMAN: The United States now conducting air strikes against ISIS targets in Libya. The chief focus of this operation is the coastal city of Sirte. This is an ISIS stronghold. The Pentagon calls this the beginning of the ongoing campaign with the air strike coming at the request of the Libyan government, so far as there is a Libyan government.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr gives us the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, this first round of air strikes in Libya carried out at President Obama's authorization in conjunction with the emerging Libyan government called the Government of National Accord.

This government has been asking the U.S. for help in striking ISIS inside Libya. They are looking for those precision U.S. air strikes to push back ISIS fighters.

One of the big concerns has been that ISIS had been gaining strength in Libya. These fighters had been moving against ISIS. Now they want the extra fire power from the U.S. to push them out once and for all.

The question right now is where are the ISIS fighters? Some certainly have been killed in the recent weeks and months of fighting. But there is concern that some have fled and some have disappeared into nearby towns and villages, mixed in with civilian populations.

And ISIS in Libya is always a big concern, because ISIS operatives can fairly readily move across the Mediterranean into southern Europe or across North Africa and carry out more attacks. The hope is that this extra U.S. fire power with more attacks in the coming weeks expected will be enough to push ISIS out once and for all -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Barbara Starr, thank you for that. The Olympics begin in just days. But health experts are warning athletes about the dangers they will face in Rio. We're live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:24:11] ROMANS: Music sounds grand. Some of the details downright gross. Ready or not, Rio set to host the 2016 summer Olympics. Athletes all over the world now pouring into the Brazilian city. The opening ceremony for the summer games three days away now, and the very first competition begins tomorrow. Still, many problems remain. You've got severely polluted water, you've got concerns about the Zika virus.

CNN's Shasta Darlington is live for us in Rio.

Shasta, are they ready?

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, most of the venues are. They were ready pretty much on schedule.

The problem, the biggest problem is really for the sailers and rowers. Their venue is the water and that's why it's important when you mention the polluted water. The sailers are going to be competing in the Guanabara Bay, which is clogged with raw sewage and garbage bobbing on the surface.

[05:25:01] Body parts washed up here on the beach just a couple weeks ago. And it really wasn't supposed to be like this. Back in 2009, when Rio won its bid, they said they would clean up the waters and connect homes to the sewage system. Well, seven years later, only half of the homes are connected to that sewage system.

And that means it all runs downhill and ends up here in the Guanabara Bay where the sailers are in the lagoon where the rowers are going to be. And some of it, even on the beaches.

Now, if that weren't bad enough, there is now research that shows that super bacteria resistant to antibiotics has also been found in the beaches and in the sailing venue. They believe it is because hospitals are not connected to the sewage system. So, this super bacteria is ending up there and could pose an added risk, Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Thank you so much for that, Shasta Darlington. As the sun comes up in Rio, behind you, what a beautiful -- certainly a beautiful location. Thank you so much for that, Shasta.

BERMAN: And it looks a lot more like that and not the sewage strewn beaches that we've seen.

ROMANS: Gross.

BERMAN: Donald Trump calls Hillary Clinton the devil. Did he mean it literally or metaphorical sense? We're having that discussion this morning.

Plus, Donald Trump continues this feud with the family of a falling soldier. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)