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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Obama: Trump's Claim Of Rigged Election "Ridiculous"; Clinton Widening Lead Over Trump In Polls; Rio 2016: Opening Ceremony Tonight. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired August 05, 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] GEORGE HOWELL, CNN HOST: President Obama responding forcefully to Donald Trump's allegation that the election could be rigged. The commander in chief's response and his take on other key issues, moments away.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN HOST: Donald Trump taking aim at Hillary Clinton as he looks to revive his struggling campaign, but will another debunked allegation prove too much to overcome? We'll tell you what he said.

HOWELL: And they're ready to rumble in Rio, the Summer Olympics getting underway tonight. A preview of the opening ceremony and what to expect in the next few weeks. CNN live in Rio later this hour. Welcome back to EARLY START, I'm George Howell.

ROMANS: Nice to have you here this week, George.

HOWELL: Good to be here.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans, it's 30 minutes past the hour. Up first, President Obama firing back at critics who suggest he paid a ransom to Iran for the release of four American hostages. In a wide- ranging news conference the president denied that charge -- strongly denied that charge -- calling the entire process open and transparent.

He also delivered a troubling assessment of the war against ISIS, but he seemed most anxious to discuss Donald Trump's recent claim that the election in November could be rigged -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've never heard of somebody complaining about being cheated before the game was over or before the score's even tallied, so my suggestion would be, you know, go out there and try to win the election. If Mr. Trump is up 10 or 15 points on Election Day and ends up losing then, you know, maybe he can raise some questions. That doesn't seem to be the case at the moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: As for the $400 million cash payment the U.S. made to Iran the president says there was no ransom, there is no scandal. He says the administration has been transparent all along. We get more from CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, George and Christine, right. This was a wide-ranging press conference. The transfer of that cash to Iran was going to come up and the president, sounding annoyed, clearly wanted to put it to rest -- listen.

OBAMA: We announced these payments in January, many months ago. There wasn't a secret. We announced them to all of you. Josh did a briefing on them. This wasn't some nefarious deal. We were completely open with everybody about it and it's interesting to me how suddenly this became a story again. We do not pay ransom for hostages.

KOSINSKI: And the president, there, didn't tell us anything that we didn't already know. He is right. The administration announced this transfer of money back in January. Everybody reported on it then. It's just that the recent release of these details seem to convey maybe a sense of urgency that this planeload of cash had to get to Iran just before the prisoners were released.

That reminds us of the question, the answers to which have not been completed clear. Was there urgency? Did that money need to get there just then, and does it bother the president that the timing of this then allowed Iran to call it a ransom? And if that money hadn't been there on time would those prisoners then have been released? Now, that may not be something we ever learn the answer to -- George and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Michelle, thank you.

ROMANS: It's so interesting when you think of the optics of pallets of Swiss francs and euros being loaded onto that plane because Iran was frozen out of the international banking system at that time. You can't transfer money there. This was, according to the administration and they said this at the time -- this was the first in a series of payments to settle an arms dispute -- an arms deal dispute that goes back to the 80's.

HOWELL: Because, again, as you mentioned, the two had no banking relationship.

ROMANS: Right.

HOWELL: I mean, the optics seem like something out of a spy novel.

ROMANS: And the timing is so interesting because it was exactly that very moment, these two different things that very moment, and that's what is causing the scrutiny, I think, here.

HOWELL: It is interesting but important to put that into context. Donald Trump also back on the campaign trail and now back on message. At a rally in Maine Trump refocused his attacks on Hillary Clinton, blasting his Democratic rival for what he calls a dangerous and weak position on immigration -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Hillary Clinton wants to have them come in by the hundreds of thousands. Just remember, this has nothing to do with politics folks, this is a whole different level. This has to do with pure, raw stupidity. She's made everybody less safe. Those 33,000 emails are potentially a danger to our country. We're both supposed to be brief in the not too distant future and I'm saying you can't brief her, you can't brief her, let's protest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:35:00] HOWELL: Trump, though, did stumble again, claiming that he has seen video of the cash payment made by the U.S. to Iran even though his campaign admits that video does not exist.

ROMANS: All right, let's bring in Greg Valliere, political economist and chief strategist of Horizon Investments, and CNN senior media correspondent and host of "RELIABLE SOURCES", Brian Stelter. Gentlemen, nice to see you again on this -- on this Friday morning.

I guess -- let's listen to that sound from Donald Trump if we can. That sound where he is saying he's seen this video with this really nice plane full of money. Listen to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And, you know, it was interesting because a tape was made, right? You saw that with the airplane coming in -- nice plane -- and the airplane coming in and the money coming off, I guess, right? That was given to us, has to be, by the Iranians. And you know why the tape was given to us? Because they want to embarrass our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: So Greg, what do you make of this? I mean, his campaign is saying no, that there isn't a video. Donald Trump hasn't seen a video. I mean, even when he potentially has something that he could really try to hammer on the administration and hammer on Hillary Clinton, then he kind of gets in the way of it.

GREGORY VALLIERE, POLITICAL ECONOMIST & CHIEF STRATEGIST, HORIZON INVESTMENTS: Yes, what can you say? I mean, he steps on his own lines. I mean, this is similar to him saying that Muslims were dancing in the streets after 9/11 -- that he saw it on T.V. and there's no tape. So he makes these outrageous claims. I understand that it motivates his supporters, gets them pretty excited, but you have to back it up. And if you can't back it up, that becomes the story.

HOWELL: So the question now comes down to judgment for both candidates, quite frankly. The question about is Donald Trump just making it up as he goes along on the stump and also the question for judgment with Hillary Clinton and the email situation. President Barack Obama talked about the fact that both of these

candidates will now receive these briefings -- these intelligence briefings. Let's listen to what he had to say. We can about it here on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: If you're the Republican nominee for president, they need to get security briefings so that if they were to win they are not starting from scratch, in terms of being prepared for this office. They have been told these are classified briefings. And if they want to be president they've got to start acting like a president and that means being able to receive these briefings and not spread them around.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: So again, we're talking about two candidates with the highest disapproval ratings we've seen in a political cycle. Is the concern among Republicans and Democrats alike -- is it valid for these two candidates, Brian?

BRIAN STELTER: CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT, HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": Well, we've seen Hillary Clinton fact check this week on her claims that she was entirely truthful about the email scandal.

But I think driving the day today, an endorsement of Clinton by Mike Morell, a former CIA director, national security veteran. He's out with an Op-Ed this morning in "The New York Times" that said Donald Trump is not just a poor candidate, he will be a dangerous president. And he says Trump is already damaging our national security.

He says he will vote for Hillary Clinton this fall and do everything he can to support her. I think Mike Morell is the latest example of elite establishment support for Hillary Clinton, reacting partly to what they fear in Donald Trump about his security credentials, or lack thereof.

ROMANS: Let's look at these polls now because -- now look, a poll is a snapshot. I don't ever like to get too wound up in polls, especially when you're three months out from an election. But polls here, Greg -- let's talk about this McClatchy-Marist poll, August 1-3, well above the margin of error here. Forty-eight to 33, Clinton, Trump.

And then you look at the Clinton lead in some of these battleground states -- New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida. Polls at this stage -- again, it's three months ahead of time but you never saw -- you never saw -- gosh, in the last election I cannot remember ever Mitt Romney being down that much.

STELTER: He was never down more than nine percent.

ROMANS: Greg?

VALLIERE: Yes, I mean, I would simply say that it is still August 5th. I don't think I believe that 15-point call, I think that's an outlier.

ROMANS: Yes.

VALLIERE: And we have to point out, to be fair, that most polls show that by almost two to one the American public doesn't trust Hillary Clinton, so she still has vulnerability. She still could lose but here we are at a point where I think she's now the clear favorite.

HOWELL: You know, we have a short time left here but I -- you talk about the issue of trust, we talked about the issue of judgment. Yesterday, reporters also asked the president about whether Donald Trump could be trusted with the nuclear codes. Let's listen to this exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: What is your assessment today as you stand here about whether Donald Trump can be trusted with America's nuclear weapons?

[05:40:00] OBAMA: Just listen to what Mr. Trump has to say and make your own judgment with respect to how confident you feel about his ability to manage things like our nuclear triad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: So Greg, the president saying it there without really have to say it.

VALLIERE: Right. This is really is going to come down to temperament, I think, more than anything else. But again, there's still stuff to come. I think that these Julian Assange WikiLeaks stories will come out during the fall. There is still potholes for her. But if this is really an election about temperament it's still another reason why she's the favorite.

ROMANS: All right, Greg Valliere, Brian Stelter, nice to see both of you.

VALLIERE: Thank you.

ROMANS: Thank you for that. Let's get an early start on your money this Friday, jobs day. Global markets are higher this morning after the Bank of England rolled out an aggressive stimulus package designed to offset Brexit. Right now, U.S. futures are higher.

Is the U.S. government making money off of student loans? You know, it's something that the 43 million Americans with student loan debt -- you've heard this, right? You've heard this on talk radio, now you're hearing it on the campaign trail, but is it true? According to the Congressional Budget Office, there's an estimate that says the federal student loan program could make $1.6 billion this year. But consider that it lends about $100 billion each year so it would be a small profit on all that lending.

Then there's this other estimate, one that accounts for risks, like defaulting -- the people who default on their loans. That estimate says the government would lose $20 billion this year. It's just really hard to get an accurate gauge. You've really got to follow the loans over a lifetime to be able to do that so it's really hard to know.

There are two things we do know. One, undergraduate loans always lose money. The government -- the taxpayers lose money on those undergraduate loans because of low-interest rates. Two, unlike other loans you can't refinance student debt even when rates are low like right now, and that is a bone of contention that student loan -- you know, taxpayers and student lenders -- student debtors, actually, I should say -- they have a valid point there.

HOWELL: Absolutely. We want to talk about this dangerous weather in the south. A tornado touching down leaving a path of destruction behind. The damage report and the weekend forecast ahead.

[05:42:15] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:46:25] HOWELL: Welcome back. Some dangerous weather to tell you about. A tornado ripping through parts of New Orleans. (Video playing) Look at this video. You can see debris there flying toward that car. The twister touched down on Thursday afternoon. It had wind gusts of 80 miles per hour. The force of that tornado causing the roof of this home that you see to cave in. Officials say several communities there were hit hard by the storm. So far, though, no word on injuries or deaths.

Let's get the very latest now from meteorologist Derek Van Dam.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Seven tornadoes in total yesterday, George and Christine, one of which happened to be in New Orleans just outside of the city center. Louisiana only averages one tornado through the entire month of August and it happened to be yesterday.

Out west, they also had stronger storms that created downburst winds that actually tore the roof of off some of the buildings across this region. That was a picture taken from Phoenix, Arizona. We also have this strong Pacific moisture streaming into the four corners region today. That will allow for a chance of thunderstorms and flash flooding so be on the lookout for that if you're near the four corners, stretching as far west as southern Nevada, as well. Albuquerque to just south and west of Denver.

Elsewhere across the U.S. we have a cold front that's going to be bringing thunderstorms on Saturday to New York City and the nation's capital, but by Sunday we'll clear things out and lower the humidity levels. A comfortable weekend in terms of the humidity and to the east coast, although the daytime highs will still be warm. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, Derek, thank you for that HOWELL: It's still hot but cooling down a little bit.

ROMANS: Let's take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY" this morning -- this Friday morning. Poppy Harlow joins us. Hi, Poppy.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN HOST: Hey, good morning, guys. Happy Friday to you. A lot of news ahead. Major, major polls being released showing a pretty consistently troubling trend for the Trump campaign. We're going to have the latest numbers for you and also those battleground states, so critical. What are they showing us? That's ahead on NEW DAY.

Also, you have seen the incredible video of the plane exploding when it landed in Dubai. This morning we will speak with two Americans who were onboard that plane and how they escaped. You'll see the video that they shot as 300 people rushed to get off that plane as it quickly filled with smoke. A lot ahead, guys.

ROMANS: Big Friday. Thank you, Poppy. I'll talk to you soon. Could Donald Trump's campaign be hurting his business? We're going to take a look. An early start on your money, next.

Projections suggest the earth's population will grow by a billion in the next 15 years, so how will we feed everyone if farmers only have limited land to cultivate? "CNNMONEY"s Vanessa Yurkevich has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VANESSA YURKEVICH, DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT, "CNNMONEY": Farmers are facing a scary reality. Their land size is decreasing. Soil is eroding by one and one-half billion tons per year. It's becoming harder to predict the weather and harder to predict how much they'll grow. Corn farmers get, on average, 168 bushels an acre but with better measurement tools they could be getting a lot more.

MIKE STERN, CEO, THE CLIMATE CORPORATION: So, between this optimal conditions where a grower can produce 530 bushels an acre, you know, across all 90 million acres you end up at about 168. That's the opportunity, OK? And what's going on is it's saying that the corn plant is capable of very, very high yields, yet all these different variables affect that corn plant on many, many acres that drive the yield average much, much lower.

YURKEVICH: Mike Stern is the CEO of The Climate Corporation. The company helps farmers, like Keith, increase their production. In two years, he's increased his yield by 10 percent. He went from about 180 bushels per acre to 200.

[05:50:00] What would you be checking out this morning?

KEITH GINGENCH, PRECISION A.G. MANAGER, GINGENCH FARMS: We'll check to see if there's any red spots in this field that are not usually there.

YURKEVICH: The technology shows Keith what's happening live on his 10,000-acre farm, whether it be a germ infestation, too much water in a certain part of the fields, or lack of nitrogen. Red means bad, green means crops are growing.

STERN: We begin to get a complete digital picture of their farm.

YURKEVICH: I mean, how precise is this, really?

STERN: We can begin to farm, you know, on a meter-by-meter basis as opposed to an 80-acre field basis and that's where we're trying to go, on a field-by-field basis.

YURKEVICH: Is this the future of farming?

GINGENCH: Yes, it's here to stay. It allows us to shift some of our manpower around and to look at more fields in less time in a day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[05:51:05] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:55:30] HOWELL: The official start of the Summer Olympics in Rio just hours away. And on the eve of tonight's opening ceremony the IOC banned 118 Russian athletes from competing because of doping. But that ruling was actually a victory for the Russian team. Coy Wire is live in Rio -- Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Good morning, George. Less than 24 hours away from the opening ceremony, yesterday we had hundreds of athletes, Russian athletes, dreaming of this moment for years, not knowing whether or not they were actually going to be able to pursue that dream of Olympic gold. You had 389 Russian athletes who entered these games and nearly one-third of them not able to complete.

It sounds bad but it's actually, as you mentioned George, a win of sorts for Russia. The World Anti-Doping Agency blasted Russia, uncovering that state-run doping program. Sporting federations around the world were calling for that nuclear option -- the blanket ban, yet two-thirds of the Russian athletes still able to compete here in Rio.

You have the full boxing teams from Russia, volleyball, Judo teams, and others all cleared. Twenty Russian gymnasts will be competing, including an Olympic champ. They'll have about 40 percent less athletes than they had in the 2012 London games but they will be here and all eyes will be on them, no doubt.

Now, the opening ceremony is tonight and it is going to be hype, an expected 3 billion people around the world tuning in. It's going to be like that Carnival celebration we've all heard of and maybe seen images of in Rio, but on a worldwide stage. Unforgettable night of Brazil's best music, dancing, passion. Start time is at 7:00 a.m. Eastern.

I want to catch you up real quick on this story -- happy update. Nigerian men's soccer team made it down to Brazil about seven hours before their match against Japan and they get the big win, five to four, despite all the drama. Congrats to them and we're looking forward to a big night of the opening ceremony here in Rio, guys.

HOWELL: Coy Wire with the sun and beach behind him. I'm with a suit and tie in New York. What's wrong with thispicture?

ROMANS: I know, awesome.

HOWELL: Coy, thank you so much.

ROMANS: All right, let's get an early start on your money. Time for -- global markets mostly higher this morning after the Bank of England rolled out an aggressive stimulus package designed to offset Brexit. The bank officially says Brexit will shrink the British economy, kill a quarter of a million jobs. Now there's a 50-50 chance of recession. So much for the strongest economy in Europe, right?

Right now, U.S. futures higher ahead of the big government jobs report, that's in two and one-half hours. So what am I expecting for July? Well, a "CNNMONEY" survey forecast 182,000 jobs added, 4.8 percent unemployment rate. I'll be watching wage growth and the so- called underemployment rate, too. Tune in this morning, 8:30 a.m. We'll break those live on "NEW DAY".

Donald Trump's campaign to make America great again may be bad for his businesses? Trump-branded golf courses, hotels, casinos have seen a decline in foot traffic since he entered the presidential race. That is according to new data from Foursquare. So why the decline? Well, this report says a key factor is that Trump's properties are overwhelmingly in blue states where consumers are more likely to take issue with his policies and rhetoric.

New York City now tops London as the most expensive city to live and work. That's according to new data that ranks cities around the world by residential and office rental costs. For the past few years London had topped the list, but no more. The falling pound after the Brexit vote knocked it down to number three. There you go.

HOWELL: Interesting. Donald Trump claims there could be a rigged election. The president, though, saying what does that mean? "NEW DAY" picks up our coverage right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Four hundred million in cash being flown to Iran. I wonder where that money really goes?

OBAMA: We did not pay ransom. We didn't here and we won't in the future.

TRUMP: A tape was made, you saw that. That was given to us by the Iranians.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Trump is not qualified to be president.

TRUMP: We're running against a rigged system. She is the queen of corruption.

OBAMA: Of course, the elections will not be rigged. What does that mean? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All eyes on Rio.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ten thousand athletes from 206 countries ready to compete.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're part of this legacy, now we just need to do everything we can to continue that legacy.

HOWELL: Tonight's opening ceremony just hours away.

MICHAEL PHELPS, SWIMMER, OLYMPIAN: This has to be one of the coolest things I've ever done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Good morning, everyone, welcome to your new day. It's Friday, August 5th, 6:00 in the East. Chris and Alisyn are off this morning, so I'm John Berman here along with Poppy Harlow. Good morning, one and all.

Up first, President Obama unloading on Donald Trump anew. Donald Trump, he believes, is unfit to hold the nation's office. The president dismissed Trump's claim that the November election will be rigged. That president called that ridiculous.