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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Trump Doing Damage Control; Trump's Bromance with Putin; Going For Gold in Rio. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired August 08, 2016 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:41] ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump on damage control. The GOP nominee falling dramatically in the polls and lashing out at Hillary Clinton.
RYAN NOBLES, CNN ANCHOR: It is day three of the Olympics. Record- setting wins and shocking losses. We have all the highlights you might have missed.
KOSIK: Storms across the globe leaving dozens dead as severe weather threatens the south. What you need to know.
Good morning. And welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Alison Kosik.
NOBLES: I'm Ryan Nobles. It is 30 minutes past the hour. And happening today, Donald Trump set to unveil his plan for boosting the U.S. economy. In a speech to the Detroit Economic Club, the Republican nominee is expected to add some details to his proposal for broad tax cuts while reducing the federal debt.
Hillary Clinton laid low over the weekend enjoying a bump in the polls following the Democratic convention and a tumultuous week for Trump. Trump, meantime, was back in full attack mode trying to make up lost ground. Leading Republicans say they are not sure Trump can win in some crucial swing states.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOVERNOR JOHN KASICH (R), OHIO: He is going to win parts of Ohio where people are really hurting. There will be sections he will win because people are angry, frustrated and haven't heard any answers. But I still think it's difficult if you are dividing to be able to win in Ohio. I think it is really, really difficult.
SEN. JEFF FLAKE (R), ARIZONA: Particularly here in Arizona, the statements he made out of the gate when he got into the campaign about those crossing the border being rapists and whatnot. That just doesn't sit well. And then to refer to a judge born in Indiana as a Mexican, you know, in a pejorative way, it just -- you know, you can't expect to win Arizona when you make statements like that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there any chance that Hillary Clinton could win in Arizona?
FLAKE: In 1996, Bill Clinton won Arizona. Yes, it is possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP) NOBLES: Arizona not even really a swing state. For more now, let's turn to CNN's Scott McLean in Washington.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ryan, Alison, Donald Trump has a lot of work to do to catch up with Hillary Clinton. A new ABC News/"Washington Post" poll shows Clinton with a sizable 8-point lead over Trump, a similar margin to other recent surveys including CNN.
Clinton benefitted from a bump after the Democratic National Convention and Trump is coming off a week filled with one controversy after another. Republicans have been pushing Trump to focus his energy on Hillary Clinton. And this weekend, he seemed to get the message.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She's a liar. She is a horrible, horrible human being. She's incompetent. She's incompetent. And I don't think that you can even think of allowing this woman to become the president of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCLEAN: Trump is also going after Hillary Clinton's recent attempt to clarify an answer she had given about her private e-mail server. Clinton had said that FBI Director James Comey found her public statements about that private server were truthful. But that comment has been widely debunked because Comey never actually passed judgment on that specific point.
Clinton has tried to defend herself by saying that she may have short- circuited on her initial answer. The Trump campaign, they're seizing on that phrase.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Unstable Hillary Clinton, and you saw that. Did you saw that where she basically short circuited?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCLEAN: Clinton herself was out of the public eye this weekend, but on Sunday her running mate, Tim Kaine, defended her on the e-mail issue and said a Clinton-Kaine administration would be more open.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TIM KAINE (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She said it was a mistake. We -- I am not presumptuous enough to start thinking about how I'm going to do things after November. But I know that this is something that she's learned from and we're going to be real transparent absolutely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCLEAN: Today, Donald Trump will be in Detroit to tout his economic plan. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton, she'll start a two-day trip to the key battleground state of Florida where last week a poll showed her with a lead -- Ryan, Alison.
KOSIK: All right. Our thanks to Scott McLean for that.
And as we mentioned Donald Trump is expected to unveil his economic agenda today. So what do we know about his economic vision for the country? Well, on trade, he has said he wants to renegotiate deals like NAFTA and slap heavy tariffs on goods from China and other countries.
[04:35:06] On taxes, Trump put out a four-page plan. This happened back in September. It would cut the number of income tax rates to four, increase the standard deduction and repeal the estate tax and alternative minimum tax. And analysts say this could actually add almost $10 trillion to the deficit over 10 years. So we're going to see today if he dials back on some of those cuts today.
Finally on the minimum wage, Trump has changed his position a few times. In fact, just last month, he said he'd be open to raising it to $10 an hour.
NOBLES: New this morning, one of Jeb Bush's sons breaking with his never-Trump dad and backing Donald Trump for president. At a Republican meeting of activists, Texas land commissioner, George P. Bush, called for the party to unite behind its nominee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE P. BUSH, JEB BUSH'S SON: You know, from Team Bush, it is a bitter pill to swallow. But you know what? You get back up and you help the man that won, and you make sure that we stop Hillary Clinton.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBLES: Now George P.'s father Jeb is strongly opposed to Trump. He says he won't vote for the nominee in November. Jeb, his brother George W. and their father George H.W. Bush all skipped the party convention in Cleveland.
KOSIK: House Speaker Paul Ryan barnstorming his district today with just one day to go before the Wisconsin primary. Ryan facing an underfunded primary challenger, Paul Nehlen, who exchanged compliments with Donald Trump on Twitter. That was before Trump formally endorsed Ryan on Friday in the name of party unity. Trump's decision to withhold his endorsement of the House speaker until the last minute triggered widespread anxiety among Republican leaders. Ryan is expected to win the primary.
NOBLES: President Obama reaching historic milestone on Sunday. Didn't have anything to do with legislation or news conferences or really anything political for that matter. No, it was the president playing his 300th round of golf. It happened on his vacation in Martha's Vineyard. And as he reaches the end of his term, we're now learning a closely guarded secret, the president's golf handicap, Mr. Obama telling the Golf Channel that he is an honest 13. So honest would mean that, you know, he's not -- counting every stroke.
(LAUGHTER)
KOSIK: But he's doing pretty darn well. Considering he is the president and really, really busy.
NOBLES: Yes, exactly.
KOSIK: All right. Time for an EARLY START on your money. Dow futures are higher following solid gains Friday. After we got that jobs -- that strong U.S. jobs report. European stock markets, they're mostly in the green as well. Asian markets closed higher overnight. On Friday, the S&P and the Nasdaq, they both closed at record highs thanks to the jobs report.
Now the U.S. economy created 255,000 jobs in July. This is the second straight month of better than expected job growth. The unemployment rate holding steady at 4.9 percent.
We're going to be keeping an eye on Wal-Mart. The retail giant will reportedly announce it is buying online shopping site jet.com for $3 billion. Wal-Mart is really trying really, really hard to take on Amazon and buying Jet will give it much needed scale in the e-commerce world. No comment from Wal-Mart on the report. But a high-ranking executive in Wal-Mart says listen, we're trying to get into e-commerce more and compete with Amazon. Good luck with that. And it's really been slow going for Wal-Mart in this section.
NOBLES: Could that be good for the consumer overall, though, something like this?
KOSIK: Of course. You don't have to go out of your house to shop for -- for your products at Wal-Mart. But it doesn't seem to be catching just yet. Wal-Mart obviously trying to make an attempt at that.
NOBLES: All right. Team USA swimmer Katie Ledecky fast becoming one of the big stars of the Rio Olympics. Smashing her world record. The must-see moments from the Olympics coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[04:43:00] KOSIK: Welcome back. Donald Trump's so-called bromance with Vladimir Putin is turning into a big question having over his campaign. The two men, they paid each other compliments in the media. Trump has made remarks about NATO and Crimea that could have only provoked smiles in the Kremlin. Meantime parts of Russian state media are embracing Trump, painting him as an eccentric billionaire ready to deal with Moscow.
Senior international correspondent Matthew Chance joining us now from St. Petersburg, Russia.
You know, when we talk about this so-called bromance, I think back to this "New Yorker" article where it shows this mural in Lithuania of Trump and Putin kissing. So what can you tell us about Putin's feelings for Trump? MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that
was, I think, a copy of a much more famous painting that's on the Berlin Wall showing Leonard Leonid Brezhnev, the former Soviet leader, and Eric Honecker, the former leader of Eastern Germany, kissing in the same way. But, yes, I mean, it does sum up, you know, this sense in which there is this idea that Putin and Trump are in some way closely tied. They've got similar concerns and ambitions when it comes to foreign policy.
And much of that comes from the fact that Trump himself has voiced opinions about foreign policy that very much reflect the Russian point of view on NATO, for instance, on Crimea, as well, which Russia annexed from Ukraine a couple of years ago. Trump saying he would look whether it would be right to recognize that Russian annexation of the place. And Putin has also made some positive comments towards Trump as well, as you said. He's called him an eccentric billionaire and said he was colorful.
And so yes, they have been -- they've sort of been trading compliments. And we don't get much of a better picture, though, of what Putin really feels. He hasn't really expounded his views on this issue. But there's been opinion polls here in Russia. State media, of course, takes a very pro-Trump line. And the most recent opinion poll that we've seen shows that 34 percent of respondents here in Russia say they think relations between Russia and the United States would get better if Trump was elected to become the next U.S. president.
[04:45:10] Only 6 percent want to see Hillary Clinton as the next U.S. president. And so, yes, I mean, there is an overriding sense that Trump, for many Russians including the Kremlin, is the favored candidate.
KOSIK: All right. Yet one more colorful sidebar in the race for U.S. president.
CNN's Matthew Chance, thanks so much.
NOBLES: Breaking overnight. The 83-year-old emperor of Japan says that if his health gets worse, he fears he won't be able to fulfill his duties. In an extremely rare televised address, Emperor Akihito told his people earlier this morning that he's currently in good health, but that his fitness level is gradually declining. Japanese Prime Minister Abe said after the speech that he'll think, quote, "very seriously about how to ease the emperor's burden." It's only the third time that a Japanese emperor has ever made a speech on broadcast media.
KOSIK: Iran's government revealing it executed a nuclear scientist for treason. Officials say Shahram Amiri was convicted of spying for the United States. Amiri vanished banished back in 2009 and resurfaced a year later in the U.S. claiming he'd been abducted and interrogated by the CIA. At the time, U.S. officials said Amiri defected voluntarily. In 2011, he returned to Iran where he was later tried and convicted of giving vital information to the enemy, America, the great Satan. NOBLES: In Kabul, Afghanistan, two lecturers at the American
University have been abducted at gun point. An Afghan security official says one of the teachers was American, the other Australian. The official says two armed kidnappers stopped the lecturers' car, broke through the window with a gun barrel, and took the men away with them. Local media reports say the attackers were wearing Afghan security uniforms. At this point it's unclear who is behind the kidnapping.
KOSIK: Authorities are investigating a tragic accident at a Kansas water park. A 10-year-old boy was killed Sunday while riding on what's billed as the world's tallest water slide. The victim, Caleb Schwab, is the son of a Kansas state legislator. The family released a statement saying this, "Since the day he was born, he brought abundant joy to our family and all those he came into contact with."
The slide, which drops riders almost 170 feet at 65 miles an hour has been shutdown while investigators try to determine what happened. The Schlitterbahn water park will be closed again today.
NOBLES: In Mexico the death toll is rising from the remnants of Tropical Storm Earl. At least 40 people have been killed following landslides in eastern Mexico. Hurricane center forecasters expect more heavy rain in the region which could produce more flash floods and mudslides.
KOSIK: Meantime, a state of emergency declared in the capital of Macedonia hit by torrential rain and flooding. At least 21 people have been killed. The government is being criticized for a slow response to the crisis. Some areas of the country getting more than three times as much rainfall in a day as they usually get in a month. More rain is in the forecast.
NOBLES: Well, in the southeastern U.S., heavy rainfall is possible and there is also flooding in the forecast. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us now with the latest.
Pedram, good morning.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Alison and Ryan, good morning, guys.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KOSIK: All right. Pedram, thanks very much.
The hottest ticket in sports isn't just the Olympics. It's A-Rod's last Yankee game happening on Friday. So how much are tickets selling for online? We're going to get an EARLY START on your money next.
[04:49:51]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOSIK: It is day three of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. And it could also be another big day for the Americans in the pool after Michael Phelps swam to his 19th career gold on Sunday and Katie Ledecky continued her world dominance. Also a great start for the U.S. women in gymnastics.
CNN's Christina MacFarlane is following all the developments. She is live for us in Rio. So much going on.
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN WORLD SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: So much going on, Alison. And so much of it last night. Michael Phelps back with a bang. We didn't know if we were going to see him in the 4x100 meter men's relay. But I'll tell you what, it's good that he came out because the USA were actually slightly lagging behind the French defending champions in the first leg of that men's race.
Then Michael Phelps jumped into the pool and he pulled his team ahead and there they remained until they took the gold medal. Phelps actually recording his fastest time in the 100 meter free, 47.12 second last night.
[04:55:04] That puts the United States on the medal chart with the gold for the men and of course Michael Phelps moves up to 19 gold medals, 23 overall. And this from a man who retired four years ago from the sport. So good to see him back at the top where he belongs.
But that wasn't the first gold medal of the night for Team USA. That came courtesy of another star in the making. Katie Ledecky. Now you'll remember Katie from the 2012 games. She was a 15-year-old. She came out, she won gold. She's had so much on her shoulders. So much pressure since then and last night she really lived up to it. She took gold in the women's 400 meter freestyle. Smashing her own record by some two seconds, would you believe, in taking the first of potentially three individual medals here to come at the Olympic Games.
And she wasn't the only star living up to her billing last night. We saw the first, Simone Biles from the U.S. gymnastics. Her performance in fact was so spectaculars that she had many of her rivals bowing down to her. She caught up an incredible opening score of 62.366 across three events. And the women's team in the United States overall dominating by just under 10 points. They'll be in action of course once again on Tuesday for the team events.
Two other updates to bring you, though, in the tennis. Shock results for the top seeds. Serena Williams and Venus Williams, the three-time defending gold champion out of the first round here of their Olympic defense just a few hours ago. It is, of course, as I say, the three- time defending gold medalist. Serena Williams still in it for the singles. Venus went out early today. We're not entirely sure what happened but a massive seismic shock from the tennis.
And not the only one tonight. We also saw the world's number one on the men's side, Novak Djokovic, fell to Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina. Now it is in fact the second Olympic Games that's he's gone out to the Argentine in a row. It was a huge shock, we're not entirely sure what happened to his game. He went off -- went off the court and he had tears in his eyes to be his last chance of an Olympic medal. He'll be 33 when he comes back to compete in four years' time.
KOSIK: Wow, those shockers in tennis. All right. Christina MacFarlane, thanks so much.
NOBLES: And we have some breaking news this morning. Delta Airlines is experiencing a global computer outage. On its corporate Twitter Delta says that all flights are currently grounded as a result of that outage. The airline says it's working to get things back on track and hopefully it won't be much longer. The best advice is to check with the airline before heading out to the airport if you are flying Delta today. Again, Delta experiencing a global computer outage. All of their flights currently grounded.
KOSIK: Definitely take a lot of patience with you.
NOBLES: Yes.
KOSIK: All right. Let's get an EARLY START on your money. Ticket prices for A-Rod's final game are surging online. Average retail prices online, get this, it's skyrocketed almost 400 percent. Before the announcement, tickets were going for about $75. Well now, guess how much? $345. They've already begun to level out a bit since the news of A-Rod's retirement first came out. Tickets were even higher yesterday afternoon. Climbing 500 percent. What?
It's looking like a higher open for Wall Street. Dow futures are up as are most European markets. Asian markets also finished with gains. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both closing at record highs on Friday. That followed a strong jobs report. This is the eighth record high of the year for the S&P 500. It's up almost 7 percent so far for 2016.
Those Brexit fears, they seem to be far in the rearview mirror. But the Dow is still about 50 points away from an all-time high. It's got some ground to make up after declining nine of the past 11 sessions.
All right . Gawker Media is reportedly in settlement talks with former wrestling star Hulk Hogan. Hogan won a $140 million judgment against the gossip site in March for invasion of privacy. The suit came after Gawker released a sex tape featuring the former wrestler. Gawker is appealing the ruling, but the huge judgment forced the company to file for bankruptcy.
The "Wall Street Journal" is reporting that these settlement talks are still in the early stages. They have been on and off before. This, though, coming a week before a court-ordered auction that will see Gawker's founder, Nick Denton, lose control of the media company.
So it's this case that has taken down Gawker.
NOBLES: EARLY START continues right now.
KOSIK: Donald Trump trailing Hillary Clinton in the polls and striking back on the trail, but can he regain momentum?
NOBLES: Team USA breaking records in Rio. The Olympics in full swing. Who won gold and who crashed?
KOSIK: Storms across the world. Dozens dead in Mexico and Macedonia as the south bracing for its own massive downpour. Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Alison Kosik.
