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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Clinton's "Short Circuited" Explanation; Trump Trying To Dent Clinton's Lead; George P. Bush Backs Trump For President; Delta Reports Global System Outage; Japanese Emperor: My "Fitness" Is Declining; Iran Executes Nuclear Scientist; Going For Gold In Rio. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired August 08, 2016 - 05:00   ET

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

RYAN NOBLES, CNN ANCHOR: -- who crashed?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Storms across the world. Dozens set in Mexico and Macedonia as the south bracing for its own massive downpour. Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Alison Kosik.

NOBLES: Thank you for starting your day with us. I'm Ryan Nobles. It is Monday, August 8th and it is 5 a.m. in the east.

Happening today, Donald Trump set to unveil his plan for boosting the U.S. economy. In a speech at 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 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 and frustrated and haven't heard answers. But I still think it is difficult if you are dividing to be able to win in Ohio. I think it is really, really difficult.

SENATOR 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 doesn't sit well. Then to refer to a judge born in Indiana as a Mexican in a pejorative way, you cannot 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: For more now, let's turn to CNN 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. 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. 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 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 are 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)

SENATOR TIM KAINE (D), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She said it was a mistake. I'm not presumptuous enough to start thinking how I will do things after November. But I know 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 will 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.

Time for an EARLY START on your money. As we mentioned, Donald Trump is expected today to unveil his economic agenda. So what do we know about his economic vision for the country?

While on trade, he has said he wants to renegotiate deals like NAFTA and slap hefty tariffs on goods from China and other countries. On taxes, Trump put out a four-page plan, this happened back in September, saying he would cut the number of income tax rates to four, increase the standard deduction and repeal the estate tax and alternative minimum tax.

Now analysts are saying what that could do is add almost $10 trillion to the deficit over ten years. We will watch closely to see if Trump winds up dialing back some of those cuts today.

Finally on the minimum wage, Trump has changed his position a few times on this. In fact just last month, he said he would be open to raising it to $10 an hour after saying wages were too high.

NOBLES: All right, it's time now to break this all down and for that, on all these latest political combat, we are joined by CNN Politics reporter, Eugene Scott. He's right here in New York with us this morning.

KOSIK: So glad you can join us.

[05:05:02]NOBLES: Eugene, you know, obviously this has been a rough couple weeks for Donald Trump, but he feels like the economy is one area where he has a bit of an edge on Hillary Clinton.

There are some polls that do indicate that some Americans do believe that Donald Trump is a little bit stronger with economic issues. He will talk about the economy today in a speech in Detroit.

Here's one of those polls, a Fox News poll that shows that he has got a five-point edge in that department. We have seen a lot of polls lately that don't show Donald Trump with much of an edge in any department.

Is this an area where he can start to change the conversation from these controversies that his campaign has dealt with and get it back on the issues, in an issue that where he is particularly strong?

EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: He certainly is hoping so because that is the area that he has an advantage over Hillary Clinton in terms of expertise. We have seen some people in the economic sector say that actually Hillary Clinton would be better for the economy than Donald Trump.

So I think he will spend a lot of time in Detroit making a case for why voters believe what they actually believe. You talked earlier about the trade deals he's hoping to renegotiate. There have been some critics who have said whether or not he will be able to bring back as many jobs as he hopes to or he says he will, still remains to be seen.

KOSIK: All right, so Donald Trump clearly isolating himself in the Republican Party, from the Republican Party. Not getting much support outside or inside the party at this point. And then we hear over the weekend a Bush coming out to support him and everyone said what? So let's go to what he said. We are talking about George P. Bush. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE P. BUSH, JEB BUSH'S SON: From Team Bush, it is a bitter pill to swallow. You get back up and you help a man win and make sure that we stop Hillary Clinton.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: OK, so that is Jeb Bush's son. Jeb Bush, who Trump spent an inordinate amount of time insulting throughout the campaign. Calling him low energy and on and on and on. Here comes Jeb Bush's son saying, you know what, I'll put my support behind Donald Trump. If I could have been the fly in the room when his dad heard about this.

SCOTT: I thought what will be interesting is to see if George P. Bush writes a column called why my dad should vote for Donald Trump. That will be interesting.

But I also think this is interesting for two other reasons. As you know, there has been discussion about this younger Bush hitting the national political scene for a while. I'm wondering if this is a desire to increase his relevancy as the Bush family seems to be backing away from the public eye.

Also it's important to remember that the younger Bush is Hispanic. This is a community that Donald Trump is having a difficult time winning the support of. So it will be interesting to see if more Hispanic Republican leaders, establishment or not, get on the Trump train via the Bush car, I guess.

NOBLES: That sound bite that we played obviously was brief, but certainly wasn't an overwhelming endorsement of Donald Trump. But I wonder, Eugene, is this the difference between the Jeb Bush and George W. Bush section of that family whose political -- their political careers are pretty much behind him.

Where you have George P. who has a relatively bright future in front of him. Is it about basically having the opportunity to run in the future and not wanting to take the risk that perhaps Donald Trump could win?

SCOTT: Right, I certainly think so. I think one mistake a lot of people make about political families is assuming that everybody is always on the same page all the time. The reality is we have not seen that. I think this is the latest example of that. I think he is hoping from this move, perhaps, people will be talking more about the Bush family and perhaps him specifically. KOSIK: All right, Eugene Scott, thanks so much. You will come on in a little bit. We will talk more about Hillary Clinton. She made news over the weekend. See you in a bit.

Michael Phelps winning his 19th gold medal. Team USA off to a great start in Rio. What you missed from the Olympics that's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:13:12]

KOSIK: Donald Trump's so-called bromance with Vladimir Putin is turning into a big question hanging over his campaign. The two men paid each other some compliments in the media. Trump has made remarks about NATO and Crimea that could only have provoked smiles in the kremlin.

Meantime parts of the Russian state media are embracing Trump painting him as an eccentric billionaire ready to deal with Moscow. Interesting story.

We are trying to get Matthew Chance. We are having a problem with the live shot. We will get back to him when we get those technical difficulties solved.

NOBLES: OK, but we do have some breaking news here in the United States this morning. It could impact you if you are planning on flying. Delta Airlines experiencing a global computer outage. On its corporate Twitter feed, Delta says, "All flights are currently grounded as a result of the outage."

The airline says it is working to get things back on track and they said that hopefully it won't be much longer. As of right now, that system outage still in place. Best advice though to check with the airline before heading to the airport today especially if you are flying Delta.

KOSIK: Social media going crazy. A lot of people posting pictures of these long lines. A lot of complaints, not sure what's happening there. We are looking into it.

All right, breaking overnight, the 83-year-old emperor of Japan saying that if his health worsens, 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 is currently in good health, but that his fitness level is gradually declining.

Japanese Prime minister Abe said after the speech that he will think about how to ease the emperor's burden. This is the third time the Japanese emperor has ever made a speech on broadcast media.

[05:15:01]NOBLES: Iran's government revealing it executed a nuclear scientist for treason. Officials saying that Sharam Amiri (ph) was convicted of spying for the United States. He vanished 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 that Amiri defected voluntarily. In 2011, he returned to Iran where he was later tried and convicted of giving vital information to the enemy, America, known there as the "Great Satan."

KOSIK: In Kabul, Afghanistan, two lecturers at the American University have been abducted at gunpoint. Afghan security officials said one of the teachers was American and the other was Australian.

The officials say two armed kidnappers stopped the lecturers' car and broke through the window with gun barrels and took the men away with them. Local media reports say the attackers were wearing Afghan security uniforms. It is unclear who is behind the kidnapping.

NOBLES: Authorities are investigating a tragic accident at the Kansas Water Park. That's where 10-year-old boy was killed Sunday while riding on what is 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, quote, "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 shut down while investigators try to determine what happened. The water park will be closed again today.

KOSIK: 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.

NOBLES: 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 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. There is more rain in the forecast.

KOSIK: Speaking of rain, in the southeastern U.S., heavy rainfall and possible flooding in the forecast as well. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joining us with the latest. Good morning.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Ryan and Alison, good morning to you both. We are watching for the southern portions of the country mainly across the gulf coast states where a storm system very much has been disconnected from the steering in the atmosphere, locks along a frontal boundary.

And if you look offshore, off the big bend of Florida, 15 to 20 inches have been estimated to come down in the past two days just offshore. The concern is we have flood watches already posted along the immediate coast.

The forecast doesn't take that disturbance very far away from the region. So heavy rainfall continues to come down and we think a storm could actually land here the next couple days. The initial estimation could bring down as much as 10 to 15 inches.

Some isolated areas could see as much as 20 inches of rainfall by the time we get to this Friday and Saturday if the forecast verifies. The highest threat from Pensacola eastward out towards Tallahassee for the heaviest rainfall for later in the week.

All right, temperatures, this is what it looks like across the eastern half the country, very uniformed, mid-80s to around 90 degrees. Temperatures in New Orleans around 88 degrees this afternoon.

NOBLES: Pedram, thanks. The Olympics are in full swing. All the winners and losers so far and what to look for today. That's coming up when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:23:08]

KOSIK: Welcome back. It is day three of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. It could be also another big day for the Americans in the pool after Michael Phelps swam to his 19th career gold on Sunday. Katie Ledecky continued her world dominance. Also a great start for the U.S. women in gymnastics.

NOBLES: Yes, so CNN's Coy Wire is in Rio right now. He is live for us with all the developments. Look at that background behind Coy? He's living a tough life there. So much happening already, Coy, just three days into this competition.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: No doubt about it. Ryan, we're a long way away from buffalo. Good to talk to you and Alison. What an opening weekend for Team USA. Actually up in the air whether or not Michael Phelps is going to be selected to swim in the 400 free style relay last night. A few swimmers vying for spots on that team.

But I'll go out on the limb and say the coaches made the right decision. The squad simply lightning fast. Phelps' second leg in the race for Team USA was key. Phelps gets his 19th gold medal. It's extra special because it was in front of his 3-month-old son, Boomer, who was in attendance.

His first individual event is today, that's the 200 meter butterfly. Alison, we talked about 19-year-old Katie Ledecky. She smashes her own world record in the 400 meter freestyle. She took home the gold after beating her best time from 2014 by almost two seconds.

She killed it. Ledecky will defend her Olympic title in the 800 freestyle later this week as well. Now the U.S. gymnastics team for the women simple incredible. Yesterday's qualifying round in team competition.

Yes, Team USA and way behind them was everybody else. They go for the team gold on Tuesday. Simone Biles and Aly Raisman, both qualifying for the all-around events. [05:25:04]Now the men's gymnastics team will go for gold today in team competitions. So in the Olympics there is triumph and sometimes tragedy. Yesterday, we saw a horrific crash during the women's cycling road race.

Annemiek van Vleuten (ph) leading in the latter stages. On the final descent when she lost control on a corner hiting a curve and flying over her bike. She suffered a concussion and three fractured vertebrae. Thankfully she tweeted from the hospital saying that she is doing OK.

Now let's look at the medal count after a couple of days. The U.S. leading the way with 12 total medals. China has eight. Italy and Japan tied with seven apiece.

Great action going on down here. Men's hoops playing Venezuela. You have Muslim-American competing in fencing. The first American to every compete wearing a hijab. So just one of the many great story lines of the athletes competing in this summer's Rio games guys.

KOSIK: All right, she's got an inspiring back story. If you go on CNN.com, you will read it. All right, Coy Wire, thanks very much.

NOBLES: Thanks, Coy.

Hillary Clinton riding high in the polls, but Donald Trump not sitting back. Now calling her unstable. The latest on their contentious race to the presidency next.

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