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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Trump Lays Out Economic Plan; Aiming for Gold in Rio; Investigation into Kansas Waterslide Death. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired August 09, 2016 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:00] RYAN NOBLES, CNN ANCHOR: Republicans revolting against Trump. Major party members pledging not to vote for their candidate, as he takes another dip in the polls.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Team USA on fire at the Olympics. We've got all of the moments you have to see.

NOBLES: And tragedy in Kansas. The investigation into the death of this 10-year-old boy who died at the water park. What we know.

Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. Thank you for joining us. I'm Ryan Nobles.

KOSIK: Good morning. I'm Alison Kosik. It is Tuesday, August 9th. It's 5:00 a.m. in the East.

And Donald Trump is trying to elevate the tone of his campaign to try to get back on track after a couple of rough weeks and plummeting poll numbers, like this new Monmouth poll showing Hillary Clinton breaking out to a 13-point lead. Compare that to the two-point lead she held a month ago.

So, Trump went ahead and laid out the plan at the Detroit event Monday, filling in some details, tweaking others. Trump says he wants to reduce the tax rates for most Americans and simplify the tax code. Protesters disrupted Trump's speech, count them, 14 times.

Meantime, dozens of leading Republicans continue to step on his economic message, announcing their strong opposition to his candidacy. Susan Collins of Maine saying she cannot vote for the nominee, citing Trump's constant stream of cruel comments and his lack of self restraint.

This as 50 prominent Republicans, foreign policy and national security experts, denounce Trump's campaign and pledge not to vote for him. Their open letter warns that Trump is too erratic and dangerous to be president.

[05:00:03] In the letter, they declare, "We are convinced that in the Oval Office, he would be the most reckless president in American history."

The Trump campaign lashing back, of course. CNN's Jim Acosta has more from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alison and Ryan.

On the same day Donald Trump was trying to show message discipline, he is in another fight with members of his own party. And Trump is punching right back at those 50 former national security officials. Many from the George W. Bush administration who wrote that scathing letter, saying the GOP nominee fails the test of being commander in chief.

The Trump campaign put out a statement from the candidate and here's a portion of it. We'll put it up on screen. It says, quote, "The names on the letter are the ones the American people should look to for answers on why the world is such a mess and we thank them for coming forward so everyone in the country knows who deserves the blame for making the world such a dangerous place. They are nothing more than the failed Washington elite, looking to hold on to their power, and it's time that they are held accountable for their actions.

I also talked to a senior Trump advisor who continued making that case saying that many of the former officials from the George W. Bush administration, they were the ones who took the country into the war in Iraq, even though Donald Trump suggesting himself he was in favor of that war. He continues to hold up the Iraq war as being responsible for much of the violence in the Middle East. As this Trump advisor put it to me, they're on the wrong side of history -- Alison and Ryan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: All right. Our thanks to Jim Acosta.

The cornerstones of Donald Trump's new tax plan, lower rates and simpler tax code. Here is what he would do if he is elected. There could be three tax brackets, depending on income, 12 percent, 25 percent and 33 percent. Currently, there are seven brackets. The highest of which is 39.6 percent.

Now, Trump initially proposed dropping that top rate to 25 percent. That's a move that non-partisan groups say would add millions to the debt. Trump, though, didn't give specifics on income levels for those tax brackets. But he says the poorest Americans would not pay any taxes. The plan is similar to the one House Speaker Paul Ryan had proposed last month.

Now, businesses would see a big tax cut. The top rate is 35 percent. That is among the highest of any developed nation. Trump would cut that down to 15 percent as the campaign puts it from freelancers to Fortune 500 companies.

NOBLES: And CNN politics reporter Eugene Scott joins us now to help break down Trump's economic plan and the rest of the presidential battle field.

Eugene, good morning.

KOSIK: Good morning, Eugene.

EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning. Great to see you all.

NOBLES: Let's talk again about the economy and Hillary Clinton. We talked about this yesterday morning previewing Donald Trump's speech, that this is an area where he thinks he has an advantage over Hillary Clinton, but she is clearly not backing down and allowing him to take it away from her.

Listen to what she said yesterday in Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You know, that old saying, "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me"? You know, trickle-down economics does not help our economy grow. It does not help the vast majority of Americans, but it does really well for people already at the top. Well, we're going to turn that upside down. We're going to make the wealthy pay their fair share in taxes for a change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: What I thought was so interesting about the sound bite, Eugene, is that Hillary Clinton is kind of taking a page out of the Bernie Sanders playbook.

Is this a place where the robust Democratic primary could help her on the issue like the economy?

SCOTT: Very much so. I think what we saw yesterday is that both candidates were going for independent voters. I was talking about it on social media, Trump's plan. I saw people who criticized him all year, opened their ears, opened their eyes when he started talking about child care cuts. And I think what Hillary Clinton wanted to do is respond as quickly as possible to let these independent middle class voters know that his proposals actually do not work for them as well as hers do.

KOSIK: You know, you see how the events played out yesterday. You had Trump in front of the microphones having this moment for sort of resetting his umpteenth time his campaign to try to get serious and stay on message. But the rug was pulled out. You had Hillary responding. You had the letter from the very prominent Republicans which we will talk about.

And you have Clinton making a preemptive strike about the debates. She's sort of moving this forward, saying, you know what? I'm going to be at all three.

Her campaign putting out a statement as well saying, "Secretary Clinton looks forward to participating to all three debates. Our campaign is not interested in playing along with a debate about debates or bargaining around them. The only issue now is whether or not Donald Trump is going to show up."

She is referring to the fact he did not show up in the primaries in January. She is saying, look, we're going to have these debates. So, don't start -- Donald Trump, don't start talking about rigged debates or rigged this, rigged that. I'm going to show up. She certainly is taking that preemptive strike.

[05:05:00] SCOTT: Yes, very much so. I mean, debates work out in favor for both candidates, according to polls. Voters are still very interested in seeing candidates address a lot of issues they have not been able to win the crowd with more.

So, it would be in Donald Trump's interest to attend. Whether or not he will is up for debate because we saw they were still in discussion about the football games and him not being in favor of the scheduling of it.

We did see in January that he did not attend the debate. And it worked in favor for him with supporters. Whether his absence could benefit him with independent voters remains to be seen.

NOBLES: Yes, it is interesting that, you know we have seen some conversation in general elections in past years about adding more debates. But, usually, the candidates always agree to what the commission on presidential debates puts out. So, the idea that Donald Trump would mess with that shows again how this is an election like no other.

But let's get back to what Alison was talking about with the group of national security experts who are Republicans, 50 of them, who Jim talked about in his piece, who are concerned about Donald Trump's temperament. This is an issue that continues to come up for him. At some point, does he need to address the concerns from these Republicans with some specificity as opposed to just trying to dismiss them as not being an important part of the conversation anymore?

SCOTT: It's interesting. I mean, I think he thinks he is addressing it by dismissing by their argument and dismissing who they are. So, we know the Donald Trump support is strongest among people who are anti-establishment. So, labeling them as part of the establishment I think is his way of saying, what they say does not matter.

I think what would be perhaps more helpful though is if Donald Trump could bring people who could vouch for his national security knowledge and his foreign policy experience. And we have not seen a lot of that yet.

PAUL: You know, but we are seeing the pile-on against Donald Trump. It is a wonder he is not making a drastic statement to try to turn the tide. I mean, you look at some of these polls, in favor of, you know, in favor of Hillary Clinton, of likely voters between July and August, Clinton taking that one. Of choice for presidents and CNN poll of polls, Clinton taking that one. Is there any way at this point with 90 days to go before the general

election, is there any way that Trump can kind of grab those undecided voters? The tried and true will probably with him. Is there really enough time to finally have a real reset?

SCOTT: I think there is enough time to say what they saying is actually not true and this is why. To get speeches and proposals on his platform and on his website that dismiss and dispel the accusations against him. Right now, he seems to be just attacking the character of those who attack him and not really addressing the content.

NOBLES: And probably something to be said about the fact there are a lot of Americans who have not completely tuned in to the election yet.

SCOTT: Right.

KOSIK: We are watching all of the minute details. They're on summer vacation. So, maybe the reset but can be hit around Labor Day.

SCOTT: Just three months.

NOBLES: Right. Great. Thanks, Eugene.

KOSIK: Thanks so much.

SCOTT: Thanks.

KOSIK: All right. Can Michael Phelps win his 20th -- oh, yes -- gold medal? Everything you have to see from the Olympics, that's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:12:48] NOBLES: American swimmers poised to win more gold on day four of the Rio Summer Olympics with Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky back in the pool. The women's gymnastics team looking to do something the U.S. has never done before. Win back-to-back team gold medals. Monday is another big night for the USA at the swimming venue, six medals, including two golds.

KOSIK: CNN's Coy Wire following the action. He's live in Rio.

Good morning, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Alison and Ryan.

You could feel the intensity to the build up to the 100 meter breast stroke final. Here you have American swimmer, Lilly King, publicly condemning rival Russian Yulia Efimova who has been caught doping twice in her career. And the Russian swimmer getting booed big time last night by the crowd.

Once they hit the water, King did exactly what she set out to do. The 19-year-old setting a new Olympic record. Efimova in the next lane takes silver. King afterwards says she hopes she made a big statement by completing clean and winning.

How about American swimmer Ryan Murphy accomplishing his life long goal last night, winning gold in the 100-meter backstroke. Murphy knew he wanted to be an Olympian since the age of 8.

He wrote a letter to his mom with a self-portrait saying, quote, "I home my swimming life continues and I become an Olympian when I grow up. I hope I will break the world record. I want to be the best swimmer in the world," unquote. Now, that is calling your shot.

Guys, listen, you heard of the saying don't poke the bear. Never a good idea to give a champion motivation if you are the competition. Check out the South African Chad le Clos before yesterday's the 200 meter butterfly qualifying. He is shadow boxing in Michael Phelps general direction. Phelps not impressed. Look at the death stare. I mean, it's just straight eyes, Star Wars or what?

Phelps and Le Clos finished second and third qualifying heats. They face-off tonight to see who stands at the top of the podium. Don't forget, Le Clos actually beat Phelps in the last Olympics in this event.

You know who probably will not get beat in the Olympics? The U.S. women's and men's basketball teams.

[05:15:01] I was at the men's game last night against Venezuela. You think Venezuela has a chance. Down only two with five minutes to go in the second half.

But, no. Five minutes later, they were down 22. They rolled on Venezuela. They get Australia next. That could be their toughest opponent in the field.

Let's take a little check into the medal count, guys. USA all day, leading all countries with 19. China is in second with 13. You also have Japan, Russia tied for third with ten apiece.

It's going to be must-see TV tonight. America's sweethearts, the U.S. women's gymnastics team going for gold led by phenom Simone Biles. You have Aly Raisman. Those competing in the all around, names like Phelps and Ledecky letting it done in the pool.

There's been some great competition, guys, and I love seeing a little trash talking and competiveness not hidden by these Olympians this year.

KOSIK: Oh, competition.

NOBLES: I was telling, Alison, I need my mother to find the letter I wrote when I was a kid that said that someday I'm going to be sitting in the anchor desk with Alison Kosik, and I called my shot as well.

KOSIK: She was already predicting.

NOBLES: I get my mom to find that.

But, Coy, tell us about Lilly King's background? She's got a pretty amazing story.

WIRE: She really does.

You know, when she was in high school, she had a dear friend competing in the Indiana state Special Olympics. Her name was Melanie. If you look at Lilly King's Twitter bio, it says melanieisthebum.com. that directs you to a web site that was set up that goes to support some of the charities that were near and dear to Melanie's heart.

And then last night, after that gold medal and Olympic record-breaking swim, Lilly King tweeted out, she's been with me all the way. This one's for Mel. So, an incredible story, guys there. A back story, you hear about the things that inspire and motivate athletes to be the best. This is one heartfelt story from Lilly King.

KOSIK: You know, as we lose your signal, Coy, thank you very much.

It is interesting to hear the back stories and find they are not there just to compete and trash talk each other. You've got inspiring back stories.

NOBLES: Yes, definitely, a lot of amazing and inspirational stories of the Olympic every year.

KOSIK: Of course.

All right. The Zika virus may be spreading across a wider section of South Florida. Palm Beach County reporting the first suspected case that is believed to be contracted locally. The patient recently traveled to Miami-Dade County, but it's not clear yet where he acquired the virus.

The total number of non travel related Zika patients in south Florida is now 17. With another 357 travel related cases statewide.

NOBLES: It's going to be a rough day ahead for air passengers flying on Delta. The Atlanta-based carrier announcing 100 flight cancellations today and at least 200 flight delays. And they are warning those numbers could go higher. Delta was forced to cancel over 1,000 flights on Monday because of the computer outage, stranding tens of thousands of customers.

KOSIK: All right. Heavy rain, flash flooding in the forecast this morning.

Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has the latest.

Good morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good seeing you, Alison and Ryan.

This is a really story that's going to develop quickly over the next couple days and we've already seen what's transpired right over the open waters in the past several days, in fact the heavy rainfall -- the estimation have brought down at least 15 inches of rainfall right offshore of the big bend of Florida. So, the concern is that the storm system responsible for this rain meanders a little far to the north, the flood concern is going to be elevated very quickly across this region.

In fact, the watches have already been issued across the area. Notice, there is the storm, it's forecasted to move back toward the west very slowly in the next couple of days. The gulf moisture begins really being pulled toward this region of the Florida panhandle. So, the models still want to bring down at least six to 10 inches in a pretty widespread area from say, work your way just east of Mobile, to Tallahassee, and certainly Pensacola, Panama City as well, even New Orleans, one of those areas that could see at least four to six inches of rainfall inside the next week.

So, your temperatures, you look as such, will go with the upper 80s around Kansas City, around 90 degrees in St. Louis. Steamy conditions down around Nashville. New York City about 87. Boston not too bad at all, around 80, guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBLES: All right. Pedram, thank you.

Safety concerns at a Kansas water park where this 10-year-old boy died on its tallest water slide. What police are saying next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:23:53] NOBLES: Police in Kansas investigating the death of a 10- year-old boy on the world's largest water slide. They say he suffered a fatal neck injury at the end of the ride. The slide has been the main attraction at the Schlitterbahn water park in Kansas City since it opened two years ago. But there have been concerns about safety.

We get more now from CNN's Kyung Lah.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alison and Ryan, 10-year-old Caleb Schwab got on the world's tallest water slide. It is 168-foot, 7 inches tall, 17 stories high. Riders there hit up to 50 miles per hour.

Now, witnesses say it did not happen on the first big drop, but it was the second hill, a 50-footdrop where something went terribly wrong. A park guest says that a number of riders on Sunday who had ridden that particular ride said there was some sort of a problem with the harness. The park's spokeswoman said that she was not aware of the issue.

Now, this is the first death ever reported at this water park. It did open in 2014. But the opening was delayed at least three times.

[09:25:01] One of the concerns, sand bags were launching out of the raft -- Alison, Ryan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: All right. Our thanks to Kyung Lah for that.

Police in San Francisco are trying to figure out how candy laced with THC, marijuana's active ingredient, how it was distributed at a teenager's Quinceanera party over the weekend. Nineteen people sickened by edible marijuana in gummy ring candies that were in the party favored bags. Health officials say most of the victims were 6 to 18 years old. They are working with the company to determine where the candies came from.

NOBLES: FOX News host Andrea Tantaros says she was demoted and taken off the air in April after reporting former network boss Roger Ailes for sexual harassment. That contradicts senior FOX executives who say they were unaware of any claims against Ailes until former anchor Gretchen Carlson filed a lawsuit against him in July. FOX denied the allegation and claimed Tantaros was demoted because she violated company policy with the book she wrote this year.

NOBLES: Republicans calling Donald Trump a risk to national security. How Trump is responding, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)