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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Shooting at Milwaukee Protest; Trump Campaign Pushes Back Against Media; Simone Biles Going for Fourth Gold Medal; Usain Bolt Makes History in Rio. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired August 15, 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] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Can he stick to his script?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Usain Bolt making history. Rocketing to gold. But the runner is not stopping there. The exciting moment from the Olympics.

Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Alison Kosik.

ROMANS: Nice to see you today.

KOSIK: Good to be here.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It is Monday. Sorry about that. August 15th. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East.

Let's start in Milwaukee. Breaking overnight. Shots fired during another night of protests in Milwaukee. Demonstrations intensifying in response to a police shooting Saturday of an armed African-American suspect.

Last night, authorities say protesters swarmed a police station, throwing rocks, bottles, and bricks at officers. Police say one person was hit by gunfire.

I want to bring in CNN's Ana Cabrera. She is live for us this morning with the very latest from Milwaukee. Good morning, Ana.

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine. Things finally calming down here in Milwaukee within the past hour. We understand there were several arrests made overnight. And as you mentioned, we know at least a couple of people were injured in the violence that again came in addition to the additional violence that happened on Saturday night in which several buildings were set aflame and many cars were destroyed. This unrest, we're hearing, comes from deep rooted frustration in this community about oppression, racism and social injustices that many in the African-American community in the north side of Milwaukee feel they have suffered for years.

And the shooting of 23-year-old Sylville Smith was simply a flash point for all of them. It all began during a traffic stop on Saturday afternoon. Sylville Smith we're told was pulled over. Eventually there was a foot chase in which two officers followed two people and Sylville Smith we're told had a handgun in his hand when the officer opened fire shooting and killing him. Now police say that it was all caught on body cam video of the officer who was responding.

That body cam video will likely be a very key piece of evidence as the investigation continues. But it has not been released to the public. Now the Wisconsin Department of Justice who has taken over the investigation, a third party, and as the community continues to call for answers in the shooting investigation, they say they will not rest until there is broader change that is implemented here -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Ana Cabrera for us in Milwaukee. Again quieting down just in the last hour or so but a really tense night there. Keep us posted. Thank you, Ana.

KOSIK: Happening today, Donald Trump giving a speech in Ohio, laying out his plan for defeating radical Islamic terrorism. A senior campaign official previewing the speech says Trump will portray the war against Islamic terror as a titanic ideological struggle on par with the Cold War. It will emphasize that the U.S. will abandon nation building or spreading democracy in the Mideast.

It will make it clear that any country helping the U.S. defeat Islamic terrorism will be deemed an ally which campaign officials believe will expand the anti-ISIS coalition. It will also -- Trump will also propose banning immigration from countries where the U.S. can't adequately vet visa applications especially those with a lot of terrorist activity.

The campaign official also says a Trump administration would test the views of visa applicants and bar any who are anti-Semitic, anti-gay, or otherwise against American values of pluralism and freedom. It is unclear how the immigration bans Trump is set to announce today will fit with his previously described total ban on Muslims coming to the U.S.

ROMANS: Brand new this morning. The "Wall Street Journal" urging the Republican Party to give up on Donald Trump if he does not change his act by Labor Day three weeks away. The paper's conservative editorial page accusing Trump of alienating the party and running an incompetent campaign. The "Wall Street Journal" said that if Trump doesn't turn things around, the GOP, quote, "will have no choice but to write off the nominee and focus on saving down-ballot candidates."

The editorial board writes that Trump, quote, "needs to stop blaming everyone else," and decide if he wants to behave like someone who wants to be president or turn the nomination over to Mike Pence, his running mate.

The Trump campaign spent the weekend pushing back against report of the "New York Times" and elsewhere that it has been unable to reign in its gaffe-prone candidate and get him back on message, leading to despair among some staff and advisers.

Here's campaign chairman Paul Manafort on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL MANAFORT, DONALD TRUMP CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN: We think that contrary to your report and contrary to the "New York Times'" nameless sources story, the campaign is moving -- it could get forward and is very strong. We raised over $132 million in the last two months. We are organized in all 50 states. All 50 states. We have been in the battle ground states every day this month, including Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida multiple times this month and we're starting to get traction on those states.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:05:10] ROMANS: Trump himself also slamming the media with the barrage of tweets this weekend like this. "I'm not only fighting crooked Hillary, I'm fighting the dishonest and corrupt media and her government protection process. People get it."

KOSIK: Over on the Democratic side today, Vice President Joe Biden will be campaigning today alongside Hillary Clinton in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania. They're going to make the case that Trump is the most unprepared nominee in the country's history when it comes to national security. And they'll argue that Trump's new economic plan will cut taxes for Trump and his family using that as another reason he ought to release his tax returns.

ROMANS: All right, joining us to break down the escalating battle between Trump and Clinton, Trump and the media, Trump and Republicans, the "Wall Street Journal" editor board and Trump, senior media correspondent Brian Stelter, host of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES," and from Washington this morning, managing editor of CNN Politics Digital, Zach Wolf.

Good morning. Bright and early on a Monday morning.

KOSIK: Good morning, everybody.

ROMANS: So much to talk about.

Zach, let's first begin with Donald Trump after a weekend of attacking the media, attacking the media, he is now going to refocus today with this new sort of three-pronged policy to fight radical Islamist terror. What do you think we're going to see out of this proposal and how will it gel with his previous kind of iterations of banning Muslims and banning immigration from terrorist related countries?

ZACK WOLF, CNN POLITICS DIGITAL MANAGING EDITOR: Well, that's kind of the big question. Is this a replacement for that? Is it something in addition to that? I think we have a lot more to learn. I don't this is going to quiet any of his critics. If you look at the specifics there, you know, or what we see of them, it's still very dependent on what people are thinking, what they're backgrounds are, where they come from. It's this sort of blanket ideas that really has civil libertarians worried about Donald Trump.

So on that -- in that regard, I don't think it's going to help him very much with the -- you know, the moderates and the independents and people like that. But on the other hand, focusing on radical Islamic terrorism is something that's likely to help him with his base, to get people -- you know, the people he really needs to be excited about his campaign, to be excited about his campaign. But I think probably at the end of the day, we're going to see him do a lot more attacking the media. Again this new focus that he's been on.

KOSIK: Yes, and speaking of the attacks on the media, I'm going to turn to Brian Stelter here. You know, the weekend was certainly interesting. We saw Donald Trump go off the rails.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Right.

KOSIK: About this "New York Times" article that basically said his campaign was in crisis. I want to look at some the points that were made in this "New York Times" article. We have some parts of the article saying the failing -- this was actually a Trump tweet, saying, "The failing 'New York Times' has become a newspaper of fiction. Their stories about me always 'nonexistent and unnamed sources.' Very dishonest."

So he is claiming that a lot of the sourcing in this piece, which was anonymous, he is claiming was downright false. And some of the claims made in this article pretty darn stunning. One of them basically saying Trump is exhausted. They describe their nominee as exhausted, frustrated and still bewildered by fine points of the political process and why his incendiary approach seems to be sputtering. It says he's sullen and erratic. I mean, these are not the kinds of things you want to see just a few -- a few weeks before Labor Day.

STELTER: Trump is denying that he is sullen. He is saying he is in the fight, he'll thrilled to be running for president. But the fact he's had to refute this story is significant in it of itself. The "Times" story is based on interviews with 20 different sources. Most of them anonymously but some on the record. The Trump campaign has not asked for any corrections so that indicates to me that the meat of the story, the heart of the story is true.

Let's put his anti-media campaign into perspective. You know, politicians especially Republicans oftentimes criticize media coverage. But what Trump is doing is unprecedented in modern American politics in terms of how forcefully, how intensely he is attacking the media.

ROMANS: He has said in months past, he would open up the libel laws.

STELTER: Yes.

ROMANS: So he's going to sue, sue, sue.

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: He also -- what's become known as a black list. And then we can put on the screens some examples of the news outlets that are denied press credentials at his events. This has been going on for months. Probably the most prominently the "Washington Post" is on the black list, also Politico, the "Daily Beast," the Huffington Post, a number of other outlets.

Over the weekend, Trump suggested the "New York Times" could be next. That he could also ban them from his rallies. And listen, these are private events. He can ban whatever outlets he wants to. They're still open to the public so reporters can still go in as members of the public. But it does have a chilling effect when certain prominent news outlets are not allowed into rallies and as example of Trump's very unusual behavior with the press.

ROMANS: Zach, I got to tell you, it almost feels as though now the "New York Times" fight with Donald Trump feels like old news because the news this morning is the "Wall Street Journal" on the editorial page with some pretty pointed words for the nominee.

[05:10:04] Listen to what they said in this editor. "As for Mr. Trump, he needs to stop blaming everyone else and decide if he wants to behave like someone who wants to be president or turn the nomination over to Mike Pence." And it goes on to say this. "Mr. Trump is right. Most of the media want him to lose. But then that was also true of George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan. It's true of every Republican presidential nominee. The difference is that Mr. Trump has made it so easy for the media and his opponents."

Zach, that's remarkable.

WOLF: It is. You know. And that idea that the media wants him to lose. If you look at the "Wall Street Journal," which is a conservative paper, which makes it all the more remarkable, the "Washington Post," not too long ago had a very stunning editorial in the same fashion, saying that, you know, to vote against Trump essentially or drop Trump. So, you know, you have all of the major, you know, intelligent media operations in this country sort of opposing this guy in a very unprecedented way I think at this stage of a presidential campaign.

Usually you would wait a while for an editorial like this. Get a little bit closer to the election I think. So he must feel under siege in a lot of ways. And yet at the same time, he refuses to change his campaign at all. He is not doing anything to entice Republicans, moderates. He is doubling down on his strategy and I think that that is going to be very interesting to see play out.

STELTER: But I think what he said on Twitter last night was so revealing. He said, "I have always been the same person. I remain true to myself. The media wants me to change. But it would be dishonest to supporters to change."

Look, that was sort of hits it really well right there, you know. He said, "I've always been the same person. I'm not changing no matter what anyone wants." You can really admire that about Donald Trump. You know. Especially if you have been watching him for over a year. You've been impressed by his rallies. You don't want this man to change. The problem of course as we all know are those people in the middle, the undecideds, whether they want Donald Trump to change or not.

KOSIK: All right. Brian Stelter, Zach Wolf, we're going to bring you back a little later in the show. Thanks so much.

ROMANS: So much to talk about this Monday morning. Thanks, guys.

We'll talk about money here. Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence says he plans to release his tax returns as his running mate Donald Trump fights calls for him to do the same. This just a few days after Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine released many years of their tax information. Pence tells WABC Radio that his returns will be a, quote, "quick read." He will make it public before the election. He is also in the process of completing the financial disclosures required by law.

To be clear, releasing tax returns is not a legal requirement for presidential candidates, but it is -- well, it's become policy. Every candidate since 1976 has released their returns. Trump says he will not follow that standard because he is under audit. But that does not prevent him legally from releasing his returns. That's according to the IRS.

So what could we learn from Trump's taxes? What would those tax returns show? It would show how much money he earned or how much money he lost from businesses and investments. What deductions he takes including how much money he gives to charity and what his effective tax rate is.

KOSIK: All right. At least five dead in Louisiana. Neighborhoods completely submerged. Will there be relief from the floods anytime soon? We have details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:17:28] KOSIK: The death toll and the property damage estimates keep rising with the flood waters in Louisiana. Four people have been killed and 10,000 more are in shelters this morning. The governor calling in the National Guard with two feet of rain triggering 20,000 rescues this weekend alone. President Obama granting the state's request for emergency assistance.

ROMANS: All right. So what is in store for Louisiana today? Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has the latest for us.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Alison and Christine, good morning, guys.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROMANS: All right, Pedram. Thank you for that.

KOSIK: Simone Biles picking up her third gold and going for another today. All of the biggest Olympic moments coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:23:38] KOSIK: Wow. What a history-making weekend at the Olympic Games in Rio. Simone Biles on the balance beam today. Going for her fourth gold after winning her third gold for the United States in the vault. And sprinter Usain Bolt with the win for the ages becoming the first man to capture gold in 100 meters three Olympic Games. ROMANS: Plus there's this. A close call for four U.S. swimmers

including Ryan Lochte. They were robbed at gunpoint on Sunday.

Let's go out to Rio de Janeiro and bring in CNN's Christina MacFarlane. Good morning.

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN WORLD SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, ladies. And golden dawn for a golden Sunday because the odyssey continues. Usain Bolt becoming the first athlete to win three 100- meter titles on Sunday, making it one out of three for that triple- triple. It may have not been his fastest final average, just 9.81 seconds. Nearly two-tenths slower than his win in London 2012 in fact. But Bolt turned on the speed when it mattered, powering through the final 60 meters to edge clear the field and of American rival Justin Gatlin who finished in silver medal position.

And while cheers rang out for Bolt around the arena, Justin Gatlin was greeted by jeers from the waiting crowd, clearly voicing their disapproval of his doping past. The Lightning Bolt will return to the track this Tuesday to compete in the 200 meters.

Meanwhile in the gymnastics arena, Simone Biles just keep on killing it. Having clinched the team and individual all-around gold in the gymnastics, the American superstar added another in the vault.

[05:25:06] Her score was 15.966. A winning margin of .7. So that's three down, two to go. She's got the beam on Monday and the floor exercise on Tuesday. And she's, of course, on course for a remarkable five gold medal haul here in Rio.

Now a quick update to you on Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte and three American swimmers who are said to be safe and recovering from an ordeal. Cooperating with police after being robbed at gunpoint on Saturday. After leaving a hospitality house heading to the Olympic Village that night. Their vehicle was stopped by a group of men dressed like police officers who demanded they handed their money and personal belongings.

Now speaking to NBC, Lochte said he even had a gun put to his forehead by one of the men. Now fortunately they walked away unscathed but without their wallets. After the event, the Australian Olympic Committee announced it was banning its athletes from coming down to the beaches here in Rio between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. The Olympic Games heading into its second week with a sense of unease here about the ongoing security concerns.

ROMANS: All right. Christina, thank you so much for that.

Twenty-six minutes past the hour this morning. A nerve-wracking night in Milwaukee. Dangerous protests intensify overnight. We've got all of the very latest next.

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