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Brazilian Cops Pull U.S. Swimmers Off Plane As Questions Are Raised About U.S. Swimmers' Robbery Account; New Trump Campaign Manager Promises Substance; "Blue Cut" Fire Spreading Out Of Control. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired August 18, 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] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN HOST: A stunning controversy at the Rio Games. Two American swimmers taken off a plane. Now they're not allowed to leave Brazil days after they claimed they were held up at gunpoint. Why their story is in doubt and what's in store for the Americans.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN HOST: The latest reboot of Donald Trump's campaign, it is off and running. What his new campaign manager says and will we be seeing Trump being Trump on the campaign trail. Welcome back to EARLY START, I'm George Howell.

ROMANS: Nice to see you again, George. I'm Christine Romans, it's 31 minutes past the hour. We have breaking news from the Olympics overnight. Brazilian police pulling two Americans swimmers off their plane. They were on their plane headed back to the U.S. Police take them off the plane and seize their passports, also attempting to serve a warrant on medal winner Ryan Lochte only to discover he had already left Brazil. Police are trying to find another teammate, James Feigen, his exact whereabouts unclear.

Authorities say they want to question all four Olympic swimmers about their report that they were robbed by gunmen dressed as police officers. Investigators questioning the truthfulness of that report based on what they say are apparent inconsistencies in the swimmers' statements and this surveillance video. (Video playing) This closed- circuit television video purporting to show their behavior after the alleged robbery. You can see they're holding their phones.

For the latest let's bring in CNN's Nick Paton Walsh. He's in Rio for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine, George, this remarkable story has yet another extraordinary turn to it. Two of the swimmers who've not been questioned by Brazilian police who were involved in this remarkable incident in the early hours of Sunday morning when they said they were robbed by men dressed as police when they left a nightclub.

These two individuals, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger, have been taken off a plane back to the United States by Brazilian police. Now, as far as we understand from a police source near the airport, they have been questioned. Their passports have been taken from them. They'll be allowed to go around Brazil but still it's not quite clear when those passports will be given back to them.

And this is yet another remarkable development in this story. Earlier on today we heard from a Rio judge that Ryan Lochte, probably one of the most famous American swimmers here at the Games, and his fellow swimmer James Feigen, had given statements to the Brazilian police which the judge had thought really weren't consistent enough and aroused their suspicions and caused this judge to issue a search and seizure warrant for the men and for their passports, in theory, to stop them leaving the country as well.

Now, Ryan Lochte's back in the United States. His lawyer said he left as he'd scheduled before these warrants were even issued. That he'd had cooperated with anybody who'd sought to ask him questions and that, in fact, at this stage there's nobody reaching out to him to ask him to cooperate further.

But we're dealing with a very confused picture of what happened in early hours of that Sunday morning. Many Brazilians and the police spokesperson we talked to today are wondering how was it these men experienced an armed robbery, apparently by police -- people dressed as police carrying weapons -- yet still emerge from that instance carrying, in their own admission, their cell phones?

(Video playing) And if you look at the CC T.V. which the judge cited in her court statement pointing out how they seemed, in her impression, unshaken after their ordeal. You see in that video, too, they're carrying some pretty high-value items. That left many Brazilians and some police suspicious. How do you get through an armed robbery in Brazil and still keep things like that in your possession?

It's added to a growing number of questions the police have sought answers to that led to the court papers this morning. Now, two athletes taken off the plane. Athletes from the team at the top of the medals table right now. And it's going to be their word, frankly, against that of Rio authorities it seems, at the moment. Simply questions being asked right now, no suggestion of any major wrongdoing but a very confusing and, frankly, bleak moment for an already blighted Games -- Christine, George.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Nick Paton Walsh following the story. Nick, thank you. An attorney for Ryan Lochte is defending the swimmer. Speaking to CNN overnight, he pins the controversy on the host nation, saying in part "When you have one of America's athletes who comes out and said something happened to him that happens to people there every single day, that doesn't look good for a country trying to have a successful Olympics."

The U.S. Olympic Committee confirms the swimmers' detention and release from a statement overnight, saying that Conger and Bentz will continue discussions with Brazilian law enforcement today. The USOC adding that James Feigen is also in touch with police and will make further statements today, as well.

[05:35:00] The U.S. State Department says it is also on the case but otherwise tight-lipped at this point saying only the following. "We have seen media reports that two U.S. citizen athletes were detained. We stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance."

Of course, we will have more from Rio on the actual games themselves, including the American sweep of the medals in the women's 100-meter hurdles a little later this half hour.

ROMANS: All right, let's turn now to the race for president this morning. The Trump campaign's latest reboot now underway. New details emerging about what led to the shake-up and how it happened.

Sources telling CNN Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, cut short his vacation, called a meeting that included current campaign chairman Paul Manafort and two new top officials who Trump is bringing in, pollster Kellyanne Conway as campaign manager and "Brietbart News" executive Steve Bannon to be Trump's new campaign CEO. Sources say Manafort is being "sidelined". Even so, he sent out a staff member memo calling the revamp an exciting day for team Trump.

For the very latest let's go to CNN's Sara Murray. She is covering the Trump campaign for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN: Good morning, Christine and George. It is yet another reset for the Trump campaign. Now the reason Trump did all of this, sources tell us, is because he was frustrated with the direction his campaign was taking. He didn't feel like he could necessarily trust the advisers around him and he felt like he was straying from his outsider image in trying to please the Washington establishment, particularly the Republican establishment.

Today, we'll get our first test of what this new leadership looks like. Donald Trump is campaigning in North Carolina. And some sources have said look, this new regime means that Trump can get back to basics. He can hold these big raucous political rallies, he can go with his gut instincts, he can speak off the cuff.

But when I spoke to Kellyanne Conway, the newly-minted campaign manager, last night, she added a note of caution to that.

KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: We're trying to remind everybody of two things. One, it's the issues that Americans want to hear about. They want to hear about combating terrorism, bolstering national security, doing better than Obamacare that Americans still don't support. Of course, he'll be talking about immigration and education in the next couple of weeks.

And number two, reminding everybody there are two candidates in the race, not one. That this election is somehow becoming a referendum on Donald Trump as if you're going to go into the ballot box and say Donald Trump, yes or no. It's not. Hillary Clinton's name will be on the ballot. And I know her people and her supporters are protecting her by not letting her talk to the press. I'm happy to talk to you but apparently she doesn't respect you the way we do. She won't even give you a press conference.

MURRAY: So we will see if a new set of advisers and maybe a slightly different Donald Trump on the stump will be enough to turn around what are pretty unfortunate polling numbers for him right now in basically all of the battleground states. Now, Kellyanne Conway says there's no reason to panic yet, it's only August, it's not October. But that might be cold comfort to a number of Republican establishment folks and Republican operatives who are getting increasingly worried about the direction of the polling. Back to you guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Sara, thank you. So, to talk more about the presidential race this morning, today's snapshot, let's bring in CNN politics reporter Tom LoBianco, live in Washington. Tom, good to have you with us.

ROMANS: Hi, there.

TOM LOBIANCO, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, guys.

HOWELL: So let's talk about this. So the shake-up at the top, the Trump campaign pushing back and saying hey, there's no shake-up. They're noting the change but it's fair to say we are seeing the Trump triple down at this point. Donald Trump saying that Trump will be Trump on the campaign trail. And we saw just the other day at Trump Tower, Donald Trump with the people would presumably advise him when it comes to terror. His roundtable on terror. (Video playing) A national security meeting there with Trump advisers.

At the same time, we're hearing Hillary Clinton noting these changes and saying hey, there's no difference. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's fair to say that Donald Trump has shown us who he is. He can hire and fire anybody he wants from his campaign. They can make him read new words from a Teleprompter but he is still the same man who insults Gold Star families, demeans women, mocks people with disabilities, and thinks he knows more about ISIS than our generals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Tom, it's an interesting statement there by Hillary Clinton because if you look at that campaign and what they've been trying to do -- really freeze-frame him back in the primaries. Hey, this is the candidate that you have to decide upon. But it seems that Trump is going back to that, saying that that worked for him in the primaries. This new management structure will allow him to do more of that.

So is the Clinton campaign -- are they ready -- are they changing or preparing for a Trump that is not going to pivot? A Trump that is going to be Donald Trump on the campaign trail, as we saw him in the primaries.

LOBIANCO: If you're the Clinton campaign you want this focused on Trump and you want it focused, like you said, on that caricature of Trump. Focused in the primary, focused on things like the Kahn controversy, the Gold Star family controversy. That's where they want to keep us focused.

[05:40:00] What's interesting about Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon is that you have a push and pull dynamic with the hiring of those two. You have Bannon being very aggressive and then you have Conway trying to keep him on message. So it will be very interesting to watch that balance and see how that push and pull works.

ROMANS: It's so interesting. Yesterday, Brianna Keilar -- our colleague Brianna Keilar was talking to Michael Cohen from the Trump -- you know, Trump surrogate -- about the polls. I mean, you want to keep the focus, I guess, on Donald Trump -- his confidence and the strength that he's had so far. You don't want to keep the focus on the polls and you continue to want to bash the media, I think. I think that's what we'll be seeing from this campaign, at least if you look at this exchange yesterday between Brianna and Cohen -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: So you say -- you say it's not a shake-up but you guys are down and it makes sense that there would --

MICHAEL COHEN, ATTORNEY, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: Says who?

KEILAR: Polls --

COHEN: Says who?

KEILAR: -- most of them, all of them.

COHEN: Says who?

KEILAR: Polls. I just told you. I answered your question.

COHEN: OK, which polls?

KEILAR: All of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: So denying the campaign is going through a shake-up, not recognizing the polls, what do you make of this strategy?

LOBIANCO: Well, it's pretty clear he seemed to be caught off guard there. I mean, this is -- what's interesting about this is that a lot of what people love about Trump and the Trump campaign is this political novice, right? Out there being in the open, being very stunning, making some stunning comments. But there's the backside of it -- the flipside of it is that sometimes you don't how to answer a question. All of the polls are showing that he's losing nationwide. He's losing in key battleground states. It's unavoidable at this point so there wasn't a good pivot there. There was no good deflection. That was a pretty startling exchange right there.

ROMANS: All right, Tom LoBianco, really interesting morning. Thanks for being here and getting up early for us.

LOBIANCO: Thank you.

ROMANS: Let's get an early start on your money now. We could see another day of record highs for stocks. Dow futures are hanging onto gains. They had a little bit of a rise yesterday. All the three major averages are just below their record highs set earlier this week. Stock markets in Europe and Asia are mixed. Oil above $47 a barrel.

The Federal Reserve dropping hints that a rate hike may be coming, a sign of confidence in the economy. During its last policy meeting some members were ready to act, were ready to raise interest rates, but the group decided against an increase, at least right now.

This week, two Fed members have publicly said a rate hike is likely this year and investors are listening. They're now putting more money on a rate hike by the end of the year. There you go. They believe there's a 42 percent chance for a rate hike in December. That's up from just last week. The chances of a rate hike during the two meetings before that are still pretty low.

HOWELL: The people will have to pay more.

ROMANS: They'll pay more to borrow money, that's right.

HOWELL: Well, a new program to combat the Zika virus in Florida, it's hitting a bit of a snag. Why residents there are protesting the plan, next.

[05:43:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:47:10] HOWELL: Welcome back to EARLY START, I'm George Howell. A test plan to fight the Zika virus through releasing genetically modified male mosquitoes has hit a snag. The Food and Drug Administration approved the experiment earlier this month for the Florida Keys but residents of Key Haven protested, claiming that they are being treated like lab rats.

A non-binding resolution will now be on the November ballot, delaying the start of that program. Health officials believe the modified male mosquitoes will mate with wild females, with their offspring engineered to die before reaching adulthood.

ROMANS: All right, the Blue Cut fire near San Bernardino, California is spreading so fast officials there are now warning that more than 80,000 residents who evacuated -- their homes may be gone when they eventually return to their neighborhoods. (Video playing) Take a look at this time-lapse video taken Tuesday night. It's really, really gripping here. The fire growing from five acres to 25,000 acres in 24 hours forcing the evacuation of nearly 35,000 homes. It is not clear how many structures have already burned.

HOWELL: That video, just incredible.

ROMANS: It really is.

HOWELL: It's time to take a look now at what's coming on "NEW DAY". Alisyn Camerota joins us now live -- Alisyn.

ROMANS: Good morning.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Hey, good morning, guys, great to see you. So what is going on with the Ryan Lochte armed robbery incident? Ryan Lochte giving some new details in his story about a robbery at gunpoint. So we'll tell you why Brazilian authorities will not let the remaining two U.S. swimmers out of the country and the information that investigators want to learn today.

Plus, of course, you've read the headlines but who exactly are the new names in charge of the Trump campaign? His new campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, will join us live. Plus we have new info on Steve Bannon and his relationship with Donald Trump. So we have all of that and more when we see you in about 12 minutes.

ROMANS: All right, thanks, Alisyn.

HOWELL: Alisyn, thanks.

ROMANS: All right, Aetna dropping its Obamacare coverage in most states just weeks after the Department of Justice filed suit to block its big merger plans. Are these two events related? New details when we get an early start on your money, next.

[05:49:15] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:53:30] HOWELL: In Rio, American athletes are reacting this morning after two American swimmers are pulled off a plane and forced to stay in Brazil and their account of an armed robbery now coming into question. Let's bring in CNN's Coy Wire, live in Rio, following this story -- Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, George. CNN spoke to one U.S. athlete close to Ryan Lochte on Wednesday who said he had been trying to reach out to Lochte but hadn't heard back. So clearly, the incident was on that athlete's mind.

We know that teams have urged their athletes to use more caution in the wake of the alleged robbery. The Australian team releasing a list of rules that included a curfew. But I asked one athlete from Australia if the list of rules was true and they laughed and said "not that I know of or none that I adhere to".

So the athletes have completed their competitions. They're still attending events in the evenings, celebrating their victories, eating, drinking, having a good time. Nobody I've personally spoken to regarding the USA swimming incident has anything to say about it other than it's crazy because not much is known at this point. So from what I've seen and heard it's not affecting those who are done competing and it's certainly not affecting the American athletes who are still competing.

Nine medals yesterday, bringing the U.S. total to a whopping 93 for the U.S. Three of those came when Americans made history in the women's 100-meter hurdles. Brianna Rollins, Nia Ali, and Kristi Castlin taking gold, silver, and bronze, respectively. It's the first Olympic podium sweep ever in women's sprint hurdles. The best part of the story is, guys, they are all best of friends off the track.

[05:55:00] How about the U.S. men's basketball team laying it down on Argentina, winning by 27 points. They'd only won their last three games by a total of 16 points combined so a big turnaround for the U.S., extending their Olympic winning streak to 23 straight games back to 2004. They play a tough Spain team next and the semifinals are on Friday.

Early start medal count, let's go. Team USA on top, China in second with 54, Great Britain in third with 50. And today more goods for you. Usain Bolt goes for his second gold here in Rio in the 200-meter final. It's his best event. American Ashton Eaton continuing his quest to repeat as world's greatest athlete. He's currently leading the way, Christine and George. He's looking for back-to-back Olympic golds in the event.

ROMANS: Awesome. All right, Coy Wire --

HOWELL: Coy, thank you.

ROMANS: -- with a great job. Another day when your job doesn't suck.

HOWELL: I'm so envious, the sun coming up right there.

ROMANS: It's so cool. All right, thanks, Coy. Let's get an early start on your money. The stock market could be back in rally mode. Dow futures inching higher. Stock markets in Europe and Asia mixed. Oil --some of the reason for the optimism here, it's above $47 a barrel. Small gains yesterday after minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting. A major hint that the economy is almost ready for another rate hike. It's a sign of confidence in the job market and the economy overall.

But job cuts are mounting in the tech sectors. There's something to tell you about Cisco here. They're cutting 5,500 jobs, seven percent of the worldwide workforce. The move will make room for investments in trendy new areas like cloud computing and the Internet of Things. It's really kind of a pivot in the business model for Cisco. Total job cuts in the tech sector this year, about 63,000 positions. A big increase from cuts made by tech firms this time last year.

These cuts at Cisco had been rumored to be more than twice what they were. Investors actually were disappointed. The stock falling in pre-market trading after a two percent drop yesterday. Overall though, the stock has performed well this year with the broader tech sector gaining 13 percent so far this year. Making things worse for Cisco, Cisco was forced to put out a public advisory yesterday that its products are vulnerable to hacking and spying from the National Security Agency.

All right, the big question in health care this morning. Did Aetna drop most of its Obamacare coverage because the Department of Justice blocked its merger with Humana? In a letter to the DOJ last month, Aetna's CEO writes "We believe it is very likely that we would need to leave the public exchange business entirely and plan for additional business efficiencies should our deal ultimately be blocked."

The letter was obtained by the "Huffington Post" following a Freedom of Information Act request. About three weeks after that letter was written the DOJ filed a lawsuit to block the Aetna-Humana merger and also to block the merger of rivals Anthem and Cigna. So more drama on the Obamacare exchanges this morning.

HOWELL: All right, the two American Olympic athletes, the swimmers, removed from their flights home by police in Brazil. Why they are being kept in that nation and what U.S. officials are saying this morning. "NEW DAY" picks up our coverage right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: He can hire and fire anybody he wants but he is still the same man.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am who I am. I don't want to change that.

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He's a genuine article, isn't he?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no shake-up.

CONWAY: I think he's having a great week.

JILL STEIN, GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I will have trouble sleeping at night if Donald Trump is elected. I will also have trouble if Hillary Clinton is elected.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ryan Lochte and three of his teammates robbed at gunpoint.

RYAN LOCHTE, U.S. OLYMPIC SWIMMER: They pulled us over, they pulled out their gun, cocked it, and put it to my forehead.

WALSH: Two American athletes stopped from leaving the country.

ROMANS: Investigators questioning inconsistencies in the swimmers' statements.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is a stunning story that has taken over these Olympic Games.

(END VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone, welcome to your new day. It's Thursday, August 18th. It's 6:00 in the East, and we do begin with breaking news because two Team USA swimmers have been pulled off a plane, stopped from leaving Brazil. Police want to know more about the night that Ryan Lochte and three teammates say that they were robbed at gunpoint.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: Why is this going on? Because of inconsistencies that are emerging in their accounts of what they say happened that night. Lochte is back in the U.S. --- he landed in North Carolina -- and now he's changing some of his details. How, what does it mean?

Let's get right to CNN senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh, live in Rio with the latest. Good morning, what do you know, my friend?

WALSH: Chris, it's staggering. Gunner Bentz and Jack Conger, two of those four swimmers actually physically on the plane when they were taken off by Brazilian authorities. Now they, along with the third of the four men in this, James Feigen, will, we understand, be giving more information to Brazilian authorities at some point today about what has become an international incident almost, and that's the small number of hours they went through when they left a nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH: American swimmers Jack Conger and Gunner Bentz pulled off their plane and ordered not to leave Rio. The Olympic duo detained after a Brazilian judge ordered them to give official statements because of discrepancies in their claims that they were robbed at gunpoint on Sunday night.