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6.2 Earthquake Hit Central Italy; Clinton Campaign Pushes Back on Foundation Controversy; FBI Investigating Hack of New York Times; Deaf Man Fatally Shot by North Carolina State Trooper; Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired August 24, 2016 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:16] BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, a deadly earthquake hits central Italy. We're getting our first look at the damage and the death toll. Officials now trying to find survivors still in the rubble. We'll have the very latest on this tragedy.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump is sailing Hillary Clinton over the Clinton Foundation after a report suggests favorable treatment for donors. He's also suggesting he may soften his tone on immigration but could that ultimately cost him?

Good morning, welcome to the middle of your week. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

SANCHEZ: Always happy to be here with you, Christine. I'm glad you could join us, I'm Boris Sanchez. It's Wednesday, August 24th, 4:00 a.m. on the East Coast.

We start with breaking news, a deadly earthquake in the mountains of central Italy. The magnitude 6.2 quake hit six miles south of the village of Norcia and rattled the windows in Rome. About 100 miles away in the hardest hit town of Amatrice, the mayor says that buildings have been destroyed, there are people still under the rubble, and access to many areas are cut off. He's now pleading for outside help.

For the very latest let's talk to CNN contributor, Barbie Nadeau. She's Italy bureau chief of the "Daily Beast."

Barbie, good morning. What are you learning?

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (via phone): The mayor of this town says more than half of his town is gone and -- this happened hours ago. All we keep hearing people were in their cars and buildings falling. In the area as well. This is very popular area for foreign tourists -- right now.

ROMANS: So hard to hear Barbie so well. We're going to -- we're going to get out of that conversation, come back to her in a minute. She's obviously very busy. But at least 21 dead. Half that town, half that town said to be gone. Just leveled by the 6.2 magnitude earthquake. The Italian Red Cross immediately mobilizing all its emergency centers and resources. A spokesman telling CNN that medical personnel, ambulances and search and rescue crews are on their way or already onsite in the disaster area.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOMMASO DELLA LONGA, ITALIAN RED CROSS, ROME: The first priority now is to find people under the building that collapsed and to find the survivor. You have to understand that this area is very rural. It's the middle of mountains and valleys so there is not only the problem of the small cities like Amatrice, for instance, but also really there's more villages. And then houses that are completely alone in the middle of a valley so they need to have help as soon as possible. So this is the main challenge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The death toll right now sits at 21. And it's interesting back in 2009, there was an earthquake in a very area -- in close proximity to Amatrice.

ROMANS: Right.

SANCHEZ: It was a similar magnitude happened at a similar time. The death toll reached 300 there.

ROMANS: I know.

SANCHEZ: Right now officials are working to get to survivors. But will those emergency crews be fighting against the weather?

Let's bring in meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Boris and Christine, you know, the only piece of good news coming out of this is the weather pattern over the next week. A pretty expansive area of high pressure. Hard- pressed to find much in the way of cloud cover over this region in the next coming couple of days.

In fact, the forecast moving forward over the next three days shows you a warming trend that takes us eventually up into the mid-80's. The overnight temperature is close to 60 degrees. All of these fantastic when it comes to any sort of search and rescue operations for folks across this region.

But, of course, the bad news is just the amount of people that felt this intense shaking associated with this quake. Upwards of 20 million people feeling the shaking associated with this quake. And the USGS did a wonderful job of looking at previous quakes and learning from them as far as the damage potential left in place from this quake. And the highest likelihood of fatalities they're estimating, based on previous data, would be between 100 to 1,000 people.

Now you take a look at previous quakes again. We know in 2009 the L'Aquila quake in this region took with it almost 300 lives. It was a 6.3, .1 weaker -- stronger than the one we just saw in the past several hours, also sitting at around six miles in depth and also happening in the 3:30 in the morning hour period. So very similar quakes to what we saw there from a couple of years ago -- guys. SANCHEZ: All right, Pedram, thank you.

We're also following other breaking news overnight. North Korea test firing a submarine based missile off its eastern coast.

[04:05:03] It landed 300 miles away in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea. It violated Japan's air defense zone for the first time ever. Japan's prime minister calling the test launch, quote, "unforgivable reckless act," that significantly damages the peace and stability of the region. The launch comes during an annual joint military exercise between the U.S. and South Korea.

ROMANS: All right, to politics now in this country. Donald Trump and Republicans brandishing a new weapon in their attacks on what they call a pay-to-play culture at the State Department. It's a new report from the Associated Press finding more than half the private individuals meeting with Hillary Clinton as secretary of state had donated to the Clinton Family Foundation. Trump calling the foundation, quote, "the most corrupt enterprise," in political history. It's a line of attack he kept up on the campaign trail in Texas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is impossible to figure out where the Clinton Foundation ends and the State Department begins. It is now abundantly clear that the Clintons have set up a business to profit from public office. They sold access and specific actions by and really for, I guess, the making of large amounts of money.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The Clinton campaign rejecting the Trump claims. The Clinton campaign also rejecting the AP reporting they're based on.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more from Washington.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Boris, the Clinton campaign is pushing back hard on a new report saying that Secretary Clinton had more than half of her meetings with donors to the Clinton Foundation during her time as secretary of state.

Now Donald Trump seized on this Associated Press report, as did Mike Pence. They said it is the latest example of pay-for-play at the Clinton State Department involving the Clinton Foundation.

Now Clinton campaign spokesman Brian Fallon said this. He said, "This story relies on utterly flawed data. It cherry-picked a limited subset of Secretary Clinton's schedule to give a distorted portrayal of how often she crossed paths with individuals connected to charitable donations to the Clinton Foundation."

Now the Clinton campaign is saying that this story is simply not true, but it certainly has opened the door to more questions here, fueled this fire that Donald Trump has been calling on for really several days to put an end to the Clinton Foundation.

Now the Clinton campaign on the defensive here about the foundation already changing rules. Just earlier this week, President Clinton said he would step down from this foundation. He would stop raising money for the foundation if Hillary Clinton is elected president. So this latest report is one more example that the nexus between the secretary of state's office and the foundation will remain an issue throughout the rest of this campaign.

Now today Secretary Clinton still in California raising money, looking forward to a speech tomorrow in Nevada where she will question Donald Trump's temperament in the latest installment of what some call the Trump lecture series -- Christine and Boris.

SANCHEZ: All right, Jeff. Thank you.

Trump's attacks on Hillary Clinton not confined to her family's foundation. The Republican nominee also going after her stance on immigration saying that she wants to open the floodgates at the U.S. borders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Hillary Clinton wants a totally open border.

(CROWD BOOS)

TRUMP: She wants catch and release. She wants Obamacare and other things for illegal immigrants, in many cases, more than our great veterans get.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Just a few hours earlier, Trump told FOX News he'd consider softening his immigration stance to help law abiding immigrants. This despite a year of taking a seemingly uncompromising stance on immigration really the centerpiece we've seen of his platform.

ROMANS: Wow. All right. Critical meetings on the agenda today for Vice President Joe Biden as he takes us down in Turkey fighting a wave of terror in the wake of a failed military coup. Can Joe Biden help restore some calm? We'll go there -- next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:13:16] ROMANS: All right. Welcome back. Breaking overnight, Turkish forces launching a military operation along the border with Syria to clear out ISIS operatives. A U.S.-led coalition is joining that effort. Later today, Vice President Biden meets with Turkey's leaders. He's expected to express concern about that country's crackdown on free speech and political opponents in the wake of that failed military coup.

Biden is also telling NATO allies in the Baltic States do not take Donald Trump seriously. In a meeting in Latvia on Tuesday, Biden pledged the U.S. will always honor its NATO commitments. SANCHEZ: President Obama is promising to rebuild Louisiana after

touring a Baton Rouge neighborhood that was devastated by flooding. The president faced stiff criticism for not cutting his summer vacation to Martha's Vineyard short to visit the state sooner. But while there, he shrugged off his critics, he praised the relief efforts of FEMA and urged Americans not to forget the scope of the disaster facing the people of Louisiana.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Sometimes once the floodwaters pass, people's attention spans pass. This is not a one- off. This is not a photo-op issue. This is how do you make sure that a month from now, three months from now, six months from now, people still are getting the help that they need.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The White House confirms that during his visit the president met with the family of Alton Sterling. He's the 37-year-old Baton Rouge man who was shot to death by police in July. The president also met with families of slain and wounded police officers that were attacked following the Sterling shooting.

ROMANS: The FBI investigating a series of cyber attacks believed to be the work of Russian hackers that have targeted reporters of "The New York Times" and other American media organizations.

[04:15:01] Now authorities suspect they may be the same hackers who recently infiltrated the Democratic National Committee.

We get more this morning from CNN justice correspondent Evan Perez.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Boris, U.S. investigators think this is part of a broader wave of cyber attacks by Russian intelligence. The question is why? We're used to seeing state-sponsored hacks of government systems. That's what spies do. But what officials think the Russia is doing here is targeting any organization with a window into the U.S. political system. That includes think tanks and now reporters.

The FBI is working with private security investigators to investigate these intrusions targeting "The New York Times" reporters and reporters for other outlets. The concern here is that Russian spies obtained not only information of about who reporters are talking to in the government but also details of their communications and maybe even stories that haven't yet been published.

"The New York Times" declined to comment on any possible breach, but they did say that they generally work with outside investigators and law enforcement to try to defend against hackers. Now there are some debate inside the Obama administration about what to do about all of this. Some officials want to publicly call out the Russians for these hacks. But there are others who are concerned about escalating what's already an undeclared cyber war -- Boris, Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Evan. Thank you for hat reporting.

Time for an EARLY START your money. The housing market may be the strongest part of the U.S. economy right now. New home sales jumped 12.4 percent in July from June. They're up 31 percent versus last year. That's the strongest since the 2007 housing boom before the recession. We get a fresh reading on existing home sales later this morning. And shares of Best Buy soaring nearly 20 percent yesterday after it delivered strong earnings.

Best Buy's earnings boom is also a strong housing story. Big ticket items like home theater equipment, computers, refrigerators, dishwashers, all that offset declines in purchases of smartphones and video games. The hottest part of the retail industry is home improvement. We've seen clothing retailers and department stores struggling.

So it looks like people are dressing up their homes, Boris, and not themselves. But that's an important sign of strength in the American economy. You know, a lot of folks are saying you look at Dallas, you look at Denver, you look at some of these big hot housing markets. You put a house on the market today, sellers get a contract by the weekend. So there are some really good spots in the housing market. Affordability is still a problem.

SANCHEZ: Welcome news. For sure.

ROMANS: Yes, absolutely.

SANCHEZ: A deaf man ends up dead after leading police on a car chase in North Carolina. Why his family says his death could have been prevented.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:21:56] SANCHEZ: We're following breaking news out of Italy this morning when the central part of that country, a 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck at about 3:00 a.m. So far, we know about 21 people -- at least 21 people have been killed. As you can see in that video, officials are now digging through the rubble trying to find any survivors.

We'll have a full update on the story in just a few moments. But we want to get back to the U.S. now.

Mourners in North Carolina are paying their respects at a memorial service for 29-year-old Daniel Harris who was a deaf man fatally shot by a state trooper after an attempted traffic stop and chase. Authorities have now launched a criminal investigation into the shooting. Harris' brother who is also deaf believes that his sibling's disabilities may have inadvertently led to the shooting.

We get more now CNN's Ed Lavandera.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Boris, the family of Daniel Harris says his shooting death could have been prevented and they are demanding answers. It's been nearly a week since Daniel Harris was shot and killed by

North Carolina state trooper Jermaine Saunders. This altercation took place last Thursday just after 6:00 at night. Investigators say that Harris led the trooper on a pursuit that lasted a little more than seven miles. Harris' family believes that he was trying to get back toward his neighborhood and his home where he felt more safe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAM HARRIS, BROTHER OF DANIEL HARRIS (Through Translator): He was unarmed and he is a deaf individual and I think that he was just afraid. He was a few feet away from his home. He was trying to get to the safe place he knew. He could not hear their warnings, he couldn't hear their commands to stop or stay away from them. The police need to become aware of how to communicate with deaf people, what that might look like and how to avoid situations like this from ever happening again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: All of this over a suspicion that Harris was speeding while driving. What happened next isn't exactly clear. Investigators in North Carolina will only say that there is a, quote, "encounter" between Harris and the trooper that resulted in one shot being fired. That shot killed Daniel Harris there, near his home in Charlotte, North Carolina.

But investigators are not releasing any details about what exactly took place during that encounter. Investigators say that they are in the process of collecting and analyzing dashcam and body cam footage from all of the troopers that responded to that scene. From our understanding, it's some 20 different officers that responded to that shooting call and so they're in the process of analyzing all of that.

But as I've mentioned, Harris' family say that Harris was unarmed during all of this. And that they believe he was trying to get back to his neighborhood, a place he felt safe, considering that he was a deaf and mute driver there on the streets of North Carolina. And that they're demanding answers and they feel that all of this could have been prevented -- Christine and Boris.

ROMANS: All right, Ed Lavandera. Just a sad story there. Thanks for that, Ed.

Twenty-five minutes past the hour, an out-of-this-world surprise for NASA scientists re-establishing contact with its stereo beast spacecraft after nearly two years of radio silence.

[04:25:03] Officials say communication was lost during its mission to study the sun. They've been working in tandem with the second craft. Now that it's been found, the stereo team will monitor the spacecraft to see what kind of shape it's in.

SANCHEZ: Tragedy striking in Italy. A powerful earthquake overnight. Toppling buildings and wreaking havoc on an area that rarely sees these kinds of tremors. The very latest on the situation there is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Breaking overnight, a deadly earthquake hits central Italy. Initial reports of damage and the rising death toll coming in now as rescue workers try desperately to save victims. We have the very latest from Italy.

SANCHEZ: And Donald Trump going after Hillary Clinton with a two- pronged attack, targeting the Clinton Foundation and her stance on immigration. But could Trump's own potential shift on immigration shift end up hurting him?

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Boris Sanchez.

ROMANS: Nice to see you this morning. Busy morning, middle of your week. Welcome, folks. I'm Christine Romans. It's 30 minutes past the hour.

Breaking news this morning, this deadly earthquake in the mountains of central Italy. It's a magnitude 6.2 quake. It hits six --