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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Deadly Earthquake in Central Italy; Trump Hits Clinton Over Foundation Revelations; Tom Brady's Back! Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired August 24, 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] BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR, ITALY (via telephone): They must have reached a wardrobe or closet or something. Just piles and piles of clothes from that hole. They're trying to find, I guess, the family under there. In the first floor of this house about 100 yards in front of the position we're in right now.
But what we don't see is the construction and heavy equipment and things like that. There's just so much devastation in this area right now, that they don't have enough team to go around. What they're needing is heavy equipment. Hands and a farmers tractor to try to lift this heaving debris of this collapsed building.
Ambulance is going by. The roads are closed. There's very little access into the heaviest areas where we are right now.
You know, I don't use the word "chaos" in a situation like this, but it really is chaotic. You know, there are piles and rubble. And those piles there, you know, several hours into this event, and, you know, you see helicopters over the area. But you don't really have a sense that they've gotten control of their rescue operations. They're not sure how many people might be here.
This is a sort of a holiday community. In a beautiful mountainous area of Central Italy, where a lot of people from Rome have their summer homes here. Tourists here as well. These renovated farm houses. It's what's so beautiful about this country.
But as we see time and time again, that which makes this country so beautiful, these ancient farm houses, old churches just become deadly in an earthquake like this.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely. All right. Our Barbie Nadeau, we'll let you get back to work there for us this morning covering that earthquake in Italy, thank you.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: As the search and rescue operation continues, the Italian Red Cross immediately mobilized all its emergency centers 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 (via telephone): First priority to find people in the building that collapsed, and to find the survivors here. You have to understand that this area is very rural, it's in the middle of mountains and valleys. So, it's not the problem of small cities like Amatrice, for instance, but there's also the entire country alone in the middle of a valley. So, they need to have help as soon as possible. So, this is their main challenge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: All right. Will those emergency crews be fighting against the weather? Let's bring in meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
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, pretty expansive area of high pressure, hard- pressed to find much in the way of cloud cover over this region in the next coming days.
In fact, the forecast over the next three days shows a warming trend, in the mid-80s. Overnight, 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 Upwards of 20 million people feeling the shaking associated with this quake, upwards of 20 million people feeling the shaking associated with this quake. And the USGS does a wonderful job of looking at previous quakes and learning from them as far as damage potential left at 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, if you take a look at previous quakes, we know in 2009, the L'Aquila quake in this region took with it almost 300 lives. It was a 6.3 -- 0.1 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 period. So, very similar quakes to what we saw of a couple years ago -- guys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Thanks for that, Pedram.
Also breaking overnight, North Korea test firing a submarine-based ballistic missile off its eastern coast. It landed 300 miles away in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea. A lunch violated the zone for the first time ever. Japan's prime minister calling that test launch an unforgivable reckless act that significantly damages the peace and stability of the region. The launch comes during an annual joint military exercise between United States and South Korea.
SANCHEZ: Donald Trump and Republicans with harsh new criticism of what they call a pay-to-play culture at the State Department. The attack is based on a new report from "The Associated Press" saying that more than half the private individuals that met with Hillary Clinton when she was secretary of state had donated to the Clinton family's foundation. Trump is calling the foundation the most corrupt enterprise in political history. It's a line of attack he kept up on the campaign trail yesterday in Texas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[05:05:01] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It is impossible to figure out where the Clinton Foundation ends and the State Department begins. It is now abundantly clear that the Clintons 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)
SANCHEZ: Now, the Clinton campaign has rejected Trump's claims and the "A.P." reporting that they're based on.
CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
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 this story is simply not true, but it's opened the door to 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 is in California raising money, looking forwards to a speech tomorrow in Nevada where she will question Donald Trump's temperament in the latest installment in what some call the Trump lecture series -- Christine and Boris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right. Thanks for that, Jeff.
Joining us to talk about the Clinton Foundation and the rest of the race, CNN political analyst, Josh Rogin. He's a columnist for "The Washington Post" and a good friend of the show.
Good morning.
JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.
ROMANS: Let's start here with this line of attack by Donald Trump about Hillary Clinton and corruption. I mean, he was on teleprompter yesterday delivering again and again this same sort of theme. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If our secretary of state can be bought or bribed or sold, look, what's happening right now with government favors, then the whole American system is threatened. So many people for doing so far less are right now suffering tremendous repercussions, tremendous, for doing so far less, for doing a tiny fraction of what Hillary Clinton did. It is a disgrace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: How effective is this going to be for Team Trump?
ROGIN: Well, it's effective, in the sense that people are not talking about Trump. People are talking about Hillary Clinton. But in typical Trump fashion, what he's done here is he's taken the sort of appearance of impropriety and accused her of felonies and actual improprieties, right?
We don't actually have evidence that there was a pay-for-play. That the Clinton Foundation said to foundation donors, if you donate, you'll get this. What we see is sort of coincidental meetings, a series of overlapping relationships, what seems to be a conflict of interest.
But what Donald Trump is do he's taking that and he's just exaggerating it to the point where he's accusing the secretary of state of felonies and turning that into a campaign slogan.
It's good politics, but it's really sort of misleading in terms of the actual facts.
SANCHEZ: Josh, I want to point out two polls for you very quickly. One, this Monmouth University poll, of voters in Missouri, that shows Donald Trump has a one-point lead over Hillary Clinton, 44 to 43 percent. Missouri a state that is typically, reliable Republican, at least since 2000. Also another poll, this one out of Virginia, Roanoke College poll showing Clinton with a 16-point lead over Trump, 48-32. Virginia went for Barack Obama twice, but before, another reliably Republican state.
Despite that, the head of the RNC, Reince Priebus, is staying positive. I want to play you some sound from a conference he had with journalists.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
REINCE PRIEBUS, RNC CHAIRMAN: I think people want to buy the changed product. I think that's what both parties saw all year. But it's going to be important for us and for Donald Trump to continue down this measured path that he's on. And if he does that, I think he's going to be tighter ahead, at, or just after Labor Day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: A reminder, Labor Day is only about two weeks away. How much of this is faith in the new leadership in Trump's campaign in Kellyanne Conway?
[05:10:05] ROGIN: Right. This is the most optimistic, semi plausible prediction I've ever seen. It's kind of -- you know, he says something that doesn't match the numbers at all. The transfer of the Trump campaign are all going off in the wrong direction.
But Reince Priebus has no choice, really. What else can he say? He's got to project this air of confidence.
What we see in all of this purple and even light red states is that the Trump organization has no infrastructure, and the Clinton team has moved all of their sort of focus away from comfortable blue and light blue states to these states that are now in play. So, it's really bad news for the Trump organization.
And Reince Priebus is spinning hard here. But the facts are stubborn things. Although they're trying to address this problem and hoping that Donald Trump will stick to his script and not make a huge errors. If history is any guide that won't last long.
ROMANS: This script to Donald Trump, he's pretty deftly delivered some attack lines over Hillary Clinton the last day or two, while staying absolutely on script. And one of them, this attack line on immigration.
Listen to him talk about what he says is Hillary Clinton's position on immigration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Hillary Clinton wants a totally open border. 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) ROMANS: OK. There's like five things to fact check in there. But bottom line, she wants a pathway to citizenship for people who are not criminal, illegal immigrants. She wants to deport criminals. But this plays with him and his base, even though it's not -- we're not clear what his position is on immigration when it's said and done.
ROGIN: Right, his positions are all over the place. And the bottom line is, even though he's reading offer the teleprompter, it doesn't mean he's telling the truth, the controversy has shifted to the Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway era, they put the crazy, conspiracy lies on the teleprompter so they don't even have to, he doesn't have to go off-script. He can read from the teleprompter and be saying things that are wrong. That's the new Donald Trump.
ROMANS: All right. Josh, come back in a few minutes. Get a cup of coffee. We'll see you in a few minutes.
ROGIN: Thank you.
ROMANS: Thanks, Josh.
SANCHEZ: Critical meetings for Vice President Joe Biden as he touches down in the Turkey, fighting a wave of terror in the wake of that failed military coup. Can Biden help restore some calm? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:16:49] SANCHEZ: Breaking news, we're following a major earthquake overnight in the mountains of Central Italy. CNN partner RAI News says at least 21 people are killed in three villages. Many buildings near the epicenter collapsed as people were sleeping. The town of Amatrice is said to be almost completely destroyed. Rescue workers are on the scene and bringing people out of the rubble. We're going to keep following the story and bring you the latest throughout the morning.
ROMANS: Also breaking overnight, Turkish forces launching a military operations along the border of series to clear out ISIS operatives and a U.S.-led coalition is joining that effort. The operation coinciding with the visit later today by this guy, Vice President Joe Biden. He'll be meeting with Turkey's leaders. He's expected to express concern about that country's crackdown on free speech and in the wake of a military coup.
Biden also telling NATO allies in very strong terms in the Baltic States not to take Donald Trump seriously. In a meeting in Latvia on Tuesday, Biden pledged the U.S. will always honor its NATO commitments.
All right. Time for an early start on your money. The housing market maybe the strongest part of the U.S. economy right now. New home sales jumped 12.5 percent in July from June. They're up from 31 percent compared to last year.
That's the strongest since the 2007 housing boom before the recession. That's right, the strongest housing market in at least a decade. We're going to get a fresh reading on existing home sales later this morning.
Shares of Best Buy soaring more than 20 percent after delivering strong earnings. Best Buy's earnings boom is also a strong housing story. Big ticket items like home theater equipment, computers, refrigerators, dishwashers those 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, people are dressing up their nests, not necessarily their closets.
I'm also hearing that the credit conditions are loosening for people. It's easier to get a mortgage. If you're selling a home, boom, you're getting it under contract in a week or something. But home buyers are saying affordability is a problem in some places.
SANCHEZ: It comes at an interesting time, too, because we're expecting potential news from Janet Yellen and the Fed.
ROMANS: That's right. That's right. You've been reading your "Wall Street Journal."
SANCHEZ: I'd just been watching you. That's all. That's all.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: There's been a Tom Brady sighting. The New England Patriots quarterback resurfacing at training camp after an excused absence. Where was he and how did he slice up the thumb of his throwing hand?
Andy Scholes with more on this morning's "Bleacher Report", next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:23:45] SANCHEZ: After dominating Rio, the final five is back in the states, they're living it in up in New York City.
ROMANS: Andy Scholes has more on this morning's "Bleacher Report." Hey, Andy.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, guys.
Yes, the final five is going to go on tour to perform in cities all around the country, starting next month. But before they do, they're doing some R&R in New York City. The entire team seeing the sights yesterday. They made their way up to the top of the Empire State Building.
They also got to meet Usher. You see him right here wearing Aly Raisman's gold medal. They had fun on "Tonight Show" with Jimmy Fallon playing a life version of hungry, hungry hippo.
(BEGINVIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY FALLON, TONIGHT SHOW: The Final Five, Simone Biles, Aly Raismon, Laurie Hernandez, Gabby Douglas and Madison Kocian.
(CHEERS)
AUDIENCE: Be right there!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thirty seconds, three two, one -- eat!
FALLON: There's the blue team!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: That looked like a lot of fun.
Tom Brady back at practice yesterday for the Patriots after missing the past two days. The team called it an excused personal absence.
[05:25:01] And Brady did not expand on why he was gone. But he did finally address how he missed the Patriots last preseason game after he cut his hand right before warm up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM BRADY, PATRIOTS QUARTERBACK: I was just trying to get something out of my shoe. And the scissors slipped, and just a silly accident. We only get so many opportunities a year. I'm getting so many opportunities in my life. I'd like to take advantage of any and all of them if possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: Now, Brady added he plans on playing Friday against the Panthers.
All right. Tim Tebow will be back on the field next week, but it won't be a football field. Tebow's official tryout for Major League Baseball scouts takes place next Tuesday in Los Angeles. Twenty scouts will reportedly be on hand for the showcase. Tebow has been training the past several months. He hopes on signing with the team.
You know what, guys, I bet a team does take a chance at Tebow, if nothing else to sell tickets at minor league stadiums. We know one thing, those minor league teams, they love gimmicks, and I guarantee, Tebow will put butts in the seats.
SANCHEZ: I can see, the Florida Marlins doing it. They have nothing to lose at this point, right? Good for it.
SCHOLES: We'll see.
ROMANS: All right. Andy, thanks so much.
SANCHEZ: Tragedy striking in Italy. A powerful earthquake overnight, toppling buildings and wreaking havoc on an area that rarely sees these tremors. The very latest on the situation there, next.
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