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Trump's Fiery Immigration Speech; Trumps' Meeting With Mexican President Cordial; Hurricane Warning For Florida Panhandle; Massive Rescue Operation Of Immigrants In Mediterranean Sea; Tesla: Automaker Rolling Out "Major Improvements" To Autopilot Software. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired September 01, 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 ANCHOR: Donald Trump fired up, explaining and defending his immigration policy -- no amnesty, a deportation task force, and more, but what questions did he leave unanswered hours after meeting with Mexico's president?

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: And as to be expected, the Clinton campaign slamming Donald Trump's take on immigration, calling it his darkest speech yet. What Clinton is saying about Trump's pit stop in Mexico.

ROMANS: Hurricane warnings now in effect for the Florida panhandle. A powerful tropical storm gaining strength, folks. Will this storm wreck the holiday for millions of Americans? The latest on the storm moments away. Welcome back on the first day of September to EARLY START, I'm Christine Romans.

HOWELL: Good morning, I'm George Howell. Thirty-one minutes past the hour and breaking overnight, Donald Trump on immigration, doubling down on his tough talk speaking directly to his supporters in the state of Arizona. Trump gave his highly anticipated speech intended to clear up his murky positions on immigration. This was a fired up Donald Trump, different than what we saw in Mexico City. We'll have more on that in a moment

But Trump laid out a general plan point-by-point, including no amnesty for immigrants living illegally in the United States, advocating for what he called a deportation task force focused on expelling criminals, leaving the idea of mass deportation of undocumented immigrants for some later date.

No federal funding for U.S. sanctuary cities -- many major cities like San Francisco. And no visas for visitors from countries without adequate security screening. Here are some other highlights from that speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Zero tolerance for criminal aliens -- zero, zero. There are at least two million -- two million, think of it -- criminal aliens now inside of our country. Two million people. We will begin moving them out day one. As soon as I take office, day one, I am going to create a new special

deportation task force focused on identifying and quickly removing the most dangerous criminal illegal immigrants in America who have evaded justice, just like Hillary Clinton has evaded justice. Maybe they'll be able to deport her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: We do have one fact-check to point out from that soundbite that you heard. Trump's claim of two million criminal illegal immigrants in the U.S. -- we found that number closer to 1.5 million people.

Trump's speech in Arizona -- it came in direct contrast to his last- minute trip just hours earlier to Mexico to visit the president of that country, Enrique Pena Nieto. That conversation, by all accounts, seemed respectful but one key question emerged from that meeting -- Trump's vow to have Mexico pay for a border wall.Trump says it wasn't discussed. The Mexican president tweeted it was and he said no.

CNN's Sara Murray is with the Trump campaign and has the latest for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, George and Christine. Well, anyone who thought Donald Trump was softening on his immigration policies got their answer as he was campaigning last night in Phoenix, Arizona.

He said he was going to add 5,000 new border patrol agents. He was going to triple the number of ICE deportation officers. And as for the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S., Trump said those were his main priority -- that border security. But he said if they ever hope to have legal status they would first have to leave, return to their home countries, and apply through the appropriate channels.

TRUMP: As with any law enforcement activity we will set priorities, but unlike this administration no one will be immune or exempt from enforcement. And ICE and border patrol officers will be allowed to do their jobs the way their jobs are supposed to be done. Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation. That is what it means to have laws and to have a country.

MURRAY: Now, earlier in the day he traveled to Mexico where he held a cordial meeting with the president of Mexico. But by the time he got to Arizona he was ready to serve up some red meat for his Republican base.

[05:35:00] Now, we saw many sides of Donald Trump yesterday. Today he's campaigning in the pivotal battleground state of Ohio. We'll see if he continues to speak to his GOP base or if he aims to expand it. Back to you guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ROMANS: All right, new details now on Trump's brief trip to Mexico for that private meeting the president, Pena Nieto. The main disagreement, to go public, from the sit-down concerns Trump's promised border wall. Now, in the briefing that followed, Trump said the two men did not discuss the subject of who pays for the wall.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We did discuss the wall. We didn't discuss payment of the wall. That'll be for a later date. This was a very preliminary meeting. I think it was an excellent meeting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: But hours after Trump left, President Pena Nieto tweeted in Spanish, "At the beginning of the conversation with Donald Trump I made clear that Mexico will not pay for the wall." The Mexican leader also told Trump that NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, benefits both the U.S. and Mexico. He argued that more than six million U.S. jobs today rely on exports to Mexico. Trump has consistently slammed NAFTA on the campaign trail.

HOWELL: All right, let's talk more about the plus-minus from Donald Trump's big immigration day with "Newsday" columnist and best-selling author Ellis Henican, here live with us.

ROMANS: Good morning.

ELLIS HENICAN, COLUMNIST, "NEWSDAY": Good morning, guys, as well.

HOWELL: Let's talk, first of all, about the two tales of Donald Trump. One in Mexico City and one in Arizona, talking to his base. Very different personas. Let's listen to, first, Trump in Mexico.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And I happen to have a tremendous feeling for Mexican- Americans, not only in terms of friendships but in terms of the tremendous numbers that I employ in the United States and they are amazing people, amazing people.

We will begin working on an impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful, southern border wall. Mexico will work with us. I absolutely believe it, and especially after meeting with their wonderful, wonderful president today. I really believe they want to solve this problem along with us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: So, two very different Donald Trumps. Help us square the circle here. So, who is he talking to and will it help him?

HENICAN: Well, I'm not sure those Donald Trumps would like each other very much, right? One was a very soft-spoken diplomatic guy and the other was like a fiery preacher, right? But you know, they're aiming, I guess, at two different audiences. But I've got to tell you, I think the Phoenix one won last night.

That was the real Donald, I think. There was a little bit of a try on the other side but in the end I think the message of the day was all that stuff about me softening, forget about it.

ROMANS: I think that -- I think that "The New York Times" also thought that the Donald Trump yesterday was the Phoenix Donald Trump.

There's a top editorial in the "Times" this morning, "Mr. Trump's Deportation Nation". "It's ridiculous that Donald Trump's immigration proposals not so much a policy as empty words strung together and repeated should have propelled him as far as they have. This confounding situation hit peak absurdity on Wednesday." That's from "The New York Times" who have been critical of him for some time. He will wear that as a badge of honor, by the way.

HENICAN: That is right. I mean, in a way, you look at it like this. I mean, that's the horse that Donald rode in on, right? I mean, to the extent that he's gotten this far is by giving a full-throated, clear, some might say simple-minded approach to a very complex issue. But you know what, it's worked for him to a certain extent. There's an argument that it's not going to maybe get him all the way home in November, but it's kind of been the best thing he's had so far, isn't it?

HOWELL: The question, you know -- we've heard from other analysts who've said the outreach to African-Americans, the outreach to Hispanics not really the case. The major focus is more on those working class white voters. And then to convince those who might have been on the fence. Did it work here and will that play well in states like Ohio and in North Carolina where he needs those supporters of his base?

HENICAN: Well, you know what, the polls do seem to be tightening a little bit. And we can argue about why that is. I mean, my sense is that it has more to do with problems on the Clinton side than any particular progress that Donald Trump has made.

ROMANS: Interesting.

HENICAN: But, you know, you can't deny those numbers and, so, something is going. I guess that means we're likely to get more of it from the Trump side.

ROMANS: Sixty-eight more days, so we'll see what the strategies are from each campaign. You know, the Clinton campaign making a statement on the Trump speech last night, frankly. "In his darkest speech yet, Trump once again showed us that he will continue his decades-long record of divisiveness and campaign of hate."

Do you think there's a strategy where the Clinton campaign is kind of sitting back and letting Trump dominate the news headline, letting Trump be Trump? And, you know, I keep getting these tweets, you know, #HidingHillary. That she's not out there enough.

[05:40:00] HENICAN: Yes, I think that's part of it, you were onto something. I did notice, as well, from the Clinton campaign overnight, sending out tweets from other somewhatembarrassing people who liked the speech, right? There was Ann Coulter. They made a point of sending her comments. David Duke -- apparently he was very pleased last night and the Clinton campaign wanted to make sure that everybody knew that.

ROMANS: Interesting. All right, so we'll talk to you soon.

HENICAN: Yes, a lot of subtle back and forth bank shots, right?

ROMANS: Some subtle and some not so subtle.

HOWELL: Some not too subtle.

ROMANS: Sixty-seven days to go.

HENICAN: Phoenix is the real Donald Trump.

ROMANS: Yes. All right, well we'll put that down in the books.

HENICAN: Good to see you guys.

ROMANS: After Donald Trump's big immigration speech and his trip to Mexico it's still unclear where he stands on trade. You know, immigration and trade -- these are two stories together and a very important relationship for these countries. He told reporters at a briefing in Mexico City that he wanted to improve NAFTA but during the primaries he called it the worst trade deal in history, saying he would renegotiate it directly.

Mexico is the third largest trading partner for the U.S. but the internal politics of the Mexican economy right now are really interesting. Last year, Mexico's top source of foreign income, remittances. People sending money back to Mexico from the U.S. Nearly $24 billion worth of cash, nearly all of it from the U.S.

HOWELL: Wow.

ROMANS: That's more than the country made from selling oil. It is a major oil producer and exporter but it's getting more money from its citizens who have left its country and moved here. Donald Trump said earlier this year that he would consider targeting those remittances to force Mexico to pay for the border wall, a proposal critics say would be devastating to Mexico's economy.

And one of the reasons, I am sure, that he was invited there to Mexico because they do not want to risk not having a relationship with this potential president if that is his view on -- it's a very important source of foreign revenue.

HOWELL: Important to point out remittances because when you think about it -- and our Rosa Flores did a piece on this.

ROMANS: A great story, yes.

HOWELL: Yes, and when you think about the town, the families that would be affected by that change it's a big deal.

ROMANS: And then critics would say that it takes away impetus for the Mexican government to have economic development policies if it's just relying on the money that its people are sending back, you know?

HOWELL: Yes. We're following the situation in the Florida panhandle, right now under a hurricane warning. Tropical storm Hermine -- it is gaining strength. How much of the east coast could be affected by this storm? We'll look into it.

ROMANS: And a quick programming note for you. On Monday, we're going to have two special reports on both presidential nominees. Personal stories from those who know them best. Join us for "UNFINISHED BUSINESS: THE ESSENTIAL HILLARY CLINTON". That's Monday night at 8:00,followed by "ALL BUSINESS: THE ESSENTIAL DONALD TRUMP" at 10:00.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:46:40] ROMANS: Breaking overnight, a hurricane warning issued for the Florida panhandle. Tropical storm Hermine gaining strength, now forecast to become a hurricane before it makes landfall tonight, maybe early Friday. And with its path shifting -- you can see if shifting slightly westward -- it has the potential to really wreck the holiday weekend in the New York area.

I want to bring in meteorologist Pedram Javaheri for the very latest on this one.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: George and Christine, we have that hurricane warning in place across the Gulf of Mexico. In fact, this is the first hurricane warning since 2012 in the Gulf of Mexico.

And you take a look -- the severe weather threat also very high stretching, really, from Tallahassee out toward Jacksonville up towards Savannah. The primary concern here going to be for heavy rain and lighting for this afternoon ahead of this storm system and could spin up a few isolated tornadoes, as well, we typically see with tropical disturbances as they approach land.

But notice there is the warning -- the watches for the tropical storm do extend on into the Atlantic Ocean side with the storm system. And we know this storm could come in potentially in the overnight hours and we do have the high tide in place across that region going from about 3:00 p.m. on Thursday to one around 3:00 a.m. on Friday. And if it coincides with that high tide the flooding risk could be very high with a storm surge that would be up to seven feet across coastal, you know -- the panhandle region of Florida.

But notice the storm system quickly moves over, rides the Atlantic coastline. And sometime Sunday afternoon it could produce some heavy rainfall around parts of New York into Boston if it keeps that close track to the eastern seaboard. But again, the heaviest rainfall where you expect it, from Panama City out towards Tallahassee on into Savannah. Four to six inches possible this holiday weekend, guys. (END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Oh, my, OK.

HOWELL: Well, time to take a look at what's coming up next on "NEW DAY". Alisyn Camerota joins us now -- Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Hey, guys, good morning. So, did these guys talk about who was going to pay for the border wall or not? There are conflicting reports this morning. Donald Trump says no, they didn't discuss it. President Pena Nieto says yes, they did, and he told Trump he'll never pay for it.

So we're going to have all sorts of comments on Trump's visit to Mexico and his big immigration speech in Arizona. We're going to have the V.P. nominee, Tim Kaine, on with what he thought about it. We're going to have former Mexican president Vicente Fox on. You know that he never holds back when speaking about Donald Trump. And we'll also have people from the Trump campaign. So tune in at the top of the hour to "NEW DAY".

ROMANS: All right.

HOWELL: Alisyn, thank you.

ROMANS: Thank you so much. All right, the stock market has accomplished something we haven't seen since 1970.

HOWELL: Wow.

ROMANS: What it means for your investments when we get an EARLY START on your money, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:53:25] HOWELL: Welcome back to EARLY START. More on that massive rescue operation at sea that we told you about. More than 12,000 people saved from the Mediterranean, plucked from flimsy boats and rafts that they crowded into in a desperate attempt to escape violence and conflict.

Our senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman is following this story live in Rome with the very latest. Ben, good morning.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, George. Well, this certainly has -- this week has seen an unprecedented number of refugees and migrants being picked up off the Libyan coast. This is really the season where the numbers peak.

(Video playing) If you look at these pictures provided by the Italian Coast Guard you can that the seas are very calm and these are the human traffickers who are running this business, so to speak. They don't actually equip these boats to go any more than just a few miles off the Libyan coast where they will send out distress signals to the Italian Navy or other European navies operating in the area or NGO ships, and they will pick them up and bring them to Italy. Now, we've seen some dramatic pictures of rescues involving young children being picked up. In fact, there's one report of a child being born on one of these boats, if you can actually imagine that.

[05:55:00] And, of course, there's the case of the two Eritrean twins who were just five days old, born premature when their mother was in Libya. And, of course, they were picked up by the Italian Navy. At the time, they were dehydrated, suffering from malnutrition and hypothermia. They were flown by helicopter to a hospital in Palermo, Sicily where doctors say they and their mother are doing much better.

But that's basically the only good news coming out of this ever- unfolding tragedy coming from Libya -- George.

HOWELL: It is a desperate situation for so many people. Our senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman, live in Rome. Ben, thank you for the report.

ROMANS: All right, 55 minutes past the hour on this very first day of September. Let's get an EARLY START on your money. Dow futures are higher right now, upbeat economic data. Optimism ahead of that jobs report tomorrow driving the market. Stocks slipped yesterday to end August right where it started. Steady gains in European stock markets. Shares in Asia closed mixed. Oil prices, right now, lower.

It has been eerily quiet in stocks. Check out the past 38 days. The S&P 500 has not made a daily move of one percent -- not since July 8. Now, there's a 17-day streak in there where the index didn't move more than 0.75 percent in either direction. That's basically not moving. That hasn't happened since 1970. This calm is impressive because there are so many market-moving factors right now. An unpredictable U.S. election, turbulent oil prices, ever-changing bets on when the Fed will raise interest rates.

Four pieces of new economic data this week to help the Fed make its decision, especially if Friday's jobs report is strong. Personal income and spending increased in July. Consumer confidence now at a 12-month high. Pending home sales almost doubling estimates. And a reading on private sector jobs showed an impressive gain of 177,000 net new private sector jobs in August. All of that making the Federal Reserve's decision to raise interest rates a little bit easier.

To Tesla now. Tesla is rolling out what it calls major improvements to its autopilot software following a series of crashes. New updates will be downloaded to owners' Model S and Model X electric vehicles. CEO Elon Musk telling everybody Wednesday they start rolling out next month. The improvements will involve "advanced processing of radar signals" -- that's according to Musk.

Autopilot relies on a combination of radar and cameras. Critics have been calling for changes to Tesla's autopilot software following a series of highly publicized crashes, including one fatal accident. So that's the latest on the Tesla plan there.

HOWELL: It is a cool concept but just a lot to figure out to make sure that it's safe for everyone. Donald Trump is doubling down with his base in a major speech quite to the contrary of the Donald Trump that was saw in Mexico, and the Clinton campaign is digging in. It's all ahead on "NEW DAY" that starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Are you ready? We will build a great wall.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He lies every other minute of the day.

TRUMP: I call it extreme vetting, right? It's going to be so tough.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's trying to make up for a year of insults by dropping in on our neighbors for a few hours. That is not how it works.

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R-IN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Hillary Clinton has been in hiding. Donald Trump is doing what leaders do.

TRUMP: We will break the cycle. There will be no amnesty.

CLINTON: By the way, Mexico's not paying for his wall, either.

TRUMP: One-hundred percent, Mexico will pay for the wall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone, welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Thursday, September 1st -- it's September -- 6:00 in the East.

Up first, Donald Trump laying out his latest immigration plan in a fiery speech in Arizona. Trump vowing there will be no amnesty or path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: It was a tale of two Trumps. The Republican nominee in Mexico, diplomatic, avoiding who pays for the wall, saying it wasn't discussed with the Mexican president. The president says that's not true, that he told Trump Mexico will not pay for the wall. But then in Arizona, Trump was back to his harsh stance.

Let's begin our coverage with CNN's Sunlen Serfaty, live in Washington -- Sunlen.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Chris. Well, this was not a softening at all. Trump returned to the tough talk that we knew from the primary campaign, declaring no amnesty, calling for the wall, saying Mexico will pay for it. But he did not give a definitive answer about what he will do with those non-criminals living here in the U.S. illegally.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: There will be no amnesty. SERFATY: Donald Trump recommitting to a fired up no mercy stance on illegal immigration.

TRUMP: For those her illegally today who are seeking legal status, they will have one route and one route only. To return home and apply for reentry like everybody else under the rules of the new legal immigration system.

SERFATY: The billionaire vowing to swiftly expel millions who have overstayed their visas and undocumented criminals.