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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Trump To Speak On National Security; Clinton Rejects Email "Conspiracy Theories"; Apple Set To Unveil New iPhone; Obama's Town Hall In Laos; Dramatic Developments At Fox News; Nasdaq Hits All-Time High. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired September 07, 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] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump will also go after Hillary Clinton's foreign policy vision, which he says favors "military adventurism". Now, overnight, Donald Trump seemed to reveal part of what had been his secret plan to defeat ISIS. That plan now appears to be simply order his generals to figure out a way to beat ISIS in 30 days. That, and Trump blasted Sec. Clinton over her emails and claimed that she never talks policy.

CNN's Sara Murray traveling with the Trump campaign has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, John and Christine. Well, Donald Trump stuck to his message of national security as he was campaigning yesterday in Virginia and in North Carolina.

And in a fiery speech here in Greenville, he went after Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server, saying this was disqualifying behavior for the presidential candidate. And he specifically talked about the way she destroyed communications devices, about wiping her emails. He called this shady activity, even suggesting it was criminal.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If she applied for a low- level job at the State Department today -- just a low-level job -- she couldn't even get a security clearance based on what she's done. Her conduct is disqualifying. And by the way, who uses 13 different iPhones in four years? Who? The only people who use that many phones are usually involved in very, very -- and I mean very -- shady activity.

MURRAY: Now, there was another change in Donald Trump's speech and that was him behaving more like a traditional candidate and almost laying out a plan for his first 100 days as president. In addition to saying he would repeal Obamacare and he would build a wall along the southern border, he also said he will convene his generals and give them just 30 days to come up with a plan for how to defeat ISIS.

Now, Trump is back on the trail today in some non-traditional stops for Republican candidates. He'll be in Philadelphia and New York. Back to you guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thanks so much for that, Sara. After his national security speech Trump heads to New York City for a national security town hall event. At the one-hour commander- in-chief forum Trump and Hillary Clinton will each answer questions from an audience comprised mainly of veterans and active-duty troops.

Now, with the new CNN national poll showing the race in a dead heat, Sec. Clinton is escalating her own attacks on Trump. Speaking with reporters on her campaign plane for a second day in a row after avoiding them for the better part of a year, she used her facetime with the media to blast Trump for his business practices and his refusal to release his tax returns until the IRS completes its audit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He said that the American people don't care about his tax returns. And, in fact, he's also said that it's none of our business. Now, I just think he's dead wrong. I'm going to continue to raise this because I think it is a fundamental issue about him in this campaign that we're going to talk about, in one way or another, for the next 62 days because he clearly has something to hide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, let's talk about the politics today. Joining us, Eric Bradner, live from Washington, from CNN Politics. Eric, thanks so much for being with us. We just heard Hillary Clinton talking about Donald Trump and his taxes. Earlier, we heard Donald Trump talking about Hillary Clinton and issues over emails.

Now, Hillary Clinton sort of responded during her second flying press conference in two days, essentially saying you know, these charges leveled at me -- you know, I've dealt with this type of thing before. Listen to what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: The FBI resolved all of this. Their report answered all the questions. The findings included debunking his latest conspiracy theories. I believe I have created so many jobs in the conspiracy theory machine factory. If that's how the want to spend their time instead of looking to address the problems of the American people, that's their choice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: It's sort of an interesting response. I've created a lot of jobs when it comes to the conspiracy theory machine there.

ERIC BRADNER, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Yes.

BERMAN: In a way, it's trying to brush it off. In another way, it's admitting that a lot of people have asked a lot of questions over the years. BRADNER: That's right. It's a funny line and she's sort of trying to move on by saying there's just nothing more to say here. But at the same time, it's not going to go away and she knows that. Clinton is addressing these issues more now that she's doing these meetings with reporters on her campaign plane.

But, in this election cycle neither candidate is viewed as trustworthy by the American public. So Donald Trump is continually pounding Clinton over her emails. Clinton is accusing Trump of having something to hide on this taxes. And so, what the two are trying to do is say look, the other person's less trustworthy than me. Neither is going to be able to recover their own trustworthiness numbers in the polls and so it's all about making the other person look worse than they do.

[05:35:00] ROMANS: Let's talk about some of these polls. Specifically, today is national security day, at least on the campaign trail that's what they'll be talking about. And one thing that I think is fascinating is that when you ask voters who would better handle terrorism, Trump beats Hillary Clinton 51 percent to 45 percent.

But, broadly on foreign policy -- who would better handle foreign policy, Hillary Clinton 56 percent to Trump's 40 percent. I think it's an admission that voters feel like things aren't going well with ISIS but that, overall, they think she has a better handle on foreign policy in general. Is that where Donald Trump needs to really focus on this ISIS fight because that's where he may have an edge?

BRADNER: Yes, it's a really interesting distinction, isn't it? It sort of suggests to me the same thing, that Trump is able to tap into a fear of terror attacks, especially here in the United States, while Hillary Clinton is seen as having a broader experience. And, yes, Trump is definitely trying to turn this into an advantage by portraying Hillary Clinton as part of a failed Obama administration that has sort of allowed ISIS to proliferate.

It's interesting that both candidates came out of Labor Day focusing heavily on national security. They have different advantages here, but both see this as an opportunity to reach really important groups of voters. Not just people who are military families, veterans, that sort of thing, but also a group called security moms. These are people who are concerned about terrorism, live in the suburbs of swing states, and this is a key issue in this election.

BERMAN: Eric, I want to talk about another issue that's kind of resurfaced. It's probably a good thing that it has resurfaced given, now, that Donald Trump is addressing African-American audiences more, or some would say for the first time. This issue of his support for the birther movement, something he actively promoted a couple of years ago and has never disavowed. He was asked about it overnight on Fox News -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL O'REILLY, FOX NEWS HOST: Do you think your birther position has hurt you among African-Americans?

TRUMP: I don't know, I have no idea. I don't even talk about it anymore, Bill --

O'REILLY: No, I know.

TRUMP: -- because I just don't want to talk about it, but --

O'REILLY: But it's there. It's on the record.

TRUMP: -- I don't know. I guess -- I guess with maybe some. I don't know why. I really don't know why but I don't think -- very few people -- you're the first one that's brought that up in a while. I don't think so. I mean, look, I went to Detroit. We had -- it was like a lovefest. We had just a great, great time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, it's actually -- it's simply not true that Bill O'Reilly's the first one that's brought it up in a while. It was brought up the day before yesterday on the campaign plane. It was brought up a few days before that by a local affiliate. Donald Trump is being asked about it.

And again, this is the idea that he promoted that President Obama was not born in the United States, which a lot of people saw as simply racist. Donald Trump's answer to it now is oh, I don't talk about that anymore, which isn't to say I was wrong.

BRADNER: That's right.

BERMAN: Is there a sense that he will have to answer that question if he keeps on being asked?

BRADNER: Well, he's deflected it so far. He doesn't seem willing to go there. But it is hurting him, yes, absolutely. There's no doubt about it. President Obama is going to become more of a presence on the campaign trail. His favorability ratings are higher than Trump's or Clinton's and minority voters are key to Hillary Clinton.

So, yes, this is something that has been hurting him -- will continue to hurt him as Obama becomes more of a presence on the campaign trail. And Trump is going to be asked that question more and more. It's another issue that's just not going to go away. And saying well, I'm not talking about it now does not address the key question here.

BERMAN: Yes, it's not an answer.

ROMANS: It very well could come up in debates, too.

BERMAN: Yes.

ROMANS: All right, thanks so much, Eric Bradner for getting up early for us. Thank you.

BRADNER: Thank you. ROMANS: All right, Apple set to unveil a new iPhone today. One of the rumors of new features is already angering customers -- some of them.

Apple insiders believe the current 3.5-millimeter headphone jack will disappear from the new phone. It will push users to wireless headphones that connect via Bluetooth or force those with regular headphones to use an adapter that plugs into the charging port. Other possible upgrades we could see today -- a new shade of black, more storage, starting at 32GB, and a waterproof or water-resistant exterior.

Will it juice the stock? Maybe not. Two straight quarters of declining iPhone sales have investors wary of Apple. It is one of the most widely-held stocks in the U.S. Shares of Apple down about 1.5 percent over the past year and up a little more than two percent, so far, this year.

BERMAN: Big day.

ROMANS: Big day.

BERMAN: A new shade of black. How much more black could it be?

[05:40:00] ROMANS: You know, you can never have too many shades of black.

BERMAN: If you know the movie reference, tweet Christine Romans to see if she knows.

ROMANS: Yes, I have no idea what you're talking about.

BERMAN: All right, President Obama with some harsh words for Congress during a town hall. This was part of his historic overseas trip. We will tell you what he said -- that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: President Obama is in Laos. Earlier this morning he spent just over an hour taking questions at a town hall for young Southeast Asian leaders and taking Congress to task for failing to act on his key trade priority.

For the latest from Laos, we turn to White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski. Good afternoon, Michelle.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the President was able to talk up the TPP today, as he does now, virtually, everywhere he goes. I mean, when you take a look at it, this huge trade deal with Asia. This is supposed to be the jewel in the crown of the President's rebalance to Asia -- something that he thinks would be great for U.S. businesses, as well as U.S. workers.

[05:45:00] There are even some Republicans in Congress who agree with him on that but Congress hasn't been playing along and he had some words for them, too -- listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, we're in a political season now and it's always difficult to get things done. Congress isn't doing much right now. They're all going home and talking to their constituents, trying to get re-elected. So after the election I think people can refocus attention on why this is so important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: So what about the President and the election? A White House source tells us the President is eager to get out on the campaign trail and we did see him do that one event with Hillary Clinton, and then a couple of private fundraisers.

So what does the President do about it, then? September is difficult. There is one event planned for this coming week in Philadelphia and another New York fundraiser, but because of the trip that we're on, as well as a trip to the U.N. this month, that makes things difficult in terms of campaigning. So that leaves October and we can expect the pace to pick up.

I mean, we're told that the President looks at the huge stakes involved, he looks at the poll numbers. He wants to get out there and talk up the fact that he believes Hillary Clinton is the only candidate qualified to be president.

There have been reports that he's going to spend virtually the entire month of October on the road, on the trail. We're told that that's not really going to be possible because of other things he's busy with. He's not going to be able to be out there really full-time but we can expect to see many more events involving the President. Back to you guys.

ROMANS: All right, Michelle Kosinski for us this morning in Laos, traveling with the President, thank you.

BERMAN: All right, you know what we need to do now?

ROMANS: What?

BERMAN: Take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY".

ROMANS: Oh, yes.

BERMAN: Alisyn Camerota joins us.

ROMANS: Good morning.

BERMAN: Hello, Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Hey, guys, good morning. I'm here in producer row. This is the behind-the-scenes of the show. This is the brain trust of everything that happens on the show, so they've just told me what's coming up at the top of the hour and I will share it with you.

We're going to talk about Donald Trump's plan. What he says he will do in his first 30 days in office that will defeat ISIS, and we'll get the military's reaction to that.

Also, we'll talk about what's going on at Fox News. There's this huge settlement that Roger Ailes has made to one of his former anchors, and Greta Van Susteren left. So we have some new reporting on what's going on inside there and we will bring it to you when we see you at the top of the hour.

ROMANS: Alrighty.

BERMAN: All right. Hopefully, we get more exposed brick also. Very big --

ROMANS: And ducks flying across it. Did you see the duck in the -- I don't know. OK, thanks, nice to see you.

(Laughter)

ROMANS: What are they laughing at?

BERMAN: I don't know. You're very funny.

ROMANS: They sometimes do.

BERMAN: You're charming in the morning.

ROMANS: Did you see the ducks?

BERMAN: Yes, I did see the ducks.

ROMANS: OK, all right, sorry. All right, one big name -- charming -- is that -- are you making fun of me?

BERMAN: You are.

ROMANS: All right, I'll tell you what's charming. An impressive all- time high for one stock. Ten thousand dollars' worth of this stock five years ago could now buy you a new car. We'll tell you what it is when we get an EARLY START on your money, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:52:15] BERMAN: Dramatic developments at Fox News, including some new developments this morning. The network settled Gretchen Carlson's sexual harassment lawsuit for $20 million and now there is word of settlement deals with other women who made accusations against ousted Fox News chief, Roger Ailes.

This, on the same day long-time host, Greta Van Susteren, abruptly quit the network. For all of this we turn to Brian Stelter. Who better than Brian, senior media correspondent and host of CNN'S "RELIABLE SOURCES".

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Thank you.

BERMAN: There's no one better than Brian.

ROMANS: There is no one better. OK, so let's start with the settlement -- $20 million settlement.

STELTER: Right.

ROMANS: Do you think there are more in the works?

STELTER: Well, we know there's other settlements with smaller dollar figures that have also been struck between Fox News and other accusers of Roger Ailes. We don't know exactly how many but a source told me there were a handful. There's at least one other lawsuit still outstanding, as well. So for a network that prizes stability this continues to be a very precarious time for Fo".

BERMAN: So, the suit -- Gretchen Carlson's suit was against Roger Ailes, right?

STELTER: And not Fox News.

BERMAN: It wasn't against Fox News. The settlement is Fox News?

STELTER: Yes, it's being paid out by Fox, by the Murdochs. That's because, essentially, Fox was on the hook for whatever happened with Ailes when Ailes was in charge. So, yes, Fox is paying this $20 million. Ailes, notably, is not paying a penny on that.

BERMAN: Nothing?

STELTER: Nothing. And his lawyer made a point of saying that, that he is not on the hook for any of this. He continues to seem to want to fight. He is continuing to deny the allegations. But the fact that the Murdochs essentially publicly apologized to Carlson in that statement suggests that at least Foxs owners do believe that some harassing behavior went on behind the scenes.

ROMANS: An apology and $20 million, and I assume she's going to go on to have a career. She says she wants to help empower women in the workplace.

STELTER: Television appearances, a book --

ROMANS: Right.

STELTER: -- philanthropy, things like that. She just hired a high- profile publicist to help her with the next phase of her career. It will be interesting to see her take on this more public persona as an advocate for women in the workplace.

ROMANS: Greta Van Susteren, meanwhile, another very long-time -- 14 years, I think she's been at the network --

STELTER: That's right.

ROMANS: -- in the 7:00 time slot. She is leaving, using the Ailes departure to use a key man clause in her contract.

STELTER: Yes, this is an example of the aftershocks from Ailes' resignation. It's a sign that there's going to continue to be changes, both on camera and off camera, at Fox News. Greta had been there since 2002, one of their most important hosts on the channel. She decided to leave when she tried to renegotiate her contract. It didn't go well so she decided to leave because she had the right to walk out when Ailes walked out.

Other stars like Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity have that same clause. None of them have exercised it yet. But there is a lot of curiosity about what the channel is going to look like, let's say, one year from now. It's a tumultuous time for Fox and that's not over yet.

BERMAN: You know, one year from now -- the next two months are interesting --

STELTER: Yes.

BERMAN: -- in some of the aftermath here. Roger Ailes -- again, blamed but not paying as part of this $20 million settlement -- is advising Donald Trump, particularly in debate prep right now. Is there any concern, do you think, about the optics of having a guy in the middle of a $20 million settlement advising you on how to stand on a debate stage?

[05:55:00] STELTER: I think the first answer is yes, and then absolutely yes. This is almost stranger than fiction to have one of the most important advisers to the GOP nominee being this figure, this former Fox News boss, as a GOP strategist who is now clouded by the sexual harassment scandal.

Now, Ailes is not advising the campaign officially but he is giving advice to Trump unofficially, on the phone, all the time. And normally, Ailes is the kind of guy you'd want in your corner if you were Trump, but this sexual harassment scandal does change that -- does change the dynamic.

And I do wonder if it's going to influence any voters at all. Not that people are ever going to vote based on who your advisers are, but Hillary Clinton has made this a talking point on the campaign trail. That we know who Trump is based on the friends he keeps and Ailes is one of the friends Trump keeps.

ROMANS: All right, Brian Stelter, we're glad you're here to walk us through it -- the media landscape. Thank you, sir.

STELTER: Thanks.

ROMANS: Nice to see you this morning.

STELTER: Thanks.

ROMANS: Let's get an EARLY START on your money right now. Could stocks be on the verge of another run of record highs? Nasdaq hit a fresh all-time high yesterday. The Dow about 100 points away right now. Futures up slightly this morning. You can see the stocks in Europe and Asia are mixed. Oil up here.

Amazon is on fire. The stock hit an all-time high yesterday, now trading at nearly $790 a share. Shares jumping more than 16 percent this year. That's a great return.

BERMAN: Sheesh.

ROMANS: Amazon is now worth a staggering $370 billion. That makes it the number four most valuable company in the U.S., behind Apple, Google, and Microsoft. And here's the payoff for investors. If you bought $10,000 worth of Amazon stock five years ago today, it would now be worth more than $36,000. Over that same timespan the S&P 500 would have returned you a gain of about $8,700, so that was a good investment, wasn't it?

Shares of Chipotle are jumping --

BERMAN: I didn't make it. It wasn't a good investment for me. You didn't tell me to make it.

ROMANS: Sorry, sorry, sorry. Chipotle shares jumping six percent in free market trading. Activist investor Bill Ackman announced his hedge fund bought a 9.9 percent stake in the burrito chain. That's about $1.1 billion worth of Chipotle stock as of Tuesday's close. You know, the shares are down more than 13 percent this year.

Ackman says it is undervalued but he will engage in discussions about Chipotle's board composition, business operations, and other aspects of the company. Translation -- he's ready to fight if necessary. Ackman's big bets don't always pay off. His fund's losing, I think, 14 percent for 2016. Chipotle has struggled to recover following an E. coli outbreak last year.

BERMAN: That's a lot of burritos.

ROMANS: It sure is.

BERMAN: It's time for one of the biggest business stories on planet earth today if you have a phone, is the new iPhone coming out.

ROMANS: Oh, yes, the new iPhone -- iPhone, yes.

BERMAN: iPhone 7.

ROMANS: Yes.

BERMAN: No headphone jack?

ROMANS: Maybe. A new shade of black.

BERMAN: New shade of black. That is a headline. All right, we have some brand new polling from CNN. This, following the polling yesterday, which caused ripples all over this presidential race today. The issue, illegal immigration. What do voters really think about an issue that Donald Trump has put at the center of his campaign and do they agree with what he's now saying? "NEW DAY" has your answers right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: My top generals will have 30 days to submit a plan for defeating ISIS.

CLINTON: After all his talk, the only thing that is clear is he has no clue.

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R-IN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It's been amateur hour for the last seven and one-half years.

BILL CLINTON (D), FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He made a political contribution to the attorney general of Florida and, mysteriously, the investigation vanished.

TRUMP: How about the 33,000 missing emails that were acid washed.

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: When Qaddafi was looking to stay in America he found one guy willing to host him. You were saying something about judgment, Donald?

TRUMP: Putin looks at her and he laughs, OK? He laughs.

CLINTON: We're going to stand up to our adversaries, not cozy up to them.

TRUMP: Wouldn't it be nice if we actually could get along with Russia? Wouldn't that be nice?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

CAMEROTA: A lot to talk about this morning. Good morning, everyone, welcome to your NEW day. It's Wednesday, September 7th, 6:00 in the East.

Up first, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton clashing over national security. Trump says if elected he would give his top generals 30 days to come up with a plan to defeat ISIS. Clinton says Trump has no plan.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Trump getting a taste of his own medicine when it comes to pay-for-play allegations. The alleged change agent has a long history of violating campaign giving limits.

All right, here are the numbers to remember for you. Remember, 62 days until the election so the stakes couldn't be higher. First votes, 16 days. That's when early voting begins in some states. Nineteen days -- that's when the first big debate happens between Trump and Clinton.

We have all the developments for you. Let's begin with CNN's Sara Murray, live in Greenville, South Carolina -- Sara. MURRAY: Good morning, Chris. Well, when Donald Trump was campaigning here last night it was almost like he was laying out his first 100-day plan, talking about building a wall along the southern border, repealing Obamacare.