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New Day
U.S. Expands Anti-ISIS Airstrikes in Libya; Epic Battle for Ohio; Pope Names Commission to Study Female Deacons; Gold Star Families Demand Apology from Trump. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired August 02, 2016 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[06:33:20] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. ramping up air strikes on ISIS targets in Libya. The expanded strikes are part of a broader effort to remove ISIS from one of its key strongholds in that country.
And CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is live in Washington with more for us.
Barbara, what's the latest?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.
Now, the first strikes in Libya in support of the emerging government there and its fight against ISIS. The strikes against a tank and some ISIS vehicles were done with the authorization of President Obama, specifically to support the government that's trying to take hold there. This all happened in a place called Sirte. This is on Libya's northern coast, an ISIS stronghold.
They've been trying to push ISIS out. Why is this so important? Why is the U.S. even involved here?
And, of course, just look at the geography. This northern coast of Libya where ISIS has taken hold just south of Europe, there's concern about ISIS using this as a pathway to move into Europe, to move into other areas in North Africa, to plan and stage additional attacks.
The Pentagon very clear there will be more airstrikes to support the government there and try once and for all to push ISIS out -- John.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Barbara Starr, important developments there, we'll keep our eye on them. Thanks so much.
So, it may just be the coveted price prize in the race for the White House, talking about the battleground state of Ohio. So, who is on top right now? A closer look at our series on battleground states, that's next.
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[06:38:25] BERMAN: Ninety-eight days to the election, a perfect time to begin a new series focusing on battleground states that could decide the race for president.
First up, all important Ohio. One of the most quoted/overused sayings in politics is that no Republican has ever won the White House without winning Ohio. Right now, it's a dead heat there. The latest Suffolk University poll shows Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both at 44 percent.
So what will turn the tide?
CNN's Jessica Schneider live in Cleveland with more.
Good morning, Jessica.
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.
Yes, both candidates making a beeline here to the Buckeye State. Hillary Clinton rolled through on a bus tour this weekend. She's made five stops here since June 13th. Donald Trump has held about four rallies and town halls. Of course he was also the big star of the convention here in Cleveland.
But as we've seen this campaign is anything but conventional. And it turns out those voters here are bucking convention, too.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAKE KEROLA, HUBBARD, OHIO: I do believe that my vote matters. I want it to matter.
BERT BARRON, YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO: So goes Ohio, so goes the country. Yes.
(CHEERS)
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): These are the voters Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump hope to capture. No Republican has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio. The last time a Democrat took the White House without the state, John F. Kennedy in 1960.
Both campaigns are fighting hard for the battleground. Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine traveled by bus through the state as part of their post convention push.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to be back. We'll be in the Mahoning Valley. We'll be all over Ohio.
SCHNEIDER: Donald Trump rallied in Columbus Monday.
[06:40:02] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'll be back. I'll be back so much you'll be sick of me. But November 8th, you have to go and vote. We've got to win this election.
SCHNEIDER: The Buckeye State is getting a barrage of attention, in person and over the air waves.
AD NARRATOR: A steady leader in an unsteady world. SCHNEIDER: Clinton and her super PAC spending 13 million on TV ads since June 7th. Trump's campaign hasn't spent anything while his allies shelled out $1.6 million in TV time.
AD NARRATOR: We're going to have great jobs again.
SCHNEIDER: Seven-point-six million voters are up for grabs, but there's a push and pull over registering even more. Federal judges have struck down voter I.D. laws and those reducing early voting time as unconstitutional and now the state's purge of voters who haven't cast a ballot in six years is under review by the courts.
DR. JOHN GREEN, DIRECTOR, BLISS INSTITUTE OF APPLIED POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF AKRON: The ground game really matters, particularly in a year where both of the major candidates have a lot of negatives.
SCHNEIDER: Clinton's team have offices sprouting up around the state. Her camp courting on suburban women.
AARON PICKRELL, SENIOR ADVISER, HILLARY FOR OHIO: I think that there are a lot of people, especially in suburban Ohio, who may have voted for Mitt Romney last night, they're going to be turned off by the toxic rhetoric of Donald Trump. They're going to look this way and they're going to take a strong look at the two candidates and they're going to come our way at the end of the day.
SCHNEIDER: Ohio GOP officials say Trump's field offices will start opening next week, insisting Trump's tactics mean they haven't lost any ground.
ROB FROST, CUYAHOGA COUNTY GOP CHAIR: Take the Clinton operation. I think they're trying to do a lot to compensate for a weak candidate. What we've got with Donald Trump is a candidate who is taking his message right to the people through his rallies, through Twitter, through the media.
SCHNEIDER: But Trump is in an on going feud with the top Republican in the state, Governor John Kasich refused to appear at the Republican convention after taking on Trump during the primary season.
GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), OHIO: You nominate the wrong Republican candidate who divides the country, we'll lose the United States Senate, as well as the White House. They will not win Ohio.
FROST: I know the Trump team isn't happy and it looks like neither side is happy right now, but while the bridge wasn't crossed, it also wasn't burned.
SCHNEIDER: The feelings among voters are strong for both candidates.
KEROLA: I would like to see Trump because he does come from outside Washington. I cannot stand politicians. Like I said earlier, they say one thing and they go do another.
BRANDY MARINO, HOWLAND, OHIO: I watched the Republican and it was just -- I didn't hear anything positive. I didn't hear any platforms. I didn't hear anything. All I heard is cutting down everybody and making our country hate one another. I just don't agree with that. It makes me sick.
SCHNEIDER: But some Ohioans are frustrated with their choices.
LINDA UHL, CANFIELD, OHIO: I'm not sure about Trump. I'm not sure about Hillary. And I don't know -- I think I'm going to make my decision that day.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHNEIDER: And the voters here are getting an extra push to get involved. The secretary of state's office is partnering up with the Electronic Registration Information Center. They'll be sending out mailers to 1.6 million eligible voters and those people will have until October 11th to register to vote here in Ohio -- Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: All eyes on Ohio. Jessica, thanks so much, for showing us that.
All right. So have you read the U.S. Constitution lately? The pocket version suddenly topping Amazon's best seller list. Details when NEW DAY continues.
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[06:47:20] CAMEROTA: We're following breaking news out of the Vatican. Pope Francis is appointing a special commission to study the possibility of women becoming deacons in the Catholic Church. According to a Vatican statement, the commission will be made up of seven men and six women. This move could open the way for a historic move to end the church's male only clergy policy.
BERMAN: Big development there.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issuing an unprecedented travel warning because of the Zika virus. Officials are advising pregnant women and their partners to stay away from Miami's Wynwood neighborhood. They're also advising women who have been there on or after June 15th to get tested.
This is the first time that the CDC has warned not to travel to a U.S. neighborhood. This is the first time. Florida is now dealing with 14 locally transmitted cases. That means people caught Zika in Florida from mosquitoes there.
CAMEROTA: Scary.
Well, it turns out a little publicity goes a long way, even for the U.S. Constitution. The pocket version is now the Amazon -- it's on the best seller list now as number two, I believe, last time we checked after it was thrust into the spotlight by Khizr Khan at the Democratic convention. It is ranked number two overall, the 52 page booklet sells for $1.
BERMAN: Nothing wrong with that. CAMEROTA: Do you know what is number one?
BERMAN: No. What is number one?
CAMEROTA: The new Harry Potter. It beats the U.S. Constitution. Wow.
BERMAN: Maybe they did win the revolution after all.
(LAUGHTER)
BERMAN: All right. In today's "NEW DAY, New You", a new study suggests that swapping animal protein for plant protein may help you live longer.
Researchers studied more than 130,000 health care professionals over decades, after accounting for unhealthy behaviors like smoking, drinking, obesity and physical inactivity, they found a 3 percent calorie increase from plant protein led to a 10 percent lower risk of death overall and a 12 percent decrease in heart-related death.
Now on the flip side, a 10 percent increase in calories protein led to a slightly higher risk of mortality in general and 8 percent jump in heart-related deaths.
CAMEROTA: All right. If I carry the 8 --
BERMAN: Take that to the bank.
CAMEROTA: Long division.
All right. Gold Star families voicing five-star anger at Donald Trump, demanding an apology in an open letter for his attacks on those parents of that fallen Muslim American war hero. The mother behind the letter joins us next.
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[06:53:59] CAMEROTA: This morning, nearly 30 Gold Star families are demanding a apology from Donald Trump through an open letter addressed to him saying, quote, "Your recent comments regarding the Khan family were repugnant and personally offensive to us when you question a mother's pain by implying that her religion, not her grief kept her from addressing an arena of people, you are attacking us. When you say your job building buildings is akin to our sacrifice, you are attacking our sacrifice."
The letter was organized by Karen Meredith, a Gold Star mother who serves as military families coordinator for votevets.org. She also joins us now along with Gold Star wife Cheryl Lankford who signed the letter.
Ladies, thank you so much for being here.
KAREN MEREDITH, ORGANIZED LETTER FROM GOLD STAR FAMILIES TO TRUMP: Good morning. CAMEROTA: It's great to have both of you.
CHERYL LANKFORD, GOLD STAR MOTHER: Good morning. Thank you, Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: It's great to have both of you. We are so sorry for your loss and we're grateful for your sacrifice.
Karen, why did you want to send a letter to Donald Trump?
MEREDITH: Well, watching the Khan family speak at the convention was really uplifting for so many Gold Star families because it was probably the first time many people had heard what a Gold -- even the term of Gold Star.
[06:55:13] But the immediate reaction from Donald Trump when he questioned about the sacrifice just cut to my heart.
And on social media, all the Gold Star families that I normally communicate with had a high level of anxiety and hurt and anger and pain. And I thought, we've got to do something. Our voices are worth something. If we don't say something, then people will think it's OK for Trump to talk that way.
CAMEROTA: I know that you said that after he made those comments about Mr. Khan that you said that you haven't cried like that in a long time. What did it bring up for you?
MEREDITH: Well, it opened the wound. It's been 12 years. My son was killed one week before Captain Khan was killed. We are in the same row at Arlington.
So, I see him -- his grave every time I go to Arlington. It just brought me back. It was just so upsetting and so offensive that somebody could say words like that and disrespect a family who has given so much to this country and I don't think that Donald Trump is capable of understanding why it's offensive and I don't think that makes him a good fit for commander in chief.
CAMEROTA: Cheryl, why did you want to sign this letter?
LANKFORD: I wanted to sign it and be in solidarity with the rest of the parents, with the rest of the wives, with the rest of the family members to let them know that, hey, when you come after one of us, you've come after all of us.
CAMEROTA: After your letter was published, there was this moment on the campaign trail yesterday where a military mom stood up and confronted V.P. nominee Mike Pence. Let me play for you that moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CATHERINE BYRNE, MIITARY MOTHER: Time and time again Trump has disrespected our nation's armed forces and veterans and his disrespect for Mr. Khan and his family is just an example of that.
(BOOS) BYRNE: Will there ever be a point in time when you're able to look at Trump in the eye and tell him enough is enough?
GOV. MIKE PENCE (R-IN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's all right.
BYRNE: You have a son in the military. How do you tolerate his disrespect?
PENCE: Well, I thank you for the question.
It's all right. It's all right. Folks, that's what freedom looks like and that's what freedom sounds like.
Having spent time with our nominee, I've never been around someone more devoted to the armed forces of this country, more devoted to the families of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marine and coast guard and no one more devoted to the veterans in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LANKFORD: Cheryl, what did you think of Mike Pence's response there?
LANKFORD: I was shocked to hear him say that knowing that he also served on the defense, on the armed forces services. He served, himself. He was on that committee with men and women whose job it was to oversee that area. And now he's saying that as being part of that committee.
Now he sees that Donald Trump is more devoted and more patriotic than the people that he served with as senator. It just took me aback to hear him say something like that.
CAMEROTA: Karen, what about the response of the crowd to that mom? They booed her before Mike Pence silenced them. What was that about?
MEREDITH: I don't know. I just -- it's shocking to me that people feel like they can say something like that to a mother of a soldier, or a mother of a troop. The discourse in the country has been amazing. It seems like the Trump campaign gives people permission to be offensive.
CAMEROTA: I know you're calling for an apology from Mr. Trump. Have you heard from the campaign?
MEREDITH: As far as I know, we haven't. And Mr. Trump has said that he does not apologize, so I'm not expecting one.
But I am expecting what the mother asked for, are you ever going to call him and tell him enough is enough? So far the leadership -- the Republican leadership has called or has responded to the family of the Khan family and expressed their opinion that their son was a hero and thank you for serving, but nobody has told Trump enough is enough. And that's what I'm looking for.
If you don't say something, then it means you're OK with it. And apparently, the Republican leadership is OK with his behavior and his denigration of the troops.
CAMEROTA: We'll see what happens today as a result of your letter.
