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Clinton Claims FBI Director Said She Was "Truthful" About Emails; Vets Condemn Trump's Attacks On Gold Star Family; CDC Issues Travel Warning Over Zika Outbreak In Miami; Longtime Jeb Bush Adviser Leaves GOP; CNN Poll: Clinton Leads Trump By 8 In 4-Way Race. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired August 02, 2016 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00] RICHARD SOCARIDES, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO BILL CLINTON: Mr. Comey would have taken action against her, so I think that the American people have to make a judgment about his. I mean, she's said she made a mistake, she's apologized. I think the American people have to judge her and, believe me, there's plenty of evidence.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Kayleigh, final word?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: His close --

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: If you're going to apologize at least be truthful with your answers. The FBI director contradicted her on at least four points where she misled the American people. At least be honest about it because it's just going to hammer her honest and trustworthy numbers even further by stating this mistruth to the --

SOCARIDES: Well, I think --

BERMAN: All right --

SOCARIDES: We're going to leave it completely honest.

BERMAN: Well, it's 35 percent or 34 percent of the American people think she's honest and trustworthy right now.

SOCARIDES: Well, I am one of them.

BERMAN: Richard Socarides, Kayleigh McEnany, thanks so much.

CAMEROTA: We've heard from Clinton and Trump. Tomorrow night it's the Libertarian ticket's turn. Join us for a live CNN town hall with Gary Johnson and William Weld. Anderson Cooper will be hosting the "Libertarian Town Hall" tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. on CNN.

BERMAN: Very serious Libertarians --

SOCARIDES: Very.

BERMAN: -- from the looks on their faces. All right, the fallout surrounding Donald Trump with this feud he is in with the parents of a fallen Muslim-American soldier, how will it affect support among American veterans and can he afford to keep this up politically? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:35:20] BERMAN: All right, Donald Trump feeling the heat following his very public feud with the family of a fallen Muslim- American soldier. Dozens of Gold Star family members and decorated veterans from across the political spectrum now criticizing Trump's remarks. Let's discuss with U.S. Marine Corp veteran Tayyib Rashid, and CNN political commentator and Donald Trump supporter, Jeffrey Lord.

Jeffrey, I want to -- I want to read to you now a statement from the VFW, the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Brian Duffy, the leader of that group, they put out a statement overnight. They said, "To ridicule a Gold Star mother is out of bounds. Election year or not, the VFW will not tolerate anyone berating a Gold Star family member for exercising his or her right of speech or expression."

The VFW, Jeffrey -- you've been in politics a long time. You know the VFW is not a group that you want to upset and it is not helpful for a campaign to have a statement like that coming from a group like the VFW.

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: John, I think -- well, first of all, I think Donald Trump spoke there the other week and was extremely well-received. John, let me just say something to you. I was with Donald Trump last night. I went -- he was right here about five miles up the road from me in a high school.

The place was filled, packed. There were thousands of people who couldn't get in. I spoke to him. He spoke to the crowd, of course. He never mentioned the Khans. When I talked to people in the crowd, and I can only tell you they were very, very, very energized -- the people in the crowd never brought up the Khans -- never, not once.

When I spoke to people and asked what's going on with them, they talked about Obamacare, they talked about jobs, this sort of thing. Not a single solitary person -- my point to you is he said at some point last night that we've got to punch through the media. That got -- that line or one similar to that got raucous applause. I mean, it was long-lasting and sustained.

There is very clearly a feeling here that the media is out to get him and I'm just telling you what I heard from the people at this rally here. And again, he never mentioned the Khans once.

BERMAN: We do appreciate the report from the ground there, Jeffrey, but he was on Twitter repeatedly yesterday and he did do an interview with an Ohio affiliate where he was asked about the Khans. Corrected -- he was asked -- he did an interview with Sean Hannity last night where he was asked and he continued to answer in ways that do raise a lot of eyebrows.

But, Tayyib, let me ask you because Khizr Khan was on T.V. a lot yesterday. I mean, Khizr Khan was doing interviews all day long, including two here on CNN. He has entered now the political discourse. What is Donald Trump's right to respond to the criticism from Mr. Khan?

TAYYIB RASHID, U.S. MARINE CORPS VETERAN: Well, good morning, John. I think the thing we have to recognize is Mr. Trump is pandering to his base who is completely ignorant on a number of issues, including the Constitution and the true teachings of Islam.

So I think what's -- while Mr. Trump, on a personal level, has a right to speak whatever he wants, I think given that his running for the President of the United States, he needs to be a uniting force, not a dividing force. And, unfortunately, pandering to his ignorant base and perpetuating the misconceptions, particularly as it relates to Islam, is extremely dangerous.

In this effort, the Ummah Muslim community is asking all Trump supporters and all supporters out there to join us in educating everyone about the true teachings of Islam by endorsing "The Eleven Points" on trueislam.com. Things like Islam requires loyalty to the Muslim's place of residence. Things like Islam advocates for and champions equality and empowerment of women.

These are common misconceptions that are out there that terrorists often use to recruit and, unfortunately, Mr. Trump has joined the fight with the terrorists in actually providing fuel for them --

BERMAN: OK.

RASHID: -- to recruiting even more, which is actually perpetuating this endless cycle.

BERMAN: Tayyib, you're a veteran. I don't think you're involved in politics, but in politics it's a risky thing to call voters, even if they're not your voters, ignorant. You are calling Donald Trump supporters ignorant this morning?

RASHID: This morning, I'm saying that there's a lot of misconceptions about Islam. And while many of his voters would be educated, I say -- I think that there's a large base that simply do not know what the true teachings of Islam really are. And we are taking it upon ourselves, and I am calling on all America-Muslims and really all the American citizens to take it upon themselves to educate yourselves about the true teachings of Islam so that we can really win this ideological war that we're fighting.

[07:40:00] BERMAN: Jeffrey, I want to play you quickly, sound if I can and it's quick, from Donald Trump in that interview he did with an Ohio affiliate last night where he talked again about Mr. Khan. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Border security is very big. And when you have radical Islamic terrorists probably all over the place -- we're allowing them to come in by the thousands and thousands and I think that's what bothered Mr. Khan more than anything else. And, you know, I'm not going to change my views on that. We have radical Islamic terrorists coming in that have to be stopped. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So in that interview, first of all, he said there were thousands and thousands of radical Islamic terrorists coming into the U.S. There's no evidence of that, Jeffrey. And he also said maybe that's what's bothering Mr. Khan. He suggested somehow, Jeffrey, that it's because Donald Trump wants to stop terrorists from coming into the United States, that's what bothers Khizr Khan. I don't understand what he's getting at there, do you?

LORD: No, no, no, no, I understand what he's saying. Mr. Khan has said, quite clearly, he was upset -- he -- first of all, Mr. Khan misrepresented Donald Trump. He said that he wanted to ban Muslims. That is not accurate. What he said is he wanted to -- what Donald Trump said is he wanted a temporary halt in the immigration system until we could figure out what was going on.

And, quite clearly, in San Bernardino where someone came into this country with a legal visa -- what was it, a (K-1) Fiance visa, and then proceeded to mass murder 14 people and they weren't checked. That's the kind of thing that Donald Trump is talking about and that's what has many Americans upset.

And I might add, John, to say that the American people are ignorant -- you know, when I -- when I saw thousands of people last night with thousands more who couldn't get in, to call them ignorant is shameful.

BERMAN: All right, Jeffrey Lord, Tayyib Rashid, appreciate your time this morning. Thanks, guys.

RASHID: Thank you.

LORD: Thanks.

CAMEROTA: All right, John, the CDC is issuing an unprecedented travel warning in the United States because of the Zika virus. We have the director of the CDC, next, to explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:45:30] CAMEROTA: For the first time, the Centers for Disease Control issuing a travel advisory for pregnant women inside the Continental U.S., telling them to stay away from a particular Miami neighborhood. Florida officials say 14 people have now been infected with the mosquito-borne Zika virus.

Joining us to explain all of this is Dr. Thomas Frieden. He's the director of the CDC. Dr. Frieden, thanks so much for being here. This is the first time the CDC has issued a warning like this. Why did you take this action?

DR. THOMAS FRIEDEN, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL: What we've seen in this particular neighborhood is a large number of infections and continued presence of the particular mosquito that spreads the Zika virus, and because of that we think that pregnant women shouldn't travel there. Pregnant women who live and work there should do everything possible to avoid mosquito bites.

CAMEROTA: But, Dr. Frieden, how can it be contained to a particular neighborhood? If mosquitoes can make it to Miami from Brazil, how can we be sure that the mosquitoes are going to stay in the Wynwood area of Miami?

FRIEDEN: It wasn't mosquitoes that made it from a Zika area to this area, it was people who had the Zika virus in their body. They were bitten by mosquitoes from this area. Those mosquitoes don't continue to spread it to other mosquitoes, they spread it to people. So it goes from a person to a mosquito to another person. That mosquito only flies about 500 feet, maximum, in its entire lifetime so it's a very localized type of infection.

But we are looking very carefully because we know that it has happened elsewhere in Miami, two others infections that stopped without fearing the spread into the community. And really, anywhere in the U.S. where this mosquito is present it's possible that there could be locally spread Zika infections. That's why it's so important that pregnant women all over the U.S. take steps to protect themselves against mosquito bites. Not easy to do, but important.

CAMEROTA: Dr. Frieden, these numbers are worrisome to people because just on Friday the governor of Florida said that there were four cases. Then yesterday, just a couple of days later, it had jumped to 14. How confident are you that there really are only 14 cases?

FRIEDEN: We anticipate there will be more cases. In fact, most of those cases were found because Florida was very proactive and went out and tested people in that 150-500 square foot area. They went to workplaces, they went to homes. That's how they found the additional cases and those cases were from a few weeks back and potentially more recently. That's why we issued the unprecedented travel guidance yesterday, advising pregnant women not to travel this area.

Further testing is underway to see if there is -- if there are infections beyond this one-mile radius. But the one-mile radius already has a buffer zone of five different lifetime flight paths of these mosquitoes, but we don't know exactly how broadly it's spread. We are looking very carefully and we've sent an emergency response team from CDC to work with the Florida authorities to look at what more could be done to stop the mosquitoes because that's how it spreads.

CAMEROTA: So, Dr. Frieden, how confident are you that it could be contained to this neighborhood? Do you have fears this morning that it has made it elsewhere in the Continental U.S.?

FRIEDEN: Anywhere in the U.S. where this mosquito is present there is a risk. That's why we need to track, that's why we've developed and distributed test kits for public health labs to use throughout the U.S. But that's also why it's important that we invest in better tools to diagnose Zika and better ways to stop these mosquitoes because they're tough mosquitoes to stop. The concern we have is that it could continue to spread in this area for weeks or months if we don't get the mosquitoes under control. CAMEROTA: Let's talk about getting the mosquitoes under control because I know that you're advising pregnant women and women of childbearing age to wear mosquito repellant, wear certain protective clothing, but what are you doing about the mosquitoes to get rid of them?

FRIEDEN: To get rid of these mosquitoes you really have to have a comprehensive approach. Get rid of standing water, kill the larval forms of mosquitoes, kill the adult forms of mosquitoes. Do that both indoors and outdoors where they live and breathe. That's difficult and the authorities in Florida have been doing that everyday but we aren't seeing big drops in the number of mosquitoes there.

That's why we've sent one of our top experts in mosquito control. She got there yesterday. She had a series of meetings with the team. They're looking at what the options are to try to rapidly bring down mosquito counts in that area.

CAMEROTA: Dr. Thomas Frieden, thank you very much for being on NEW DAY with all of this information. People can go to our website or the CDC website for more information. Thank you, we will speak again.

FRIEDEN: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Let's get over to John.

BERMAN: All right, Alisyn. A key Republican strategist, someone many people saw as the potential White House chief of staff one day, announces she is leaving the party. So who will she vote for in November? The surprising answer, next.

[07:50:20] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: She is a longtime adviser to Jeb Bush, a senior adviser in his campaign. In a stunning announcement, Sally Bradshaw says she is leaving the Republican Party and will vote for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in November if the race is close in her home state of Florida. This is big in political circles.

CNN special correspondent Jamie Gangel spoke exclusively with Bradshaw via email and got this big scoop yesterday. What's going on here?

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, and it's also stunning because she keeps a very low profile. This not someone who goes out there. She's also extremely well respected in the Republican Party. And she did not mince words about Donald Trump. She called him a misogynist, and what's happened is she has said enough is enough.

And I'm going to read you part of what she said just because it was so strong. She said, "This election cycle is a test. As much as I don't want another four years of Obama's policies, I can't look my children in the eye and tell them I voted for Donald Trump. I can't tell them to love their neighbor and treat others the way they wanted to be treated, and then vote for Donald Trump. I won't do it." [07:55:00] So this is really -- you know, I've spoken to a lot of Republicans around the country who keep saying what are we going to do, and I think that this resonated when it came out yesterday. It went viral because she spoke.

BERMAN: So, Jeb Bush dropped out the race at the end of February. Yesterday was what, August 1st, so why did Sally Bradshaw decide on August 1st to tell you this?

GANGEL: Right, so she says she's been weighing it for months. She actually -- the way we found out is public records are -- the voter registration records are public in Florida. You can go up and look. And she actually did this a couple of weeks ago.

BERMAN: Oh.

GANGEL: But it was reinforced, she said, by what happened with the Khan family. She said, quote,that it was "despicable" what Trump said about the family. This is of the Muslim-American soldier -- the parents who spoke out at the convention and then Trump was critical of them. And she said it made her sick to her stomach. So she actually did this a little while ago but she went public, you know, with the Khan controversy.

BERMAN: So people who know politics, who know Florida politics, who know Bush family politics know that Sally Bradshaw and Jeb Bush have a political mind meld. It's hard to imagine Sally Bradshaw doing anything without running it by the former Florida governor first. So what does this say about him? He's already said he's not going to vote for Donald Trump but is it possible he'll vote for Hillary Clinton?

GANGEL: So I think that a lot of people are reading tea leaves here. He has said he's not going to vote for Hillary Clinton but he hasn't decided. He may look at Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate. He may write someone in. But I do think that a lot of people in Bush world -- former President Bush 41, 43, they've said they're sitting on the sidelines. And people are wondering is there going to be an October surprise? Might some members of the Bush family come out and say that they're voting for Hillary?

BERMAN: Meanwhile, you have one tease about possibly more to come?

GANGEL: Stay tuned. Later today, I'm talking to another very prominent person in the Republican Party, I would say very similar to Sally Bradshaw, who was quite inspired by what Sally did yesterday. And so, stay tuned, we may have another one.

BERMAN: By the way, I tried work Jamie to find out who this person was, in the break, just for my own notification. I got nothing, so I have to stay tuned like all of you to find out who this person is. Jamie Gangel, thanks so much.

GANGEL: Thank you.

BERMAN: We're following a lot of news this morning so let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Shame on you, Donald Trump.

TRUMP: I was very viciously attacked, as you know.

KHIZR HUMAYUN, FATHER OF FALLEN U.S. SOLDIER: You can attack women, minorities, Muslims, judges, and nobody can question your caliber?

TRUMP: All I did is respond and I will always respond.

WARREN BUFFETT, CEO, BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY: I asked Donald Trump, have you no sense of decency, sir?

TRUMP: I'm afraid the election's going to be rigged. She's the devil.

CLINTON: I have to tell you, I've had the best week.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We really worry about it.

BERMAN: An historic warning to travelers heading to a major U.S. city.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA: This problem will only get worse unless we get ahead of it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My biggest concern is having it spread through the country.

(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 Tuesday, August 2nd. How did that happen? It's 8:00 in the East. John Berman is here with me.

BERMAN: How did that happen?

CAMEROTA: Yes, good question. Hillary Clinton getting a big bounce after the Democratic Convention. Clinton retaking the lead over Donald Trump in a new CNN national poll, erasing most of Trump's gains after his Republican Convention.

BERMAN: Meantime, Donald Trump is telling his supporters that he is afraid that the election could be rigged. He's also still smack in the middle of that feud with the family of a fallen Muslim-American war hero. We have it covered for you from all angles. We want to begin with CNN political director, David Chalian, with our new CNN polls numbers -- David.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Good morning, John, and Alisyn got it right, it is a bounce and it's a big bounce for Hillary Clinton. Take a look at where the race stands right now. Fifty-two percent Clinton, 43 percent Trump. That's a 9-point race outside the margin of error. She's clearly benefitting from her convention. Look where she came from. Before the Democratic Convention she was at 45 percent, now Hillary Clinton's at 52 percent. That is a 7-point bounce.

Let's look at the four-way race because we know Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein, they're in this race on most ballots. The convention didn't have an appreciable effect on their support but it did up here. Take a look. Hillary Clinton went from 39 percent to 45 percent, so a 6-point bounce. And when you look at the four-way she's besting Donald Trump by eight points, 45 percent to 37 percent.

So let's compare bounce to bounce.