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Delta Grounds Flights Due to System Outage; Trump Suggests Clinton Mentally Unfit to Be President; Trump to Give Speech on Economic Policy; Team USA Off to Strong Start in 2016 Olympics. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired August 08, 2016 - 06:00   ET

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Teen sensation Katie Ledecky blazing to gold.

[07:00:05] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael Phelps swam to his 19th career gold.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The women's gymnastics team proving they have what it takes to defend their Olympic title.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: How impressive. Are you more impressed by the swimming so far or the gymnastics?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: That's very hard to choose.

CUOMO: Make a choice.

KEILAR: All right. I'll pick the swimming. Pretty amazing.

CUOMO: I would have never said that. No, I'm just kidding. It's been amazing to watch the Olympics so far.

KEILAR: He's impossible.

CUOMO: The U.S. is on top. We'll tell you why. There's some big news coming out of the Olympics.

Good morning, first. NEW DAY is here with you. Alisyn is off. Brianna Keilar and I are here for you.

KEILAR: Very nice to be here.

CUOMO: Always a pleasure. We do have breaking news. Not about the Olympics. This is coming out of the airports. A system-wide computer outage grounding departing Delta flights all over the world. Airports are now just packed with tens of thousands of frustrated travelers.

KEILAR: And at this point, we don't even know what caused this outage. We don't know how long it's going to last. We want to bring in CNN aviation correspondent Rene Marsh. She is live in Washington with the breaking details. And perhaps some of them, Rene, are that we don't know a lot about the extent of this.

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, Brianna. We don't know what caused this. We don't know how long this will last.

We can tell you that this morning there is a global ground stop for Delta Airlines flights waiting to take off. We know that Delta operates thousands of flights per day. That means this is a widespread problem today for travelers.

Just take a look at some of the lines already. We have lines in Rome. Also delays at London's Heathrow Airport. And of course expect delays right here in the United States.

Now, the airline is blaming this on a computer system outage. Again, there is no timeline for when the issue will be fixed, but even when it is fixed, the damage will already be done. It will take quite some time before they can clear that backlog of passengers.

We know that flights already in the air, they are landing without a problem. But it's the flights that have not taken off that are grounded. Again, no word yet on exactly which system has been interrupted and exactly what caused the outage, but Brianna, we have seen this sort of thing happen before with multiple other airlines where a small computer glitch leads to big, big problems for travelers. Exactly what we're seeing here today.

KEILAR: All right. Rene, thank you so much.

I want to bring in CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo right now. She was also inspector general at the transportation department. You're watching this, Mary. You have a lot of experience watching disruptions. How crippling is this one?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, it's very crippling because it's a ripple effect. A glitch in the morning like this, where you have to delay all your flights, this will last for days because, remember, we have airlines have moved to the point where they have very little excess capacity. That was to make them very profitable. If you're canceled or your flight doesn't go of they have to rebook passengers on other airlines, there's just no space for them.

KEILAR: How is there no duplicate system here? I guess we're still trying to figure out exactly what system went down. Delta hasn't put that out yet. But how does something like this happen?

SCHIAVO: Well, you know, to make an international system running transportation work, it takes not one, not two, but really three systems. I was inspector general when we were doing the buildout for the air traffic control system, which is now completely computerized. It took one system running, one system for continuous maintenance, and one system for automatic backup if the main system goes down. And of course, it's very, very expensive. Billions of dollars to build that system.

The taxpayers paid for that one. So a lot of airlines don't have that kind of robust system. But so far in the last year, United, American, and Southwest twice have had these, and it has not been an external hack. It's been an internal self-caused problem, if you will.

BLITZER: OK. So you're -- when people look at this and they say, "Oh, my goodness. Could this be a hacking?" You think that it probably is not.

SCHIAVO: Well, statistically speaking, all the other airlines that have experienced them in the last year, it has not been an external hack. It's just been a computer glitch problem.

But there are reports on Twitter, at least one or two passengers reported that a pilot has said that it was a hack. So I think that's probably where people are getting that. Some pilots might be speculating or maybe they know. But there has been reports on Twitter that it was a hack.

KEILAR: OK. And your advice to all these people. We see them in these photos on Twitter. They're sleeping in the terminals. What advice do you have or passengers?

SCHIAVO: Well, ordinarily what I do when my -- the airline I'm on can't deliver my flight, I say, "Endorse my ticket over to the next airline that's leaving." They have to do that under U.S. law. If their flight doesn't go, you can ask them to endorse your ticket.

The problem is, because all of Delta is down, they're unable to endorse your ticket over because that, too, is run by the computer.

KEILAR: Oh, my goodness. All right. Mary Schiavo, it sounds like a disaster. We're seeing it play out in these photos, too. Thank you for your insight.

[07:05:03] CUOMO: All right. Now to politics. Donald Trump using Hillary Clinton's own words to launch his most personal, you could argue, attack yet. Questioning her mental fitness to be president. This comes as Trump's poll numbers are falling. Today Trump will unveil his plan to revitalize the U.S. economy.

CNN's Jason Carroll live in Detroit with more.

Jason, he's trying to get away from the style problems by going to substance. Could be good for the voters.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. And the substance would be economic substance. This is an area that Trump is familiar with. It happens to be one of his strengths. And we're getting some idea of what some of the key proposals will be when he gives his economic policy speech a little later on today. It will all be about lowering taxes.

For example, reducing the income tax. Also a tax credit for childcare payments. Also ending the death tax. All this in an attempt to reset his campaign after an extremely, extremely rocky week.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: She is a totally unhinged person. She's unbalanced. And all you have to do is watch her.

CARROLL (voice-over): Donald Trump stepping up his blistering attacks on Hillary Clinton, suggesting the former secretary of state is mentally unfit to be president.

TRUMP: The people of this country don't want somebody that's going to short circuit up here.

CARROLL: Trump using Clinton's own words against her. She continues to repeat a debunked claim that the FBI director said she was truthful about her use of a private e-mail server as secretary of state.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: So I may have short- circuited, and for that I, you know, will try to clarify.

CARROLL: Clinton's running mate, Senator Tim Kaine, coming to her defense.

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA), VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: She said over and over again, "I made a mistake and I've learned from it. I'm going to fix it." We're going to be real transparent, absolutely.

CARROLL: Trump's ramped-up rhetoric against Clinton coming ahead of his speech on economic policy in Detroit, where he is expected to unveil his agenda for revitalizing the American economy. All this as the Republican nominee is coming off one of the worst weeks of his campaign that saw Trump repeatedly engaged in controversies instead of focusing on Clinton and battling slumping poll numbers in a number of key battleground states.

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's going to win parts of Ohio where people are really hurting, but I still think it's difficult, if you are dividing, to be able to win in Ohio. I think it's really, really difficult.

CARROLL: And this morning, a new CNN poll of polls shows Hillary Clinton with a ten-percentage-point lead nationally, leaving some in the party saying it's time for Trump to pivot his campaign.

SEN. JEFF FLAKE (R), ARIZONA: We have to see Donald Trump change the positions he needs to change and particularly change the tone and tenor of the debate sufficient to win the election in November.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: So still questions about Trump's tone and his rhetoric. He did try and turn the page with those last-minute endorsements of key Republicans like senators John McCain and Kelly Ayotte and House Speaker Paul Ryan. But still questions if that will be enough to really get this campaign back on track.

Clinton, for her part, she will be holding her economic policy speech here in Detroit.

Chris, that will take place on Thursday. CUOMO: All right, Jason. And we just got a copy of Donald Trump's

speech for today. Very clever. You know, get a jump on the news cycle. And we will oblige him because we're talking about economic policy, and you need to hear about it.

So let's discuss what's going to be in the speech today. Is it good for you? Is it not as good as what Clinton might offer? CNN political commentator, talk radio host and KABC John Phillips, a Trump supporter. And CNN political commentator and vice chair of the New York state Democratic Party, Christine Quinn, therefore, obviously a Clinton supporter.

So he's got a five-point plan in here. He starts off with the premise that the last quarter's growth, GED, was 1.2 percent. He says that that's very weak, the weakest one of a recovery since the Great Depression. His summary is Trump is the candidate of the future. Hillary Clinton is the candidate of the past.

John, let's start with you. He has to put out substance today. It's a good way to get away from his style problems of late. What do you expect out of this?

JOHN PHILLIPS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, just changing the subject line from his feuds with John McCain and CNN and others and talking about the issues, talking about economics, is something that's a win in and of itself and I think will help stabilize his poll numbers.

The fact that this speech is being given in the state of Michigan is no surprise. Clearly his path to victory comes from the Rust Belt. This is a part of America that even Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton have acknowledged have been left behind.

And what Donald Trump needs to do, as he lays out this economic message, is explain to the American voters, "Yes, you've been left behind in the Rust Belt, but who have you been left behind by?" They've been in charge for eight years, the Democrats have. Hillary is running as the third term of the Obama administration. And he needs to hang these lousy economic numbers around her neck.

[07:10:09] CUOMO: The easiest thing for people to pick up on here will be he does taxes, regulatory, trade, energy, and other reforms to be rolled out in the near future. And one of those is repealing Obamacare.

Let's stick with taxes, though, for today, because that will resonate most with people. It's hard for someone to not agree with what he's going to have in this speech. Simplify taxes for everybody. Lower taxes for everybody. Reduce the income tax. Simplify the income tax from seven brackets to three. Exclude child-care expenses. Limit taxation of business income to 15 percent for every business. The keyword there would be every small business. Very often Democrats neglect them in their policies. Make our corporate tax globally competitive and end the death tax.

Do you think Clinton can do better than those proposals? CHRISTINE QUINN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR; One big question I have,

and I'll be looking for the specifics when he gives the speech, is when he says cut taxes for all, does that mean he's standing by his massive tax-cut proposal for the richest in this country?

I don't think everyone in America is for every single person in America, the richest of the rich, getting big tax cuts. What we need to be doing is what Secretary Clinton is doing, is focusing tax cuts on those most in need and then those who have money keeping their money in the system to support other people in need.

So I think Secretary Clinton, what we'll hear from her on Thursday will be an economic plan that is really targeted on folks like those in the Rust Belt and those businesses in the Rust Belt, small businesses and others, that will help pick their neighbors up. Not really something that, when you get into the weeds, I suspect, will be a giveaway to billionaires.

CUOMO: Economists have this acronym they love: TGTBT, too good to be true. John, he's giving tax cuts to everybody. He's getting rid of, you know, that kind of boogeyman for people in their lives. Is he going to be making a claim that sounds good but may not seem doable?

PHILLIPS: Well, he'd have to follow up these tax cuts with cuts in spending, which he says he's also going to do. So if he holds to his word on that, then he'll be just fine.

I want to make one point about the death tax, though, because that is applicable to people in the Rust Belt. You have lots of people who are rich on paper. If you own a farm or you own a small business, it looks like you're doing really well, but you're cash poor. And if something happens when these people die and their children inherit their business; and they have to come up with the money to pay taxes on it, many times they can't do that, and they're forced to sell the business and move off in a different direction.

This just isn't an economic issue to these people. This is a lifestyle issue. This is their wellbeing. This is how they -- they raise their families. This is their life.

CUOMO: It actually doesn't say in the speech right now that they're going to be cost neutral, by the way. You're right in general. Whatever you cut in taxes, that's your revenue for the government, so you've got to spend less. He doesn't lay that out in here, because that raises a tough question. What are you going to cut? What are you going to say?

QUINN: And because that's what governing is actually about. Those kind of details, those kind of choices, those kind of tough decisions. And in this campaign, we have seen Donald Trump in no way, shape, or form embrace the reality of what it's going to mean to be president. We've seen none of that. And I suspect -- I haven't seen it -- this plan will be more of the same. Everything's going to be great.

CUOMO: But more of the same?

QUINN: Of his -- his...

CUOMO: I got you, but that's actually his stick against your candidate, which is you're running for a third term of President Obama's policies. You guys say how great the economy is. Not for people in Detroit. Not for people in the Rust Belt. That's one of his main arguments. That's going to bring this home and make it difficult for Hillary Clinton.

QUINN: It may or may not, you know, because he may put out plans today that have no base -- as we've seen before in other areas with Donald Trump, that have no basis in reality, have no facts to back them up, and as we've seen in the past, economists from both parties, neutral economists with no agenda at all, have said his plans just don't stack up and don't make any sense.

But let's be clear: does Hillary Clinton support President Obama, think he was a very -- think he's a great president? Was he honored to be his secretary of state? Yes. Is she going to build up on some of what he's done? Absolutely, but she will be her own president.

And I worry, if we get to the point where Donald Trump puts out the cuts that would back up the cuts in spending, is he going to go back and double down on prior ideas like privatizing parts of the V.A.? That is not going to make anything better. It's just going to take services away and put them out of the control of taxpayers to impact.

CUOMO: John...

PHILLIPS: Let's -- let's talk about Trump.

CUOMO: Real quickly, John. Please.

PHILLIPS: Because Hillary Clinton originally said the TPP, which is very important to the Rust Belt, which free trade has been, let's face it, a disaster for that part of the country. She supported it, said it was the gold standard, then came out against it. And then at the Democratic convention, Terry McAuliffe was running around saying, "Oh, don't worry, as soon as she gets elected, she's going to be for it again." People in the Rust Belt are paying attention.

[07:15:15] QUINN: So Terry McAuliffe, he shouldn't have said whatever he said, but the secretary has been clear. She's changed her position, just in the same way that we see Donald Trump's vice president now changing his position.

Donald Trump wants to have two standards: one for himself, one for everybody else. And I suspect this so-called economic plan will be just that.

CUOMO: We'll see what we put out, the excerpts here. We'll be reporting on them throughout the morning. John Phillips, thank you very much. Christine Quinn, as always. Brianna, to you.

KEILAR: Thank you, Chris.

And Team USA is off to a strong start in Rio. Both swim teams with major victories, one athlete even smashing her own world record. Meantime, the women's gymnastics team pulling off some amazing performances in an effort to defend their title.

CNN sports anchor Coy Wire is live in Rio with more for us -- Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Brianna, we had world records being broken, medals being won. The second day of games in the books. Let's take a look at how the medals are stacking up.

On top, the U.S. of A., 12 medals in total, three gold. China had eight. Italy and Japan tied with seven apiece.

Now, one of the highlights from yesterday came from one of the greatest female swimmers the world has ever seen. I sat with her over a little over a month ago. She says she's addicted to CNN.

Well, Katie Ledecky, we can't get enough of you either.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE (voice-over): Teen sensation Katie Ledecky shattering her own world record in the 400-meter freestyle. Ledecky pulling away from the competition by nearly five seconds, blazing to gold.

Michael Phelps making a splash in his return to Olympic competition, leading the men's 4-by-100 relay. Phelps building up a big lead on the second leg, rocketing his team to the finish.

It's the 19th gold medal for Phelps, 23rd overall, the most decorated athlete in Olympic history.

The women's U.S. gymnastics team dominating the competition with jaw- dropping performances, posting the highest scores in all but one event. Simone Biles making a flawless Olympic debut, advancing with Aly Raisman to complete for best all-around.

But on the tennis court, an end of an era: reigning champions Venus and Serena Williams suffering a shocking defeat, beaten in the first round of women's doubles, a first ever for the sisters at the Olympics.

Also ousted in the first round, the world's No. 1 player, Novak Dokovic, losing to Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina.

Another Olympic dream dashed, this time in the women's road race. Annemiek van Vlueten of the Netherlands rider taking a terrifying plunge over her handlebars in the downhill stretch. She's in intensive care with a severe concussion and three minor spinal fractures but is expected to recover.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: All right. What to watch for today on day three here in Rio. Michael Phelps back in the pool, his first individual event, the 200- meter butterfly prelims and semis. The Dream Team taking action against Venezuela. And the U.S. men's gymnastics team can grab gold in the team competition.

One of my favorite story lines here of the game, it's Ibtihaj Muhammad, who will become the first American to compete at an Olympics wearing a hijab. She and so many other American athletes, fascinating stories to inspire us as these Olympic games continue on day three.

Now I mentioned Katie Ledecky loves CNN, is addicted to it. But Chris, I have to say, she said that Wolf Blitzer is her favorite. But it's OK though. No worries. You're still No. 1 in my heart. And she said it's because that's the time of day when she sits down with family to watch the shows.

CUOMO: It's tough to argue with going with the captain, Wolf Blitzer. What are you patting me for?

KEILAR: Trying to make you feel better.

CUOMO: Make yourself feel better.

KEILAR: All right.

CUOMO: Coy, thank you very much.

So Donald Trump is turning Hillary Clinton's own words against her. He's got a real heavy-handed terror [SIC] attack -- character attack coming after her. Now, how is she going to counter that? Trust is her big weakness in the polls. We're going to ask one of her top campaign officials next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:23:29] KEILAR: Hillary Clinton and her running mate, Tim Kaine, are coming off of a busy weekend. The Democratic candidates speaking out on several key issues, including Clinton's transparency, airstrikes against ISIS, and Clinton's use of the term "short circuit" that has now led to a new Donald Trump attack.

We're joined now by Kristina Schake. She is deputy communications director for Hillary Clinton campaign.

And this all started when Hillary Clinton tried to explain recently how she mischaracterized the FBI director's comments about her e-mail situation. She said she may have short-circuited it. That led Donald Trump to say this.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It was in front of some friendly reporters. They asked her a very easy question. And she short-circuited. She used the term "short-circuited." She took a little short circuit in the brain, and she's got problems.

I mean, if we had real people, this would be a real problem for her. But I think that the people of this country don't want somebody that's going to short circuit up here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: He's questioning, basically, her mental stability. What is your reaction to that?

KRISTINA SCHAKE, DEPUTY COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, HILLARY CLINTON CAMPAIGN: You know what? He is coming off an epically terrible few week on this campaign. I mean, he disrespected a Gold-Star family. He didn't seem to understand that Russia has already invaded Crimea. I mean, he just had a terrible few weeks.

So he did what Donald Trump does, which is lash out, attack people, and name call. And that's what he was doing in this case. He's certainly trying to change the news cycle and to create a distraction after he's had a very, very rough few weeks.

KEILAR: Your candidate has changed some of the conversation, as well, though, because of how she talked about her e-mail situation while she was secretary of state. She did deviate a little.

I want to play what started all of this when she spoke to Chris Wallace and she was explaining what the FBI director said about her e- mail. Here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Director Comey said that my answers were truthful, and what I've said is consistent with what I have told the American people. That there were decisions discussed and made to classify retroactively certain of the e-mails.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So that was a little over a week ago on Sunday. And then on Wednesday she was talking to KUSA in Denver, and she said, "And as the FBI said, everything that I've said publicly has been consistent and truthful with what I've told them."

Again, that is not the case. That has not stood the test of fact checking. She did say on Friday that she had short-circuited. But what is she doing when she's sort of, in a week like this, where it would behoove her to let Donald Trump just sort of stew on what's been going on, she kind of steals defeat from the jaws of victory, if you will?

SCHAKE: You know, on Friday she spoke to the NABJ and the NAHA in D.C. And she was asked the question, and she just wanted to clarify.

You know, this is an issue that she has said many times that she is sorry for. It was a mistake. She regrets the decision. She was just trying to clarify. It's a confusing issue. We're talking about three e-mails out of more than 30,000. And she was just saying that she had linked together two thoughts.

What Comey had said was that she was truthful in her testimony to the FBI. And she was just saying...

KEILAR: He said they have no basis to believe she lied to the FBI.

SCHAKE: That's right. That's right.

KEILAR: Which you're taking him saying is truthful. But that's not a quote. That's a paraphrase.

SCHAKE: Yes. Yes, and she was saying what she has always said to the American people was consistent with what she said to the FBI. So she was linking together the two thoughts.

But again, Brianna, what I think is really important here is that she said this was a mistake. She said she was sorry. She was trying to explain the situation to people. You know, we're talking about three e-mails out of 30,000.

KEILAR: Two points, and I hear people from the campaign saying you're talking about three e-mails. They seem to be focused very much on these e-mails that were marked classified, and then there was mis- classification.

But there were other statements that she made, specifically that the FBI director was asked about. She had said, "I did not e-mail any classified material to anyone on my e-mail. There is no classified material."

That was a public statement. And when asked about that, Director Comey said there was classified material e-mailed. He said this had gone both ways.

Why does she say something like, "I short circuited"? Why does she...

SCHAKE: He did agree. He's talking about 110 e-mails that she has consistently said she does not believe were classified. And he himself in his testimony said they were not marked classified. They didn't have the...

KEILAR: But some were classified at the time, information classified...

SCHAKE: She disagrees with that. And so do the professionals who were e-mailing her that information. She received e-mails from more than 300 experts at the State Department and other agencies who understand the classified system. And they disagree. So that's a disagreement about that.

But again, she has said this was a mistake, and she's taken responsibility for it.

KEILAR: I do want to ask you about the honest and trustworthiness numbers. We actually -- we have this in a poll that we can put up there.

She -- when asked, when voters are asked, "Who do you find to be honest and trustworthy? Do you think they're honest and trustworthy?" both candidates do pretty dismally. Hillary Clinton gets 38 percent, Donald Trump 34 percent. She is just three points behind him on the nose.

Is she resigned -- because I've heard her say this isn't going to change overnight. Is she resigned to the fact that that may not change and that the strategy is to attack Donald Trump instead on trustworthiness than deal with increasing her trustworthiness?

SCHAKE: Well, you know, she absolutely says that she understands that this is a concern. And she's going to get out there and earn people's votes. She's going to talk to people about her values, what she's done her entire life to make a difference in people's lives.

And so, you know, I think what we heard at the convention was speaker after speaker talk about what Hillary's done her entire life as an advocate for children and families. She's really delivered for people.

And we've also heard from people who know what it takes to do the job to be president of the United States. Like former CIA director Mike Morell, who came out and endorsed here. So I think that's really important. People who know her know she delivers. Ad people who know what it takes to be president of the United States are both saying that they trust her to do this job.

KEILAR: Kristina Schake with the Clinton campaign, thank you so much.

SCHAKE: Thank you.

KEILAR: Chris.

CUOMO: Trust is a big issue. There's no question about it. We saw what the Clinton campaign has to say about it. What about trust on the economy? The current economic climate, is it good? Is it good for you? Who has the advantage here? We debate it, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)