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Trump Ramps Up False Claim Obama "Founder of ISIS"; Trump Entertains Notion That He Could Lose Race; Violent Turbulence On JetBlue Flight Sends Dozens To Hospital; USA Swim Team Makes History; CNN Investigation: Top State Department Aide Helped Clinton Foundation. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired August 12, 2016 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- big economic speeches, and yet here we are ending another week that was dominated by outrageous headline-grabbing statements by the Republican nominee, and he's been repeating his latest lines of attack every chance he gets.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I call President Obama and Hillary Clinton the founders of ISIS. They're the founders.
JONES: Donald Trump refusing to back down from his latest controversy.
TRUMP: Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, these are the founders of ISIS.
JONES: Despite growing concern within the Republican Party about the effect his rhetoric could have on vulnerable congressional races.
TRUMP (via telephone): All I have to do is stop funding the Republican Party. I'm the one raising the money for them. In fact, right now I'm in Orlando. I'm going to a fundraiser for the Republican Party. So if they want to do that, they can save me a lot of time.
JONES: Sources tell CNN that RNC Chairman Reince Priebus denied he was considering shifting funds from Trump's presidential bid to down ballot races, but he did speak to Trump about his tone. This after Trump spent an entire day repeating a false claim that President Obama literally is the founder of ISIS.
TRUMP (via telephone): I meant he's the founder of ISIS. I do. He was the most valuable player. I give him the most valuable player award.
JONES: Back in February during a CNN town hall, Trump placed the blame for the rise of ISIS squarely on the Iraq war.
TRUMP: The war in Iraq started the whole destabilization of the Middle East. It started ISIS. It started Libya. It started Syria. In all fairness, Bush made the decision. JONES: The Republican candidate also making waves this morning for saying he would allow American terror suspects to be tried at the military tribunal in Guantanamo Bay.
TRUMP: Well, I know that they want to try them in our regular court systems, and I don't like that at all. I would say they could be tried there. That will be fine.
JONES: As for his rival, Trump continuing to raise questions about the nature of the State Department's relationship with the Clinton Foundation.
TRUMP: Aren't e-mails a wonderful thing? Right? What a great invention. When you go home, I'm not going to do it because if I mention it, they'll play it down. So I'm not going to mention it.
JONES: Meanwhile, Clinton hitting Trump's economic plan, accusing the billionaire of using his campaign to benefit the rich.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He called for a new tax loophole. Let's call it the Trump loophole.
JONES: With less than three months until Election Day, Trump already entertaining the possibility of losing in November.
TRUMP (via telephone): At the end, it's either going to work or I'm going to, you know, I'm going to have a very, very nice long vacation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JONES: Trump takes his campaign to the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania today. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is stepping up the pressure on him to release his tax returns. She plans to release her 2015 returns perhaps as soon as today.
And her running mate, Tim Kaine and his wife will be releasing the last ten years of their returns. This as Clinton releases a new web video featuring top Republicans like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and former GOP nominee, Mitt Romney, calling on Trump to release his returns -- Brianna, Chris.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Appreciate the reporting. Let's discuss. We have CNN political analyst and national political reporter for "The New York Times," Alex Burns, CNN political commentator and political anchor of Time Warner Cable News, Errol Louis, and CNN political analyst and presidential campaign correspondent for "The New York Times," Maggie Haberman.
The NFL has started. Let's extend the analogy. We have big problems on both sides of the ball. Let's start with Trump. It started off as his typical marketing expertise coming up with a label to explain a more complex situation. Founded ISIS.
But now he's saying, no, no, no, I mean it, I mean it. It is starting to raise eyebrows. Maybe he does mean it. What's your take? ALEX BURNS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Chris, I think in some ways, and sort of perversely, you could see this as a step in the right direction for Trump's message because he has picked a fight over an issue where voters do actually tend to like what he's saying.
He's no longer fighting with a gold star family. He's now fighting with the president of the United States on the issue of terrorism and particularly the issue of ISIS, which polls still show voters tend to like what he has to say.
But the longer he drags out that literal label of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton founded ISIS, eventually it does become a distraction from the underlying issue of his criticism of their policies.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: So that's what he should do, you think, sort of adjust, Errol, what he's saying? Because we're in day number what now of people focusing more on this from Donald Trump than e-mails from Hillary Clinton's top aides that were revealed.
ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's certainly a blown opportunity to focus on his opponent and really sort of make some charges stick that are worth talking about. He's blowing that opportunity, in part because we heard in his interview with Hugh Hewitt, he's enamored with this idea that by simply provocatively phrasing even a valid point, it ends up dominating the news cycle.
[06:05:07]KEILAR: We have that sound. Let's listen to it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last night you said the president was the founder of ISIS. I know what you meant. You meant he created the vacuum.
TRUMP (via telephone): No, I meant he's the founder of ISIS. I do. He was the most valuable player. I gave him the most valuable player award. I give her, too, by the way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But he's not sympathetic to them. He hates them. He's trying to kill them.
TRUMP: I don't care. He was the founder.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: Here's the problem. By going all in here, he has to be completely consistent over time, and he hasn't been. Here's him talking in 2007 with Wolf.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": How does the united states get out of this situation? Is there --
TRUMP: How do they get out? They get out, that's how they get out. Declare victory and leave because I'll tell you, this country is just going to further bogged down. They're in a civil war over there, Wolf. There's nothing we're going to be able to do in a civil war. They are in a major civil war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: This isn't just one example of him doing essentially what he's now criticizing President Obama of doing, you know, leaving and creating a vacuum. He's also blamed bush in the past for being I guess what Trump would call the founder of ISIS. So the inconsistency, a problem?
MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: There's so many issues on which he's not woven a straight path that I actually don't know that's going to be what hurts him. I agree with Alex that this was actually important for them. I think his advisers were happy not to be engaging in the fights that they had been. This is not fights with his own party members. This is not, you know, a fight --
CUOMO: So pretty low bar for success though, isn't it?
HABERMAN: I think that we've been doing that.
CUOMO: You're not kicking the dog. It's been a good day.
HABERMAN: Well, I mean, you work with what's in front of you, but I think Errol is also right that there has consistently been an opportunity to drive a message as opposed to Trump just sort of always playing defense in one form or another, either because of his own creation or because of his refusal to pull back from something or because he gets in these fights and goes down a rabbit hole.
To drive a consistent message, you're going to see today that Hillary Clinton is going to release tax returns to be on offense against him, driving a point. The e-mails issue could resonate. He could do something with it. He's basically leaving it on the table.
KEILAR: Looking at the tax issue, a poll asking voters if it bothers them. It's sort of interesting what they say, 44 percent said it bothers them a lot, 24 percent said it bothers them a little. But is something, Errol, that you think really is going to matter come Election Day?
LOUIS: I think it'll be an excellent point on which to sort of bog him down. I mean, Hillary Clinton has already been returning to it again and again and again. So his main point or one of his points against her has been, he called her crooked Hillary. He says that the Clinton Foundation is some sort of a Ponzi scheme or something like that.
He attacks her on transparency and ethics. All she has to do is say, show us your taxes, Mr. Trump. He has really no answer. He has already decided he is not going to show them.
CUOMO: And the question ultimately comes down to a balancing test, right, because you know, I thought Rudy Giuliani was very effective yesterday in saying, you know, I'll take the problems of what he says over the problems of what Clinton does. That was a big point for him yesterday. The taxes, he won't release them. You can speculate as to why, but it's not a big deal. A big of deal is these e-mails and what about that relativity? You think that could resonate with voters?
BURNS: It sure could, but when you talk to other Republicans, they think, why do we have to balance out a guy who says these crazy things against a person who does these distasteful things? Why couldn't we just nominate somebody who doesn't say crazy things to run against somebody who does this tasteful things?
I think to Maggie's point, when you look at the week that Hillary Clinton could have had with a different opponent, you really see the scale of the missed opportunity here for Republicans. She could have spent the last four or five days just sweating under the lights talking about these e-mails.
Instead, she's had an opponent who even when he's arguing about policy is doing it in such a way that it's really hard for her to dismiss him -- excuse me, really easy for her to dismiss him.
KEILAR: You have an interesting piece in the "Times" today that's talking about the acknowledgment of Donald Trump, really for the first time that he might not win. You put together a string of examples that are really telling. Does it seem like maybe the reality that this is going to be very close? That he is at a disadvantage right now, has sunk in for someone who is normally projecting so much confidence?
HABERMAN: I think the reality that it might not be very close is what has been sinking in. That's what was striking about what he said yesterday.
CUOMO: About the vacation?
HABERMAN: The vacation. Supposed to be that he had a very long riff in that CNBC interview about how I'm supposed to be the one with the good ideas, and that's fine, and maybe that'll happen and maybe it won't.
He has clearly relied on a certain fact set for a long time, which is that he sees his rally crowds, he feeds off that energy. We have seen that. He gets excited about that.
He's had another line yesterday saying, you know, it should translate into votes. Maybe it doesn't. This is all new for him. He's a first-time candidate.
[06:10:10]He is not the first, you know, novice politician to not totally understand that these things don't always correlate. Frankly, with Rudy Giuliani in 2007, he would get crowds and he was a huge draw. It did not really mean anything.
I think that for Trump, he is seeing this is not a drill. It is one poll after another showing him not just behind but something like Utah I was very struck by that yesterday that he mentioned, acknowledged that there's a real problematic situation there. CUOMO: People often mistake his insistence for lack of sophistication. He's very bright. He just knows what got him here. The struggle, Errol, for him is change. This is a man who's always followed his own gut to get the success he's had. He's always gotten himself out of trouble through his own lights.
What does that suggest, though, about his ability to change course no matter how big the brain is that comes to him and says you need to do more of this and less of this.
LOUIS: That's right. His gut is telling him to take what's in front of him and what he knows. He watches the shows and all of this sort of stuff. He can put together, in some ways, a fairly sophisticated view of the situation he's dealing with.
That worked through the primaries. This is completely different. We're talking about ten times it the scale. We're talking about voters he's never met and never heard of. People who not only weren't at his rallies but haven't been watching television, haven't been listening to radio and are nowhere on his radar screen. How do you develop a gut feel for people like that who never watched "The Apprentice?"
That's who most of the voters are now. So the polls are now giving him information of a kind that he can't sort of intuitively feel just on his own. So you either have to start listening to experts, which he's already decided he wasn't going to do, or you're going to be where he is, which is hit with some information coming from a source and from places and from people that you really weren't aware of at all.
CUOMO: Friends, stay with us. We want to discuss the other side of the ball, what's going on with Hillary Clinton. She has her challenges, but we have some news.
KEILAR: That's right. We have some breaking news that we're following. Severe turbulence on a JetBlue flight sending dozens to the hospital. Ryan Nobles joining us now with all of the breaking details -- Ryan.
RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna, a pretty frightening experience for passengers on board a JetBlue flight this morning, forced to land after hitting extreme turbulence. The flight from Boston to Sacramento diverting to Rapid City, South Dakota to make an emergency landing.
Twenty two passengers and two crew members suffering injuries. They were sent to a local hospital. Now people on board posting photos on social media showing injured passengers being taken off the plane on stretchers.
The airline says everyone taken to the hospital was treated for minor injuries and released. JetBlue confirming a new aircraft was sent to take the passengers to Sacramento. That flight is expected to arrive in about an hour. We'll have more updates for you on this story throughout the morning -- Chris and Brianna. CUOMO: Really horrifying accounts of people flying out of their seat belts, hitting their heads. Ryan, thank you.
All right, let's get to the Olympic Games. Michael Phelps and Simone making history in the pool for Team USA. Simone Biles defining perfection. Her individual performance clinching another gold medal in spectacular fashion.
CNN sports anchor, Coy Wire, live in Rio with the highlights. What an assignment you drew, my brother.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, I got the lucky straw, Chris, for sure. Simone Biles, though, you mentioned her. Unbelievable. Jaw- dropping as you're watching this young lady perform. Many saying that this now cements her legacy as the best gymnast ever after that performance.
A lot of historic performances, though, yesterday. Medal count continuing to stack up here. Let's give it a look on your NEW DAY, 38 for the U.S in total. China in second with 30. Japan in third with 22.
Someone else making history, Michael Phelps continuing to shatter the Olympic record books. Unbelievable.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE (voice-over): Michael Phelps making Olympics history again, surpassing Olympians all the way back to ancient Greece and becoming the first swimmer ever to win four consecutive gold medals in the same event. Powering past his opposition and picking up his 22nd gold, this time in the 200-meter individual medley.
MICHAEL PHELPS, U.S. OLYMPIC SWIMMER: Being able to win 22 Olympic gold medals, something you just dream of. I'm just living a dream come true.
WIRE: Phelps beating out teammate, Ryan Lochte, who came in fifth, nearly three seconds mind him, in what was billed as one final swim between two of Team USA's most decorated swimmers. Break-out star Simone Manuel also making history, becoming the first African-American woman to ever win an individual swimming event.
SIMONE MANUEL, U.S. OLYMPIC SWIMMER: This medal is not just for me. It's for a whole bunch of people who have came before me and have an inspiration to me. I just want to be an inspiration to other that you can do it.
[06:15:02]WIRE: Manuel bringing home the gold for the United States in the 100-meter freestyle for the first time in over 30 years, a record-breaking 52.7 seconds, tying with Canada, in a photo finish.
And Simone Biles, who many consider the greatest gymnast ever, with a stunning performance in the individual all-around. Clinching gold number two after this gravity defying floor routine.
Outstanding performances from teammate, Aly Raisman, landing her a silver medal and giving the USA a one-two finish.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: All right. We'll see more of Simone Biles later in these games as she could add another three gold medals to this already impressive resume. There are 24 gold medals on the line today, guys.
Back in the pool, Michael Phelps will compete in his individual event, the 100-meter butterfly. Katie Ledecky looking to repeat as the 800- meter freestyle Olympic champ.
Chris, Brianna, take your marks because track and field gets under way here in Rio today as well.
KEILAR: I love track and field.
CUOMO: It's usually the most exciting. What's happened in the pool and in gymnastics has already been so much. Simone Manuel, the first ever. Amazing. Great stuff. Thanks, Coy.
KEILAR: Coming up on NEW DAY, Ryan Lochte's mom is going to talk with us about her son's friendly rivalry with Michael Phelps.
CUOMO: So exactly what was the relationship between the State Department and the Clinton Foundation during Hillary Clinton's tenure? This matters.
Now, there's more intrigue. The FBI wanted to launch a public corruption investigation earlier this year, so why didn't they? Why did the FBI director in front of Congress duck questions about this? A closer look ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:20:39]
KEILAR: CNN has learned that the FBI and the Justice Department discussed launching a public corruption case into the Clinton Foundation months ago because of suspicious activity involving a foreign donor.
According to a U.S. official, they decided not to pursue a case based on prior unsubstantiated allegations and concerns that the probe would be politically motivated.
Let's bring back our panel, Alex Burns, Errol Louis, and Maggie Haberman. Maggie, if they don't do it in part because it appeared to be politically motivated, not doing it could appear to be politically motivated as well.
HABERMAN: When you're a presidential candidate and less than three months out from Election Day, this is not a great set of facts to be discussing. Not talking about what the disposition is of the facts, there's no world in which this headline is good for a candidate.
This issue has dragged on in some form or another, preceding the e- mails server issue that emerged last year. But there have been questions and concerns about overlap between the State Department and the foundation for a very long time.
They've generally batted them away. They've generally said the foundation does a lot of good work, it is a charity. It is also a very sprawling and post-presidential enterprise.
KEILAR: It's a platform, right, for the Clintons.
HABERMAN: Well, look, they can point to a lot of work they have done that is real in countries that have been in need of help. They can point to a lot of things they have done that have moved the ball. It's not strictly political.
The problem is we are dealing with a situation that we haven't seen before politically ever. You are dealing with a potential president who is married to a former president. They have a giant donor-based foundation, other people's donations.
While she was a secretary of state involving a lot of overseas donations, there is no road map for that. So basically what people would caution them, and people did caution Hillary Clinton is you take the simplest road possible, the thing that will not create any questions about appearances.
That is not always what they did. It doesn't mean what they did was "wrong," quote/unquote. Certainly doesn't mean there was any illegal activity.
But it does mean that there are questions being raised and their repeated habit has been over the years and certainly in the last three years to say these questions just aren't legitimate because this is a charity. They are legitimate.
CUOMO: But if the bar is illegality, it's probably being set way too high for politics. This situation of why it wasn't investigated has never seemed simple and satisfying, Errol.
CNN did a great write through. You should go on and read it. It's on the website. I'm still not exactly sure why they didn't investigate it. I don't get -- it might be politically motivated to we're not going to -- since when is that a consideration?
LOUIS: That's the question, right. Since when has it been a consideration? You'd have to go back and find an analogous case in the past. You know, Maggie is exactly right. We have not seen this before. On the other hand, a rational discussion of what is this analogous to, what's it like.
CUOMO: Shelly Silver is sitting in jail right now in New York State for something very similar. We see politicians where it's how are you making your money while you're in office. That would be the general category, right? What are you doing that's not in the furtherance of your public duties while you're in office, wouldn't that be the category? LOUIS: Well, I mean, you're talking about something under the sort of banner of honest services. We're entitled to your honest services. We're entitled to have you 24/7 working on your job at State Department as secretary of state. We don't want your staff members sort of doing little favors --
CUOMO: No conflicts.
LOUIS: -- making little side trips, answering e-mails, trying to help somebody get a job here and there in connection with the foundation. Even if they are doing good work. That is a rational conversation that would be worth having.
On the other hand, we have a candidate and we have a Republican Party that have really sort of given that away in effect by saying, lock her up, it was illegal, it's all been rigged, and that sort of thing.
That kind of broad accusation when a specific kind of analysis is called for really kind of lets the Clinton campaign off the hook.
KEILAR: Normally this would be an issue. For instance, we now know a top aide to Hillary Clinton -- really a top aide, Sheryl Mills. There are a few people in Hillary Clinton's orbit that are almost like appendages for her.
That's who Sheryl Mills is one of these people. She actually, while working at the State Department, took the train up to New York to try to help them, help the Clinton Foundation interview someone to be at the helm.
I should say that we have a statement from the campaign. They say that Sheryl volunteered her personal time to a charitable organization, as she has to other charities. Brian Fallon, the spokesman for the campaign, concluding, "The idea that this poses a conflict of interest is absurd."
State Department saying federal employees can do this kind of thing. It just creates this question of where does the Clinton Foundation end and the State Department begin, and why is that such an issue?
BURNS: And where would the Clinton Foundation end and a Clinton White House begin? You're looking at the statement given regarding Sheryl Mills. Are there other examples of her volunteering her time in this way?
Paying for her own way up to New York to do a personal favor for the Red Cross or something like that. Did that happen? Brianna, I think looking ahead, if Donald Trump doesn't close up the polls in this race, this is potentially an issue that matters less for the election and more for staffing the Clinton administration.
Republicans, if they lose this election, are going to want to take some kind of pound of flesh in return. You can see that in confirmation processes. You can see it in terms of their objections to people who staff the White House. CUOMO: So what are you told, Maggie, about what would be the disposition of the CGI, the Clinton Global Initiative, if Hillary Clinton were to win this election? Does it close down? Is there some kind of firewall put in place? What do they do?
HABERMAN: Alex is exactly right. This is the question. The question is really less a retroactive question, and to Errol's point, it veers into overreach when Republicans are saying is lock her up and this is clearly illegal, as opposed to a conversation of this just looks very questionable and how will this work?
They have said very little about what will happen in the future. For President Clinton, he sees this as his legacy work. I don't think he is going to heed calls to shut it down very easily.
KEILAR: Yes, it's his baby. We'll see. All right, Maggie, Errol, Alex, thank you all.
Up next, another accident at an amusement park. A 3-year-old boy falling out of a roller coaster in Pennsylvania. We'll tell you what happened next.
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