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Major Shake-Up In Trump Campaign; Sources: Roger Ailes Helping Trump Prepare For Debates; Simone Biles Wins Fourth Gold In Rio Olympics.. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired August 17, 2016 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:31:00] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: We just saw a huge shift in the Trump campaign, not just in personnel but in what this is going to mean for strategy and tone going forward. How will this play out in this first debate that we have a few weeks away? Let's discuss.

David Chalian, CNN political director and Brian Stelter, CNN senior media correspondent and host of "RELIABLE SOURCES". It's good to have you both. David Chalian, this is not just about personnel. Roger Stone, Roger Ailes, and now Steve Bannon. Having them all involved in Trump's head is basically, in Italian, what we do, this (Italian hand gesture) to the party, (Italian hand gesture) to the big insiders. That's what just happened.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: I speak that language. That means I don't care what you think.

CUOMO: That's right. (Foreign language), they're saying.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: But they're brawlers, right, and Donald Trump is a brawler and so this going to play into his most basic instincts about how to engage in day-to-day combat with Hillary Clinton to be a brawler more. And so, I think it's interesting to see.

It's not going to give comfort to the Republican establishment that has been desperate to sort of get him to a place where he can start really building his coalition in terms of who the people are, Chris. But I do think if, indeed, this means that he takes a fight every single day to Hillary Clinton, I think that will give some comfort to reluctant Republicans who have been concerned about his candidacy.

CAMEROTA: Brian, your reporting is that Roger Ailes, former head of "FOX NEWS" who left amid allegations of sexual harassment, is talking to Donald Trump about debate prep. What does this mean for the first debate in September?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT, HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": Yes, Ailes helping Trump, even in this informal way. There's no sort of formal campaign role here nor would there be. Ailes doesn't need the money from the campaign and the campaign doesn't need the trouble from Ailes given the cloud he's under with this sexual harassment scandal.

However, Ailes can be of great assistance to Donald Trump. Even when I joined CNN, Ailes gave me some of the best advice about T.V. I received from anybody. Ailes is a T.V. mastermind, say whatever else you want to say about him, so he can certainly help Trump and he is helping Trump. And I see it almost as a proxy war between Ailes and Clinton. Ailes, in some ways, has been anti-Clinton for decades. This can be kind of a final battle on the debate stage in the fall.

CUOMO: But it's just that, you know -- look, at the end of the day it all comes down to Trump, right?

STELTER: Yes.

CUOMO: You can put as many different people around you but Trump makes the decisions as to what comes out of his mouth that has caused his problems. But it's about what encouragement he's getting. What we saw here --

STELTER: Exactly.

CUOMO: We keep saying prompter. That's really code. It doesn't matter if he's on a Teleprompter or if he's off the cuff. It's what is your message? How much of it is Clinton is --

CHALIAN: Exactly.

CUOMO: -- and then listing 10 horrible personal attributes or here's what I'm going to do for you. It sounds like from this, especially with a Brietbart guy -- Brietbart is scorched earth, win at all costs, and by cost we mean the worst things they can do. Now that's who's in his ear? What can that mean for building a coalition?

CHALIAN: Well, but again, if it is Clinton is X, Y, Z, that could be beneficial to Donald Trump. That's a lot better than taking on a Gold Star family or going after Judge Curiel or responding to some personal insult that has gotten Donald Trump upset. If, indeed, it is -- it is a daily fight geared towards Hillary Clinton -- if that's what's in his ear that could prove to --

CUOMO: This is an outlet that says CNN is Hitler. You think that kind of stuff coming out of Donald Trump's mouth is going to help him?

STELTER: I mean, some of these men are masters of the dark arts -- of political dark arts and that's what people should understand, for example, about Steve Bannon. When I saw this news overnight my first thought was OK, nothing is off limits now. Nothing in this campaign is off limits now. We're going to see the most fringy ideas, the most -- the most right-wing ideas bubble up to the surface in a way we haven't even seen before in this election.

CAMEROTA: And so --

CHALIAN: Like we saw what he was doing with Hillary Clinton's health recently, bringing that back into the fray.

STELTER: That's the kind of conspiracy theory that starts in what we call the fever swamps of the right wing. It bubbles up on Twitter and Facebook and on sites like Brietbart, eventually reaches Sean Hannity, and then reaches Donald Trump, and we're going to see more of those. I mean, it's only August. I can't imagine what they'll be saying by October.

[07:35:00] CAMEROTA: I'm confused about the math here, David, about how that brings in more voters because traditionally -- so he won a huge amount of voters in the primaries, 13.3 million, and it sounds like Donald Trump wants to return to that strategy of what got him to the party in the first place. But does that brass knuckles, massively right-wing conspiracy theory bring in other voters?

CHALIAN: Well, no, I think we have different components here. Conspiracy theories are not going to bring in many new voters, there's no doubt about that. But we don't know yet if Donald Trump -- we know that this is who is going to be around him now but, again, as Chris said, this is about the candidate. So he's going to have these voices but he's also going to have the voice of Kellyanne Conway, who is going to be presenting the numbers to him on a daily basis, as she's been doing, and how you --

CAMEROTA: Established political hand with a good track record, yes.

STELTER: And she's been so effective on television.

CHALIAN: Exactly, so I don't think it's just one thing. Here's what I believe in terms of adding voters. The first place he has to add, still, is still within his own party. That is a problem that where this late in the game for him and he is still not having the level of support among Republicans.

CAMEROTA: Moderates within his own party? Establishment in his own party?

CHALIAN: Moderates and Independents, as well. He needs to bring them in. He need to try to bring them in. But right now his support, just among base core Republicans -- self I.D.'d Republicans -- is not at the level it needs to be so that's where he has to start. I'm not saying -- that's not sufficient in and of itself. He's still going to try to add voters beyond that but he still doesn't have a locked in base of Republican support at the level it needs to be.

STELTER: I mean, I thought five words he said in his last interview with a local station yesterday are the key five words between now and November -- I am who I am. I don't want to change, I don't want to pivot, I am who I am. It's a version of what Corey Lewandowski used to say, let Trump be Trump. That's what Trump is saying. Let me be me, I am who I am.

Let's think past November for a moment. If Trump's strategy here if he's thinking past November -- if he's thinking he might lose the election -- what he might want to do is launch a new television channel or launch a new giant website and do subscription service. He might be thinking about a media enterprise and if he is, Roger Ailes and Steve Bannon are the men you want in your corner. So perhaps when thinking about Bannon, we should already look for signs that Trump is thinking beyond November having a plan B in case he doesn't win. CUOMO: Boy of boy, this is the moment. There have been lots of moments in this election, there are many more to come, but this will be looked back on in terms of where it went in terms of Donald Trump's fate. This is a very, very key moment.

STELTER: Yes.

CHALIAN: Without a doubt.

CUOMO: Who cares what I think, what do you think? Tweet us @NewDay or post your comment on facebook.com/NewDay.

CAMEROTA: Russia is launching airstrikes from Iran to fight ISIS. What does this mean? Should the U.S. be concerned about those two countries teaming up? We're going to talk to the secretary of the U.S. Air Force, next, about this.

[07:37:55] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:41:25] CAMEROTA: Russian warplanes have begun launching airstrikes against ISIS in Syria from an air base in Iran. Now, both those countries are staunch allies of Syrian president Bashar al Assad, so what does this connection mean for the U.S.?

Joining us now is Deborah Lee James. She is the secretary of the Air Force. Secretary, great to have you here.

DEBORAH LEE JAMES, SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE: Thanks, Alisyn, great to be back.

CAMEROTA: So when you hear that Russia and Iran are teaming up what does that mean to you?

JAMES: Well, first of all, it's another complication for the campaign against ISIL or Daesh in the Middle East. It's been a complication since day one with respect to Russia, and this latest move where they are launching airstrikes from Iran essentially brings them closer to the fight. It allows them to strike with greater intensity. It's another complication, but not all that surprising.

CAMEROTA: Why is it a complication rather than seen as helpful?

JAMES: Well, first of all, they are not striking Daesh or ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Instead, they are attacking the forces that are attempting to prop up Bashar al Assad. You see, Russia has had a say/do gap from the very beginning. They say they have entered the fray to fight ISIS but what they are doing is they are attacking other forces.

CAMEROTA: Where does this leave the U.S.? Is the U.S. trying to negotiate with Russia about this? Is the U.S. going it alone now?

JAMES: Well, the U.S., of course, is leading an international coalition in this fight, which is taking place in both Iraq and Syria, against Daesh on the ground. Where this leaves us is we're going to stay the course. We're going to continue to do what we're doing and we have communications with Russia to include the safety of flight, to make sure that we deconflict ourselves in the air. But beyond that, we are not coordinating with Russia.

CAMEROTA: We have some numbers about the airstrikes that have been used to fight ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Let me just read them. There have been 14,439 total. Those are divided between Iraq -- 63 percent were in Iraq. Thirty-three percent were in Syria. Do you think that -- I mean, honestly, that has been the preponderance of the fight against ISIS -- airstrikes -- that's been the strategy. Do you think that that's enough?

JAMES: Well, it's really been airstrikes which have enabled the movements on the ground. And thanks to the Iraqi security forces, thanks to the democratic forces in Syria, as well as the Peshmerga and other indigenous groups on the ground, the coalition has enabled their movements through airstrikes and they have been very successful.

It's a several-pronged approach. We're moving up the Euphrates river valley, we're on the road to Mosul which is the final stronghold of Daesh in Iraq, and soon it will be on the road to Raqqa, which is the so-called capital of the caliphate.

CAMEROTA: We talk about this a lot on this show, the difference between territory and then the fighters, and sort of the ideology and the strength of the movement. Where do you think we are today in terms of fighting ISIS?

JAMES: I think there's no question we have made enormous progress on the military front. And, of course, since we are the military that's what we talk the most about. But I do want to remind everybody this is a much greater matter than military alone. We need political solutions, we need economic support in this part of the world so that when there is a lasting military defeat -- I underscore the word lasting -- it needs to remain, and for that we need political solutions.

CAMEROTA: There are reports -- the "Air Force Times" reports that the Air Force, which you oversee of course, is 700 fighter pilots short. What's happening with that lack of manpower?

JAMES: Well, it's a question of we need to produce more fighter pilots to begin with and then we need to retain those that we train. We're facing a very large hiring surge from civilian airlines and that is they are able to sometimes attract our fighter pilots to civilian life and away from the Air Force. So we need to do a better job of retaining the people that we have.

[07:45:00] CAMEROTA: What's the problem? Why aren't you retaining more people?

JAMES: Well, the airlines are able to pay higher salaries. And, of course, we in the Air Force -- we have frequent deployments, we have frequent family separations, and so some believe that the quality of life in the civilian world could be better. And it is true, our airmen are working very, very hard and we're going to try to do a better job on quality of life, as well. CAMEROTA: What's the strategy? I mean, you need to -- they need to be deployed, that's their mission statement. So what's the strategy?

JAMES: We are going to try to give them a little bit more time at home when we can beef up the ranks and we have more of them. There will be more people to do the amount of work that needs to done and we hope that will provide a bit more time at home. We're looking to provide greater bonuses. We're working with Congress to get approval for that so that we can increase compensation for our pilots. And finally, we're looking to produce more. We're upping our training base so that we can produce more pilots.

CAMEROTA: We're happy to let you get the word out about that today. Secretary James, thanks so much for being here on NEW DAY.

JAMES: Thank you very much.

CAMEROTA: Nice to talk to you.

CAMEROTA: Let's get over to Chris.

CUOMO: All right. So, gymnastics phenom Simone Biles capping off her gold medal run with another gold, but it's where she did it, the floor routine. This is her strength. Wow, does the performance stack up with the best ever? We'll discuss.

But first, sportscaster Craig Sager is in the fight of his life. After battling cancer for two and one-half years his "never give up" attitude is winning the hearts of people everywhere. CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has his story in this week's "TURNING POINTS".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Veteran sideline reporter Craig Sager is probably best known for his vibrant interviews and his colorful outfits during NBA games.

KEVIN GARNETT, BASKETBALL PLAYER, MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES: Take all this -- handkerchief, lime thong, all that, burn it, OK?

CRAIG SAGER, "TNT" AND "TBS" SIDELINE REPORTER: There's something about getting up and being lively.

GUPTA: But the upbeat sportscaster was dealt a devastating blow at a game in 2014.

SAGER: I ran into the doctor for the Mavs. He looked at me and said Sager, what's wrong? He said you've got to go to the emergency room.

GUPTA: It was leukemia. Sager needed a bone marrow transplant. His son Craig was a perfect match but the cancer came back. His son saved his life again.

CRAIG SAGER II, SAGER'S SON: I didn't really even think of it as donating. It was -- we were in it together. GUPTA: Sager recovered just in time for the start of the NBA season.

SAGER: I didn't miss a game. I felt great.

GUPTA: But then in February, another relapse. Even through treatment Sager never stopped working. He covered the first NBA finals of his career in June.

SAGER: Just a tremendous night.

GUPTA: Now he's back at the hospital preparing for a rare third transplant from an anonymous donor. Last month, Sager was awarded the Jimmy V. Award for Perseverance at the ESPY awards.

SAGER: Time is something that cannot be bought. Time is simply how you live your life.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[07:48:15] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:52:00] CAMEROTA: All right, let's give your Olympics update. U.S. gymnast Simone Biles -- she's a phenom and she has made Olympic history winning her fourth gold medal and becoming the first American in her sport to win four golds in a single Olympics.

Let's discuss all things Olympics with CNN sports correspondent Coy Wire and CNN sports analyst Christine Brennan. Great to see you two down there. Christine, Simone Biles came back with a vengeance so tell us about her floor routine.

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: Yes, you know what? After -- if anyone doubted her after that balance beam little stumble -- I mean, this woman has got -- she's so talented. She's got the great brain of an athlete and she just nailed it. Her floor exercise was beautiful, that's what she's known for.

And yet, the pressure was extraordinary because this notion that she could end with, say, two failures, so to speak -- hardly a failure. Instead, she just nailed it, and as you said, it goes down in history. Just showing when the pressure is on, Coy, this woman is able to attack just like the toughest athletes in the NFL or NBA or Major League Baseball, don't you think?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes -- no, absolutely because you're always judged by how much you can come back from adversity, right? I mean, you almost -- as I mentioned yesterday it was, in a way, good to see her fall on that balance beam. It reminded us how difficult the maneuvers she was performing were. She did have that lapse but she comes right back 24 hours later, or whatever it was, and she crushes it just, again, cementing that legacy as the most -- certainly the most dynamic Olympic gymnast we've ever seen.

She's doing things that no one has ever done or even tried. She has moves named after her now. It was interesting, the other day I was out here and there was a young gymnast with her mother, from Brazil. She said that Simone Biles has inspired her so much she wants to go to college in the United States and compete because of Simone Biles. So she's left a worldwide impact with what she's done in these games.

CUOMO: Beautiful, and it's just beginning. Her legacy is far from over. You guys have a lot of sirens behind you, not unusual in any big city, certainly not in Rio. Christine, let me ask you something. Usain Bolt, you saw him run in his heat. We've probably never seen a sprinter shut it down in races and still win the way he does but it did look like he was working a little bit more, just as it did in the 100. Did you discern a difference or is it just the weather?

BRENNAN: No, I think he is. He's turning 30 on Sunday, the day these Games end. You know, 30 is not 20, and so he's going against younger men. And what we saw in the 100-meters where he was not able to prance and dance and turn around like we're used to because he had to catch Justin Gatlin and then, of course, power to the finish and then shut it down. I still think he's going to win the 200 easily, Chris, I really do, but it's a little bit more work.

And I think what Coy just said about Simone Biles -- seeing an athlete have to work, seeing an athlete face a little adversity, for Usain Bolt it's just a little adversity. But having to see them as more human, I think, is very compelling.

[07:55:00] WIRE: So I got some interesting insight. I talked to someone I know who works with USA track and field and the one thing around that Gatlin bolt is the U.S. Olympic Trials are a much more grueling process than anywhere else in the world. They have to run many more races and not just a race, you have all that prep for each race. So Gatlin, coming into this in that final, you saw him run in the nine nines whereas before in the trials he was running in the nine eights.

So remember, Usain Bolt had that time off. Remember Gatlin called it a medical pass. He basically rested. That's like missing training camp in the NFL, Chris and Alisyn, so you're seeing now Bolt -- he's having to run these races and maybe he is getting a little more stressed and strained physically so it might turn out to be an interesting 200-meter final. He's going for that triple-triple. We'll see if that physical aspect plays into it at all.

CAMEROTA: I think we have the new "Sports Illustrated" cover to show our viewers and you guys. These are the phenoms of this Rio Olympics. You have Phelps, Ledecky, and Simone Biles there. Would you argue with that triumvirate?

BRENNAN: No, I wouldn't argue at all. I saw that on Twitter yesterday, Alisyn, and I smiled. I said that's perfect. I mean, look at that picture. So you've got Michael Phelps, 31 years old, with his arm around the two 19-year-olds.

By the way, those two were born three days apart in March of 1997. Yes, they're 19 years old. So March 14th for Simone Biles and March 17th for Katie Ledecky. How cool is that, three days apart. It's kind of got their big brother with the two kids and just three of the greatest athletes this country will ever see not just this year, but any year.

WIRE: Exciting. It looks like a little happy farm there like three GOAT's on the same "Sports Illustrated" cover -- greatest of all time, Chris.

CUOMO: And just quickly, Coy, just tell us about this other Olympic moment we saw. You know, we celebrate those who are at the top but it's often what you see with those who are at the bottom that really brings home the spirit of the competition here. What did we see in that marathon trial?

WIRE: Yes, the 5,000-meter trial -- and I loved the way you said it earlier. It was the two runners who finished dead last that are the highlight of this thing. You had a runner from New Zealand go down. American Abbey D'Agostino trips over her, injures her knee, but she tells the runner from New Zealand hey, get up, this is the Olympics. We have to finish this race, so they do.

They start running but D'Agostino didn't realize how badly her knee was injured. Her knee buckled, she falls down, now the New Zealand runner stops and tells her let's finish the race. They both do, they finish last but what a great story of sportsmanship here at these Olympic Games, guys.

CAMEROTA: That is beautiful. I mean, seeing them hug at the end, you know. All competition is over, they were just having that sort of human helping moment. That was really nice.

CUOMO: Awesome.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Guys, thank you so much. Always great to talk to you and get your updates. We'll see you guys soon.

CUOMO: All right, from the best in humanity to a change in play in the election that may well bring out the worst. There is big news out of the race. Let's get to it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

CUOMO: If you're just joining us, good morning, welcome to your new day. It's Wednesday, August 17th, 8:00 in the East, and we do have breaking news. Donald Trump shaking up his staff again, installing a new campaign manager and chief executive.

CAMEROTA: So, insiders say that Trump wants to do things his way, planning to run the rest of the race on his own terms. This is the second major overhaul of Trump's campaign in less than two months. Who's advising him now and what will this mean for the next 80-plus days?

CNN has it all covered. Let's begin with Jessica Schneider. She's live outside Trump Tower in New York with all of the latest -- Jessica. JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, we're learning that all of these top tier changes were effectively set in motion by Donald Trump's son-in-law, Ivanka's husband, Jared Kushner. Jared Kushner came back from vacation yesterday afternoon putting into place an emergency meeting right here at Trump Tower around 2:00 in the afternoon.

And as we've seen, Jared Kushner is effectively Donald Trump's top adviser, really having his ear. In fact, it was Kushner who effectively orchestrated the ouster of Corey Lewandowski back in June. And today, it looks like he's been orchestrating many of these changes that have really rocked the balance of power in this campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER: Donald Trump shaking up his campaign leadership team again for the second time in two months.

KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: People want to criticize Donald Trump.

SCHNEIDER: Senior adviser Kellyanne Conway confirming that she has been promoted to campaign manager. And the executive chairman of "Brietbart News", Steve Bannon, is now the campaign's chief executive. The campaign's embattled chairman, Paul Manafort, will stay on despite his relationship with Trump going sour in recent weeks.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The campaign is doing really well. It's never been so well united.

PAUL MANAFORT, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Trump is very plugged in. He's very connected. The campaign's working contrary to what the media is saying.

SCHNEIDER: Manafort is under investigation by Ukrainian authorities for allegedly receiving millions in illegal payments from the country's former pro-Russian ruling party. This is the second major shakeup for Trump's team. Back in June, he fired Corey Lewandowski weeks before the Republican Convention.

TRUMP: He's a good man, we've had great success, and he's a friend of mine.