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New Day Saturday

Clinton Picks Senator Tim Kaine As Her VP; Police: Gunman "Lone Attacker," No ISIS Link; Atlanta Mayor To Speak At DNC Convention; Democratic Convention Starts Monday In Philadelphia; Wikileaks Releases 20,000 Hacked DNC Emails; New York Mag: Pilot May Have Rehearsed Doomed Flight; Trump Revives JFK Conspiracy Theory. Aired 8- 9a ET

Aired July 23, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[08:00:01] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- at least ten wounded.

UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: People are very confused and are running and screaming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The events of yesterday, of this night, makes us sad and speechless.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Hillary Clinton naming Virginia senator and former governor, Tim Kaine, as her running mate.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I wanted to be sure whoever I pick could be president immediately.

SENATOR TIM KAINE (D), VIRGINIA: Do you want a "you're fired" president or "you're hired" president.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hillary's legacy does not have to be America's legacy.

CLINTON: Donald told us I am your voice. I don't think he speaks for most Americans, do you?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to Saturday. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you. We are starting with breaking news out of Afghanistan. There was a massive explosion near Kabul University with multiple casualties.

The video you're looking at was just into CNN shows this peaceful demonstration just moments before the explosion. But now a witness says there are tens of bodies lying on the ground in blood on the ground.

We have new video of the explosion. We'll show this to you now. Just seeing this for the first time. So we are seeing this for the first time together.

One worker, an aid worker, tweeted, "many wounded and killed." Again, this is the first video we are seeing out of Kabul near Kabul University after this explosion with multiple casualties.

We will bring you the latest information as soon as we get it. But again, this is the first video coming in from that blast this afternoon as it was there in Afghanistan.

All right. There it is. There's my countdown clock. It is ticking down to the Democratic National Convention. We are just a few hours away from Hillary Clinton, though, will introduce her new running mate to voters in Miami.

Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, well known in Washington. He is only -- one of only 20 people in American history to have served as a mayor, a governor and now senator.

PAUL: Here's something you may not have known about him, though. He plays the harmonica quite well. CNN is covering this story from all angles. CNN senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny in Miami.

BLACKWELL: And host of CNN "SMERCONISH," CNN political commentator, Michael Smerconish, in Philadelphia. We'll go to Jeff right now, Jeff Zeleny in Miami for us. What else do we know about Senator Kaine?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, for years Hillary Clinton has been a political partner and now she finally has picked a political partner of her own. She has good chemistry and rapport with Tim Kaine after going through a really long and exhaustive search that started we are told with some 30 Democrats on the wider list.

She narrowed it down week by week by week. But she had a private meeting with Tim Kaine once last week and then a lunch where all families came together and they clicked. But this is a look back, a look at who Tim Kaine is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAINE: Are we ready for Hillary?

ZELENY (voice-over): Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine, new partners on the Democratic ticket.

KAINE: Do you want a "you're fired" president or "you're hired" president?

ZELENY: It may be an antiestablishment year, but Clinton's running mate is an insider, a U.S. senator from Virginia and a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

KAINE: And if I have anything to do with it, we'll win again.

ZELENY: By selecting Kaine, Clinton is betting that experience in government not sizzle is the best way to defeat Donald Trump. KAINE: Elections are just the beginning. The real work starts tomorrow.

ZELENY: He's neither flashy nor show boat, a seemingly safe pick and steady hand, just what Clinton told Anderson Cooper she's looking for in a vice president.

CLINTON: I want to be sure that whoever I pick could be president immediately if something were to happen. That's the most important qualification.

KAINE: I'm Tim Kaine.

ZELENY: Who is Timothy Michael Kaine? A decade ago as governor of Virginia, he introduced himself in the Democratic response to President Bush's state of the union address.

KAINE: I worked as a missionary when I was a young man. I learned to measure my life by the difference I can make in someone else's life.

ZELENY: It was that stint as a Jesuit missionary in Honduras that shaped and now distinguishes him. He learned fluent Spanish and still speaks it today, which makes him a different kind of attack dog against Trump.

KAINE: If you're a Latino, he's going to trash talk you.

[08:05:04]ZELENY: Born in Minnesota and raised in Kansas.

KAINE: The best decision I ever made was moving to Richmond to marry my wife, Ann, 26 years ago.

ZELENY: He built his political career in Virginia, rising from city councilman and mayor of Richmond to lieutenant governor and governor. He's 58, ten years younger than Clinton. Known well inside the party but not beyond.

KAINE: I'm not the one with the biggest profile. I'm not the one that's the best known.

ZELENY: He signed on with Clinton early. This time around, endorsing her in 2014, more than a year before she declared her candidacy. For an original Barack Obama supporter, it was a chance to make up for lost time.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Give it up for Tim Kaine.

ZELENY: His politics are more moderate than the liberal strain driving today's Democratic Party. He's Catholic. Outwardly moved by Pope Francis' visit to Capitol Hill last year. His views on abortion are far more conservative than most Democrats as he explained in this interview.

KAINE: I'm personally opposed to abortion and the death penalty and I've lived my life that way. Law is what it is. I'm going to carry out the law and protect women's legal rights to make their own reproductive decisions.

ZELENY: He's also spoken out forcefully against the administration for failing to seek congressional approval to fight the Islamic State.

KAINE: War against ISIL is just, it's necessary, it's noble, but it's illegal. There's been no congressional authorization for this war.

ZELENY: It's an open question whether Kaine fits the mold of today's red hot politics. Yet his selection could help soften Clinton's partisan edges.

KAINE: When it comes to our leadership in the world, trash talk ain't enough. We need a bridge builder and we've got a bridge builder in Hillary Clinton.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY: Now in just a couple hours this morning, Tim Kaine is going to take the stage with Hillary Clinton here in Miami at Florida International University. Of course, no accident that Florida is picked as the announcement location for this, one of the central, critical battlegrounds in this presidential election.

Certainly as Democrats and the Clinton campaign are trying to rally Hispanic voters and try to defeat Donald Trump as their own convention begins Monday in Philadelphia.

BLACKWELL: All right. Of course, everyone can watch that here live here on CNN. Jeff Zeleny, thanks so much.

Now let's go to host of CNN's "SMERCONISH" and CNN political commentator, Michael Smerconish. Michael, it's so good to see you this morning. This is fresh. We are only about 12 hours into Kaine being officially chosen. What are the rumblings?

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, first, Christi and Victor, welcome to Philadelphia. I couldn't be more excited that the Democratic National Convention is about to get underway on a hot but beautiful day in my hometown.

I think what this pick does is it reinforces the dichotomy between Republicans and Democrats and what they value in this presidential year because Tim Kaine is all about credentials, right?

Jeff just gave you a nice recap of his resume. Those sort of credentials seem to be valued by Democrats in this presidential election year.

And yet on the Republican side of the aisle I'm sure you're going to hear from Donald Trump that this is nothing but another insider who stands ready to take on the number two position in the country.

So each will play it to their advantage. I also think that by all accounts Tim Kaine is a very well-liked individual. Headline that I read today talked about how he's been able to succeed despite having sharp elbows. Hillary Clinton has problems relative to trustworthy and honesty and I think that this pick will blunt some of those issues that she faces.

PAUL: You mentioned Donald Trump. I want to read you his latest tweet. He said, "Pocahontas wanted VP slot so badly, but wasn't chosen because she has done nothing in the Senate. Also, crooked Hillary hates her." Why is he still bringing up Elizabeth Warren?

SMERCONISH: I guess because it plays to the base. One of the reactions I have in terms of what we just saw in Cleveland is many of us wonder when will the pivot come? I don't think that, Christi, there was a pivot in Cleveland.

I think that instead there was a doubling down of that which has gotten him thus far. And so the Donald Trump that you saw all week long in Cleveland and apparently the Donald Trump that you'll see as the Democrats are convening here in Philadelphia is going to be the same one. You know, he's playing the hits that got him to the party thus far.

PAUL: You know, I want to bring up, too, this week of the Wikileaks e-mail dump that apparently shows the DNC may have been partial to Clinton. Trump tweeted about that as well and I want to read that to you.

He says, "Leaked e-mails of the DNC show plans to destroy Bernie Sanders, mock his heritage and much more online from Wikileaks, really vicious, rigged."

I have to tell you. I talked to Nomiki Konst about an hour and a half ago here in this show, she of course with the Bernie Sanders camp, she believes this is going to be a problem when it comes to trying instill unity at the DNC. What do you think?

[08:10:02]SMERCONISH: I thought it was interesting at a different level because I thought it underscored, it seems not to have been so much about highlighting the fact that Bernie Sanders is Jewish but rather perhaps creating the image of Bernie Sanders as being an atheist.

And to me it underscored that there is really one glass ceiling in electoral politics at least in Washington and that is the election of someone who professes to be a none, n-o-n-e, meaning not a person of a particular faith.

I'm convinced someone will shatter that barrier soon. So long as you stand up and say I have a moral code and I'm running for office, it will be accepted by the American people that you don't necessarily show up on Saturday or Sunday in a particular religious institution. But that's what they were trying to drum up and apparently thought better of it. That's a wise decision for the time being.

PAUL: All right, Michael Smerconish, welcome home. Have a great time there.

SMERCONISH: Thank you for that. PAUL: In Philly, absolutely. I'm sure your hometown will be out there in force for you. You can watch "SMERCONISH" at the top of the hour at 9:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN. Thank you, Michael.

BLACKWELL: Question, did the gunman in Munich lure his victims with a fake Facebook post? That's just one thread that police in Germany are investigating right now. We'll go to our Will Ripley live in Munich for a report in just a moment.

PAUL: And also you just saw Michael there, the stage is indeed set in Philly, the Democrats gearing up for their convention. We are talking with the woman in charge to get a sneak peek of what to expect.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: New this morning, police in Germany say the gunman behind the shooting rampage that left nine people dead in Munich was the one lone attacker and that there is no indication of a link to ISIS. That's only this morning.

Also police right now are investigating whether that gunman posted a fake ad on Facebook possibly in an effort to lure victims there.

(VIDEO CLIP)

[08:15:13]PAUL: Disturbing to watch. The amateur video here showing that man dressed in black appearing to be holding a gun. Not clear if it's the shooter in question, but police say of the nine people killed, seven of them were just teenagers. And you're looking there at some of the candles that have become a memorial there in that area for the people who died.

CNN's Will Ripley is live in Munich. Will, we have been getting information kind of fast and furious this morning as to what they're learning. Can you walk us through it, please?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sure. I want to show you, first of all, Christi, this is now the first time that we have been allowed to get up close to McDonald's that you saw in the video. This is where the person you saw firing the shots was standing and this is where the shooting began and where a number of people were hit.

And then the attacker crossed the street here, we are told he's 18 years old, born and raised in Germany, by the way. All of the victims are also German we have now just confirmed. And many of them died here in the Olympia mall.

This is the largest shopping center in Munich on the northwest side of town just about 4 kilometers, a couple miles from the shooter's house. So this is a place where he may have come quite often as a lot of teenagers do when they hang out at the mall.

But we are getting an indication from police they do not believe there was any connection to ISIS in the evidence that they seized from his apartment overnight. But they found research about shooting rampages. Research about why students kill and they say there were bullying incidents and theft incidents involving other young people going back to 2012 and 2011 when he was 13 and 14 years old.

So they are looking as that as a possible motive along with the fact that the shooting occurred on the five-year anniversary of the horrific mass murder in Norway where 77 people were killed and a majority of those victims children -- Christi.

PAUL: Very good point to make there. Will Ripley, we appreciate it so much. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right. It's the Democrats turn, their convention is two days away now, and this happens as Hillary Clinton prepares to formally introduce Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her running mate. But is the party united behind this newly formed ticket? We'll talk about it next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:21:00]

BLACKWELL: All right. The Democratic National Convention starts in, let's say about 48 hours or so. Quite the list of speakers at the convention. Take a look at the screen, President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Biden, Senator Bernie Sanders, the Clintons, you see there, Chelsea Clinton as well.

One of the scheduled speakers during the Democratic Convention is Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. At one point reports circulating he will be part of the president's second administration. He's now a loyal Hillary Clinton supporter. Mr. Mayor, good to have you back.

MAYOR KASIM REED (D), ATLANTA: I'm glad to be with you. Good morning.

BLACKWELL: Good morning to you. We're going to start with Tim Kaine because that's the big story. We'll get to your message there in a moment. When Hillary Clinton was asked by Charlie Rose earlier this week, if Tim Kaine is a bit boring, her response was, I think we have it to put up, but if not, she said, I love that about him. He's never lost an election. He's a world class mayor, governor, senator, one of the most highly respected senators I know. She didn't answer the boring question. Do you think he's a bit boring?

REED: Well, you know, in this time, boring is the new black.

BLACKWELL: OK.

REED: So I think given where we are in all this going on in the world and everything that you just reported about this morning, it's good to have a steady hand in someone with proven achievement and a long track record.

You talked about the historical nature of his vice presidency and the only person that has been a governor, mayor and United States senator, and everybody I have talked to is absolutely thrilled, Victor.

We feel good about the pick. What is most important is Secretary Clinton feels terrific about the pick. So we're going to go with steady, capable and able versus what you saw on the other side last week. We think that's a good opportunity.

BLACKWELL: You say that everybody that you have spoken with is happy about this pick. But maybe -- may be you -- are you happy about the pick?

REED: I'm thrilled. Couldn't be happier.

BLACKWELL: So maybe you haven't spoken with the head of Democracy for America, Charles Chamber and here's what he said, "Making Senator Tim Kaine our vice presidential candidate could be potentially disastrous for our efforts to defeat Donald Trump in the fall," citing his previous support for fast tracking the Transpacific Partnership.

And in this election where trade agreements have move to near the front of the line, what do you think about that characterization?

REED: What more on what matters is where Secretary Clinton stands. I don't think that you can possibly hold any person with as long a career as Senator Kaine has had responsible for every single vote.

It's also really important to understand that President Obama -- President Obama really wanted that fast-track authority and he has a very strong relationship with Senator Kaine.

So there are some positions you just have to stand on. But this is what I have to say, Victor, I would much rather be Secretary Clinton than a Donald Trump.

If you look at the electoral college map where this campaign is going to be won, Donald Trump today sits around 160, 170. Secretary Clinton sits around 238, 242.

And the fact of the matter is, we believe that Senator Kaine gives us a very strong opportunity to absolutely hold Virginia, which really does put us in a much stronger position than our Republican friends to win the presidency. And at tend of the day that's what this is all about, winning the presidency.

BLACKWELL: What's your message for the delegates next week?

REED: Our message for the delegates is we are going to select diversity over division. We have seen what a party and what a convention is focused on division. I call it the death star convention.

And we are going to have a convention next week that really embraces diversity and inclusion. We are going to have a big, bold, beautiful view of America. We're going to be hopeful, but we're also going to back up our rhetoric with concrete plans that have given the support of the American people that can really move this country in the right direction. BLACKWELL: You talk about divisions and you called it the death star convention, I imagine you're talking about the RNC, but there are some divisions likely at the Democrats convention coming up next week and will be fueled by the release of these 20,000 e-mails from Wikileaks.

[08:25:05]Now it's important to say CNN cannot independently authenticate these e-mails, but they seemed to show that DNC staffers trying to undercut and undermine Senator Sanders. What is your concern that we are going to see at the DNC what we saw on the first night of the RNC, trying to undermine, embarrass, the secretary?

REED: My sense is that won't happen during our convention. The fact of the matter, Victor, is the truth takes time. All of the WikiLeaks information is new. I haven't had a chance to do a deep dive on it. I don't think anyone has.

So we're going to look at it. If there's an issue, I think that we will address it, but I don't believe that it will damage this week's convention because I believe that Senator Sanders understands more than anyone how important it is to defeat all of what we saw last week.

BLACKWELL: Well, what do you feel, what do you think when you see as reported that there were members inside the DNC trying to undermine the senator based on religion?

REED: Here's what I see. I believe that the truth takes time and that we need to get to the bottom of this. I think it's far too early to take a position until we know who was involved, what happened, and what is real and what is not real.

So I think this is serious. I take it seriously. But I don't believe in making a rush judgment about important issues right now. And I take other people's characters very seriously. So we'll look at it.

And if it turns out that someone was involved in appropriate behavior, we will act decisively. But folks need to remember that the truth takes time. And typically when you have Wikileaks dumps, there's a motive behind it to the extent that there's a motive behind it, we can't let that motive prevail and end up with a President Trump.

BLACKWELL: Yes, the timing may not be a coincidence. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, thank you so much for being with us.

REED: Thank you for having me, Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right, Christi.

PAUL: You know, the security is already on high in Philly as well at the Democratic National Convention. Miguel Marquez is following that story. Good morning, Miguel.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christi. Security is certainly going to be big. Marches, rallies, protests, in a city locking down already. We'll have all of that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:31:32] BLACKWELL: Pushing forward on the breaking news now, we have new details about the devastating explosion in Kabul. This is new video showing the immediate aftermath of the blast near Kabul University. That's where it happened.

Afghan officials now say at least 31 people are confirmed dead. More than 160 wounded. Now you know after these types of events, these numbers fluctuate. Those are the first numbers in, 31 dead. More than 160 wounded.

The Taliban immediately denied responsibility and ISIS has just claimed responsibility for the explosion through its media wing. An eyewitness said she saw really a horrifying scene describing many people lying in blood across the ground all around here.

Now this explosion tore through a large peaceful demonstration of people calling for an expansion of electrical power into western province.

You know CNN will continue to bring you new information as we get it throughout the morning, but the headline here now, 31 people dead, more than 160 injured.

PAUL: Of course, we are just a couple days away from the Democratic National Convention. It's all hands on deck at this point. The Democratic Party working to promote Hillary Clinton as the most qualified person for president even mimicking her campaign slogan stronger together.

The delegates are expected to officially nominate her for president, but with such a high profile list of speakers at the convention, security is expected to be very tight.

Authorities are on, as I said, high alert after what we have been seeing in the recent mass shootings, the worldwide terrorist attack in Kabul that we are looking at this morning as well.

So officers are expecting thousands of protesters in addition to all of the people who will be there, we should point. One of the people, Miguel Marquez, is live for us in Philadelphia.

Miguel, I know you that have been kind of scoping out how things are looking. What can you tell us about what is happening there now just two days prior to this event kicking off?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is clearly ramping up in a very, very big way. They are expecting up to 50,000 protesters a day throughout the city of Philadelphia and different areas as well.

The big question for them, delegates and demonstrators, how do you protect both? How do you make sure that both can have their say that cacophony of democracy moving now from Cleveland to Philadelphia?

I can tell you we got chased out of this area because they are already locking it down, but over there beyond that freeway is the venue where the delegates will gather, thousands of them. Keeping them safe will be one of the big issues.

And then way over here across Broad Street here all the way to FDR Park, which is right up there that is where the demonstrators, the bulk of the demonstrators will be.

But coming up this way, you would end up into downtown Philadelphia, the historic part, where the Declaration of Independence was signed. And you are going to have many groups chanting, wanting revolution and dependence much like the city experienced many years ago.

The city has 6,000 police officers of its own, but it will put on this. There are thousands of other law enforcement officials including fire that are staging around the city.

This will give you an example of the amount of security here. That's I-95, a very, very major thoroughfare here. Any vehicle over 5 tons is pretty much an RV and up will be banned during the DNC. Back to you guys.

PAUL: All righty. Miguel Marquez, appreciate it. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right, as we know, everything kicks off on Monday there in Philadelphia and of course, CNN will bring you wall-to-wall coverage. Joining me now for a peek at what's ahead, Leah Daughtry, CEO of the Democratic National Convention Committee. Leah, good morning to you.

REVEREND LEAH D. DAUGHTRY, CEO, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION COMMITTEE: Good morning.

BLACKWELL: All right, so you watched the Republican National Convention last week, I assume, how will this compare and contrast to what we saw last week in Cleveland or this week in Cleveland?

DAUGHTRY: Well, we're excited about what we have planned here in Philadelphia. You will see a stark contrast, everything from the delegates, we've got more diversity in one of our delegations than the Republicans had in the whole convention.

But beyond that, you will see a party that is unified, fired up, and ready to go. All of our Democratic leadership will be here, our former living president will be here on site. The party's leadership, everyone united behind Hillary Clinton.

[08:05:07]We are prepared and we are ready for November to make her the first woman president and to give our country the leadership that will move it forward.

BLACKWELL: So you talked about the speakers and we've previewed a few of those. We know the RNC, Donald Trump's family, his children, his wife, they served as character witnesses, even some of his friends were employed for that, but both have shown consistently that Secretary Clinton still has a problem with the majority of voters who view her as dishonest, untrustworthy. I want to put up these numbers from the latest CNN poll. Two of the results really jumped out of me. The question was first, is she sincere in what she says? Forty one percent yes, 59 percent no.

And then the question of, is she running for the good of the country not for personal gain? Forty five percent say yes, 54 percent say no. So how will she employ her family, those speakers to turn those numbers around?

DAUGHTRY: Well, Secretary Clinton will, of course, have her family present, but also a wide swath of the Democratic family. Whether they are elected officials or regular everyday Americans who believe in her leadership and who believe that she is the best person to move our country forward.

We are confident in her. Obviously, she's won this nomination by every measure imaginable, whether it is by votes, by delegates or by states. She's won head and shoulders millions of voters who have shown up and turned out the vote for her.

So we are confident in her leadership and we are confident when it's a head-to-head match-up with Donald Trump in November, we will be successful and we will have the president that we need to move our country forward.

BLACKWELL: I want to ask you the question that I asked Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed just a few moments ago and get the answer from your perspective. We saw the release of these 20,000 e-mails from Wikileaks, from the DNC, of course, CNN can't verify the authenticity of those e-mails.

But they suggest that DNC employees had bought it in many ways to undercut and undermine Senator Sanders during the primary. In one exchange trying to do that by creating some divisions based on religion. What do you expect that impact will be once we get to Philadelphia?

DAUGHTRY: You know, I have not seen the content of the e-mails myself. But in my opinion, we have spent far too much time in this election cycle discussing e-mails and the content of e-mails.

I think what is important is what the message is from the party, from what we're saying now and what we're saying in public and private about how we intend to move our country forward. So, you know --

BLACKWELL: But with all due respect, let me jump in here if I can, the idea that we have heard, of course, from the Sanders campaign is that the DNC had a finger on this scale to try to help Secretary Clinton. And now you see these e-mails, does this not give credence to their argument? Does this not validate their concerns?

DAUGHTRY: Well, as you said, you know, you have not verified the authenticity of the e-mails. I have not seen them myself and I would not second-guess without having done all the investigation, what the intent or context was of the various e-mails. I know because I have been the chief of staff at the Democratic Party for both Terry McCauliff (ph) and Howard Dean (ph) that we operate in the outmost integrity to ensure that the process is fair to all of the candidates who are running.

And I expect and believe that was the case this time. I have seen nothing in my interactions with the DNC that would suggest that the DNC had any finger on the scale for anybody, but really just tried to run a process that was fair and unique.

I will say from my experience that when you're running a presidential process, no candidate is happy with you. All sides complain and if both candidates are unhappy and both sides are complaining about perceived slight, then you have done a good job.

BLACKWELL: Yes, we get that from our end, too. Reverend Leah Daughtry, thank you so much. I didn't say it in the introduction, but I wanted to make sure that I said Reverend Daughtry, CEO of the Democratic National Convention Committee. Thanks so much.

DAUGHTRY: Thank you. We'll see you next week.

BLACKWELL: All right.

PAUL: Still to come, the mystery of MH-370 may have gotten more murky now. An article in "New York Magazine" details what the FBI allegedly found on the pilot's home computer. Matt Rivers is in Beijing with more for us.

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Big questions after this magazine published this article claiming that the pilot of MH-370 flew a simulated flight path that closely resembles the suspected flight path of MH-370 itself. We'll have more details on that from Beijing coming up.

PAUL: But listen, if you run out of beer, wine, appetizers at your next dinner party, you don't have to worry about it, at least not in Chicago.

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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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LAVITOLA: There's a live delivery service out there to bring you delivery service or bring you your grocery shopping, but we want to fill in the other situations. It's Friday night, you're having a dinner party and you run out some great wine and cheese. We'll get that to you really fast.

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LAVITOLA: I don't have to go to the store and spend 20 minutes trying to find something that's really good especially in Chicago where it gets cold in the winter. I have a delivery service which can get me everything that I need to get me through the day.

What customers like about us is we essentially put all their favorite things in one store, in one app, and get it to them really, really fast.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: More than two years after MH-370 vanished on a routine flight to Beijing. "New York Magazine" reports the FBI found a flight simulation on the lead pilot's home computer that closely matched the presumed flight path of that Boeing 777.

PAUL: CNN's Matt Rivers is in Beijing for us -- Matt.

[08:45:11]MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, guys, this "New York Magazine" report really throws another interesting twist into this investigation. This report citing a document that the magazine said they obtained previously unseen document that details part of this investigation from the Malaysian investigators.

Now they say that there were hard drives attached to this in-home flight simulator, those hard drives were passed over to the FBI, again according to the article, the FBI was able to find sever deleted data points that when put together appeared to show that the pilot flew a simulated flight on that simulator that closely resembled the suspected flight path of MH-370.

And furthermore, this happened apparently, again, according to this article, no more than one month before this plane disappeared. Now, CNN cannot independently verify the authenticity of this document, but as you might imagine, this really throws another wrinkle in this investigation. And certainly puts more questions surrounding the pilot in terms of his involvement in this disappearance.

PAUL: All righty, Matt Rivers, thank you.

BLACKWELL: Trump revives a debunked conspiracy theory involving the death of JFK and the father of Senator Ted Cruz, why? We'll talk about that next.

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[08:50:03]

BLACKWELL: Donald Trump returns to the campaign trail on Monday, but in his first comments after accepting the Republican nomination, Trump did not attack Democrat Hillary Clinton. Instead, he went after GOP Senator Ted Cruz reviving these unsubstantiated claims that Cruz's father was somehow involve in the JFK assassination. Watch this.

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DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: His point out the fact that on the cover of the "National Inquirer" there's a picture of him and crazy Lee Harvey Oswald having breakfast. Ted never denied that it was his father. Instead he said Donald Trump, I had nothing to do with it.

This was a magazine that frankly in many respects should be very respected. They got O.J. They got Edwards. They got this. If it was "The New York Times," they would have gotten Pulitzer Prizes for their reporting.

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BLACKWELL: I wonder what is going through Mike Pence's mind as he stands there and watches that. Let's bring in our panel this morning. One of the Georgia State delegates in the RNC, Ashley Bell, and Tea Party activist, Simone Perry. Good to have both of you back.

SIMONE PERRY, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you. Good to be back.

BLACKWELL: Ashley, what was the point of that?

ASHLEY BELL, GEORGIA RNC CONVENTION DELEGATE: You know, you can't beat it. Ted Cruz made a mistake by not endorsing Donald Trump and Donald Trump wants to make him pay for it. I think Ted Cruz's career running for president is done either way.

BLACKWELL: But he has his opponent now. He has Hillary Clinton. He's now the nominee. Why is he still fighting the primary fights?

BELL: Look, I wish we had a teleprompter at every event Donald Trump was having, but apparently that's not in the budget. But we'll get one and I hope he stays on it for the rest of the cycle.

BLACKWELL: Simone, speaking of teleprompters, you know, I went back to read every speech of the last 20, 30 years from acceptances at the RNC. Everyone mentioned the father of Republican orthodoxy, Ronald Reagan, except for Donald Trump.

PERRY: That's true.

BLACKWELL: And I wonder why. I want you to listen to Reagan's inaugural in '81 and then we'll talk about Donald Trump.

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FORMER PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN: It is time to check and reverse the growth of government, which shows signs of having grown beyond the consent of the governed. In this present crisis government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem.

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BLACKWELL: Government is not the solution, government is the problem. Empowering the states, empowering the people. Here's Donald Trump on Thursday night.

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TRUMP: I have made billions of dollars in business-making deals. Now I'm going to make our country rich again. When I take the oath of office next year, I will restore law and order to our country. Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it.

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BLACKWELL: I alone can fix it. Empowering the office. Empowering the federal government. Is the small government GOP dead?

PERRY: I do not believe it's dead and I think that unfortunately in his beginning sentence when he said I humbly accept the nomination, everything that followed that just proves how the lack of humility that Donald Trump has.

I think the reality is that he failed to unite the party during that convention and that was ideally the outcome. The outcome was that Never Trump would begin to die out, the conservatives would begin to fall in line and the pressure to fall in line has been mounting since Ted Cruz's campaign suspension.

This was kind of a prime opportunity not only to pay homage to former candidates and opponents but also to the founders of the movement, the founders of the party, and he was not able to do that.

BELL: I think that is taken out of context when he says I alone can fix it. He means between him and Hillary Clinton, who is the candidate not beholden to the system? Hillary Clinton has time and time again chosen cronyism over the best interest of the government.

Look at the guy she appointed to securities when she was secretary of state. He was a securities lawyer. He knew about security in that regard, but nothing about nukes and bombs. He's the only candidate who Bernie Sanders supporters can even say is not a part of the --

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you this next question in this context, when you go back and read that speech and I go back and read the Reagan inaugural. Reagan's inaugural was all about empowering the people. We give the federal government all of its power.

Donald Trump in his acceptance speech said I can do it. Put me there and I can fix your problems. Now with that preface, when you were here last, you were supporting the nominee. You weren't enthusiastic about it or endorsing. After the convention, have you changed your mind? Are you now enthusiastically supporting Donald Trump?

BELL: I'm enthusiastically wanting a change in Washington like everyone else. When you look at Ronald Reagan's statement when he said government is the problem, well, why send someone back to Washington like the Clintons who spent 75 percent of their time getting a payroll check as a government employee?

BLACKWELL: But this is the "anybody but Clinton" argument and Trump happens to be the "anybody," are you supporting Donald Trump?

BELL: I have 99 reasons not to support Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump doesn't have to be either party. Hillary Clinton is the worst possible option for freedom in this country for people who believe in free markets.

BLACKWELL: OK, back to you, Tim Kaine, does he change the dynamics of this race?

PERRY: I think he significantly changes the dynamic. I think that he was a safe good pick for Hillary Clinton, but I also think that you could say the same of Pence for Trump.

The thing about Trump that I would love to see for the next couple of months is that conservatives and Republicans were not always two separate groups. Now in political dialogue we talk about them separately.

He is -- anybody laughable if they are suggesting that Donald Trump can carry this nomination without conservatives. I would like to see in the next few months him rally that base and speak to the constitution, speak to individual liberty, throw out the talk of opening up libel laws or eminent domain or anything that would even suggest that he is not liberty minded because of specifically what you said.

You know, there's a reason why his son had so much more applause because he spoke to conservative principles and he spoke about liberty. If we can't get him on that same page, he's never going to appeal to that base and I think that he's showing that he knows that he needs to by continuing to go after Ted Cruz long after he's dropped out.

BLACKWELL: We have to wrap it there, but it's safe to say you have not decided to vote for him or not?

PERRY: I will not be voting for Donald Trump.

BLACKWELL: You've decided that?

PERRY: I have.

BLACKWELL: And you will be?

BELL: I will be voting for Republican nominee Donald J. Trump.

BLACKWELL: All right, Ashley Bell, Simone Perry, alway good to have you here.

PERRY: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right, Christi. PAUL: All righty, that does it for us here. We are going to see you back here at 10:00 Eastern for an hour of "NEWSROOM". Right now, we'll hand you over to one Mr. Michael Smerconish. Stay close.

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