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Texas Flooding Kills Five Soldiers, Four Missing; Fewest Jobs Added in Almost Six Years; Trump and Clinton Trade Scathing Accusations; GOP Frets Hispanic Voters May Reject Trump. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired June 3, 2016 - 09:00   ET

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


[09:00:00] CUOMO: You know he had to do this, which should be the last thing in the world anybody ever wants to have.

CAMEROTA: And you could see his reaction. It was.

CUOMO: And he also gets to be with the little girl who would never have been there if it wasn't for him.

CAMEROTA: My gosh. All right. Thanks so much for joining us this week. Have a great weekend.

Time now for "NEWSROOM" with Pamela brown, in for Carol Costello. Hi, Pam.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thank you, guys. I actually covered that story three years ago. Incredible to see that reunion. Thank you so much. Yes, have a great weekend, guys.

CAMEROTA: You, too.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

BROWN: Good morning to you. I'm Pamela Brown, in for Carol Costello. Thank you so much for being here with us on this Friday. And we have some breaking news out of Texas. A press conference to begin any moment now at Fort Hood.

And this is what we know right now. Five soldiers are dead after their truck tipped over in the major flooding. Four are still missing and a massive search is under way.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is at the press conference -- Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Pamela. We are waiting an update here from Fort Hood officials where the search has resumed here in the area for four of those missing soldiers that were lost in a truck that overturned in floodwaters yesterday around midday. So we're approaching almost 24 hours since these soldiers have gone missing. But heavy rains in this area yesterday, Pamela, as the truck that they were driving in, a large military-style truck, kind of like a flatbed truck, if you will, but it was a large truck and able to transport a number of soldiers. Twelve in all that were inside of that truck when it went into a low-

lying area. The truck got stuck and then was overturned in the high- rising and the fast-moving floodwaters there. Three of the 12 soldiers were rescued alive. They are being treated at a hospital here at Fort Hood. As you mentioned, five of the soldiers have been found dead and four are still missing. Now that the sun is up here in central Texas, the search operations have resumed, and we are waiting for officials here at Fort Hood to give us the latest briefing.

The officials are just now starting to walk up to the scene here. And just shortly, they'll begin the latest updates on the efforts to find the four missing soldiers. There have been a number of teams and rescue operations from around the area, not just officials here in Fort Hood, but from the state of Texas, and equipment that has been used and teams that have been used from this area.

Let's listen in now to the commanders here.

MAJ. GEN. JOHN UBERTI, DEPUTY COMMANDER III CORPS AND FORT HOOD: Good morning. Welcome and thanks for being here today. I'm joined by Colonel Todd Fox, the garrison commander from Fort Hood, and Chief Coleman Smith from the Fort Hood Fire Department.

First, I would like to offer my heartfelt condolences to the leadership, soldiers, families, and friends of the (INAUDIBLE) division on the loss of their five soldiers, specifically our thoughts and prayers are with the soldiers' families and friends of the Third Battalion 16th Field Artillery.

As you're well aware, yesterday we suffered a tragic accident where we lost five of our soldiers. Due to the quick action of some other soldiers that were training, we were able to rescue three soldiers who are in stable condition at Carl R. Darnell Army Medical Center and will potentially be released later today.

Our priority has been, since the first report of this incident and continues to be, the search for our four missing teammates. While that remains our priority, Major General Thompson, the commander of the First Calvary Division, and Commander Sergeant Major Jackson -- Command Sergeant Major, and the entire leadership team is focused on making sure we're providing the support and counseling for the families, friends, and soldiers as we work through the notification and grieving process.

I'd also like to thank the many emergency services personnel. Not only Fort Hood Emergency Services, but the state and local community emergency services personnel who have so willingly come forward and have professionally been searching for our soldiers.

And I'd also like to thank the community for their outpouring of support, their thoughts and prayers. They will be needed in the tough days ahead. As you're all aware, this tragedy extends well beyond Fort Hood. And the outpouring of support from around the country is sincerely appreciated.

[09:05:06] As I mentioned, while our priority remains on searching four our missing soldiers, we also are providing support and counseling for the soldiers' families and friends affected by the tragedy. Lieutenant General McFarland and Command Sergeant Major Smith, the commander and command sergeant major of Fort Hood, both of who are deployed to Baghdad, extend their condolences to Major General Thompson and the entire 1st Calvary Division Team.

Again, thank you for being here. And thanks for your support and thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you have any information as to the search?

BROWN: The deputy commander there in Fort Hood, Texas, giving us an update on the latest situation there on the ground. We have learned that five soldiers died because their truck overturned in the floodwaters. Three soldiers are rescued and the search for four continues.

I want to turn now to meteorologist Chad Myers. He is standing by with the conditions that these soldiers were facing when this all happened -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: They were on East Range Road and Owl Creek. A kind of rugged area on the north side of Fort Hood. And rugged is the key here because the rain was to the west of them, on top of what's called a hill country. Hill Country is from San Antonio to Georgetown to Austin and on up a little farther to the north. So the rain fell uphill, to the west of them. Into Owl Creek, which is normally fairly dry. Running all the way down across East Range Road.

And as they tried to drive through it or around it or something happened at that intersection, at that crossing, the vehicles were swept by this water. And the rivers are swollen in Texas. I can prove that to you here. This is the Brazos River here near Sugarland, Texas. We were up a little bit yesterday to Richmond, Texas. In Richmond. And we are seeing water as high as they have ever seen it. In fact some of the river observers that have been there for 50 years said the old record high number was 47. Yesterday, they saw 53. Now what does that mean? That means it's six feet higher than they have ever seen in their life.

Pamela, this is not a boat ramp. This is a road that goes under the bridge here, I-69, on the way into Houston. And cars should be coming up here and merging onto the highway. There's not a car that's going to be here for probably months until this water goes down.

We were in the same similar location yesterday. Waters down about three inches. So how much -- how long is that going to take? Well, if we are 30 feet above flood stage and we're only going down three inches, this is going to take a long time. This water is dangerous, it's dirty, it's polluted because of all the things that have washed into the water and it's going to be dangerous for months to come.

Something else I have noticed today. The bugs are everywhere. Once this water does go down, there's going to be stagnant water pooling around. The mosquitoes and the bugs in parts of Texas are going to be disastrous this summer, if you don't take precautions of that. That's the next step. The step here is that the water is still saturating the ground. When it rains, and it will again today and it will again tomorrow, the water runs off and the water rises back up again. It's just one of those steed back effects. Rain, up, up, down, up, down. It's going to happen for a month at least -- Pamela.

BROWN: My goodness. It's just so hard to believe, looking at your live shot, Chad, that that was a busy road behind you. Thank you so much for bringing us the latest there in Texas.

And meantime, we are following some disappointing news on the economy. 38,000 jobs were added last month. And that's the fewest jobs added in nearly six years and well below the already pessimistic forecast for the month of May.

Christine Romans is following the story. So, Christine, how does the Verizon strike factor into this?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It factors in but doesn't account for all of the weakness. So let's start with the trend here, 38,000 net new jobs, as you correctly point out, the weakest in about six years. That was a surprise for many people who still expected more than 150,000 new jobs in the month.

Look at the unemployment rate, though. 4.7 percent, the unemployment rate. That's the lowest in years, since 2007. That's partly explained by a lot of people leaving the labor market, who just stopped looking for work. So that is of a concern.

Let's look at the job growth overall here. Let's look at the trend. You can see April was also revised lower to just 123,000 jobs. So you see those last four -- four or five months, we're going to want to see if hiring starts to pick up and those bars start moving in the other direction in the summertime.

Here is where you saw jobs gained and lost. Health care, a steady performer. For years, lots of jobs in health care every month across the income spectrum. So health care, a steady performer there.

[09:10:05] Information technology, down 34,000. Entirely because of a Verizon strike. 36,000 Verizon workers striking for six weeks. We've seen it in past, when we see a big strike like that, it depresses the numbers. So that's partly at play here but doesn't account for all of the weakness certainly. And mining, you saw jobs lost in mining again. That is consistent with declines, quite frankly, in commodities market and in the oil market in particular.

Let's talk about that unemployment rate. This is really interesting. On its surface, a beautiful number. 4.7 percent. Look at that trend. You're talking about the lowest unemployment rate since 2007. Dig into it, though, and one of the reasons is because almost 500,000 people left the labor market and some would say -- some economists saying those are people who maybe were trying to find a job and didn't and so have -- they have stopped looking.

Another number we saw on this report, the number of people who were working part-time but want to be working full-time. That increased by about 450,000. Another concerning sign about people not being able to find the job they want at the wages they want.

The labor force participation rate, 62.6 percent. You hear this number all the time on the campaign trail. You hear people say, hey, the economy is not as healthy as it looks, when you have a labor force participation that has been declining like that. The trend overall has been steady job creation, 200,000-plus for months, for years now. The last few months, we'll have to watch and see if this can bounce back in the summertime. Certainly the trend seems to have turned here -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right. We'll keep an eye on that. Christine Romans, thank you so much.

Meantime, the war between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump gets even bloodier. The pair trading their most savage taunts yet. Jail time, distrust, even the specter of nuclear devastation, all part of their latest brawl. Both seeming to go for the knockout, even though the election still remains five months out of reach.

CNN's Phil Mattingly is here with some of their exchanges -- Phil.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Pam. Aggressive, very personal, and advisers on both sides, if you can even believe this, are saying it's only going to escalate from here. Welcome to the general election. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, they're at war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I watched Hillary today. It was pathetic. It was so sad to watch.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Donald Trump coming back swinging.

TRUMP: Lying, crooked Hillary.

MATTINGLY: After Hillary Clinton's scathing foreign policy speech eviscerating the presumptive Republican nominee with her toughest lines yet.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will leave it to the psychiatrists to explain his affection for tyrants.

MATTINGLY: Trump calling for the former secretary of state to be imprisoned over the use of a private e-mail server.

TRUMP: Hillary Clinton has to go to jail, OK. She has to go to jail. She's guilty as hell.

MATTINGLY: The pair trading stinging one-liners.

CLINTON: He says he has foreign policy experience because he ran the Miss Universe Pageant in Russia. The tools Donald Trump brings to the table, bragging, mocking, composing nasty tweets.

TRUMP: To watch her is like Sominex. You ever hear of Sominex? Sleep all night. Bing. It's hard to stay awake.

MATTINGLY: Over the issue of trust.

CLINTON: It's not hard to imagine Donald Trump leading us into a war just because somebody got under his very thin skin.

TRUMP: Crooked Hillary said, oh, Donald Trump, his finger on the button. She's the one that stupidly raised her hand to go into Iraq and destabilize the entire Middle East, OK, because that's what she did.

MATTINGLY: And the question of temperament.

CLINTON: Donald Trump's ideas aren't just different. They are dangerously incoherent. He is not just unprepared. He is temperamentally unfit to hold an office that requires knowledge, stability, and immense responsibility.

TRUMP: My temperament is so much tougher and so much better than her temperament. And by the way, we need a tough temperament.

MATTINGLY: Outside Trump's rally in San Jose, even more tense confrontations. Mostly peaceful protesters, but some going fisticuffs with supporters, throwing eggs, water, and surrounding their cars as they exited. Some anti-Trump demonstrators waving the Mexican flag.

Just hours earlier, Trump claimed District Judge Gonzalo Curiel has a, quote, "absolute conflict," presiding over the civil fraud lawsuits against Trump University. In an interview with the "Wall Street Journal," Trump saying the judge's Mexican heritage is an inherent conflict of interest because he's building a wall.

TRUMP: The judge, who happens to be, we believe, Mexican, which is great.

MATTINGLY: Curiel, an American citizen, was born in Indiana, the son of Mexican immigrants.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: The idea that a judge simply because of his heritage has to recuse himself has never been part of the American system.

[09:15:07] I don't see any explanation for this other than, I'm sorry to say, bigotry.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: And these attacks really underscoring some of the uneasiness that Republican officials, even those that have endorsed and backed Donald Trump feel. Donald Trump did get a new addition to that list yesterday. Paul Ryan, the House speaker who had withheld his endorsement, changed his mind yesterday and officially backed Donald Trump. His aides said there's no concessions, there's no negotiations or even a deal, just that Paul Ryan over a series of phone calls has gotten more comfortable and is now willing to support Trump's candidacy -- Pam. BROWN: And the endorsement coming as Hillary Clinton was giving her

foreign policy speech.

Phil Mattingly, thank you so much for that.

And Trump's attacks on the judge and his Mexican ancestry is the latest blow to his strained relationship with the Hispanic community. Tensions are still high with New Mexico's governor, fellow Republican Susana Martinez. She shunned Trump's rally in Albuquerque and he lit into her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Since 2000, the number of people on food stamps in New Mexico has tripled. We have to get your governor to get going. She's got to do a better job. OK. Hey, maybe I'll run for governor of New Mexico. I'll get this place going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: But in a stunning about-face yesterday, Trump told the "Santa Fe New Mexican," quote, "I'd like to have her support. I respect her. I have always liked her." Martinez telling the same newspaper she is not ready to commit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. SUSANA MARTINEZ (R), NEW MEXICO: He needs to address his plans for us. And New Mexico people deserve to get that answer. He's not addressed it yet. And I will tell you I'm not going to be voting for Hillary Clinton. I'm waiting to hear from him as to addressing the issues facing New Mexico. Once I hear that, we'll see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Well, the Senate top Republican concedes to CNN that Trump may be chasing away millions of voters that he will need in November.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Do you worry at all that your nominee now, Donald Trump, will do to Latino voter what Barry Goldwater did to African-American voters?

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), KENTUCKY: I do. I do. And I think that the attacks that he's routinely engaged in, for example, going after Susana Martinez, the Republican governor of New Mexico, the chairman of the Republican Governors Association, I think was a big mistake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So we have a lot to discuss. Bob Cusack is editor-in-chief of "The Hill," and Jay Newton Small is a Washington correspondent for "TIME" magazine.

Thank you both for coming on on this Friday. Bob, to you first. We just heard Mitch McConnell speak. That was a

pretty stern scolding from him, someone who says that he does support Donald Trump, and it came on the same day that House Speaker Paul Ryan formally backed Trump. Both, though, seem to be sort of lukewarm. In your view, are there already cracks in the party's push to rally behind him?

BOB CUSACK, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, THE HILL: Well, I think Trump has done a good job over the last month in unifying as best he can the Republican Party, but there are cracks. And, Pamela, I think that word is a good one to use, is lukewarm support from the speaker as well as the majority leader.

Remember, Mitch McConnell has a fragile majority in the Senate, 24 Republicans were up, only 10 Democrats. So he is trying to preserve that majority. He has backed Donald Trump, but if Donald Trump is going to win, I think he's going to have to basically get Susana Martinez's support and woo Latino voters. His unfavorable numbers are very high and he's got to change that. He's got to go into general election mode. And he seems at times that he's still in the primary mode. So I think that's a big problem for Donald Trump. And if he doesn't fix it, he's not going to win this thing.

BROWN: So why is that, Jay? I mean, given how important Hispanics are in the election, why do you think he continues to make these offensive comments? I mean, repeatedly bashing Judge Curiel for being biased in the Trump University case simply because he is Mexican even though he was born in Indiana. What kind of impact is this having on Latino voters?

JAY NEWTON SMALL, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, TIME MAGAZINE: It's definitely having a big one. I mean, Judge Curiel is not only somebody who's born in Indiana, but he was appointed by Arnold Schwarzenegger to the California bench, a Republican governor. He was a Justice Department assistant U.S. attorney under George H.W. Bush, a Republican president. And yes, he was appointed to the federal bench by Barack Obama, but he is a very moderate, very respected jurist.

And so to say just on the basis of his ethnicity that he should not be doing his job, that says to every Hispanic American who was born here, who spent generations here, essentially because Donald Trump wants to build a wall with Mexico, even if you're just doing your job and you're just going about your business, you clearly don't support Donald Trump and you clearly don't like him. And so it really does potentially do an enormous amount of damage with Latino voters.

BROWN: So as he's bashing this judge, Bob, he's starting to change his tune when he comes to Susana Martinez, the nation's only Latina governor, after bashing her a couple of weeks ago. Seems as though he's trying to make nice with her, as you pointed out earlier.

[09:20:08] But we've learned that a party executive overseeing the GOP's outreach to Hispanic has resigned over apparent misgivings about Trump.

Long-term, how much damage do you think he has done among Hispanics and the Republican Party as a whole? Or do you think that he could be forgiven if he changes his tune even more?

CUSACK: Well, I don't think he can change some of his policies, especially on building a wall. But I think that he can engage the Latino community and there are indications that he's going to be doing that over the next several weeks-slash-months. But there is damage, there is concern. If you look back to 2012, the Republican National Committee said it needed to do better among Latinos. Mitt Romney didn't really have a strategy in trying to get the Hispanic vote after the primary. He went hard right on immigration, just like Donald Trump did, and it hurt him.

And basically, this week, Pamela, it's been a good week for Hillary Clinton. She had a good speech, I thought, yesterday. We're talking about Trump University and this judge and the criticism going back and forth. And overall, it's been a good week. However, you know, she's got to win, I think, California, otherwise that's going to be a bad week for her next week against Bernie Sanders.

BROWN: Yes. And Bernie Sanders putting up a good fight there in California.

Jay, quickly, last word to you.

SMALL: I think this is really going to terrify people like John McCain who are -- who's up for re-election in the Senate in Arizona. His race is narrowing and he really needs at least some Latino support in order to win Arizona. This could really do damage to down ballot tickets with Donald Trump and the Republicans.

BROWN: All right. Jay Newton Small, Bob Cusack, thank you so much for coming on. We do appreciate it.

And by the way, today on CNN, Donald Trump will sit down with Jake Tapper. It is on "THE LEAD" this afternoon 4:00 Eastern, only on CNN.

And still ahead, Paul Ryan joins Mitch McConnell on the Trump train, but both men have voiced concerns about their presumptive nominee's rhetoric. Could Trump's tough talk at Hillary Clinton an opening with conservatives?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:26:04] BROWN: Well, just over a month ago, House Speaker Paul Ryan said he was, quote, "just not ready to back Donald Trump," but the wait is over. Ryan now endorsing Trump in an op-ed for his hometown paper. And he writes in part, "I feel confident he would help us turn this idea and agenda into laws to help improve people's lives. That's why I'll be voting for him this fall."

Ryan joining his voice with other congressional Republicans who have pledged to support Trump. Among them, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell. But in an interview with CNN McConnell voiced concerns about Trump's rhetoric especially when it targets other Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MCCONNELL: What he ought to be doing now is try to unify the party. And I think attacking people once you have won is a time, if you can, to be gracious and try to bring the party together. So I don't agree with everything Trump says or does. But I do know that we now have a choice. A choice between two very unpopular candidates. Very unpopular.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Here to discuss, Kayleigh McEnany, a Trump supporter, and Hilary Rosen, a Clinton supporter, both a CNN political commentator.

Ladies, thank you for coming on. We do appreciate it.

Kayleigh, I want to start with you. On the heels of what we just heard from Mitch McConnell, does he have a point? Will Trump alienate the Republicans he needs to win if he continues to take shots at others in the party? As he's sort of alluded to there, he's acting more like a primary candidate.

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I mean, most of Donald Trump's criticisms have been reserved for Hillary Clinton. He did take, you know, a swipe at the New Mexico governor, but just -- I believe it was yesterday, he came out and said we'd love to have her endorsement after she kind of insinuated that there's a chance she comes on board.

So, look, I think Trump, the vast majority of his comments are not targeted at Republicans. The party is coming together. Every member of Republican leadership now supports Trump and I think that's the big point.

BROWN: Right. And we're going to talk about what he has said about Hispanics in just a moment. But I want to go to you, Hilary, to get your take on this because now Paul Ryan has endorsed Donald Trump, but he admits they have differences and that Ryan will, quote, "continue to speak his mind if he needs to."

Not exactly a full-throated endorsement. Can Hillary Clinton capitalize on this and possibly sway weary Republicans to her side if she is the nominee?

HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, you know, none of these guys can take any comfort in what Donald Trump says because he insults them one day and you know, then the next day changes his mind. But here's the important point, which is that Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan are hoping for a Republican president to advance a very radical conservative agenda. They want to defund Planned Parenthood, they want to take away, you know, women's access to health care, and they want to undo all of the progress we have made in our clean air and our clean water regulations.

I mean, they need a Republican president to do that. And so of course they're going to get behind the Republican nominee. They don't care who it is. It could be Mickey Mouse. They're just looking for a Republican at the top of the ticket to pass their agenda. And that's what people are going to end up being concerned about. The Supreme Court, the issues, the -- you know, that's what's at stake here, not Donald Trump's personality.

BROWN: And Kayleigh, Mitch McConnell also said that he's worried that Trump's comment about the judge overseeing the Trump University's lawsuit, about New Mexico governor, Susana Martinez, about building a wall, could alienate Latinos. And a new -- a new poll, rather, shows that 74 percent of Latinos have an unfavorable view of Trump. The bottom line is, why does he continue to make these offensive comments towards Latinos?

MCENANY: Well, here's the thing. Republican leader Mitch McConnell does have a point on one of those things. I don't think the wall is necessarily going to alienate Latinos. I don't think that the criticism of the New Mexican governor will. But I do think that the comments about the judge needs to stop, those are not helpful in winning over Hispanics. You know, we heard the jobs report earlier in this hour, though, it's the worst since 2010. I think that's a very positive point for Donald Trump to bring out and to win minorities who are historically victim of liberal policies in the Obama economy.