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CNN NEWSROOM
New Allegations of Hacking into Hillary Clinton's Campaign; Syria and Russia Open Humanitarian Quarters Out of Aleppo; Zika Cases Transmitted in the U.S.; One Week Before the Olympics Kick Off. Aired 2-2:30a ET
Aired July 30, 2016 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[02:00:13] NATLIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hillary Clinton hits the campaign trail amid new allegations of hacking into her campaign.
Syria and Russia open humanitarian quarters out of the besieged city of Aleppo as the U.N. warns of a humanitarian disaster.
And just one week before the Olympics begin, Russian weightlifters are out.
It's all ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM. We're live from Atlanta." Thank you for joining us. I'm Natalie Allen.
As Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton hit the post-convention's campaign trail, there are new questions about whether Russia is trying to interfere in the U.S. presidential election. First, it was the Democratic National Committee being hacked, then the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. And now Hillary Clinton's own campaign targeted by hackers and the common link as Jim Sciutto reports appears to be Russia.
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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Wouldn't it be nice if we actually did get along with Russia?
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump trading compliments with Russian president and U.S. adversary Vladimir Putin.
TRUMP: When people like me, I like them, even Putin.
SCIUTTO: Their relationship now under new scrutiny with U.S. officials now saying it is likely it was Russia that hacked 20,000 e- mails from the Democratic National Committee.
WikiLeaks released the e-mails on the eve of the Democratic Party convention. The timing raising questions about whether it was an attempt to influence the U.S. election, perhaps in Trump's favor.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told us that while it's too early to say with certainty it was Russia, the Kremlin does have an interest in undermining the U.S. political process.
Is it your view that Russia has the intention of -- if not influencing this election, undermining confidence in the U.S. political process?
JAMES CLAPPER, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: They see a U.S. conspiracy behind every Bush. They believed that we are trying to influence political developments in Russia. Their natural response is, is to retaliate.
SCIUTTO: That is a very serious concern for the U.S. government.
CLAPPER: Was this just to stir a trouble or was this ultimately to try to influence an election? And of course this is a serious proposition.
SCIUTTO: When asked for Erin Burnett, Trump's campaign manager discounted the theory that Russia leaked the documents to help put Trump in the White House.
PAUL MANAFORT, TRUMP CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN: It's just observed, because I don't know anything about what you just said. You may know it. If you do, then you are to expose it.
SCIUTTO: In fact, Trump maintains that he has no connection to Russia, whatsoever. And CNN has not been able to find any current business operation there.
TRUMP: I have nothing to do with Putin. I've never spoken to him. I don't know anything about him.
SCIUTTO: But when he brought his Miss Universe pageant to Moscow in 2013 Trump said he spoke personally with Putin.
TRUMP: I was in Russia. I was in Moscow recently and I spoke indirectly and directly with President Putin, who could not have been nicer.
SCIUTTO: And now Trump's favorable comments about Russia has U.S. allies worry about whether the U.S. would defend them against Russian aggression.
CLAPPER: Such rhetoric armory (ph) bothersome to our foreign marketers, our foreign partners and I hear that from my counterparts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: As Jim reported, WikiLeaks published thousands of Democratic Party e-mails that Russian hackers may have accessed. In an interview with CNN WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange indicated more material pertaining to the U.S election could be released.
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JULIAN ASSANGE, WIKILEAKS FOUNDER: There has been multiple hacks of the DNC over the last two years. The DNC and the RNC, of course, they have been Swiss cheese in terms of their security. And the DNC has been notified quite some time ago if that is the case. And it has legal responsibilities that it must carry out to notify its donors if it is aware, but their confidentiality has been breached by a hack.
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ALLEN: Assange refused to confirm if Russia is behind the DNC hacking.
But, as we mentioned that Clinton set off with her running mate on a 3-day bus tour through Pennsylvania and Ohio. Their plan is to showcase their ticket economic policies and target Republican leaning areas. Brianna Keilar is on the campaign trail.
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HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I don't know about you, but I stayed up really late last night. It was just hard to go to sleep.
[02:05:03] BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: After making her pitch to the nation, Hillary Clinton now has to sell it aggressively until Election Day.
CLINTON: If you listened really closely to the Republican convention, you know that Donald Trump talked for 75 minutes and did not offer one solution. In fact, his speech, his whole convention seemed more about insulting me instead of helping the American people.
KEILAR: She and running mate Tim Kaine are starting with a bus tour. From Philadelphia into western Pennsylvania and Ohio, as she struggles to appeal to white, blue collar workers.
CLINTON: And I'm also going to pay special attention to those parts of our country that have been left out and left behind from our inner cities to our small towns, from Indian country to coal country.
KEILAR: 24 years after her husband took an upbeat thousand miles bus tour through Appalachian and the Midwest. She's seeking to build momentum coming out of this week's convention.
CLINTON: I accept your nomination for president of the United States.
KEILAR: With Clinton making history.
CLINTON: Standing here as my mother's daughter and my daughter's mother, I'm so happy this day has come. I'm happy for grandmothers and little girls and everyone in between.
KEILAR: And trying to convince voters she is the steady and safe alternative to Donald Trump.
CLINTON: Imagine, if you dare imagine, imagine him in the oval office facing a real crisis. A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.
KEILAR: It was at times an unconventional Democratic convention with appeals to GOP values.
DOUG ELMETS, FORMER REAGAN ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I worked for Ronald Reagan. Donald Trump, you are no Ronald Reagan.
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ALLEN: Trump says he is not going to be the nice guy anymore. He told supporters on Friday, he's going to get tough with Hillary Clinton. Here's Jason Carroll.
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TRUMP: Just remember this, Trump is going to be no more Mr. Nice guy.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump on offense taking aim at Hillary Clinton on the heels of this week's Democratic National Convention.
TRUMP: I've been saying let's just beat her on November 8th, but you know what, well, no. You know what, I'm starting to agree with you, I'll tell you. After watching that performance last night, such lies. I don't have to be so nice anymore. I'm taking the gloves off, right?
CARROLL: Trump is also ignoring the advice of a friend who he says told him to stay focused on Clinton.
TRUMP: I was going to hit one guy in particular, a very little guy. I was going to hit this guy so hard. His head would spin. He wouldn't know what the hell happened.
CARROLL: Trump going after former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg who delivered a scathing attack against Trump at the convention.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, FORMER MAYOR NEW YORK CITY: Trump says he wants to run the nation like he's running his business. God help us. I'm a New Yorker and I know a con when I see one.
CAROLL: Trump tweeting this response, "If Michael Bloomberg ran again for mayor of New York he wouldn't get 10 percent of the vote. They would run him out of town." Trump's prolific tweeting not lost on Clinton.
CLINTON: A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.
CAROLL: Trump firing back.
TRUMP: If somebody tweets, I do what I do. Who cares? I think -- I'll tell you, I think I have the best temperament or certainly one of the best temperaments of anybody that's ever run for the office of president, ever, because I have a winning temperament.
CARROLL: The GOP nominee as he has done so many times in the past calling Clinton several names on Twitter. All this while his running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, took issue with name calling after the president referred to Trump as a home-grown demagogue, during his speech Wednesday night.
MIKE PENCE, U.S. REPUBLICAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I don't think name calling has any place in public life, and I thought that was unfortunate that the president of the United States would use a term like that, let alone laced into sentence like that.
CARROLL: That is event here in Colorado Springs. Trump attacked everyone from the local fire marshal to New York City's former mayor. The question is will those types of attacks work in terms of bringing in others into the campaign bringing in other supporters that certainly works with his base supporters. Will it bring in moderates? Will it bring in independents? That still remains to be seen.
[02:10:05] Jason CAROLL, CNN, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
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ALLEN: In other news we're following now, French Prime Minister Manual Valls calls the church attack in Normandy a security failure. He told Lemont newspaper, the French justice system should have been able to prevent it. Authorities were familiar with both the attackers, who killed a priest and called one of them attempting to fly to Syria.
The Syrian city of Idlib -- in the Syrian city of Idlib, the Save the Children groups says the bombing of a maternity hospital that it supports is shameful and illegal. Two people were killed, several injured and including pregnant women and baby. It's the only maternity hospital in the city and it serves more than 1,000 women per month. It's unclear who bombed it.
Humanitarian concerns in Syria are widespread to the northeast of Idlib taking full control of the city of Aleppo would be a significant victory for the Syrian government, and the U.S. says it's skeptical. Humanitarian corridors there would not be used as a way to empty the city.
For more, here's Senior International Correspondent Clarissa Ward.
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CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is what remains of much of Aleppo, once Syria's most populous city now an apocalyptic moon escape.
This video was released by the Syrian army as it celebrates cutting off rebel forces in the eastern part of the city.
Leaflets had been dropped on the besieged areas warning residents to leave. Syria's President Assad says he will offer amnesty to armed rebels who surrender.
Russia claims humanitarian corridors will be opened. But after months of relentless bombardment, many are too afraid to leave their homes, and recent history has taught people here to be highly suspicious of government promises. JOHN KIRBY, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: What needs to happen is that the innocent people of Aleppo should be able to stay in their homes safely and to receive the humanitarian access which Russia and the regime have agreed, in principle have agreed, certainly according to the U.N Security Council resolution to provide.
WARD: We made the drive into rebel-held Aleppo just a few months ago. Burns of earth (ph) flank the road to protect the way from enemy fire.
We now have to drive extremely quickly along this portion of the road because on one side you have the regime, and on the other side you have Kurdish fighters who are now fighting against rebel forces. And there are snipers all around here, but this is the only road to get into Aleppo.
That road is now completely cut off, leaving some 300,000 people trapped. The U.N. paints a grim picture of life inside, prices are up as much as 300 percent. Food will run out within weeks.
STAFFAN DE MISTURA, U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR SYRIA: The clock is ticking for the Aleppo population that the commodities probably available in eastern Aleppo are sufficient for maximum three weeks.
WARD: For most here, the memory of the siege of homes is freshened their minds. Government forces cut off all food and supplies as they continue to bombard the city for years. A siege in Aleppo would likely be even longer and uglier, though it's hard to imagine how much uglier it can get.
Clarissa Ward, CNN, London.
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ALLEN: In Nigeria, the U.N. has suspended humanitarian aid missions in the northeastern state of Borno after a humanitarian convoy was ambushed. This is a lawless area where Boko Haram operates. Five people were injured after food trucks came under fire from Boko Haram. Doctors without borders said the region is on the verge of famine.
A new challenge for U.S. health officials, four people in Florida diagnosed with Zika. And the new cases don't appear to be travel- related. That's coming up here.
Also more athletes from Russia get the boot from the Olympics.
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[02:16:33] ALLEN: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. Mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus are apparently now in the continental U.S. Federal health officials say four people have transmitted the disease locally in Florida.
CNN's Polo Sandoval has more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Health officials had expected this for months. This is not come as a surprise. They believed that it was a matter of time before Zika-carrying mosquitoes would infect people within the continental United States. Well now, three men and one woman in South Florida believed to be the first cases of this kind.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believe that the four patients were infected while in this area in early July, it's commonly known as the Wynwood Art District, a neighborhood not only residential but it's also a very popular retail and also dining district just north of down town Miami. It also draws in people from across the region.
And not all type of mosquitoes don't necessarily travel very far during their lifetime span, so the current preventative efforts right now are focused squarely on this area, hoping to eradicate any of these possible infected insects.
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ALLEN: Health officials say they expect more cases. Blood collection centers in Florida are now testing all of their blood donations for Zika.
Russian weightlifters will not be competing in Rio. They are the latest Russian athletes to be punished in the wake of doping allegations. The country's track and field athletes have also been banned, and a group of swimmers and rowers were added to what's quickly becoming a long list of Russian athletes accused of cheating.
The Australian Olympic team says about 100 of its athletes and staffs were evacuated from the team building at the Olympic village there in Rio after a fire broke out in the basement. That fire is now under investigation as possible arson.
Shasta Darlington reports from Rio.
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SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One week before the Olympics Games start, and the problems just start letting up. The latest, a small fire in the Olympics village in the basement of the apartments where the Australian team is staying, they were briefly evacuated. Luckily, no one was hurt.
Now on the security front, the officials have announced they've actually had to beef up security around the torch relay after protesters in a small coastal city here in the state of Rio mobbed the relay and actually extinguished one of the torches of the runners. Now, riot police are being incorporated right into the relay to keep it safe from protesters.
Here in the city of Rio, you almost feel like it's already on lock down. There are soldiers on every corner, navy boats off the coast of Copacabana beach where a lot of the hotels are. In total, we're looking at roughly 85,000 soldiers, police and fire fighters on hand to securities games. That's more than twice what we saw in London and yet even in mad (ph) area we've seen problems.
Police are now having to take over screening at the venues because the contractor that was hired didn't itself hire enough staff. Of course the big question at the end of the day is, is enthusiasm growing? And on one hand you do see it. You see people lining up in front of the Olympic rings to take selfies, to take pictures. Unfortunately, that hasn't necessarily translated into ticket sales, where one week away still 21 percent of tickets up for grabs.
Shasta Darlington, CNN, Rio de Janeiro.
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ALLEN: Rio is one of the most breathtaking cities in the word, but one popular way for tourists to see the soaring views will have to shutdown for the Olympics.
[02:20:11] International Correspondent Arwa Damon takes flight.
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MARIO N. NAVARRO, EXPERT PILOT: Well, the hang glider is very popular in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The hang gliding is the best in the world.
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: An expert pilot, Mario N. Navarro (ph), is among the best in the biz here.
NAVARRO: Well demand is about 45,000 a year is lots of flights.
DAMON: Good luck.
(OFF-MIC)
NAVARRO: You'll be all right. OK, you'll be all right.
DAMON: I'll be all right.
NAVARRO: Yeah.
DAMON: OK, so maybe I was a little nervous.
NAVARRO: OK, Arwa, are you ready to run?
DAMON: I'm ready to run.
NAVARRO: I just need confident. Are you ready to run?
DAMON: I'm ready to run.
NAVARRO: OK, 1, 2, go run faster.
DAMON: Oh, this is terrifying spectacular. This is beautiful, the views from up here are unlike anything else and the air is so crisp and fresh. I love it.
NAVARRO: OK?
DAMON: Yeah. And what makes this unique among hang gliding spot is its location, starting up in the forest, flying over a sprawling urban landscape and Rio's stunning coastline. It's one of the best ways to experience the city.
It is a shame that people coming here for the Olympics won't be able to do this.
And that is because the Brazilian government is closing the airspace for the Olympic Games. It's a security measure. They did the same thing for the World Cup. But its big bucks lost for the industry.
Manuel says he understands why the city needs to take these precautions. So if you want to try it out, schedule it in before or after the games. I totally recommend it.
Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
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ALLEN: What a cool assignment for Arwa. The Philippines may soon have another typhoon on its doorstep. We'll have that story with Karen Maginnis, coming up next for you.
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ALLEN: Just headed over to Karen Maginnis who's following the weather for us and trouble in the Philippines. Right now, Karen and I were still thinking about hang gliding over Rio de Janeiro. That was so stunning.
KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLIST: That was stunning. Really, it was really beautiful. How special to be able to see it from that perspective.
ALLEN: Exactly.
MAGINNIS: Yeah. All right, let's take a look at what's happening with what could be typhoon Carina. This is making us way to the north, but we think that the trek will be more towards the west- northwest as we go onto the next 24 hours. What you're looking at is a very poorly defined tropical depression. It is now located about 300, or rather 650 kilometers to the east-southeast of Manila. Here are some of the reports coming out of the Philippines. In some cases, almost 230 millimeters being reported.
[02:25:06] This is really going to be an astounding rain event, but even beyond the Philippines, now we're looking at perhaps a typhoon, as it makes land fall more than likely.
The computer models are saying in a city of about 7 million to 8 million people of Hong Kong as we go into the beginning of a work week. But it's very poorly organized right now, becomes a little better organized because we're going to be over some warmer waters. Its interaction with land will cause it to decrease just a little bit, not a lot. But we're looking at the rainfall totals here where you can see our forecast radar, a substantial rainfall from about Luzon and further to the north.
Now, you'll pick up some pretty substantial winds, but it is that significant rain fall that's going to be the big problem here with mud and landslides. The Philippines see dozens of these systems every year, and this is not going to be an exception. Take a look at this, in this purple and white-shaded area between 250 and 500 millimeters of rainfall is expected. So with that significant rainfall, the mud and landslides, we could see areas that are cut off from one another as some of the infrastructure or maybe villages will be affected.
Here, the forecast wind gusts there you can see. Now, we're looking at something whether winds are going to be a little bit higher on that northeastern edge, but it's going to have to really evolve quite a bit before we start to see any kind of significant evolution with the system. But, as it moves over the Philippines and into the warmer waters of the South China Sea, this is where we're looking at perhaps an increase in just kind of the size, the volume and the intensity.
Then we take you through Tuesday. And there you can see, lying just offshore, Hong Kong. Now, this is not going to be exactly where it's going to make landfall, but right now the computer models are suggesting that yes, it looks like Hong Kong is going to be under the gun as we look into the next four days or so for what could be, now, our typhoon Carina, as it makes its way through the Philippines, the northern Philippines and then across the southeastern coast of China in the vicinity of Hong Kong. Back to you.
ALLEN: All right, Karen, thank you. And that will do it for CNN NEWSROOM. Thank you for watching. I'm Natalie Allen. Our top stories are right after this.
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