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CNN NEWSROOM

New Numbers Show the Economy is Improving; Jake Tapper Fact- Checks Hillary Clinton's Interview Statement; Obama tells Glamour Magazine He is a Proud Feminist; New Efforts Being Conducted to Increase Awareness, Decrease Instances Of Distracted Driving. Aired 10:30-11:00a ET

Aired August 5, 2016 - 10:30   ET

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


[10:30:00] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN HOST: And good morning, I'm Carol Costello, thanks so much for joining me. The DOW in positive territory this morning. This after a really good jobs report from -- for July from the Labor Department. Christine Romans is here, as usual, to break down the numbers for us. Good morning.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. A couple of strong months now. When you look at June and July you can see strong job creation. The strongest job creation of the year. And in fact -- there you go -- 255,000 net new jobs created.

The unemployment rate of 4.9 percent -- you know, Carol, it would have gone down, here's why it didn't. People came out of the side -- off the sidelines and started looking for work again. So you've heard a lot of talk about these people left behind? Some of those people are starting to come back and trying to get jobs.

When I look at the industries, I see jobs in healthcare, a lot of health care jobs. Also office jobs, jobs that pay a little more. A lot of computer technicians, technical jobs, management, engineering. Those are the kinds of jobs we're seeing.

We are seeing an awful lot of leisure and hospitality jobs. Those are tending to pay a little bit more now because the states have been raising their minimum wages. And some of these retail chains have been raising minimum wages. So that's what we see there.

Also for wages overall, 2.6 percent wage growth. That's important, a little bit of wage growth is something we want to continue to see. We'd like to see a lot more than that, right? But wage growth is something that's important here.

COSTELLO: So put it in perspective for us. Pre-2008 everybody thought we were doing pretty good. How does the economy today compare with then?

ROMANS: You know, 2007, 2008, 2009 was a catastrophe -- it was a catastrophe in the economy. Now we are starting to create jobs, millions of jobs actually. About 14 million from the very worst point of the recession to now, more than 14 million jobs have been created. What we haven't seen is wage growth. What we haven't seen is a lot of

job creation at the high end. The first part of the recovery was a lot of low-wage jobs. You know a lot of college kids felt like they're coming out of college with a college degree and they were getting bartending jobs or whatever.

But more recently the recovery of the jobs, the new recovery have been for college graduates and for higher skills. So that's what we've been seeing more recently. A broader mix of the kind of jobs we've been seeing. I would like to see more job creation with higher wages, but what we're seeing here is the best job situation for people employed, in years, in years quite frankly.

COSTELLO: So what are the Republicans saying about it?

ROMANS: OK so Donald Trump's campaign already has issued a statement on these economic numbers. Saying the economy, the media, and the Clinton regime portrayed doesn't exist for millions of Americans. And they point out, whole neighborhoods have been out -- offshored and outsourced. And talk about how Donald Trump has his policies to prevent that. The trade deficit is too high, et cetera, et cetera.

Also pointing out the people who are sidelined -- and we've talked about that, the labor force participation rate is something that's been declining over the past, actually, decades. As baby boomers retire, so they're not working because they're retiring. But also people have been kind of pushed out of the market. People have been going back to college trying to -- you know, grad school and the like -- and some people have been left behind.

Some people have left the labor market, Carol, because child care costs are too high. Or to get a job in their field they have to move somewhere and they can't move for family reasons. There are a lot of different reasons why people have fallen out of the labor market.

The question is, if the job market continues to grow like this, will those people decide to try to start coming back in. You know, what companies talk about is the scarcity of workers in some, in some fields. And that's hard to imagine when you're on the campaign trail and you see the fear and anxiety among rustbelt, working-class voters who think there is not opportunity for them, there aren't pay raises for them.

So it really is, I think, still one America, two economies. And in that one economy, the job market numbers show here today, is doing very, very well. The other one is what's driving the Donald Trump campaign.

COSTELLO: All right, Christine Romans, thanks so much.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

[10:35:40]

COSTELLO: Hillary Clinton under fire after repeating a debunked claim that the FBI said she was being truthful when asked about her private email server. In an interview with KUSA about what was in her deleted emails, Clinton said, "it was all personal stuff and we've said that consistently. And as the FBI said, everything that I said publicly has been consistent and truthful with what I've told them." But as Jake Tapper -- Jake Tapper does this fact check -- he says that statement just isn't true.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey everybody, it's Jake Tapper from CNN's State of the Union and factcheck.org. And today we're going to take a look at comments Hillary Clinton made just a few days ago. In which she was confronted with comments she had made on the campaign trail repeatedly. Telling the American people that she had never sent or received any classified material on her private email server.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS WALLACE, ANCHOR, FOX NEWS SUNDAY: After a long investigation, FBI Director, James Comey, said none of those things that you told the American public were true.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Chris, that's not what I heard Director Comey say. And I thank you for giving me the opportunity to, in my view, clarify. Director Comey said that my answers were truthful, and what I've said is consistent with what I have told the American people. That there were decisions discussed and made to classify, retroactively, certain of the emails.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Is that true? Did FBI Director James Comey testify that the repeated comments Hillary Clinton had made to the public about her private email server, "were truthful?" No, that is not true.

According to her campaign aides, what Hillary Clinton was referring to was Director Comey testifying, "we have no basis to conclude she lied to the FBI." But Clinton's comments to the FBI are different from what Chris Wallace was asking about. Which were Clinton's comments to the American people.

Congressman Trey Gowdy had asked Director Comey about a number of the comments Hillary Clinton had made to the American people. And here's how some of that went.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPRESENTATIVE TREY GOWDY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Secretary Clinton said there was nothing marked classified on her emails, either sent or received. Was that true?

JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: That's not true. There were a small number of portion markings on, I think three of the documents ...

GOWDY: Secretary Clinton said, "I did not email any classified material to anyone on my email. There is no classified material." Was that true?

COMEY: No, there was classified material emailed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Here's what we know about Hillary Clinton's emails. More than 2,000 of the 30,490 emails Clinton gave to the State Department in December, 2014, did contain classified information.

Now most of it was classified retroactively but 110 emails in 52 different email chains contained classified information that was classified at the time the emails were sent or received. Three of the emails included classified markings but they were not marked properly.

Here's the bottom line. Although Comey did testify that many of the emails contained information that was classified only retroactively, he did say that some of the emails contained information that was classified at the time.

Hillary Clinton had repeatedly told the public that none of the emails contained information that was classified in any way. A reminder to all you politicians out there, you are perfectly entitled to your own opinions, not to your own facts.

I'm Jake Tapper for CNN's State of the Union, and factcheck.org.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: All Right, coming up next in the Newsroom, why President Obama says he's proud to be a feminist.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:43:35]

COSTELLO: President Obama says he is a feminist and he's proud of it. In an essay published online in Glamour Magazine, he says men need to help fight sexism. He writes in part, "we need to keep changing the attitude that values being confident, competitive, and ambitious in the workplace unless you're a woman. Then you're being too bossy, and the very qualities you thought were necessary for success end up holding you back." He also writes about daughters, Sasha and Malia. He says, "it's important that their dad is a feminist because now that's what they expect of all men."

Glamour Magazine has featured countless articles on the presidential race this year. I talked with Cindy Lee, the Editor in Chief of Glamour, about Hillary Clinton's ground-breaking candidacy and if her gender does matter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Do you really think that part of the reason that some dislike her is because she's female?

CINDY LEE, EDITOR IN CHIEF, GLAMOUR MAGAZINE: I think that's absolutely, I think that's absolutely part of the reason. I don't think it's the only reason. I think that there are also reasons that are particular to her. You know, this is something that has been an issue for her entire political career. But do I think part of it is gender? I mean, absolutely.

COSTELLO: So again ...

LEE: Women who are so ...

COSTELLO: ... Why would they dislike her simply because of her gender?

LEE: ... I don't -- I do not think it is the majority of opinion -- majority opinion. I think it is a very strong undercurrent among particular people who may feel that women's progress has come at the expense of their own. Again, do I think this is the only issue at play? No, definitely not. Hillary Clinton has a very particular and idiosyncratic career that nobody else has had. So it's not just gender, but it's partly gender for sure.

COSTELLO: Remember back in the day that you had to be careful about how you talk with women on the debate stage? And you couldn't really hurl insults at them. That certainly has changed but -- I don't know -- is that a good thing or a bad thing, when all is said and done?

LEE: Well I would never say that nastiness toward a man or a woman is a good thing in our political culture. That's not behavior I would reward my 6th grader for, let alone cast a vote for President on the basis of. And (ph) do I believe that women should be more protected from it than men? No, I think women can take it. I just think, might (ph) for all of us, Republicans and Democrats, would just be more pleasant if we could actually talk to each other like we respect each other.

Because you know, in real life, Republicans, and Democrats, and Independents get along together. They date, they work in the same office, they marry one another. And that's perfectly OK. So I think it's reasonable to expect our politicians to behave with the same level of stability.

COSTELLO: I'm just curious to see what you feel. Is there a real difference between Democratic women and Republican women?

LEE: It -- I mean, I think there are differences between all kinds of women. No, I think the movement in this country is away from people identifying themselves on the basis of "I'm a Democrat," or "I'm a Republican." I mean, there's a reason that the number of young women who consider themselves independent, has grown over the years.

As with everything else, most young women don't want to be put in a box or told by a party how they should vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:46:55] COSTELLO: All right, my thanks to the Glamour Editor in Chief, Cindy Lee. We were in Philadelphia at the Democratic National Convention. And yes, Glamour did set up an oval office so people could take pictures. That was pretty cool.

Still to come in the Newsroom, the dangers of texting while driving. The dramatic links one community is going to -- going through to try to prevent it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:51:10]

COSTELLO: All week long we've been talking about the deadly dangers of driving while distracted. How one text could take your life or someone else's. But are these messages really hitting home? Kelly Wallace explores solutions to distracted driving. Including how one community in Louisiana has a unique take on the subject. By using drama to prevent it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT, EDITOR-AT-LARGE (voice- over): The unthinkable. Parents lay their teenage daughter to rest after a crash in which her friends were drinking and driving, and texting while behind the wheel.

But thankfully this isn't real life. It's a program called "Choices." Every choice comes with a price. Created by the Acadia Parish Sheriff's Office in Louisiana. Nearly 200 high school students participate in a mock crash and act out the consequences afterward.

The video is then shown in high schools throughout the community.

UNKNOWN MAN: They're going to read you your rights. Once they read you your rights, you're like, "OK, what's going on?"

WALLACE (voice-over): It sounds so simple, don't use your phone while driving. Seeing the consequences helps drive the point home.

UNKNOWN WOMAN: Remember, it's a 360 experience so ...

WALLACE (voice-over): In Long Island, New York, another approach to get the message out. Students take a ride on the distracted driving simulator, and see how quickly things can go wrong.

UNKNOWN WOMAN: It may seem like, "oh, I'm just sending a text to my friend, no big deal." The next thing you know, you're swerving into the person next to you.

WALLACE (voice-over): For Matt Boeve, who lost his wife to a distracted driver, and Laura Maurer, who killed a grandfather while glancing at a text, speaking up can save lives.

LAURA MAURER, DISTRACTED DRIVER: It can wait. There -- there's nothing worth it. Nothing that important. And realize that it's our lives on the hand (ph).

MATT BOEVE, WIFE KILLED BY A DISTRACTED DRIVER: Andrea (ph) is always trying to make things better. She's always a fixer, a doer. And this is why I'm doing this. To get the word out that distracted driving is a major offense. It's something that can change lives, and it changed ours.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: Currently 46 states and Washington, D.C. have laws banning texting and driving. And 14 states plus the Nation's Capital make it a crime to ever pick up a handheld device while behind the wheel. But Carol, as we know, enforcement of these laws is always very tough.

COSTELLO: It is very tough. I mean, the police officer has to be ever vigilant, and look in people's cars, and -- do you have any sense about how many tickets police do give out to distracted drivers, or people using their phones when they're driving?

WALLACE: Well you know, we have some sense. These high-visibility campaigns, when they advertise that there're going to be these checkpoints -- you know, sobriety checkpoints -- well these would be texting and driving checkpoints -- there've been some pilot programs in New York and Connecticut. And the understanding is that after these pilot programs, there was about a 30 percent drop in cell phone use, and texting behind the wheel.

So those results are promising. In a way they kind of serve as a deterrent, right? If people know there's going to be this checkpoint, they won't do it. And hopefully they'll continue to think that way when they're behind the wheel.

COSTELLO: I hope so. Kelly Wallace, thanks so much. And by the way, Kelly's special, Driving While Distracted, airs tomorrow afternoon, 2:30 p.m., only on CNN. I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:59:10]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN CO-HOST, "NEW DAY" (voice-over): He escaped maximum security prison. Twice.

UNKNOWN MAN: The vision of Chapo inside his cell, and then disappearing like Harry Houdini, will never be forgotten.

CUOMO (voice-over): He used cash and cleverness to outwit law enforcement again, and again.

CUOMO: Looks like a bathtub, right? Check this out. A signature El Chapo tunnel.

CUOMO (voice-over): A drug lord who loved the limelight.

UNKNOWN MAN: He was sending flirtatious text messages. He'll sue (ph) for practice.

CUOMO (voice-over): And rule the streets.

UNKNOWN MAN: They put more dope on the streets of the United States than any other cartel, by far.

CUOMO (voice-over): "GOT SHORTY: INSIDE THE CHASE FOR EL CHAPO."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Yeah, "GOT SHORTY: INSIDE THE CHASE FOR EL CHAPO" airs Sunday night, 8:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN. So if you need a break from politics, we got you covered this weekend. Thank you so much for joining me today, I'm Carol Costello. "AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan starts now.