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CNN NEWSROOM

Dow Drops At Open; Injuries at Rally in California; Vice Presidential Picks; West Virginia Flooding. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired June 27, 2016 - 09:30   ET

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


[09:30:00] ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You know, they try to keep their eye on what happens in the U.K. and the European Union. You are continuing to see a sell-off here in U.S. stocks because there's uncertainty about how multinational companies will conduct business in the U.K. and the E.U. It's unknown what the rules are going to be. What do companies do over the next couple of years while things get worked out?

So as we hear the opening bell ring, we see the Dow down 93 points. The day is still young. Who knows, though, it could turn positive.

Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It's more -- down more than 93 points now. Is it possible that this is -- you know, the stock market is so hard to read these days. It doesn't react in a logical way sometimes. So -- and the American economy is pretty resilient. So, in the end, could this make no difference at all?

KOSIK: In the end, it very well could. The problem here is that if you look at your 401(k), let's just say the Dow and the S&P 500, all of the gains that those indices made this year so far, they've been wiped out. So when you say it won't make any difference, it would if you're an investor in this market. You're going to see it in your 401(k).

And this uncertainty, I really believe, is going to move the markets in a more volatile fashion in the future. I'm talking until, you know, until investors really get used to the fact that the uncertainty with the U.K. is going to be sticking around. So the trend may wind up being to the downside, only because you're seeing a recalibration, or a repricing of stocks in this new landscape, where the United Kingdom no longer belongs in the European Union, and that is a reality that this market sort of has to come to terms with before you see that trend turn strongly to the upside, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Alison Kosik, I'm going to leave you for just a second and bring in our next guest. It's Ken Rogoff. He's a professor of economics and public policy at Harvard, and a former chief economist for IMF.

Welcome, sir. So as you look at the numbers on Wall Street this morning, what are your concerns?

KEN ROGOFF, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS & PUBLIC POLICY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: Well, I think it's early days to know how this is going to play out. There's domestic uncertainty in the U.K. We don't know who else is going to have a referendum. We really don't know how this is going to play out. I think there's a lot more to come.

COSTELLO: A lot more to come. What do you mean by that?

ROGOFF: I think there will be more surprises to come. This is, I think, the first of what we'll see more populous uprisings, more surprising votes, maybe in France, Germany, Spain. You know, I do think the U.S. economy is very resilient. I do think we have a lot of strength. On the other hand, of course, it hits our multi-national companies.

COSTELLO: Mr. Trump said the roiling economy can actually be a good thing for American companies like, for example, his golf course in Scotland. Is he right about that?

ROGOFF: Well, if the pound goes down, it will be cheaper for tourists to go to his golf course in Scotland. That will help. But, no, this is not helpful. People are looking for the exits in the U.K. There's a lot of uncertainty. I wouldn't want to do this. I think it's actually going to be worse than places like the International Monetary Fund were predicting.

COSTELLO: Many blue collar Britains, they voted to leave the E.U. because immigrants -- they said immigrants were taking their jobs. How will the -- leaving the European Union fix that, do you think?

ROGOFF: Well, we don't know. I mean that was a legitimate question. The U.K. was the most densely populated country in Europe, I mean except for Malta, and people were pouring in. And over the next 30 or 40 years, they were looking at their population going from 65 million, to 80 -- 85 million. Think of trying to stuff another couple million people into New York City. That was a legitimate concern. But on the other hand, I don't know how they're going to negotiate their way back into the trade agreements and block out all the immigrants. But that was legitimate, but this is a very chaotic way to get to that place.

COSTELLO: So when we look at what's happening in Britain -- it's very hard to understand. The prime minister resigned. Some of the parliament have resigned, you know, with -- which is equal to our lawmakers, right? People don't really understand here exactly what's going on. The British government seems in complete chaos. Is it really?

ROGOFF: It is really in complete chaos. Not only is the government in chaos, but the opposition party's kicking out all of their people. There is just complete chaos in England right now. No one knows what's coming next. It's probably going to be another election. And nobody knows what's coming next to the U.K. if it really does exit the European Union. I'm hoping, it's just a thin straw to grasp at, that they decide to have another referendum and reverse this mistake and decision.

COSTELLO: We'll see what happens. Ken Rogoff, thanks for your insight this morning. I appreciate it. [09:34:58] Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a white nationalist group

plans a rally in California and then they're outnumbered by a group of counter protesters. And then major violence breaks out. We'll talk about that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: At least 10 people are injured in California, several of them stabbed after a white supremacist rally turns violent. Watch.

(VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: It was an awful scene. More than 100 police officers moved in to try to stop the fighting. The Traditionalist Worker Party, that's the white nationalist group, planned this rally at the state capital, and then a much larger group of counter protesters showed up.

CNN's Dan Simon live in Sacramento to tell us more.

Hi, Dan.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.

[09:39:49] Well, what a scene you had here at the state capital yesterday. A lot of anger and adrenaline on both sides. On one side, you had this white supremacy group. They had a permit to actually hold this rally here at the capital. On the other side, you had this group of counter protesters.

Well, just as this rally was set to begin, you had the group of counter protesters that numbered in the hundreds. The people on the white supremacy side, about 30 people, also joined by some skinheads. Well, as that group of counter protesters encircled the white supremacist group, all hell broke loose. And what a situation. You had 10 people who suffered stab wounds, two people were taken to the hospital in critical condition. Everyone is expected to survive.

Carol, we should tell you that the leader of this group, and you talked about it, the Traditionalist Worker Party, he said that members of his group came here armed with knives because they received threats on social media. Usually when you have a situation like this, when tempers are flaring on both sides, police do their best to keep the two sides apart. Obviously, that did not happen in this case. Everything is under investigation. We don't know how many people were hurt on both sides, but a total of ten people received stab wounds.

Carol.

COSTELLO: Anybody under arrest?

SIMON: At this point, no, it is all under investigation. You would think at some point police would make some arrests, but they haven't made any thus far, at least in terms of what we know.

COSTELLO: All right, Dan Simon reporting live from Sacramento. As racial issues roil Sacramento, racial issues also front and center

at the BET Awards. "Gray's Anatomy" actor Jesse Williams was given a humanitarian award, and his acceptance speech was passionate. He had a very clear message for those who would criticize movements like Black Lives Matter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSE WILLIAMS, ACTOR: We know that police somehow manage to deescalate, disarm and not kill white people every day. So what's going to happen is we are going to have equal rights and justice in our own country, or we will restructure their function and ours.

If you have a critique for the resistance, for our resistance, then you better have an established record of critique of our oppression. If you have no interest, if you have no interest in equal rights for black people, then do not make suggestions to those who do. Sit down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the candidates vetting, and we're betting why this election veep-stakes could be more important than any other presidential race. We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:46:39] COSTELLO: Both presidential candidates vetting veep picks. And if you ask Donald Trump, he's got no shortage of possibilities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Good. I have a lot of people that want it. I will tell you one thing, I'm getting calls from a lot of people and they want it.

QUESTION: Is it still going to be --

TRUMP: The only people that say they don't want it are the people that were never asked.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But with the billionaire lagging in the polls, is his pick more crucial than ever? With me now to talk about this is Julian Zelizer, historian and professor at Princeton University, and author of "The Fierce Urgency of Now."

Welcome. Thanks for stopping by.

JULIAN ZELIZER, HISTORIAN & PROFESSOR, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: Thank you.

COSTELLO: So, how important is Mr. Trump's VP pick?

ZELIZER: With him, it's pretty important. I mean I think in this day and age we often overplay what a VP pick will do. But given how perilous and unstable his candidacy has been, I think this is going to be pretty significant.

COSTELLO: So what kind of VP does he need?

ZELIZER: Well, he's going to need someone who will help him raise money. I think that's going to be important. He has weak relationships with -- right now with Republican donors. Most importantly, he needs someone who will give confidence to voters that he can govern. And I think that's what he's given hints of thus far, someone from Congress, someone who's been in Congress, somebody who will assure people --

COSTELLO: What about someone with foreign policy credentials?

ZELIZER: Well, that's also important. I think a combination of the two. Someone like Corker, Senator Corker, someone who's been floated for offering both of those values.

COSTELLO: What about Chris Christie? I'm just looking at the names that have been floated. Not necessarily by the Trump campaign.

ZELIZER: Yes.

COSTELLO: But by political analysts. So Chris Christie, Bob Corker, Joni Ernst, Newt Gingrich.

ZELIZER: Yes, I mean, Christie offers loyalty. He is someone who has been loyal since this started and he will be out there attacking. It's unclear what else he offers at this point. And he still has scandal looming around him.

Newt Gingrich is someone who's floated often. I don't know how many current Americans remember who he was. But he has a long resume in Congress. Speaker of the House of Representatives. And he could add a kind of gravitas that so far the campaign lacks.

COSTELLO: But he hasn't been totally, completely supportive of Donald Trump either.

ZELIZER: No. He's made many statements at key points where he has stepped back from the Trump candidacy. He also has a pretty explosive history that will come back on the campaign trail. It would, obviously, be interesting to have Gingrich in a ticket against the Clintons again.

COSTELLO: What about a minority VP pick, because in these two polls that came out late last week, Donald Trump is doing unbelievable poorly among minorities of all times.

ZELIZER: Yes, I mean minorities and women are two areas where he has a huge gap. I'm not sure a VP pick, someone like Governor Martinez, would overcome all the rhetoric that he has used on the campaign trail. I do think a female candidate might be appealing, in part to secure the vote of Republican women, who right now might be pretty lukewarm about their own candidate.

COSTELLO: OK, on the Democratic side, as you know, Hillary Clinton is campaigning with Senator Elizabeth Warren in Cincinnati and some people think that this is sort of a tryout to see how their chemistry is, to see how it goes. Do you think that's what it is?

ZELIZER: Yes, I do think she's thinking about this. It's not a typical Clinton move, meaning she doesn't like to take risks and there is a risk factor with her because of Warren's record to the left, because of having two women on the ticket and seeing how that will play out. But she is exciting. She would make this one of the most dynamic Democratic campaigns in a long time, certainly bringing back some of the excitement of 2008.

[09:50:09] COSTELLO: OK, so Senator Warren, you say, will bring excitement to the campaign.

ZELIZER: Yes.

COSTELLO: Tim Kaine is another choice. He says he's so boring he would be the best candidate. Listen to what he said over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK TODD, NBC HOST: Are these critiques or compliments to you?

SEN. TIM KAINE (D), VIRGINIA: I -- I mean they're -- they're true. I am boring. But --

TODD: OK.

KAINE: But -- but -- but, you know, boring is the fastest growing demographic in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So is boring the fastest growing demographic in this country?

ZELIZER: Well, he does offer two things. He is a safe pick. He won't hurt the campaign, which is probably the number one thing she is concerned about. And he could help with the demographic that the Clinton campaign is thinking about, white males. And so he's a little more than boring. I think he would add a lot to the ticket.

COSTELLO: OK. Well, care to make any predictions?

ZELIZER: No, that's why I'm an historian, I just think about the past.

COSTELLO: Oh, Julian, cop out. Julian Zelizer, thank you so much for stopping by.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, at least 25 are dead as historic floods hit West Virginia. We'll take you there, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:55:26] COSTELLO: Twenty-five people are dead as historic floods hit West Virginia. The president declaring a major disaster in the state. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed. Thousands of homes are still standing, but they're without power. A flood watch is active today. Even more rain is expected to fall.

CNN's Brynn Gingras joins us now from one of the hardest hit areas.

Good morning, Brynn.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning to you.

We're in Greenbrier County, which is the county that saw the most deaths related to these flash floods than any other county in the state. And really, honestly, there's just destruction all around us.

I want to point out this house. Take a look at this, Carol. It's not supposed to be here. Residents say they're not even sure where this house came from. It was pushed by the floodwaters and rested here.

Now, this is just one of many stories as we look around all this devastation, but there are also amazing, incredible stories of survival.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God.

GINGRAS (voice-over): As flames tore through homes submerged in floodwaters, Christian Nahuse felt helpless, hearing his neighbor scream for help.

CHRISTIAN NAHUSE, FLOOD SURVIVOR: I kept hearing, you know, somebody saying "help, help," you know. And I told my dad, I was like, there's somebody behind this house. And I could just see her legs hanging off from this tree here.

GINGRAS: Nahuse and his family were trapped in the attic of his own home, the water rising around them, they went into survival mode, creating a makeshift zip line and sliding across the river to safety.

GINGRAS (on camera): So you guys were standing right in that opening --

NAHUSE: Yes, ma'am.

GINGRAS: And tied a rope over here.

NAHUSE: Yes, ma'am, to this power poll right here. I didn't know what these houses were doing. I knew they were on fire and I knew they were moving down. And I knew that if we didn't get off there, that we had a high risk of death.

GINGRAS (voice-over): It's one of many stories coming from the town of White Silver Springs, a community destroyed by flash flooding. Homes here were ripped off their foundations and twisted, as if a tornado had blown through. Others, charred. This one ignited in flames and floated down the creek. KIMBERLY GREENE, FLOOD SURVIVOR: You know, you try to stay calm as

much as you can because you know you're going to have to save your life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It really brings you to tears, the devastation that we have.

GINGRAS: Canine units continue searching for missing people along the river banks. The historic Greenbrier Resort was set to host the summer's next PGA Tour event. It's now canceled, as debris litters the golf course.

JAMES JUSTICE, GREENBRIER OWNER: You know, when you go out on the golf course here and you're finding people on the golf course, you're finding bodies, the golf course really doesn't matter. I mean, we'll fix the golf course.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GINGRAS: And this is another house that slid off its foundation and split in half. And a quick story about this house. The owner, she's actually expecting a baby girl. She was hoping to bring the baby back to this house. And, obviously, that's not even possible. And, Carol, they were here yesterday, the homeowners. They went into the house and they still had the ultrasound picture. It was dry and it was sitting on the counter. So there are still some memories that are being salvaged here, but, yes, there's a lot of concern about how this is going to be rebuilt, this community.

COSTELLO: All right, Brynn Gingras reporting live from White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)