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CNN NEWSROOM

Clinton Unveils Economic Plan; Aleppo Doctors Beg for Help; Trump Tower Climber. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired August 11, 2016 - 09:30   ET

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


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[09:31:05] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

Breaking news in the retail world and it's not good news, sadly. Macy's says it is closing 100 of its 675 stores. The struggling locations set to disappear by early next year. It is the company's latest effort to adapt to the shifting consumer preferences for online shopping. No word on exactly which locations will be impacted, but Macy's says employees will be offered positions in nearby stores wherever possible.

Hillary Clinton will unveil her big economic plan later today. Much of her message will be about helping the middle class and she will likely needle Donald Trump for keeping his tax returns secret. CNN's Jeff Zeleny is in Warren, Michigan, where Clinton speaks in just a few hours.

Good morning.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Hillary Clinton's economic address here in Macomb County, Michigan, one of the central battleground counties in all of politics, will be a speech in two parts. First, she will say what she will do for the economy. She will renew her call for the biggest investment in job creation she says since World War II. That's largely through infrastructure spending, green energy, other new types of jobs. But it will also be focused on what she believes Donald Trump would do for the economy that would not be good for these working class Americans both of them are trying to reach.

Carol, she'll going to unveil some new language in this speech here in just a couple of hours, including the word "Trump loophole." That is something that you will hear from now until Election Day. Specifically, she is referring to what he is proposing to lower the tax rate for pass-through entities. This is the, you know, sort of a new fad in businesses, where corporations don't pay taxes. He would lower that tax rate that individuals pay on that. Now he would also benefit from a lot of this. So she will use the words "Trump loophole" to talk about that. We'll also talk about how his plans, in her view, are unrealistic, his economic plans.

Carol, this is all designed to try and break the veneer that his success in business would mean success for the American pocketbook for average workers. This is one area she's been trying to work on. Donald Trump has actually been leading in the economy in terms of how voters view the handling of the economy until the conventions, and then we've seen a shift in polling on that. So she is trying to keep that argument alive that Donald Trump is not in if for average American workers, he's in it for himself. So this is her rebuttal, if you will, to his economic speak Monday also in Detroit, Carol. And I would assume that we will hear another rebuttal from Donald Trump to Hillary Clinton's speech here today as well.

Carol.

COSTELLO: OK, so Hillary Clinton is also going to go after Donald Trump on not releasing his tax.

ZELENY: That's right.

COSTELLO: She's going to, what, release her taxes tomorrow?

ZELENY: I am told by an advisor to her campaign that she is likely to release her 2015 taxes as early as tomorrow. As well as Tim Kaine, her running mate, will also be releasing ten years' worth of his taxes.

Now, this is all designed to put more pressure or call out the fact that Donald Trump has just not released his income tax returns. Something every presidential candidate has done going back to Richard Nixon. So we will expect her to talk about her tax returns today, talk about the fact that Donald Trump has not released his returns, and then, finally, to release hers as early as tomorrow.

Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Jeff Zeleny reporting live for us in Warren, Michigan, this morning.

So let's talk about this. Boris Epshteyn is a senior advisor to the Trump campaign and David Madland is senior fellow for the Center for American Action Fund. He's also the author of "Hallowed Out: Why the Economy Doesn't Work Without a Strong Middle Class."

Welcome to both of you.

BORIS EPSHTEYN, SENIOR ADVISER, TRUMP CAMPAIGN:: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: So let's get the tax issue off the table right now.

Good morning, Boris.

Boris, will it work? Will Trump bend and release his taxes since Hillary Clinton may release her 2015 tax return as early as tomorrow?

[09:35:00] EPSHTEYN: That's up to Donald Trump as an individual. He's released 104 pages of a financial disclosure form, which is much more extensive than any tax return. And Hillary Clinton, once again, is trying to obstruct from the real issue. She may be releasing her tax returns, but I'd like to see more of the tax returns from the Clinton Global Initiative that received $1 billion from Gilbert Chagoury, who is that donor who was asking for favors from the State Department and probably got those favors, no matter what people say. So those are the issues the American people want to know about, which is the pay to play scandal that continues to mire the Clintons and has mired them for over 30 years.

COSTELLO: OK. So, again, there's no hard-core evidence there was any -- there was any pay to play involved. Not yet at least.

EPSHTEYN: There was a request for a meeting, and that's improper in its own (INAUDIBLE).

COSTELLO: I just want to make everything clear. I mean the e-mails raise questions, I'll give you that.

EPSHTEYN: (INAUDIBLE) -- Doug Band, who made the request, also runs Teneo Consulting, which is where Huma Abedin worked while she was also working for the State Department. A huge conflict of interest and a continuation of the -- again, the narrative of the Clinton's unquestionably break rules (INAUDIBLE).

COSTELLO: Well, as far as we know, nothing came of that e-mail exchange. No meeting was ever set up. So, as far as we know, there's no hard-core evidence there was pay to play between the Clinton Global Foundation and the State Department.

EPSHTEYN: The Clintons are still hiding e-mails and they're also --

COSTELLO: That may be true. I just want to -- I just want the truth out there.

EPSHTEYN: No, the Clintons hid e-mails and they're hiding (INAUDIBLE).

COSTELLO: OK. Let's talk about tax returns. So --

EPSHTEYN: Well, why? Why don't we talk about the Clinton's hiding their calendar entries?

COSTELLO: I'm exhausted. OK, so, David --

DAVID MADLAND, SENIOR FELLOW, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS ACTION FUND: Yes.

COSTELLO: Because we're talking about Hillary Clinton's economic plan right now, which I think most people want to hear about, because voters need to make an important decision on whether they like Donald Trump's plans for our economy better than Hillary Clinton, and that's what I want to focus on in this particular segment. So let's do that.

So, David, I assume you've gone over Hillary Clinton's plan for our economy?

MADLAND: Yes, I have.

COSTELLO: What do you think of it? How do you -- how would you characterize it? MADLAND: I think it's a -- really a good plan for the middle class.

It's focused on sort of the core issues the middle class faces, which are the ability to get jobs and their -- and the problem of stagnant wages for a long period of time. So how you increase the number of jobs in the economy and how you raise people's wages. It also hits the other side that the middle class has been squeezed by, which is the cost for key things like -- especially higher education that have been going through the roof. So how you raise their wages and how you reduce costs of these core middle class goods. And I think it really stands in sharp contrast to the theory and the policies of Donald Trump, which are largely a continuation of trickledown economics. This idea that if you help the wealthy, you cut their taxes, you cut regulations on business, that that somehow will trickle down to the middle class. Instead, Hillary Clinton goes straight to the middle class and says, we're going to strengthen you and that's the way to build the economy.

COSTELLO: OK. So, Boris, I will let you -- and I promise, but I want to ask David one more question about Hillary Clinton's plan. She wants to provide debt free college education to the middle class. And she wants to raise taxes to do that. So specifically, how much does she want to raise taxes by, and is it really possible to provide debt free college education to the middle class? And who would qualify?

MADLAND: Well, so, yes. You know, in our country's history, we used to provide debt free college for most of the country. Things like the GI bill, to significant Pell Grants. What's happened is the past several decades we've just stopped investing in public education the same way we used to, in part because we've been cutting taxes on the wealthy and haven't had the money to do. And so, really, this is, you know, America used to lead the world in college graduation rates. Now we're middle of the pack. So really we've proven in our history we can do this, and there's clearly ways forward and she's laid -- she's laid out a plan that I think really gives us a real solid shot of doing that.

EPSHTEYN: OK, if I may.

COSTELLO: So, Boris, Mr. Trump wants to take the government out of the student loan business and privatize it. He says that will help college students, especially with their load of debt. How so?

EPSHTEYN: Well, first of all, I'd like to answer the previous question that David did not answer, that Hillary Clinton would like to raise taxes by $1.3 trillion.

MADLAND: On the wealthy.

EPSHTEYN: That's on top of the $1.7 trillion that Obama has already raised taxes. So -- and whatever you define the wealthy as, David, middle class does -- cannot sustain that kind of tax rate. And Hillary Clinton has done nothing in her career to help the middle class. So that's one.

Two, as far as student debt goes, of course privatizing student debt will benefit those who are borrowing. Why? Because that will allow for the -- for the creditors to compete and compete for the lower rate, just like credit cards do, just like other lenders do, just like home lenders do. So if the lenders compete, the borrowers win. There's no question about that.

COSTELLO: It's tough for the middle class to get a loan from the bank these days, though, Boris, isn't it?

EPSHTEYN: Well, listen, it depends. You know, that's a very broad statement. If you look at mortgage rates, if you look -- they're very low right now. If you look at home building, you know, a lot of folks are able to get a home. But the problem is that small business in this country are suffering. Six hundred thousand small businesses had to shutter because over regulation that's put in place under Barack Obama. That's why Donald Trump, when he is in office, will get rid of those regulations.

COSTELLO: Well, I was talking about getting a loan from a bank.

OK, so I'm going to leave it there. We'll talk much more about both candidates' economic plans in the next hour of NEWSROOM.

Boris Epshteyn, David Madland, thanks to both of you.

[09:39:59] Still to come in the NEWSROOM, relentless bombing pushing doctors in Aleppo, Syria, to the breaking point. Their desperate plea to President Obama, next.

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COSTELLO: Doctors in Syria are urging President Obama to step in to help horrific bombings in the rebel-held city of Aleppo. This as a suspected chlorine gas attack killed three people and injured dozens, including two dozen children. In an open letter the group writes, quote, "we do not need tears or sympathy or even prayers. We desperately need a zone free from bombing over eastern Aleppo to stop the attack and international action to ensure Aleppo is never besieged again."

The White House responded to that letter within the last hour. CNN's Clarissa Ward was inside rebel-held Aleppo just months ago. She joins us now with more on this.

Good morning, Clarissa.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Well, that's right, it was a group of 29 doctors. They are some of the only doctors left in the eastern part of Aleppo. They are having to serve as some 300,000 people who are estimated to be basically trapped in that area, which is more or less been under siege now for just under a month. And as you heard in that letter, they cried out, basically saying that they are having to make decisions everyday between who to save and who to let die, because they don't have the medical supplies they need in order to save everybody. [09:45:24] Specifically, I've been speaking to doctors. They say they

need a CT scanner. They need life support machines. They need oxygen. They don't have enough Diesel to power the generators. And, meanwhile, they are very frequently being targeted by these attacks from the air, from Russia, and also from the regime of Bashar al Assad.

Now, there has been heavy fighting in the area and that has allowed the rebels to open up a tiny bit the siege, but so far the fighting is still so fierce that in fact aid can't get to those desperately -- you know, those desperately needy civilians who are trapped inside. And they finished that letter, those doctors, with essentially words sort of chastising the international community, and the U.S. specifically, saying, by standing by and not acting, you're somehow complicit in these crimes. They said, "we've seen no effort on behalf of the United States to lift the siege or even to use its influence to push the party's to protect civilians."

And as you mentioned, the White House a has responded to the letter. They confirmed that they had received this letter from the doctors. And they said, quote, "the U.S. has repeatedly condemned indiscriminate bombing of medical facilities by the Assad regime in Aleppo and elsewhere in Syria." They urged again -- or the U.S. urged again all parties to get back to the negotiating table. Those words unlikely to resonate much with Syrian people on the ground who feel very distressed that no one is coming to their aid, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Clarissa Ward reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, instead of using the front door of the Trump Tower, one man decided to scale the building, and now we know why.

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[09:51:39] COSTELLO: It's sort of like watching a train wreck in real time. A 19-year-old Virginia man used suction cups to climb the Trump Tower. That man is now undergoing a psychological evaluation at a New York City hospital. Sources say the man had one goal in mind, a personal meeting with Donald Trump. But after about three and a half hours, in dramatic fashion, police officers, you can see it there, managed to yank him into the building. That man now expected to face several state charges.

Donald Trump wasn't even in the Trump Tower at the time. He was actually on the campaign trail in Florida. But he did weigh in on Twitter saying, quote, "great job today by the NYPD in protecting the people and saving the climber."

Here now to talk about this is James McNally, he's a photographer and explorer.

Welcome, James.

JAMES MCNALLY, CLIMBER, PHOTOGRAPHER: Thanks.

COSTELLO: And you take unbelievably beautiful pictures.

MCNALLY: Thank you.

COSTELLO: And you also venture outside of very tall buildings, as we're seeing here, but you don't use suction cups.

MCNALLY: No, I -- I don't. My goal is really not to make a spectacle and to be seen by thousands of people on the exterior of a building. I'm really just trying to make photographs.

COSTELLO: Uh-huh. But you've also gotten in trouble for standing on top of tall buildings like that.

MCNALLY: I have. I have gotten in a little bit of trouble for it, yes.

COSTELLO: OK. So let's talk about this climber yesterday on the Trump Tower. He was using those -- these suction cup things. Like, what are they and have you -- would you ever attempt something like that?

MCNALLY: Yes, I mean, I can't claim to know any more about them than really anyone else. They look like sort of industrial suction cups for holding pieces of plate glass to me, not like, you know, actual climbing equipment. I mean clearly he has some sort of harness on him, but, you know, it doesn't look really safe.

COSTELLO: OK, so you do a lot of amazing, courageous things. Was this guy just kind of crazy for attempting to climb a building in that fashion?

MCNALLY: Well, I mean, my opinion on it is, you know, just as qualified as really anyone else is. And, yes, I mean he seems like a sort of slightly unhinged person who's trying to get attention. You know, it's really not anything that I can sort of, you know, claim to know much about.

COSTELLO: So he climbed up about 20 stories in three and a half hours. Does that say to you an experienced climber of anything?

MCNALLY: Well, no. I mean it certainly looks like he was getting fatigued and he was climbing pretty slowly. You know, that is a really strenuous activity I can imagine and probably his nerves are really active too, his adrenaline was probably really pumping too. So it looks like he was going slowly.

COSTELLO: So were you watching this unfold yesterday?

MCNALLY: Yes. Not, you know, glued to the live stream, but I was definitely on Reddit, on Twitter and, you know, on FaceBook when it was happening.

COSTELLO: So when the police pulled him in through the window, how dangerous was that, do you suppose?

MCNALLY: That looked like a pretty dangerous moment. It looked like probably the most dangerous moment. But, clearly, you know, there were a few people up there who got a grip on him and pulled him in pretty aggressively and pretty quickly, which was good to see.

COSTELLO: So, people climbing tall buildings in New York is not all that unusual.

MCNALLY: It's not. I mean for various reasons people do climb them. There's a lot of tall buildings here and, you know, obviously, there was a Frenchman who climbed "The New York Times" building recently and a few other people who have done similar things.

[09:55:08] COSTELLO: Should they be doing that?

MCNALLY: Well, you know, it's not the probably worst crime that anyone could do, but at the same time it' a, you know, a huge waste of resources and there's, you know, better things that the police could be doing with their time. So should, the answer is probably no.

COSTELLO: All right. Thanks for stopping by. I do appreciate it.

MCNALLY: Yes. Yes, you're welcome.

COSTELLO: The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.

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DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The biggest rigger of the system is the media.

ISIS is honoring President Obama. He is the founder of ISIS. He's the founder of ISIS. He's the founder. He founded ISIS.