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Latest from Rio Olympics; Bill Clinton Defends Hillary Over E- Mail Scandal; Conviction Featured in "Making a Murderer" Overturned; Thai Authorities Investigating Blasts. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired August 13, 2016 - 03:00   ET

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


[03:00:00] ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: A day of big wins, but also massive upsets. We'll have the latest from the Rio Olympics. And former U.S. President Bill Clinton coming to his wife's defense, calling her e-mail scandal a bunch of bull. Plus, Venezuela's President makes a drastic move to save his country's rapidly sinking economy.

Hello, everyone. I'm Zain Asher and this is CNN NEWSROOM.

All right, let's talk about the Rio Olympic Games. In case you missed today's events, we have the highlights. Records were broken, one country got its very first gold medal ever and a major upset was handed to the U.S. Women's football. Sweden knocked out the defending champion, United States, in a quarterfinal bout.

From the pitch in Brasilia to the pool in Rio, swimmer Joseph Schooling won Singapore's very first Olympic gold medal. He set an Olympic record and advance 100-meter butterfly. Michael Phelps of the U.S. finished in a three-way tie for second place.

And alongside U.S. swimmer Katie Ledecky broke her own world record in the 800-meter freestyle. This was so fun to watch because she was literally 11 seconds ahead of her nearest rival, of her nearest opponent. And that's the second largest margin of victory for that race ever. It's her first, fourth, rather, gold medal of the Rio games.

One of the games biggest stars is set to make his Rio debut in the coming hours, I'm talking about Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt. He is running the men's 100-meter race. Bolt's won three gold medals in each of the last two Olympics. And a few can catch the lightning bolts on the track but our Don Riddell caught up with the woman who knows him the best, his mother.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Usain Bolt is such an iconic Olympic sprinter that you could easily think he was born that way. But that wasn't quite the case and no one knows him better than his proud and loving mom, Jennifer.

JENNIFER BOLT, USAIN BOLT'S MOTHER: As a young boy he was, you know, hyperactive, very jovial, friendly. He can go up to people, you know, and do something to them that can -- that will make them laugh.

RIDDELL: Jennifer has witnessed his development from a happy-go-lucky kid to a six-time Olympic champion and hoping for an unprecedented sprint treble treble. Usain oozes confidence now, but he wasn't so sure ahead of his first major event, the World Junior Champions in his homeland of Jamaica. It was a scene portrayed in a new animated film about his life.

In the film, there is this moment where you talked to him and you give him some advice. What was it that you told him and how did he process that information?

BOLT: When I talked with him, he, you know, he stopped crying. And I think he think about it and then he said, "OK, mommy, I'm going and I'm going to do my best."

RIDDELL: And what did you say to him?

BOLT: I said, the Lord is with you and I'm going to pray for you. And I saw the race and saw him in front and the crowd started to shout his name. I think that helped to motivate him a bit because he could hear the crowd in the stadium.

RIDDELL: Bolt won the 200 meters that day and at the age of 15 became the youngest ever world junior gold medalist. These days, he's well- used toward the acclaim as celebrity. He'll be the biggest draw in Rio with fans and many fellow athletes all hoping to meet him.

Your son is not just an amazing athlete, people adore him. There's adulation for him everywhere he goes. How do you feel when you see the crowd of these races and how people respond to him?

BOLT: Absolute overwhelmed. The joy, sometimes I cried tears of joy.

RIDDELL: What does he say to you when he finds you in the crowd after these gold medal performances?

BOLT: He doesn't really say anything. He just hug me. But I can see that it is joy within him.

RIDDELL: Rio will be Bolt's fourth and he says final Olympics. And he's planning to retire from the track after the world championships next year.

As a mother, what would you hope for Usain in the future, once he stop competing?

BOLT: I would hope he is settled down, get married, and start his family.

RIDDELL: Can you see him settling down?

BOLT: Yes. I know he'll settle down because he had told me about it many times that he's going to start his family.

[03:05:01] RIDDELL: What do you think Usain's message is? BOLT: He's trying to, you know, to get everybody to love because he has grown, you know, close to us and yet he has gotten a lot of love. He would like to share some of that joy with others.

RIDDELL: There's no doubt he will do that again in Rio. And whatever happens whenever he retires, Usain Bolt's athletic prowess and infectious personality will be sorely missed.

Don Riddell, CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Usain Bolt representing his country very, very well.

Well, the U.S. is cementing its lead in the medal standings with a powerhouse performance in swimming on Friday. American athletes have the most gold medals with only about 20, and the most medals overall with 50. China, though, is firmly in second place with 13 golds and 37 altogether. And Britain and Japan are locked in a tight race for third place. They both have seven gold medals each.

Several gold medals are up for grabs on Saturday and in the pool, women will swim the 50-meter freestyle and the 4x100 meter medley relay featuring American sensation, we've been talking about her all night, Katie Ledecky. The men will swim the 1,500-meter freestyle and Phelps will join his teammates in their 4x100 medley relay.

Meantime, back on land, men's track and field athletes will go for golds in the 10,000 meters. And then also you have the women sprinters, they're going to be running the 100 meters as well.

Hillary Clinton is challenging Donald Trump to release his taxes. The U.S. Democratic presidential candidate ramped up pressure on her Republican rival by releasing her own tax returns for last year, for 2015. They show that her and husband, former President Bill Clinton, made about $10.6 million. A lot of that money coming to them from speaking fees and engagements and they paid about $3.6 million to the federal government in taxes.

Trump has refused -- continue to refuse from the very beginning to release his taxes saying that he is being audited. And the Trump campaign says that Clinton, by releasing her tax returns, is basically just trying to deflect attention away from the e-mail controversy that has been plaguing her, literally will not go away, for months.

Bill Clinton is defending his wife over that e-mail controversy. In an audience -- in front of an audience of Asian American journalists in Las Vegas, Mr. Clinton was asked why Americans should trust Hillary Clinton when she apparently lied about never reading classified e- mails on her private server when she was Secretary of State. Here's how the former President responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: But first of all, the FBI director said, when he testified before Congress, he had to amend his previous day's statement that she had never received any e-mails marked classified. They saw two little notes with a "c" on it. This is the biggest load of bull I ever heard, that were about telephone calls that she needed to make. And the State Department typically puts a little "c" on it to discourage people from discussing it in public in the event the Secretary of State, whoever it is, doesn't make a telephone call. Does that sound threatening to the national security to you?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: And the e-mail controversy continues to drag on and on and on, even though, despite the fact that earlier this year the FBI actually decided not to recommend charges against Clinton over her e-mails. But in a new dramatic twist, just this week, newly released e-mails are now raising questions about the possibly inappropriate links between the State Department, when Clinton was there, and the Clinton Foundation.

And Donald Trump is telling voters the only way he's going to lose the battleground key State of Pennsylvania is if Hillary Clinton cheats. During a campaign stop there on Friday, he says that he wants law enforcement officials to closely monitor the polls to make sure that people do not end up voting more than once, multiple times. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The only way we can lose, in my opinion, I really mean this, Pennsylvania, is if cheating goes on. I really believe it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: And understandably, both campaigns have actually been devoting significant resources to Pennsylvania. It is a battleground state. It has a large base of working class voters that both candidates are desperate to win over.

Meantime, Trump appears to be walking back his widely criticized claim that President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are the founders of ISIS. Here's our Jessica Schneider with more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump trying to clarify his comments about President Obama and ISIS.

[03:10:01] TRUMP: I said the founder of ISIS. Obviously, I'm being sarcastic. Then -- but not that sarcastic, to be honest with you. So I said the founder of ISIS and, in fact, very soon, he's going over to pick up his most valuable player award. Is it -- did I say that, right? I say it all the time. So they knew I was being sarcastic.

SCHNEIDER: Then, after Trump repeatedly insisted Thursday that the President was the founder of the terrorist organization.

TRUMP: I call President Obama and Hillary Clinton the founders of ISIS.

HUGH HEWITT, "THE HUGH HEWITT SHOW" ANCHOR: You meant that he created the vacuum, he lost the peace.

TRUMP: No, I meant he's the founder of ISIS. I do.

HEWITT: He's not sympathetic to them. He hates them, he's trying to kill them.

TRUMP: I don't care. He was the founder.

SCHNEIDER: Trump's attacks on the President come as more evidence surfaces that Trump also wanted to rapidly pull troops out of Iraq, including in this 2011 interview on CNN.

TRUMP: Iraq, we shouldn't have been there and I'd get them out real fast.

SCHNEIDER: It's not the first time Trump has claimed sarcasm to get out of a jam, when he said this back in late July.

TRUMP: Russia, if you're listening, I hope you are able to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing.

SCHNEIDER: He later dismissed the uproar.

TRUMP: And I obviously was being sarcastic. In fact, the people in the room were laughing. They found it very funny. Everybody knew that.

SCHNEIDER: Trump supporter, Newt Gingrich, encouraging the straight talking businessman to be more careful with his words.

NEWT GINGRICH, FMR. SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: One of the things that's frustrating about his candidacy is the emphasized language. He sometimes uses three words when he needs 10. He has got to learn to use language that has been thought through and that is clear to everybody.

SCHNEIDER: As the latest NBC news "Wall Street Journal" Marist poll shows Trump lagging in key states, trailing Clinton by 14 points in Colorado, 13 points in Virginia, 9 points in North Carolina and 5 points in Florida, Trump even acknowledging he's having trouble in traditionally red Utah.

TRUMP: I'm having a tremendous problem in Utah. Utah is a different place and I don't know if -- is anybody here from Utah? I mean, it's -- I didn't think so. We're having a problem.

SCHNEIDER: Donald Trump acknowledging the importance of this state, telling his supporters, we need to win Pennsylvania. But here in Altoona, he also lodged a very serious charge saying the only way he'll lose this state is if cheating goes on. He encouraged people to get to the polls and report any voting irregularities that they might see.

Jessica Schneider, CNN, Altoona, Pennsylvania.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: I want to turn now to a story that is making waves here in the United States. An American federal judge has overturned the murder conviction of a man featured in a very popular documentary "Making A Murderer."

In 2007, just to recap for you, a jury convicted this man, this young boy you see right here, Brendan Dassey, for assisting his uncle in the raping and the killing of a woman in the State of Wisconsin. Dassey, at this point in time, was just 16 years old when he confessed. Prosecutors -- a federal judge, in Milwaukee now says that that confession was essentially coerced. It was a forced confession. That's what they believe.

The judge says the investigators did not consider that Dassey, A, was young, and, B, also had learning disabilities as well. And Dassey's uncle, Steven Avery, was convicted separately. There he is here. And he is serving a life sentence. Avery was actually the main subject of that documentary that a lot of people have watched on Netflix. "Making A Murderer," led many to believe, many of the viewers to believe that both of these men were convicted improperly.

Earlier, I spoke with CNN Legal Analyst and former Federal Prosecutor Laura Coates. She joined me from Washington. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: So Laura, thank you so much for being with us. So, talk to us about the way Brandon Dassey's confession was obtained. As a lawyer, do you think investigators tried to trick him?

LAURA COATES, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It wasn't just the investigators who tried to trick him but it was his actual attorney who was supposed to be there to help him that facilitated this unlawful and involuntary confession. You see, what happens is you have to actually, under the Fifth Amendment, have the right to make a voluntary confession and you have to be warned about all the repercussions that could come if you actually did give a confession. But, if somebody capitalizes and tries to manipulate and capitalize like you have, maybe, limited intellectual abilities and tries to give a series of false promises to give you the impression that you're not actually in custody and you're not a suspect, that will create the atmosphere of coercion that will take out a confession entirely.

ASHER: And it's also because he was 16 years old. I mean ...

COATES: Yes.

ASHER: ... he wasn't technically an adult when this happened.

COATES: Absolutely. And he had no attorney present or a parent.

ASHER: Right, right. If the questioning was unconstitutional, if that is the case, then why has it taken 10 years? I mean, he's 26 years old now. Why has it taken 20 -- 10 years, rather, to get this far?

[03:15:06] COATES: Well, unfortunately, there are so many people in justice system in the United States that actually have a similar story that they're telling. And, but for this particular series, "Making A Murder," I don't think that he would have gotten the necessary attention to even have a state appeal, let alone a federal habeas claim. Remember, Zain, a federal court here has intervened and said that the state court's findings and the state appellate court's findings were completely wrong and they were forced as a federal entity to step in. That does not happen in the United States very often. In fact, most of the time, the federal courts will stay in their own lane, except in an instance where there's an extraordinary case where it's so out of bounds and it was so obvious what should have really happened. And that's what happened here.

ASHER: Right. The documentary changed everything. It sort of reminds me ...

COATES: Yeah.

ASHER: ... of what happened with Serial, with Adnan Syed as well. What happened to the investigator who obtained this confession, will they be held accountable in any way?

COATES: Well, the actual investigators are not really a part of the individual lawsuit that's happening right now. They are under scrutiny because people are looking at this under a microscope and saying, this cannot possibly have been your protocol or what you should have done. But the real accountability here is going to be with the court itself, because that's what the federal claim is about. It's about overturning a conviction because the courts got it wrong, not necessarily who led up to that decision being made. And so, really, the investigators are not part of this yet.

ASHER: And, do you think the prosecutors will try and bring a new trial? And if so, how long do they have?

COATES: Yes, I really do. Now that ...

ASHER: He's not off the hook yet then.

COATES: He's not off the hook. If the court does say, "Look, you've got 90 days to release Brandon Dassey, but unless you actually file an appeal or ask for a new trial." They will absolutely file an appeal in this case. This court has been steadfast, and the prosecution has been steadfast that they did the right thing and that this person is involved.

Now, the rest of society watching this documentary in the series is saying, "Really, are you going to devote resources to actually Brandon Dassey? Isn't there something else more important?" And that may have some sway in the court of public opinion, but you've got the pride of the prosecution at stake here and that's a very powerful thing.

ASHER: You know, I think that one question that everybody has is what is going the happen to Steven Avery because Brandon Dassey was a huge witness against his uncle.

COATES: Right.

ASHER: And if this witness wasn't accurate, you know, that it wasn't accurate, if his testimony wasn't accurate, then what happens to Steven Avery?

COATES: Steven Avery, I don't believe, is going to have his case impacted in any way by this particular case. Remember, it is a big confession that was allegedly given, and even though it was involuntary we're finding, it was with the confession with Steven Avery, but there were other independent corroborating features that actually led to the conviction of Steven Avery. And honestly, looking at the documentary, looking at the series and also the facts in this case, I would be shocked if Steven Avery is released from prison sort of finding the absolute new killer.

ASHER: All right, so basically what you're saying is that he likely doesn't stand a chance. OK, there's a ...

COATES: Not at all.

ASHER: ... light with that (ph). Thank you so much, appreciate it.

COATES: Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: All right. Coming up next, news from an outbreak of the Zika virus widens in Puerto Rico. There are now more than 10,000 cases of this disease there. What's being done to find and stop the virus in its track, that's next.

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[03:20:32] ASHER: No one has claimed responsibility for a series of bombings across Thailand that killed four people. Authorities don't know the reason for the blasts, but they say the attacks are not linked to international terrorism. Here is our International Correspondent Ivan Watson with more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This normally bustling night life district is all but deserted right now because it was the scene of a small but deadly bombing on Thursday night. You can see evidence of some of the damage here that blasts, ripped through from this street corner and killed at least one street vending woman here and seriously wounded several more.

And on the blood stained pavement, you can even see discarded shoes and bouquets of flowers here after this attack. It's important to note this was just one of at least 11 bombings to hit in a period of 24 hours in at least four different tourist resort cities across Thailand. A busy bar streets in a popular tourist resorts transformed into a crime scene, Thursday night, after a deadly bomb blast. The bomb, just one of a series of explosions that erupted across five provinces in Thailand over the course of 24 hours. The targets mostly major tourist destinations popular with locals and foreigners alike. The coastal resort city of Hua Hin sustained the most casualties after two explosions, Thursday evening, followed by another twin bombing Friday morning.

Two explosions also hit popular holiday spot, Phuket, one at a dolphin park on the beach and another at Bangla street. Another two bombs hit Surat Thani City, which is a transit point for tourists going to Ko Samui and the other islands that Thailand is famous for.

Thai police say the attacks don't appear to be related to international terrorism.

PIYAPAN PINGMUANG, DEPUTY POLICE SPOKESMAN: What we know for sure is that the incidents do not link directly with the -- any kinds of terrorism. It's, in fact, they say the local sabotage by which we are trying to identify those suspects who are behind the scene. So it's still too soon to jump to any conclusion.

WATSON: Authorities tightened security across Thailand but many tourists are clearly rattled. CNN spoke to one foreign witness of Thursday night's attack, Shane Brett has been to Hua Hin six times already, but says this may be his last trip.

SHANE BRETT, BOMBING WITNESS: I love it here, beautiful scenery, lot of foreigners here that just want a nice, quiet vacation. But after this visit and I feel -- I've heard about other bombings in other areas of Thailand, I -- it's very unsettling and I might be looking at other places in Southeast Asia to vacation.

WATSON: If others feel the same way, it could seriously hurt Thailand's economy which depends heavily on tourism.

Many of the bombs were placed in potted plants like this. Now, the Prime Minister of the country has come out on television. He's called for calm and insists that Thailand does not have enemies abroad or at home. And he didn't cast blame for this attack. But clearly, the coordinated appearance of this series of bombings in so many cities in such a small amount of time, it suggests that there was some kind of coordinated effort here. The big question, what is the political message and who was trying to send it with these deadly bombings?

Ivan Watson, CNN, Hua Hin, Thailand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: U.S. health officials have declared a public health emergency in Puerto Rico because of the Zika virus. We now know that more than 10,000 people in Puerto Rico have been infected with the virus. More than 1,000 of them are actually pregnant women. And that is hugely important because we know that Zika has been linked to birth defects, to microcephaly in newborn babies and a number of cases may even be higher than that because a lot of people who have the virus, who have this (ph), they don't actually show any symptoms. So they don't even know that they have it.

The health emergency declaration will be -- will allow Puerto Rico to request more federal assistance, money, to fight the outbreak.

Hot, dry summer weather and treacherous winds have combined to make life extremely difficult for firefighters battling wildfires in France, Spain, and Portugal. Just look at these images. The Portuguese Island of Madeira has been hit especially hard, at least three people died there to speak and more than 1,000 people have been evacuated, forced from their homes because of the fires.

[03:25:10] And I want to turn now to the South Central United States because historic flooding has claimed the lives of at least three individuals. Our Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is joining me live now.

And really, when you look at the images, they really sort of speak for themselves because you're seeing entire roadways basically turned into rivers. And then you have homes and cars just completely destroyed, not to mention three people losing their lives.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, Zain, even small towns are being completely cut off from any infrastructure. Some of the major cities, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, some of the smaller parishes just outside of that, they cannot access them because the roads are so flooded.

These videos coming out of the region, you'll be able to see exactly what I'm talking about, people having to deal with tremendous amounts of rain. The national weather service is calling this nearly a one in 500-year rainfall event, the Louisiana Governor John Bel declaring a state of emergency. His basement, in his very own house, was actually flooded.

And unfortunately, the three fatalities, what I'm going to show you next, to me, is absolutely astounding. It gives you a picture of just how much rain has fallen in a very short period of time. What you're looking at is a river gauge measuring the height of the Tickfaw River at Montpelier. This is just about 15 miles of the northeast of the Baton Rouge region.

And look at that, a rapid rise in 14 hours, roughly 20 feet rise in that river's water levels in a short period of time. That is because of the excessive rain draining into that particular river. Remember, this is a very low-lying area. In fact, much of New Orleans, which is under a flood watch at the moment, is about two feet below sea level.

And you can see the flood warnings indicated in that shading of red and the brighter shades of green would be the flood warnings. The difference with the red is flash flood warnings. And look at the rainfall estimates with the past 24 hours we've had from Greensburg to Zachary, anywhere between 250 to 500 millimeters of rainfall leaving scenes like this. That is a scary scene to come across let alone of being just a school bus underwater. And Baton Rouge itself, normally received about 150 millimeters of rainfall just in the month of August, in 24 hours, they've had nearly 250. That's 150 percent more rainfall they see in the entire month of August in a 24-hour period. Unbelievable.

Others, locations, upwards of 500 millimeters of rainfall, this system is not moving very quickly. Zain, we anticipate more flooding out of this and I expect this to be a problem, at least, for the next 24 hours. Flooding will continue and the rivers will continue to rise as they have been for the past day or so.

ASHER: All right, Derek, thank you so much for breaking that down.

VAN DAM: Zain, welcome.

ASHER: And thank you at home for watching, I'm Zain Asher.

Up next on CNN is "POLITICAL MANN." But first, as always, I will be back with a quick look at your headlines. Stay with us.

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