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Clinton Foundation Will Limit Donations If Clinton Elected; Usain Bolt Clinches Another Gold Medal; State Department: Iran Money "Leverage", Not Ransom; Trump Expresses "Regret" for Past Comments. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired August 19, 2016 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:31:06] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK. So amid growing questions about cronyism and favoritism, the Clinton Foundation says it will not accept corporate or foreign donations if Hillary Clinton wins the presidency in November.

Also, former President Bill Clinton says he will no longer give paid speeches for the rest of the election and continue to work that way if Hillary Clinton is in office.

So let's talk about this. We want to bring back our political panel. We have Mark Preston, David Frum, and Jackie Kucinich.

Mark, how big of a deal are these announcements coming from the Clinton camp?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Huge. I mean, it's a very big deal. The question is, why did it take so long, when this could have brushed aside, farther away from Election Day? You know, we're again at 80-odd days out right now before the Election Day.

This is just another distraction for the Clinton campaign, which has done pretty well at a time when the Trump campaign had been faltering it does call into question certainly these new revelations about what was the connection, if any, between the Clinton Foundation and the state department.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: And also, Jackie, to you, I mean, the RNC jumped on this and came out right after and said in a statement, in part, they said, look, if everything was above board before, why make any changes now? So, it's sort of -- they're saying you lose either way.

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, I mean, they're going to make political issue of this, as they should.

I mean, the Clinton Foundation has been nothing but trouble for Hillary Clinton. She didn't have to put her name on the foundation when she left being secretary of state. So, this is sort of a problem of her own making. But Mark is right. This is something that was long overdue. It's a

big deal for them.

CAMEROTA: David, Donald Trump was with Sean Hannity at a town hall meeting on Wednesday night. You know, Hannity has been beating this drum for a long time, particularly the fact the Clinton foundation took money from some countries that obviously do not share our view of human rights. So, here's -- it was an interesting exchange between Donald Trump and Hannity because Donald Trump seemed to be the one pulling punches while Hannity was prodding him.

So listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: If they knew about it, that would be one thing, and I assume they knew about it, bigly. But certainly, they know about it now, so maybe they can give the money back. I've actually called -- I've actually called --

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: Wait a minute. They knew about it because that's been Saudi Arabia's practice for years.

TRUMP: But let's give them the benefit of the doubt. They certainly knew about --

HANNITY: You're going to give Hillary the benefit of the doubt? I'm not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Donald Trump giving Hillary Clinton the benefit of the doubt. What do you hear in this exchange?

DAVID FRUM, SENIOR EDITOR, THE ATLANTIC: Well, it sort of misses the point. It doesn't matter if the government in question is nice or nasty. If -- the family of the person in charge of the foreign relations of the United States should not be taking money from foreign governments, even Norway. Norway is a wonderful government, very liberal. They use their money to advocate good causes for the most part. But they're advocating Norwegian interests, which are not identical with American interests in a host of ways. The foreign policy of the United States should not appear to be for sale by the relatives of the person in charge of the foreign policy.

HARLOW: So, Mark Preston, other big news this morning. "The New York Times" reporting that we've gotten a significant piece of news from those FBI notes handed over to Congress from that 3 1/2-hour interview that Hillary Clinton did with the FBI. It's revealing that, according of "The Times", former Secretary of State Colin Powell is the one who advised Hillary Clinton to use her private e-mail server.

Now, there's important context here. When Colin Powell was in that position, e-mail was not broadly used. It was in its infancy. So, that's important context. But how significant is this she's pinning this on Powell? PRESTON: Well, this is one of those issues that I think could be

politically potent, but it just still hasn't really stuck with the American public necessarily. It's not something that I think folks are looking at saying this is disqualifying factor for her to be president. It's certainly something that the Trump campaign and Republicans are going to continue to bang the drum on, and quite frankly, they should.

[06:35:05] HARLOW: It keeps dogging her, right? Her honestly, her trustworthiness. They are so bad. And now, there's this. And could this be looked at like finger pointing, saying, well, look who told me to?

PRESTON: So I always go back to this phrase in a situation like this with the Clintons. Do as I say, not as I do. That's the biggest problem the Clintons have. The fact -- she has acknowledged the fact she has a problem with the American public, who don't think she's honest. This is just another building block on that.

HARLOW: And to be fair, she didn't come out and say this publicly. This is revealed from the notes, that they didn't expect to be released.

PRESTON: Released, of course.

CAMEROTA: But, Jackie, Colin Powell didn't have a private server, of course. That's what makes this a distinction. But does it give her some cover if she's able to say, well, Colin Powell advised me to do this?

KUCINICH: Well, no. One thing you haven't heard Hillary Clinton say is the buck stops here with all of this. This person told me to do it, these other people advised me, it was okay.

You haven't heard her say that. I don't know if it would help at this point. But again, it's shifting the responsibility, as Mark said, do as I do, not as I say. And it -- really, that doesn't sit well with people. It does affect her trustworthiness.

HARLOW: So, David Frum, put your speechwriter --

FRUM: As every mother in America has had occasion to say, if Colin Powell told you to jump off a cliff, would you do it?

HARLOW: Exactly. But David Frum, put your speech writer hat back on. Has Jackie said, should Clinton come out in a speech and you're right, the buck stops with me, or is it far too late?

FRUM: You know, I would be perversely interested to hear a defense from a former secretary of state about why her e-mail should be secret. Say what is true, which is, I didn't want my e-mails to be read by people while I served as secretary of state. If you want to read them 20 years after, that's fine, but not while I'm secretary of state. I didn't trust the government to keep my messaging secret. I discuss all kinds of things, that it would be awkward for me to have people read, and that's why I did it. Tell the truth. It's so crazy, it just might work.

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: Radical truth. That is coming from David Frum. Thank you, guys, very much. Panel, great to talk to you.

What's your take on all of this? Tweet us @NewDay. You can post your comment on Facebook.com/NewDay. We'll read them soon.

Meanwhile, another gold medal for the world's fastest human. Today, Usain Bolt tries to reach one final goal. It's an extraordinary triple-triple in the 4x100-meter relay. Not sure what any of that means, but Poppy will explain it to me. If he wins the gold, will we ever see him compete again?

We have a live report from Rio. That's next.

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[06:41:48] HARLOW: The Olympic Games and another golden moment for Usain Bolt, sprinting to victory in the 200-meter race. Today, the world's fastest man hits the track again.

CNN's sports anchor Coy Wire live in Rio with more.

I explained to Alisyn in the break what a triple-triple is. I didn't, because I really don't know.

Coy?

(LAUGHTER)

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Poppy, I got you covered. We'll get to it. But bolt putting a huge exclamation point at the end of his final individual event of his Olympic career. Greatness has been his aim. He said after the race he wants to be among the greatest, Ali and Pele after the games.

He wins his eighth career gold medal yesterday, absolutely kicking up dust in the 200 meters. It's his second gold here in Rio. If he and his team win the 4 4x100-meter relay today, that would give Bolt, Poppy, unprecedented triple-triple, winning the 100, 200 and 4x100 meter events in three consecutive Olympic Games, fastest man ever.

All right. Team USA's Ashton Eaton matched an Olympic record score, once again claiming the title of world's greatest athlete. Gold in the decathlon for the second consecutive Olympic Games, becoming just the third man to ever do so.

And talk about a power couple. Ashton's wife Brianne competes for Canada. She took bronze in the heptathlon here in Rio. Ashton says he gets way more nervous watching her compete than when he competes himself.

But after a huge scare, the U.S. women's 4x100-meter relay team getting a second chance and running away with it. They dropped their baton in their morning heat yesterday, get disqualified, but they appealed because they were bumped by a Brazilian athlete. They were allowed to run again, this time alone on the track. They do qualify for today's final where they are one of the favorites to win.

NEW DAY medal count, let's go. USA rolling, hitting the 100 mark in overall medals. China and Great Britain in second and third respectively.

A couple of things to look forward today, Poppy. U.S. men's basketball have their hands full in the semis today with Spain and we also have that 4x100-meter relay which will likely be Usain Bolt's final race in his Olympic career.

HARLOW: Triple-triple all the way. Coy Wire, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

Stay with us because coming up in our next hour here, Team USA gymnastics superstar Simone Biles live with us right here.

CAMEROTA: I now understand it perfectly. Thank you very much for that, to you and to coy.

All right. We have to talk about this story that has confused so many people, $400 million cash flown to Iran on the day American hostages are released. The State Department says that's not ransom. So what was it? Our security experts break that down next.

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[06:48:13] CAMEROTA: We're learning more this morning about the Obama administration's $400 million payment to Iran after American prisoners came home or at the same time that American prisoners came home. The State Department insists this was not a ransom payment. They say it was leverage to ensure the Americans came home safely.

CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski is traveling with the president. She's live in Martha's Vineyard for us.

So, Michelle, explain the distinction between those two.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hi, Alisyn.

Right. Well, now, we're hearing more from the State Department. What's interesting about this is member in the beginning we asked the White House, would those prisoners have been released if that cash that was due to Iran wasn't on the plane at the same time?

Did it maybe function as a ransom, which is what Iran has been calling it? The White House at the time didn't want to answer that question, but the State Department then said, sure, those prisoners would have been released anyway.

But now they're saying they were so worried that Iran would not release the prisoners, that the U.S. waited to give them the cash until the prisoners were released, and they have a new name for it. They're calling it leverage. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: It's not ransom for many reasons. First of all, this is Iran's money. It was money awarded to them by The Hague tribunal. It was a process that had been working independently for many months prior to that.

Number two, the way I think ransom works is you have to pay first and then you get your hostages back. And that's not what happened here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: Yes, it happened in the opposite way. So, Republicans, yes, are all over this, but from the administration's perspective, nothing has changed. They said this was never a ransom, and the money and the prisoners were two separate things that were just brought together at the same time because of the Iran nuclear deal -- Poppy.

[06:50:06] HARLOW: Michelle, thank you so much.

Let's dig through all of this, what this new word leverage really means.

CNN global affairs analyst, contributing writer for "The Daily Beast", Kimberly Dozier is with me.

I was very surprised to hear the administration come out and use this word leverage after denying, denying, denying this was ransom. Does this matter? Leverage, ransom, what's the difference?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: The difference is that they have been caught by somebody behind the scenes, revealing the time of this, the timing, and they're having to explain that, yes, this was a power play.

It's often not the original sin. It's the cover-up or perceived cover-up of what happened. That's what we're seeing come out right now, that these are two countries that didn't trust each other with chips to play for an exchange.

So, they had this carefully choreographed exchange. If they hadn't waited for the hostages to leave the country and had let the money head towards Iran, we'd be having a very different discussion right now, still beating up the administration for not making sure that the Americans were safely on their way home

HARLOW: Important point. I think there's two critical distinctions here. This was Iran's money. This was money that had been held in the United States because of a weapons deal that didn't end up happening from the '70s. So, that's one thing. This was Iran's money, plus interest payments.

And the second thing here, Kirby made that point yesterday on CNN that they waited for the hostages to actually be released before the money landed. It wasn't that the money landed and then the hostages were released. Does that matter? Does that timeline matter in your mind?

DOZIER: I think -- I think it shows there was a smart negotiation going on by the diplomats involved. You know, we often don't get to see what happened behind the scene in such deals until a decade, decades later. This is the kind of thing that does happen all the time when you're asking each side to sacrifice something.

Afterwards, each side wants to portray it as them winning more than the other one got in the deal. In this case, you have Iran and the U.S. each after the fact saying that we got something from this. The Iranians seeing, see, they paid us this money.

From the American point of view -- I mean, as a critic, you have to say, well, they didn't actually have to resolve this right now, but they used this money that was outstanding for all these decades to sweeten the deal.

HARLOW: Well, also, the longer they held the money, the more interest they had to pay on it. As the president pointed out, the more and more the bill would have gone up, the tab for the American taxpayer. I will say that.

Look, I think the more fundamental question outside the politics here is what does this mean for the safety of Americans, right? We know at least two Americans have been taken prisoner in Iran since the nuclear deal was made, since this happened. And we also heard Donald Trump say yesterday about this, let me just quote him, "The administration has put every American traveling overseas, including our military personnel, at greater risk of being kidnapped."

The question to you, Kim, does this make Americans less safe? Does this give Iran incentive to take more Americans prisoner?

DOZIER: I think within Iran, yes, it may set a precedent where they think they can get other concessions from this particular administration by keeping American citizens under lock and key. But when you're looking at the wider world and terrorist groups that might take a hostage, al Qaeda, they don't have the kind of capital that Iran has to play with.

So, writ large, I don't think it's going to change. Americans have a target on their back wherever they go, if they're in countries where terrorist groups are operating. With Iran, we've got a new administration coming up that will perhaps wipe the slate clean.

HARLOW: All right. Kimberly Dozier, thank you so much this morning. Have a great weekend.

DOZIER: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: OK. Poppy, Donald Trump as you've never seen him before, expressing regret. We'll show you the speech that could be a turning point in his campaign. That's next.

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[06:57:54] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Sometimes in the heat of debate, you don't choose the right words.

KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: We're going to sharpen the message.

TRUMP: I do regret it, particularly where it may have caused personal pain.

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R-IN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It isn't just people like me that are questioning the trustworthiness of the Democrat nominee.

CONWAY: We're going to make sure Donald Trump doesn't lose that authenticity.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Friends don't let friends vote for Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The swimmers said they were robbed. Brazilian authorities said it's impossible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They pulled out their gun, cocked it, put it to my forehead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brazilian police say the athletes were not robbed and that they are not victims.

CAMEROTA: From global scandals to Olympic glory, we talk to Team USA's golden girl Simone Biles.

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY.

This is not Chris Cuomo, as you can see, nor is it Alisyn Camerota, though you'd be confused by president haircut a little bit. Poppy Harlow is here.

Great to have you here.

All right. Up first, Donald Trump breaking from his unapologetic style. Trump says he regrets some of his hurtful comments on the campaign trail. But Trump did not say what exactly those were.

HARLOW: Trump's candid comments coming days after a major shake-up in his campaign. I think a question this morning is, is this the pivot? Is this the turning point in the Trump campaign?

He also released his fir campaign ad this morning. You will see that right here in just a moment.

We begin our coverage, though, this morning with my friend, our friend George Howell. Nice to have you here.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, Alisyn, good morning.

Is this the pivot? That is the question. Donald Trump now speaking at a rally in North Carolina for the first time since his big campaign shake-up the other day, making a change that he has never done before, saying something that surprised the audience.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

sTRUMP: I've never been politically correct.

HOWELL (voice-over): Donald Trump doing what he refused to do throughout his campaign, expressing remorse for his controversial statements.

TRUMP: Sometimes in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don't choose the right words or you say the wrong thing. I have done that.