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CNN NEWSROOM

At Least 63 Dead in Italy Earthquake; Trump Softening on Immigration?; Interview with Sheriff Joe Arpaio; Trump Seizes on New Report to Slam Clinton Charity. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired August 24, 2016 - 09:00   ET

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


[09:00:00] CUOMO: What he wanted to do for his birthday.

CAMEROTA: Why are my kids so inadequate?

CUOMO: Don't say that.

CAMEROTA: Is that just bad parenting?

CUOMO: It's just -- this is an example for them to do something even better.

CAMEROTA: Right. Right. I'm going to call them later.

Time now for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello. Hey, Carol.

CUOMO: Speaking of perfect people.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much. I'll take that, Chris Cuomo.

You guys have a great day. NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, a strong earthquake rocks central Italy, mountain towns in ruins.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It woke us up. It felt like the bed was on rollers.

COSTELLO: Now the scramble for survivors buried under the rubble.

Plus, did Trump say he's going to pivot on immigration?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There certainly can be a softening because we're not looking to hurt people.

COSTELLO: How the cornerstone of his campaign could be changing.

And Clinton facing fresh foundation attacks. What's the fallout?

Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

And good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me. We do begin with breaking news this morning. A desperate scramble for survivors after a 6.2 earthquake strikes central Italy. The hardest hit region a population vacation area. In this town, you can see dust rising from the ruins. Right now 63 people have died and that number is expected to rise.

As we're getting more video of dramatic scenes from the area, this woman, only her arm and face visible, trapped under a slab of concrete. The man you see here, comforting her as they wait for more help to arrive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you able to breathe a bit?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Only a bit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The important thing is to stay calm. Police officers are on their way now. We will try to remove this. We are waiting for them so that we don't hurt you, OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Oh, it's just unbelievable. CNN's Barbie Nadeau is live in a village not far the epicenter. Rescue efforts still underway, I would suppose?

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, you know, we're right here in front of a tiny little enclave. You can see the rescue workers, working to try to find survivors up on that big pile of rubble that used to be a family house.

For the better part of the morning, we watched people, citizens working together with fire officers and civil protection officers, using their hands and garden tools, and pick axes, and anything they could find to try to rescue someone that was caught between under that rubble. There would be sad, they would call that person's name. Sadly, though, a few hours ago, they took that body away in a stretcher.

You know, we've seen ambulances go by, some flashing lights. We've seen some silent ambulance as well as this death count continues to rise. What's really, really devastating, though, is just the fact that they are not able to get the type of heavy equipment into this area to the extent that they need to, to move away this rubble. These houses aren't built of wood. They're built of stone. You know, some of these are 100, 200 year old villas and houses that have stood here for years and years. They also at this point don't have a clear idea of just how many people were in this area.

It's a very popular destination for tourists. It's a place where a lot of people who live in Rome have their summer houses, and they were here, you know, kids were here with their grandparents. You know, this is the kind of area people escape to. You know, Facebook activated its "I am safe" abilities this morning, so that they could try to understand who is where. You know, nobody knows for sure just how many people could be buried under the rubble like that, what you see behind me now.

Because this scene, what you see behind me, repeats itself in tiny little enclaves, in tiny little towns, all along this area. You know, the earthquake struck at 3:36 a.m. in the morning, and a clock, there is a clock tower in one of the neighboring towns that stopped at that very moment. Everything around it stood still. The clock tower seems to show how the world stopped at that moment here in Italy, Carol.

COSTELLO: But the woman we showed trapped underneath the rubble with just her arm exposed, do we know anymore about whether she was rescued?

NADEAU: No, we don't know right now. But she's not the only one in that sort of precarious situation. We know there are so many of these buildings just crumbled into rubble. And we heard, you know, stories of great rescues. We know that there are people that are trapped under the rubble that are being talked to as they're trying to move the rubble out of the way. The problem is, though, you can't move a lot of these heavy stuff with your hands. You need heavy equipment. We've seen farmer's tractors pulling away rubble as well. That's the real challenge here, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Barbie Nadeau, reporting live from near the epicenter of that earthquake in the central part of Italy. Thanks so much.

On to politics now Donald Trump says he is open to, quote, "softening" his stance on immigration just two days after denying he was changing any part of his policy.

[09:05:08] This coming the same week Trump postponed a planned immigration speech, as his campaign says he's working to fine-tune his proposals.

CNN's Jessica Schneider is with me now with more on this. Good morning.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Donald Trump still not giving any details about what may be a retreat from hard line immigration stance. Instead, he rallied in Austin attacking Hillary Clinton on two fronts, what he says is her lax stance on immigration and the topic de jure, the Clinton Foundation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is impossible to figure out where the Clinton Foundation ends and the State Department begins.

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Donald Trump honing his rally cry attacking Hillary Clinton and her family's name sake foundation.

TRUMP: The Clintons set up a business to profit from public office. SCHNEIDER: Trump seizing on a new report by the Associated Press that

claims more than 50 percent of the private citizens Hillary Clinton met with during her tenure as secretary of state were donors to the Clinton Foundation.

TRUMP: This is corruption. And this is why I have called for a special prosecutor.

SCHNEIDER: The Clinton campaign mincing no words in denouncing the AP's report, disputing the findings in a statement, saying, "This story relies on utterly flawed data. It cherry picked a limited subset of Secretary Clinton's schedule to give a distorted portrayal of how often she crossed paths with individuals connected to charitable donations to the Clinton Foundation. The data does not account for more than half of her tenure as secretary and it omits more than 1700 meetings she took with world leaders."

The State Department also releasing a statement saying it's entirely within the law that individuals, including those who have donated to political campaigns, make contact or have meetings with officials in the administration.

This as Trump confirms he may consider softening his hard line stance on immigration, allowing some law-abiding undocumented immigrants to remain in the U.S.

TRUMP: There certainly can be a softening because we're not looking to hurt people. We want people. We have some great people in this country.

SCHNEIDER: This is a major reversal from his key campaign proposal to round up and deport all 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.

TRUMP: They've got to go out.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: But how do you do it in a practical way? You really think you can round up 11 million people?

TRUMP: You know what? At some point, we're going to try getting them back, the good ones. 11 million people in this country that came in illegally, they will go out.

SCHNEIDER: At a rally in Texas, the billionaire did not back off from another campaign promise, that wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

TRUMP: We are going to build the wall. And who's going to pay for the wall?

CROWD: Mexico.

SCHNEIDER: Trump planning to meet with Latino and African-American activists on Thursday as he also continues his pitch to minority voters.

TRUMP: I say this to the African-American community, give Donald Trump a chance. We will turn it around. We will make your streets safe so when you walk down the street, you don't get shot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER: Donald Trump still harping on those same lines about inner city crime that have raised eyebrows. His campaign, though, pledging that outreach will continue. In fact, RNC chair Reince Priebus making clear that Trump wants to go after every minority vote in this country -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Jessica Schneider reporting live for us this morning. Thanks so much.

I'm also joined this morning by Sheriff Joe Arpaio or Maricopa County in Arizona, one of Donald Trump's earlier supporters of both his candidacy and his hard line immigration stance. Welcome, sir.

SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO, MARICOPA COUNTRY, ARIZONA: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Good morning, Sheriff. Mr. Trump said, quote, "We're going to follow the law. We have very, very strong laws in this country." You are in favor of toughening our immigration laws. Are you disappointed in Mr. Trump's remarks?

ARPAIO: No, I'm not disappointed. You know I supported him from day one about the wall and cracking down on illegal immigration. I still do. The laws are complicated. He is going to, I'm sure, study that law and he's going to follow the law, and see where it takes us on enforcing the illegal immigration problem that we have.

COSTELLO: But what about this --

ARPAIO: That's been around.

COSTELLO: What about this notion, sir, that Donald Trump is opening to softening his stance? What do you think that means? And should he soften his stance when it comes to immigration?

ARPAIO: I don't know about softening the stance. He is going to meet with the minority groups. He is a great negotiator. He is a great guy. He has a great -- so why not meet with the people and explain what the -- how he feels and maybe negotiate and see how they feel. There is nothing wrong with that, whether it is illegal immigration, private business or anything else.

COSTELLO: So it would be --

ARPAIO: So I'm glad that he's going to meet with those people.

COSTELLO: It would be OK with you if he didn't deport all of those 11 million undocumented immigrants that are in the country now?

[09:10:08] ARPAIO: Well, we'll have to see what happens. We'll have to see what the laws are. You have many laws. You have visas and you have work permits.

COSTELLO: You know more than anyone what the laws are. So you tell me.

ARPAIO: Well, you know, the laws are there, but it's complicated. This is very complicated when you talk about illegal immigration. Talk about visas, over extending your visas. Work permits. So why not look at it? I'm not saying we should give guys -- the people here a pass, but let's talk to them, let's negotiate with them, and let's enforce the law. If it's against the law to be here illegally, then you enforce the law. That's how simple it is.

COSTELLO: See, this sounds like a new softer Sheriff Joe to me.

ARPAIO: A new what?

COSTELLO: A softer Sheriff Joe to me.

ARPAIO: Softer?

COSTELLO: Yes.

ARPAIO: I just said you enforce the laws. If you come here illegally, you enforce the laws. We got 10,000 people in my jail that were turned over to ICE and they're here illegally for following different types of crimes. And by the way, 39 percent come back to the same jail. So those people, even here with criminal activity, are let out the back door. So you have to have priorities. Maybe you have to go after them and get them deported when they violate our state laws. That's priority number one.

And if you build up the economy, if there are no jobs here, they'll self-deport any way, all those that are here.

COSTELLO: They'll self-deport. Let's go back to this notion of Donald Trump possibly softening his tone on immigration. Mr. Trump once talked of a deportation force. Now he says he will pursue President Obama's policy with more energy. And just to clarify for my viewers, in the last fiscal year, the Obama administration deported 235,413 people. Since President Obama took office in 2008, 2.8 million people have been deported mostly from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

Do those numbers prove that the president's policies are working, as Mr. Trump said?

ARPAIO: It is how you play the game and add the figures up. I believe that when Bush was the president, he didn't take credit for deportation. When you come across, you kick them back over. This time around, with this administration, they're taking credit, when they remove, or they catch them at the border and send them back, they're taking credit as a deportation. So there's ways to --

COSTELLO: So you're saying the numbers aren't real?

ARPAIO: I'm not saying that. I'm saying it's how you figure it out, compared with the past administration. The statistics I'm talking about. COSTELLO: So Mr. Trump said that Obama's policies are working, the

laws are working when it comes to deporting people who should not be in this country. Do you agree with that?

ARPAIO: Look, first of all, they shouldn't be coming into the country to begin with. We should not even have to talk about deportation if you catch them at the border and send them back where they came from.

COSTELLO: No, but there are 11 million people here.

ARPAIO: I don't know what Mr. Trump -- well, you know, we could argue 11 million, 10 million, there's always seems to be 11 million. Nothing ever seems to change when you look at statistics. But I will say that I stand by him. And he is going to obey the law. He's going to crack down on illegal immigration. So let's look and see what happens.

COSTELLO: Do you think that if Mr. Trump softens his stance on the people -- the undocumented immigrants that are here in this country, that he'll also soften his stance on building the wall and making Mexico pay for it?

ARPAIO: You know, I -- you know, I spent 35 years in Mexico City and the U.S. at the top official and sheriff. I think I know where Mexico is and I know about the border. What's wrong with the wall? I like the wall even more now. You know why? Because all the drugs from Mexico are coming into our country and destroying our young people and now you have terrorists. The wall is more needed now than ever before. The wall will be built and I hope it is going to be successful. If they don't want to pay for it, then take away their foreign aid. That's the way to pay for it.

COSTELLO: So if Mr. Trump would soften his stance on the wall that would change your perhaps strong support for Mr. Trump?

ARPAIO: I'm going to support Donald Trump from the beginning to the end. You know, he can change whatever he wants, I'd still support him. He'll make a great president. And once again, he'll be able to negotiate, get things done in Congress and dealing in international leaders.

[09:15:00] COSTELLO: Sheriff Joe, I have to ask you about this. You're possibly facing contempt of court charges for ignoring court orders to halt your officers racial profiling of Latinos.

Why haven't you obeyed the court order?

ARPAIO: You know, I'm not going to talk about it other than to say that the Obama and Eric Holder, 100 days into office, started this investigation. Here we are today, with the ACLU and everybody else, still going after this situation.

So, I think I will say this is just a referral. There is no criminal charges. I look forward to someone else looking at the situation.

COSTELLO: But there could be, if you're found guilty of contempt of court charges. There could be criminal charges, right?

ARPAIO: Well, I'm very comfortable. Let's see what happens. There isn't, and we'll look forward and there will be an aggressive appeal, believe me. I'm not going to get into the courts right now, judiciary system. Let's see what happens.

COSTELLO: All right. Sheriff Joe Arpaio, thank you so much for joining me this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Republicans --

ARPAIO: Thank you.

COSTELLO: You're welcome.

Republicans attacking the Clinton Foundation from all sides amid a new report. But the Clinton camp not backing down. Their response, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:20:22] COSTELLO: Hillary Clinton is still sitting on top of the polls, but her family's foundation could prove to be her Achille's heel. Republicans are on the attack, and the ammo they're using comes right from the mainstream media, "The Associated Press."

"The A.P." is reporting more than 50 percent of the private citizens that Hillary Clinton met with during her tenure as secretary of state were donors to the Clinton Foundation.

Not proof of any wrongdoing, but certainly enough to raise questions.

Joel Benenson is Clinton's chief strategist and defended her meeting with donors this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOEL BENENSON, CHIEF STRATEGIST, HILLARY FOR AMERICA: But what I know is that people donated to this foundation because of the work the foundation was doing around the world. No one is contesting that. So, is it wrong for a secretary of state to meet with people who are committed to causes of saving lives around the world, when the Department of State is doing that same work? I don't think so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So, let's talk about this. With me now, Edward Espinoza, executive director of Progress Texas, a Hillary Clinton supporter, and former DNC super delegate, and Danny Sabato, director of the center for politics at the University of Virginia.

Welcome to both of you.

Edward, "USA Today" is calling for Mrs. Clinton to shutter the foundation, asserting if she doesn't, quote, "she boosts Trump's presidential campaign and if she is elected, opens herself up to the same kind of pay-to-play charges that she was subject to as secretary of state."

So, Edward, why don't the Clintons just give it up?

EDWARD ESPINOZA, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: Well, I think it is important to keep in mind what the Clinton Foundation does, and what's its mission is. This is a humanitarian, seeking to eradicate HIV and AIDS spread in places like Africa, also to reduce the cost of things like malaria prevention, and those are important things.

You shutter this organization, you shutter the prospect of ending things like that in developing nations. That's important to keep in mind. So, whether or not that --

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: But, Edward, couldn't the Clinton Foundation just transfer over to something like the Gates Foundation and let the Gates Foundation handle during the duration of her presidency if she is elected?

ESPINOZA: So that's a different question now. You said should it happen should she should it down right away. As to what happens between now and the election, I don't think it should be shut down, but clearly there should be distance there.

As to what happens when she becomes president, yes, I think there should be distance as well, Clinton, President Clinton has said he would distance himself. He would stop raising money for the organization, and those clear lines would be drawn.

In fact, I think one of the things they said was that they would like to keep the standards in place by the Obama administration, creating additional layers between outside entities and government officials.

So, what happens post election, yeah, there should be separation, but right now, it would be hasty to move too quickly based on all these nations that rely on that support.

COSTELLO: OK, so, Larry, air hearing the Democrats line of defense, right, the foundation does incredible things for people around the world. And it is true that it does, but also these very serious questions arising around it. So, is this an effective argument?

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CENTER FOR POLITICS: Not really. Look, there is no question that the foundation does some good things. But as you suggested, Carol, this foundation either now or after the election should Hillary Clinton win, must spin off its good programs to other foundations. It should go into hibernation or shut down for the period of Hillary Clinton's presidency.

You know, people on Hillary Clinton's staff and in the Clinton campaign saw this coming 100 miles away. They were talking about it even a year ago. And, of course, nothing happened. And now, they've got a major problem on their hands.

They're very lucky to have an opponent like Donald Trump who has an even longer list of problems. That's what is protecting Hillary Clinton.

But, you know, for those of us who watch the Clintons for a long time, it is kind of reassuring in a way, because they're so consistent. I remember these same questions was a Clinton foundation, during Bill Clinton's presidency, about if not pay for play, then pay for access. It is the same old story.

COSTELLO: So, Edward, here's the thing. Hillary Clinton has won over a lot of Bernie Sanders supporters, but the longer this drags on and the more allegations that Republicans throw at Hillary Clinton, won't young voters say you know what, it's just the same old same old, she hasn't changed. Why should we believe Bernie, even?

[09:25:00] Because she hasn't changed. She has proved it.

Doesn't she run into a possible falling off of support from those sanders supports who have joined her?

ESPINOZA: Well, I wasn't a Bernie person, so I can't say for sure. But I think one of the things that's important to realize here, the difference between the problems that Donald Trump has had with his connections to Russia and Putin, through his advisors and such, versus a humanitarian organization like the Clinton Foundation, the mission, the scope of these relationships are very different.

I think that many of the Bernie Sanders supporters, many Democrats, many independent voters understand the mission of humanitarian organizations. It is important not to mischaracterize the nature of the organization. Many of the people who give to these foundations are people who are involved in these type of relief efforts and humanitarian efforts all over the place. I think that that is an important distinction.

COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. Larry Sabato, Edward Espinoza, thanks to you both.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, another Russian hack attack. Their latest target, "The New York Times."

I'll be right back.

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