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Presidential Campaign and Race; Aftermath of the Italian Earthquake; Controversial Pesticide Raises Concerns. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired August 25, 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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[09:32:16] ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump is doubling down on efforts to attract the votes of minorities this morning. In just about half an hour, he'll hold a round table which black and Latino fellows from the Republican Leadership Institute, which works to boost the number of conservative activists and policy experts nationwide. That meeting comes as Trump is signaling a shift in his signature policy initiative, immigration. Trump telling Fox News that there will be no citizenship or amnesty, but he would, quote, "work with" the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants already in the United States. That stands in contrast to his vow last fall to launch a so-called deportation force. All of this as Trump and Clinton trade jabs over who would be the better president for minorities in America.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Hillary Clinton is a bigot who sees people of color only as votes.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: He is taking a hate movement mainstream. He's brought it into his campaign. You know, someone who's questioned the citizenship of the first African-American president, who has courted white supremacist, who's been sued for housing discrimination against communities of color, is someone who is, you know, very much pedaling bigotry and prejudice and paranoia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Joining me now, Pastor Mark Burns, who is a Trump supporter, just outside Trump Tower there, getting ready for that meeting.

Nice to have you with us this morning, pastor.

PASTOR MARK BURNS, TRUMP SUPPORTER: So nice to be here. Thanks for having me.

HILL: We heard -- we heard Donald Trump last night calling Hillary Clinton a bigot. Is the name-calling the most effective way to go after different voting blocs, by simply saying, look, your other main option here, she's a bigot, so you should vote for me? How is that messaging going to work?

BURNS: Well, I really think it's so exciting -- I mean it's such an exciting time right now within the Trump campaign and the -- there's so much electricity that's going on. Watching how African-Americans across this country are now beginning to respond to Mr. Trump, albeit you still have some that -- that -- that are not standing with Donald Trump, but just to see the excitement in this country of more and more African-Americans that are standing up and saying, I'm supporting Donald Trump. I understand what the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton has done for African-Americans. Albeit we are happy that we've elected the first black man to become president of these United States of America, but we also look back at many of our urban centers in our country. Many that are still on welfare. Many that are still unemployed. That we've been used for so long by the Democratic Party, that now we have to have a voice. And many, many African-Americans across this country are waking up saying, Mr. Trump, we may not have liked how you said certain things, but we do believe that you're a winner, and we do believe you won't use us like Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party has been using the African-American vote for all these years, and yet we're still not where we deserve to be, as the great people that we are, as black Americans.

[09:35:34] HILL: So as you point out, many people may not like the way things have been said in the past or the rhetoric. Your words, you said, there's so much electricity and so much excitement. But where is that coming from because we're still hearing some of the rhetoric. So we're hearing the word "bigot" be used, as opposed to going through and saying, here's why this policy doesn't work. Here's my plan. Here's my policy. So where is that -- where is that coming from?

BURNS: Well, you know -- well, you know, the electricity and the excitement is coming from the simple fact that Mr. Trump is proving to the whole world, is breaking the myth that media and others have created, this false narrative that Donald Trump does not care about African-Americans, when people like myself, Katrina Pierson, who is the national spokeswoman for the campaign, the national spokeswoman. She's not some side hoodie (ph). No, she is the main girl, the main woman that's speaking and has been speaking on behalf of Donald Trump. This is the great narrative that Donald Trump doesn't care about African-Americans.

HILL: So what are the specific plans, though, pastor? Well, the -- well, part of -- part of the --

BURNS: The plan is -- listen, Donald Trump has been --

HILL: The other crisis, though, I will say to your point, part of the criticism, a new talk about the myth that's been portrayed in your eyes by Democrats, by the media, as you said, but part of the criticism for Donald Trump is that he's painting the entire African- American community with a very broad brush --

BURNS: Sure. Sure.

HILL: Basically saying, you all live in poverty. You don't have access to any education. You're not going to go anywhere. That is clearly not true when you look at African-Americans across this country. Just like any group, you can't put everybody in one box. So how is he helping to dispel a myth when he's using that rhetoric? BURNS: Well, you know, and that's so good -- that is so good -- well,

let me just say this. When Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton is speaking to Americans about jobs and economy and education, when they're speaking to America, they don't breakdown whether or not that is a white Italian-American, or a white, you know, an a white Russian- American, or they don't break down the ethnicity. They just talk to white people. OK, in other words, they just talk to Americans, OK?

So Democratic Party has been pandering after the black community for years, breaking, dividing and conquer and black people are not really getting anything out of it like they deserve. When Donald Trump speaks, first of all, we got to stop pandering after these groups and start just being Americans. The moment we get rid of these adjectives that say I'm a black American, I'm African-American, you're a Latino American. Yes, we are proud of our heritage. I'm proud to be a black man. But I'm more so proud to be an American. And it is that moment where we've got to begin to change those words and just start being proud that what happens in your community happens in mine, even though we might be different color of skin. I care about you because, first of all, you're an American, and we Americans stick together. That's the creed -- one of the creeds of the military. We leave no man behind, no woman behind. And that's the attitude that we got to start having. Other than that, we're just talking a lot of stuff and nothing is happening. That's what Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton has been doing, talking a whole bunch of things, going to the black communities, making sure the optics look good --

HILL: And that's a point -- that's a point many Americans --

BURNS: But nothing happens.

HILL: that is a point many Americans have made across all demographic lines, as you point out. But we do have to ask you specifically, and we're very tight on time, so I apologize. Are there specific policies from Donald Trump that could help some of the African-Americans in this country who perhaps are in underserved countries. "The Washington Post" --

BURNS: Absolutely.

HILL: A recent analysis shows eliminating Obamacare. That could lead to more uninsured African-Americans. He doesn't support raising the federal minimum wage to $12 an hour, but that could boost wages for approximately 35 percent of African-Americans. So where is he bringing in policies that make sense for African-American voters for them to throw their weight behind him?

BURNS: I'm so glad you asked that question because Donald Trump has been dealing with issue like I just said that are not impacting just one race, but the human race. Poverty knows no color. Poverty don't care whether you're African-American or Hispanic American or Apalachi (ph) or white or Asian. It doesn't care. Poverty comes after everyone.

[09:40:08] Donald Trump has been dealing with issues that are going to directly impact the African-American community. We're talking about $2.1 trillion that is made overseas that does not impact our communities. And if Donald Trump does what his economic plan will say, he is saying, I'm going to take that $2.1 trillion and I'm going to bring that back here in America. And do you not believe that the urban centers of our country, the urban communities, will not be impacted by putting the power back into the hands of the small businesses, where 25 percent of small franchise businesses are African-American. So when be empower the small businesses, we're empowering the communities.

HILL: Pastor Burns, I'm going to have to cut you off before they cut us off.

Sir, we're going to have to leave it there. Appreciate your time. We look forward to hearing a little bit more about what comes out of that meeting today.

BURNS: Thank you so much.

HILL: Still to come, devastated towns on edge. Aftershocks in Italy, signs of life emerge from the rubble.

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[09:45:13] HILL: A race against the clock in Italy after a massive earthquake levels towns. It's now been 36 hours since a powerful quake struck. And the critical window to find anyone under the ruble alive is closing. The death toll stands at 241. So there are some moments of joy. Survivors freed. A ten-year-old girl you see trapped here for more than 17 hours. You can see there as she clings with a rescuer bringing her to safety.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is in one of the hardest hit towns.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDRIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Racing against time as a series of aftershocks continue to shake central Italy. Rescue workers scrambling for a second day to find survivors after a devastating 6.2 magnitude earthquake.

Amid the rubble blanketing the town of Amatrice, 90 miles northeast of Rome, signs of life.

"Are you able to breathe," the rescue worker asks. The desperate answer, "only a bit."

A little girl, found alive under piles of broken concrete. Those rescuers saw a tiny foot, then a leg. In the video, a man seems to be talking to the girl, as someone repeatedly says the name, "Julia." Moments later, covered in gray dust, they pull her out.

Joined by bystanders, the Italian Red Cross ratcheting up rescue efforts, as they face the threat of continued tremors.

BARBIE NADU, CNN (ph): The problem, of course, until now, has been access.

PLEITGEN: CNN's Barbie Nadu was broadcasting live from nearby Saleto (ph), with rescue workers on the roof of a damaged home, suddenly there's a roar.

NADU: Geez.

PLEITGEN: The earthquake's epicenter surrounded by mountains and historic brick buildings, causing a deadly combination of landslides and easily collapsible homes. Before and after photos from Google Earth show a town reduced to rubble.

EMMA TUCKER, BRITISH SURVIVOR: The house was trembling, shaking. It got more and more intense. It felt like someone had put a bulldozer into the house to try to knock it down.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN: And, Erica, one of the things that's making that race against time that the authorities are in right now even more difficult is the aftershocks that we continue to feel here, especially right here in the epicenter of Amatrice. It was only about an hour ago that we had a massive aftershock here in this town. Actually, another building in the town collapsed after that. And, of course, in a lot of these buildings, a lot of the rescue workers are at work. So they were all scrambling to safety. But, of course, all of that reduces the chance to find survivors here in the rubble, in what is already this race against time as they believe the window to be able to survive, if a building is collapsed on you and by some chance you got into some sort of pocket or some sort of crevasse is about 72 hours. We're now 36 hours back. So time really is running out.

HILL: Fred Pleitgen for us this morning. Fred, thank you.

For ways you can help quick victims, visit cnn.com/impact.

Still to come, it is supposed to help stop the spread of Zika. Now a controversial pesticide being sprayed right here in the U.S., though, is raising new fears.

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[09:53:01] HILL: A controversial pesticide being used to stop the spread of Zika in the U.S. is now raising major concerns. And here's why. There's concern the chemical known as Naled has been linked to behavioral issues in children and that it could be harmful to unborn babies. The CDC, however, insists the pesticide is safe.

CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE) is spreading in south Florida and the stakes are high. When pregnant women become infected with the virus, their babies can be born with devastating birth defects. That's why health authorities have sprayed a pesticide from airplanes to kill the mosquitos that carry Zika. But there's concern that the chemical being sprayed, called Naled, may also be harmful to unborn babies. DR. BARRY RYAN, ROLLINS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, EMORY UNIVERSITY:

It's essentially a neurotoxin and can result in unborn children in particular having neurodevelopmental problems.

COHEN: The European Union has banned Naled insecticide. And in Puerto Rico, where Zika has been rampant, people have demonstrated against Naled, a type of organophosphate. The mayor of San Juan filed a lawsuit against the Centers for Disease Control to prevent spraying saying, "there has been recent findings linking the presence of organophosphates and behavior problems in babies whose mothers were exposed to this type of chemical during their pregnancy."

The CDC and the Environmental Protection Agency says Naled is safe and the best option for killing these mosquitos. The CDC points out that Naled has been used extensively for years in the United States. That just two tablespoons are used over the size of a football field. "This small amount does not pose a health risk to people," according to the CDC.

So who's right? Will Naled help stop babies from developing birth defects, or could it harm them? Experts say dozens of studies have shown that when pregnant women are exposed to Naled, their children are more likely to develop behavior problems. But for the most part, those studies were done in agriculture areas, where families lived near spraying for many years. They say the risks are much smaller in Florida, where the Zika sprayings have been done only four times.

[09:55:18] Dr. Barry Ryan at Emory University has done some of that research and he supports the spraying.

RYAN: Zika's a real problem and children who suffer from this would not be able to cope with the real world. They will never recover from this.

COHEN: He said Naled can carry risks but not nearly as big as the risk posed Zika.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: Now, here in the Wynwood section of Miami, where I am right now, they finished up four rounds of aerial pesticide spraying last week. There's no plans to do any more, but they might have to if more people here come down with Zika.

Erica.

HILL: Elizabeth Cohen for us this morning. Elizabeth, thank you.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM begins after a quick break.

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