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NEW DAY SUNDAY

Trump: Clinton Is Unhinged, Unbalanced; Trump Trails Hillary Clinton In New Poll; Clinton Releases Video Questioning Trump's Russia Ties; Syrian Swimmer Wins Her Heat; WikiLeaks Backs Off Trump Hack Claim; Muslim-American Olympian Makes History; Miami Officer Battles With Would-be Arsonist. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired August 7, 2016 - 06:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:00:11] CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to Sunday. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you. Your NEW DAY starts right now.

We're starting with Donald Trump back on message. He is mocking Hillary Clinton at a rally, this happened yesterday, questioning her mental health and saying he has a winning temperament.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She is a totally unhinged person. She's unbalanced. I've always had a great temperament. You know, I win. I have a winning temperament.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Now the latest polls show he's not winning among voters. New "Washington Post"/ABC poll released just a little while ago shows Clinton and Kaine with an eight-point lead over Trump and Pence. CNN's Kristen Holmes has the detail.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN PRODUCER: Christi and Victor, following what has been described as his worst week yet, Donald Trump stuck largely to his talking points in New Hampshire where a recent poll has him down 15 points to Hillary Clinton in this crucial battleground state.

He did what Republicans were hoping he would do last week, go after Hillary Clinton, hit Obama, and focus on the things that are important to his supporters, including immigration and fighting terrorism.

Trump also used Hillary Clinton's own words against her during an interview last week. She said that she had short circuited when asked about her e-mails. Let's listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: In front of some friendly reporters, she short circuited. She used the term, short circuited. She took a literal short circuit in the brain and she's got problems. I mean, if we had real people this would be a real problem for her. But I think that the people of this country don't want somebody that's going to short circuit up here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now whether or not this is the pivot the Republican Party was hoping for remains to be seen. During the rally in New Hampshire, Donald Trump praised the GOP Chairman Reince Priebus even posting a photo of the two of them on Instagram beforehand as he aims to promote their relationship while trying to bring the party together.

Now noticeably missing from the rally was New Hampshire s Senator Kelly Ayotte, who Trump had endorsed on Friday -- Victor and Christie.

BLACKWELL: All right, Kristin, thanks so much. Let's bring in Scottie Nell Hughes, we have her by phone, CNN political commentator, political editor of rightalerts.com, and a Donald Trump supporter, and also A. Scott Bolden, former chairman of the Washington, D.C. Democratic Party. Good morning to both of you.

So Scott, let me start with you since we have in front of the camera, your response to what we're hearing now from Donald Trump saying that she has a short circuit in the brain and that she's not all there?

A.SCOTT BOLDEN, FORMER CHAIRMAN WASHINGTON, D.C. DEMOCRATIC PARTY: You know, Donald Trump's attacks are always so personal and come off personal. If you look at the "Washington"/ABC poll, not only do 60 percent of the voters believed that he's unfit to be president that doesn't have the temperament.

But they also believe he goes too far when attacking whoever he's attacking. Here I think it works against him when he's personally attacking Hillary Clinton even outside of his base, because most of the women voters in that poll show that he goes too far.

This is a historical election. Again, he can't grow beyond his base with these attacks. All the polls are showing that his message in these attacks just simply aren't resonating outside of his base supporters.

BLACKWELL: Let's go in some of the internals, one that stands out is that still two-thirds after the Democratic National Convention and all of those character witnesses, namely Chelsea Clinton coming out and talking about the former secretary, still 66 percent of those respondents believe she is too willing to bend the rules. What should the campaign be doing to turn those numbers around?

BOLDEN: Well, I think it's going to be hard to turn those numbers around. I think both candidates have high negatives in this area, Trump's in most polls being higher, and they've got to live with those.

But here's the thing. The other variables on temperament, fitness, ability to handle even trade quite frankly, taxes, terrorism, Clinton is beating him in these polls because his message of attacking and saying I can do it, the attacks on Khan, the infighting with the Republicans are simply not resonating.

And he can't win with those 14 million voters that he got in the primary. He's got to grow. Even if he's on message, that message isn't growing beyond those 14 million voters.

BLACKWELL: All right, Scottie Nell Hughes, let me bring you in. I want your take on why Donald Trump is now questioning the mental stability of Hillary Clinton.

[06:05:10]Let me say before we get to your answer here, when anti- Trump forces were doing this a week ago we questioned them as well. Why is this appropriate?

SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it's because he's just throwing back at them what they've thrown at him. If you want to sit there and say that either of these folks have any mental instability, that's not only disrespecting the candidate themselves, but the people who are supporting them.

BLACKWELL: So you believe Donald Trump should not do what he's doing now?

HUGHES: I honestly don't agree either side should be casting that at each other. I think both sides are trying -- we saw a whole slew -- in fact you have representative who actually started a petition to question Donald Trump's mental stability.

Those sorts of things just don't any place at this stage of the game. I think they're very petty. I think right now what you risk doing by having this type of conversation is you're risking millions of people who support them in the past and who are supporting them now.

It's a very dangerous game. It looks like a bunch of children in a play box just throwing sand at each other instead of actually questioning them on substance and policy and questions and discussions that we should be having. This is just a distraction.

BLACKWELL: All right, let's go into another internal -- it doesn't look good for Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton now leading among women 58-35. That's a 23-point gap. There is no way that Donald Trump can win in November with a 23-pointap among women. How does he change that?

HUGHES: Well, it's simple. It's talking about the narrative, some of the things that Ivanka brought up in her speech. But let's remember, this is not just a Donald Trump problem.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you, some of the things that Ivanka brought up in her speech -- you're talking about equal pay, paid family leave, those were not policies that were introduced by the candidate himself.

HUGHES: Not yet. And I doubt that he would have allowed those things to be spoken from the stage.

BLACKWELL: It's 93 days left. Is he going to introduce those policies? HUGHES: Well, we'll find out. He's giving a great economic speech starting tomorrow. But you know, those are the things -- you know, if one thing, though -- the track record has been with the Democrats. They have said all of those things in the past and have not been able to accomplish them or they say equal pay for women and the track record of Hillary Clinton, she did not do that in her own office, with her own folks.

So people are looking for action and so Mr. Trump right now is being realistic in saying I will propose and when our country can afford them. You know, Hillary Clinton has got this huge --

BLACKWELL: Wait a minute. This is the gap here. I'm confused. Are you saying that the campaign should and will introduce these topics of equal pay and family leave?

HUGHES: I think these are topics that --

BLACKWELL: Or he shouldn't because the country can't afford them?

HUGHES: I think these topics should be discussed. I think we should also look at realistically instead of sitting here -- we're not the Green Party. We're not promising unicorns and sunshine and rainbows and not paying for it.

I think they should be topics that should be a part of the conversation Republicans are having because we have not had it. Hence why you had Hillary throw the whole binder reminder this past week.

BLACKWELL: If you're going to have the conversation without proposing them, what's the point of having the conversation?

HUGHES: Because it's something to start looking at. Instead of Hillary Clinton throwing out billions and billions of dollars of this added on surplus of government expenditures, let's make sure that we actually can afford them first. Let's start the conversation amongst the Republican Party.

The Republican Party has had an issue with women for a long time and so it's up to the party as a whole as well as Mr. Trump to sit there and start that conversation.

BLACKWELL: Scott.

BOLDEN: If I may, we gladly as Democrats own the issues of equal pay for women, of strong healthcare for women --

HUGHES: We don't prove it.

BOLDEN: We've got a long track record of that. If I may, you want to talk about equal pay for women and healthcare and healthcare for children. We own that. It's in our platform and agenda. There is nothing really to talk about.

And I'm shocked quite frankly that a supporter of Donald Trump, a female supporter of Donald Trump says we need to talk about these things but we ought not necessarily do them or demand them.

That's why his message is not resonating not just with women but in this country. That's why he's down by ten or 15 points. It's living roof right now based on this current debate we're having right here with you on CNN.

BLACKWELL: Scott, Scottie, stay with us. We're going to continue this conversation.

HUGHES: It's paying for it too. That's the issue.

BLACKWELL: OK, we're going to pick where we left off right here. We're going to take a quick break and bring you back to talk about this new video coming out from the Clinton campaign.

WHITFIELD: Also, a newly released poll suggests a traditional red state could become a battleground. It could become blue. We'll talk about what that could do to this whole race as well.

And ahead for the Rio games, women's gymnastics and the USA women's basketball team, which has not lost in international competition since 2006.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:13:12]

BLACKWELL: Welcome back. We've got our panel here to pick up where we left off, A. Scott Bolden, a Hillary Clinton supporter, and Scottie Nell Hughes, a Donald Trump supporter.

And Scottie, I just want to kind of focus in on the part of the conversation we had. You mentioned as I brought up this 23-point gap between Clinton and Trump in the latest poll, 58-35 percent.

You suggested that talking about some of the issues that Ivanka Donald Trump brought up at the convention a couple of weeks would help. What she said is that, "My father will fight for equal pay for equal work and I will fight for this too alongside him. He will focus on making quality child care affordable and accessible for all."

Those are not proposals that have been introduced by Donald Trump. But you say simply talking about them, but not actually proposing them, would bring women into his camp. How so?

HUGHES: Because if you sit there and you propose these things and you don't realized how you're actually going to be to spend and afford them, that's very irresponsible. But these are conversations that the Republican Party has not even had in the past.

You're looking at the Democrats right now and Hillary Clinton can sit there and promise the world, but unless you are willing to be able --

BOLDEN: We've lived that over the years. We own that issue.

HUGHES: Let's talk about this. You've sat there and said about the payment for healthcare for women and children. Let's look at what Obamacare is doing right now. You've got Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, United, Illinois, Connecticut, all of these state exchanges are starting to go bankrupt.

Large insurance companies are pulling out. There is a reason why because states can't afford what this government has forced them to.

BLACKWELL: You introduced the idea of simply talking about them without proposing them. How is that any more than pandering if you're not going to actually propose this?

[06:15:05]HUGHES: Because it's a conversation to start and I think that is something that Republican (inaudible) but in the end --

BLACKWELL: Where should the conversation go? What's the goal here? Is the goal to fund the quality healthcare? Is the goal to support equal pay, to, as Ivanka Trump says, he will focus on making quality child care affordable. If you're not going to propose anything to do that, what's the definition of focus?

HUGHES: Let's see if he proposes it. Let's see actually how we're going to afford it. We're not Democrats. We don't throw out these things and say let the government take care of it. Let's actually work at to paying for it. As I said, these are conversations that traditionally is not part of --

BLACKWELL: But it seems that's exactly what's happening here. It's literally being thrown out as a topic without any policy proposal to support it.

HUGHES: Well, let's see what actually goes with it. Like I said, I don't think she would have thrown it out there. It's not a discussion that down the road he's going to have. But in the end, it comes down to the economy, providing for your family, and protecting your family.

BLACKWELL: Scott.

BOLDEN: In 2016, the Republican Party is actually wanting to start to talk about equal pay for women, healthcare choices for women.

HUGHES: Equal pay for equal work. There's a difference.

BOLDEN: They want to start the discussion. We've not only had that discussion as Democrats. We've been living that discussion, which is why the majority of women in this country are backing Hillary Clinton.

The Republican Party are just simply out of touch on this issue and don't want to own it and want to make it some type of business issue that is part of a negotiation.

These issues are nonnegotiable for Hillary Clinton. That's why she's way ahead in several polls, all of the polls that we're looking at right now.

BLACKWELL: Scott, in the conversation about throwing something out there, I want you to look at this new Clinton campaign video release overnight talking about Donald Trump and Russia. Let's watch it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's one more reason why we're not seeing his tax returns, because he is deeply involved in dealing with Russia and oligarchs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is he getting money from Russia? Is his business built on Russian loans?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: That's a portion of the video that was released. And it ends with, as you saw, we'll let you guess. Is this, Scott, not the same type of innuendo that the Clinton campaign complained about from Sanders and said that campaign was guilty of in relation to the Wall Street speeches, just suggesting there's some quid pro quo, some connection, but never actually making one?

BOLDEN: Victor, I simply think that's that not the case. I think it is different here. Donald Trump has introduced Russia, his relationship or non-relationship with Putin. He's raised it in inviting them to look for 30,000 e-mails.

He has indicated that he does business and has investments with Russia and then denied it. And this video simply raises the very questions that Donald Trump has put into play.

By the way, these questions are being raised in that video by conservative columnists and conservative Republicans who want to know as well.

BLACKWELL: What's the suggestion here? To leave it at the end, we'll let you guess, I mean, if you have an accusation, what is the accusation?

BOLDEN: Well, Donald Trump has left us to guess. It's not the video or Hillary Clinton because when asked, he's been either inconsistent with his answers or he hasn't disclosed. For example, when asked about his tax returns, he's either inconsistent or won't answer and won't release his tax returns.

HUGHES: Here's the thing.

BOLDEN: Hold on. I think those ads are fair because he put the question in play. Now he ought to answer it in play. He hasn't done it. Those ads are merely raising the questions that have been raised with him.

BLACKWELL: Scottie, go ahead.

HUGHES: We don't have to guess about Hillary Clinton and her campaign's ties to Russia because they are facts. You've got John Podesta himself. Hillary's campaign made her sat on the border a small group of Russia, $35 million --

BOLDEN: What does that have to do with Hillary Clinton?

HUGHES: He forgot to disclose those on his financial forms.

BOLDEN: That's not Hillary Clinton.

HUGHES: You've got Uranium One (inaudible) where she had to actually be a part of a group with President Obama that had to approve the sale that went from Canada where now Russia own --

BLACKWELL: Now you're doing the same thing the ad did. If there's a direct accusation, what is that?

HUGHES: You look at $2.35 million dollars from the investors of Uranium One just magically showed up in the Clinton Global Foundation.

BOLDEN: That's not Hillary Clinton.

HUGHES: I showed Hillary $500,000 speech that got a personal thank you phone call from Putin himself to Bill Clinton. They are directly tied financially to Russia. And so for her to do is very dangerous --

[06:20:03]BOLDEN: Is that illegal or unlawful? My goodness.

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: We can't both talk at the same time. We've got to wrap it up. Scottie Nell Hughes and A. Scott Bolden, thank you both -- Christi.

PAUL: Making it lively on a Sunday morning.

BLACKWELL: Yes, indeed.

PAUL: We're going to have former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Green Party presidential candidate, Jill Stein, with us as well, in the next hour at 7 a.m. Eastern. And John Kasich is joining Jake Tapper on "STATE OF THE UNION," this morning 9:00 a.m. Eastern on here on CNN.

And day two of the Rio games, women's gymnastics, basketball, more U.S. swimming. Kristen Ledlow joining us this morning. Hey, Kristin.

KRISTEN LEDLOW, CNN SPORTS: Hey. Good to see you. The 19-year-old Katie Ledecky is set to make a splash in Rio. She's already bringing home one medal so we'll tell you how many more she could pick up as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: So on day one we saw one of the most inspiring stories of the Rio games. A year ago she was swimming for her life, now she's going for gold. Syrian swimmer, Usra Mardini, she's a member of the first ever Olympic refugee team and she won her heat yesterday's swimming, the 400 meter butterfly. We'll be following her through the games, of course.

Kristen Ledlow is joining us now. There are so --

WHITFIELD: Look at that face.

BLACKWELL: -- many stories here. That's one of the really inspiring ones we've seen so far and we're on day two.

[06:25:07]LEDLOW: Yes, that's my favorite part is those like few minutes before where you can root so hard for these athletes as they go. The 19-year-old Katie Ledecky has a shot to win five medals at the Rio games. She begins her quest for the three-individual gold medals later today.

Last night, Ledecky swam the 100 free style relay. The hussies ended up breaking the world record to win gold. Team USA settled for the silver. That was one of the three second place U.S. finishes in the first swimming finals.

Meantime, the most decorated athlete in Olympic history could actually hit the pool later today. Michael Phelps has accepted to swim in the men's four by 100 relay, begins his fifth Olympics. He has been part of that team at the last three games.

Team USA jumped out to a very quick lead in the medal counts after the first day of competition. You can take a look as Jenny Thrasher won the first gold in the air rifle and the U.S. won silver in the men's archery.

The United States finished the day with five total medals, tying Japan and China for the most. Speaking of China, after missing their first five shots the U.S. men's basketball team was dominant until the final buzzer.

That 57-point deficit was the largest for the USA since the dream team's opening game in 1992 beating Angola by 68. Kevin Durant led the way Saturday at 25 points. Carmelo Anthony marked yet another career milestone, playing in his 24th game. He now ties Lebron James and David Robinson for the most Olympic Games played for Team USA.

And all eyes on the women's gymnastics teams as they go for the gold later today. The three-time world champion, Simone Biles leads Team USA. That 19-year-old is expected to win five gold medals. The overwhelming favorite to be the breakout star of the Rio Olympics.

PAUL: That's a lot of pressure. They're expecting me to win five like one I can maybe --

LEDLOW: But five.

BLACKWELL: They're up to it. We're proud of them even if they don't bring home five.

PAUL: Amen.

BLACKWELL: Here's a question that the Clinton campaign of course is asking. Can they turn a traditionally red state, ruby red in recent elections, to blue? Hillary Clinton/Donald Trump battling over Georgia. What Democrats are hoping will give them the edge.

PAUL: Let's talk money just for a moment. Mortgage rates fell slightly this week. Here's your look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:31:30] PAUL: If you get to rise, you might as well shine, people. Welcome. Thirty-one minutes past the hour. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you this Sunday morning.

Donald Trump ramping up his attacks on Hillary Clinton as his poll numbers are still sinking. The Republican nominee lashed out at his rival in Windham, New Hampshire on Saturday. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Unstable Hillary Clinton -- and you saw that. Did you saw that where she basically short- circuited? She lacks the judgment, temperament and moral character -- moral character -- to lead this country. She's a dangerous liar. She is a totally unhinged person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: These latest barbs coming of another new poll shows that Clinton is beating him in a head to head matchup. This time 50 to 42 percent.

BLACKWELL: The Democrats are seizing on an opportunity to turn a traditionally red state blue. Right now Hillary Clinton is leading in the state of Georgia.

According to a poll conducted by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution she has a slim lead over Donald Trump in a head to head matchup, 44 to 40 percent. And she maintains a three-point lead in a four-way race with Trump and third party candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein.

Georgia has only voted for a Democratic presidential candidate three times since 1964. The last time was when Georgia voted for Secretary Clinton's husband in 1992 over George H.W. Bush. The Democrats are now hoping history will repeat itself come November.

A few weeks ago I spoke with the Democrats here in Georgia about how they plan to take the state.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: I think we'll win New York. I really do. I think we're going to Michigan. We're going to win Pennsylvania. We're going to win Florida.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump says he can scramble the electoral map.

TRUMP: We're going to win places that a lot of people say you're not going to win, that you can't win as a Republican you can't win.

BLACKWELL: And in this unprecedented, unpredictable election, the Democrats are increasingly optimistic they can win in some unexpected places too a few purple even some ruby red southern states.

Raul Alvarilla is political director for the Democratic National Committee.

RAUL ALVARILLA, DNC POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Now with Trump at the top of the Republican ticket, you know, we're going to make sure that we can play in as many states as we possibly can.

BLACKWELL: Starting with North Carolina where part of the Democratic strategy will be to capitalize on the fight over the so-called bathroom bill that requires people to use the public restroom that corresponds with the sex stated on their birth certificate. A law many say is discriminatory against transgender men and women.

ALVARILLA: So I think that will be a good opportunity for us to look at what the state legislatures are doing and how do we get more Democrats activated and needing to go out and vote.

BLACKWELL: Then Senator Barack Obama narrowly won North Carolina in 2008.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS: Thank you, North Carolina.

BLACKWELL: The last Democrat to win before Obama, Jimmy Carter in 1976. Now two leaders of the team that helped to deliver North Carolina for Democrats in '08 have moved on to Georgia.

Amanda Ford is the Georgia Dems new field director. Kendra Cotton is their new political director.

KENDRA COTTON, GEORGIA DEMOCRATIC PARTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Let me just show you we're not just drinking the Kool-Aid around here. There is a greater influx of African-Americans and Latinos who are not currently on the rolls who we are going to be actively trying to persuade to vote Democrat.

[06:35:09]

BLACKWELL (on camera): How do you transfer what happened in North Carolina specifically to Georgia?

AMANDA FORD, GEORGIA DEMOCRATIC PARTY FIELD DIRECTOR: I think what happened in North Carolina is people saw that we had the ability to win. So they brought the talent there. They brought the resources. We brought the volunteer capacity. We reached out to voters.

And it was a field win, because it was a very close margin. And that's how that translates here. The numbers show that we can win Georgia now. And it's going to take the field to get out there and do it.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): In 2008 Obama came within five points of winning Georgia. He would have been the first Democrat to take the state since Bill Clinton in 1992. A surrogate who Ford expects will be key in Georgia heading into November.

But despite changing demographics and a robust ground operation, a Democratic win in Georgia is far from certain. President Obama lost to Mitt Romney in 2012 by a larger margin than he did to John McCain in 2008. And the Democratic candidates for governor and Senate in the state both lost in 2014. However, state party leaders say they have what the others did not, Donald Trump.

COTTON: Who's at the top of the Republican ticket is basically like a noose around their neck right now in our eyes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Now, again, Clinton still has that uphill battle in Georgia. Both she and Trump have the same unfavorability rating, that important number, 58 percent for each. And the newspaper, AJC reports that a majority of Trump backers said they see their decision as a vote against Clinton as opposed to vote for Donald Trump.

PAUL: Well, WikiLeaks is backing away from a claim made by founder Julian Assange. Brian Stelter has that story.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes, WikiLeaks definitely an X factor in this election. We'll show you what Julian Assange is saying and why WikiLeaks is back tracking from it right after the break.

BLACKWELL: Plus, a U.S. athlete is making history in Rio. She's the first American Muslim woman to wear a hijab while vying for the gold.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IBTIHAJ MUHAMMAD, OLYMPIC SABRE FENCING, UNITED STATES: I wish that it wasn't the case. I wish there had been tons of women before me who had achieved this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:43]

PAUL: Forty minutes past the hour this morning. And WikiLeaks is backing away from claims it's trying to hack Donald Trump's tax returns.

Now let's see what happened when the site's founder spoke with Bill Maher Friday night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL MAHER, HOST, "REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER": Why don't you hack into Donald Trump's tax returns?

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

JULIAN ASSANGE, FOUNDER, WIKILEAKS: Well, we're working on it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: So after media groups jumps on Assange's statement, the group said, no, he was just joking. Here to break it all down senior media correspondent Brian Stelter.

So Brian, what do we know about the walk back? Was he just joking?

STELTER: This is definitely curious. We know a couple of weeks ago WikiLeaks published that stolen trove of Democratic National Committee emails. This either directly or indirectly led to the resignation of top Democratic National Committee officials and created a real scandal, challenge for the Hillary Clinton campaign.

We know that WikiLeaks also has more documents, more emails from the DNC that's holding back for now. So the question has become are they trying to directly support the Republicans, support Donald Trump's candidacy or is the group just willing to leak whatever it receives? That's why Assange -- his comment was so interesting here. He was saying, yes, we're working on trying to hack into Donald Trump's tax returns. But then on Saturday WikiLeaks back tracks saying in a tweet that Assange's comment was clearly a joke. He was just kidding and they would never go ahead and hack in to people.

PAUL: OK. But what about if we know that they have hacked into the Democrats, any indication that there's some fair play here for the Democrats -- or for the Republicans as well?

STELTER: Yes. So that's what WikiLeaks is saying that instead of being hackers as -- we don't have any evidence that they actually themselves go in and try to penetrate computer systems.

They say they are whistle blowing organizations instead. That they exist in order to encourage whistles blowers to come forward and that they will guarantee anonymity to whoever wants to give them documents that can be published on the web.

That's what makes this so curious. If someone were to come forward and actually hand over Trump's tax returns, maybe WikiLeaks would publish them. But for now WikiLeaks says Assange was joking. I think it does put a spotlight though on this enduring question for Donald Trump about his tax returns.

He's really breaking with decades of precedent by refusing to release his returns. He said this because he's under audit others are very skeptical of that claim. The bottom line is we need to keep up the pressure, I think, as journalists on Trump with regards to this tax return question. That's kind of what Bill Maher was going on Friday.

PAUL: Mm-hmm. Yes. So I know that you've got a full plate ahead tonight -- today, rather, on "RELIABLE SOURCES". What are we going to see from you? STELTER: Yes. You know, Trump supporters -- pro-Trump commentators have been talking about imbalance on televisions. They have been saying that we're stacking panels four against one and being unfair to the Trump point of view.

So we're going to do the opposite on "RELIABLE SOURCES" at 11:00 a.m. We're going to have me and then four Trump supporters -- four pro- Trump commentators. We're going to get into the bottom of what they view as media bias. So it should be interesting there this morning.

PAUL. All right. Brian Stelter...

STELTER: Thanks.

PAUL: ... keeping us all (INAUDIBLE). Thank you. And again, you can watch him on reliable sources at 11:00 a.m. Eastern today right here on CNN.

BLACKWELL: Well, she's making history and breaking barriers. You're going to hear from the first American Muslim woman to compete in the Olympics wearing a hijab.

PAUL: Also a dramatic video we want to share with you out of Miami. CNN talks with the police officer who was viciously attacked -- look at this -- while trying to stop a suspect from blowing up a gas station.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OFFICER MARIO GUTIERREZ, MIAMI DADE COUNTY POLICE: He came for my throat and I blocked it. That was a fight to the death and only one person was going to walk away from that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:47:46]

BLACKWELL: All right. So we're on day two now of the Olympic Games. And for the next two weeks the world will be watching Rio. And one U.S. athlete started making history even before her competition.

PAUL: Yes. CNN special correspondent Jamie Gangel spoke with a Muslim-American fencer about her Olympic moment and much more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Under that star spangled mask lies a fierce competitor. Who's lightning fast with a ferocious yept (ph).

MUHAMMAD: I enjoy having to chase my opponent down the strips in order to score a point.

GANGEL (voice-over): But 30-year old Ibtihaj Muhammad is no ordinary member of team USA. The Rio-bound sabre fencer is making history, becoming the first American-Muslim woman to compete in the Olympics while wearing a hijab.

MUHAMMAD: I wish that it wasn't the case. I wish that there had been tons of women before me who had achieved this.

GANGEL (voice-over): Getting to this point hasn't been easy. Muhammad grew up in a big family in Maplewood, New Jersey. And as a devout Muslim, only allows her face and hands to show.

MUHAMMAD: My mom was always changing the uniform for me by adding long sleeves, or adding long pants, where my teammates wore tank tops or shorts.

GANGEL (voice-over): In most sports, that made her look and feel different. Then one day while sitting at a stop light with her mom, she saw something that would change her life forever.

MUHAMMAD: They had on long pants, they had on long jackets, and they had these masks on. And I clearly remember my mom saying, "I have no idea what that is but when you get to high school, I want you to try it out."

GANGEL (voice-over): She did, with huge success.

MUHAMMAD: It was the first time in my athletic career that I could remember being seen solely for my skill set.

GANGEL (voice-over): Muhammad went on to compete at Duke, a three time All American. And win gold as part of team USA in the 2014 World Fencing Championships. But she couldn't change how people looked at her off the fencing strip.

[06:50:01]

GANGEL (on camera): When you walk down the street, when you travel, when you go through TSA, what is your reality?

MUHAMMAD: Nightmare. I mean, TSA is a nightmare. I'm sure it's a nightmare for everyone. Always randomly selected for a special search, always.

GANGEL: Always randomly --

MUHAMMAD: Always randomly selected for like, special screening. And when you travel as much as I do as an athlete, that can be frustrating.

GANGEL (voice-over): The current political environment also frustrates Muhammad. Driving her to do something most Olympic athletes usually avoid. Talking politics. Specifically, she's taken on Republican Presidential Nominee, Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GANGEL (voice-over): Starting with his call in December for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S., tweeting "friends don't let friends like Trump."

GANGEL (on camera): I say the words, "Donald Trump," and you say? What do you say?

MUHAMMAD: I don't know. What do you say? Where do you start?

GANGEL: Do you think he's dangerous?

MUHAMMAD: I think that his words are very dangerous. When these type of comments are made no one thinks about how they really affect people. I'm African American, I don't have another home to go to. My family was born here, I was born here. We've -- I've grown up in Jersey, all my family's from Jersey. It's like, well where do we go?

I'm hopeful that in my efforts to represent our country well as an athlete, that they change the rhetoric around how people think and perceive the Muslim community.

GANGEL (voice-over): That's one of the reasons she was invited to the Islamic Center of Baltimore this year for President Obama's visit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I told her to bring home the gold.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUHAMMAD: We don't have ...

GANGEL (voice-over): And much to her surprise, being different has now made her one of the celebrities of the U.S. Olympic team. With a stream of profiles, photo shoots, and lucrative endorsements.

MUHAMMAD: I'm solely focusing on just preparation.

GANGEL: Train, train, train.

MUHAMMAD: Train, train, train, yes.

GANGEL (voice-over): And hopefully, gold.

MUHAMMAD: I always say that if I'm blessed to win a medal this summer that it will be icing on the cake.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right. Thanks to Jamie Gangel for that amazing story. In the next hour of NEW DAY we'll talk to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. He of course is a big Trump supporter. He's telling the GOP presidential nominee to keep his eyes on the prize. We'll ask him if he believes Trump is indeed doing that.

PAUL: Also an officer goes beyond the call of duty when he takes down a knife wielding man. Look at this fight. The guy was allegedly trying to set fire to a gas station.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:56:28]

BLACKWELL: Well, he considers himself to be just a regular guy, but to some people in Miami he's a hero. Officer Mario Gutierrez went beyond the call of duty when he stopped a man from get this, setting a gas station on fire.

PAUL: CNN's Ed Lavandera has more on the daring decision that nearly cost Gutierrez his life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On an October night in Miami Dominique Jean tried setting fire to an 8,000 gallon underground storage tank at this gas station next to Miami's International Airport. Surveillance footage shows the smoke smoldering as Jean grabs a gas pump and starts dousing the ground.

GUTIERREZ: It scared me because I thought, wow, we're going to die.

LAVANDERA: That's Miami Dade County Police Officer Mario Gutierrez who happened to be patrolling the area. Racing in, jumps out of his car, hits the emergency shutoff to the gas pumps. Then finds himself standing over a simmering time bomb unsure if the gas tanks would explode.

GUTIERREZ: There would have been a massive chaos. They would have thought it was terrorism. Who knows? They wouldn't have been able to talk to me because I would have been nothing but vaporized.

LAVANDERA: Gutierrez tries stopping Dominique Jean with a taser, but it didn't work. Jean starts wildly trying to stab Gutierrez with a knife and a screwdriver.

GUTIERREZ: He came for my throat and I blocked it.

LAVANDERA: Gutierrez falls to the ground. Jean viciously swings at him more than 20 times.

GUTIERREZ: That was a fight to the death and only one person was going to walk away from that.

LAVANDERA: Gutierrez is stabbed about a dozen times but he's able to briefly kick the man off just long enough to grab his gun, firing five times, killing Jean on the spot.

GUTIERREZ: I never heard the gunshots. Never heard them. All I heard was the clinking of the shell casings hitting the ground.

LAVANDERA: It all lasted less than 30 seconds, but dealing with the emotions hasn't always been easy.

GUTIERREZ: I felt like -- like I failed. I was -- I need to know that I put up a fight, that I fought this guy. I didn't remember. I have no recollection of it. So that really, really bothered me.

LAVANDERA: These days Officer Gutierrez patrols the Miami airport alongside his hero.

LAVANDERA (on camera): All right. So who are these guys we're going to go see?

GUTIERREZ: You're seeing Juan de Leon who saved my life.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): It was Officer Juan Leon who found Gutierrez bleeding on the ground that night.

OFFICER JUAN DE LEON, MIAMI DADE COUNTY POLICE (ph): When I pulled up I knew he was in trouble. His brown shirt was completely covered, it was just red.

LAVADERA: Leon raced his friend to the hospital just in time to save his life.

DE LEON: He's my brother. He's my brother.

LAVANDERA: That's the unbreakable bond of officers on the frontlines. Ed Lavandera CNN Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: Gosh. What a story.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: What a man. All right. Thank you so much for starting your morning with us.

BLACKWELL: We've got much more ahead on the next hour of your NEW DAY and it starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I may have short- circuited and for that I, you know, will try to clarify.

TRUMP: She took a little short circuit in the brain. And she's got problems.

JILL STEIN, GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are the ones we've been waiting for. Hillary Clinton is the problem. She is not the solution to Donald Trump.

GUTIERREZ: He came for my throat and I blocked it.

[07:00:00]

That was a fight to the death and only one person was going to walk away from that.