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Vice Presidential Debate Tonight; Campaign Focuses On Trump's Taxes; Pound Drops To Lowest Level Since 1985; Hurricane Matthew Hitting Haiti; LeBron James Explains His Clinton Endorsement; Federal Court Blasts Pence On Syrian Refugees; Auto Sales Slip Despite Record Discounts. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired October 4, 2016 - 05:30   ET

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


[05:30:04] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The Democrat, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia. The Republican, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana. They will meet face-to-face on stage here. Yes, they will try to sell themselves but this is really about advocating for the tops of the tickets.

What about the top? Hillary Clinton has jumped to a new lead over Donald Trump in the wake of the first presidential debate. Call it a debate bounce if you will. In the latest CNN/ORC poll, Hillary Clinton leads by five points among likely voters. She actually trailed in our polls just after Labor Day. One big factor here, an increase in Clinton support among Independents. A month ago they broke heavily for Donald Trump but after the debate they moved by more than 25 points to Hillary Clinton.

Secretary Clinton has also taken a new step toward closing the enthusiasm gap. Fifty percent of her supporters now say they are extremely or very enthusiastic about voting for her. That's up four points from early September. Enthusiasm among Donald Trump supporters ticked downward a wee little bit, two points over that same period.

Now, another really interesting finding in this poll comes in the wake of the report that Donald Trump might have gone nearly two decades without paying any federal income tax. Our poll found that 86 percent of registered voters believe that paying taxes is a civic duty. Just 12 percent told pollsters that paying taxes are an unnecessary burden best avoided.

The polling period ended just before "The New York Times" published its report that Trump took a $916 million loss on his 1995 taxes. That loss might have been enough, depending on how much income he made over the next 18 years of 15 years, for him to avoid paying any federal income tax. Now, Donald Trump is now joining his top surrogates in calling that an act of genius.

CNN's Jason Carroll traveling with the Trump campaign in Colorado has the very latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Donald Trump wrapped up his debate her in Loveland, Colorado trying to turn the tables on the whole controversy involving his taxes, basically saying that he used the tax laws as any smart person would do, in his mind, to turn his company around during what he called a real estate depression during the 90s.

He basically said that he did what he could to, what he said, "minimize the burden on himself and on his family". And, Christine and John, he also readily admitted to the crowd here that he benefitted from knowing the tax system.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The unfairness of the tax laws is unbelievable. It's something that I've been talking about for a long time. You've heard me talking about it despite being a very big beneficiary, I must admit. I am -- I'm a big beneficiary. But you're more important than my being a beneficiary so we're going to straighten it out and make it fair for everybody.

CARROLL: Donald Trump also criticizing Hillary Clinton, saying that she's the candidate that focuses on "small, petty things". He also called her the candidate of distraction which is unusual because Donald Trump, himself, has been accused by some in his own party of being easily distracted. Of course, they want him to focus on the issues going forward heading into the debate now just a few days away -- Christine, John.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, JasonCarroll, thanks. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton will be campaigning today in eastern Pennsylvania with her daughter, Chelsea. She's expected to escalate her attacks on Trump's effort to pay little or no taxes, as she did Monday in the swing state of Ohio.

Let's go to CNN's Jeff Zeleny for the latest on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, Hillary Clinton campaigning in Pennsylvania today after spending Monday in battleground Ohio. It was the first time she had visited the state in nearly a month, arriving as Donald Trump was leading five points in a new Quinnipiac poll in Ohio. But Hillary Clinton is hoping to close that gap by seizing on Donald Trump's tax returns. She's been asking for months what is Donald Trump hiding. Well, on Monday, in Toledo, Ohio she told voters.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Trump was taking from America with both hands and leaving the rest of us with the bill. Then you all know that in the debate he said it was smart to avoid paying taxes. Yesterday, his campaign was bragging it makes him a genius. Here's my question. What kind of genius loses a billion dollars in a single year?

ZELENY: The Clinton campaign seizing on that revelation of Donald Trump's tax returns, going after his business acumen, in one sense, and the fact that he's not been contributing, like most Americans do, to the military and other federal programs that your taxes go to. Now, the Clinton campaign realizes there may be limits to this argument here. Donald Trump's supporters are very loyal and locked in. But it is those voters in the middle -- those moderate voters -- those college-educated women voters that they are most interested in. That's one of the reasons Hillary Clinton is back in Pennsylvania today as she watches that vice presidential debate tonight in Virginia -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[05:35:10] ROMANS: All right, Jeff Zeleny, who is racking up the frequent flyer miles this year.

All right, joining us to discuss the presidential campaign and the vice presidential debate, political analyst and best-selling author Ellis Henican.

ELLIS HENICAN, POLITICAL ANALYST, BEST-SELLING AUTHOR: Good morning.

ROMANS: Good morning. Let's start with whether you think Trump was able to blunt the tax controversy. The fact that he may not have been able -- he may have been able to go 18 years without paying any federal income tax. Listen to what he told a crowd in Colorado yesterday and then listen to Hillary Clinton and how she responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: As a businessman and real estate developer, I have legally used the tax laws to my benefit and to the benefit of my company, my investors, and my employees. I mean, honestly, I have brilliantly -- I have brilliantly used those laws.

CLINTON: Back in the 1990s, Trump apparently lost a billion dollars in a single year on bad investments and failing casinos. Now, how anybody can lose a dollar, let alone a billion dollars in the casino industry is kind of beyond me, right? What kind of genius loses a billion dollars in a single year?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The tax thing, I think, has legs -- more legs here, but he's really trying hard to turn this around.

ELLIS HENICAN, POLITICAL ANALYST: You're right, but you'll notice the Clinton pivot, right, focusing not so much on the failure to pay taxes but on the -- what it means to lose nearly a billion dollars in the casino business.

ROMANS: He said it was worse than the Recession for real estate in the mid-90s. Is it true? You lived in New York.

HENICAN: You know, I don't remember that. I think the prices of all that stuff went way down in the late 80s, and by the mid-90s things were doing well. Yes -- I mean, I actually made money on an apartment in those years and I'm not too good at that, Christine. BERMAN: All right, let's talk about where I am right now. Let's talk about me for a change, OK? We're at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, the site of the vice presidential debate tonight where the crowds are growing. I've got one fan, Berkeley Peterson (ph), who's been out here all morning watching the coverage here.

And, Ellis, the polls tell us a fascinating thing about these candidates, Tim Kaine and Mike Pence. You know, who will do a better job in the V.P. debate, we asked. Tied, 38 percent to 38 percent. When we asked people about their favorabilities and unfavorability ratings of the candidates, unfavorable opinions of Tim Kaine and Mike Pence tied, 31 percent and 31 percent.

So, you know, going into this it's like the definition of vanilla but you think, Ellis, it's a vanilla that could make or break the greater sort of dessert of this campaign.

HENICAN: Well, I love the dessert analogies. Thank you for those. You know, I would go more with cardboard. I mean, they're flat characters, right? They're basically conventional standard issues senators. Tonight, we actually have a chance to let them turn into human beings for most Americans. And so, yes, there is really some opportunity for a little bit of movement, I think.

ROMANS: What about Mike Pence? I mean, there's a great story in "USA Today" about how he's got to really connect with women.

HENICAN: Yes.

ROMANS: When you look at the last week the controversies surrounding Donald Trump, from beauty queens and the like to raising questions with no evidence whatsoever about Hillary Clinton's fidelity, do you think he'll be trying to appeal directly to women?

HENICAN: Yes. I mean, it's certainly a crucial part of this case. And don't forget, before this election what we knew Mike Pence for was some fairly staunchly conservative views in the state of Indiana, some of which in the last year have been -- have been slapped back in dramatic ways, so he was not a milk toast sort of character. But I think his role in this case has really just been to bring a little bit of policy seriousness to a campaign that, why don't we say, could have used a little more of it.

BERMAN: I think one of the interesting things you will see here is you will see the message that the campaigns want to send on controversial subjects but sometimes can't because they can't convince the person at the top of the ticket. I think you will see Mike Pence give the answers that Kellyanne Conway always wanted to give on Donald Trump's taxes and maybe the former Miss Universe.

And, likewise, Tim Kaine. It will be very interesting to see how he answers questions on Hillary Clinton's private email server. Again, he might give the answer the Clinton campaign always wished that Hillary Clinton had been giving for the last year. So, that will be tonight. Ellis Henican, thanks so much for being with us.

HENICAN: Sure.

BERMAN: The question is, who will emerge victorious and how much of a difference will it make? The Republican governor of Indiana, Mike Pence. The Democratic senator from the state of Virginia, Tim Kaine. They face off here tonight, 9pm Eastern on CNN. CNN will be here at the debate location all day long.

Meantime, the man who is the current vice president sat down with "NEW DAY"s Chris Cuomo to talk about what this race means to him. How protecting his legacy has him back on the campaign trail working hard now for Hillary Clinton. Remember, Joe Biden thought hard about running for president, himself. That interview, which is really interesting, comes up in the 6:00 hour on "NEW DAY".

[05:40:05] ROMANS: All right, John, time for an EARLY START on your money. Dow futures are higher this morning. Stock markets in Europe are rising sharply. Shares in Asia finishing with gains overnight. Oil is down but still above $48 a barrel.

Gains in European stocks, but one currency is plummeting this morning. My Romans' Numeral today -- 1985 is the year the British pound is now at the lowest level against the U.S. dollar since 1985. Two reasons -- investors are worrying about the country's plans going forward. Prime Minister Theresa May said this weekend talks will begin by late March to exit Europe. And two, a strong reading on manufacturing here in the U.S. shows expansion in the factory sector that is strengthening the U.S. dollar.

Check out this chart. Since the Brexit vote in late June the pound is down 15 percent. One piece of good news here, U.S. travelers booking a trip there are getting a great exchange rate on their money.

All right, Hurricane Matthew bearing down on Haiti and Cuba right now. A live report ahead on that. Also, win or go home today in major league baseball. The bleacher report on this wild card Tuesday straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:45:30] ROMANS: All right, this morning, right this moment Hurricane Matthew is bearing down on Haiti with heavy rain and 145 mile an hour winds. The U.S. Hurricane Center says Matthew's eye is near the island nation's southwest peninsula, moving north slowly about nine miles per hour. Forecasters are fearing a catastrophic blow to Haiti. The category four storm also expected to hit Cuba where hurricane warnings have been posted.

Let's go to Cuba now. We have CNNs Patrick Oppmann there for us. And, Patrick, we're hearing from the National Hurricane Center that this thing is very close. The eye of the center of the storm is very, very close to Haiti right now.

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's absolutely right, and then on to eastern Cuba where I am now. The storm, if it continues on the path that forecasters have it, would cross near Guantanamo, Cuba, of course. That's the Cuban town just next to the Guantanamo Navy base -- the U.S. Navy base in Guantanamo. There have already been evacuations there, about 700 service members who have left the island.

And evacuations are continuing to happen, though, across Cuba. The Cuban government, this morning, has said they expect up to 180,000 people that have to leave their homes and seek shelter and they are running out of time to do that. By this evening, Christine, we expect to feel the full effects of the storm here in Cuba.

ROMANS: All right, Patrick Oppmann, stay safe. I know a lot of people getting ready there. Thank you for that. A big threat to Haiti right now with the eye of the storm approaching there. What kind of threat could Matthew pose for the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, and when? Let's get the forecast from meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John and Christine, we're watching category four Matthew sitting there just south of the island of Haiti across the Tiburon Peninsula. This particular storm, of course, impacting not only one of the poorest nations in the Western Hemisphere, also one of the poorest nations in the world when it does make landfall later this morning.

And the concern is when you think of this island -- this particular island -- the storm surge is certainly going to be devastating, seven to 11 feet high. But, when you talk about what's happening across the area with heavily deforested landscape in this region -- of course, being that it's very poor oil, very hard to come by. So a lot of the energy there is actually coming in from people taking trees out, burning it and using the charcoal for energy.

And that leads, of course, to what could be a humanitarian crisis when it comes to the amount of water that will come down across the elevated terrain here. All of that going to be run-off and could lead to flash flooding and we've seen this over and over again with tropical features making landfall on the island of Haiti and leading to large-scale fatalities.

But notice the storm system quickly moves off toward the eastern coast of Florida. At this point, the model consensus a little different between the European and the American model. The European model wants to keep this storm system off shore later this week while the American one actually brings in some remnant rainfall across parts of the northeast. Pushes it into southern Canada as we approach later next week. So a lot to be seen with what happens but certainly some interesting weather ahead of us across the Eastern Seaboard, guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, Pedram, thank you for that. Forty-eight minutes past the hour. The Minnesota Vikings frustrated the New York Giants all night long on "MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL". Hines Ward has more on this morning's bleacher report. Good morning.

HINES WARD, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, good morning. Now, as a player -- as a player, there's nothing like playing on "MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL". Now, Vikings legend Randy Moss was on hand to blow the big Viking horn. Now, it was a chance to showcase the new stadium and their Viking tent. You've got to love that.

Now, as for the game, Sam Bradford -- he looked like he might be the savior for the Vikings. Minnesota -- they're down to their third quarterback. Without their future Hall of Fame running back in Adrian Peterson, they still pulled out the victory.

Now, the Vikings defense, they were dominated throughout the whole game and got after Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham. Frustrated him all night, beat him down the entire game so bad that his teammates had to calm him down. This was all Vikings. They improved their record to 4-0.

Now, over the weekend, LeBron James wrote an opinion piece endorsing Hillary Clinton for president. And yesterday he explained to some reporters why he's backing Clinton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEBRON JAMES, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS: To me, the main thing is going back into the communities and giving us -- our world a better -- a better future. I mean, our kids are our future and I believe Barack started it. I believe Hillary's going to continue it, you know, so I'm all about community. It starts from the ground up and if we can continue to give back into communities and do the things that we need to help these kids understand that they are our future and know that they've got a helping hand it makes the world a better place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:50:00] WARD: And it's playoff time. Win or go home. American League wildcard game starts tonight. The entire country of Canada will be rooting for the Blue Jays as they host the Baltimore Orioles. You can watch it on our sister station, TBS. And the winner of that game will face the Texas Rangers. And tomorrow, it's the National League's turn and their wild card game featuring the Giants and the Mets. The winner of that game goes on to play Chicago Cubs in the following round. John, back to you.

BERMAN: All right, Hines Ward, thank you very much.

We want to take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY" right now. Alisyn Camerota joins us. Good morning, Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Good morning, John. Sometimes I come into the studio late for the tease and then it forces Phil and Jackie to scramble and prepare me during the tease, which is what you guys all get to see right now.

So, good morning, everybody. We have a very big show coming up for you because we have new polls to tell you about to show you the standing of Donald Trump and, of course, Hillary Clinton. We also will preview the V.P. debate tonight.

And speaking of V.P.s, we have -- Chris just finished a great interview with Vice President Joe Biden, so we're going to be showing you that -- revealing it on "NEW DAY". And Chris describes it in one word, Christine, and that is spicy.

ROMANS: Oh.

CAMEROTA: You can't argue with a spicy interview so we'll be showing you that at the top of the hour.

ROMANS: All right, some spicy Biden.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

ROMANS: Can't wait.

CAMEROTA: Delicious.

ROMANS: Sounds good. I'll have a hot dog with that. Thank you very much.

One stable force in the U.S. economy could be running out of gas. I'm going to tell you what that could be when we get an EARLY START on your money, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:55:40] BERMAN: Just a few minutes before the hour right now. We are live at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia. Tonight, 9:00 p.m. Eastern, vice presidential candidates Tim Kaine and Mike Pence -- they face off for their one and only debate. Do not miss it.

Now, Gov. Pence, in his capacity as the leader of Indiana -- he goes into the debate suffering a loss in a federal appeals court. A three- judge panel overruled the governor's attempt to block Syrian families from resettling in Indiana.

They used really tough language. The judges said there is no evidence that Syrian terrorists are posing as refugees in the United States or that Syrian refugees have ever committed acts of terror in the United States. The judges called the suggestion "nightmare speculation. Governor Pence argues his policy is not discriminatory and he only aims to protect the citizens of Indiana.

ROMANS: All right, John, let's get an EARLY START on your money this Tuesday morning. Dow futures are higher after a small drop to start the fourth quarter yesterday. Stock markets in Europe are rising sharply. Shares in Asia finishing with gains overnight. Oil is down. It's still above $48 a barrel.

Check out the British pound sinking to the lowest level against the U.S. dollar since 1985. Prime Minister Theresa May says Brexit talks will begin in March -- that's right. Investors worried that the exit from the Eurozone could hurt trade and the region's big banks, and now they are coming to grips with the fact that it is going to happen. It is proceeding.

After six years of steady growth auto sales could be running out of gas in this country. Sales of new cars and light trucks slipping in September. Even deep discounts aren't luring buyers. Ford suffering the biggest loss of the three automakers. Look at that. Sales down more than eight percent over the month. Fiat Chrysler, sales down almost one percent. GM sales dipped 0.6 percent.

Here's what's concerning. Labor Day is typically one of the biggest sales weekends of the year. Dealer incentives hit a record high in September. We're talking about nearly $4,000 per vehicle in incentives. The previous record was set back in December of 2008. And this has been a steady performer for the U.S. economy over the past seven years. Looks like a falter in September.

Call it a post-debate bounce. There's a clear leader in the race for president right now. "NEW DAY" picks up the story right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I made my money following the law. Hillary Clinton made her money as a corrupt public official.

CLINTON: Trump was taking from America with both hands and leaving the rest of us with the bill.

TRUMP: I have legally used the tax laws to my benefit. I have brilliantly used those laws.

CLINTON: This is Trump to a tee. It's Trump first and everyone else last.

TRUMP: When people come back from war and they see things that a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over, and you're strong and you can handle it. But a lot of people can't handle it.

JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is an ignorant man. How can you be so out of touch and then ask to lead this country?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone, welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, October 4th, 6:00 in the East.

Up first, Hillary Clinton retakes the lead in a new CNN national poll, getting a boost after that first debate. Clinton has a five-point lead now over Donald Trump, 47 percent to Trump's 42 percent. That's in a four-way race.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Also coming up, you saw the veep there. We have an exclusive interview with Joe Biden ahead of tonight's V.P. debate. He talks about Trump's taxes, the 2016 race, and what he wants you to think his legacy is all about.

We're just hours away from tonight's V.P. debate, the only chance they'll have to get it on one-on-one. Only 35 days until Election Day. Just five days until the next presidential debate. We have it all covered for you.

Let's begin with CNN political director David Chalian live in Washington with a look inside the numbers. What does this poll mean to you, my friend?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Good morning, Chris. Well, we said last time when we were here at Labor Day and Donald Trump had a slight lead that Hillary Clinton needed to do better among Independents and she needed to get enthusiasm up among her voters. She's done both.

Take a look at Independents and look at the gender split. Hillary Clinton is beating Donald Trump by 20 points among Independent women. In 2012, Barack Obama won this group by one point so that's a pretty big deal.

Take a look at white voters when you look at their college education split. With a college degree -- white voters with a college degree -- Hillary Clinton's got a 13-point advantage, 50 percent to 37 percent.