[George Howell, Cnn Newsroom Show:] Bombings in five cities in Thailand, deadly explosions at rock resort towns, officials trying to figure out why. We have a live report with the latest.
[Zain Asher, Cnn Newsroom Show:] Also ahead, Donald Trump's falsehood. The republican candidate for president claims that Obama literally literally founded
[Isis. Howell:] Making history in Rio, Simone Manuel ties for gold and breaks a barrier for African-American women. Live from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Welcome to our viewers from around the world. I'm George Howell.
[Asher:] And, I'm Zain Asher. Thank you for joining us.
[Howell:] Good to have you here.
[Asher:] Glad to be with you. CNN Newsroom starts right now. All right. We are following breaking news out of Thailand where at least four people are dead after multiple bombings, multiple explosions. World Thai police now say at least 11 blasts have hit five locations over the past day or so.
[Howell:] The attacks happened in a number of tourist spots and police say there is no evidence at this point that they are linked to international terrorism. Let's go live to CNN's Kristie Lu Stout, live in Hong Kong with the latest following the story. Kristie, what more do we know from security?
[Kristie Lu Stout, Cnn News Stream Anchor:] George, Thai police are saying that the explosions that have rocked Thailand are not acts of terror, but what they are calling local sabotage. The Thai deputy spokesman says this that there is no evidence that what happened is linked to international terrorism. A number of explosions have brought the country, as you said 11 bombings across five provinces since Thursday. We know at least four people have been killed, 34 wounded. Now, let's break down where these blasts took place, including some major tourist destinations. The Island of Phuket. Two explosions took place there Friday morning. One at Patang Beach and another at Bang La Street, one person is suffering from minor injuries. In Hua Hin, a very popular tourist resort in Thailand, two explosions on Thursday evening an additional two explosions on Friday morning. Last night, 21 people were wounded. A number of them were foreign visitors. A Thai female vendor was killed. This morning, more bombs went off at 9 a.m. at Hua Hin near the Clock Tower, it's a local landmark there. One person is dead as a result of that. And in Surat Thani city, two explosions Friday morning, the fatality was a Thai national, a female Thai municipal worker. Surat Thani city is just south of Bangkok, it's not a major tourist destination, but it is a transit point for tourist going to Koh Samui and also in the province. There were additional explosions in Phang-nga province and in Trang province which killed one person. And, George, it's not known if all these bombings are connected. All of this is taking place just a week before the one-year anniversary of the bomb attack in Bangkok at the Erawan Shrine. And Thai police earlier today, they add that the latest bombings are not linked to what happened last year. Back to you.
[Howell:] Good to have that context, Kristie. But what has been the security response so far?
[Stout:] Well, we've heard from the Thai Ministry of Interior, they announced that increasing security across tourist hot spots and public transportation stations, police are on alert for more explosive devices. I've also seen reports on social media, businesses in Hua Hin and Phuket are shut down. And we've also learned that travel warnings are in place. The governments of Spain and the U.K. are advising travelers to avoid public places in Thailand. Back to you.
[Howell:] Kristie Lu Stout, live for us in Hong Kong following the story. Kristie, thank you so much. We'll stay in touch. Moving on now to Syria, people there are suffering the destruction widespread. In the city of Aleppo the U.N. says it is working with Russia now to find a workable humanitarian pause in that key city.
[Asher:] Right. And the White House said it received an open letter from a group of doctors in Aleppo, these doctors were desperately pleading for help because the situation is so bad. Here's our Elise Labott with more.
[Elise Labott, Cnn Global Affairs Correspondent:] Aleppo's last remaining doctors, just 15 who remain in the besieged city are issuing a desperate plead of President Obama, begging for a lifeline, and slamming the U.S. for failing to stop the horrific bombing. Writing in an open letter, quote, "We have seen no effort on behalf of the United States to lift the siege or even use its influence to push the party to protect civilians." Russian air strikes helping regime forces have decimated Aleppo. Hospitals are frequent target. The doctors write, "Last month, there were 42 attacks on medical facilities in Syria, 15 of which are hospitals in which we work." "Right now, there is an attack on a medical facility every 17 hours. At this rate, our medical services in Aleppo could be completely destroyed in a month, leaving 300,000 people to die." "What pains us most as doctors is choosing who will live and who will die."
[Lina Murad, Syrian American Medical Society Board Member:] Imagine, you know, you're trying to work in a hospital with no clean water, no electricity, no medical supplies and all those civilian victim, you know, coming over.
[Labott:] The doctors' urgent appeal comes as the U.S. is investigating another poisonous gas attack in the al-Zibdiye neighborhood of Aleppo. Chilling footage shows victims in the hospital as aid workers sift through the rubble. This man describes smelling gas and gasping for breath. The raid, despite a Russian pledge to stop military action to allow for desperately needed humanitarian aid. Last week, President Obama acknowledged the challenges of trying to solve the conflict in Syria.
[Barack Obama, United States Of America President:] I've been wrestling with this thing now for a lot of years. There is not a meeting that I don't end by saying, is there something else we could be doing that we haven't thought of?
[Labott:] But Aleppo's doctors warn, we do not need tears or sympathy or even prayers. We need your action. That will come too late for this first responder, notorious for pulling a baby out of the rubble, and who colleagues say died. The White House says it is working around the clock to try and get an agreement with Russia to end the violence and allow life-saving humanitarian aid into places like Aleppo. But the doctors on the front line tell us by failing to stop the violence by Russia and the regime over the last six years the United States shares some of the burden of responsibility. Elise Labott, CNN, the State Department.
[Asher:] On to some other stories that we are following. A British teen who left the United Kingdom last year apparently to join ISIS in Syria is now feared dead. Kadiza Sultana, and two other the school girls who flew from London to Istanbul, Turkey, they are expected to have crossed the border in Syria within days. A family have then says that some weeks ago, relative received news of Sultana's death in Raqqa. Raqqa if the de factor capital for ISIS. Reports of Sultana's death have not been independently confirmed.
[Howell:] Here in the United States, Donald Trump and politics has been calling the U.S. President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton co- founders of ISIS during a campaign stops in Florida this week. It is important to point out factually speaking that is not the case.
[Asher:] All right. But Donald Trump though is not backing down. He keeps going at it. Here is our Jim Acosta with more.
[Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] It's fast becoming a go-to line of attack for Donald Trump, that President Obama and his former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, gave birth to ISIS.
[Donald Trump,  U.s. Presidential Candidate:] I call president Obama and Hillary Clinton the founders of ISIS. They're the founders. In fact, I think we'll give Hillary Clinton the you know if you're a sports team, the most valuable player, MVP. You've got the MVP award.
[Acosta:] Trump rationale is that the president's withdrawal from the Iraq war created the conditions on the ground for the terror groups rise to power.
[Hugh Hewitt, Radio Hugh Hewitt Show:] He hates them. He's trying to kill them.
[Trump:] I don't care. He was the founder. The way he got of Iraq was the that was the founding of ISIS.
[Acosta:] The problem is, Trump once advocated a speedy pull out from the war, too.
[Trump:] You know how they get out? They get out. That's how they get out. Declare victory and leave. Because I'll tell you, this country is just going to get further bogged down.
[Acosta:] Trump first called Mr. Obama an ISIS founder at a rally last night in Florida where he also referred to the president as his full name and slamming the White House over his handling of Russia.
[Trump:] Now we'll find out. But this was taken during the administration of Barack Hussein Obama. OK?
[Acosta:] Continuing that soft on terror theme, Trump also alleged that the Clinton campaign was aware that the father of the Orlando nightclub shooter was at a rally for the democratic nominee this week.
[Trump:] They knew. But how would you how did you like that picture? Him sitting, 49 people killed and that guy is sitting back there and of course he likes Hillary.
[Acosta:] Top Trump campaign surrogate blame unfair media coverage. But former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani insists Trump will still take part in all three presidential debates despite his relationship with the press.
[Rudy Giuliani, Former New York City Mayor:] He will do all three debates. The negotiations which the federal commission has always allowed between the candidates...
[Unidentified Male:] Absolutely.
[Giuliani:] ... is going to happen.
[Acosta:] At a rally outside of Orlando, Trump once again refer to President Obama as the founder of ISIS. At one point, he even said the president made a mistake by not leaving behind a relatively small force in Iraq. But that also runs counter to what Trump said back in 2007 when he said the U.S. should declare victory and leave. Jim Acosta, CNN, Kissimmee, Florida.
[Asher:] And aside from all of that which you just saw there, more tense moments for the Trump campaign. The Confederate flag, take a look this, this is a flag that, by the way, some people consider to be a very racist symbol here in the United States. This flag was briefly displayed at a Trump event in Kissimmee, Florida, this is on Thursday. But the Civil War era banner did not stay up for long because police told its owners to take it down and to remove it and then they ended up stopping it out for the stars and stripes the traditional American flag.
[Howell:] The Democratic Party has been dealing with a major cyber- attack. And as it turns out it's worse than first thought. A report from the New York Times says hackers got into the private e-mail accounts of dozens of members of the party and the Clinton campaign. The U.S. has not publicly named the culprit but the White House says experts who investigated that cyber-attack believed that Russia is behind it. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi agrees and compare this cyber intrusion to Watergate. Listen.
[Nancy Pelosi, U.s. House Minority Leader:] This is an electronic Watergate. This is an electronic Watergate. This is a break-in. The Russians broke in. Who did they give the information to? I don't know. Who dumped it? I don't know. But I do know that this is a Watergate- type electric break-in.
[Asher:] And as the hacking controversy lingers, Hillary Clinton is trying to stay on message. He's definitely trying to stay focus with her attention on the economy.
[Howell:] And during a campaign event in Michigan Thursday, she tried to make it clear to supporters that her economic plan is better than Donald Trump's. CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more for us.
[Hillary Clinton,  U.s. Presidential Candidate:] Stronger together. Let's go out and build the future.
[Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Hillary Clinton offering an upbeat view of the economy.
[Clinton:] I want you all to work with me, to build the kind of progress that America deserves to see.
[Zeleny:] It's a starkly different picture than the one Donald Trump painted earlier this week in Detroit.
[Clinton:] He talks only of failure, poverty, and crime. He is missing so much about what makes Michigan great.
[Zeleny:] The economy is at the heart of a bruising tug of war between Clinton and Trump. She made clear she feels the pain of working class voters.
[Clinton:] How can you not be frustrated and even angry when you see nothing getting done? A lot of people feel no one is on their side and no one has their back.
[Zeleny:] Even while bluntly admitting trade deals she supported have hurt American workers.
[Clinton:] It is true that too often past trade deals have been sold to the American people with rosy scenarios that did not pan out.
[Zeleny:] Trade is the pillar of Trump's populist argument against electing a second President Clinton.
[Trump:] Hillary Clinton has supported the trade deals stripping this city and this country of its jobs and its wealth.
[Zeleny:] But she warns against Trump's isolationist solutions.
[Clinton:] Mr. Trump may talk a big game on trade, but his approach is based on fear, not strength.
[Zeleny:] She also coined a new phrase to use against Trump and his plan to lower corporate taxes.
[Clinton:] He called for a new tax loophole. Let's call it the Trump loophole because it would allow him to pay less than half the current tax rate on income for many of his companies.
[Zeleny:] They are fighting over some of the same terrain, that's why Clinton made her pitch in a factory in Malcolm County, home of the fabled Reagan democrats.
[Ronald Reagan, Former U.s. President:] Well, I want to ask those of you some people call Reagan democrats to join with me and come home with me today.
[Zeleny:] Trump believes those voters offer his best shot for winning the rust belt and the presidency. We talked to former Michigan Governor James Blanchard today. He says that times and candidates are different.
[James Blanchard, Former Michigan Governor:] There's still a lot of people with fond memories of Ronald Reagan. But he was measured, optimistic, positive. That's a stark contrast to what we've got now here with a sad, sad deranged spectacle really.
[Zeleny:] Above all, Clinton is hammering home to voters increasingly including republicans the election is a choice.
[Clinton:] Now, there is a myth out there that he will stick it to the rich and powerful because somehow he's really on the side of the little guy. Don't believe it.
[Zeleny:] And Clinton also called on Donald Trump to release his tax returns. He's the only presidential nominee since Richard Nixon to refuse to do so. Aide close to her campaign tell me that she will do so by Friday, her 2015 tax returns in addition to the 37 years she's already released. Her running mate Tim Kaine will also release 10 years of returns trying to keep the pressure on Donald Trump and to highlight the fact that he is still hiding how much he pays in taxes. Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Michigan.
[Asher:] All right. Coming up next on CNN Newsroom, Michael Phelps isn't running for president. But, you know, maybe he should. This guy simply will not lose. He keeps racing in those gold medals, we'll have the latest from Rio, just ahead.