terror in spain. right now the attackers still on the run after speeding a car through a busy tourist area. more than a dozen are dead, and police foil a second attack. a live report moments away. and president trump raising some eyebrows with his response to the barcelona attack at. that's one headache for a president facing growing criticism from a growing number of republicans, including two prominent southern-state senators with stark criticism last night. good morning, everyone, welcome to "early start." i'm dave briggs. >> i'm christine romans. it is friday, august 18th.

it is 4:00 in the east. it is 10:00 now in barcelona where we begin the intense manhunt for the driver who plowed into pedestrians on a crowded street in a deadly terror rampage. officials say police foiled a second attack, a second attack, hours later in the coastal town of cambrils some 70 miles away. five terrorists there. five killed in a shoot-out with police. >> this started around 5:00 p.m. local time thursday. one of the most popular tourist districts. 13 people were killed. at least 100 injured when the van drove into the crowd. isis claims the attackers were soldiers of the islamic state. in a bizarre twist, police now say a house explosion in catalonia the night before is linked to the attacks. let's go live to barcelona and becky anderson with the latest details. good morning.

what do we know? >> reporter: good morning, dave. it is 10:00 in the morning here. 18 hours into what is a very fluid situation. spanish authorities working, as you rightly point out, to unravel what is a complex web of terror. three events in three coastal towns over the course of this 18 hours or so. let's look at these individually. police in barcelona made a third arrest in connection with the attack in a pedestrian zone full of people. pedestrians, tourists, resigns alike in an attack -- residents alike in an attack which killed 13. more than 100 we are told are injured from 22 countries. two suspects have been in custody for some time now. one of moroccan descent, one a spaniard from a spanish enclave

in north africa. they are still, authorities here, looking for the driver of the van which careened into the pedestrians yesterday. ly he abandoned the vehicle and ran. the third arrest could be that man who was behind the wheel. that was the suspicion. we've also been told by catalonian authorities in the past hour or so that they have no idea where the van driver is. officials also note the death toll here is likely to rise with more than 100 people wounded. later on as you point out, in cambrils later thursday, police say they killed four terrorists at the outset when n what was a police shoot-out. police performed controlled explosions as a precautionary measure. they say that what were thought at one stage to be explosive

belts weren't. those being worn by the suspects. one officer was wounded in the shoot-out, as well as six civilians. a fifth suspect was arrested but later died of his injuries. and police at this point are operating under the assumption that these two incidents, the one in barcelona earlier in the day here and the one in cambrils are connected. dave? >> and then, becky, there's the house explosion we mentioned in catalonia on wednesday. what's the link there? >> reporter: yeah. so this is what's really interesting because at this point, 18 hours or so from the event that happened here on thursday, the investigatiinvest authorities here are beginning to look at links between all three of these events. this third event that we are now speaking to was on wednesday. it was an explosion in a coastal

town that destroyed a home and killed one person. at the time, we are told that authorities thought it was a gas explosion. one of the big newspapers here reporting that some 20 canisters of propane and butane were found at the house. one died, fire others were injured. that's all we know at present. there are beginning to be -- certainly the authorities weare saying there is beginning to be evidence that these three events may be linked. isis hasn't explicitly claimed responsibility for any of these incidents, but the terror group has said that the attackers in barcelona were its soldiers. dave, two hours from now behind me here in plaza de catalonia, the square -- it has to be said, where the vehicle started its careening journey, horror

journey, there will be a moment of silence. the king of spain will be here, and those who have been involved in these terror attacks will be remembered. there are three days of mourning here present day. >> throughout the next two hours, we'll check back in with you, becky anderson. very much an active investigation. thank you. >> thanks for setting the scene. let's bring in author of "isis: a history," professor of international relations at the london school of economics. and professor, too often we turn to you when something happens around the world for some sort of explanation or some sort of analysis and context for what's happening here. what are your thoughts about these three separate incidents that look like they're connected in spain? >> thank you. i mean, i think there are many pieces of the puzzle that are still missing. this is, as becky said, a fluid story. it's evolving. the driver of the van who

committed -- the murderer is still on the run. one thing we can say for sure oar -- this was a complex operation. you have complexity, a structure, an organization, six peop people, at least six perpetrators involved. the van driver and the five suspects killed, 70 miles in barcelona, and the gas explosion. by the way, the gas explosion, the police now say many gas canisters were in place. and also the police say the van driver basically wanted to rent a big truck. imagine if he was able to rent a big truck filmed with gas canisters -- filled with gas n caniste canisters. this could have been a major,

major explosion. think about the attacks if we can connect that. this is not about a lone wolf attack. seems to me this is a cell, al qaeda, isis. al qaeda is much more entrenched in spain and neighboring north african country than isis even though isis has already claimed responsibilities. this is a major operation, a complex operation. it could have been a greater bloodbath had the suspects been able to carry out their initial designs. >> obviously we have grown accustomed to the car attacks that we've seen recently. in your estimation, how does this differ from the recent car attacks we've seen in europe? >> it does not differ at all from the attacks in france and belgium. these attacks in barcelona and neighboring towns, basically similar to the ones in belgium.

this seems to me a local cell. well organized, well skills, resources -- at least six perpetrators. it tells me they subscribe to the orders of isis or al qaeda or directed by other isis and al qaeda. i keep mentioning al qaeda because we should not dismiss al qaeda from the equation. al qaeda has always had a major presence in spain. remember 2004, al qaeda carried out multiple attacks in madrid against trains. 91 killed. 1,800 injured. the reality it seems to me that vehicles and vans have become a weapon of choice not only for al qaeda and isis but even for radicalized individuals. they are easy weapons to use and available. had the truck basically been

filled with gas canisters, this could have basically -- basically hundreds of people could have been killed and injured in barcelona. >> it is fascinating that as isis is being squeezed out of its physical territory around europe, you see isis inspired if not isis-executed attacks. we don't know which this is. how concerned are you about how easy it is to get a truck in a major metropolitan area in europe and maybe have no connection whatsoever to syria or iraq but be able to carry this out? t the. >> absolutely, christine. thank you for the question. as isis loses big and iraq and syria -- in iraq and syria, isis will most likely carry out attacks outside of the middle east itself even though there are daily attacks, almost daily attacks in cairo, baghdad, and other places. we need to remind our viewers. as isis goes down, you would expect more attacks overseas. why? because of capacity.

these are really force multipliers. basically isis would like -- isis and al qaeda would like their fellows to believe that they're still standing. they're still strong. my take on it -- and i could be wrong -- in the short term and midterm as isis loses the so-called caliphate in syria and libya, we're going to see more attacks in the west, not just directed by isis but people who subscribe to this twisted ideology of jihadism. we have to show resilience, not accept it. we have to realize that these attacks are designed to terrorize us. yes, it's painful, it's insiduous, but sadly -- insidious, but sadly in the past years, six attacks have taken place in berlin and london and now barcelona. >> thank you very much. thank you very much for your

context and analysis. appreciate it, from london. thank you. president trump offers his condemnation of the attack and used a debunked story -- a lie -- about an american general to make his point about radical islamic terror. it's time for the biggest sale of the year

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president trump face cou coucould -- facing harsh criticism for his response to the terror attack in barcelona. his first comment in a tweet condemning the act along with an offer to help. then he followed that up with a widely debunked story, basically repeating a myth that is false, that is a lie, tweeting this -- study what general pershing of the united states did to terrorists when caught. there was no more radical islamic terror for 35 years. >> the president referring to the supposed practice of shooting muslims with bullets dipped in pig's blood. he told the same story in 2016 during a campaign rally.

there's no evidence to suggest this ever happened. the white house has not responded for requests to comment. the president running out of allies in his own party. two key republican senators publicly questioning his fitness for office. two republican senators. listen to bob corker of tennessee, chairman of the senate foreign relations committee, who is on the trump short list for secretary of state. he has concerns about the president's mental health. >> the president has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability, nor some of the confidence that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful. >> also tim scott, the only black republican in the senate, taking the rare step of publicly criticizing his president. he says he simply cannot defend the indefensible. >> his comments on monday were strong.

his comments on tuesday started erasing the comments that were strong. what we want to see from our president is clarity and moral authority. and that moral authority is compromised when tuesday happens. there's no question about that. >> the president as usual is busy counter-punching in true trump fashion. he is targeting two republican senators who called him out -- lindsey graham and jeff flake of arizona. he seems to be endorsing flake's republican primary opponent tweet, "great to see that dr. kelly ward is running against jeff flake, who is weak on borders, crime, and he's toxic." >> the tweet got the attention of senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. he says flake has his full support. the national republican senatorial committee also giving flake its full backing. the president also going after lindsey graham, calling him a liar for accusing him of saying there is a moral equivalency between white supremacist groups and those who protest against them. >> the south carolina senator

responding to the president in part because of the manner -- "because of manner in which you have handled the charlottesville tragedy, are you receiving praise from some of the most hatred and hate-filled groups in our country. as president, please fix this." >> president trump taking a firm stand against the removal of confederate monuments calling it foolish and sad. an insult on american culture. the president in tweets lamenting efforts to take down our "beautiful statues and monuments and the damage being done." several cities have removed or plan to remove monuments honoring confederate leaders. last night lexington, kentucky's, city council passed a resolution to remove two confederate tributes. >> overnight, a statue of former chief justice roger tiny was removed -- taney was removed from the grounds of the state house. he spoke after the dred scott

that found slaves were not swlens citizens of the united states. three of most respected magazines are taking on president trump with powerful artwork on their front covers. "the new yorker" and "the economist" featuring with the president with images of the kkk's ominous white hood. "the economist"'s tag line is trump is morally insent and unfit for office. "time" magazine taking a simpler approach with three words -- hate in america. >> it looks like the way the flag is designed, a nazi salutes. >> yes. in the wake of the two business councils collapsing, president trump is pulling the plug on an infrastructure advisory panel. the panel was created by an executive order in july. the white house was still courting members, stacking the panel. an official gave no reason for ending the process. >> however, this news comes a day after two other councils disbanded -- the manufacturing and strategy and policy forum.

an exodus of business leaders prompted the collapse. a reaction to the president blaming both sides for the violence in charlottesville. >> trump initially criticized the resignations. as the number grew, he tweeted he was disbandsing the councicouncils -- members included blackstone, jpmorgan, pepsi, gm, walmart. they employ hundreds of thousands of americans. breaking ties with trump is an unprecedented rebuke. it could hurt his economic agenda. he's relying on corporate america to push for tax reform and infrastructure. it's so interesting -- gary cohen, chief economic adviser, there was a rumor yesterday that maybe he'd be out. maybe the president was isolated -- >> he's jewish. he was standing aside the president when he said -- there were fine people there friday. >> the stock market fell because on wall street -- wall street pros think gary cohen is the last, best effort for the president to be able to get tax cuts through. it was interesting to me -- the president so isolated, it's reverberating on wall street.

>> he'll need the senate to get tax cuts through. he has to get them -- it's going to be difficult. three fundraisers pulling the plug on events at the florida's in club. we'll tell you who and why next on "early start." run. that's how i feel about blue-emu pain relief spray. odorless and fast-acting, it soothes all my muscle aches and pains. and its convenient for those hard to reach places. and if you're like me, you'll love blue-emu super strength cream. it's made with real emu oil, its non-greasy, it's a deep penetrating formula that works itself down into your joints. take it from me. it works fast and you won't stink. blue-emu. it works for me, it'll work for you.

that's why at comcast we're continuing to make4/7. our services more reliable than ever. like technology that can update itself. an advanced fiber-network infrustructure. new, more reliable equipment for your home. and a new culture built around customer service. it all adds up to our most reliable network ever. one that keeps you connected to what matters most. three fund-raising giants canceling plans to hold gala events at president trump's mar-a-lago resort in florida. the cleveland clinic, american cancer society, and a charity for the israeli red cross all pulling their events. though none specifically blaming the president's chifl comments,

the -- charlottesville comments, the cleveland clinic changed course days after saying it would continue doing business at mar-a-la mar-a-lago. the cancer society in a statement citing its "values and commitment to diversity." no comment from mar-a-lago or the trump organization. the leadership of the navy destroyer "uss fitzgerald" being relieved of their duties following a collision with a philippine merchant vessel back in june. the incident led to the deaths of seven sailors. officials say the ship's commanding officer, executive officer, and senior non-commissioned officer will not return to the ship after the navy brass lost trust in their ability to lead. additional nonjudicial punishments could be imposed at a captain's mast inquiry being held today. marine corps investigators trying to determine what caused a c-130 plane to depressurize in flight with 46 service members on board. officials say it happened at 21,000 feet. five crew members had to be treated for decompression

sickness at a hospital in san diego. it's the second incident this summer involving a military plane. last month, 15 marines and a navy corpsman were killed when their kc-130 aircraft crashed in a field in mississippi. the secret service is investigating comments made on line by a missouri state lawmaker who said she hoped president trump would be assassinated. the comment from democratic senator maria schaaple nadal has been deleted. she has apologized claiming her comment was born of frustration with the current political climate. others are calling for her resignation. >> yes. seems inescapable. >> yeah. a rainy friday on tap in the northeast. then a weekend warmup ahead of monday's total eclipse of the sun. >> sing it. >> you sing it. >> no way. >> let's get to the derek van dam who will not sing. great friday morning. this swirling mass of clouds you

see on the water vapor satellite imagery, that is actually an area of low pressure that's moving north of the great lakes into canada. as a cold front associated with that particular low pressure system, that same cold front is going to be the trigger mechanism for showers and thunderstorms along the new england coastline. today, boston to new york, philadelphia, perhaps into the nation's capital, a few afternoon and evening showers and thunderstorms will pop up across the region. some could create localized urban flooding, as well. keep that in mind. temperatures today, cooling off behind the cold front. 79 for detroit. look at marquette, michigan, 68. 85 for cincinnati. charleston, 94. the big apple at 81. temperatures go up from here, though, as we head into the weekend and into the early parts of next week. we all know what's happening on monday. the solar eclipse of the century. looks as if the best viewing weather will be across the pacific northwest. clouds dotting the landscape across the central u.s. popup thunderstorms across the southeast could partially block

your view. >> and small towns being inundated with tourists. they don't know if they can handle it. >> watch out, folks, for the fake glasses. be careful. a lot of those have been sold. you will hurt your eyes. >> i have mine ready. you ready? you better get out. you have three kids. >> i have not planned for the total eclipse yet. "early start" begins right now. terror in spain. right now the attackers still on the run after speeding a car through a busy tourist area. more than a dozen are dead as police foil a second attack. a live report moments away. and president trump responds to the terror attack with a debunked myth just days after saying he waits for facts. why pedal a fake anecdote that is essentially a lie? welcome back to "early start," i'm christine romans. >> i'm dave briggs. 30 minutes past the hour. we have get to all the

president's comments in a moment. we start with an intense manhunt for a driver that plowed into pedestrians on a crowded barcelona street in a deadly terror rampage. police say they foiled a second attack hours later in the coastal town of cam brill. some say 70 miles away. five terrorists killed there in a shoot-out with police. >> this started around 5:00 p.m. local time thursday, one of barcelona's most popular tourist districts. 13 killed, at least 100 injured when the van drove into the crowd. isis claimed the attackers were soldiers of the islamic state. and in a bizarre twist, police say a house explosion the night before in another town is linked to the attacks. let's go live to barcelona. becky anderson with the very latest here. and the driver of the van still on the run, becky? >> reporter: still on the run.

we were told in the past hour or so by authorities that quite frankly they do not have any idea where he is. there have been three arrests, we are told, associated with the attack in employebarcelona that 13, injured more than 100, from as many as 24 different nations. in the-- this is an incredibly touristic area. the long zone that runs from here at plaza catalonia toward the sea. it was full of tourists at around 5:00 in the afternoon yesterday when this van careened down this pedestrian zone, knocking people out of its way. people flying out of the way. a tidal wave of people running from this as it was described. the van driver fled and is on the run.

there was talk that the third suspect arrested in this may have been that van driver. at present it seems they have no idea where he is. that is what happened hours ago. six or seven hours after that, we got news of another possible trivalent incident about -- possible terror incident about 70 miles away in cambrils. our viewers may know that is coast of the southwest of barcelona. it's unclear as to exactly what happened there. the upshot is that police were able to stop a vehicle, an audi 8 -- audi a3 as we understand it, with at least five people in the car. four were killed, a fifth has died of injuries. at least six were injured. six civilians injured in the attack. here we have over 18 hours, just

18 hours, it's 10:00 in the morning here, an ongoing situation. authorities telling us they're beginning to find some connections between the two. in fact, the three incidents that i'll come to -- i'll come to the other in a momentarily. but the incident that's have happened over these past couple of days, that they say that it is likely that they are connected by family association likely if nothing else. >> let's talk about the third incident. we understand that a house explosion in catalonia wednesday night might be linked to all of this. >> reporter: that's correct. what happened with that is there was an explosion in which one person was killed at the time, this is wednesday night. this is hours before the attack here. and authorities just believed that there had been a gas

explosion in this house. one of the big newspapers here reporting that at the time authorities had found some 20 propane and butane cylinders. that's being reported by one of the main newspapers here. after the attack, authorities began to look back and are beginning now to work out whether there are connections with what happened there. one only can assume that they are looking at things like was this a bomb-making factory, for example. pure speculation at this point. nobody is standing that up. they're certainly now suggesting, authorities suggesting that the three separate events -- wednesday, barcelona on thursday, and cambrils on thursday evening, are all connected. >> thank you very much, becky anderson in barcelona. a moment of silence less

than 90 minutes away there in spain. let's bring back from london the author of "isis: a history" and professor of international relations at the london school of economics. good morning to you, sir. great to have your insight and analysis. this is not new as far as the view across europe, the sixth of 2016. how does this differ in its coordination and planning? >> i mean, it's similar to the attacks that we have seen in nice, france, and berlin and london where i am. in the past year two van attacks basically occurred in london and several casualties. i think vehicles and vans have become a weapon of choice for isis and other alt-right groups, whether you're talking about the uk or the united states.

they are terrorizing weapons, extremely difficult to get rid of. anybody can get into their cashes and crash into citizens. what's unique is that the driver fled the scene. usually with suicide attacks, you would have suspected the van driver to have a weapon or a knife or gun, and basically they were killed miles from barcelona. this tells me this is a complex organization, there is an structure, an organization, there are resources, there are at least six suspects so far if not more so. this tells me it's a highly complex operation which differs in many ways from the attacks in london and other places, as well. >> professor, we were seeing some pictures. it looked like cell phone video.

just awful to see people, clearly many people injured. you see blood on the street. that van entered a pedestrian zone. this is where people are most relaxed, eating, drinking, pushing strollers. this van driver is still on the run. how concerned are you about the potential for more attacks? >> we all should be concerned. another piece of information released by the police in the past 18 hours is that the police released is that the person who rented the vans rented three vans. authorities in barcelona are anxious, they want to locate the other at least two more vans, ton -- not to mention the driver who fled after committing t

the bloodbath. whether are you talking about berlin or barcelona, these are soft targets, the easiest targets to attack. the idea is you want to terrorize. you want to sow fears in the hearts of your enemies as isis and other extremist groups basically say. you say why barcelona, even though spain has naturally been a priority for isis in the past three years. barcelona is an international target. a major global target where you'll find that. this is a force target for other isis or al qaeda. >> when we look at who have been injured, lots of countries have said their citizens. >> yeah. look, we'll have a former fbi supervisory agent to discuss this in the next hour. in terms of these attacks, in your estimation, what can be

done to prevent them? they seem simple. >> very, very simple. now you have al qaeda and isis using vehicles and vans as a weapon of choice. any radicalized individuals, not just -- any twisted minded, troubled soul could basically carry out such an attack. we keep talking about attacks that materialize whether you talk about nice or berlin or london. think about the attempts that are preempted. in britain, at least 18 attacks have been preempted by the security forces. we're seeing really only the tip of the iceberg. the reason why this particular weapon, vehicles, is very terrorizing, because it's easy to use. it's easy to deploy. and it's easy to really make a

great deal of -- get traction for these organizations. >> all right. from the london school of economics, thank you very much for joining us this morning. appreciate your expertise. >> thank you, sir. ahead, president trump offers condemnation of the attack and gets slammed for using a debunked story. a lie about an american general, used to make his point about radical dalai laislamic terror. horseheadswivellychair.com it could be the next big thing

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president trump facing harsh criticism for his response to the terror attack in barcelona. his first response coming in a tweet condemning the act along with an offer to help. he followed that up with a widely debunked story tweeting, "study what general pershing did to terrorists when caught. there was no more radical islamic terror for 35 years." >> the president referring to the supposed practice of shooting muslims with bullets dipped in pig's blood.

he told the same story in 2016 during a campaign rally. there's no evidence to suggest it ever happened. another version of this is burying a muslim who's been killed by american soldiers with a pig. the white house has not responded to a request for comment. the president appears to be running out of allies in his own party. two key republican senators from the south, mind you, publicly questioning his fitness for office. listen to bob corker of tennessee, the chairman of the senate foreign relations committee who was on the short list for secretary of state in the trump administration. >> the president has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability, nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful. >> ability and competence. tim scott, the only black republican in the senate, says

he simply cannot defend the indefensible. >> his comment on monday were strong. his comments on tuesday started erasing what was strong. what we want to see from our president is clarity and moral authority. and that moral authority is compromised when tuesday happens. there's no question about that. >> the president is busy counterpunching, as usual, targeting two republican senators who called him out -- lindsey graham and jeff flake of arizona. and seems to enghiorse graham's -- endorse graham's opponent. "jeff flake is weak on borders, crime, and a nonfactor in the senate. he's toxic." the president will be in arizona on tuesday. >> that tweet got the attention of mitch mcconnell saying flake has his full support. the president also going after lindsey graham, accusing him of liar and saying there's a moral

equivalency. and graham saying, "you are receiving praise from some of the most racist and hate-filled in our country. for the sake of the nation as our president, please fix this." >> another ceo, corporate executive, speaking out against the president's response to charlottesville. james murdoch, head of 21st century fox, son of informal trump adviser rupert murdoch, slamming president trump in a letter obtained by cnn. james murdoch writes that he's concerned over the president's reaction saying, "i can't even believe i have to write this. standing up to nazis is essential. there are no good nazis." adding that "democrats, republicans, and others must all agree on this." murdoch also pledges $1 million to the anti-defamation league, an organization that fights anti-semitism. it's notable due to his father's

relationship with the president. according to sources at the white house and 21st century fox, rupert murdoch speaks with the president several times a week. this letter comes after business leaders fled trump's business councils, prompting the president to disband them. president trump taking a firm stand against the removal of confederate monuments, calling it foolish and sad and an assault on our history and american culture. the president lamenting effort to take down our "beautiful statues and monuments and the damage being done." several cities have removed or plan to remove monuments honoring confederate leaders. last night lexington, kentucky's, city council unanimously passed a resolution to remove two confederate tributes. >> overnight, a statue of former chief justice roger tanney was removed from the grounds of the maryland state house. he delivered the majority opinion in the 1857 dred scott indicate which found slaves were not citizens of the united states.

three of the nation's most respected and widely read magazines are taking on president trump with a powerful cover of their own using art work. "the new yorker" and "the economist" featuring the president with the kkk's ominous white hood. "the economist" with the tag line that reads, "president trump is morally intemperature and insent for office." "time" magazine, a more direct approach with three words -- "hate in america" and the flag certainly appears to be a nazi salute. >> three powerful images. all dropping at the same moment. 50 minutes past the hour. on wall street, the stock notching its biggest decline in three months. i'll tell you why. cnn "money stream" next. horseheadswivellychair.com

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three fund-raising giants canceling plans to hold gala events at president trump's mar-a-lago resort in florida. the cleveland clinic, american cancer society, and charity for the israeli red cross pulling events. now none specifically blamed the president's charlottesville comments. the cleveland clinic abruptly changed course -- this is just days after saying it would continue doing business at mar-a-lago. the cancer society in a statement citing its "values and commitment to diversity." no comment from mar-a-lago or the trump organization. the leadership of the navy destroyer "uss fitzgerald" being relieved of their duties following a collision with the plenty merchant vessel -- philippine merchant vessel in june leading to the deaths of seven sailors. officials say the ship's commander officer, executive officer, and senior

non-commissioned officer will not return to the ship after the navy brass lost trust in their ability to lead. additional nonjudicial punishments could be imposed at a captain's mast inquiry being held today. marine corps investigators trying to determine what caused a c-130 plane to depressurize in flight with 46 service members on board. officials say it happened at 21,000 feet. five crew members had to be treated for decompression sickness. it's the second incident this summer involving a military plane. last month, 15 marines and a navy corpsman were killed when their kc-130 aircraft crashed in a field in mississippi. the secret service investigating comments made on line by a missouri lawmaker who said she hoped president trump would be assassinated. the comment from democratic state senator maria shapel nadal has since been deleted. she has apologized claiming her comment was born of frustration

with the current political climate. lawmakers including claire mccaskill are calling for her resignation. no place for comments like that. let's check cnn "money stream" this morning. global stock markets lower after the dow had its biggest decline in three months. u.s. stocks fell over political concerns and? disappoint -- concerns and some dig appointing earnings. all three losing at least 1%. business leaders broke up with the president putting his pro-growth agenda at risk. the sell-off began on rumors that gary cohn, trump's economic adviser, would resign. they fell further after some big-name earnings disappointed. yet walmart fell 2%, sales rose but largely because of discounts squeezing margins. the market hit the lowest spot after the barcelona attack. that news hit airline stocks particularly hard. the sector was one of the worst performers on the day. ford will pay up to $10 million to settle a federal investigation. the charge, harassment of women and black employees.

the equal employment opportunity commission says it found proof, proof of harassment at two illinois plants and that the company recaliated against employees who complained -- retaliated against employees who complained. ford does not admit fault but agrees to make the payments to avoid an extended dispute. former christian than college students -- corrinthian students could get debt relief. they were hit by predatory lending scheme. now a settlement with the firm that funded the loans alleging it offered high-interest rates to students it knew would default. corinthian was one of the largest for-profit colleges in the u.s. it closed in taylor swi2015 aft incident. president trump coming under fire from republican senators in the south. "early start" continues right no2015.

terror in spain. right now the attacker still on the run after speeding a car through a busy tourist area. more than a dozen are dead as police foil a second attack. we'll have a live report moments away. and president trump responds to the terror attack with a debunked myth days after saying he waits for facts. why pedal a fake anecdote that's essentially a lie? good morning, and welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> i'm dave briggs. it's friday, august 18th. 5:00 a.m. in the east. 11:00 a.m. in barcelona. that's where we begin with the manhunt underway for the driver who plowed into pedestrians, zigging and zagging through a crowd at barcelona street in a deadly terror rampage. officials now say police foiled a second attack hours later in the coastal town of cambrils some 70 miles away.

five terrorists killed there in a shoot-out with police. >> again, this video you're watching is incredibly graphic. so sad. you know, this started around 5:00 p.m. local time thursday. one of barcelona's most popular tourist districts. 13 people were killed. at least 100 injured when the van drove into the crowd. isis claims the attackers were soldiers of the islamic state. in a twist, a house explosion in another town the night before is linked to those attacks. want to go live to barcelona and becky anderson with the latest details. three events that police think are linked. >> reporter: in some ways. they can't tell us how at this present, but they are beginning to look at connections between these three events. let's take them individually. it's important that our viewers understand exactly what happened. i want to start with the