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ISIS Recruiting Success Stokes Fears; Law Enforcement on Alert Across U.S.; Pentagon Warns of a Perpetual War; Trump Controversy and the Latino Vote; Richard Matt Wrote to Daughter Before Escape; Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired July 3, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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


[10:00:01] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: On alert. If you are out celebrating this Fourth of July weekend, you will probably see more police. Tension rising over a potential terror threat.

Also, is war the new norm? Military leaders now speaking out, laying out what could be ahead for the long run for the United States.

And Donald Trump getting good at getting people talking. Will it change how people are voting?

Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Good morning, everyone. So glad you're with us. I'm Poppy Harlow in today for Carol Costello, and we begin with this.

The Fourth of July in America, parades, fireworks, barbecues, and also looming terror concerns over that symbolic celebration, but this holiday law enforcement may be on alert like never before. From the iconic landmarks of New York and Washington to the smallest cities and even state parks, security is ramped up. The reason, the surge of ISIS in the past year and the online recruiting that could unleash a homegrown terrorist.

CNN's Boris Sanchez live for us this morning at New York's Penn Station. We also have Sunlen Serfaty live for us at the White House.

Boris, let me begin with you. I understand we have really a new update in, in terms of New York state.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Poppy. The governor announcing some specific adjustments to law enforcement here in the city. As you can imagine, there are 42 million people traveling, so they're really doing a full-court press across the nation focusing on hubs like Penn Station.

Here in New York, we've seen an added presence of law enforcement across the area. We've also heard about snipers placed in strategic locations as well as spotters fanned out across the city to watch crowds. We also know that teams are scanning for explosives and radioactive devices in the sea and in the air. There are also about 7,000 cameras in the city monitoring everyone, and officers tell us they have to be ready for any kind of attack at any time anywhere.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MILLER, NYPD DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF INTELLIGENCE: The ISIS call as well as that of other terrorist groups has been to use what you have on hand, and that means if you can make a bomb, you're a bomber, but if you can't, use a gun. And if you can't find a gun, use a knife, and if you can't find a knife, use a car. So when we look at that, that is a broad spectrum of threats and it's something to prepare for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The officers told us these measures are not because of any specific threats, just out of an abundance of caution, and, Poppy, you mentioned the announcement from Governor Cuomo. He's added staff to the Office of Emergency Management here in the city as well as beefing up patrols. They're also asking New Yorkers to be vigilant. So if you see anything out of place, please report it to law enforcement right away -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Of course. Absolutely. We hear it all the time. And it is so important.

Boris, thank you very much.

I want to go now to Sunlen Serfaty. She joins us live outside of the White House.

Obviously they had certainly a trial run with that false alarm yesterday morning at the Navy Yard, all of those security elements responding. What are they doing there in Washington specifically at the White House?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Poppy, there is definitely some increased security jitters here just this morning at the White House. Just a few minutes ago the Secret Service cleared Pennsylvania Avenue, cleared Lafayette Park, the park right in front of the White House where a lot of tourists usually mill about.

Now that situation is over just in the last moment. Tourists allowed to come back right up to the White House fence but certainly this sort of jittery security response, how quickly they are responding to these sorts of potential threats, really underscores how on edge a lot of law enforcement is around the security threat.

We know that response was the same yesterday with the U.S. Navy Yard. It was fast, it was fierce, hundreds of police coming on the scene and police searching that Navy Yard room by room. Security here at the White House was boosted up as well as the capitol building, and the D.C. police chief said that sort of massive response indicates that they are ready should something happen over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF CATHY LANIER, WASHINGTON POLICE: We're aware of what -- you know, the -- you know, discussion and chatter is around the Fourth of July events and all those threats. And we take those into account. We change our tactics up for different events but we never lower our posture. We always maintain a very high posture.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: This does come at a time where there has been some change in security here at the White House as well, but it's not related to this specific terror threat but more to all those White House fence jumpers that we've seen in recent months. Just this week the U.S. Secret Service installed those sharp spikes at the top of the White House fence, of course, to defer all those jumpers -- Poppy.

HARLOW: All right. Sunlen, thanks for the report. I do appreciate it.

Also, when you think about potential terror attacks and these scares, well, get this, the Pentagon now coming out and saying, quote, "A state of perpetual war is the new norm." Using words like global disorder. Military leaders warning that we are closer than ever to a war with major super powers.

[10:05:08] Chief national correspondent Jim Sciutto in Washington with more this morning.

Jim, it's a scary reality.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It is. It's a daunting appraisal and something that's really already familiar to us. You look at the war in Iraq still there more than 10 years later, the war in Afghanistan, 5,000 days and counting, and this is what General Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said in this National Military Strategy. Comes out every few years, reports direct to the Defense secretary, and it says that this is what Americans will have to expect a great deal of going forward.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO (voice-over): A state of perpetual war, the new normal, says the Pentagon in its latest military assessment. Joint Chiefs chairman, General Martin Dempsey, warns that today's global security environment is the most unpredictable he has seen in 40 years of military service.

GEN. MARTIN DEMPSEY, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: Global disorder has trended upward while some of our comparative advantages have begun to erode.

SCIUTTO: Deeply concerning, as the Pentagon prepares the military to fight non-state actors such as ISIS and AQAP in extended conflicts that look much like the current fighting in Iraq and Syria.

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: We really are in a state of what I would call a new normal where we're going to have these prolonged campaigns where we will be engaged militarily.

SCIUTTO: Taking advantage of those non-state actors to their own ends are formidable national adversaries such as Russia. Backing separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine with both weapons and troops. And Iran, aiding Houthi rebels against the U.S.-backed government in Yemen. Even more dauntingly, the Pentagon warns of a low but growing threat of a major war against a major power, including Russia, Iran, and China. All countries that are aggressively pushing their influence well beyond their borders.

China building and militarizing islands in the South China Sea 600 miles from its shores, and in waters the U.S. considers international leading to tense confrontations in the sky which we experienced firsthand in May.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Foreign military aircraft, this is Chinese Navy. You are approaching our military alert zone. Leave immediately.

SCIUTTO: The Pentagon assessment finds, quote, "None of these nations are believed to be seeking direct military conflict with the United States or our allies. Nonetheless, they each pose serious security concerns."

MARKS: The United States is going to bump into these what I would call expansionist and growing aggressive nations in terms of trying to accomplish their national objectives.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Of course one more threat, North Korea with its growing nuclear program. But one key point that stuck out to me, Poppy, is what General Dempsey said there and that is, not only the threats increasing but America's advantages are being challenged. You know, a lot of these wars you can have 12 aircraft carriers, you can have a huge nuclear arsenal, You can have all these spy planes and satellites, et cetera.

But in some of these wars they don't necessarily win it on the ground. And you could see it, that's why U.S. troops are still in Iraq, they're still Afghanistan. This idea of asymmetric warfare. It's a daunting future not just for the U.S. military but for America and for its interests abroad.

HARLOW: Asymmetric warfare, at the same time, as Phil Mudd was saying to me earlier on the program, you've got an adversary in ISIS that we understand less than the al Qaeda, and you're dealing with these, as you point out in your piece, Jim, these non-state actors at the same time being backed up -- whether Iran will admit it or not, backed up with the Houthi rebels by Iran or in eastern Ukraine being backed up by Russia. So it is -- is it as complex a security environment as you have seen?

SCIUTTO: Certainly in my experience and if I guy like General Dempsey says, you know, in his 40 years it's the most complex he's seen, we've got to believe him.

HARLOW: Yes.

SCIUTTO: But one thing, you mentioned ISIS, you know, these wars that have tended to happen far from our shores, right, I mean, we're -- we've got the Pacific on one side, the Atlantic on the other side, even when they've been happening they've been over there. A group like ISIS brings that threat as al Qaeda has done to the U.S. homeland which is really something that's largely unusual for us.

HARLOW: Yes.

SCIUTTO: And that's another factor that they warn about going forward.

HARLOW: And if you're watching this in any state, right, we know there have been ISIS-related arrests in every single state in this country. So the threat is everywhere.

Jim Sciutto, thank you. Appreciate it. Have a good Fourth.

SCIUTTO: Thanks.

HARLOW: All right. New this morning, amid those growing security concerns around the Fourth of July holiday, an arrest warrant has now been issued for a Wisconsin man who allegedly threatened to kill President Obama. Remember, President Obama was just in Wisconsin yesterday speaking.

This is a 55-year-old man allegedly telling a library security guard there, quote, "If I get a chance, I'll take him out and I'll take the shot." He's also accused of posting threats on Facebook. He told a police detective that his threat was, quote, "serious.," and he wouldn't have said it if he didn't intend to go through with it. That man being held at a mental health facility.

[10:10:18] All right. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Donald Trump not only under fire for his comments on Mexican immigrants and citizens, from other potential candidates, but also Hollywood now weighing in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: All right. Checking your top stories this hour.

The Pentagon confirming a senior ISIS leader is dead following an airstrike in Syria. Officials say he was a key in moving fighters and weapons into Syria and Iraq. They also say he helped organize ISIS' use of suicide and car bombs.

[10:15:07] Despite successful airstrikes, ISIS is still terrorizing people and destroying cultural artifacts and treasures. These images showing ISIS members flogging a man they say was smuggling statues from the ancient city of Palmyra. The pictures also show the militants taking sledgehammers to those exact artifacts destroying them. At least two ancient Muslim shrines were blown up by ISIS just last month.

And top Australian soccer coach Phil Walsh dead this morning. Police say he was stabbed to death in his home over night. His son is now under arrest, charged with murder. Police say an argument led to the attack. In an interview back in April Walsh blamed his obsession with soccer for causing a disconnect with his son. Donald Trump in the center of a firestorm over his remarks about

Mexicans and immigrants not only alienating big business, also potentially alienating a critical bloc of voters. Actress America Ferrera penning an open letter to "The Huffington Post" titled, "Thank You, Donald Trump," writing, in part, quote, "Remarks like yours will serve brilliantly to energize Latino voters and increase turnout on Election Day against you and any other candidate who runs on a platform of hateful rhetoric."

And for Marybel Gonzalez, a former Miss Colorado USA, who happens to be Mexican, well, Trump's comments were not only hateful but harmful. Here is what she told Brooke Baldwin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARYBEL GONZALEZ, FORMER MISS COLORADO USA: You cannot generalize a population, a people, a culture. That is dangerous. Racism is manifested in words. It's one way that it is manifested, excuse me, and it's a completely dangerous to generalize and to talk about people in this manner.

You are proliferating discrimination. You are encouraging people to use hateful comments against a certain minority, and that to me is incredibly wrong, dangerous, and just irresponsible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Let's discuss it with Republican strategist Noelle Nikpour and also Marc Lamont Hill, CNN commentator, with me.

Guys, thank you for being here. A lot to unpack here.

Noelle, let me begin with you. Do you think that Trump's comments hurt the overall party? Because you saw what America Ferrera wrote. You saw what former Miss USA said there. Does it hurt the party?

NOELLE NIKPOUR, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, you know, Trump is Trump, and Trump is famous for being his own worst enemy, Poppy. And I've got to tell you, comments like this generally hurt, you know, GOP, but then again you've got to realize that anybody with a brain is going to realize this is not how we feel. There are a lot of different people involved in the Republican Party and the GOP and they do not -- I'm one of them. They do not feel this way.

They do not feel that everyone coming into the United States is a criminal and a rapist and whatnot, so I think that people are used to the shock factor of Donald Trump.

HARLOW: Yes. Fair point. So Donald Trump is not the only Republican talking about race. I thought these comments from Rick Perry this week were really, really interesting. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Too often we Republicans, me included, have emphasized our message on the 10th Amendment but not our message on the 14th. For too long we Republicans have been content to lose the black vote because we found we didn't need it to win, but when we gave up trying to win the support of African- Americans, we lost our moral legitimacy as the party of Lincoln.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: So, Marc, he also said, I don't think Donald Trump's remarks reflect the Republican Party. I think the Republican Party is reflected like me. That is a candidate speak, but getting to the core of that message, what do you make?

MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think he's right. I think if you're truly deciding who to appeal to based on political strategy, then you have lost something morally. You should be appealing to black voters, white voters, to all voters based on your belief that you have the best platform for America and this particular constituency. So I think he's right there. I think they have given up on the black vote. I think it's wise to --

HARLOW: You think as a whole?

HILL: I mean, in terms of who they've targeted, yes. I think over the last four to eight years there's been a lot of talk of getting back toward the black vote, of expanding it. When we saw the sort of autopsy of the GOP, that's one of the things that came up.

HARLOW: Yes.

HILL: So I'm excited to hear Republicans talk about it again. Now whether their agenda resonates with black voters, that's a whole other question. That's something we have to think about. The Donald Trumps of the world are the reason why many black voters won't vote Republican because many of us believe that there are too many Republicans who behind closed doors feel the very same thing that Donald Trump is smart or stupid enough to say in public.

HARLOW: You mean, even if his comments were not about black Americans. They were about immigrants, Mexicans, and when --

HILL: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: You're saying --

HILL: But if you criminalize Mexicans, then you probably criminalize black people. You know, we don't make that many distinctions.

HARLOW: So interesting, you just brought up that autopsy that came out after Romney lost in 2012.

[10:20:01] And Noelle, when you look at this, Romney reportedly won just 17 percent of the nonwhite vote in 2012. The RNC conducted that autopsy. They vowed to really make minority outreach a focus. This Pew study shows that the party had spent $10 million to far in those efforts for minority voters. Do you think it's gaining traction?

NIKPOUR: You know, I really don't, Poppy, to be honest. To be brutally honest, I don't. I'm not seeing a lot of movement. I'm not seeing a lot of, you know, new voters come to the GOP, but what I think the GOP needs to do, instead of -- instead of really pandering to minorities, I think that they just need to approach it as a whole and really tout things that appeal to everyone. Job creation.

HARLOW: Yes.

NIKPOUR: Job creation is colorless. It's not black or white or Latina. Everyone needs a job. Less regulations. You know, whether you're black or white or Latina, have you ever tried to go apply for a small business? The paperwork, the fees involved. Oh, my gosh. And education. School choice, school voucher. That appeals to minorities, to Latinas, to whites, to everyone.

HILL: I disagree.

NIKPOUR: So keep touting our message and stop pandering.

HARLOW: Marc.

HILL: I think the challenge, though, is that you're -- what you're proposing is sort of color blind public policy that benefits everybody, but the problem is that black people have particular needs that need to be addressed as black people. In other words, yes, we all want jobs but black people have a particular challenge when it comes to getting a job call back. A white male with felony conviction --

HARLOW: Well -- I'm sorry to interrupt but we heard the president say last week.

HILL: Yes.

HARLOW: In his speech in North Carolina, you know, and I'm paraphrasing here, but when you look at a resume that says Jamal, not Johnny, take a second look. He pointed exactly that out.

HILL: That's exactly. And that's why we need to address that. And what the Republican Party has often tried to do, and too often, Democrats, too, is to have color blind, facially neutral policy which then ignores the fact that black people have a unique condition, a unique set of circumstances that need to be addressed.

HARLOW: Quick question for both of you to wrap it up. And Marc to you first, then you, Noelle.

When you look at the president, some people have said, as we've seen his approval ratings really raise over 50 percent, this is the president talking about race in a way that they have wanted to see for a long time. Tackling it more head on. We saw it last week in South Carolina.

Does that change or make even more important in this race for 2016 the discussion about race in this country?

HILL: Yes. It raises the rhetorical stakes because now we have to talk about and address those things in the same way that Donald Trump's comments forced Republicans have to respond and say what they really think. The problem is, to use a biblical (INAUDIBLE), we have to make the word flesh. At some point we can't just talk about this stuff. It needs to translate to policy.

HARLOW: So, Noelle, you're a GOP strategist. How do you do that if you're one of these candidates in that party in this race?

NIKPOUR: Oh, my gosh, with 30 seconds to explain how we're going to --

HARLOW: Solve the world's problems.

NIKPOUR: It would be insane, Poppy. Thanks a lot, Marc and Poppy. No, I think that we really -- you know, I disagree. I think that we need to stay on our message, stay on point and promote education. Education in the long run promotes job growth with any minorities, with any group and I think that that's our key. Education, it's the children, it's the future.

HARLOW: Every parent that I talk to that's going through a situation of life and poverty and how do they get out, everyone says education, education, education.

Noelle, great to have you on. Marc, you as well. Thank you, guys, very much.

Still to come here in the NEWSROOM, the promise from an escaped killer. What he said to his daughter just days before he broke out of prison.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:27:40] HARLOW: New details this morning about the New York prison escape including a letter and a promise made by now dead escapee Richard Matt to his daughter. According to the "Buffalo News," Matt reached out to his daughter before the infamous prison break vowing to, quote, "see you on the outside."

Jean Casarez is live for us in Dannemora, New York, with the details.

Good morning, Jean.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Poppy. "The Buffalo News" is reporting through an unnamed law enforcement source that the daughter of Richard Matt actually received a letter on June 9th. Now that was after the breakout right here at the prison, but it was written and mailed before he escaped. And the pertinent part of that letter, we have it for everybody, it says, quote, "I made you -- I always promised you I would see you on the outside. I'm a man of my word."

And, of course, we don't know if he was bragging here, if the intent was to finally get to his daughter, but the New York State Department of Corrections as per policy does not go through outgoing mail from the inmates unless the superintendent by written authorization believes there is a security risk, believes there is something in a written correspondence that they need to know for the prison itself or for the community.

But that was the last written correspondence we know that Richard Matt made, but it was one week ago today in the afternoon when Richard Matt was surrounded by law enforcement. Now, in the hours before that happened, we want to show you the trailer that Richard Matt was in, one of the many areas he was in. This trailer is not far from the road, as you can see. It is dilapidated, it is abandoned. The registration on it says 1998.

It was from that trailer, not far from the road, that Richard Matt shot that 20-gauge shotgun and shot into the camper of a passing motorist. Well, that was when the tactical unit of the Customs and Border Patrol were alerted. They flew in in helicopter. They did a ground search, and about 3:45 in the afternoon a week ago today, they cornered Matt. One agent asked him to surrender because they saw that 20-gauge shotgun, and now we are learning Matt actually pointed the gun at the agent who then shot three shots into Richard Matt in the head, shooting and killing him -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Wow. Jean Casarez reporting for us right outside the prison. Thank you.

[10:30:03] Let's talk more about this investigation with Patrick Johnson, he is a former warden at Chautauqua County Jail.