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Press Conference About Sandra Bland's Death; Ohio Governor John Kasich Is The 16th Republican To Throw His Hat In The Presidential Ring. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired July 21, 2015 - 15:30   ET

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


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[15:33:48] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: We are at the bottom of the hour. Live pictures here as we are waiting for this news conference to begin. This is the Texas Prairie View, A&M University, regarding the death of 28-year-old Sandra Bland. Authorities are also expected to release that dash cam video from her arrest.

Let me just back up. She died in police custody on July 13th in that jail cell. And her case is in the spotlight here because authorities say she committed suicide in her family, but her family does not believe that is what happened. And we now have video because our crew was allowed inside the very jail cell where bland was last seen alive. CNN was granted access inside of the facility.

Bland was arrested July 10th after a traffic stop. She charged with assaulting a police officer. Her family wants the department of justice to step in now and they want them to investigate and they have already ordered their own independent autopsy.

So I have CNN national correspondent Ryan Young. He is standing by. Again, we have the live pictures from the news conference.

And so Ryan, let me just bring you in and tell me about the jail cell that you were allowed to see, that very jail cell she was in.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly. We also talked to the sheriff, Glenn Smith, as we were going through that jail cell. It is number 95. And we walk through and I can really tell you, Brooke, it was a pretty eerie feeling to see how it was set up. They really haven't touched much of it since that time. They wanted to preserve parts of it for the investigation. But now the authorities are done, they have opened it up and we were able to walk through and even see the food that was left behind the day she was inside that cell. There's a sandwich that hasn't been eaten. And of course, there is that trash can in the middle of the cell that so many people have questions about, because it is one of the liners like the liner that you see there that was used, apparently according to the sheriff's deputies for her to hang herself.

So this is part of the conversation now, to standing there and see all of the things left inside that cell. Now, there's a shower stall towards the back and they believe she used the plastic bag after twisting it in several ways and then tied it above the shower area and then used that to hang herself.

Now, what they also said is that one of the deputies was walking down the hallway and could see her feet dangling and that's when people started calling for 911 and for help. We also stood in the hallway to see how it's set up. And Brooke, I think this is very important. These video cameras that are motion detector cameras, so that if anyone walks down the hallway, their camera starts picking up the movement there. They have been testing it and according to the sheriff, he tells us they all operate and anytime someone comes down that hallway, you're picked up on camera.

[15:36:29] BALDWIN: As we mentioned, the news conference is about to begin, waiting to get the dash cam video there from her arrest.

Ryan young, thank you so much. We will wait to see more of you later on CNN.

Next, all eyes on Donald Trump today. Again today, you have another candidate is joining the race, a man who has done believe to be a serious dark horse from the battleground state of Ohio. We'll talk to our chief Washington correspondent Jake Tapper about Governor John Kasich.

Also, you know, we've seen drones. This is a new one. Hear their shots? Because it's firing a handgun. Lots of concern over this. Stay with me.

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[15:41:30] BALDWIN: Sweet 16, as in the race for the White House. The 16th Republican candidate just joined. He's Ohio governor John Kasich. It is a crowded field, obviously, but he is the one on the bottom right of your screen. Governor Kasich is known as a fiscal conservative who still opted to expanded Medicaid in his state under Obamacare.

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GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Others are going to say, you got a lot of them back here, are going to say well, you know, nice guy or good guy or whatever they are going to say, OK. I don't know if he can win. But with you, and you, sweetheart, OK? Can you paint signs? And with all of you? Together, we'll prove them wrong again. We'll prove them wrong again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: With me now, I have host of "STATE OF THE UNION," he is anchor of "the LEAD" and he is our chief Washington correspondent, his longest title at CNN, I believe. He's Jake Tapper.

And Jake, talk to me about Governor Kasich.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, he looks great on paper. I mean, everything you just talked about, he is the governor, two-time governor of battleground state of Ohio, former chairman of the house of budget committee, reputation as fiscal conservative when he was in the house, he was on the armed services committee when he was there and has an established record. One of the most experienced candidates in the race.

But he's had trouble breaking through so far. He's pretty low in the polls. So he's got a lot to prove. We'll see if he even is able to crack the top ten candidates nationally to make the first debate in a few weeks.

BALDWIN: Do you think people know who he is?

TAPPER: No, I don't. I think most people aren't paying that close attention to the race right now. But there is some comfort for the John Kasichs of the word, for the Carly Fiorinas of the world. And that is if you look back at where we were in the 2008 election cycle, on July 2007, the number one candidate, the front-runner, was Rudy Giuliani.

BALDWIN: How about that?

TAPPER: Number two with the bullet, Fred Thompson. And then you look at the other candidates and Mike Huckabee was only at one percent at this point in the 2008 race, only at one percent. And he went on to win the Iowa caucus by a very substantial margins. So there is hope in those numbers for these people at the bottom, including John Kasich, the governor of Ohio.

BALDWIN: Perspective. I hear you, Jake Tapper. We will see you in 15 minutes on "the LEAD." Thank you so much, my friend.

TAPPER: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, drones. Right? You see drones, because it deeply at first. I mean, it looks like a flying gun. Is this even legal? And what is the FAA saying about this?

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[15:48:24] BALDWIN: Just this weekend, a drone interrupted crews fighting a wildfire and today one got in the way of a tons of light. But one drone may pose a danger even when it's not in the air.

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BALDWIN: That is because, in essence, this is a flying gun. Police in Connecticut saying an 18-year-old mounted a handgun on a drone, posted the video on You Tube. You can hear it over and over firing shot after shot. Our affiliate WFST reports he made it for a school project.

With me now, CNN aviation correspondent Rene Marsh.

School project? What are police doing about this?

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, you mentioned it, Brooke. You saw the video there. This gun mounted on top of the drone fired multiple shots and, believe it or not, police say there is not much they can do about it. As alarming as that video may be to people, so far police told me today they have not found any violations of the law. The police of chief of police in Clinton, Connecticut, saying -- and I'm quoting now, "it would seem, to an average person, there should be something prohibiting a person from attaching a weapon to a drone. At this point we can't find anything that's been violated." The FAA, though, is still trying to determine if this violates any of its rules.

But Brooke, I spoke with a former FAA employee who used to head the drone division of the agency and he said that this is really a function of a gray area in the law when it comes to drones. As Clinton police told me today, from a criminal law enforcement stance, it's perfectly legal to shoot your gun on your property if it is done in a safe manner and if you're not endangering someone's life. And right now, police say they don't have any evidence that anyone's life was in danger. So this could just be a great example of technology beep so far ahead of the law.

BALDWIN: And getting near a school project to make national news.

But tell me, though, this 18-year-ol 18-year-old, has he dealt with police in the past as it, you know, with other drones? What's the history here?

MARSH: Yes. He does have a history. If you go on his You Tube channel, you will see that he has plenty of videos. Back in 2014, he was actually flying a drone over a beach in Connecticut, and on to that drone he had a -- on top of that drone he had a camera strapped to it. And he says, a woman assaulted him. It's all caught on camera, because he flew that drone over her. Police responded to the scene, ultimately after reviewing the video, the woman was charged for assault. So this individual was 18 years old who is behind this video we are looking at here, he was not arrested or charged in that incident. But again, by just looking at his online postings, he is a drone enthusiast, but rarely the video that's catching everyone's attention is that one right there.

BALDWIN: But the bottom line, especially as you mentioned with the FAA, there is a lot of gray area, especially when it comes to these personal drones?

MARSH: There absolutely is, and so that's the struggle, really, when it comes to regulating this technology that frankly is moving so quickly and so many people have access to it, and so many are attracted to it, but the laws simply aren't there on the books. I've spoken to several lawmakers and several law enforcement officials who say often times we don't know what we can do, our hands are kind of tied when they retreat to look at the law. There's nothing that spells out what you're looking at is illegal. So many times there's not much they can do in the way of action. And so, you have a situation here where you have rules that the FAA, they're looking into, but again, Brooke, the technology way ahead of the actual law.

BALDWIN: Renee Marsh, thank you so much. Coming up next, forensic moments caught on camera as this woman tries

to rescue a toddler locked in a hot car. Temperature is heating triple (INAUDIBLE). What happens, up next?

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[15:56:32] BALDWIN: You can hear the tapping on the window there. This is this woman using a tire iron to smash a car window. A 2-year- old trapped inside, dripping in sweat, windows totally rolled up, doors locked. It took three long minutes of repeated smashing. Finally breaking the glass, free the child. No charges have been filed.

Sobering testimony today during the Vatican conference of human trafficking, politicians from all over the world are in attendance including several U.S. mayors and governors. In fact, they heard in a 22-year-old woman held captive in the sex trade at age 12. Pope Francis wants the United Nations to take this on, child trafficking. Actual statistics are pretty tough to come by, but according to the Urban Institute, Atlanta Georgia is a major hub for sex trafficking, and some of those traffickers make more than $32,000 a week, a week. The institute puts Atlanta's annual profit from the illegal sex industry at nearly $290 million. And that is just the city of Atlanta. In a groundbreaking CNN special Jada Pinkett Smith investigates Atlanta's sex trade shows us how children are sold for sex.

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JADA PINKETT SMITH: When my daughter was 11, she came to me and said, mommy, did you know that there were girls that were being sold for sex that are my age in this country? I was like, I think there's a mistake, that doesn't happen here. After that it was just -- I remember, I was stuck to the computer for days, story after story after story. And I couldn't believe that I didn't know.

Dalia Racine is DeKalb County's assistant district attorney. Would you say that there's a difference between prostitution and trafficking?

DALIA RACINE, DEKALB COUNTY, GEORGIA ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Trafficking is manufacturing of children with the sex trade. They're just getting sold and passed on from one exploiter to the other. And a lot of times it's because they don't know another life after this.

SMITH: Those exploiters can come from anywhere. Is there such a thing as trafficking occurring in airports?

RACINE: It is the world's busiest airport which lends to us being one of the hubs, is because the man can get on the computer anonymously say, I'm coming in to have sex with this child. He'll fly in on a 3:00 flight, meet the child at 6:00, and be gone on the 8:00, how are we to ever find him? How are we to ever know who they are?

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BALDWIN: Make sure you watch the Special Report, "Children for Sale, the fight to end human trafficking" tonight at 9:00 eastern.

And before I let you go, we have to give someone a special shout out, the man who started it all, Mr. Ted Turner. Today the city of Atlanta honor CNN's founder with the unveiling of Ted Turner drive in downtown Atlanta. So there you go. And of course, all of us here at CNN - today. Thank you, Ted Turner.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me here in New York. We will see you this time tomorrow.

In the meantime, let's go to Washington. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.