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CNN NEWSROOM

Donald Trump Threatens a Third Party Run; Hillary Clinton Talks Middle Class Plans; Terror Fears Cloud Obama's Kenya Trip; Bland Revealed Previously Attempted Suicide; Russian Bombers Off California Coast?; Union That Invited Donald Trump Backs Out of Visit; Aired 10- 10:30a ET

Aired July 23, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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


[10:00:06] MONIQUE PRESSLEY, BILL COSBY'S ATTORNEY: The interesting part about you saying that you've interviewed them and then you accept what they said is true. However, when you listen to the denial of the accusations by Mr. Cosby through his attorneys repeatedly from the beginning that's looked at and scoffed. To me --

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: So why did he get seven prescriptions for Quaaludes? That sounds like more than just one woman that he offered a Quaalude to. That sounds like he wanted to give them to women and in fact in his own words he says, they were for the purpose of giving to women, plural.

PRESSLEY: And what you're discussing is not a crime for a person to offer a substance in a consensual relationship to a person with knowledge, and for them to choose to accept it is not criminal.

CAMEROTA: Sure.

PRESSLEY: It isn't even news actually for that to happen. And --

CAMEROTA: They say that they had no choice. That he slipped it to them. What is his response to that?

PRESSLEY: And as he said a number of times, that's been denied.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: So now a different case, a decade later. Could he sit down for another civil deposition?

Well, Carol, just as you say, that investigation is going on with the LAPD may allow him to plead the Fifth and not answer any questions.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: OK. I'm sure you'll keep following this case.

Jean Casarez, many thanks to you.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.

We are following three big stories happening right now on Capitol Hill. Secretary of State John Kerry giving the hard sell on the Iran nuclear deal. He's going in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Also on Capitol Hill, the House Judiciary Committee meets on proposed changes to immigration laws including cuts to federal grants for so- called sanctuary cities.

And in Columbia, South Carolina, Hillary Clinton meets with mayors and local leaders from across South Carolina talking about her plans to help the middle class.

And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. We begin with Donald Trump. In just a few hours he'll take a tour of the U.S.-Mexico border. But Trump is not only talking tough on immigration, he's taking aim directly at the Republican Party.

In an exclusive interview with "The Hill," Trump says he might make a third party run if the RNC is not fair to him during the primaries. Trump saying about the potential bid, quote, "I'll have to see how I'm treated by the Republicans. If they are not fair, that would be a factor."

Here to talk about this, CNN politics reporter MJ Lee and CNN political director David Chalian.

Welcome to both of you.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Good morning. So, David, what does Trump mean by being treated fairly by Republicans?

(LAUGHTER)

CHALIAN: I don't think it's completely defined just yet, Carol, but clearly the Republican National Committee when he made that comments last weekend about John McCain sort of issued a statement and put their thumb on the scale a little bit, trying to make sure to keep the debate in the manner that they think will best suit the eventual nominee with the goal of winning back the White House. That is the Republican National Committee's mission.

Listen, Donald Trump has never ruled out, not to Anderson Cooper in interviews or others, has never ruled out the notion that he could potentially run as an independent. What is so interesting here is sort of the threat in this -- in the interview with "The Hill" to the RNC. We haven't seen that before, as you said, to say, hey, I want to be treated fairly. What that means is, don't step in the way here. Don't get involved in the intraparty battle that he is now engaged in with all these other candidates.

And I got to tell you, Carol, as much concern as Republican establishment -- the establishment Republicans have about Donald Trump's potential damage to the Republican Party brand, that could be somewhat rehabilitated with whoever the nominee is depending on who that is in many of their eyes. What cannot sort of be mitigated is if, indeed, he bolts the party and runs as an independent, it is basically in the eyes of many Republican strategists handing the White House to the Democrats.

COSTELLO: You can imagine, David, that Donald Trump is probably really enjoying this because he's really got them by the tail.

CHALIAN: Well, listen, when you are the front runner of a race, you are in that pole position, you do have the power and the clout to dictate the state of play. Donald Trump is no doubt doing that, and especially when he knows he has a potential appeal to people across the country irrespective of party label, and he has the money to get access on all of the ballots across the country. That he is a real potential threat as a third party. And we know he's going to draw more votes right now according to polling from Republicans if he runs as an independent than from Democrats.

That's a big problem. And that's why, Carol, they treat him like a grenade. It's like you've got to deal with him delicately because they don't want him to sort of bolt and have it blow up in their face.

[10:05:03] COSTELLO: I can hear -- I can hear the sounds of cheering coming from the Democratic -- is that Hillary -- I think it is.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: All right. So as I have told our viewers just a short time ago, Donald Trump is on his way to the U.S.-Mexico border. He'll visit the city of Laredo.

MJ, I talked with the Laredo mayor just moments ago. He said he will greet Trump at the airport with open arms. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR PETE SAENZ, LAREDO, TEXAS: With open arms, frankly, we invite any and all political figures and especially of his magnitude. I've realized he's somewhat unique. You know, he's got his own philosophies, but by all means it's an opportunity for us here in Laredo, especially me as a mayor, to -- you know, to describe Laredo to him in a different sense, a different sense than what he has now developed, but it's certainly an opportunity for us here to visit with Mr. Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And I think the Laredo mayor wants to, you know, give his own ideas to Mr. Trump. On the other hand, he was going to appear with Border Patrol -- with the Border Patrol, but the union representing the Border Patrol has pulled out of the Trump appearance.

What does that mean, MJ?

MJ LEE, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, it means that it's not going to stop Donald Trump from going to the border. I mean, he -- even if they're not going to be there, his campaign has made it clear that the trip will still go on and he will still do the tour.

Listen, this is Donald Trump really pivoting back to the issue that has been central to his campaign and really central to his popularity really soaring in the last couple of weeks. Last week there were obviously a lot of distractions in the Donald Trump campaign after he made comments about John McCain when he questioned whether he was a war hero and I think a lot of people gave him criticism for that and he's now pivoting away from that and going back to this issue that he loves to talk about, which is that illegal immigration is such a big problem.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: But wouldn't it be -- doesn't he want Border Patrol agents to stand like side by side with him? Wouldn't that -- wouldn't that show his supporters that even Border Patrol agents are on his side? And now they're not going to be there.

LEE: No, I think that would certainly make for a good visual, but if the union says that they can't be involved in it because this is a political issue, then there's nothing he can do about that, but that doesn't mean that he's still not going to go and make all the cases that he has made so far and in very strong terms no doubt.

COSTELLO: All right. MJ, David, thank you so much for joining me with insight. I appreciate it.

As Republican candidates try to step out from Donald Trump's shadow, Hillary Clinton enjoys most of the spotlight among her fellow Democrats. This hour she's in South Carolina to deliver a message to mainstream America. She wants to help the nation's shrinking middle class.

Jeff Zeleny is CNN's senior Washington correspondent. He's here to tell us more.

Good morning.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol. Hillary Clinton is trying to get some attention, but as you said just a second ago, I mean, she's definitely enjoying this spectacle that's going on, on the Republican side, but today she is in South Carolina, one of those early voting states that the primary will happen early next year. She is pressing ahead with her message for improving incomes for middle class families.

It's a speech, you know, that she's been giving again and again. It's the hallmark of her campaign strategy. She's talking about proposing increasing the minimum wage. She's talking about increasing profit sharing, urging companies through tax incentives to allow employees to share in the profits of their companies.

But what she's really doing in this room here that we can see on screen right now is talking to mayors and ministers trying to get them on board her campaign. She doesn't have as much of a challenge politically as those Republicans do, but she's not running alone, of course. Bernie Sanders, the senator from Vermont, is getting big crowds across the country, even there in South Carolina. So that's what she is really trying to do here, establish herself as that Democratic front runner.

COSTELLO: Well, she's got another problem to deal with, right? A recent poll out shows her she has high negativity rating.

ZELENY: Well, it's really interesting. There was a poll this week that showed in key election battleground states, general election battleground states of Iowa, Colorado, and Virginia, she still has a lot of work to do with her favorability rating. She's underwater in a sense. And what that means is that more people view her unfavorably in some of the areas.

So the question for Hillary Clinton always is, are voters going to find her trustworthy? Are they going to find her honest? Her campaign says, look, all they need to do is prove and show that she's going to fight for them. So she is still trying to, I guess, make herself more likable. She's still trying to prove herself as a fighter, but she, you know, is not out of the woods in any degree in terms of a general election campaign.

Another reminder as we -- we can't say enough, this is still going to be a very close general election race. We're still in a very divided country -- Carol.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Yes, we are.

ZELENY: We'll say it every day because it's important to remind people. It's going to be a close election.

COSTELLO: It is indeed.

Jeff Zeleny, thanks for your insight. I appreciate it.

ZELENY: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: Just moments ago on Capitol Hill, Secretary of State John Kerry arrived on crutches to a Senate hearing on the Iran nuclear deal. Kerry is defending the deal that he helped seal last week. He's facing skeptical lawmakers on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and the Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz are also at his side to discuss central issues like the lifting of sanctions and Iran's remaining nuclear capabilities. Congress has 60 days to review the terms of the deal.

[10:10:16] A chilling warning from the FBI. ISIS is now a bigger threat to the -- to America than is al Qaeda. That's according to agency director James Comey who sat down with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: What keeps you up at night?

JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: What keeps me up at night is probably these days the ISIL threat in the homeland and I worry very much about what I can't see. If you imagine a nationwide haystack, we're trying to find needles in that haystack and a lot of those needles are invisible to us either because of the way in which they're communicating or just because they haven't communicated or touched a place where we could see them, and knowing that there are needles out there that you can't see is very worrisome.

BLITZER: Is that now a bigger threat to the U.S. homeland than al Qaeda?

COMEY: Yes, yes. The threat that ISIL presents, poses to the United States is very different in kind, in type, in degree than al Qaeda. ISIL is not just parents' al Qaeda. It's a very different model and by virtue of that model it's currently the threat that we are worrying about in the homeland most of all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: In the meantime, major terror concerns ahead of President Obama's upcoming trip to Kenya. Officials tell CNN increased chatter by one of the world's most dangerous terror groups has been detected.

Let's bring in CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. Good morning.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Let us say, first and foremost, the administration believes President Obama absolutely will be safe during his trip to Africa. There is no reason to believe, they tell us, that there is a direct threat against the president, but that said, a group called the al-Shabaab, they are the al Qaeda affiliate in East Africa, home based in Somalia but have conducted a number of attacks across the border into Kenya where the president will be visiting.

Sources are telling us, government officials here in Washington, that they have detected increased chatter by al-Shabaab in recent days about the president's visit. They know he's coming. They understand a lot of world attention will be focused on this.

The sense, the sources say, that they have is that al-Shabaab would not attempt a direct attack but instead will go for potentially for some soft targets in Kenya, shopping malls, universities, schools, mosques, the kinds of attacks we've seen before against Kenyan civilians in very vulnerable areas that can't be protected 100 percent by any stretch.

The kind of thing that will cause mayhem, that will cause attention to be diverted from the president's visit and will cause the Kenyans to question if they can actually -- if their government can keep them safe. That's the big concern.

They do believe the president will be safe. Some information has already been published about when Air Force One will land in Nairobi, but I have to tell you the White House saying yesterday they weren't too concerned about it. Essentially brushing it off again saying they really do feel the president will be safe, but a lot of concerns about what else this al-Shabaab group, this al Qaeda affiliate, may be up to -- Carol. COSTELLO: All right. Barbara Starr reporting live. Thanks so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, new details about the death of a woman in a Texas jail cell including a voicemail she left days before she died.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDRA BLAND: How did switching lane with no signal turn into all of this, I don't even know, but I'm still here so just call me back when you can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:18:15] COSTELLO: New details today in the case of Sandra Bland. She's the woman found dead in a Texas jail cell earlier this month. Newly released jail intake forms reveal a prior suicide attempt by Bland following the loss of a baby. She had a miscarriage. And an initial autopsy indicates that Sandra had scars from cutting with wounds so recent she still had scabs. We're also hearing haunting last words from Bland as she leaves one last voicemail for a friend.

Ed Lavandera live in Hempstead, Texas, with more on that.

Good morning, Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Well, you know, a lot of focus has been on the video of the arrest of Sandra Bland over the last couple of days, but now a newly released document in kind of a renewed focus on the autopsy of Sandra Bland. There was a preliminary report and more detailed reports are starting to come in as well. So we have heard from various county officials here in Waller County, Texas, that talked about the marijuana levels that were found in her system.

Also the D.A. here in Waller County telling us that there was evidence or indications of markings on her arms that might have been possible suicide attempts as well. All of this in stark contradiction to what Sandra Bland's family has been insisting for several days now, that they had no indication that she was depressed or willing or wanting to take her own life in any way. In fact, just the opposite the family says. This was a woman who was starting a new chapter of her life down here in Texas after having moved down to -- from Chicago to start a new job down here and that everything was looking up for her.

But a renewed focus on this -- these autopsy results and what kind of clues investigators can get from all of this.

[10:20:00] And we also know and a lot of people have been asking, Carol, about why was Sandra Bland still in jail three days after being put in jail on a rather minor traffic violation. And county officials tell us that during the course of that time, she had been given a $5,000 bond, bond so she needed about $500 to bond out. And county officials tell us that she had made a series of phone calls to some family and friends and was struggling to connect and get the $500 that she needed. One of those friends received a voicemail from Sandra Bland, and this is what it sounded like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLAND: Hey, this is me. I just was able to see the judge. I don't really know, they got me sitting on a $5,000 bond. I'm still just at a loss for words honestly about this whole process, how did switching lane was no signal turned into all of this, I don't even know. But I'm still here so I guess call me back when you can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: So, Carol, you know, we're also expecting the Bland family has issued and ordered its own independent autopsy of Sandra Bland. Those results have not been released and we're trying to figure out if and when that will happen -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Ed Lavandera reporting live this morning from Hempstead, Texas.

A new warning from a top U.S. military commander about Russia's nuclear arsenal calling it a, quote, "existential threat against the United States." That's coming just days after Russian bombers were intercepted off the coast of California.

Brian Todd has more from Washington.

Hi, Brian.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. You know, this morning we're getting new information about a frightening incident on the Fourth of July. A confrontation in the skies between U.S. fighter jets and nuclear capable Russian bombers not far from American shores. Now we had reported that on that day two Russian TU-95 Bear Bombers, this is a picture of one. They flew not far from the California coast.

Now we now understand that that incident was roughly 40 miles off the coast of central California right about here. Now on the same day, July 4th, two other Russian Bears flew close to the southern tip of Alaska, near the Aleutian Islands. In both instances American fighter jets, F-15s off the coast of California and F-22s off the coast of Alaska, flew up to intercept the Russian bombers and the Russian planes turned away.

We are also learning tonight of a communication toward from the Russian bomber pilots toward their American counterparts in that one incident near California. A spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD, he tells CNN one of the Russian pilots said over an emergency aircraft channel, quote, "Good morning, American pilots. We are here to greet you on your Fourth of July Independence Day."

Now was that a threat? This NORAD official would not go that far but he did say that this incident was, quote, "potentially destabilizing," because this was an unannounced approach and because these Russian bombers are capable of striking the U.S. with nuclear bombs.

Now, Carol, this all happened on the same day that Russian President Vladimir Putin called President Obama, personally congratulated him on the Fourth of July holiday. Many observers in this incident say that was no coincidence, that that conversation and this confrontation all happened on the same day.

COSTELLO: Unbelievable. Brian Todd reporting live for us this morning. Thanks so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the Donald making a campaign run for the border to tackle immigration, but it's his latest threat that could shake up the race for the White House.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:27:50] COSTELLO: For Donald Trump the fight against illegal immigration will take him to Texas where he will take a tour of the U.S.-Mexico border later this afternoon. Trump making the trip after being invited by the border agency's union. That union, however, announcing today it's actually pulling out of the visit citing what it says is careful consideration of all the factors involved in this event.

Trump's visit comes as he threatens a third party run if he feels the Republican National Committee is, in his words, "fair to him during the primaries."

CNN's chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash joins me now from Laredo.

So what does Donald Trump mean by fair?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what he means is a couple of things. First, most recently on Sunday and into Monday the Republican National Committee put out a statement pretty unusual for a party to do this during a primary process criticizing Donald Trump about his comments regarding John McCain and his military service, which he made, of course, over the weekend in Iowa.

And so that combined with what we reported a few weeks ago, the Republican National Committee chair, Reince Priebus, calling Donald Trump about a whole bunch of things, but as part of that making clear that he wants him to tone down his language and then making that conversation public. So I think all of those things is what he's referring to.

And, Carol, you know, he has talked about the fact that he's not ruling out a third party run before, but linking it to the treatment that he gets from the Republican Party is new, significant, and clearly seems to be a bit of a threat.

COSTELLO: I know. So he's actually willing to blow his party's chances to, you know, to get the presidency of the United States because he's angry at what the RNC is saying about him? BASH: You know, sure. He might be. Look, he considers himself a

Republican now obviously. He's running for the Republican nomination, but he's also been very up front about the fact that he's given to Democrats in the past. He gave to Hillary Clinton in the past. So that's why, you know, kind of going through this process as Trump has skyrocketed in the polls and really, you know, taken over the conversation in the Republican nominating process so far. A lot of Republicans who I talk to privately say that they are concerned.