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Donald Trump Visits Border, Speaks to Media; Texas Officials Discuss Jail Death. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired July 23, 2015 - 15:00   ET

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


[15:00:07]

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Pictures of the district attorney here in Waller County, Texas. He is giving details on this autopsy of Sandra Bland. She was arrested for resisting arrest. That was back on July 10. She was found dead in her jail cell. The sheriff says she committed suicide. The family doesn't buy that.

They're having this independent autopsy done. In the meantime, let's go straight to the DA.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

ELTON MATHIS, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, WALLER COUNTY, TEXAS: The irony of Ms. Bland's death here in a small Southern Texas jail is not lost on me.

I understand why that is viewed by many as suspicious, given the fact that she devoted much of her live to the causes of violence against African-Americans and minorities perpetrated by law enforcement, police officers, and the black lives matter movement across the country.

Having said that, and I will reiterate, it's the goal of my office to seek justice, and whatever form that may ultimately be is yet still undetermined. However, the investigation that's being conducted by the Texas Rangers, assisted by the FBI, is ongoing.

And in real life, in real time, things take time. They are diligently working. They're consulting with my office, advising us, letting us know what they are doing. And, today, we have a bit more information that we're going to share with the media and the public to try to have some idea of what went on in the Waller County Jail and to understand what was going on in the life of Ms. Sandra Bland.

This is another piece of evidence that we have. There are many more that need to be gathered and observed and analyzed by the authorities that are investigating, by my office, and again ultimately by the Waller County grand jury.

Today's purpose at this press conference is to share some information from the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office regarding Ms. Bland's autopsy results. And, today, I have joining me two of my prosecutors who I have made preliminary assignments to on the criminal cases that may result from this incident here in Waller County. Want to reiterate that we're dealing with two different incidents, the

incident on the side of the road in Prairie View that was conducted by the Texas Department of Public Safety. And we are dealing with the incident of Ms. Bland's death in the Waller County Jail.

I have today with me Mr. Warren Diepraam here to my left in a suit. Warren and I will be actively engaged and handling any matters that arise and involve Ms. Bland's death in the Waller County Jail. I'm proud to have him on staff. Warren is a longtime Harris County prosecutor, over 20-plus years of experience prosecuting high-profile cases in Houston.

He is a nationally recognized expert in the area of DWI intoxication manslaughter offenses and routinely teaches around the country on that subject matter. Joining him to his left is Ms. Mia Magness. She's also my senior prosecutor, a senior prosecutor. Mia also joins me. Her prior service in government prosecution was also in Harris County. She also has over 20-some-odd years of experience prosecuting cases in the city of Houston.

And I'm here to tell you and the state and the world and the nation this office is well able and equipped and ready to handle any of these cases if criminal charges are deemed necessary. Ms. Magness will be handling, in conjunction with another prosecutor from my office, Tiffany Bradshaw, any criminal offenses that may be determined to have been committed by the DPS trooper on the side of the road.

Want to reiterate once again, at this point, it has not been determined that there have been any criminal activities or any criminal charges by any party at this time. I also want to clarify, because I see it keep coming up, that there are multiple investigations. Department of Public Safety is conducting their own civil investigation of the trooper's actions.

They have already indicated that the trooper violated their own internal policies. I concur with that, that those were violations of DPS policies and that I was not happy when I saw that video. That's a different story than if what he did amounted to criminal violations.

[15:05:00]

If, after all the evidence is gathered, analyzed, presented to a Waller County grand jury, that a determination has been made that there are criminal violations, my office would have a part in that.

Secondly, as far as the jail and the sheriff, the fact-findings by the Texas Jail Commission, those as well are civil violations that will be dealt with in the civil courts or in the administrative areas of Texas law. Those violations, even though they have been determined, are not something that my office deals with as far as criminal prosecution. And in that respect, that's why I'm not commenting today on the procedures being used in the jail.

Having said that, I'm going to call up Mr. Diepraam. He has a presentation that he will be making in regards to the findings of the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office. He may or may not be taking questions after that.

Ms. Magness will not be taking questions today in this press conference. I would ask that you would allow her time to work on her portion of the case. Please do not contact her. If you have any questions regarding this case, please continue to contact me or Mr. Diepraam. Thank you very much.

Warren?

WARREN DIEPRAAM, WALLER COUNTY PROSECUTOR: Good afternoon. Appreciate you being here and appreciate the opportunity to come before you and detail for you the pathological findings that we have received in this case.

Now, there are not going to be any opinions expressed about whether or not a crime has occurred or any facts that occurred in this particular case. These are simply pathological findings as discussed between me and members of the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office.

I do intend to display some photographs to demonstrate some of the pathological findings that we will be discussing. However, I'm first going to discuss them and their significance or potential significance in this case before I display the photographs. Once, if any if any of you folks are streaming live, I recommend that you not show these, because some of these may be graphic. We don't want to display these to the public, but we do want to make them available to the media to understand the significance of what occurred in the jail and the cause and manner of death.

The Harris County Medical Examiner's Office, as you know, has listed the cause of death as hanging and the manner of death as a suicide based upon the physical and pathological findings of their highly qualified assistant medical examiner in this case, which has been reviewed by Dr. Wolf, who is second in command of the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science.

Mr. Mathis, the district attorney of Waller County, Texas, has a difficult job ahead of him. He has to balance the many competing principles of the privacy interest of the family, of the public's right to know, of the media's access to an open and honest government.

He's done an excellent job of conveying to the media that limited information that we have as it becomes available to you and the media, so that you can convey it to the public.

Some of the information that we are releasing today, we feel compelled to release because of specific allegations from some individuals about the circumstances that occurred in the Waller County Jail and/or on the streets of Prairie View, Texas.

So, with that, I'm going to start discussing some of the more significant pathological findings. The autopsy report will be discussed with the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science. It may be made available tomorrow. Keep in mind the distinction between pathological findings, the mechanism of death, vs. the toxicological findings, which is any substance that may have been found in her body. There's been some significant interest about toxicological findings.

And I want to address some rumors that have been put out there in the public that we have had to concern ourselves with.

First of all, the Waller County District Attorney's Office, the Texas Rangers and all officials investigating this case are confident that the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science did an excellent job in the autopsy and investigating this particular case.

We have not asked for, nor do we intend to ask for a second autopsy. Some of the confusion that may have come about as a result of this alleged second autopsy request may have been done at the request of the family of Ms. Bland. They may have requested a second autopsy for themselves. That is with their purview and within their capabilities.

[15:10:03]

We certainly would endorse them whatever they want to do, and we hope that they will be as publicly disclosing with their information as we have been with ours.

The second information is, in reference to toxicology findings, there have been some instances or claims about a substantial amount of marijuana found in her system. I can tell you that there has been a confirmation of those results.

However, the results are preliminary and were done through specific scientific test that is common in the field to determine the presence of marijuana. That's called an ELISA test, or an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test, which is simply a very reliable screening process.

We have requested -- and the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science has done confirmatory testing through gascromatografia, which is the gold standard in the field, also known as GCMS, or gas mass spectrometry.

That is the standard that is used by forensic labs around the country and is accepted around the world as again being the gold standard for toxicological testing.

Those results may be released tomorrow. Medical examiners and pathological labs around the country have a set protocol for in- custody deaths to look for a certain type of substances in these types of investigations.

The district attorney, Mr. Mathis, has asked for additional testing on behalf of Waller County, state, regional...

BALDWIN: All right, we're listening here to this news conference being given by a number of officials there in Texas in the wake of the death of Sandra Bland. And they are about to use some photographs to make some examples from this autopsy.

So, we're going to pull away from this right now. We're going to come back to it momentarily. But I just want to pivot to Donald Trump there about to speak,

presuming these are live pictures in along the U.S./Mexico border.

I have Jeremy Diamond on the phone. Let's just listen to Donald Trump.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would like to introduce, first, the mayor. He's going to say a few words. Then I will say a few words. We were treated so nicely. We learned so much in such a quick period of time. But the mayor has done a fantastic job.

Mr. Mayor.

PETE SAENZ, MAYOR OF LAREDO, TEXAS: Thank you so much, Mr. Trump.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Pete Saenz. I'm the mayor of Laredo, Texas. And we're excited to have Mr. Donald Trump here in Laredo, Texas. It's has provided us an opportunity to present to Mr. Trump and his entourage what Laredo is all about.

You know, Laredo is the number one land port in the nation. We do -- Laredo, per se, does over 40 percent of the Mexican trade. Laredo is known for obviously transportation. You can see the big trucks behind us and logistics. We are -- NAFTA has been very good to us. We're excited about that.

And we also have oil and gas production in our county and it also provides a revenue to us. Mr. Trump has brought up certain issues, the immigration issue in particular. We, at least I feel personally that immigration reform is required, need. We need protection in the border area.

We need to secure the border. But we also need other elements, you know, obviously, the immigration act or bill. So, with that in mind, it's a pleasure to have Mr. Trump. The excitement that he brings is also very on the plus side for our city, and we appreciate all of the attention. But we know that the attention comes primarily through this gentleman here.

Mr. Trump.

TRUMP: Thank you, Pete. Thank you very much.

Well, thank you very much for being here. It's been an amazing experience. Mexico is booming, absolutely booming. And Jesus, the city manager, and Pete have done an amazing job right here.

But a lot of what's happening here is because of the fact that Mexico is doing so well. It's just doing beyond -- beyond what anybody ever thought. And I don't know if that's good for the United States, but it's good for Mexico.

Anybody have any questions?

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

TRUMP: Yes, I think we will win the Hispanic vote.

I have thousands of Mexicans and Hispanics. And I think when it comes right down -- I don't know if you saw the poll, but they just did a big poll in Nevada, the state of Nevada. And I'm way ahead. And more importantly as far as I'm concerned, I'm way, way ahead with the Hispanics, well into the 30s, which -- and I think second is like 11.

So I have a great relationship. Over the years, thousands and thousands of Hispanics have worked for me and now work for me. And the relationship is very good.

[15:15:05]

Question.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

TRUMP: How many people killed?

QUESTION: Seven people this year Laredo. In Chattanooga, five people were killed in less than hour, five Marines. That's an American city coming from the Middle East.

TRUMP: Yes.

QUESTION: So, it means that killers come from all over the world.

TRUMP: I agree with that. No, I agree with that. And they come through here. But they come from all over the world. I agree with that.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: You keep saying that there's a danger, but the crime along the border is down. What danger are you talking about?

TRUMP: There's great danger with the illegals. And we're just discussing that. But we have a tremendous danger on the border with the illegals coming in.

Yes, ma'am.

QUESTION: Have you seen any evidence here to confirm your fears about Mexico sending its criminals across the border?

TRUMP: Yes, I have. And I have heard it. And I have heard it from a lot of different people.

And, in fact, as you know, the Border Patrol was the one that invited me. I think most of you have that invitation. We sent it. The Border Patrol invited me. And then they canceled, because, frankly, they don't want to get involved. They know the problem. The reason they invited me was because of the tremendous problem and the tremendous crime and all of the things that you're talking about. So, they invited me. And then, at the last moment I mean, we were virtually in the air and they said, we can't get involved. And I heard they got those orders from Washington.

QUESTION: What evidence specifically have you seen?

TRUMP: We will be showing you the evidence.

QUESTION: When?

QUESTION: When? How?

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) called you a racist.

TRUMP: Well, you know, I have -- we just landed and there were a lot of people at the airport. And they were all waving American flags and they were all in favor of Trump and what I'm doing, and virtually everyone that we saw.

There was such a great, warm -- I was actually surprised. But there was such great warmth at the airport with all of those people that were there. So, we're very, very honored.

Yes, go ahead.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

TRUMP: No, they were chanting for me.

QUESTION: No, they were (OFF-MIKE) chanting against you.

TRUMP: I didn't see that.

QUESTION: What is the most surprising part of this trip being here on the border for you?

TRUMP: Well, I think meeting the mayor and meeting Jesus, the city manager. I think these are tremendous people. They're doing a tremendous job. Come on, Jesus. Say a word. This man -- I'm going to steal him to run something for me. He's fantastic, the city manager.

JESUS OLIVARES, CITY MANAGER, LAREDO, TEXAS: Thank you, Mr. Trump.

And welcome, everybody, to the city of Laredo. This is one of the greatest cities on the border. And we're a vibrant city. And as Mr. Trump mentioned, you know, the trade that we have here with Mexico, this is where the rubber meets the road. And all of you can see it right behind us. This is where all the trade comes through that Mexico and the United States have in common right here.

And not only that, but this is where it goes to the rest of the world. And I will tell you what. We wouldn't be where we are if it wouldn't be for the support that mayor and members of the city council that are also here with us, council members, and I advised -- and Council Member Perez, we are very fortunate to have the support that they provide us in order for this city to be such a great city and the number one inland import in the country.

Thank you very much..

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Do you agree with Mr. Trump about the way to make the border safe is to build this long wall?

OLIVARES: Well, that's a federal issue. And we have our comments on that.

QUESTION: What is your comment?

OLIVARES: We don't think that's necessary at this time.

I think there's other ways that we can work together with the federal government. I think, right now, we have a process that we work together with Border Patrol, CPB, and everybody to be able to get some of these things done.

The relationship that the city of Laredo has with the federal government, with all the law enforcement agencies is a tremendous one. Thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: No, no, not at all. There are different sections. This is one section, but there are different sections.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: ... actually do to change the illegal immigration...

TRUMP: Well, the one thing you have to do, and as Jesus was saying and as the mayor was saying, there is a huge problem with the illegals coming through.

And in this section, it's a problem. In some sections, it's a massive problem. And you have to do -- you have to create -- you have to make the people that come in, they have to be legal. Very simple.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: You have to let people do their job, the Border Patrols, which, by the way, it seems the unions are very much involved with the Border Patrols.

But have to let them do their job. They want to do their job. That's why they invited me, that they invited me. I didn't come here. The Border Patrols invited me because they have got such a problem. They want to be able to do their job. If they can't do their job, believe me, they're unhappy. They want to be able to do their job.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Are you still in favor of a wall?

TRUMP: Yes, in certain sections, you have to have a wall, absolutely.

And, by the way, the wall -- the wall will save you a tremendous amount of money. But you absolutely -- there are areas that you have to have the wall.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) these from El Chapo?

TRUMP: The who?

QUESTION: From El Chapo, the drug cartel leader?

[15:20:03]

TRUMP: I don't know anything about it.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) potential third-party run if the GOP (OFF-MIKE)

TRUMP: Look, I'm a Republican. I'm a conservative. I'm running. I'm in first place, by a lot, it seems, according to all the polls. I want to run as a Republican.

I think I will get the nomination. We will see soon enough. But I think I will get the nomination. The best way to win is for me to get the nomination and run probably against Hillary. Hillary is the worst -- look, easily, she's the worst secretary of state in the history of our country.

She's going to be beaten and I'm the one to beat her. And I will take jobs back. The reason I won with the Hispanic vote and I win all over with the Hispanic vote, because they know I will take jobs back from China, I will take jobs back from Japan and every other country that's killing us. I will bring the jobs back. And, you know, the Hispanics are going to get those jobs and they're going to love Trump. And they already do.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

TRUMP: No, they weren't insulted, because the press misinterprets my words.

QUESTION: What would you do with the 11 million undocumented immigrants who are already here?

TRUMP: The first thing we have to do is strengthen our borders. And after that, we're going to have plenty of time to talk about it. Thank you very much. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Thank you.

BALDWIN: Oh, my goodness. OK.

So, that was Donald Trump in and out there, news conference. You saw his hat. Make America great again. A couple of headlines, saying he absolutely has the Hispanic vote and Hispanic support, says he wants to run as a Republican. We know he has given that interview to "The Hill" newspaper saying potentially he's frustrated with the RNC and might take that third-party ticket.

And also you just heard him take a jab at Hillary Clinton saying that she was the worst secretary of state ever in this country.

Let's marinate on this with our CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger. I have Lou Gargiulo. He's the co-chairman of the Trump campaign in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, and David Aguilar, former deputy commissioner of the Customs and Border Protection.

So, welcome to all you.

Gloria, you first. Where to begin? What of all of that struck you?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, what struck me was that somebody locally seemed to be saying it's not necessary to build a wall at this time.

And then when Mr. Trump was asked about it, he said that in certain sections you have to have a wall, so I think while everybody gathered agreed on the immigration problem, I think that there seemed to be a little bit of disagreement on the immigration solution.

Also, I think he was a little softer on running as a third-party candidate. He didn't -- he didn't trash the Republican National Committee.

BALDWIN: He said he wants to run as a Republican.

BORGER: Right. He wants to run as a Republican. What he said to "The Hill" was a not so-veiled-threat. Right? He said "The Hill," if they don't treat me right, I'm going to think about it. And that is exactly what Republicans are worried about, because they know if he runs as a third-party candidate, he can self-fund and it could be game, set, match for them, because this is going to be a very close election.

I do think he kind of softened that. He also said that he will be showing evidence about his theory that Mexico is throwing criminals across the border. He didn't show it, but said he will be.

BALDWIN: Let me, Lou, with you, just sort of hone in on what Donald Trump said. I talked to Bob Cusack just last hour, the editor-in- chief of "The Hill" and he is the one who interviewed Donald Trump. Donald Trump, again, as Gloria was echoing, Donald Trump is very frustrated with the RNC. They are supposed to be this neutral arbiter. And clearly they have opined when it comes to their feelings on Donald Trump, Reince Priebus, the chairman, recently essentially called him up and said tone it down. What's the story here? Does Donald Trump want to run as a Republican or does he want that third-party ticket?

LOU GARGIULO, TRUMP CAMPAIGN CO-CHAIRMAN, ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE: I think there's no doubt that Mr. Trump wants to run as a Republican, but Mr. Trump is looking for fair treatment.

And, unfortunately, sometimes, party chairmen on both sides of the aisle come out with comments that negatively impact the openness of the race. And I think Mr. Trump is just looking for a fair shake from the RNC.

And I think if he gets that, I don't think there's any question he wants to run as a Republican. His message is resonating. And I think that the Republican National Committee has to take notice, because, if they don't, obviously, they are not going to have another winning election. And we need, as Republicans, a candidate who can articulate the concerns of the general public. And clearly Trump is articulating those concerns.

Immigration is a huge issue and we can't lose sight of it.

[15:25:00]

BALDWIN: Can we -- I'm talking to our control room now. Do we have the polls? I would love to show everyone the ABC/"Washington Post" poll talking about this potential hypothetical general election race, right?

It showed -- and we will hopefully have the numbers in a second, but essentially if it comes to be a Jeb Bush/Hillary Clinton race, you have how it would result between those two. But if Donald Trump were to run as a third-party candidate, he would take a significant chunk of the votes from Jeb Bush, a la the Ross Perot effect some years ago.

Do you know, Lou, at one point -- what would it take for him to say, forget it, I'm not running as a Republican -- here are the numbers -- I'm not running as a Republican, I want third party?

GARGIULO: I haven't spoke to Mr. Trump directly about that, but from everything and all indications that I have heard from people close to him, his interest is not to run as a third-party candidate, but to run as a Republican and to win the nomination.

And, again, I think that his efforts in going to the border today, in visiting multiple states, is not a single state. He's not just chasing the New Hampshire primary, the Iowa caucuses. He has a national strategy that is geared to be able to win across the country. And people are taking notice.

And I think, Brooke, we all have to recognize that there is a lot of people who are upset with the system and upset with the political parties. One only has to look at Trump's results and Bernie Sanders. The number of people that they're drawing is significant. And with that, I think that the Republican and Democratic parties better take notice of these two gentlemen before they find themselves in a difficult position.

BALDWIN: Yes.

Let me loop back on that point with David. I just want to bring your voice in with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol -- protection. You know how this works. And when you're hearing, you know, some of what Donald Trump has said about building a wall, at least having a wall at portions of the border -- he was also saying a moment ago that the Border Patrol can't do their jobs. Can you just fact-check that for me? What's true? What's not?

DAVID AGUILAR, FORMER DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION: Sure, Gloria. And thanks for the invite this afternoon.

BALDWIN: It's Brooke.

(CROSSTALK)

AGUILAR: Brooke, it's critically important here is to put forth reality.

And reality is that there's been a tremendous amount of advanced work, advancement in the border area. Today, as we speak, we are literally 80 percent below what used to be the peak apprehensions and detentions as recently as 2000. The numbers this year on detentions and arrests are going to be at about 350,000.

The peak year was 1.6 million apprehensions in 2000. In addition to that, we have added -- the country has added a tremendous amount of personnel, a tremendous amount of technology and infrastructure, to include over 650 miles of border wall that was designed by the Border Patrol itself, placed exactly where it needed to be.

Now, does more work need to be done on the border? Absolutely. The rhetoric today is that the status of the border is somewhere between a more secure than ever border before and a border out of control. It's somewhere in the middle, more work to be done, but a tremendous amount of work has been done.

And what we need to look at is the thriving nature not just of the border, but the border region, where our two countries meet. Over half-a-trillion dollars worth of trade on a yearly basis now. Over a million people a day cross these borders into the United States on a daily basis. The businesses are thriving along the entirety of the Southwest border.

Some of the safest cities in our nation, basically, exist along our nation's border with Mexico. The work continues. The men and women of the Border Patrol continue to do an outstanding job between the ports of entry. Today as we speak, the men and women at the ports of entry are also doing a great job.

And, by the way, we're seeing more apprehensions of narcotics at the port of entry literally because of the work that is being done between the ports of entry. It's literally being forced towards the ports of entry.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: You would know. You would know. Sure, this is your realm of expertise.

David and Gloria and Lou, just stand by, if you will, because I want to bring in Jeremy Diamond. He is on the phone. He's one of our CNN political reporters and he's actually on the ground there in -- right along the border. He's traveling in the midst of this scrum in Laredo, Texas.

Jeremy, you're there. You heard that news conference. What, of all of this, has really resonated down there?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brooke.

Yes, I'm on the bus right now. We just left the press conference at the border, where Trump -- you know, what he was saying, he was going on about immigration. He was going on about Mexican trade.

But I really want to take you behind the scenes real quick, because the scene was pretty intense.

BALDWIN: Please.

DIAMOND: It was the classic Donald Trump media circus that we saw there.

When Trump got to the podium, he took a pause there and he said, "Wow." It was really something.