Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

Hillary Clinton Released Medical Records; MH-370 Mystery; U.S.- Trained Rebels Attacked; Lion Killer Wanted. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired July 31, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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


[14:00:07] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching CNN on this Friday. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me.

Let's get to it. The brand-new developments in the plane wreckage that could be Malaysian Air Flight 370.

But first, just in to CNN, Hillary Clinton releasing her medical records and a huge day for her campaign. Let's bring in senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar.

Brianna Keilar, what are we learning?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there.

Well, this is a letter put forth by Hillary Clinton's doctor since 2001. Dr. Lisa Bardack, and it says essentially that Hillary Clinton is fit to be president of the United States. In fact, that's how it concludes after it details a lot about her health.

Now, probably the thing of most concern, Brooke, has to do with that concussion that she suffered in 2012. She had a fainting spell. She had a - she fell. She had a concussion and she actually had a brain - a blood clot between her brain and her skull, also known as a thrombosis.

So what this statement reveals is that she had follow-up testing in 2013 and it revealed a complete resolution of the effects of the concussion, as well as total dissolution of the blood clot. That's what we hear from this doctor.

As a precaution, and we knew this, she's on daily blood thinners. But we even learn which one she's on. She's on the brand - the brand name for warfarin. And then we also have learned through this that she has hypothyroidism. She takes Armour Thyroid for that. She has seasonal allergies. There's really all kinds of information in this disclosure.

And then in addition just having had a regular physical examination, she had her most recent one March 21st. So that's about three weeks before she got into the race. Obviously gearing up for this process, which does include attesting to the fact that you're healthy. And so this is interesting, I will say, her regular checkups, a colonoscopy, that's - that's normal, but there are also some that are not very normal, right, for a candidate for president, and that includes that she is fine when it comes to her gynecological exam, her mammogram and a breast ultrasound. So this is a very deep dive into some of her health information.

BALDWIN: Wow. I mean, listen, it's a lot of details, but you do, what, have to put it all out there. A lot of these candidates, not just Hillary Clinton, but we should be learning medical records from so many others who want to be in the White House.

KEILAR: That's right. That's right. It's a key part of the process. Especially when there have been questions because Hillary Clinton very publicly did suffer from that condition -

BALDWIN: Right.

KEILAR: And a lot of Republicans raise questions about her health. This is important in saying that she is healthy and can serve.

BALDWIN: Brianna Keilar, thank you, my friend, very much.

Let's move along. An Australian official says he is, quote, "increasingly confident" that the piece of debris in this box now heading to Paris is not only from that Boeing 777 but the 777 that vanished about 15 months ago with 239 people on board, Malaysian Air Flight 370. The man leading the Australian search for the airliner that went missing in March of 2014 had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN DOLAN, CHIEF COMMISSIONER, AUSTRALIAN TRANSPORT SAFETY BUREAU: The only 777 aircraft that we're aware of in the Indian Ocean that could have led to this sort of part floating is MH-370, but as I say, we still need to confirm that through closer study of what appears to be a flaperon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The CNN team saw the apparent flaperon get wrapped up, boxed and then crated as it begins that 11-hour flight to France and ultimately to Toulouse where it will be examined by investigators from the French version of the NTSB, it's the BEA. And as investigators there take a closer look at it, intelligence agencies have been working on why Flight 370 vanished. And so we're now getting this preliminary assessment, which is that someone in the cockpit deliberately caused this aircraft to go off course and eventually toward the south Indian Ocean.

Remember, let's just all jog back here, the plane initially took off from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia in route to Beijing. So let's go to Reunion Island to Nima Elbagir, who's been there just off of Madagascar, off of Africa here, where this piece of plane, you know, ultimately was found by a very astute cleanup worker.

And so when we talk about how this is now heading to Toulouse, talk to me about who exactly is involved in the investigation and what they'll be looking at.

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it really gives you a sense of the seriousness with which this piece of debris is now being taken because the French judge overseeing the French judicial investigation into the disappearance of flight MH-370 because, of course, four French citizens were on board, he's now convened a meeting on Monday both with the representatives of the various French agencies, but also with the Malaysian investigators. They're going to have a working session, and that's pushed back the beginning of the analysis to the middle of the week. So the beginning of the analysis under the auspice of that French judicial investigation, because he has to formally allow them to begin or formally instruct them to begin that analysis now that this is part of a formal procedure in the French courts. That's going to begin Wednesday afternoon, again, in the presence of Malaysian investigators.

[14:05:38] And it's not just that bit of the wing that we saw be - that the CNN team saw being loaded on the plane that's headed to France, it is also that suitcase, the second piece of debris that turned up here a day later. That is also heading to Paris this time, not Toulouse, and it will be looked at there. The reason that this process of sending all of that over has taken so long, Brooke, is because they're trying to make sure that every bit of that evidence gets in the best shape that it can and investigators say they're confident that the center that this will be undertaken in, that it has the capacity to turned this around quite quickly, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Nima Elbagir, we'll await that turnaround, that sort of ultimate decision.

Meantime - thank you.

Flight 370 was supposed to arrive in Beijing at 6:30 in the morning back on March 8th of 2014. And as I mentioned, this preliminary finding from U.S. intelligence agencies indicate that someone in the cockpit deliberately set the plane off course. But no evidence has come forth to implicate either the captain or the co-pilot. In fact, in all this time, in all these many months, law enforcement and intelligence agencies from multiple countries have looked into the passengers, looked into the crew and found no hint to suggest any of them pose an obvious threat.

So with me now, CNN aviation correspondent Richard Quest, and also CNN counterterrorism analyst and a former CIA official, Philip Mudd.

So, gentlemen, welcome.

And, Richard Quest, let me just turn to you first, just to back up half a step. How did they - you OK?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Yes, sorry.

BALDWIN: How did they even arrive at the assessment to begin with?

QUEST: From what we understand, they used existing information. They did some intelligence work, but they used the satellite data, the movements of the aircraft, the positioning of the plane, the route that it's known that it took. That was before the Malaysian government put out their own factual information and which doesn't dispute this. It needs to be said, what we're talking here about, did somebody deliberately make those maneuvers of that moving graphic that we just saw as the plane goes up, around and down.

BALDWIN: By the way, when we say deliberately, that could be deliberately because for whatever reason they needed to change the plane's course for a very - you know, understandable reason, or deliberately meaning not so - not so solid?

QUEST: Well, that's what I'd like to hear from Phil -

BALDWIN: From Phil Mudd.

QUEST: Because I - when I hear this, and I heard the prime minister of Malaysia -

BALDWIN: Right.

QUEST: Talk about deliberate actions, I take that as it's literal sense. And I can't disagree with that. But maybe Phil can assist us in whether actually they're really saying someone was up to no good.

BALDWIN: Phil Mudd, how do you read this assessment?

PHIL MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: I read that - I read that much more subtly than what Richard was suggesting. Look, you have the CI, other agencies, defense intelligence, looking at information, the same information that's available publically. Let's be careful with our language here. What they said - and this is an intelligence art form.

BALDWIN: OK.

MUDD: What they - the word they used was "likely." That mean as greater than 50 percent chance that somebody purposefully turned the plane. That doesn't mean that someone purposefully crashed it. That means they turned it. Maybe there was a mechanical failure and they felt they had to get back to land.

BALDWIN: That - right, that's what I'm asking.

QUEST: Ah, ah, but that's the point I'm getting to. Phil, can we - and from your understanding, do you think they meant nefarious or do you think they were literally just saying, somebody had their hands on the wheel?

MUDD: I do not believe they met nefarious. Let's take a scenario here and go down a path quickly.

BALDWIN: OK.

MUDD: You go back a year when the plane went down, if you're in an intelligence community position, especially in the counterterrorism world, your first question is, is this an act of terrorism? So you look at things like the interviews of people who are related to the cockpit members and to the people on the plane. You look at information from FaceBook and Twitter, did anybody say anything before the aircraft went down? There are obviously no terror claims.

And a manager, like the manager that sit in the position I once sat in, look at the counterterrorism folks and say, you don't think this is terrorism, therefore, heck, what do you think happened here? And somebody said, more than likely, we think somebody purposefully turned the plane because there's no indication of terrorism.

BALDWIN: Just to remind all of us, Richard Quest, and I'm remember from our coverage, what, 15 months ago, didn't you fly with the co- pilot?

QUEST: Yes, yes, Fariq Hamid. Pure luck. Pure coincidence.

BALDWIN: Right.

QUEST: Two and half or three weeks earlier, I was doing a CNN business traveler and it involved filming on the flight deck from Hong Kong to KL (ph) and Fariq Hamid was the first officer involved that flight.

[14:10:06] BALDWIN: And from either the first officer, or the captain, anyone, crew, passengers, nothing in the 15 months has come up as odd, correct?

QUEST: The usual, you know, have the captain separated from his wife, but there has been nothing, nothing financial.

BALDWIN: Nothing.

QUEST: The factual report says there's no drugs, psychosis, substance abuse, nothing at all. There is no smoking gun, pardon the phrase, to lead it to the pilots. None.

BALDWIN: OK. Phil Mudd and Richard Quest, thank you both very much.

MUDD: Thank you.

QUEST: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Hopefully we'll get the information turned around quickly from the BEA and have more to discuss and they can have some answers from these family members as we're all mindful of them. Thank you, gentlemen.

And make sure you check out the CNN documentary, it's called "Vanished: The Mystery of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370." It is airing tonight at 9:00 p.m. here, right here on CNN.

Next, developing news, reports that an al Qaeda affiliate in Syria has attacked a group of U.S. trained rebels. We have more on that from the Pentagon.

Also just in, the U.S. getting in touch with the dentist who killed one of Africa's most treasured lions. All of this as the country of Zimbabwe is demanding the U.S. extradite him. Could that happen?

And just in, the founder of FaceBook revealing something incredibly personal and difficult about his marriage. It's a subject he says everyone is afraid to address. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:15:38] BALDWIN: You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

We're just getting these reports in from the Pentagon. U.S. trained rebels in Syria under attack by a terror group with links to al Qaeda, known as al Nusra. Let's go straight to the Pentagon, to our correspondent there, Barbara Starr. And I also have Phil Mudd sticking around with me, thank you, Phil, former CIA, he's back with us.

So, Barbara, first up to you, just as far as the reporting goes, tell me about the attack and when we're talking about U.S.-trained rebels, how many casualties here?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Information very sketchy at this hour, Brooke. What the Pentagon is saying is earlier today a compound, believed to be in the northern part of Syria but in Syria, came under attack. At that compound were some of the 60 Syrian rebels that the U.S. has already trained and equipped. And along with them were a number of other Syrian rebel troops, moderate rebels that the U.S. is trying to get into the program. They came under attack by the al Nusra Front affiliated with al Qaeda.

They called in U.S. air support. U.S. air strikes came in and are said to have repelled the attack at this hour. Still, the Pentagon trying to assess how many dead and wounded amongst the Syrians there may be.

But fundamentally, this is a very difficult setback for the U.S. program to train and equip Syrian rebels. They only had 60 of them through the program. They want to get a lot more, obviously. And their compound coming under attack by this al Qaeda-affiliated group, northern Syria, very tough business these days, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Phil Mudd, already coming under attack, again 60, I remember when the news came out that only 60 had been trained, right?

MUDD: Yes. Yes.

BALDWIN: One had through the number would have been much, much higher. How do you interpret this?

MUDD: This is a pretty straightforward story and this is brutal. Look, the civil war started in 2011. You have two major Islamism factions, that is the ISIS related faction, and as Barbara said, this faction, al Nusra, which is al Qaeda affiliated. Now we insert into this civil war - both those factions, by the way, have made great progress in recent months. Sixty U.S. trained moderates. Can you imagine the reaction of the ISIS guys, and in this case the al Nusra guess, to a few dozen U.S. trained moderates showing up on the battlefield. They're going to crush them.

BALDWIN: Right.

MUDD: So think this is not surprising. This is the kind of setback you've got to expect in a civil war that is this brutal. BALDWIN: Just quickly then, how do you combat that?

MUDD: Well, one of the - one of the problems you have is volume. We can't figure out a way to get the kind of volume through the training that we've seen in terms of the recruiting that ISIS and al Nusra have. I think we're in for a huge uphill battle. And I'm not sure we can win this one. The extremists own the battlefield right now.

BALDWIN: Phil Mudd, Barbara Starr, thank you both.

MUDD: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, the hunter becomes the hunted. The American dentist who shelled out big bucks to hunt Cecil the lion in Africa is now wanted by - well, it seems everyone. Specifically, though, the government of Zimbabwe want him back. They want him extradited. Even the U.S. State Department is looking into this killing. We'll talk to Jeff Corwin next on what he says we can learn from the death of this lion. And what are the laws? We'll talk to Danny Cevallos as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:22:57] BALDWIN: A lot to talk about here in the case of this killing of a - this famous African lion. Let me just begin with the legal tug-of-war. Zimbabwe, today, asking the United States to hand over this Minnesota dentist. And he's a pretty big game hunter. His name is Walter Palmer. He admits, yes, to killing this beloved and protected lion Cecil. Arguably the most famous lion in the world right now. Palmer has not been seen since Tuesday, I should also point out. But just a short time ago, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife tweeted that a representative of Dr. Palmer's - said this representative voluntarily contacted them late yesterday. So there has been that communication. Don't know what was exchanged. Just that - that they made contact. Palmer did go underground after news broke that this American hunter had killed a research (ph) lion and tourist attraction that had been fitted with a GPS collar.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD: We (INAUDIBLE). We will never compromise! Extradite Palmer!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: You have all these protesters camped out basically in the parking lot calling for his arrest, calling for his extradition, calling, in some cases, threatening him with his life.

This morning, Zimbabwe officially delivered this message to U.S. officials, turn Palmer over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OPPAH MUCHINGURI, ZIMBABWE'S ENVIRONMENT MINISTER: Unfortunately, it was too late to apprehend the foreign poacher as he had already absconded to his country of origin. We are therefore appealing to the responsible authorities for his extradition to Zimbabwe so that he be made accountable for his illegal actions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And then there is another layer to this. You have U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, on Monday, he will be introducing a bill to ban all imports to the U.S. of hunting trophies taken from African lions. So, let's broaden this out. Let me bring in Jeff Corwin, host of "Ocean Mysteries," and also I have with me here in New York CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Danny Cevallos.

So, welcome to both of you. But, Danny, to you, simply here, is what this dentist did in Zimbabwe, luring this lion out of this park with a bow and arrow and ultimately shooting and killing him, was that illegal?

[14:25:12] DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Brooke, I have not passed the Zimbabwe bar exam, but my understanding of Zimbabwean law so far is this. It is legal to shoot lions. It is legal to hunt them. It's legal to bait them. It's legal to even shoot a lion with a radio collar. What the illegal act was here, was that this lion was shot in an area that was not quoted for lions. So it would be akin to hunting without a license or hunting in a place that you're not supposed to hunt, even though in another geographic location you may be allowed to hunt whatever it may be, duck, bear, whatever it is. But that would be the analogy. And that appears to be, at this point, what the crime was. It was more of the poaching - the poaching aspect of it.

But make no mistake about it, hunting lions is big business in Zimbabwe and a sizeable part of their - a measurable part of their economy. Trophy hunting is alive and well in Africa and this is no exception.

BALDWIN: Let me just point out some numbers. And, Jeff, I want to bring your voice in, but I was just - I've just been reading a lot about lions in Africa because of this. A 2011 report by the International Fund for Animal Welfare found that between '99 and '08, Americans brought home lion trophies, heads, pelts, what have you, representing 64 percent of all African lions killed for sport during that period. Can you please explain to our viewers what trophy hunting is?

JEFF CORWIN, HOST, ABC'S "OCEAN MYSTERIES": Well, trophy hunting is, is when an individual travels internationally, or even domestically, and has a target species that they're after, and specifically going after that animal for a trophy. In the case of Africa, if you go hunt in one of the 11 of 45 countries in Africa that allow game hunting and trophy hunting, for example Zimbabwe, you have to go through the various filters (ph) to get your hunting permits and your license and then follow their rules and regulations, which then fall within the international rules under the Convention for the International Trade of Endangered Species. But in a nutshell, that's what trophy hunting is.

BALDWIN: So African lions, as I understand it, they're not endangered. They are a vulnerable species. That's how they're classified. When you talk to some of these trophy hunters or read about them, as I have, they say, you know, the money goes back to the communities, they're helping the populations. How would you respond to that, Jeff?

CORWIN: Well, there is an argument that licenses and fees from hunting, whether it's for fishing or animal hunting or public land use makes a significant contribution to conservation. For example, in the United States, we - from hunters and fishermen and their license, we generate over $700 million, which accounts for about half of the budget for our states when it comes to managing their resources. And there's an argument that this takes place internationally.

But as far as lions go, lions are in trouble. Right now the population is between 25,000 and 30,000 animals. Roughly 2 percent of that population is affected by game hunting. That's about 600 to 800 animals every year. But the big contributor to why lions are in trouble is habitat loss, climate change and human/animal conflict, which results largely from agriculture and livestock.

BALDWIN: So, Danny Cevallos, given what, you know, this environmental minister in Zimbabwe wants, is he extraditable?

CEVALLOS: In theory, yes. The United States has had a treaty with Zimbabwe since 2000. And the rule here is a term that we're going to come to know, it's called dual criminality. If it's a crime there and it's a crime here, and they're the same crimes, then that can be grounds - that can justify the extradition. And the procedure is very permissive. They make the request. The department of state, at their discretion, gives it to the U.S. attorneys. Then they initiate the proceedings. And the hearing that is then held in a district court is just to determine - it's like a probable cause hearing in criminal law. It's just to determine if there's probable cause that this crime has been committed and that it has that dual criminality.

In the case of crimes like murder, it's an easy analysis because murder is, I hope illegal in all countries. But in a case like this, if I was wearing the defense hat, I might argue that there isn't really an analogy between lion hunting laws and the laws that we have about hunting here. Although that is an argument, given the permissive standard, that would likely fail at the district court.

BALDWIN: Final question to you, Jeff, beyond the laws here, just in terms of the outrage. I was just in Africa not two weeks ago. I was five feet from four lions. I mean I - they're beautiful, beautiful creatures. Many human lives have been lost recently. Five elephants were poached in Tsavo Park in Kenya, yet it's this, you know, PETA wants this dentist hanged. I'm wondering why this lion, why this tremendous outrage, do you think?

[14:30:10] CORWIN: Brooke, Brooke, I think our emotional and visceral response to this situation of Cecil the lion is just the desperate way it was dispatched. It seemed like it was taken without any of the ethics that hunters often atone to. So for me, that's what gets us all. And it's also the idea that it was in a place of the ultimate protection.

Now, I think there's one thing we could add to the legal fight here. Not only did this individual take this animal in an inappropriate place, there's the argument that potentially it was baited in a national park. It is illegal to kill an animal in a protected sanctuary. This was also an iconic breach. It was a symbol of the wild nature. And you'd like to think symbols of the ultimate prestige of nature and the ultimate national park are beyond the reach of jeopardy. And in this case, we learned that just wasn't true.

BALDWIN: They are beautiful creatures.

Jeff Corwin, thank you.

Danny Cevallos, thank you as well.