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Major Delays at Washington D.C. Airports; Hillary Clinton Comments on Email Scandal; Donald Trump and Other 2016 Presidential Candidates Visit Iowa; Birmingham Police Officer Pistol Whipped by Suspect; U.S. Flag Raised over U.S. Embassy in Cuba; Fraternity Pledge Dies in Hazing Incident. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired August 15, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:01:05] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, hello again. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We have breaking news out of the nation's capital. A computer outage has suspended all flights in and out of the D.C. area airports. This image on FlightAware.com just this last hour shows no air traffic over the D.C. area. Air traffic controllers are working to reroute aircrafts that were planning to land. A new photo taken by a CNN producer at Reagan National Airport showing anxious travelers packed into a terminal there.

Let's get more from Vaughn Sterling, our senior producer who is there, stuck, took these pictures at Reagan National Airport. So Vaughn, you were to get on a flight in the 12:00 hour going for vacation in Burlington, Vermont, and there you sit still at Reagan National. So how did you get the news? What's been happening?

VAUGHN STERLING, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Fredricka, as soon as we arrived, it became pretty clear there was a problem. We haven't seen an aircraft take off or land in hours. And out on the tarmac, waiting for a good long time. They have since returned to the gate, which has only made things more crowded here. There's thousands of people, a lot of confusion, and very little information. We understand that there's a computer problem affecting air traffic control. No one seems to know what's behind it or, more importantly, when it will be back online. So folks are confused and frustrated, and it seems like the staff here and the gate agents are equally confused and frustrated.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. So, Vaughn, what is either the airline or perhaps even the airport announcements, what is being conveyed? Or is it strictly what you see on the screens, that there are delays, or is there more?

STERLING: They're frequently making announcements that there's an air traffic control problem, a full ground stop. They say no planes are coming in or out, although some small planes flying under 10,000 feet may be taking off, though I haven't seen that as of yet. At the windows near the terminal where we are, people are looking up tweets and sharing rumors, but no one seems to know for sure what is behind it. Some people are giving up and going back home. Others, their luggage is already on planes.

WHITFIELD: Oh, boy.

STERLING: So they're waiting it out. You know how airports are. You have children, young people, old people, the full gamut of folks. And the pilot walks over to talk to a passenger about what they think might be behind it. So dozens of people start crowding around, hoping to get some idea of when they may be taking off. But right now, no one knows if it's beginning to be an hour, two hours, or if they should just give up. And increasingly, we're seeing flights just get canceled, because, I suppose it's too backed up now.

WHITFIELD: Right.

STERLING: There's just too many delays.

WHITFIELD: So Vaughn, in a second I'm going to talk to Sunlen Serfaty who may have some new information on this. But before I let you go, perhaps you're starting to think about your contingency plan. I know it sounds inconvenient, but are you thinking about making your way to union station and hopping on a train and that's how you'll get to Vermont if you're not going to be on a plane?

STERLING: Well, we have a three-year-old daughter who's with us. So an Amtrak might be too much for us. Worse comes to worse, we'll try again tomorrow.

WHITFIELD: Yes. That might be a nightmare. I do understand what it is to have toddlers. You don't want to be on a long flight, and you don't want to be on a long train ride either.

All right, Vaughn Sterling, thank you so much. I hope you get to Vermont to see friends and family up there. Thanks for calling in.

[14:05:00] All right, meantime, let's get more information now. Sunlen Serfaty in Washington. So what more is being said about this power outage impacting all the computer systems?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, the FAA confirming that it was indeed a power outage, and they said it's specifically affecting a tracking computer system that controls the Washington air traffic control center, so we're talking about three major airports, Reagan National Airport in Virginia, Dulles Airport in Virginia, and BWI Baltimore in Baltimore.

And we're told that this system is located in Leesburg, Virginia, just outside of Dulles. That routes air traffic, so you can understand how big of an effect this really does have, why so many flights are delayed and affected by this. The FAA telling CNN in a statement, quote, "The FAA is diagnosing an automation problem at an air traffic center in Leesburg, Virginia. Some flights into and out of the New York and Washington, D.C. metro area airports area may be delayed. We are directing high altitude traffic around the affected air space."

Now, separately from this, an FAA official also adds that this has nothing to do, they believe, with an accident or any sorts of hacking. And they do say that things are starting to get back to normal. That's according to officials.

But, of course, Fred, we just heard from Vaughn and have heard from many other CNN teams in the field that this problem does continue, that there are major delays, and a lot of frustration at many of those area airports. According flight tracking sites, they predict the delays -- even though this problem potentially is being remedied, they predict the delays may last as much as three hours. So a lot of waiting, a lot of frustration from many area. This is a major hub in the east coast so it's really had that domino effect on a lot of other flights in the area.

WHITFIELD: It's amazing, the impact of all three of those major D.C. airports, BWI, Dulles, and Reagan National, lots of frustration. I can kind of hear it from all the terminals. All right, Sunlen Serfaty, thank you so much.

All right, now to our other big story, the Iowa state fair playing host to the 2016 presidential field this weekend. And for Hillary Clinton, the events started off with a bit of controversy today as the Democratic frontrunner faced tough questions over use of her personal e-mail while secretary of state, but even more so after last night, she kind of made fun of the situation by use of a Snapchat, like it because of disappearing messages. Lots of questions today about that.

And the day's other big headliner, Donald Trump touching down just last hour. You saw it right here, taking aim at Clinton, Jeb Bush, just about everybody, and promising that he's going to change everything. He'll do everything differently.

CNN has team coverage of the state fair and the candidates. Senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny covering Clinton there, Political reporter Sara Murray watching Trump and the chopper landing, and then taking the kids on a free ride. So Jeff, let's begin with you, because among the questions, your question kind of dominating the other questions that were being asked of Clinton, to ask her if she was making light of disappearing messages on Snapchat. And her response was, you know, I don't know, rather calm and matter of fact, wasn't it?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was, Fredricka. Look, this is a day of shaking hands and pounding the very hot pavement out here, presidential candidates stopping by. But that does not mean the campaign also stops.

So one of the controversies and challenges hanging over Hillary Clinton's campaign is the use of that private e-mail server. She brought it up herself last night. Clearly she made a joke about Snapchat. She said my team has started using Snapchat and now my e- mails are disappearing.

Well, some people thought that was kind of flip. Of course, Republicans piled on. But some Democrats are also worried about her viability going forward in the general election. So we asked her just about an hour or so ago, I guess, if she takes any responsibility for this private e-mail server and if she thinks it's a problem. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: A few Iowa Democrats I've talked to at the fair here have said that they're worried about this as a general election viability. Is that not possibility at all in your mind, ma'am?

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: No, it's not. I think this is the usual partisanization, which I may have just made up a word, of anything that goes on. And I've been at this for a really long time. And I think people in Iowa, just like people across the country, are going to want to vote for somebody that they believe will deliver results for them. And I think I've got a very strong case to make on that, as Tom just said.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:10:00] ZELENY: So that answer, you can hear right there, Fredricka, she clearly is saying that she does not think this will be a general election problem.

But I can tell you the Democrats that I've talked to here at the Iowa state fair and elsewhere, they do wonder if it will be an issue here. So, of course, one of the many things that is swirling around this state fair.

It's six months before the Iowa caucuses. So this is a time for meeting and greeting candidates. Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Democratic socialist, he'll be addressing people here in just a short time. And Martin O'Malley, the former governor of Maryland, was here just a couple days ago. So still a full Democratic field. And our latest polls show that at least half of Iowa Democrats say they're still open to changing their mind. So very early in this process, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: OK, Hillary Clinton taking that opportunity to say, quote, "She did not send nor receive material marked classified," just her opportunity to make that clarification. All right, Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much.

All right, the flipside to that was the arrival and the way in which the questions were answered by Republican frontrunner Donald Trump. Just last hour you saw it happen right here live. But before heading over to the state fair, he did talk to reporters just after his chopper there landed. And then he delivered a promise to give some local kids a ride, and he also said he's going to be delivering on his promise to do everything differently.

CNN's Sara Murray was there. So, Sara, now you're not going to be competing with the very loud and boisterous helicopter, so perhaps you can hear me pretty clearly now. So where is Donald Trump now? Because it seemed like he was very much large and in charge of all the questions that were being thrown his way. And he stuck to his message of everyone's doing it poorly and I'm going to do it right.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes. We might not have any noise of the helicopter behind us, but we do have a crowd here. This crowd pretty much mobbed him as soon as Trump walked into the fair. He arrived on a golf cart. You can see him behind me, the mass of people who have come out to see Donald Trump.

A couple of them have said they were hoping that he would be speaking here today. As you can see, it's pretty difficult to make your way up to the candidate to ask him some questions. Like you said, in that press conference, as usual, he was sticking to his talking points. It will be interesting to see if any of the voters can manage to push him off.

You can see how crowded it is with just the reporters surrounding him. So for a voter even to get next to Donald Trump is really difficult. Right now we're sort of in the main drag and we're moving our way up to the main drag of the fair. We'll be coming up on the butter cow here pretty soon. So we'll see if he makes that stop. It could get a little bit crowded in there. Back to you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Everybody wants that photo op with the butter cow. How important it is. But seriously, Sara, talk about the importance of making an appearance here in Iowa and really resonating with people at this state fair and why it's incumbent upon all of the candidates to do that as best they can.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're doing so well because people hear my message. We're being ripped off by everybody in the world, whether it's China, Japan, Mexico, both at the border and in trade in the case of Mexico. Mexico is sort of becoming the new China in terms of trade. So many companies -- just yesterday I read where Nabisco, Nabisco is moving to Mexico. I mean, give me a break.

So we have to reverse that. We need jobs in our country. We're going to have to worry about other countries. We're going to take jobs back from China, Japan. We're going to make our country great again. And that to me is going to be the challenge. And we're going to do it. And it's not going to be that difficult.

I spoke with Carl Icahn. He's a friend of mine. He's a great negotiator. He will help us. All of the best negotiators -- we have the best business people in the world in this country. They'll all help us. And, believe me, when I get the right people negotiating with the right countries, we will come out on top every single time. And that's what we need. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You talked about Jeb Bush being a puppet of all his donors raising $100 million.

TRUMP: Well, Jeb Bush is a puppet to his donors. There's no question about it. He's got lobbyists. I know them. He's got lobbyists.

And, you know, he made statements over the last couple of days that are incredible, trying to justify the war in Iraq. It can't be justified. And then he said "skin in the game." I don't know if you saw his recent statement. He said the United States has to prove to Iraq that we have skin in the game. We've spent $2 trillion, thousands of lives lost, wounded warriors who I love all over the place, and he said we have to prove that we have skin in the game.

I think it may be one of the dumbest statements I've ever heard -- skin in the game. We don't have to prove anything. First of all, the Iraqi officials are a bunch of crooks, if there even is an Iraq, which I don't think there is. Iran is taking over Iraq. It was one of the dumbest things ever.

And I think what happened, because I understand psychology, I think his brother probably said, hey, you're killing me. That was his war, and he looks very bad. So Jeb Bush tried to push back.

[14:15:07] But when he said we have to prove to Iraq that we have skin in the game, and we've lost all of those lives and all of that money, I think he should apologize to the families of the people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, so from the photo op with the butter cow to hearing Donald Trump talk about lobbyist and criticizing fellow presidential contenders. So now, Sara Murray, back with us now in the crush there. Talk to us about how important it is for Donald Trump or any candidate to really connect with the Iowa --

MURRAY: Yes, in the crush. Very important. You see him shaking hands there. Mr. Trump? Mr. Trump? We're live on CNN. Do you think Hillary made a mistake in making light of her e-mails, making that Snapchat joke?

TRUMP: That's not her problem. Her problem with e-mails, that's a big problem for Hillary. Hopefully it will work out for her. But she's got a really big problem.

MURRAY: Do you think she should suspend her campaign?

TRUMP: I think that's ultimately going to happen. At some point she's got to. Look at General Petraeus. He was destroyed over much lesser crimes. So we'll see what happens.

MURRAY: Thank you.

So you heard it there from Donald Trump, more criticism against Hillary Clinton. And you can see here, everyone is trying to get that hand on hand, up close and personal moment with Donald Trump. Like you said, so important to voters in Iowa. A lot of his voters like to meet their candidate two, three, four, five times. That's a little bit tougher to do if you have a full-time security detail and state troopers.

WHITFIELD: You did a great job, Sara, just getting right in there. Oh, now we lost her signal. But it's good we lost the signal at that point as opposed to when she was making her pursuit. So good job, Sara Murray, there in Iowa. OK, we're going to have much more in the Newsroom right after this.

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[14:20:02] WHITFIELD: All right, on to Birmingham, Alabama, now. A policeman hesitates to use force, a decision that could have cost him his life. It happened during a traffic stop. The policeman was pistol whipped with his own revolver as bystanders watched and then posted these pictures later. He was left bloodied and unconscious. CNN's Nick Valencia has been following this story for us. So what is happening now?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I spoke to the detective. He says he's resting at home, still recovering. He said that he hesitated to use force as a white detective and a black unarmed civilian. He didn't want to receive criticism, he said, or make national headlines for using force against somebody who was unarmed.

He says because of the current climate of criticism against police officers in this country, there are many like him all across the United States that are second-guessing themselves for putting their lives in danger.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: Sucker punched and pistol whipped with his own SERVICE weapon, a Birmingham police detective says he chose not to use force against a man attacking him because he didn't want to be another headline. The brutal beating occurred during a routine traffic stop. The detective, a six-year veteran, noticed a man driving on the interstate erratically. So he pulls the car over.

The two end up here at this shopping center where the detective calls for backup. It's during this time, according to police, that the suspect gets out of his car and gets aggressive with the officer. Instead of following policy to try to get the man back into his vehicle, the detective says he hesitates. It's just enough time, police say, for 34-year-old Jenard Cunningham, to sucker punch the officer, knocking him unconscious. He then allegedly grabs the police officer's gun and uses it to pistol whip him.

Adding insult to injury, witnesses do nothing to help. Instead, some post images of the attack on social media, bragging about it, quote, "Pistol whipped his ass to sleep," one user wrote, employing the hash tag #fthepolice. Another mockingly offered the officer milk and cookies for his nap time.

HEATH BOACKLE, BIRMINGHAM POLICE UNION: I believe in God and I think that that is the reason why the detective is with us today.

VALENCIA: Heath Boackle, the head of Birmingham's police union says fearing media scrutiny more local police officers are second-guessing their actions.

BOACKLE: We're walking on egg shells to make sure we do everything the way that it should be, not that it should ever be in question, but we want to be treated with respect or kindness just as if anyone else would be.

VALENCIA: It's a sentiment the injured detective knows all too well. He was unwilling to go on camera with CNN or be named for safety reasons. But in an interview with us he said "A lot of officers are being too cautious because of what's going on in the media. I hesitated because I didn't want to be in the media, like I am right now. It's hard times right now for us."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: The head of the police union there in Birmingham, Alabama, says the suspect, 34-year-old Jenard Cunningham, spontaneously told police the reason he attacked the officer was for retaliation of all the negative coverage officers have received across the country. That man, who is a suspect of the attack, was charged with attempted murder after being caught a short time after the incident. We've attempted to reach out to Mr. Cunningham as well as his family. They have not gotten back to us and they've declined comment. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: And is there any fallout from those who posted these images?

VALENCIA: So we reached out to the man who posted that image, the image who went viral of this detective bleeding. And he said the reason he posted this image was because he himself has been a victim to police negativity. He says there's a lot of negativity that's not shown and that he wanted to post this, and that's why he did. He says the criticism he has received is only, in his opinion, because he's black and the detective is white. He stands by what he did, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nick Valencia, thank you so much, appreciate it.

All right, mourners have filled an arena in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They are paying tribute to five service members killed when a gunman went on a shooting rampage last month. Vice President Joe Biden is there along with Defense Secretary Ash Carter. The memorial service is starting right now. Let's listen in.

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[14:28:08] WHITFIELD: All right, history made in the United States and in Cuba this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: The American flag raised above the U.S. embassy in Havana for the first time in 54 years officially marking the resumption of diplomatic relations. But what happens now between the two countries, U.S. and Cuba? Let's go live to Havana and CNN global affairs correspondent Elise Labott. So Elise, you spoke with Secretary of State John Kerry after the ceremony. What is he saying about the promise of relations from this point forward?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, you can't down play the historic nation of that moment when the U.S. and national anthem was played as the flag rose above the embassy. But I talked to Secretary Kerry about how this would really help people in Cuba, particularly dissidents. Secretary Kerry and President Obama argued that loosening travel restrictions and this new policy would help the U.S. engage better with the Cuban government and that would help human rights situation on the ground. But eight months in, detentions have actually increased. There's still a lack of freedoms for dissidents. And they say that things are actually moving backwards. I asked Secretary Kerry whether it's still business as usual. He chocked it up to old habits die hard. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LABOTT: If eight months isn't long enough, how long is it until you have a measurable amount of success?

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: We have to negotiate for many of those months on the actual process itself. I don't think we're -- we're not even yet. Today we've raise flags and we've opened embassies. You have to give this a moment for us to be able to have our steering committee sit down, confront these issues, come up with a roadmap that makes sense.

[14:30:04] And we will confront, if they are -- if they challenge their own citizens on the issue of human rights, you will hear us loudly and clearly taking them on with respect to that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LABOTT: So clearly increased engagement. The U.S. hopes to have more conversations about human rights. Not really sure that a steering group, though, Fred, is going to improve the situation for dissidents here because Raul Castro has pretty much said the nature of the regime is not going to change. Historic moment for the U.S. and Cuba, but it's a long road back, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And there have been some who were critical that there were no dissidents invited to that ceremony but would that have ever been something the U.S. would consider, or did they even consider it before the decision was made that they would not be there?

LABOTT: I don't think so. I mean, let's look at what yesterday was. It was the formal restoration of ties between the U.S. and Cuban governments. So Cuban officials are not going to come to the embassy if there are a bunch of dissidents there. And so what's the real point, U.S. officials say, of the whole ceremony?

But Secretary Kerry did meet with a group of dissidents at a much larger reception at the U.S. residence of charge d'affaires Jeff Delaurentis who I think the president hopes will be the next ambassador. So it's not as if they weren't having a chance to talk to them. I think if he were to not meet with them at all that would have been a huge problem.

But this was -- they billed it as a government to government event. I don't think they handled it very well how they talked about it. They said there was a lack of space. That's really not true. This is really an event to mark the restoration of ties with the government and they hope that this increased engagement they'll also do with dissidents here on the ground.

WHITFIELD: All right, Elise Labott, thanks so much in Havana.

All right, coming up, Hillary Clinton on the defense as the controversy surrounding her use of personal e-mail with the State Department follows her to the Iowa state fair. Will it have an impact with voters? Our political panel breaks it down.

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[14:35:11] WHITFIELD: All right, in her first day at the Iowa state fair Hillary Clinton was asked about the seriousness of the use of the personal e-mail while at the State Department and how all of that is being handled following a joke that she made last night about the controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: By the way, you may have seen that I recently launched a Snapchat account.

(APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: I love it. I love it. Those messages disappear all by themselves.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So today when she arrived, she was asked about whether she was making light of the situation. She took that opportunity to reiterate that she did not send nor receive any classified information. And then she went on to kind of shrug off the potential impact of the controversy overall in the general election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: A few Iowa Democrats I have talked to at the fair here have said that they're worried about this as a general election viability. Is that not possibility in your mind at all, ma'am?

CLINTON: No, it's not. I think this is the usual partisanization, which I may have just made up a word, of anything that goes on. And I've been at this for a really long time. And I think people in Iowa, just like people across the country, are going to want to vote for somebody that they believe will deliver results for them. And I think I've got a very strong case to make on that, as Tom just said.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Joining me right now from Des Moines Maeve Reston, CNN national political reporter, and David Chalian, CNN political director. Good to see both of you again. Maeve, you first. She makes light of or has a joke, people laugh in the audience last night. Today she still appeared fairly serious when she was staying there with the retired senator Tom Harkin who is now endorsing her. But she said she doesn't believe overall it's going to impact her campaign. Is that about right? Or will it be something that continues to haunt her?

MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: I mean, I think it will be something that continues to haunt her. Not necessarily people, voters knowing the specifics of the controversy, but as we've seen over the last couple of months, her numbers on people trusting her and thinking that she tells the truth have fallen somewhat. And just the very fact that she's here at the Iowa state fair, which is supposed to be a fun event, where she's out meeting and greeting voters, seeing the butter cow. She's talking once again about these e-mails, and this has been with her now for many months. And that's not a good thing for her.

WHITFIELD: And David, she says it's the reporters who keep asking her about it, but not voters. You've talked to people while you've been there at the Iowa state fair. What do they say? Do they care? Are they asking for her to address the e-mail issue more?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Some Democratic voters here that I've chatted with definitely are concerned. Is this going to hang with her all the way through the general election? It's not that they have questions about the controversy. They just have questions about is this going to harm their chances to keep the Oval Office. That's what they're most focused on.

But I will say this. I was at that dinner last night, and you could hear the crowd laughing at the joke. She was also in the midst of giving what was probably one of her most fiery, passionate, and partisan speeches of the entire campaign last night. And then you heard her answer again today. I think we are seeing a turn in the Clinton strategy here. They are pulling from the playbook from the 1990s. They are going to do exactly what they tried to do with impeachment, which is not make it about the issue at all, but just make it about this is a partisan attack against Hillary Clinton and have her rally her troops that way. You can see the strategy at play here now. That's how they're going to play this out.

WHITFIELD: And an example of -- OK, go ahead. RESTON: And making the point that the media is going after her. And Hillary Clinton for a long time, it's been the media that she said is after her. And she can continue to play that card, and, of course, the voters love that.

WHITFIELD: And she said last night at that very event, David, that you are talking about that she will not get in the mud. She won't play politics. But then you look at "The Washington Post" article today, which says -- or at least it kind of reveals, according to people they have talked to within the campaign, that the whole e-mail situation, well, at first the camp was fairly nonchalant about it, but now they are nervous. So Maeve, can you see that in any of the Hillary Clinton camp folks that you've interacted with, if they are indeed concerned, or are nervous?

RESTON: Well, I think the thing with the Clinton camp is that they never try to let on that they're nervous about anything.

[14:40:02] That is a campaign that tries to project that it's very sure of itself and that it will make it through these controversies that they think are being blown up by the media.

I think the question, though, is as you're seeing a kind of crumbling of her support to some extent among Democrats with the rise of Sanders, is how long this kind of issue will continue to overshadow her campaign. She wants people to be hearing her message on many other fronts and getting to know her as a grandmother, you know, as a secretary of state. And the longer that everyone keeps talking about this, the worse it is for her.

WHITFIELD: Maeve Reston, David Chalian, thanks so much at the Iowa state fair, appreciate it.

CHALIAN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll have much more right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Freight Farms is a company that wants to completely change agriculture. And it's a really interesting concept. It's a farm in a box. So here's how the do it. They convert these into the latest shipping containers into hydroponic farms.

JON FRIEDMAN, CO-FOUNDER, FREIGHT FARMS: The Leafy Green Machine is a complete farm. It will come ready to use. You plug it into water and power and you're ready to go. The farms run on hydroponic system and they also use LED lights to generate an environment that provides all the nutrients that the plants need in a solution rather than in soil.

[14:45:08] It is one standalone environment that can be placed anywhere in the world. SHAWN COONEY, CO-FOUNDER, CORNER STALK FARM: We are located in east

Boston, Massachusetts. We grow lettuces and herbs and a few other greens, leafy things, using Gray Farm technology. We did a business plan to make it run as a viable money-making business. So there's a breakeven point.

We wanted to grow in the city close to where it's concerned. Most of what we grow ends up in a few Boston restaurants. We have to plant seeds in a nursery area. And we grow the seeds to the point that we have to plant them and they'll grow in towers for about three weeks, maybe four weeks. And then we harvest once a week. It's more or less a full time job. Financially, we're finally hitting our stride. We're at break even. We're selling everything we can grow and starting to grow a little more.

SEGALL: Freight Farms say that they use 90 percent less water than traditional farming. When you look around the country, look at California, look at the drought. Technology like this could be part of the solution.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, checking our top stories, plumes of black smoke fill the skies over a port city of China today, creating fears of new explosions. This follows huge blasts Wednesday that reportedly killed at least 105 people and injured more than 700. But video today showed cars which had caught fire in a parking lot near the blast zone were causing the thick clouds of smoke.

And an update on break news out of New Orleans, SWAT teams did not find a gunman who reportedly tried to rob a Wal-Mart this morning. The store was evacuated and searched, but police say the suspect appeared to have fled. Nobody was -- no one, rather, was hurt, and no shots were fired. Police say they are still trying to identify the gunman.

And the first openly gay player to be drafted into the NFL is stepping away from football, at least for now. Michael Sam made the announcement in a series of tweets, saying he is leaving the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League because he became concerned about his mental health.

And we are back in a moment.

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[14:51:28] WHITFIELD: All right, there's a major dispute over the significance of new evidence in the death of a Clemson University fraternity pledge. And 19-year-old Tucker Hipps was found dead in a South Carolina lake last September, and his family has filed a $25 million lawsuit that cites a new witness who says three fraternity brothers forced the pledge to walk along a narrow railing on a bridge. The witness says that is when Hipps slipped, falling headfirst into the water below and then hitting his head on some rocks.

The lawsuit claims the other students did not try to rescue hips and didn't even call police for help for another seven hours. All the fraternity brothers named in the lawsuit are denying the allegations.

So let's bring in psychologist Eric Fisher and CNN legal analyst Philip Holloway. We bring you into it because it's still a very perplexing, confusing set of circumstances, but we know investigations are still under way, the family pursuing this civil case. So Eric, you first. Even though we don't know all of the facts of the case, all that preceded this horrible occurrence of the death of a 19-year- old, is there any way to get into the mind of this alleged pledge who took a challenge possibly to walk on this rail, to know that potentially this was a life or death decision?

ERIC FISHER, LICENSED PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, I think what you look at is hazing goes far beyond fraternity and sorority populations. It happens as early as high school situations where there's a case of Parkview High School in Atlanta about a student that was physically beaten in a hotel room in a hazing incident.

But the whole issue of hazing -- in order to get into an exclusive organization, you're supposed to go through some trials and rituals. They don't have to be humiliating, but often the fear is if I don't live up to what other people want, then I'm weak. It's about shaming and humiliation from the people who are trying to haze that person. And we have to change our culture because this is not a fraternity, sorority, or club thing. It's a cultural thing we have to look at, having power over people versus really have to teach our kids how to have power with people.

WHITFIELD: But then, Philip, at the same time, I guess I never pledged, but I know a lot of people who did pledge in a Greek organization. They said usually it is about humiliation. But when you're talking about a potential life or death situation, and we know that many campuses have anti-hazing policies, do you first have to get at what is hazing?

PHILIP HOLLOWAY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Sure. And hazing -- let's be clear about it, Fred, is a crime. It is something that can send you to jail. But it's more than just a ritual. It has to be something that involves some type of reckless conduct that causes something to be foreseeable that somebody could get hurt, such as what we had in this case.

Interestingly about hazing, it is not a defense to that crime and it's not going to be a defense in this lawsuit, as they have alleged that supposedly, according to the lawsuit, he consented to the activity. That is not a defense and it's not going to work for the defense in the lawsuit either.

WHITFIELD: But at this point, there have been 30 people who have been interviewed, or reportedly there were at least 30 people who know something about it, but very few people are giving up detail.

HOLLOWAY: They're going to have to.

WHITFIELD: Well, I mean, how do you force someone to talk? Thus far they're not. HOLLOWAY: You depose them and they have to answer questions under oath. So if they are a witness to something and there's an active lawsuit, and you can bring them in and ask them questions that are reasonably calculated to uncover relevant information, they don't have any choice but to talk unless they claim some Fifth Amendment privilege.

[14:55:14] WHITFIELD: And that's what I was wondering. But that or at the risk of what potential charges? Because if you're an eyewitness to something like this happening, whether this person willingly went on a rail or was forced to, compelled to, coerced, whatever, and you see that somebody falls to their death and you don't call 911, or you delay in calling 911, or you don't assist, what kind of potential charges are you facing?

HOLLOWAY: Well, if you're involved in the activity at all, even as merely a participant or somebody who's there and encourages this just by merely being present, they can be party to the crime or an accessory. And if they're directly involved in it, of course, they can be charged. So that may be why if we start seeing this thing going forward in court, if you start seeing witnesses taking the Fifth and things like that, not wanting to answer the questions, then that ought to tell you that, hey, that there's probably something going on, because when you take the fifth, you are presumed to be admitting to the question.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much. Philip Holloway, Eric Fisher, good to see you guys. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

All right, we'll be right back after this.

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WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back for a hot second. Thanks so much for spending the afternoon with me.

[15:00:00] I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The next hour of the Newsroom with Poppy Harlow begins right now.