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Donald Trump Renews Call For Ban On Muslims, Revokes Washington Post Press Credentials; 2-Year Old Snatched By Alligator At Disney World Property; Trump To Break From Nra, Doesn't Support Watch List Persons Having Access To Weapons. Aired 10:30-11a

Aired June 15, 2016 - 10:30   ET

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


[10:32:30]

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN HOST: And good morning, I'm Carol Costello live in Orlando this morning. Thank you so much for joining me. Donald Trump may be battling Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail but she isn't the only one facing the fury of the presumptive Republican nominee. Mister Trump is also at odds with fellow Republicans after renewing his call for a Muslim ban.

A headline in today's Washington Post declaring "Top Republicans join Obama in condemning Trump's words." And then there's Trump's latest fight with members of the media including the aforementioned Washington Post, which has been added to a list of news outlets that the Trump campaign refuses to give credentials.

CNN is covering all angles of this story. Our Senior Political Reporter, Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill. While Senior Media Correspondent Brian Stelter is in New York. But Manu, I want to start with you because Donald Trump came out with the truth this morning that's frankly surprising. Saying that he's breaking with the NRA, an organization that endorses him. And saying that, you know, he is open to not allowing people on the terror watch list to be able to buy the handguns or guns in this country.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes, very interesting especially since Republicans and Democrats are battling on Capitol Hill on this issue right now. And Republicans are going after this Democratic bill offered by Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, to allow the Attorney General to deny folks to purchase firearms if they are on that terror watch list.

They do not believe that that bill is fair because they think it could sweep in other -- people who should not be on that terror watch list, unfairly. It will be interesting to see exactly what Donald Trump says that he supports. There is a Republican alternative bill on this issue that presumably he could get behind. So we'll see what he has to say about this.

But it's really just another example, Carol, of how divided Republicans are with their presumptive nominee. How they don't sing from the same songsheet. And when Donald Trump says something, his party sort of recoils. The latest being that Muslim ban. I spent a lot of days -- a lot of time yesterday after talking to

Republicans about how their presumptive nominee reacted to the post- Orlando shooting and how he doubled down, and tripled down on the push for banning Muslims entering into this country temporarily. And there was a lot of pushback from members of Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: What do you think about the fact that your presumptive nominee's renewing a call on the ban on Muslims. Is it any better of an idea now?

REPRESENTATIVE DARRELL ISSA (R), CALIFORNIA: Well, I don't know that it's appropriate for any of the candidates to do what they're doing.

REPRESENTATIVE ADAM KINZINGER (R), ILLINOIS: I think it was very tacky to call on that the day of the attack. I mean, you know, I'm sure politics will always come into something like this. But let's give it a day or two on the front end of that. I don't think he deserves praise for it.

REPRESENTATIVE REID RIBBLE (R), WISCONSIN: I think it's an unconstitutional and in many respects, un american statement to make. We don't ban an entire religious construct from entering into the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now what's been remarkable to see is the division, how different things are between the Democrats and the Republicans. Yesterday, Obama coming out with Hillary Clinton, side-by-side, to bash Donald Trump. And Republican leaders not siding with Donald Trump, their presumptive nominee, almost abandoning him. Both Paul Ryan, the House Speaker, and Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, would not defend Donald Trump's comments suggesting that President Obama was somehow sympathetic to terrorists, and the perpetrator of the Orlando incident. But some Republicans did push back, including Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, criticizing Donald Trump very strongly for those comments.

[10:35:40]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: ... It's like, beyond out of line. I have been all over President Obama's failed policies when it comes to destroying and defeating and containing radical Islam. I think his model of doing it is a complete failure, won't work. I've never doubted that he loves his country. I think he has a worldview that I don't agree with in terms of how to deal with radical Islam.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now the question is whether or not Donald Trump can get his party in line. He is coming to Capitol Hill to meet with House Republicans in early July. Because we know he's got a lot of work still to do to unite his party, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Manu Raju reporting live from Capitol Hill this morning. Now let's head to Brian Stelter's location to talk about Mister Trump's comments about the media and pulling the Washington Post's press credentials. You talked to Donald Trump this morning, what did he tell you, Brian?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Donald Trump on Monday revoking the Washington Post press credentials. He was complaining about a headline the Post published about his comments about President Obama's response to the attacks in Orlando.

Donald Trump has -- in his campaign, has -- repeatedly revoked or denied press credentials to a number of different news outlets. Like Politico, BuzzFeed, The Daily Beast, Univision. But the Washington Post is the biggest one yet. And he's been very blunt about it. He's tweeting again this morning about his disdain for the press.

We can put on screen what he said most recently here. And he said the press is so biased against him that he has no choice but to take his message directly to the people. That's what he's writing this morning.

But let's take a look at what he said last night at his rally in North Carolina. He -- there was a lot of applause, a lot of cheering from his supporters when he went after the Washington Post. Here's what he said last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: These dishonest people in the back, in fact we just took -- they are so dishonest -- we just took -- they're so dishonest, we just took the press credentials away. I love it! We just took the press credentials away from the dishonest Washington Post. I said ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: So you can hear the cheers there, Carol. I asked Donald Trump on the phone, "what does the Post have to do to get credentials back?" He says, "I just want to be treated fairly by the media." But I think history shows that what he considers fairness is not what journalists often times consider to be fair coverage.

I also said, "what happens if you're elected, Mister Trump? Will you deny press credentials to people in the White House press corps?" It would be an extraordinary thing to see, people being kicked out of the White House press briefing room. But he said repeatedly, no, he would not do that. The White House is very different.

What he is doing right now is at private events, his own rallies -- and he pointed out the reporters can still attend as members of the public -- and that's what the Washington Post did last night, Carol. Reporters from the Post attending the rally as members of the general public. And in some ways that's a helpful perspective to have. Because as much as the story is about Trump and the man on stage, the

story is also about his supporters. And what they cheer for at those rallies. Carol?

COSTELLO: So Brian, if he thinks the press is like completely dishonest, as he said -- he indicated in that rally, why not ban all reporters from his rallies?

STETLER: Certainly he is leaving the door open to banning other news organizations. I mentioned about half a dozen that he has restricted access from, including BuzzFeed, The Daily Beast, Univision and others. But he also needs the press, and I think he knows he needs the press.

When he called me last night after the rally, Carol, I was struck by the fact that he didn't seem to be in a hurry to get off the phone. I kept trying to wrap up, he was happy to keep talking. He knows he needs the media and that's of course why he often times calls into CNN and other networks.

COSTELLO: All right, Brian Stelter reporting. Thanks so much. Joining me now, Ron Brownstein, he's the Senior Editor for The Atlantic. He's also a CNN Senior Political Analyst. Hi Ron.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi Carol.

COSTELLO: Let's start with Mister Trump and the NRA and Mister Trump's surprising tweet that he's open to not allowing people on that terror watch list to purchase guns. What do you think of that?

[10:40:05]

BROWNSTEIN: Well we'll see what ultimately comes of it. But it is an indication of an attribute of Trump's that has been a strength for him at times. It's a source of consternation to Republican leaders. And that is, he is not completely bound to kind of ideological consistency on almost any issue. On the one hand, for most of this campaign, he's been trumpeting his support for the second amendment, opposing almost any and all gun control. Accusing Hillary Clinton -- overstating Hillary Clinton and saying that she wants to confiscate people's guns and essentially eviscerate the second amendment.

But if he has decided this is ground that cannot be defended, he is willing to give it up. And I think that has been -- that kind of flexibility, that kind of not being part of the cannon, and you know, kind of the catechism of Republican orthodox. It has been at times a strength for him.

COSTELLO: Well there was that Bloomberg poll that came out yesterday that showed Hillary Clinton had a 12-point lead over Donald Trump. Might that have had something to do with it?

BROWNSTEIN: This has been really a catastrophic couple weeks for Donald Trump. And I think really unprecedented in modern American politics in the level, the breadth, and the depth of the criticism he is facing from his own party, as the presumptive nominee. If you look at what's happening on the Muslim ban it is striking that the criticism he's received in all (ph) --

COSTELLO: Well my goodness, we lost him. Some technical going on so with me (ph) this morning. And I apologize for things when we're on security site (ph) as usual. This person might be back anytime (ph). Still ahead in the Newsroom, all of Disney World's resort shutting down beaches after an alligator grabs a young boy. I'll talk to animal expert Jeff Corwin about that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:46:10]

COSTELLO: A two-year old Nebraska boy wades into a lagoon at Disney World, well on the Disney World property, that is. And is snatched by an alligator. Both vanish into the water, a search is now underway, it's been going on for 13 hours now. The attack as shocking as it is heart-wrenching. Animal expert Jeff Corwin is here to help us try to make sense of this. Jeff is also the host of ABC's "Ocean Mysteries." Good morning Jeff and thanks for being here.

JEFF CORWIN, ANIMAL EXPERT: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: You know I talked with someone from -- good morning -- I talked with someone from the Orange County Sheriff's Department, Jeff Williamson. He told me this is like, so unusual, this kind of thing almost never happens. Is he right?

CORWIN: He is absolutely 100 percent right. There are millions and millions of people in Florida. Millions of people visit Disney World every year. And this has never happened there. It's a very rare event. Human beings are not targeted by alligators in most normal situations. We're just not part of the food web for these animals.

COSTELLO: So the little boy was a little bit in the water, he was wading in the shallow end. And supposedly that alligator came out of the water and snatched him. What would cause an alligator to act this way?

CORWIN: Well alligators are ambush predators. And they're very active at night. And as I understand it, this occurred during the nighttime hours. They're nocturnal animals. And they will often ambush their prey from the shoreline. In a natural situation an alligator would see something like a raccoon or a bird near the water's edge and lunge forward very, very quickly.

And they're able, Carol, to be almost invisible when they're in the water. Most of the water is concealed and submerged underneath it with only their eyes above the surface. So they're very hard to detect when they are in the water, especially at night.

COSTELLO: So but the father of the little boy went into the water and he tried to, you know, he tried to wrestle the alligator to free his child. Would that even be possible?

CORWIN: I think he did what every father would do. I think that fight complex went into gauge. And he went forward to do what he could. If you're dealing with a moderate to a large sized alligator, it is almost impossible to use your hands to open up its jaws. They have a vice-like grip with thousands and thousands of pounds of pressure per square inch.

So he was really in a very tough situation. These are aquatic animals, you're in the alligator's world at that point when you go into the water. Now in some situations they can be startled or shocked to let their prey go, but certainly that was not the case here.

COSTELLO: So right now authorities are looking for the little boy. They say they're pulling alligators out of that lagoon, checking them and euthanizing them. Why is that necessary?

CORWIN: I think there are hopes of recovering this child. And that is something that is done when you have this incredibly rare event where a human fatality happens with an alligator. They often try to remove what is often looked at as a human killer. And I think that's where they are at now.

A lot of people ask, "why are there alligators in this freshwater, man made lagoon?" What people have to remember, Carol, is that this complex is surrounded by thousands of acres of wetland habitat -- ideal habitat for alligators. So it's not uncommon for them to sort of naturally migrate their way to a place like this.

Standardly, what they do is they look for animals that may be problem animals and -- or large animals -- and will remove and relocate them. But I have no doubt if they thought for even one moment that there was a potentially dangerous situation here, they would have been on it.

COSTELLO: All right, Jeff Corwin, thanks for being with us this morning. Still to come in the Newsroom, buying a gun without a plane ticket. Growing outrage over the terror gap (ph). Now Donald Trump says he's meeting with the NRA about that very issue.

[10:55:30]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: And good morning I'm Carol Costello live in Orlando this morning. The attack here in Orlando reigniting the debate over who can legally purchase guns. A new report found nine out of ten people on the terror watch list who wanted to purchase a gun were able to do so. And that's something one gun shop manager I talked with, finds upsetting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HECTOR PAGAN, MANAGER, UNIVERSAL WEAPONS: I'm going to be honest with you, yes it does. Because if you are on a -- if you're on a watch list where you can't even fly, you shouldn't be able to buy a firearm or any type of weapon for that matter. I do believe that.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: All right, joining me now to talk about this is Shannon Watts. She's the founder of Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America. Welcome Shannon.

[10:55:20]

SHANNON WATTS, FOUNDER, MOMS DEMAND ACTION FOR GUN SENSE IN AMERICA: Thank you so much.

COSTELLO: Can you hear me Shannon? OK. You know Donald Trump came out with a tweet just a short time ago -- good -- Donald Trump came out with a tweet just a short time ago saying that he's going to break with the NRA and tell them that he would not allow people on the terror watch list, or the no-fly list, to buy guns. Your thoughts?

WATTS: That's great. I mean we are looking for a bipartisan solution to this problem. The NRA has stood in the way of passing legislation that would close what we call a terror gap. The reality is that since 2004, more than 2,000 suspected terrorists have taken advantage of these incredibly lax laws. We don't want a red herring, we want a bill with teeth. We want a bill that will prevent suspected terrorists from purchasing guns. And hopefully that's the conversation Donald Trump will be having with the NRA.

COSTELLO: But as you know, most Republicans would not back Donald Trump on this issue. And gun rights owners would say, you know what? It's a constitutional issue. You have a constitutional right to own a gun, you don't have a constitutional right to get on board an airplane. So if you're on a terror watch list, you should be able to buy a gun. How would you respond to them?

WATTS: Well first of all we know that responsible gun owners actually support things like closing the background check loophole and other common sense measures like preventing guns from being sold to suspected terrorists. So I would say that the majority of Americans want this, and some members of Congress have stood in the way because far too long, they've been beholden to the gun lobbies.

The Gun lobby is worried about protecting the profits of gun manufacturers. Americans are worried about protecting the lives of their children, and their families, and their community. And that is a sentiment that needs to win. Congress needs to do its job, it needs to disarm hate. And it needs to act immediately to prevent another crime like this.

COSTELLO: I knew we ask you this question every time a tragedy has happened, like the tragedy in Orlando. Is this the turning point?

WATTS: You know, I hope so. I hope that something is done. Something will be done eventually. I mean we are winning in the state, we're winning in corporate board rooms. It's time for us to pass some common sense legislation in Congress.

I'm a mom of a gay teen. And I know that there's a lot of hate out there. There's no reason to arm hate. It is time to disarm hate. And I would ask every American to text "disarm hate" to 64433 and join us. We put 13,000 calls into Congress yesterday. We sent 50,000 petitions in 24 hours.

We want this change.

COSTELLO: All right, Shannon Watts, thank you so much for joining me this morning. And thanks to all of you for joining me, I'm Carol Costello. "AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan after a break.