Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

Obama Hits Campaign Trail with Clinton; Arrests Bangladesh Cafe Attack; Rio Water Super Bacteria; NASA Probe Orbits Jupiter. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired July 5, 2016 - 09:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:24] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me.

Hillary Clinton embarks on what you might call a trust building tour and she'll start her journey with a powerful Democratic ally, President Barack Obama. The optics will be powerful. Clinton will land in North Carolina on Air Force One. She'll disembark with the president at her side.

But optics may not be enough. Voters simply do not trust her. The latest Fox News poll shows more than half of registered voters don't believe she is honest and trustworthy.

So let's talk about that. Let's bring in Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, who's a Hillary surrogate, and national political reporter for "Real Clear Politics," Rebecca Berg.

Welcome to both of you.

MAYOR PHILIP LEVINE (D), MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA: Thank you.

REBECCA BERG, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, "REAL CLEAR POLITICS": Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here.

So, Rebecca, this is -- this is kind of historic. It's been decades since a sitting president really delivered for a candidate. George W. Bush was too unpopular to campaign for John McCain and Bill Clinton had just been impeached. So this is sort of history making.

BERG: It is. And so, as you pointed out, it's because these presidents this recent history at least have not been popular leading into the election for their successor or would be successor. And so we're in a very interesting situation here where Hillary Clinton is actually very openly, very publically running as a third term of Barack Obama. And she's used sort of that terminology herself. And so appearing with President Obama, flying with him to this event in North Carolina, is, of course, very symbolic and sort of trying to make that theme very clear to voters that she wants to continue his legacy and thinks very positively of what he has accomplished. And his favorability is actually still quite good and so that's part

of her strategy here. But he is also sort of a legitimizer for her because, as you noted, she is very unpopular, in large part because voters don't necessarily trust her. And so to have the president out there speaking on her behalf and vouching for her could be a very powerful tool in her arsenal.

COSTELLO: And, you know, Philip, it is interesting how far Clinton and Obama have come, you know, in regards to their relationship. Remember this moment during a debate in 2008 between the two candidates? Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON: I don't think I'm that bad. You know --

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You're likable enough, Hillary, no doubt (ph).

CLINTON: Thank you so much. I appreciate that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So that was quite an uncomfortable moment, right, Philip. But now, I mean does President Obama really like her? Is this real or is this political?

LEVINE: Well, Carol, first of all, President Obama made her the secretary of state in his first term of his administration. So clearly he believes in Secretary Clinton. And, of course, he believes that she can carry forth and move forward our country.

But you know what's amazing to me is that you look at all this -- these trust issues. I mean you (ph) showed me a Fox poll, which I don't believe whatsoever. And, you know, we've had Whitewater, we've had Travelgate, we've had, you know, Vince Foster, and it's the same movie, you see it all the time, the ending's the same, it comes to nothing. The same as Benghazi and the same thing will happen with anything to do with these e-mails.

But you know what I'd like to see, because clearly we know Donald Trump has a tremendous fraudulent past. You know, fraud university, which he's created. I would hope that, -- you know, I know, Rebecca, I think that you're assigned to the Trump campaign. Have you interviewed any of his former business partners? I would love some of Trump's former business partners to get on the air. Let's hear what they say about Donald Trump's trustworthiness.

COSTELLO: Well -- well, we're not talking about Donald Trump's trustworthiness right now, Philip. We're talking about Hillary Clinton's. And she does -- she does have a long road to go when it comes to trust. That's part of the reason why she's appearing with President Obama today and she'll appear with Joe Biden on Friday. She's getting both Democrats that Democrats love, frankly, to be by her side.

LEVINE: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: So some of that love rubs off.

LEVINE: No question about it. Listen, I could tell you something, the people of America trust that Secretary Clinton will get the job done. She'll show up. She's disciplined. I know her personally, Carol. She is a trustworthy, good person who I would hire as the CEO of the United States of America any day of the week.

COSTELLO: So, Rebecca, President Obama, his approval ratings are up. Well, they're at 51 percent, which is really good, right? But, still, many Americans don't exactly love his economic policies or his foreign policy. Will that matter?

BERG: Well, usually in presidential elections, we see that economic policy matters a lot more than foreign policy. And this could be an outlier. There's always that possibility, especially because Hillary Clinton is so stronger emphasizing her experience as secretary of state and because there is so much instability in the Middle East that is making people feel insecure here at home.

[09:35:01] But usually when you're looking at a presidential election, the major indicator of who is able to win, whether it's a continuation of the past party in the White House, or whether it's a new party in the White House, is the direction of the economy. So do Americans feel like things are getting better or things are getting worse? And so that's really the point that Barack Obama, together with Hillary Clinton, is going to need to make, that things are improving for Americans. But as we've seen -- and much of Trump's success has stemmed from this economic instability and this feeling that not all Americans have been a part of this economic recovery, there is still some angst about the economy and the country and so the degree of that I think will be a big factor in the outcome in this election.

COSTELLO: Yes. And those Americans, Philip, probably don't want, you know, another term for President Obama in the form of Hillary Clinton.

LEVINE: Well, I'm not so sure I agree with you, Carol. I mean the fact of the matter is, unemployment was over 10 percent with George Bush. Now it's under 5 percent. And the economy seems to be moving forward in a very positive direction. So, listen, we've seen what the Republicans have done previously in the administration and I think that Secretary Clinton has the ability to move the economy forward, to continue that path. So I'm not sure I agree with that. I think the American people do feel that we're going in the right direction and I think Secretary Clinton can move the country forward.

COSTELLO: All right, I have to leave it there. Philip Levine, Rebecca Berg, thanks to both of you.

Chilling new details about that horrific cafe attack in Bangladesh. People now say they mistakenly identified one of the victims as one of the terrorists and only five gunmen, not six, carried out the attack. That brings the death toll to 23, though.

In the meantime, during an interview with the co-owner of the bakery, he says employees described the terrorists as calm and that they handled their guns with ease. At one point he says people were hiding in the kitchen trying to keep quiet when the gunmen found them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were some who were in -- hiding in the bakery side there who were then brought out. I mean, from what we know, the gunman came in here. They shot quite a few people. Then they went to -- then they went inside -- on this side to where the bakery and the cafe kitchen is. They found a couple of people hiding there, including a Japanese national who was -- who was apparently shot there. And they brought our staff out over here, by which time our staff saw there were basically, you know, all dead bodies laying on the ground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right, let's go to Bangladesh. CNN's Alexandra Field is there.

Good morning, Alexandra.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Investigators say that the killings happened within minutes of the time that the gunmen stormed into that bakery, shooting it up, lobbing explosives and holding so many people hostage. We're learning now from that conversation with the owner of the bakery, from what he has heard from his staff who was inside the building, that pictures were being taken during the attack and that at one point the attackers asked the bakery staff for the wifi password. They say that these attackers clearly wanted to be in communication with the outside world, getting the message out that their mission, quote/unquote, had been accomplished. Chilling new details that are coming from inside of that bakery and the horrific siege that it was under for some 11 hours on Friday night.

We know more about the attackers. Five, not six, Carol, as you now mentioned. Four who were killed, one who remains hospitalized, two injured to speak to investigators, but they are all Bangladeshi, all well-educated, ranging in age between 18 and 20. I spoke to the father of the youngest attacker, who broke down in tears, grieving over what has happened to his son, what has become of his son, but more so offering really heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims that his son has been blamed for attacking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEER HAYET KABIR, FATHER OF DHAKA ATTACKER: I don't know what to say. I have to apologize to all the families on behalf of my son. But I want to say that I don't believe that my son has done it with his own conscience. I don't know. It will not -- it will not give any -- any -- anything to -- any message to this family, but I want to say that I just want to say that whether they're listening to me or not, this is not my son's conscience. This is -- this cannot be. He's only 18.

(END VIDEO CLIP) FIELD: Tributes and services continue to be held for the 23 victims of Friday's attack.

Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Alexandra Field reporting live from Bangladesh this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a few weeks before athletes start competing in the Rio Olympics, scientists say they found super bacteria in the water.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:43:52] COSTELLO: One month from today, the opening ceremonies will kick off at the Rio Olympics. And now a scary new discovery in the waters of Rio de Janeiro. Scientists are calling it a super bacteria. Found is city sewage, along with hospital sewage, is released into the bay where athletes are already training.

CNN's Shasta Darlington live in Rio this morning.

Hi, Shasta.

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.

It is just incredible. Not only have they found it in the bay, which we already knew was polluted, where the sailing event is taking place, but even on some of Rio's most touristy beaches, like right here at Ipanama (ph). And researchers say they obviously need to study what kind of impact this will have on the health of athletes, but also they need to let both athletes, tourists and beach-goers know about this and be warned ahead of time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DARLINGTON (voice-over): The marvelous city, stunning views and golden beaches. But you might think twice before you splash in. Lurking under Rio's waters, raw sewage and now what scientists describe as super bacteria. Researchers at the Rio Federal University tested the city's beaches for a year and discovered high levels of the dreaded super bug, drug resistant bacteria that have been turning up in hospitals.

[09:45:14] RENATA PICAO, PROFESSOR, RIO FEDERAL UNIVERSITY: We believe that true hospital sewage, it goes to the municipal sewage and it gets to the Guanabara Bay or to other rivers and it finally gets to the beaches.

DARLINGTON: The highest levels of super bacteria found on the shores of Guanabara Bay, site of the Olympic sailing event a month from now. German Paralympic sailor Heiko Kroger says you can't be over cautious.

HEIKO KROGER, GERMAN PARALYMPIC SAILOR: It's a nice sailing area, but every time you get some water in your face, it feels like there's some alien enemy entering your face. So I keep my nose and my lips closed.

DARLINGTON: His colleague, Eric Hyle (ph), blamed the bacteria infested waters for a skin infection he got while training.

Authorities, however, say athletes and visitors will be safe. And the sailing arena has internationally acceptable levels of bacteria.

According to Rio's water utility, half the homes in Rio's state are now connected to the sewage system, up from 11 percent.

EDES FERNANDES DE OLIVEIRA, CEDAE WATER UTILITY: If course the waste water treatment plants are not prepared for the super bacterias because brand new. It's something new.

DARLINGTON: And something the water utility says it will look into further.

But scientists say the super bug is also washing up on some of Rio's most touristy beaches, which are already deemed too polluted to swim in by authorities a good third of the year.

DARLINGTON (on camera): This water right here isn't treated. It's supposed to be for rain runoff, but it often fills with garbage. It stinks of raw sewage. And it dumps right here on the beach.

DARLINGTON: Another cloud overshadowing Rio's troubled Olympics.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DARLINGTON: Now, when Rio won its bid to host the Olympics seven years ago, one of its major promises was cleaning up its water. They said they would work to get 80 percent of homes connected to the sewage system and yet over the past three years every time we ask the major, we ask the water officials, it's still standing at just 50 percent, which means half of it ends up, you got it, right here, Carol.

COSTELLO: Shasta Darlington reporting live from Rio this morning, thank you.

Checking some other top stories for you at 47 minutes past. Police in Rome, Italy, have arrested a homeless man in connection with the murder of an American college student. The body of 19-year-old Beau Solomon was found in the Tiber River on Monday. He had just arrived in Rome for a study abroad trip when he went missing. Police are still looking for a witness who was at the crime scene. An autopsy is planned for today.

Heavy flooding in China has killed more than 100 people and destroyed millions of acres of crops. It even filled a sports stadium with water. More damage is expected as a typhoon approaches.

The highest ranking police officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray goes on trial this morning in Baltimore. Lieutenant Brian Rice faces manslaughter charges, assault -- manslaughter charges, assault charges, reckless endangerment charges and misconduct charges. He's the fourth of six officers charged in the Freddie Gray death to be tried. Today there will be a hearing on pre-trial motions. Jury selection is scheduled for Wednesday. That is if the officer chooses a jury trial over a bench trial. Of the officers already tried, two have been acquitted and one case ended in a mistrial.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, after flying through outer space for nearly five years, a celebration inside NASA as its Jupiter probe sends a message from millions of miles away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:53:14] COSTELLO: After a nearly five-year-long journey, NASA's Juno spacecraft sent a message from 540 million miles away. Here is the reaction inside the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) on Jupiter. We have the tone for burn cutoff on Delta (ph) B (ph). (INAUDIBLE) Juno. Welcome to Jupiter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Awesome. The probe is now orbiting the largest planet in the solar system.

Joining me now from Los Angeles, CNN's Paul Vercammen.

Good morning, Paul.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

And you pointed it out, that's right, euphoria here in Pasadena, California, in Houston, in Denver, where they built Juno, in Florida, anywhere where scientists and engineers had a hand in this project. Boy, did they thread a needle. Everything going off with precision. One of the projects leaders is saying that a pretty good job after we put about 1.7 billion miles on the odometer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK NYBAKKEN, JUNO PROJECT MANAGER: After a 1.7 billion mile journey, we hit our burn targets within one second on a target that was just tens of kilometers large. Isn't that incredible? That's how good our team is, and that's how well the Juno spacecraft performed tonight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: And the project principal investigator Scott Bolton also saying, if there was ever one night to spend the Fourth of July inside in a windowless room, this was a great reason to do it.

Now, NASA scientists characterizing this as sort of a squiggly lines mission because of right now a lot of telemetry, Doppler and the rest. Good pictures won't really start to come out until August. And then the science, the investigation really begins in October.

[09:55:02] They are going to look at Jupiter's auroras. That's been talked about a lot lately. They're going to map that intense magnetic field. They're going to try to explore this core, how big is it? And in do -- in so doing, in a sense they are going back in time. They're going to a museum because Jupiter has preserved a lot of the early origins of our solar system and they hope to learn a lot more, Carol.

COSTELLO: It's just so fascinating. I can't wait to see the pictures. But August, huh? It's a long time to wait, but it will be exciting.

Paul Vercammen reporting live for us this morning.

VERCAMMEN: It will.

COSTELLO: Thank you.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

Today battle lines will be drawn in North Carolina as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton hold dueling events in the major swing states. This as controversy's dogged both campaigns.

[10:00:04] Hillary Clinton trying to increase her likability by hitching a ride to Charlotte with President Obama on board Air Force One. This will be their first campaign event together ever.