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CNN NEWSROOM

Trump: If Clinton Wins Pennsylvania, She Cheated; At Least Two Dead In Louisiana Floods, More Rain Coming; Trump "Fine" With Illegal Trials For U.S. Terror Suspects; GOP Letter To RNC: Cut Funds For Trump; Assessing Donald Trump's Campaign; Sentence Doesn't Fit Crime for Colorado Rapist; Fear of Russian Hacking. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired August 13, 2016 - 12:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- 17 people and got more votes. Think of what that means. We got more votes than anybody. We brought in new votes to the Republican Party. That's all not being registered in different forms of media. They're not talking about the primaries were up 60 percent and the Democrats were down 20 percent.

So with all of the Bernie stuff -- and we like Bernie. Look, Bernie, the system was rigged and we're going to watch Pennsylvania very quickly. We're going to watch Pennsylvania. Go down to certain areas and study and make sure other people don't come in and vote five times.

Because if you do that -- and I know you're all voting. Is everybody here voting? If you do that, if you do that, we're not going to lose.

The only way we can lose, in my opinion -- I really mean this -- Pennsylvania is if cheating goes on, I really believe it, because I looked at Erie and it was the same thing as this. And I've been all over the state and I know the state well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: In fact, Trump is going as far as to recruit election observers to help stop Clinton from, quote, "rigging this election," end quote. The claim comes despite the fact that a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday shows Hillary Clinton up by double digits in Pennsylvania.

Let's talk about this with my panel, executive director of the New York State Democratic Party, Basil Smikle, Republican strategist and former adviser for the McCain-Palin campaign, Ford O'Connell, and Trump surrogate, Steve Cortes.

All right, good to see all of you. You first. Trump said there's no way he could lose fairly to Clinton even though Pennsylvania, you know, has voted Democrat for the last six campaigns. How is this claim one of certainty?

BASIL SMIKLE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEW YORK STATE DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Well, you know what I want to do is key in on a word that he used or a phrase that he used, which was certain areas.

If you pair that with something that Dr. Ben Carson said interviewed yesterday, they talked about potential fraud in the areas of Philadelphia.

So what that says to me, an old GOP strategy, which is you talk about voter fraud, you talk about Democrats cheating. What that really says -- it's a really a proxy for communities of color coming out to vote and what that does for the actual election.

If you realize that in 20 to 30 states across this country in the last few years, there have been measures on the ballot to restrict voter access. Things that have been shot down by appellate courts even though the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act.

That's what he's talking about and that's what is actually really scary because the incidents of these have been so incredibly low that I can only conclude that what he's talking about is some sort of intersection with voting and race.

WHITFIELD: So Ford, is this code language that Donald Trump is using?

FORD O'CONNELL, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, he's certainly trying to fire up his voters to make sure they turn out to vote. Understand Republicans are very concerned about voter fraud. And to Basil's point, Democrats are concerned about voter access.

This is something both sides use, but also understand, Trump is trying to stay the bleeding in Pennsylvania where he's down by 9 points. In 2012, get this, Pennsylvania has 13 million, it was 280,000 votes that made the difference. Trust me, a vote here or there in the margins does make a difference in the keystone state.

CUOMO: So Steve, there is hemorrhaging, you know, across the country. I mean, you're looking at other polling that shows Florida, Colorado, those areas that are slipping if you are Donald Trump. So how does he stop this hemorrhaging and even within the GOP?

We see this long list and the list keeps getting longer of prominent and not so prominent Republicans who were saying they're throwing their support behind Hillary Clinton. So what does Donald Trump do?

STEVE CORTES, TRUMP SURROGATE: Right. Well, I think he needs to stay on message, which I think for the most part he's doing a much better job. We need to talk national security and the economy.

And regarding this issue of voter fraud, look, I'm in Chicago, a place that made this an art form in terms of voter fraud. It would be naive for us to think it doesn't happen. It tends to be in Democratic urban areas.

But I also want to talk as a Hispanic supporter of Donald Trump I'm offended by that notion that this is some sort of dog whistle or that he's trying to make this.

I think, if anything, Donald Trump has done wonderful job during this campaign of saying we've had enough of identity politics. We're all Americans. We're not growing the way we should be. We are not as secure as we should be regardless of your race or creed.

SMIKLE: That's interesting.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I want you to get you to that, Basil, in a second. But Steve, you know, what also caught me off guard and when you said staying on message. It's Donald Trump who is the one who keeps going off message. He just did it recently as it pertains to the founders of ISIS and here that is the prelude to his Monday message on unveiling his plan on fighting ISIS if he were to be president.

[12:05:00]CORTES: Right, and listen, saying the founders was clearly an exaggeration and I think also meant to entertain, and that's one thing about Donald Trump --

WHITFIELD: We know he was challenged on that and he was digging in his heels that he meant it and there was no joke. Only after more defections perhaps did he finally say, again, you know, he was being sarcastic, but then he also said not really. What's anyone to believe here?

CORTES: Well, Fredricka, listen, I will be the first to admit even though I'm an adamant supporter and working for the campaign, I'll be the first to admit, I wish he were more disciplined.

But on the other hand, I also say this. His authenticity is what has gotten him to be the nominee. His candor, his plane spokeness has resonated largely with the American people.

There's a lot of angst and anxiety out there particularly regarding the economy and I think he's speaking very effectively to that crowd.

I believe that once he gets in a debate with Hillary Clinton -- as a Trump supporter, if you're asking how do we move the needle because I'll be the first to conceive, right now, we've got an uphill battle, but how do we get over that hump?

I think it's going to be in the debates when they can speak two candidates directly unfiltered to the American people. I think when you see an impromptu Hillary Clinton and an impromptu Hillary Clinton, we're going to find that the people will clamor to Donald Trump.

WHITFIELD: OK, and Basil, on this dog whistle comment, you want to respond?

SMIKLE: Sure. When you talk about he's not playing identity politics, was he not the one who alluded to a judge perhaps not being able to be fair because he's Mexican, which he isn't? So he has played identity politics.

And quite frankly, while there is genuine economic angst in this country, his dystopian view of this country is not something that I think most people share.

And if you look at listen to some of the language, particularly when he talks about immigrants and refugees, it's no wonder that even Republicans in states like Maine, like Senator Susan Collins who has 12,000 Somali refugees in her state --

O'CONNELL: I got to interrupt.

SMIKLE: This is something -- no, no, no. This is something that --

WHITFIELD: Let him finish and then you can pick up.

SMIKLE: This is something that Donald Trump does because he can't help himself, but to me does not understand this country.

WHITFIELD: OK, Ford, go.

O'CONNELL: The bottom line is for the last two election cycles, the Democrats have been screaming nothing but Jim Crowe and voter suppression every single time. Let me tell you something integrity at the ballot box is a very big issue not only for Republicans but for all Americans.

Democrats keep saying, there's no evidence? There's 2,000 alleged cases since the year 2000 and what people don't understand is election boards don't have checks and balances --

WHITFIELD: But he didn't say anything about that during the primary season. Now the poll show he's --

O'CONNELL: Wait a minute. He actually did. That's not true. He actually did. He was talking about rigged systems in the primary. We have conventions. We have primaries --

SMIKLE: He talked about rigged systems, but he didn't talk about cheating. He didn't talk about the Democratic nominee cheating.

O'CONNELL: Yes, he did. He talked about cheating. What does rigged mean? Cheating.

SMIKLE: It's one thing to say that the system is rigged, but he wasn't talking about --

WHITFIELD: He wasn't talking about voter disenfranchisement cheating and voter fraud, Boris.

O'CONNELL: In Colorado he actually did make that point because he felt that the convention system in Colorado disenfranchised his voters. I totally disagree with you. It's just now the Democrats have been using this over and over and to meet them he has to almost do the same thing.

SMIKLE: OK. Well, he hasn't talked --

CORTES: Also, I think regarding his view of America -- dystopia view of America, but he does have a very frank negative assessment of the present state of the country. When you say that Americans don't agree, that's not true. In polling, 68 percent of the Americans say the country is headed in the wrong direction. What we are doing isn't working. It's not working on security. It's certainly not working on the economic grown.

And by the way, in this stagnant economy of slow growth no one has suffered more than people of color like us. So these communities --

SMIKLE: First of all, I don't want to be lectured about whether or not Jim Crowe has been discussed or whether or not communities of color are suffering. Because what we've been suffering for quite a long time, well before this election, under Republicans as well I may add.

And I don't think dump at all has spoken to the needs of communities of color, number one, in this election. He can talk about the system being rigged, but when he throws around language like people are cheating in certain areas, when he speaks in a way that's rather xenophobic.

When he talks in the ways that in my opinion are bigoted, there is no way that he's addressing the concerns of communities of color. I haven't heard one thing out of his mouth that does that actually does that.

But remember, this is a man who founded the birther movement. So instead of saying, well, the president has brought down unemployment, instead of talking about the things that the president has done, he's called him the founder of ISIS, which is reckless.

So to me, you tell me, I would really like to know where he said or in his policies where communities of color are actually going to do better under Donald Trump.

WHITFIELD: OK, I have to allow for it -- OK, Steve to respond and then we'll have to go.

CORTES: I'll tell you exactly where when he talks about economic growth because income and equality has been largely exacerbated by government policies ironically.

[12:10:04]The 1 percent are doing just fine with the S&P 500 at all- time highs. But regular people, entrepreneurs, small business people are completely hamstrung by regulations, massive stifling regulation from Washington, D.C. Donald Trump wants to remove that kind of regulation. By the way, minority communities --

WHITFIELD: I don't know in that really answered the question. All right. We'll try to have you all back and then we can resume that conversation. So I think that was really just the tip of the iceberg on that issue. All right, Basil Smikle, Ford O'Connell and Steve Cortes, thank you so much, gentlemen. Appreciate it.

All right, still ahead, a warning from Louisiana's governor after flooding claims at least two lives and heavy rains continue drenching parts of that state. CNN's Boris Sanchez joining us live. BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred. The rain is still coming down here in Louisiana as many neighbors come to check on their properties. You mentioned the governor, hear why the governor says the worst may not be over yet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, this breaking news on the historic flooding in Louisiana. The governor is warning people to evacuate flooded areas if they have been told to and to stay off of the flooded roads.

The 1200 national guardsmen have been deployed to help with the rescues. At least two people are dead and more rain is on the way. Some parts of the state have seen as much as 17 inches of rain. Thousands of people are without power as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Literally, my heart is broken because there's so many elderly people in here and people who really can't afford to replace their things and it's like, the water is literally up to your waist. That means their houses, everything in there is destroyed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: My goodness, you can see how bad the flooding situation is. In this video too, a tanker truck in the distance literally being swept off the road.

[12:15:02]CNN's Boris Sanchez is live for us now in Amite City, Louisiana. So Boris, what else did the governor say about people's concerns there?

SANCHEZ: Right, Fred. He said that about 1,000 people have had to be rescued out of their homes and cars that have been stuck on flooded roads, even people that were hanging from tree limbs trying to brave through this horrible flooding that we're seeing in Louisiana.

In this neighborhood that we're in right now, there have been very few pauses where the rain has stopped. It's been raining consistently all morning, but the water has receded quite a bit.

The debris line at this mailbox, that's how high the water was, it's about 2.5 feet to 3 feet off the ground. And this whole neighborhood was inundated.

In the past couple of hours the water has mostly gone away. It's heading south and that the big concern right now as it heads towards those towns and municipalities, they're going to deal with all the water heading in that direction.

You can expect more damage and potentially more rescues there. It's hard to get a grasp of just how extensive the damage is, though. Governor John Bel Edwards described that earlier at that press briefing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOVERNOR JOHN BEL EDWARDS (D), LOUISIANA: What we know is we have record levels of flooding along rivers and creeks. And because these are record floods, we don't know how wide the water is going to get in those areas. We don't -- this is unprecedented. So we don't have records that we can go back and see who all is going to be impacted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Yes, as you heard there, it's hard to tell and it's really interesting too, the levels of damage are vary greatly. One man told us the water got about an inch away from his door. Across the street where his daughter lives, she got more than 30 inches of water inside her home.

That man told us that the flash flood just came in so quickly. He was here yesterday, he said there was sunshine and no rain, and then by midnight they quickly had get out. Fortunately, he says his whole family is OK. They were very fortunate to make it out.

But obviously the concern is that the rain is still coming down and it's expected to continue coming down at least for about another 36 hours and then we'll get a clear picture just to how damaging this flooding was -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Devastating. All right, thank you so much. Boris Sanchez in Amite, Louisiana.

All right, still ahead, Donald Trump says he's OK with trying Americans accused of terrorism in a military tribunal but that would be illegal. So what options do military leaders have if a President Trump, were to give such an order?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:21:21]

WHITFIELD: Moments of celebration in Northern Syria as some 2,000 hostages have been freed from ISIS forces by Arab and Kurdish fighters. Men who had been held by ISIS were seen cutting their beards after being liberated there.

One woman even set fire to her hijab to celebrate her freedom. The Pentagon says the hostages may have been used by the terrorist group as human shields. The U.S. backed rebels have been battling ISIS militants for control of the area around Aleppo since May.

We're also learning today that Vice President Joe Biden is headed to that region later on this month. He will visit Turkey on August 24th. He'll be the highest level U.S. visitor country since that failed coup last month. Turkey has also been calling on the U.S. to extradite a cleric it says was responsible for inciting that coup attempt.

Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, has called for water boarding terror suspects and killing relatives of terrorists and now Trump is saying he's fine trying American citizens at Guantanamo Bay. What all of these things have in common is that they're illegal under U.S. law.

CNN Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, digs deeper.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Fred, there's always been a lot of talk about bringing Guantanamo detainees to the United States for trial. Now Donald Trump is talking about the possibility of sending American citizens charged with terrorism to Guantanamo Bay for trial. Is it legal? Can he really do it?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice-over): Donald Trump has new thoughts on how, if elected, he might send U.S. citizens accused of terrorism to the military prison at Guantanamo Bay.

RACHEL VANLANDINGHAM, SOUTHWESTERN LAW SCHOOL: Try to get the military commissions, the trial court there to try U.S. citizens?

TRUMP: Well, I know that they want to try them in our regular court systems and I don't like that at all. I don't like that at all. I would say that could be tried there. That could be fine.

STARR: The law that created military commissions specifically exempts U.S. citizens from being tried at Gitmo, military experts say.

VANLANDINGHAM: So Mr. Trump would have work with Congress to establish different laws.

STARR: Would that work?

VANLANDINGHAM: That would be constitutionally suspect. Why would it be suspect? It's because current U.S. courts are fully capable and open and available to provide the full panoply of U.S. constitutional guarantees.

STARR: Some of Trump's ideas, including the possibility of bringing back water boarding are raising critical questions about the authority of the president to order troops to carry out actions which violate U.S. law. Simply put, the U.S. military has a duty to disobey illegal orders even when they come from the president.

VANLANDINGHAM: It's military adherence to civilian command and control. It's a bedrock principle of the U.S. military, however the U.S. military swears to protect and defend the U.S. constitution first and foremost.

STARR: But Trump says he expects to be obeyed by the troops even on water boarding.

TRUMP: They won't refuse. They're not going to refuse me, believe me.

STARR: A former military lawyer says that Trump should be refused.

VANLANDINGHAM: There is no moral dilemma of a military member to think, well, maybe this is actually lawful. No, it's illegal. STARR: General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, has stayed out of the political fray, but even he has made clear some ideas are out of bounds.

GENERAL JOSEPH DUNFORD, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: One of the things that makes me proud to wear this uniform is that we represent the values of the American people. That's what we have done historically, that's what we expect to do in the future and again that's what makes me proud to wear this uniform.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[12:25:06]STARR: Military experts tell us if U.S. troops were to obey illegal orders they face the possibility of criminal prosecution or even international war crimes tribunals -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.

An influential group of Republicans signing a letter to the party saying enough, don't fund the Trump campaign. They say there is better way to spend that money. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All right, forget Trump and concentrate on Congress. That's the message of some 75 now Republican to the Republican National Committee, who in an open letter are urging the RNC to pull financial support from Trump and focus instead on races in the House and the Senate.

And if not the group warns the Republican Party could drown with, quote, "A Trump emblazoned anchor around its neck." Joining me right now, Basil Smikle is the executive director of the New York State Democratic Party, Ford O'Connell is a Republican strategist and chairman of the Civic Foreign PAC, and Steve Cortes, a Trump supporter.

All right, good to see you all back. So Ford, you first. The RNC chair, Reince Priebus, has said while that he's frustrated with Trump, he's in it for the long hall.

In fact, he was introducing Donald Trump yesterday in Erie, Pennsylvania at a rally. So might this letter however be influential and make Reince Priebus help reconsider changing the direction of some of this money?

O'CONNELL: Absolutely not. Here's why. Split ticket voting is extremely rare. Basically if you're a senator in particular, that's the other thing being contested this fall, your political fortunes are exclusively tied to the presidential candidate of your party.

So therefore, the best you can pretty much do is run ten points better than Donald Trump. So essentially how Trump goes, you go. And frankly, even Donald Trump actually did win the presidential election, Republicans would still probably lose one to two Senate seats anyway. [12:30:06] So, therefore, the best you can pretty much do is run 10 points better than Donald Trump. So essentially how Trump goes, you go. And frankly, even if Donald Trump actually did win the presidential election, Republicans would still probably lose one to two Senate seats any way. So basically, they've got to stay in for Trump for the long haul.

WHITFIELD: I heard you say if for very long time Donald Trump and everyone around him has been saying when he wins. Are you having second thoughts now too?

O'CONNELL: Well, I'm not having second thoughts. I support Donald Trump but I also -- I'm a political analyst and I can read the polls. I would say right now he's probably as 65/35 underdog to Hillary Clinton. She's in a favorable place particularly because she's ahead in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

If he were to win Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, they can turn 73 electoral votes and essentially he'd be the next president of the United States. Also understand that best Romney had accomplished that, assuming he wins all the states that Romney won, he'd actually only need 44,000 votes out of 44 million people. And with a full surprise, anything is possible.

WHITFIELD: All right. All right, Steve, are you in the "if" for the "when" camp?

STEVE CORTES, TRUMP SUPPORTER: I too, I'm definitely in the when. But I'll be the first to admit, I mentioned even in the other segment, we've got a uphill battle right now. I think we are behind and I think we have to battle and we have to do better. And I'm confident that we will in the debates.

But regarding this -- the issue with the Republicans, there's a lot of consternation within our party. There is on the Democratic side too. By the way, the Bernie people are not exactly coalescing firmly behind Clinton. But getting back to our side, I think what's important here is that Donald Trump is a true outsider. He has never been a politician, he's upsetting the political order, he's promising to go to Washington, D.C. ...

WHITFIELD: OK and he's also upsetting a lot of Republicans, Steve. Let's take a look at this letter and what it says. And it lists everything Trump has done since the election that these Republicans say have alienated voters of all parties. Attacked the Gold Star families, urged Russia to intervene in the election, urging gun owners to take action against Clinton, reportedly showing interests in preemptive use of nuclear weapons.

So, now continue your thought with that laundry list from these Republicans who are willing to sign this open letter and hope that it is influential.

CORTES: Right. Well, first I would say too, those 75 signatories, it's not exactly a who's who of the Republican Party. So he still has enormous support from the party. But my point is, my point is though, he is upsetting the rigged crony system that is Washington, D.C., both Democrat and Republican. There's a lot of talk about third parties. We don't need a third party in America. We need a true second party.

I think this election in many ways is really not even Republican against Democrat. It's largely America against Washington. And there's a people's revolt going on because the people are incredibly upset with slow economic growth and with insecurity both at home and abroad from Islamic terrorists. So I think that Donald Trump presents something that is upsetting and threatening to the political order, including some Republicans, yes.

WHITFIELD: So, Basil, you know, Donald Trump is in Connecticut today stumping, Monday he's going to be unveiling his, you know, plan on, you know, defeating ISIS. Hillary Clinton has, you know, not been on the campaign trail as much, particularly on the weekends in the last couple of weeks. Kind of explain this strategy here, if there's a feeling that, you know, she is taking things for granted or if there's a feeling that, you know, Donald Trump is doing just fine on his own without her also being on the campaign trail.

BASIL SMIKLE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEW YORK DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Well, you know, we, you know, Democrats can't rest on their haunches. I don't think anyone is taking it for granted, certainly not Hillary Clinton. She is working really hard, the campaign is working really hard to still engage voters to get out to vote.

And listen, I, you know, going back to something that the others have said, you know, when Donald Trump to me is not scripted, he sounds rather inelastic in his approach. He's unconcerned about the future of the Republican leaders or the Republican Party. So I do think, you know, focusing on down ballot races is important. And look, as a head of the state party, and I would say this about my colleagues as well.

The state races, the legislative races are so very important, presidential campaigns, presidential races get a lot of attention. But what happens in the state is so incredibly important. To my chagrin, you know, over the last few years, Democrats have lost a lot of seats in state houses across the country. So, this is though -- I think the rubber meets the road not just in terms of the presidential race but also our ability to build the party state by state and make sure that we can tie all of those Republican candidates to the things that Donald Trump is saying.

WHITFIELD: So then Ford, what about that, that, you know, point that Basil is making that Donald Trump is myopic, he's not thinking about all of the other Republicans in various races, you know, across the country, that, you know, he's only thinking about himself. And it's indicative when he speaks to certain things that raise eyebrows or you know helps encourage that one more Republican to sign up on this open letter. How worrisome should that be?

[12:34:58] O'CONNELL: Well, there should be extremely worrisome if there are other Republicans because essentially as I said, the way it works in a presidential election is trickle down voting and your fortunes are almost exclusively tied to Donald Trump. You know, look, I think that Donald Trump could actually win this election. I know we only have 80-plus days to go, what he has to do ...

WHITFIELD: Eighty-seven.

O'CONNELL: Eighty-seven. Turn it from a referendum on him to a referendum on Hillary Clinton and the rigged system. And he has to, you know, he can do it. My question for Donald Trump has always been the same. Do you actually want to win the presidency of the United States and if you do, you very well can because there are lot of opportunity particularly if Hillary scandals. And the question is, can you stay on message and not light yourself on fire. Thus far I haven't seen it but I'm telling you that opportunity is still there.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ford O'Connell, Basil Smikle, Steve Cortes, thank you so much, gentlemen. Appreciate it.

SMIKLE: Thank you.

O'CONNELL: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. And we're going to get a closer inside look at the Trump campaign tomorrow on "STATE OF THE UNION." Campaign Manager Paul Manafort joining Jack Tapper live. That's tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. right here on CNN. And we'll be right back

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. A sentence not fitting of the crime, that's what some Colorado prosecutors are saying about the sentencing of a former University of Colorado student who was convicted of raping a classmate.

CNN's Dan Simon explains why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Twenty-two year old Austin Wilkerson has been sentenced to two years in the Boulder County jail. But there's a catch. It's called work release, an arrangement where defendants are able to go to work or school during the day. Prosecutors say, it's too lenient of a sentence for a convicted rapist.

[12:40:07] LISA SACCOMANO, PROSECUTOR: We were hoping to see a prison sentence in this case. Obviously we feel that prison is appropriate for someone who commits a rape of this nature and then particularly given the aggravated facts here.

SIMON: They were students at the University of Colorado. It was March of 2014, a St. Patrick's Day party, lots of drinking. Wilkerson offered to look after the victim. Instead prosecutors say he sexually assaulted her. Court documents say when confronted by investigators, Wilkerson said he made repeated advances on the victim but that she rebuffed him each time. He later admitted to friends that she was passed out and he let his hands wander. But in court Wilkerson story changed, claiming the encounter was consensual and that the victim was sober. SACCOMANO: He definitely in our opinion and as we argued to the court throughout the process has given whatever version of the story at that moment is best going to serve him.

SIMON: In the end, jurors found Wilkerson guilty of sexual assault and unlawful sexual contact. Changing his story yet again he admitted to his crime and apologized at sentencing.

Judge Patrick Butler who also sentenced Wilkerson to 20 years probation said he struggled with the decision. "Mr. Wilkerson deserves to be punished, but I think we need to find out whether he truly can or cannot be rehabilitated."

The outcome immediately drawing comparisons to the sentence of Stanford swimmer Brock Turner who received six months in jail for raping a woman behind a dumpster. Victims advocate say the legal system I don't know failing to recognized the seriousness of rape on college campuses. With the Colorado case being the latest example.

JANINE D'ANNIBALLE: MOVING TO END SEXUAL ASSAULT: In this case we have kind of come to accept that light sentences in these kind of crimes are the norm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: Prosecutors requested a sentence from 4 to 24 years in state prison. Wilkerson's lawyer did not respond to repeated requests for comment but says his client is showing genuine remorse. It should also be noted that the judge based his decision in part on a recommendation from the probation department which actually called for no prison time.

Dan Simon, CNN, San Francisco.

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's talk about this with our legal guys. They're with us now, Avery Friedman, a civil rights attorney and law professor joining us from Cleveland and Richard Herman, a New York criminal defense attorney and law professor joining us from Miami today. All right, good to see both of you.

All right, so, Richard, you first. You know, Austin Wilkerson, he changed the story as we heard in Dan Simon's reporting and even apologized. But under what circumstances might a sentencing like this, you know, especially because of the kind of uproar from the prosecutors et cetera might it be changed?

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Oh, the sentencing is not going to be changed. If anything there's going to be a reduction here Fred. And look, by no means this is a light sentence. This is not a light sentence. Two years in jail, going to school during the day and reporting back to jail at night, 20-year sex offender registry, sex offender reporting, sex offender status. One violation there -- if he violate them during that period of time, he's going back to prison Judge Fred.

And let me tell you something, probation, probation recommendation here was no prison, zero prison. And usually the judges abide by a probation report. And there was no prison here. So I think the judge tried to fashion a sentence more rehabilitation and some punishment but rehabilitation as the primary concern.

WHITFIELD: So Avery, do you agree with Richard or do you believe the sentence should have been something different?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: I think we're looking at two different cases. Look, the problem here is disproportionality among other things. Can you imagine a black kid living in the central city being convicted of these two counts, getting scampering off to campus during the day and then at night, you know, hold up in a penitentiary. Look at it ...

HERMAN: It's different issue.

FRIEDMAN: ... I think this is way out of proportion. Hold on. And the problem is, no one remembers what this is. This is somebody's daughter. And on top of that, you do -- and again, my opinion, it's a white privilege issue. It doesn't work both ways.

On top of that, the testimony that surfaced here and the judge talked about impressive acceptance. This is the guy that kept getting rebuffed by this freshman, Fredricka, and then he employs some profanity and then went ahead and sexually assaulted her.

WHITFIELD: Because he did. He did admit it later that yes, he had advanced, you know, he had advanced her and she, you know, turned him down and that made him mad.

FRIEDMAN: Right. And that goes to the point here. That goes to the whole point. In fact, you know what? There's a one-sentence line or two-sentence line by the victim at trial and it's so powerful. She goes to the real question is, why didn't the rapist get my consent.

[12:45:11] It would be like if someone robbed you and they then said, well you didn't say no. Does a lack of no make the robbery OK? Of course not. What a great way for this suffering young woman to express the significance of this. I think the sentence is way off base. It should be something much more serious.

And frankly Colorado and every major university better get on the ball here and start getting serious about training students and faculty about how to deal with this. Because the percentage exceed the national. One out of four women face sexual assault at campuses, it's inching up to 30 percent. We got an epidemic going on in the universities. And this case is the best example of it.

WHITFIELD: So, Richard, this case also reminds many people of the Vanderbilt case, the former Vanderbilt students, there were four of them, you know, and it too was a case of rape involving a young lady who was intoxicated. And there is a threat -- some of those cases are still ongoing too, maybe I have to go to a trial. And sentencing has yet to happen.

But, you know, there has been such public outcry in that case that it almost seems certain that there would be jail time imposed because you've heard it from the prosecutor, you've heard it from the outrage in that community. How are the cases different in terms of why this case, which you say, you know, is a justifiable type of sentencing, seems to really get under the skin of prosecutors there who thought there would be more?

HERMAN: Well, I think, I think, Fred, judges are making a distinction, right or wrong, they're making a distinction where there is unlawful sexual contact in a party type atmosphere situation like college where both sides are hammered and there ends up being sexual contact and then later on it's decided that it was not warranted. We're not -- we weren't there, Fred. We don't have cameras. He was convicted by a jury here in Colorado. And these cases that go to trial, the defendants get convicted, sometimes of rape, sometimes of something lesser than rape.

But I think the judges are taking into consideration the atmosphere and taking into consideration the age of the defendants and the impact on their lives as well as the impact on the victim's life here. It's a delegate line to cross. Twenty years on probation, Fred, is no day at the beach. I'm telling you that right now. And if he's going to offend and be violated, he's going to prison.

So, 20-year leash on this guy plus two years in prison. You know, and Avery makes a distinction of where sentences are not uniform. That's a whole other issue that exists all over the country here. I agree with him. If a young black man was convicted in the Bronx, New York of something like this, you know, pretty much sure he's going to prison, he's not getting probation. But here Fred, it's significant the probation report recommended zero prison, zero prison. So it's a tough call.

WHITFIELD: OK, yeah. We're going to have to leave it there gentlemen. Sorry, good to see you. We've got some breaking news. So that's why I have to cut it short. But always good to see you Avery and Richard. Appreciate it.

And this breaking news out of Switzerland where a man reportedly has set a train carriage on fire using a flammable liquid. He also stabbed passengers injuring six people, including a six year old child. The attacker is said to be a 27 year old Swiss citizen and was also injured. This is according to a statement released by police in that region. More on this as we get it. We'll be right back.

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[12:52:29] WHITFIELD: Welcome back. With Russian groups suspected of hacking e-mail servers belonging to Democratic Party leaders and house members in this country, there's growing concern that hackers could target the U.S. power grid and cause catastrophic problems. Here's CNN's Deborah Feyerick.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Russian malware is in hundreds if not thousands of U.S. computers that control critical infrastructure. The threat is not only real it has happened. In a recent study found that 94 percent of Americans fear a cyber attack second only to an attack by ISIS.

MARTY EDWRDS, DIRECTOR, DHS CYBER EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM: So what happened is, one of these large breakers or several of the large breakers were operated remotely by the attacker.

FEYERICK: It was the first known cyber attack of its kind. Three attacks, 30 minutes apart against three electrical substations serving Ukraine's power grid.

SUZANNE SPAULDING, DHS UNDERSECRETARY, NATIONAL PROTECTION AND PROGRAM DIRECTORATE: This is not theoretical, this has happened. We've now had a cyber attack on critical infrastructure was that destructive.

FEYERICK: Destructive and a real threat to the United States, says Susan Spaulding. She is in charged of protecting the nation's 16 critical infrastructure sectors. A power outage impacts everything from air traffic control to subways and traffic lights, cell phones, computers, water and food supplies. CNN was given rare access to a government test facility in Idaho Falls with a team of cyber experts led by Marty Edwards is busy identifying hackers and trying to stop them.

Is it difficult for some sort of a cyber attacker to take down a power grid?

EDWARDS: It's much more simple than we would like it to be.

FEYERICK: To show us just how simple it is, the cyber team recreated the Ukraine attack. A hacker using a common e-mail fishing scam steals an employee's credentials, takes full control of the computer operating the power grid and shuts it down.

In the Ukraine power was knocked out to several of their substations.

EDWARDS: Correct.

FEYERICK: Could that happen here?

EDWARDS: You know, it could. All of our infrastructures are run by the computerized systems.

FEYERICK: Under scoring America's vulnerability. The malicious code identified is having played a role in Ukraine's attack is the same code DHS recently admitted is in hundreds if not thousands of U.S. computer systems that control critical infrastructure. The code known as "black energy" has been linked to Russia.

[12:55: 02] SPAULDING: There are companies across the country, and this is not just with respect to electricity companies, that don't fully appreciate the nature of the threat.

FEYERICK: Seventy-five to 80 percent of the nation's critical infrastructure is owned and operated by private sector companies. Despite many warnings, DHS says some companies have failed to take even basic cyber security measures.

EDWARDS: It ultimately comes down to a business decision for the company.

FEYERICK: A business decision that could allow attackers not only turn off the lights but destroy the machinery as well.

I'm standing on the actual testing site of the world generator. It was the first test of its kind to prove that a cyber attacker could gain control of a generator and cause it to self destruct. If an attack were to happen to a generator, how long would it take a plant to get back online?

EDWARDS: Oh wow. Some of those generators and some these large electrical equipment literally takes years to manufacture.

FEYERICK: DHS has trained more than 11,000 people both in the private and government sector how to better secure their systems. That includes limiting remote access only to those who need it. And if there is an attack, worst case scenario, the only way to resolve it is to disconnect from the internet.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: In the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM begins right after this.

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[13:00:10] WHITFIELD: So, again everyone and thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.