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GOP Senators Speak After Talk with Trump on Health Care; "People" Magazine: Don Jr "Miserable" as First Son; Police Cite "Loud Bang" in Shooting of Bride-to-Be; O.J. Simpsons Life Behind Bars. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired July 19, 2017 - 14:30   ET

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


[14:30:00] LINDSAY MORAN, FORMER CIA UNDERCOVER OPERATIVE & AUTHOR: Even randomly poaching the Japanese interpreter. Again, it smacks of amateur hour. It makes us look silly. And it makes us look silly in the eyes of the world and as if we're being very, very skillfully manipulated by the Kremlin. And I think we've seen that again and again.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, there's another off-camera White House briefing. We'll see if the talking points are received by the press people. And we'll listen in to see how they spin it.

Phil Mudd, Lindsay Moran, thank you so much.

PHIL MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST:

MORAN: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Or no spin necessary.

Meantime, "People" magazine reporting on Donald Trump Jr's mindset amid all this turmoil in the White House, including why he's apparently miserable with his father in the Oval Office. We have those details ahead for you.

Also, breaking details in this tragic case of this bride-to-be who was shot and killed by police after dialing 911 to report a possible assault outside of her home. We now know what she said on that 911 call. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:35:11] SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R-KY), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Talk on the phone. We've had a lot of conversations. He's talked to a lot of members, and one of the outgrowths of discussion today is that the vice president, secretary of Health and Human Services, and head of CNS will be on Capitol Hill tonight working with some of our members who, at least, so far, have gotten -- had some difficulty in getting to yes.

Let me describe what "yes" is. It's the motion to proceed. We cannot keep the commitment we made to the American people to repeal and replace Obamacare unless we get on the bill. So, next week, we'll be voting to get on the bill. I would remind those of you who don't cover Capitol Hill that this

particular type of bill is totally open for amendment. It's no way I or anybody else could prevent members from having amendments. That any 51 of us can pass and change the bill, but we cannot have a debate until we get on the bill. So, next week, we'll be voting on the motion to proceed. And I'm -- have every expectation that we'll be able to get on the bill.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Senator McConnell, the president today seemed to veer back to his original position. It looks like the direction you were going in the Senate was merely to repeal and replace at a later date but today the president expressed several times the need to do it all at once.

MCCONNELL: Yes. I think we have two options here. There is a large majority in our conference that want to demonstrate to the American people that they intend to keep the commitment they made in four straight elections to repeal Obamacare. I think we all agree it's better to both repeal and replace, but we could have a vote on either. And if we end up voting on repeal only, it will be fully amendable on the Senate floor. And if it were to pass without any amendment at all, there's a two-year delay before it kicks in. So, the take away from what I'm telling you is, no harm is done by getting on the bill. Wide open for amendment. No matter what I offer as a substitute at first, it's fully amendable.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Senator McConnell, given the president's comments today, and following up on that question, are you experiencing some political whiplash here?

(LAUGHTER)

MCCONNELL: Well, it's pretty obvious we've had difficulty in getting 50 votes to proceed. But what I want to disabuse any of you of is the notion that we will not have that vote next week. We're going to vote on the motion to proceed to the bill next week.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And Leader McConnell --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Will you cancel all of August recess?

MCCONNELL: We're going to have a vote on the motion to proceed to the bill next week.

Thanks, everybody.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do Republicans own health care now. Do the Republicans own health care?

BALDWIN: OK. That is a man who has been known as the master tactician, in all things, getting votes going his way. That is the Republican Senate majority leader. Mitch McConnell, may be a bit frustrated, may be a bit frustrated here on what's happened in Washington over this whole repeal and replace/repeal now, replace later, neither of which seem to be coming to fruition if you do the math.

Let's talk to Jamie Gangel, our special correspondent at CNN.

I know you've been talking to Republicans on how they feel in general. But first, the Senate majority leader, he's not normally -- you don't see him like this.

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: No. There's an expression, "back in the day." Back in the day before Trump, he was able to get these things done. He had a lot of discipline. He could get it passed. Not so much anymore. And I think this is very frustrating for him.

BALDWIN: What do you make of his whole -- just reading Phil Mattingly, who's in the weeds for all of us on Capitol Hill saying, a lot of these Senate Republicans are frustrated. If we're going to have a vote, have it today, not let this whole thing faster and linger for five to seven days on whether it's repeal and replace or repeal. Again, the math isn't there. So, what are you hearing from Republicans?

GANGEL: And so there are two things. Frustration is a mild word. I didn't even have to call people yesterday and today.

BALDWIN: They were calling you?

GANGEL: They were calling to say that they're just -- it's horrible, it's terrible, it's unimaginable. And they are really concerned, not just about this, but with the constant drip, drip, drip of the stories about ties to Russia, of the eighth man. They just feel it's Whack-a- Mole. They never know what's going to come next.

Just a quick quote from one who said -- this is a senior Republican, been around a long time, said, "It's impossible to defend Trump because you know, or at a minimum, fear that more is always coming and then it does."

So, it's very hard to get substance done when also you have all of these other things in the mix.

[14:40:19] BALDWIN: I think another key point, just reading your notes that you've gotten, you say the source actually didn't think there was anything -- referring to eighth man or maybe even the Putin/Trump meeting, the source didn't actually think there was anything untoward, truly untoward going on, just thinks they don't know what they're doing.

GANGEL: Right. They think naive, discipline. Donald Trump conducting business the way he used to conduct business in New York doesn't work when you have this meeting with Putin that, all of a sudden, maybe there's no "there" there. Maybe it's all OK. Maybe nothing's going to come from the investigation. But when you conduct yourself this way, when there's no discipline about it, then it's causing problems that they don't need. And the word I keep hearing is "distracting" in Washington. That's the polite word for, we can't get anything else done because we're dealing with all of these things.

BALDWIN: As you know, we're having this conversation, guys, let's throw out the cover of the "People" magazine.

It's landing on some newsstands today. I mean, you know, this is the magazine, my mom reads "people." people all around the country read "People" and you see this cover, "The Trump Family, Secrets and Lies." And apparently one of the quotes in there is about Don Jr saying that he's miserable, can't believe he has to live, you know, with three and a half years to go with his father in the White House.

What do you make of that?

GANGEL: So, absolutely. At every checkout counter.

BALDWIN: Yes.

GANGEL: One Republican texted me yesterday, "Please make this stop." And it's not -- I don't know about the details of that story, but when you look at that cover of "People" magazine, we're just six months in. This is supposed to be the honeymoon. This is supposed to be, at home with the Trumps, at home with the Obamas.

BALDWIN: The smiling first family --

GANGEL: Exactly.

BALDWIN: -- on the cover of "People" magazine.

GANGEL: That looks like a tabloid.

BALDWIN: It does. It does.

Jamie, always with the good scoop.

GANGEL: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Thank you so much.

GANGEL: Thank you.

BALDWIN: The White House is getting ready to weigh in on all of this. Stand by for that. More from that luncheon with Republican Senators.

Also, after days of silence, officials finally revealing what officers say happened in the death of a bride-to-be. Hear why a loud bang is now at the center of their story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:46:56] BALDWIN: This is just coming in to us, the actual transcript of the 911 call from the woman who was shot and killed by Minneapolis police. It's now just being released. So within it, you hear Justine Ruszczyk calling up and reporting what she thinks may be a rape.

So let me just read part of this transcript for you. She tells the operator, "I don't think she's enjoying it. It's been going on for a while. And I think she tried to say help and sounds distressed."

Along with the release of the 911 call, we are getting our first clues as to what may have led Minneapolis police to shoot and kill this Australian bride-to-be. The police officer who was the one who actually shot her, he's not talking. His partner is. He is Officer Michael Harridy. He tells investigators he was startled by a loud noise just before Ruszczyk approached their patrol car. He says after the loud noise, his partner, Officer Mohamed Noor, who is sitting in the passenger seat, fired his gun and shot Ruszczyk through the driver side window. Police dispatch audio picked up the next couple of moments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: Female standing behind the building. 5:30, shots fired. We need EMS. Code three, Washburn and 51st Street. We got one down.

Let me bring in Eric Guster, a criminal and civil trial attorney.

Eric, good to see you.

ERIC GUSTER, CRIMINAL & CIVIL TRIAL ATTORNEY: Good to see you.

BALDWIN: Now the fact that we're hearing a little bit from the partner and not from the officer himself, little bit from the officer's attorney but again, not much. Is that a smart strategy?

GUSTER: It is. This man is about to be charged criminally. This is a manslaughter case that needs to be charged and he knows it. He's already lawyered up. And his union is probably paying for his lawyer, and he's probably being advised to be quiet. We have the constitutional right no not incriminate ourselves, and that's what he's doing.

His partner is under the obligation to give any type of statement because the partner is required by contract to give a statement about an incident that the partner's not going to be possibly charged in. That's why the partner's talking.

BALDWIN: Help me understand. I mean, here they are, they're responding to, it sounds like, a report of a sexual assault outside of this woman's home. They roll up. The woman's walking toward, it sounds like, the passenger side, and the partner says they heard some loud noise. How is that a defense?

GUSTER: It sounds ridiculous. And that's what so many people in the community are concerned with. Police officers who are so ready to shoot at a moment's notice, without any type of weapon being seen, without any type of viable threat. There's nothing to determine or show that this man was threatened. And their body cameras were not on. And in their procedures, they're supposed to cut them on if there's going to be any type of altercation. If you thought there were gunshots, you should have cut your camera on. That's problem number one for them.

BALDWIN: They ended up turning it on but after the fact, correct?

GUSTER: That's too late. That's like getting gas after you run out of gas. I'm going to head to the gas station. You can't cut them on after the fact because that's not showing us what happened. One of the reasons that we have body cameras is to show, for police officer safety and the public safety, what occurred in incident, who's at fault, who's wrong, and who needs to be liable -- who needs to be liable and charged.

[14:50:11] BALDWIN: Heart goes out to that fiance and family in Australia and, of course, in that Minneapolis community.

Eric Guster, thank you so much.

GUSTER: Thank you.

BALDWIN: We will stay on it.

Meantime, this time tomorrow, O.J. Simpson will be finding out if he is a free man. His parole hearing will be televised live. Find out what his life has been like inside prison for the past few years.

Also, some disturbing news on - oh, check that. Let's listen to some Senators walking out of the White House.

UNIDENTIFIED SENATOR: But it's obvious to me, number one, that the president favors repeal and replace. Of course, we can't repeal it all. We're repealing parts of the Affordable Care Act and replacing it with parts we think will improve it, and that's the -- that's the main thing. He wants us to get to yes.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And you favor that approach, too?

UNIDENTIFIED SENATOR: I favor that too. I don't think that 40 votes to repeal and say to the American people, well, trust us to come up with something in the next couple of years. I don't think that's a great --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You don't think there are even 40?

UNIDENTIFIED SENATOR: I don't think so.

I didn't know you went over there.

BALDWIN: Lots of cameras on those Senators here, talking health care with the president after that luncheon.

We have more live reaction for you as these men and women are walking from the White House and into the capitol.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:55:26] BALDWIN: Disgraced football star, O.J. Simpson, will stand better Nevada parole board tomorrow and try to convince them to let him out of prison. Simpson was famously acquitted of the brutal murders of his wife, Nicole Brown-Simpson and her friend, Ron Goldman, back in 1995.

And so Simpson has spent the last eight and a half years in prison for his role in a 2007 robbery that happened in a Las Vegas hotel room.

CNN's Paul Vercammen has a look at his life behind bars, at Nevada's Lovelock Correctional Facility.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPODNENT (voice-over): Northern Nevada, Lovelock Medium Security Correctional Center, O.J. Simpson's home since late 2008 after his conviction for armed robbery and related charges in Las Vegas.

From behind these walls, a picture is emerging from insiders of Simpson playing fantasy football here, coaching softball, staying out of trouble. The prison reports no incidents involving Simpson.

BROOKE KEAST, NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS: He's not one that is in the limelight that we all know about that there's a lot of lawsuits or there's a lot of issues with. He's not in that list. We don't hear from him much.

VERCAMMEN: Two former Lovelock guards say Simpson has not been affected by racist gang battles that can infect other prisons.

JEFFREY FELIX, FORMER LOVELOCK PRISON GUARD & AUTHOR: Where blacks can't sit with Mexicans, or whites. They can intermingle with each other. By O.J. being at Lovelock, that took away all the politics.

You just need to really keep an eye on him.

VERCAMMEN: Former Lovelock officer, Jeffrey Felix, wrote a short book about his relationship with Simpson, called "Guarding the Juice." He told CNN Simpson gets little perks.

FELIX: Usually, O.J. Simpson cuts in front of every line. Everybody understands that. It's just a way of life at Lovelock.

VERCAMMEN: Insiders say cutting included the food or chow line and O.J. gain3ed a lot of weight. But Simpson's good friend, Tom Scotto, says Nevada's most-famous inmate went on a health kick and may have lost more than 50 pounds.

Prison officials said that Simpson bought a 13-inch TV like this one for his cell, which inmates are allowed to do. But the ex-football star never saw those two series that stirred up so much buzz, "The People Versus O.J. Simpson" and "O.J., Made in America." KEAST: We don't want to bring attention to one inmate over another.

VERCAMMEN: Former guards say they call Simpson "Bottle Head" at Lovelock due to the size of his head. When Simpson advocates here to the parole board, they'll find out if they will call him a free man.

Paul Vercammen, CNN, Lovelock, Nevada.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Paul, thank you.

And again, that parole hearing will be televised live right here tomorrow during this hour. So stay tuned for that.

Coming up next, more on our breaking news. All these Republican Senators coming out of this meeting at the White House, talking about this meeting, the luncheon with the president at the White House, including one who was singled out by the president for voting "no."

Plus, some disturbing news on North Korea. U.S. intelligence shows the North is preparing for another possible missile test. Hear about the timetable and its capability, coming up.

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