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Speaker Boehner Critical of President's ISIS Strategy; Attorney to Mosby: Step Down or Drop Charges; Jeb Bush Talking Tough on Putin. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired June 10, 2015 - 10:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:31:41] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Just minutes ago as promised we have remarks from House Speaker John Boehner. He pounced on President Obama's comments on the administration's strategy for battling ISIS at the G-7 Summit. The President saying "We don't have a complete strategy because it requires commitments on the part of the Iraqis."

But I want you to listen to what the House Speaker said a few moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Well, we have one commander-in-chief at a time -- that's the President of the United States. And he has no strategy as he admitted himself much less an overarching strategy to take on ISIL and the other terrorist threats that we face in the Middle East.

And as I called on, the President should withdraw the AUMF that he sent up here, that calls for less authority than he has today under the law and get serious. An Authorization of the Use of Military Force should be designed around the strategy that the administration believes is necessary in order to win. We don't have the strategy and you can't have an Authorization of Use of Military Force if you don't know what the strategy is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Ok. So I suppose he's talking about the war authorization bill that the President wanted Congress to at least debate months ago but they have not. And you heard what the House Speaker said. It's because the President doesn't have a perceived strategy.

So I want to bring in retired Colonel Peter Mansoor. Welcome -- Colonel.

COL. PETER MANSOOR, (RET.) U.S. ARMY: Thank you -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Ok. So I'd like to get into the politics of this just for a bit. The President wants Congress to pass this war authorization bill so, you know, we can all debate it so the country can like talk about it. But as you heard House Speaker Boehner say, they can't really debate the issue because the President doesn't have a strategy. Does that make sense to you?

Mansoor: No, it doesn't. Really all you need is to debate an Authorization for the Use of Military Force is a stated goal. And in this case we do have stated goal: to degrade and ultimately defeat ISIS. And that's what Congress should be debating. What sort of authorities does the President to achieve those goals. And the ways and the means of the strategy can come later.

COSTELLO: Ok. So in your mind what should the strategy be? I know that the goal is to degrade ISIS. Should the goal change to defeat ISIS? And if the goal did change to defeat ISIS, what would that mean for U.S. troops?

MANSOOR: The President's own statements say that eventually his goal is to defeat ISIS, and I think that's the right goal. ISIS if unchecked would destabilize the Middle East and eventually launch terror attacks into the west. How to do that -- right now the strategy is insufficient. It's merely mowing the grass if you will, killing a thousand every militants month but another thousand arrive. So really it's not doing what it's meant to do and that is degrade and ultimately defeat ISIS.

To do that, we need a competent ally on the ground. So we need to continue and (INAUDIBLE) up our training mission but then we need to I think accompany those forces into battle with U.S. combat advisers that would help them plan these missions, call in air strikes, and make them much, much more effective.

Every bit of military history shows me that when you put combat advisers into indigenous forces, they're going to be much more effective when confronting the enemy.

[10:35:09] COSTELLO: Ok. So one of the reasons the President might be hesitant to do that is he because doesn't have the support of Congress to put boots on the ground in Iraq or in any other country over there. And we all know the American people, they're tired of war. So, again, why doesn't Congress act? Why don't they work together? It's really frustrating.

MANSOOR: The President needs to make the case for what he believes is needed to defeat ISIS. He needs to make the case to the American people why that's important. I think the American people, they're a reasonable bunch -- I'm one of them. And when the President lays it out and the Congress debates it fully, I think they'll come to the realization that leaving ISIS unchecked is bad for our national security and harmful to worldwide peace, if you will.

So Congress can debate that and then ultimately decide whether they want to pass an authorization that doesn't tie the President's hands. In that case I would agree with Speaker Boehner. We cannot tie the President's hands if we decide to go to war. Otherwise it's best just to stay out.

COSTELLO: So, you know, there's a presidential election coming up. Do you think that's complicating things? MANSOOR: Well, absolutely. You can't swing a dead cat without

hitting a presidential candidate these days. And it's going be very, very difficult. But, you know, we're all grown-ups. This is serious stuff. It's national security at stake and we cannot simply wait until the presidential election is over to debate these very serious issues. Congress has to be above that.

COSTELLO: Colonel Mansoor, thanks for your very wise words this morning. I appreciate it.

MANSOOR: Thanks -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Maryland's top attorney under fire. Attorneys for the six Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray want Marilyn Mosby to recuse herself, arguing she's far too close to the case. Their evidence: an e-mail sent from her office just weeks before Gray's death asking for police to step up patrols in the very same neighborhood where Freddie Gray was arrested.

Also exclusive to CNN, two Baltimore officers say police are doing anything but hard targeting of suspected criminals these days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:L The criminal element feels as though we're not going to run the risk of chasing them if they're armed with a gun and they're using this opportunity to settle old beef or scores with people that they have conflict with. I think the public really, really sees that they're actually a softer, less aggressive police department. And we've given them that, and now they're realizing that their way of thinking does not work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So let's talk about this. I'm joined by HLN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson and CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Danny Cevallos. Welcome to both of you.

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning -- Carol.

DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Good morning.

So Danny let's start with that e-mail from Mosby's office asking police to crackdown on drug dealings in the very same area where Gray was arrested. Does that mean that Mosby should recuse herself?

CEVALLOS: That's a big jump, Carol, but this is the defense's theory. The theory is that this case is about the initial stop of this suspect. Well, what led to that initial stop. In a case called Illinois v Wardlow, two factors can justify an initial stop. One if somebody flees unprovoked and part two can be if they're in a high crime area.

Well, in this particular case that high crime area was established by the state's attorney specifically asking police to patrol not just that area, not just that neighborhood, but that specific intersection.

Now from there the jump to should she recuse herself is admittedly a large chasm because after all, in almost every prosecution some sort of orders have filtered down from either the state's attorney or police chief, or somebody. But it is an interesting argument that if Mosby directly ordered patrols in this particular area, then did she create that level of police activity that led to this initial stop.

COSTELLO: But Joey -- isn't it possible that she might be called as a witness in these six officers ending trials?

JACKSON: No. Here's the reality -- Carol. This is what -- the attorneys are doing their job. That's something Danny does every day as defense attorney. It's something that I try to do. They doing their job and they're doing it well. But let's back up a minute. The job of a prosecutor is to work with the community to find out where the high crime areas are and once you do that to target those communities so that everyone could be safe.

[10:40:02] The issue is not targeting a high crime community -- Carol. The issue are the tactics used within that initiative to target the community and whether they're overly aggressive and whether they're criminal. That's the issue. It happens every day and why wouldn't the defense want her off considering the lightning speed at which she has really been going after.

Compare for one moment, Carol, what's happening with Tamir Rice, 12 years old in Cleveland. It's been six months since he died and was shot twice, no indictment, continue investigation. Back up to this case -- April 12 you see the stop involving Freddie Gray. April 19, he died. May 1, they're charged and May 21 they're indicted. So she's really being aggressive.

This is not a basis in which she should recuse herself. DAs work with the community every day to root out crime.

CEVALLOS: Agreed, Joey Jackson, but not so fast because the theory of the state's case here appeared to have shifted. Because the initial stop itself is not an arrest. And that's something people need to understand. Legally that's called a terry stop. And in Maryland you can handcuff a suspect during a terry stop for safety concerns, not necessarily because they're under arrest.

And the defense has pointed that the prosecution in this case, arguably has shifted back and forth. So if the initial stop was a terry stop, justified in part by a high crime area as is possible under Supreme Court precedent then what if that high crime area factor was created by a specific order from this particular state's attorney?

JACKSON: Carol, very briefly, look, here's the reality. People shift theories all the time. During the course of a trial Danny and I adjust our strategies depending upon the evidence. The fact is that initially the state's attorney made a deal about the knife and said the arrest was improper, it's illegal and therefore charge the officers for false imprisonment. Now that's not the issue. They're charged with misconduct. So the issue concerning the legality of the knife is rendered moot. It's not significant and we have to move on to what really matters which is what was the underlying conduct that led to Freddie Gray's death. Was it unlawful or lawful, and if not, should they be prosecuted and held accountable. That's what we have to do keeping our eyes on the prize.

COSTELLO: Ok. So you guys can continue to duke it out off camera.

JACKSON: We will. We're right here.

COSTELLO: Thanks so much. I know.

Joey Jackson, Danny Cevallos -- thanks to both of you.

JACKSON: Thank you -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Jeb Bush is on a European tour meeting with world leaders but it's his book from 20 years ago that could put quite the crimp into his campaign.

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[10:47:09] COSTELLO: Oh, boy. You're looking at live pictures of a bus crash on the Manhattan side of the Lincoln Tunnel. This is according to CNN affiliate, WABC. At least 18 people are injured after those two buses collided inside the Lincoln Tunnel. If you're on the road or heading that way to visit New York City and see the Statue of Liberty, expect major delays. You know, the Lincoln Tunnel is hell on a good day so I'm praying for you all. 18 people injured after that bus crash.

All right in other news this morning. Just days ahead of and expected launch of launch of his presidential campaign Jeb Bush is talking tough on Vladimir Putin. Bush is on a three-country European tour designed to shore up his foreign policy skills. At the top of the agenda, Russia, and the need to keep that nation's aggressions in check.

JEB BUSH (R), FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: He's all powerful in Russia but I guess my point was that we don't want to make it sound like we're against Russia. Ultimately Russia needs to be a European country and ultimately I think the deal with Putin you need to deal from strength. He's a bully. And bullies don't, you know, you enable bad behavior when you're nuanced with a guy like that.

And I think just being clear I'm not talking about being bellicose, but saying here are the consequences of your actions. And that would deter the kind of bad outcome that we don't want to see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But while Bush is looking ahead to his political future, a controversy from his past as Florida governor is coming to light. It centers around what Bush said was a need for -- his words now -- quote, "the restoration of shame for mothers of children born out of wedlock", an idea Bush first reference in his 1995 book "Profiles in Character".

Here to discuss that and more CNN political reporter Sara Murray and Republican consultant Cherie Jacobus.

Sara I want to start with you. Should we expect Russia to be a centerpiece of Bush's foreign policy strategy. And then we'll talk about the book.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes, I absolutely think that he has made Russia into -- it's a very safe argument for him to say, look, I'm going to be tougher on Russia. It gives him a way to sort of contrast himself with President Obama and make it seem like he would take a tougher approach to foreign policy at a time when a lot of people are worried about sort of America's standing in the world. So I do think we'll hear much more about this.

I also think -- like I said, it's a really safe base for Bush to be talking in when he's so close to his presidential announcement. A lot of this trip is about appearing presidential and avoiding making any kind of unforced errors.

COSTELLO: All right. So let's now talk about Jeb Bush's book from 1995. In an excerpt Bush wrote, quote, "One of the reasons more young women are giving birth out of wedlock and young men are walking away from their paternal obligations is that there's no longer a stigma attached to this behavior. No reason to feel shame. There was a time when neighbors and communities would frown on out-of-wedlock birth and when public condemnation was enough of a stimulus for one to be careful."

[10:50:09] So Cherie do you think this will haunt Bush or will some people agree with him?

CHERIE JACOBUS, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: Look, his heart was in the right place. He's talking about solving the problem of unwed motherhood, children being born into their families -- our latest census data shows that of the bottom fifth of earners in this country, 83 percent are comprised of single-parent households, unwed mothers.

You have children being born and raised into poverty. What he should have focused done probably is focus more on the fathers walking away. And there should be a stigma. There should be shame attached when you're letting these children grow up in poverty, having the mother's family, having to support them and in many cases, of course, taxpayers supporting them.

So he was making an effort. The left of course, is trying to make a big deal of this, maybe to take focus away from a Republican candidate's trip overseas. But I got to tell you the person who is the most unhappy about this even though the left is trying to do her a favor, it's Hillary Clinton. You are reaching back 20 years for old quotes in something that Jeb Bush wrote. And so now that you've open up that Pandora's box, we have Hillary Clinton 20 years ago in the White House and she's been trying to say ancient history, off limits, can't do that anymore. COSTELLO: Ok. So Jeb Bush may be able to say that but Sara this

isn't just about the book. There was also this 2001 Florida law enacted while Bush was governor. It was called the Scarlet Letter Law. Tell us about that.

MURRAY: Yes, I actually think this is more jarring than the book because this is a law that had a profound impact on women's lives. What this did in Florida was if you were a woman who became pregnant and you wanted to give your child up for adoption but you didn't know who the father was, you had to publish your name, your physical description -- a description of people you thought the father might be in the newspaper to give the potential father's a chance to sort of claim their child before you give it up for adoption.

The interesting thing about this is it was pretty clear Jeb Bush knew there was a problem with this law at the time when he was governor. He didn't sign it, he didn't veto it. He sort of let it pass with the understanding that they were going to make a fix to this disclosure rules.

Well, at times that is just two years to make that sick and in the meantime a court struck it down. It even violated the privacy rights of women and by the time that Jeb Bush signed a repeal of it in 2003, the court had already invalidated this law.

And by the way, the really interesting thing about this is Marco Rubio also voted for this law. So it's difficult to see where their heads were at this time and what they're thinking in agreeing to go along with it.

COSTELLO: And Cherie I just want you to respond to that. Public shaming in that way --

JACOBUS: Well, I don't think you should be calling it public shaming -- the effort of this was not --

COSTELLO: To write about who you think --

(CROSSTALK)

JACOBUS: The effort was designed and of course they knew it was flawed and they fixed but you have to support the efforts and trying to make sure that this poor child the split up for adoption --

COSTELLO: They knew it was flawed and they fixed it.

JACOBUS: You can find -- you can find the father so that the biological family has every opportunity to nurture, love, and raise that child. Was it an inelegant way to do it. Yes, but this effort and the felling and the emphasis behind it is correct. If they get it right absolutely not. But it was not meant to shame the parent, the mother. It was meant to do everything they could to find --

COSTELLO: She was footing. They were putting their child up for adoption.

(CROSSTALK)

JACOBUS: Right. And they're trying to at least let the father's family have some say in that. That was the effort it was not designed to shame the mother if that was the result that's why it didn't work. But that was not their intent. But it was not the perfect law but the intent behind that was definitely to help the child, putting the child first and I think that part's not support that --

COSTELLO: All right. Cherie Jacobus, Sara Murray -- thanks to both of you. I'll be right back.

JACOBUS: Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: She's sassy. She's fierce. And she's gotten the attention of Aretha Franklin. Here's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If these diva moves don't move you, you probably can't even spell R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

She's been getting more than a little bit. Six-year-old Johanna Colon from Raleigh, North Carolina has audiences cheering, blogs bowing, and hosts paying homage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's good feet, but the magic is up top.

MOOS: Finally, we get to meet the magic, seated next to her dance teacher, Johanna speaks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Johanna, you stopped the show at your dance recital. That was amazing.

MOOS: OK. She didn't speak much. What she said was memorable.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What were you thinking when you were doing that routine?

JOHANNA COLON, DANCER: I thought I was really spicy.

MOOS: That's Johanna's dad saluting her spiciness. She seems unfazed by sudden fame.

Her mom says Johanna was more excited about the end of the school year and the ice cream she got as a reward for her excellent report card.

Johanna started dancing when she was two. Definitely one of a kind says her dance teacher.

HEATHER FITTS, JOHANNA'S DANCE TEACHER: She is so humble and always so caring.

MOOS: Taking special care of her three-year-old brother CJ who was born with an intestinal disorder that has required more than 30 hospitalizations and surgeries. At times, Johanna out-Arethas Aretha.

(MUSIC)

MOOS: Even when it was time to take a bow, what Johanna wants, Johanna gets. She means it with all due respect.

[11:00:02] Encore.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Here's what Aretha Franklin told CNN. Quote, "I saw the video. I'm scare of her. I thought I had those moves covered. But this little girl, she's fierce.

Thank you for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

"AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan starts now.