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Interview With California Congressman John Garamendi; Terror Fears; Donald Trump Under Fire; Launch Success After Spectacular Failures; Outrage Grows as Trump Keeps Talking about Mexicans; Teen Nightmare: Locked Up in Adult Prison; Shark Fears Hampering Holiday after Series of Attacks. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired July 03, 2015 - 18:00   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And Trump's loose lips. Stand by to hear some of his most eye-popping campaign moments all at once.

[18:00:01]

The backlash is growing. Will his popularity take a hit?

We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. Wolf Blitzer is off today. I'm Brianna Keilar. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Breaking now, a scramble by law enforcement to protect Americans from terrorists as the July 4 holiday weekend gets under way and warnings about a possible attack intensify.

Tonight, unprecedented security measures are in place in major cities across the U.S., from New York to Los Angeles. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo warning residents that the state is a top target for terrorists. U.S. embassies and diplomatic posts around the world also have been put on notice to review their security because they may be vulnerable if ISIS or other terror groups strike in the hours ahead.

I will ask congressman John Garamendi what he's learning. He is a leading member of the Armed Services Committee. And our correspondents and analysts are also standing by as we cover all of the breaking news.

First to our chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto -- Jim.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, I spoke earlier today with the D.C. chief of police, Cathy Lanier, and she like, other counterterror officials, said that the threat is real, but it's not specific.

And that presents a real challenge to law enforcement as to where they allocate resources. One of their focuses now is on what they perceive to be high-profile targets that they imagine could be targets for potential terrorists in the U.S., but that is straining law enforcement resources across the country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SCIUTTO (voice-over): In New York City, today ramped-up security ahead of Fourth of July fireworks, the New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, announcing new plans to enhance monitoring of celebrations across New York State. This is the new normal across the country, increased security at July 4 events from Los Angeles to Washington to Philadelphia, as communities big and small respond to an FBI bulletin warning of potential lone wolf attacks timed to the holiday weekend.

SETH JONES, SENIOR POLITICAL SCIENTIST, RAND CORPORATION: We know, A, that there are a lot of travelers. B, transportation has been and is a target of some of these groups, and, C, that we're seeing an increasing number of attacks, especially at large crowd gatherings.

SCIUTTO: The state of alert extends to Americans overseas, the State Department ordering all diplomatic posts worldwide to review security. Behind the threat, a call to arms from ISIS to supporters around the globe to attack wherever and however they can, this during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan through the middle of July.

The terror group's lists of American recruits and sympathizers growing by the week, with nearly 50 charged since the start of the year.

JONES: All they're trying to do now is to inspire one or two or a small number of individuals to conduct attacks, and their propaganda begs people to do this in the West, in the U.S., in Europe, in North Africa. And people are now listening.

SCIUTTO: The U.S. is not alone in facing the threat of ISIS-inspired attacks. The U.K. carried out an eerily realistic counterterrorism drill with more than 1,000 emergency personnel early this week, this as the bodies of 30 British citizens gunned down by an ISIS supporter in Tunisia last week arrived home by military escort.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Another challenge for U.S. government officials, law enforcement is what to tell the public about this risk.

And, Brianna, they're trying to strike a balance between telling people, listen, enjoy the holiday weekend, don't not go to fireworks events, parades, et cetera. But at the same time, be aware, and, frankly, they're also asking for the public's help here, saying that that phrase that's familiar -- you see it on subway signs, et cetera -- if you see something, say something, in a way, they're kind of depending on that, not just for, if you see something at an event, but if your neighbor or friend is doing something strange.

And that's how they catch a lot of these potential suspects. So the point is, enjoy the weekend, but keep your eyes open.

KEILAR: All right, Jim Sciutto, thank you so much.

And right now, there are hundreds of thousands of people who are getting ready to do just that, gathering here in the nation's capital as holiday celebrations begin, Washington clearly among the top potential targets if terrorists were to strike this Fourth of July. And CNN's Rene Marsh joining us now live from the National Mall, where

I know that you have been seeing some of the security that they're setting up ahead of the big events.

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Right, Brianna.

The perimeter is about three blocks. It extends three blocks from the Capitol, Capitol Hill Police saying that all of their officers are strategically placed around the Capitol grounds.

We also see miles and miles of link fencing and concrete and cement barriers along the National Mall. Clearly, the nation's capital is on high alert. But it's those soft targets, the bridges, the tunnels, the train stations, that are very difficult to guard, thousands of people at any given moment passing through or over these soft targets.

[18:05:06]

But, as we move toward the holiday, we are seeing a ramped-up police presence at all of those sites.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARSH (voice-over): In the nation's capital alone, 600,000 people are expected to take subways, while two million flyers per day are also traveling to Fourth of July celebrations.

But, as Americans move from point A to point B, law enforcement remains on high alert for terrorists on U.S. soil.

LT. ALAN GRIFFITH, U.S. PARK POLICE: We prepare for worst-case scenarios, and we have contingencies in place should they occur.

MARSH: Those reassurances being echoed ahead of celebrations across the country.

EVERETT GILLISON, DEPUTY MAYOR OF PHILADELPHIA: Philadelphia is already part of an enhanced security network

MARSH: Despite the assurances, there's only so much authorities can do to secure so-called soft targets.

JONATHAN GILLIAM, FORMER NAVY SEAL: What I fear the most is what we saw in Tunisia last weekend, which is one or two people with automatic weapons, and they simply go into a place where it's really crowded, or they go to a bridge where traffic is stopped or a tunnel, and just simply taking out 40, 50 people. That would be as effective as any large-scale bomb.

MARSH: And ISIS has been encouraging followers to launch attacks wherever they can.

GILLISON: Look behind me. It's the most iconic image of America. And so, we know it is something that people who don't like us would want to do something, and maybe even try to make a statement. PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: These kind of targets are

soft targets. They're very easy to go after if you've got a gun and you're willing to die for your beliefs.

MARSH: Authorities say the best thing is to be aware of their surroundings, and if they see something that doesn't look right, alert authorities immediately.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARSH: And, Brianna, behind me is where that Fourth of July concert will happen tomorrow. They're expecting thousands and thousands of people to pack in here on the west side of the Capitol to take in all the sights and sounds.

And, of course, law enforcement will have their eyes closely on this crowd here, but other places where we are seeing a stepped-up presence or extra vigilance, at airports. We do know that TSA, they are on their P's and Q's, so to speak, and they are doing random checks. You may notice that as well if you're flying this holiday.

KEILAR: All right, that is some comfort for sure. Rene Marsh, thank you so much for us on the National Mall.

And, as we do monitor the terror threat, I want to bring in CNN justice reporter Evan Perez.

This is a big deal in New York, as we have heard from the governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo. What is that state doing to beef up security?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, one of the things they're doing is they're activating their emergency operations center. This is the kind of thing that they do when they expect natural disasters, for instance.

And he's said that he's instructed this increased security not only in New York City, but around the state. And we know, for instance, that they're planning to do more monitoring of these cameras that are everywhere, especially in Lower Manhattan, partly because they want to be able to keep an eye on the crowds that are moving through the city.

The other thing that we know is being done is that law enforcement is going to keep very close tabs on some of these social media accounts, because we have seen in the past, for instance, in Garland, Texas, just a few weeks ago, before an attack, there are times when people post what they're about to do, because, frankly, they're very proud of what they're about to do.

These are the things that they're keeping an eye on. They're hoping that they have enough notice to be able to take action to prevent any terrorist attack.

KEILAR: All right, Evan Perez, thanks so much for that report.

And I want to talk more now about this terror threat with Congressman John Garamendi. He's a California Democrat, and he's a member of the Armed Services Committee. So, he knows everything and he's going to share that with us.

Knowing what you do know, how would you characterize this threat that seems somewhat vague and kind of broad for this weekend?

REP. JOHN GARAMENDI (D), CALIFORNIA: Well, it certainly is vague and broad, but it's quite possibly real.

And I think the most important thing for us to do, they say, if you see something, say something. But almost always a lone wolf is in some household or in some community somewhere, and there are people that are nearby that ought to be aware of something strange happening with that individual and that should be reported.

That's probably the very best way to get ahead of this. We know that we are monitoring very closely the various Twitter accounts and the Facebook accounts within the law. And, sometimes, that leads to those 50 arrests that we have already had this year.

So there are things that are being done at the national level. There are certainly things being done at the local level. And I think each and every one of us have a responsibility to watch over our community, to watch our neighborhood, and to pay attention to people that are doing something that doesn't appear to be correct that may be involved in this.

[18:10:05]

KEILAR: Are military bases on alert here? Are they experiencing heightened security?

GARAMENDI: Well, they have been at heightened security for about the last two to three months now.

So, they will remain on that. Overseas, the same thing is going on. You did talk about the diplomatic posts. All of those things are there. But we're going to have to have a long-range strategy here to deal with ISIS. Certainly, we're fighting them, along with our colleagues in the Middle East. And that's going to continue.

But we're going to have to develop a strategy to deal with these violent extreme organizations, ISIS being the most prominent and the most dangerous right now. But we also have some homegrown violent extreme organizations, some of the white supremacist organizations. We saw the disaster that that brought to South Carolina.

So we have to be alert on all of this. And that's going to take the attention of the government, both federal, state, and local, and certainly the international. We're watching. Will we miss something? We hope not. We're going to do the very best we can. But, again, individuals across America, there are 300-plus million of us, all of us have eyes, all of us are listening, and all of us ought to be aware that if something strange appears in your neighborhood or at an event, say something. Talk to the police.

KEILAR: Say something. So, ISIS, Congressman, actually, the call that the group has issued is for the month of Ramadan. And it says basically that, if you kill people during the holy month, you will be rewarded for that. Is this focus on this holiday weekend too narrowed down? Should this be extended through the end of Ramadan, through mid-July?

GARAMENDI: Well, I suspect this is something we're going to live with every day into the future until ISIS is finally brought to its knees and no longer a threat anywhere in the world.

But I think, when I talk to leaders in the Muslim community, what ISIS is saying is a perversion of Islam. It is really off-base, according to those who are in the Islamic community. And so they're using that religious to really carry out a terrorist situation around the world.

I certainly saw that in Tunisia. You have seen it, additional attacks now in Sinai and Egypt. It's something that we're just going to have to deal with and do the very best we can in the war in Iraq and Syria. And, also, this is going on in Africa and in other parts of the world. And so we need a strategy that deals with this radical view of Islam, which is, as I say, not the mainstream. It is way out on the far fringes of that religion.

In our country, we have many, many Muslims who are every bit a part of America. They're watching their community. We have had a case in Southern California a few years back where an FBI informant tried to get into a -- did get into a mosque and was appearing to be radical.

The leaders of that mosque reported him to the FBI. And they go, oh, yes, mm-hmm. Well, that's the kind of working that all of us need to do in America. And that's to pay attention, be part of this great country, and celebrate the Fourth of July. This is a very special...

KEILAR: And I do want to ask you about this strategy to combat radicalization.

GARAMENDI: Sure.

KEILAR: I'm going to get in a quick break, and we will be right back with you, Congressman John Garamendi, who is on the House Armed Services Committee.

GARAMENDI: Sure.

KEILAR: We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:18:59]

KEILAR: We are back now with Congressman John Garamendi. He's a member of the House Armed Services Committee.

And we are monitoring right now the terrorist threat here in the U.S. during this Fourth of July holiday weekend. We want to get his insight, considering there is huge concern about a possible attack by ISIS sympathizers.

I want to ask you, Congressman, about something that one of your colleagues, Congresswoman Martha McSally, told us. She said this week that there are only 16 individuals in the federal government who are working on counter-radicalization.

You just mentioned how important the strategy to tackle that is. Is the U.S. allocating resources in this fight correctly?

GARAMENDI: I don't think so. I think she's correct.

We don't talk about it much on the Armed Services Committee. Usually, we talk about what is called kinetic, that is, guns, bombs, rockets, and the like. But this issue of having a different message, the proper American message, the message of America, the message of hope and opportunity, and also the message of what, I would say, mainstream Islam is all about, we really need to ramp that up.

We do have Voice of America, but I think, frankly, it's not effective. The new kinds of media that are now being used, social media, Twitter, and all of the other ways in which communications now occur, we really need to ramp that up.

I think there's also a responsibility on the part of those organizations, Facebook, Twitter, and the like. When it is a known terrorist operation using Facebook or Twitter or whatever, those should be shut down. There's procedures, there are legal procedures that should be followed. But we ought not allow those kinds of communication mechanisms to exist, when they are known to be directly connected to ISIS and engaged in trying to propagandize or to radicalize people in the United States or really any other country.

KEILAR: How do you combat some of the social media, when there are so many accounts of ISIS sympathizers, of ISIS propaganda, tens of thousands of them on Twitter alone, for instance?

[18:20:11]

GARAMENDI: Well, I think this mainstream -- particularly mainstream Islam really needs to step forward and to really tell the proper story of that religion, and not allow it to be captured by the radical Islam that we see with ISIS.

That's one way. The other -- and that's really not a government operation. I think that's part of what -- that religious leaders ought to be doing. On the government side, we do have organizations. I mentioned Voice of America, which is really quite old, but, nonetheless, does have the responsibility in the new media also. And that's putting out the proper story.

Also, we can use in those -- for example, the Middle East countries, there are mechanisms that we could use to tell the story of America in a positive way, both on all the social media and certainly on the mainstream media, the normal telecommunications.

So, those are ways that we can, and we really ought to ramp it up, because it really the hearts-and-minds issue. We often talk about that, going way back into past wars, the Vietnam War specifically. You have to win that fight.

We also have to tell the story of the good things that America does. And, finally, clearly, the Iraq War, the second Iraq War really created a very serious challenge for us, in that it put us right smack in the middle, destabilized the Iraq area, and allowed in some ways for this schism between the Shia and Sunni.

We -- I don't know that we're going to be able to put that back together, but we are engaged there.

KEILAR: Yes.

GARAMENDI: And, there, we need to rally the countries in the area that are frankly at far greater risk than we are, even though we do have a risk here in the United States.

KEILAR: All right, Congressman Garamendi, thanks so much for being with us. And I know it's triple digits where you are. Happy Fourth. And we wish you a lot of air conditioning as you celebrate.

GARAMENDI: Well, happy birthday to America.

KEILAR: That's right. Thanks so much, Congressman.

GARAMENDI: Thank you.

KEILAR: And just ahead: teenagers locked up in adult prisons, sometimes for years. We have a shocking new report that reveals the nightmare some of them are living through.

Plus, a fisherman's frightening encounter with a shark, that's right, right in the water with the shark, and all of this happening as at least 10 attacks have occurred in recent weeks. There's a scare along hundreds of miles of East Coast beaches this holiday weekend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:27:35]

KEILAR: We are following breaking news in Colorado, where a Flight for Life helicopter has crashed and injured medical personnel on board.

It had just taken off from a hospital in Frisco, Colorado, when witnesses say it appeared to struggle to gain altitude and then it spiraled to the ground and exploded.

I want to get the latest now from Steve Lipsher. He's the public information officer for Lake Dillon Fire-Rescue. He's joining us now phone.

Steve, we have the description there of what happened. But do you have a sense of what caused this, why this helicopter strained to gain altitude? STEVE LIPSHER, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, LAKE DILLON FIRE-RESCUE:

Unfortunately, we don't have any preliminary indications of what caused this to crash. It's just way too early in the investigation.

KEILAR: How are those on board? And tell us. This was the medical personnel, but there was no patient on board?

LIPSHER: That's correct.

There were three crew members on board. And all of them suffered injuries. They were immediately taken to the hospital adjacent to the crash site. And I don't have an update on their conditions at this point.

KEILAR: OK. Do we know if those injuries are life-threatening? Do we know if any of them are not?

LIPSHER: I don't have any indication on the conditions of the people on board.

There was one bystander on the ground who rushed to their rescue, and that person suffered some minor injuries. But that's...

KEILAR: As well.

LIPSHER: Yes.

KEILAR: A bystander did. OK.

And tell us about the supplies that the helicopter was carrying, what the helicopter was in the process of doing.

LIPSHER: Not sure. It was taking off from the helipad at the hospital, heading out on some flight for -- I don't even know what they were doing. It was not a medical mission.

KEILAR: OK.

Steve Lipsher, thank you so much. He's with Lake Dillon Fire-Rescue.

We will continue to monitor this, a medical helicopter crash in Frisco, Colorado.

A shocking expose is revealing the horrors that some teenagers are facing as they're locked up in adult prisons, sometimes for years. You're about to see disturbing video of a 17-year-old Michigan girl who was serving six months in an adult prison for a minor offense. But because she failed to meet good behavior standards, she was resentenced to five years.

Her emotional reaction to the news led guards to restrain her. Again, want to tell you that this video is hard to watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[18:30:08] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No! I can't breathe, I can't breathe! I can't breathe!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Try to breathe, hon.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please, don't do this, please! Help me please!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: With me now is Dana Liebelson. She is the reporter who wrote this expose for "The Huffington Post." We also have Shaka Senghor, a former inmate, and he's the author of the book "Righting My Wrongs." And we have CNN law enforcement analyst Cedric Alexander. He's the president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives. And we're also joined by Monique Pressley, a trial attorney specializing in civil rights litigation.

Dana, this is a fantastic report that you put together here. Tell us about what you found about young people who have committed crimes and end up in prison with adults.

DANA LIEBELSON, CORRESPONDENT, "THE HUFFINGTON POST": So at last count there were almost 6,000 kids held in adult prisons in the United States. So I went to Michigan to investigate how some of them are treated. And what I discovered is that they are subject to the same disciplinary regime as adults. Whether that's solitary confinement or use of force. And I found that really astounding. Because when you interview some of these inmates, who are 16, 17, maybe as young as 14 years old, they look like children.

KEILAR: And are they being -- they're in prison a lot of times, as I understand it from your report, with people who've committed much worse crimes than they committed, right?

LIEBELSON: Yes, that's correct. I think -- I went into the story thinking, "OK, I'm going to deal with a lot of children who are in for murder." And that wasn't the case. You know, I had talked to one inmate who was in for throwing a brick. Another one in who was in for...

KEILAR: This woman in the video, right, she's the one who threw the brick? Right?

LIEBELSON: Yes, that's correct.

KEILAR: And there's a racial disparity, as well? Right?

LIEBELSON: Yes, I think what we found -- there was one study in Chicago that found out of 250 youth who are moved into the adult system, only one of them was white. So when you look at some of these numbers, they're pretty -- pretty revealing.

KEILAR: How does the legal system, Monique, look out for these youngsters? Especially when, as Dana points out in her -- in her great report, that across town a white child in the same city could be getting community service for some of these same crimes?

MONIQUE PRESSLEY, TRIAL ATTORNEY: Which means that the system is failing these children across the board. It's not just that once they've been sentenced that the prison system is failing them in improperly placing them into adult population. It's that judges, prosecutors, and even defense attorneys who aren't skilled are not using the subjectivity that they've been given through these laws to do what's in the best interests of these children.

And one of the things that I love about Dana's report is that she calls them children. Not juvenile offenders. Not any of these words that we use to ignore the fact that we have minors who are being placed in adult population. And there, they end up raped; they end up sodomized; they end up with things happening to them that never should.

And that means that, once they go into the prison system, that someone has to stay with them. Not just someone assigned their case, but that the lawyers who are supposed to be looking out for them are making sure that they're OK after the sentencing, that the judges are using the subjectivity that they use for the white counterpart who's living across town, whose parents could afford an attorney, that they give that same amount of subjectivity, that same chance at a lesser sentence, to someone in the system whose parents are nowhere to be found.

KEILAR: And it seems, Shaka, that when you have a young person who is incarcerated like this, they're almost propelled on a worse path than they were on before. Tell us from your experience, from being someone placed in the system at a young age, and actually breaking out of it, just how difficult that is.

SHAKA SENGHOR, FORMER INMATE/AUTHOR: That's extremely difficult for a child to exist in an adult -- an adult prison environment. When I went to prison I was 19 years old. And during -- throughout the course of my incarceration, I witnessed 14-, 15-, 16-year-olds being housed with adults. And they just can't make that type of adjustment, because it's a very volatile, very predatory environment. And there are no outlets for them to receive counseling or guidance except from other men who are already incarcerated.

And so it's just such a tragic experiment for them to go into that environment. And to me, I think it's one of the most barbaric, inhumane things that we can do to kids, and then think that they'll be normalized when they return to society.

KEILAR: You recently wrote a letter to Kalief Browder, who passed away in prison, killed himself. And you said to him, "I know what it's like to be pushed to the breaking point, to be starved, abandoned, and abused by officers." What did you go through?

[18:35:10] SENGHOR: So I was incarcerated for 19 years, and out of that 19 years, 7 1/2 was in solitary confinement. And so just watching that video, it reminded me of all the experiences that I had of watching other young men be abused and be restrained for days at a time, be starved and fed this concoction called food loaf.

And so when I heard about Kalief Browder's death, immediately I felt compelled to reach out through a letter to really share with people what it's like being in that environment. And just imagining, like, how lonely and isolated he felt coming home after having gone through such a traumatic experience.

KEILAR: Cedric, you have this experience of being a police officer. You're also a psychologist, which is a tremendous -- provides tremendous insight that is so helpful when you're talking about jails in a way becoming mental health institutions and where there are so many problems as we see young people go into them.

Talk about the impact psychologically of being placed -- placed in an adult prison on a young person.

CEDRIC ALEXANDER, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I think Ms. Pressley pretty much hit it right on target. You know it is very difficult for young people at such an early age who are still in their developmental stages, 13, 14, 15, 16 years of age, to be incarcerated with adults who are, in some cases, in many cases, could very easily take advantage of these young people.

These young people, regardless of whatever crime they may have committed, they're still growing. They're still developing. They're still going through a stage of maturity, if you will, both physically, biologically, emotionally.

And then their life becomes further complicated by being imprisoned with adults who may not necessarily have their best interests in mind. This is a very complicated issue. And it's an issue, I think, one thing that this program is bringing to bear at this very moment, Brianna, is that a lot of citizens across this country do not recognize or know that many of these young people are being incarcerated and oftentimes not necessarily for violent crimes they're imprisoned for, but maybe for much lesser charges. Being incarcerated with adults who are in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and et cetera.

It is something that I think that we as a nation, and certainly as a criminal justice system, need to step back and take a look at.

KEILAR: It's such an important conversation.

ALEXANDER: Right.

KEILAR: Cedric, thanks for being with us.

Shaka, thank you for being with us.

Monique, thanks for being here.

And Dana, thank you for starting this conversation. Great report in "The Huffington Post."

Just ahead, Donald Trump unplugged. We're going to hear some of the outrageous remarks overshadowing his presidential campaign.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:42:36] KEILAR: We're following the tense situation along hundreds of miles of U.S. beaches this holiday weekend, where a series of shark attacks have many people just really frightened to go in the water.

Take a look at one fisherman. He reeled in today a bit of a shark on North Carolina's Outer Banks. You know, 6 and a half feet, pretty scary. This is -- there have been a series of gruesome attacks that have officials and beachgoers worried on one of the busiest beach weekends of the year.

We have CNN meteorologist Jennifer Gray with more. She's in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): New video out of Florida shows a kayaker fishing for grouper and getting a bigger bite than he bargained for: a bull shark. Then frantically swimming for safety as he says others circled nearby. Close encounters with sharks have holiday beachgoers on alert this weekend, especially on the East Coast.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Saw about a five-foot sand shark. And it was within eight feet of me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're around us more. Closer. Moving around.

GRAY: At least ten attacks in the Carolinas since June. Seven in North Carolina alone. That's one more than the yearly average for both states in just the past month.

CHRISTIAN PANKOW, MARINE CONSERVATION LAB, UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI: A lot of people utilizing the beach. And this time of year we also have the migration of a lot of coastal species.

GRAY: Experts say that, along with shark migration, a buffet of nesting sea turtles and warmer, saltier water could attract more sharks to the beach.

In South Carolina, fishermen are now reeling in sharks from the pier at Myrtle Beach. Babies, yes. But Moms not far off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We see some bigger sharks out here, it's kind of scary.

GRAY: The victims of the ten recent bites range in age from 8 to 68, with two teenagers losing limbs after their encounters.

PANKOW: Any shark bite, I'll preface this, is pretty rare, is a rare occurrence. To have all these bites occurring recently is very unusual.

GRAY: Unusual and unintentional. Experts say humans are not targets for sharks and that these attacks are unfortunate accidents.

PANKOW: When your hands and feet are splashing, this looks like fish bellies to them. They realize they made a mistake and spit us back out again.

GRAY: Still, those looking to soak up the sun here have mixed feelings about sharing the water.

MEGAN MALONE, TOURIST: I would just try and put the shark thing off my mind so I wouldn't get scared. I just tried to enjoy it. But I did also be careful.

GRAY: The beaches will remain open, lifeguards on duty here saying sharks aren't the biggest danger this weekend.

JEREMY OWENS, OCEAN RESCUE CAPTAIN: I'd be more concerned about driving down to the beach and getting in a car wreck on the way down here than I would be having an incident with a shark.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[18:45:07] KEILAR: That was CNN's Jennifer Gray reporting.

Well, there are more than two tons of supplies hurtling through space right now bound for the International Space Station where astronauts are eagerly awaiting the delivery. That's because the last three missions to get food, water, hardware, and more to the station failed. Two of them ending in spectacular explosions like this one.

CNN's Tom Foreman here with a closer look.

Is this a case of fourth time a charm?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what it's a case of, it's space, it's still really, really hard. And that's the challenge out there. And even as this mission is on its way to the space station and it eases some concerns about making sure the astronauts have all they need including two Americans up there, it still raises some very serious questions here on earth about what went wrong along the way.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Maximum thrust and liftoff.

FOREMAN (voice-over): The launch from Kazakhstan brought a worldwide sigh of relief less than a week after groans of disappointment as a rocket from the American space company SpaceX disintegrated.

It was the third spectacular failure to resupply the ISS in the past year, two by U.S. firms. Yet many space analysts suggest these are simply the growing pains of an industry in transition.

Astrophysicist Charles Liu.

CHARLES LIU, CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK: It's an exciting time but as always, it's new and interesting and we're always crossing our fingers with every launch.

FOREMAN: Back in the 1960s, NASA was unquestionably winning the worldwide space race.

NEIL ARMSTRONG, ASTRONAUT: That's one small step for man -- FOREMAN: But over the decades, political pressure grew to find

cheaper ways to get America into orbit. So, private companies started developing rockets, capsules, and some insist it is all making space less expensive.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AEROSPACE ANALYST: But as you drive the costs down and try to come up with new ways of building rockets in a way that hopefully is cheaper, you're ultimately going to find the outer edges of the envelope, as we say. They're pushing the envelope right now.

FOREMAN: Against the backdrop of those challenges, SpaceX and Boeing have been given government contracts to build the next system to take Americans into space. So, U.S. astronauts won't have to hitch rides with the Russians anymore.

NASA says the setbacks will not upset that plan.

MIKE SUFFREDINI, NASA: We've always assumed that we would lose a vehicle every so often. Spaceflight is very hard.

FOREMAN: And they say amid all the rockets' red glares, the U.S. remains a leader in space exploration.

LIU: And at the same time, we should feel very happy and very grateful to the fact that there are so many nations in the world, so many entities, international collaborations, that are producing results that no single nation can achieve alone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: So like we started, space is hard. But there are still many successes out there too. In the next few days, we're going to get more images coming back from a mission that has flown for years to Pluto -- quite an extraordinary success story, even against the backdrop of the many challenges.

KEILAR: Fascinating stuff. Tom Foreman, great report, thank you so much.

Just ahead, he's facing huge fallout from his remarks about Mexicans, but Donald Trump just keeps on talking. His controversial remarks in his own words, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:52:55] KEILAR: Tonight, Donald Trump is creating political fireworks. More Latino leaders speaking out against him after the billionaire presidential candidate described Mexican immigrants as criminals and rapists. The outrage only getting worse the more that Trump says.

Listen to his remarks over the past couple of weeks, beginning with the original bombshell during his campaign announcement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS) DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They're sending people that have lots of problems and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some I assume are good people.

I love Mexico. I love the Mexican people.

Two waiters came up to me tonight, "Mr. Trump, we love you." I said, 'Where are you from?" "Mexico." I said, "That's great. I love you, too."

These countries aren't sending their finest. They're sending people that have a lot of problems. Doesn't that make sense?

I basically said this. We need to strengthen our borders. They said I'm a racist.

To get the cars and trucks and everything over here, let the illegals drive them in. They're coming in anyway.

I do great with Latino voters. I employ so many Latinos. I have so many people working for me.

It's commonsense. They don't want these people. So, they send them to the United States because the United States is run by stupid people.

Some are good and some are rapists and some are killers. And we don't know what we are getting.

I'm not just saying Mexicans. I'm talking about people from all over that are killers and rapists.

I have taken a lot of heat. It's unnecessary, very unfair heat because, first of all, I love the Mexican people. How can I not love people that give me tens of millions of dollars for apartments? You have to love them. But I love them for a lot of reasons. I love them for their spirit.

Then, I talk about Mexico and I love Mexico. Every time I talk about it, they accuse me of being a racist.

You have illegals that are just pouring across the borders. I was criticized for the border. But the truth is, it's true.

They think it's like Mother Teresa coming across the border. Well, I said drug dealers, I said killer, and I said rapists.

[18:55:01] And they made the word rapist -- they really picked that up.

I'll tell you, I love the folks from South America. They are friends of mine. Many work for me. Many are friends. Many buy apartments from me.

I have great love for the Mexican people, and I always have. And they like me.

No apology because everything I said is 100 percent correct. All you have to do is read the newspapers. You have 20 million, 30 million, nobody knows what it is. It used to be 11 million. Now, today, I hear it's 11, but I don't think it's 11.

I actually heard you probably have 30 million. You have to give them a path and you have to make it possible for them to succeed. You have to do that.

But the bad ones -- there are bad ones -- you have to get out and you have to get them out fast. I've been told by so many Hispanics, Mr. Trump, thank you, sir. Thank you. You've done the right thing. I think I'll do very well with Hispanic vote.

Go to "Fusion" and pick up the stories on rape. And it's unbelievable when you look at what's going on. So, all I'm doing is telling the truth.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: I read the -- I read "The Washington Post." I read the "Fusion", I read "The Huffington Post", and that's about women being raped. It's not about criminals coming across the border or entering the border.

TRUMP: Somebody is doing the raping, Don. I mean, you know, I mean, somebody is doing -- women being raped. Well, who is doing the raping? Who is doing the raping? I mean, how can you say such a thing?

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

KEILAR: Well, clearly, Donald Trump has given us a lot to discuss.

So, I want to bring in CNN Politics senior digital correspondent Chris Moody. We have CNN political reporter Sara Murray and CNN senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny.

OK. So, Jeff, after 2012, Mitt Romney loses, the Republicans do a post-mortem. They say, we need to more inclusive. We need to reach out to Hispanic Americans.

When you look at the map, they need to, they have to bring in the growing group of the populace. How does this work with that?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: I don't think this is exactly what they had in mind when they were doing the autopsy. And we need an autopsy and all that. Who knew he said all that in just a couple weeks? I mean, imagine if he stays in the race a couple months.

But there's one number to keep in mind, 27 percent. That's the number of Hispanic voters that Mitt Romney won. George W. Bush in 2004 won 40 percent. The math simply does not exist for Republicans to win back the White House if they don't do better in the Hispanic vote.

KEILAR: How concerned are you hearing Republicans are, Sara? SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: I think that they are concerned

that Republicans could be painted under the same brush as Donald Trump. I think Democrats are very eager do that to the Republican field and sort of make them all look like buffoons on this issue. And I think we're seeing Republicans start to response more aggressively to that. We just got another statement today from Florida Senator Marco Rubio who calls these comments offensive and divisive. That's a much harsher tone than he's been taking in the last couple of days.

KEILAR: He made these comments during his announcement speech initially. I would say the harshest ones that he made, Chris. But it seems like they have percolated and it's now -- it has been this slow burn. And now, it's this huge uproar. Why is that?

CHRIS MOODY, CNN POLITICS SENIOR DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Donald Trump isn't someone who backs down. So, you ask him to follow where if he's going to double down, and he does, and he repeats it. And then when he tries to explain himself, it gets worse.

This week, I talked to a number of Republican activists that do a lot of outreach to Latino voters. One of the groups is the Libre Initiative. They're part of Koch brothers donor network. And the RNC is also spending combined millions of dollars on Latino outreach. They have invested so much in this. They have done well as far as getting their people in communities.

And then Donald Trump comes in and says all of these things. They are worried they're going to set those efforts back.

KEILAR: Do Republicans need -- Marco Rubio, as you said, said something today or put out a statement. Do Republicans need to come out more strongly against this?

MURRAY: I think that they at first sort of thought that Donald Trump would implode on his own and they wouldn't have to engage directly. I think as we saw from those clips, he managed to say a lot and do a lot of damage in a short amount of time. And I think that's why we are starting to see Republicans feel like they need to be more aggressive on this. Rick Perry, the Texas governor, former Texas governor, was another who has been a little bit more aggressive in his comments, denouncing what Trump has been saying.

KEILAR: What do you think they need to? What do you think Republicans have to do? And do you think Donald Trump will ultimately implode?

ZELENY: Well, we'll see. I mean, like this week, certainly he diminished -- he ends the week in a more diminished capacity that he started the week out. We'll see what happens next week.

But I 'm not sure how big of leadership roles any of these candidates are taking. Marco Rubio responded to a question from a reporter. So, they put out a written statement. No one has sort of gone on TV to talk about this or give a speech or statement.

So, it is still a leadership moment I think for some of these. There's only 16 candidates running, 15 plus Donald Trump. Someone surely can take a moment here -- we have not heard from Jeb Bush yet. If this continues, I think we will hear from Jeb Bush.

KEILAR: It's almost like they don't want to dignify it with a response.

ZELENY: Right.

KEILAR: But we'll see how long that really works. Chris Moody, Sara Murray, Jeff Zeleny, thanks guys for being with me and happy Fourth.

I'm Brianna Keilar in THE SITUATION ROOM. Thank you so much for watching. To our viewers here in the United States, happy Fourth of July.

"NEWSROOM" with Kate Bolduan starts right now.