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Reactions to Cosby Admission; United Airlines Grounds All Planes; New Details on San Francisco Murder Case; Showdown Brewing Ahead of House Flag Debate; Clinton Tackles Voter Trust Issues; Clinton: GOP Hostile on Issue of Immigration. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired July 08, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:02] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: This is an important reminder because of all this Confederate flag stuff.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Totally.

CUOMO: There's more that joins us than that which separates us.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: A message of unity. That's great.

PEREIRA: All right. Time for "NEWSROOM" with Ana Cabrera, in for Carol Costello.

Good morning.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, good morning. And amen, Chris. I like your positive spin today.

CUOMO: Thank you, my sister.

CABRERA: NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Happening now in the NEWSROOM. After the Cosby bombshell, the backlash.

JANICE DICKINSON, COSBY ACCUSER: I've been holding onto this since 1982. And I am just extremely upset. I do not feel vindicated.

CABRERA: Accusers speaking out. Are the comedian's own words going to trigger more lawsuits?

Also, her death reigniting a nationwide debate on illegal immigration. And now we're hearing more about the gun an illegal immigrant used to shoot this San Francisco woman. How did he get his hands on it?

Plus, Clinton talks Trump.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I feel very bad and very disappointed with him and with the Republican Party for not responding immediately and saying, enough, stop it.

CABRERA: Hillary Clinton takes a stand on immigration and doesn't just take aim at the Donald. We break down her exclusive interview with us.

Let's talk in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Good morning. You've made it to Wednesday. Thanks for being here. I'm Ana Cabrera in for Carol Costello.

Let's begin this morning with the first for Hillary Clinton. The Democratic front runner sitting down exclusively with CNN's Brianna Keilar in her first national interview since declaring her bid for president. Clinton speaking out on everything from Republicans and immigration to her rivals within the Democratic Party. Clinton also addressed an issue critical for all of the candidates, whether voters trust them enough to be president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: We see in our recent poll that nearly six in 10 Americans say they don't believe that you're honest and trustworthy. Do you understand why they feel that way?

CLINTON: Well, I think when you are subjected to the kind of constant barrage of attacks that are largely fomented by and coming from the right --

KEILAR: But do you bear any responsibility for it?

CLINTON: Well, I --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: So you'll hear Hillary Clinton's response to that question in just a few minutes.

First, the fallout continuing for Bill Cosby. And scores of women are now speaking out about some anger and the relief they now feel upon learning about Cosby's admission under oath that he obtained drugs with the intent to give them to women who he wanted to have sex.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOAN TARSHIS, COSBY ACCUSER: I'm handling it by being shocked that he admitted the truth finally. I mean, he lies constantly. And the fact that he was forced into being honest and that it was released. That's the shocking part.

BARBARA BOWMAN, COSBY ACCUSER: I knew some way some day something would break and the truth would come out. You know, the thing is that it's remarkable what he masterminded. It was decades of deceit and manipulation.

DICKINSON: I'm very upset. And I'm embarrassed, embarrassed for his fans that he has deceived for all of these years. I do not feel vindicated. BEVERLY JOHNSON, COSBY ACCUSER: We know these things are happening.

We try to give it a voice, and we get shut down when we do. And I'm here tonight on your show because I have a voice and I want to be heard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Let's bring in Boris Sanchez who's tracking all these developments in this latest Cosby revelation.

And, Boris, a lot of people are asking, are more women now going to feel empowered to come forward.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's very possible. That 2005 deposition that came out on Monday the strongest evidence for more than dozen women who claim the 77-year-old comedian drugged and raped them. Cosby has denied those accusations but many are now distancing themselves from the comedian. Disney removing a statue of Cosby from their Hollywood studios theme park. They're not commenting on that decision. Also two networks, Bounce TV and Centric, pulling Cosby show reruns from their air.

Not everyone distancing themselves from Cosby, though. His former Cosby co-star Raven-Symone saying she needs more evidence before she makes a judgment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAVEN-SYMONE, CO-HOST, THE VIEW: I don't really like to talk about it that much because he's the reason I'm on this panel in the first place. He gave me my first job. But at the time, you know, you need the proof. And then I'll be able to give my judgment here or there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Also on "The View" yesterday Whoopi Goldberg defending Cosby. Not everyone coming out to his defense. Again, singer Jill Scott, for example, changing her tune. She initially came out in defense of Cosby. Yesterday she tweeted out, "About Bill Cosby, sadly his own testimony offers proof of terrible deeds which is all I have ever required to believe the accusations."

[09:05:15] Cosby again denying all the allegations against him. His attorney has said that there is no authorized statement on their behalf. His publicist saying they don't plan one in the future -- Ana.

CABRERA: And as you mentioned, there are still supporters who say innocent until proven guilty.

SANCHEZ: Right.

CABRERA: And again Cosby has never faced criminal charges.

All right, Boris Sanchez, thank you so much. And stick with us throughout this next hour. We will be talking and

following up on this story. At 9:35 we're going to speak with former Bill Cosby co-star Jimmy Walker who will join me. You might remember him from Jay-Jay on "Good Times."

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

CABRERA: All right. Some breaking news to tell you about right now. The FAA just confirming for us all United Airlines flights have now been grounded because of computer problems.

I want to get right out to CNN's Kyung Lah who is at the Burbank airport with us and find out more about what you're learning -- Kyung.

KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Well, I'm standing in line this morning. I'm actually just a regular passenger. And none of us are moving. There has been a ticket agent, a trainee I'm told -- at least that's how she described herself -- who came out and said that they're having some computer issues. And they're going to try to manually input some information for the passengers in order to get us moving.

But if this is a national computer issue, which I haven't been told as a passenger here, then that's certainly going to be a more persistent problem. I'm actually -- yes, as I'm talking to -- you know, when you're standing in line, you're talking to other passengers. Another passenger says that LAX is just a nightmare as well. So if you're trying to get on a United flight today, it is not going to be easy -- Ana.

CABRERA: All right. Kyung Lah reporting again for us at Burbank Airport.

Again, United right now grounding all flights because of some kind of a computer snafu. We're working to get more information and we'll bring you more as soon as we have it.

I'm hearing we also have Rene Marsh who might be gathering those details as we speak.

Rene, what can you tell us?

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION AND GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Well, Ana, I just got off the phone with the FAA. The FAA spokesperson is the one who informed me that it is indeed these computer issues that have caused this ground stop for all United flights nationwide. What the FAA does not know is what is the source of the problem.

We have been working with those reaching out to United Airlines itself, but have yet to hear back from them as far as what caused this glitch that's apparently affecting flights nationwide. So we have not heard from the airline as well at this point but we do know that, you know, the first thing that comes to mind is, you know, is this a simple glitch or did something more. We know that we saw not long ago a Polish airline, their ground computers had been compromised by hackers.

Again we do not know if that is the case in this specific situation, but of course that's the first thing that comes to mind, that the CEO of that airline making it very clear that these sort of ground computers are very vulnerable and it could happen to any airline. So of course that's going to be one question as they look into what is the source here. Was this a simple glitch or is this something more?

But to see something that's so system-wide, and we're talking about flights across the nation, it's a crippling situation for this one airline. Of course thousands and thousands of passengers on.

CABRERA: Absolutely. Rene Marsh, we know you'll continue to dig into this United. I'm sure working to get to the bottom of it.

We also have our Brianna Keilar who is at the airport this morning in Iowa who tells us that the ticket agents were actually handwriting tickets for some of the passengers there before there was this stall in the system.

Now alarming, new information we're also getting into the NEWSROOM here in the San Francisco pier murder case. A source close to the investigation now revealing the gun used to kill Katie Steinle belonged to a federal agent. This as the undocumented immigrant charged in her death pleads not guilty in court. But he did tell a local reporter that this shooting was an accident.

CNN's Dan Simon is in San Francisco with more on this new detail -- Dan.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Ana. You know, this case is a week old. Every day there's been some new development. This one is really striking, that the suspect in this case somehow got a hold of a federal agent's gun. We don't know exactly how that happened, but it is a very striking development here. This, as the suspect just had his first day in court. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JUAN FRANCISCO LOPEZ-SANCHEZ, SUSPECT: No culpable.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not guilty.

SIMON (voice-over): Undocumented immigrant Juan Francisco Lopez- Sanchez pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Tuesday. [09:10:02] (On camera): Did you shoot Kate Steinle?

LOPEZ-SANCHEZ: Yes.

SIMON (voice-over): But just three days ago he told a reporter that he did shoot and kill Kate Steinle on this popular California pier last week. His attorneys contend that he may not have understood the reporter's question.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Sanchez is not a student of the law. He has a second grade education. SIMON: Also developing, a source close to the investigation says the

gun that killed Kate belonged to a federal agent. The "San Francisco Chronicle" reports the 40-caliber pistol was stolen out of an agent's car back in June.

LOPEZ-SANCHEZ: Boom, boom, three times.

SIMON: Sanchez who has never been convicted of a violent crime claimed in that same interview that he found the gun wrapped in a T- shirt near a bench and he didn't mean to fire it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This very well could be a completely accidental discharge of a firearm.

SIMON: The seven-time convicted felon has been deported five times to Mexico.

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R), WISCONSIN: He was released into general society to create a murder. Does that make any sense to you?

SIMON: At a Senate hearing, Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson, who chairs the Homeland Security Committee, berated an Immigration Enforcement official over why Sanchez wasn't handed over to federal authorities.

JOHNSON: Tell me specifically what is preventing us when we have people in this country illegally and they have had seven prior felony convictions? Why aren't we able to deport those individuals?

PHILIP MULER, ICE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: In that particular case our detainer was not honored. San Francisco Sheriff's Department did not honor our detainer that we lodged.

SIMON: San Francisco with its so-called sanctuary law doesn't comply with detainers to keep undocumented immigrants in custody.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIMON: So now you have this question in terms of how Sanchez got a hold of this federal agent's gun. Of course that's still under investigation.

But, Ana, I have to tell you there's beginning to be sort of a broad consensus that perhaps something needs to be done and perhaps even change the law. Two of -- California's two senators, Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, are both saying perhaps there needs to be some new federal legislation so we don't have a repeat of what happened.

Dianne Feinstein herself, she is a former mayor of San Francisco, and she's calling on the current mayor, Ed Lee, to start following federal policies. So it's going to be very interesting to see how this plays out in the next few weeks, not only here in San Francisco but for some of these other sanctuary cities across America -- Ana.

CABRERA: One of the things that's become so obvious in this case is the lack of communication between all of these different agencies and being able to track and knowing where and when these criminals are released or behind bars.

And, Dan Simon, we know you'll stay on top of it. Thanks so much.

Right now a potential showdown is brewing in South Carolina over whether to take down the Confederate battle flag from outside the state capitol. There have been new developments in just the last 24 hours. What's about to happen in the next hour or so, House lawmakers are going to reconvene. They voted to skip the committee process so they can bring this bill directly to the floor for debate.

Now the measure which has already passed in the Senate which happened yesterday afternoon, requires two-thirds majority in both chambers before it can reach the governor's desk.

I want to bring in CNN's Nick Valencia. He is live this morning in Columbia, South Carolina -- Nick.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Ana. The House of Representatives here in the state of South Carolina expected to take up their second reading of a bill that would permanently remove the Confederate flag from state grounds. The House of Representatives would take up that Senate bill that passed overwhelmingly yesterday in a final vote there in the Senate, 36-3.

In my conversations with lawmakers, there have been talks of possibly introducing amendments to that Senate bill in the House. One of the things mentioned is bringing down the Confederate flag, perhaps replacing it with another flag from the Confederacy history but nothing official has been proposed just yet.

My conversations with lawmakers there are some concerns among House Democrats that there could potentially not be enough votes for this to pass through the House. Though more optimistic voices in the House say that this all could be wrapped up by even Thursday or Friday. It eventually has to get to the Governor Nikki Haley where she will have five days to sign this and make this official -- Ana.

CABRERA: All right. Nick Valencia, thanks so much.

Still to come, Hillary Clinton saying trust, not a problem for her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: People should and do trust me. And I have every confidence that that will be the outcome of this election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: So why do the polls show voters think they can't trust Clinton?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:18:48] CABRERA: More than half of Americans, some 57 percent, say they don't feel that Hillary Clinton is honest and trustworthy. This number has grown by double digits in just the last year, when you take a look at this. Clinton has been challenged by the issues of Benghazi, her use of the personal e-mail account and the work at the Clinton Foundation since announcing her presidential bid.

But what does Clinton think? Well, in an interview with CNN's Brianna Keilar, she points to attacks by the right. And then Clinton said this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: But do your bear any responsibility for it?

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, you know, I can only tell you that I was elected twice in New York against the same kind of onslaught. I was confirmed and served as secretary of state. And I think it's understandable that when questions are raised, people maybe are thinking about them and wondering about them.

But I have every confidence that during the course of this campaign, people are going to know who will fight for them, who will be there when they need them. And that's the kind of person I am and that's what I will do, not only in a campaign, but as president.

KEILAR: Trusting someone to fight for them and trusting someone, these are two different things. Do you see any role that you've had in this sentiment that we've seen where people are questioning whether you're trustworthy?

[09:20:06] CLINTON: I can only tell you, Brianna, this has been a theme that has been used against me and my husband for many, many years. At the end of the day, I think voters sort it all out.

KEILAR: Would you vote for someone you don't trust?

CLINTON: People should and do trust me. And I have every confidence that will be the outcome of this election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Here to discuss, CNN senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny, and CNN senior political reporter, Nia-Malika Henderson.

Jeff, I want to start with you. Clinton says she has confidence in the voters that they do trust her. But, of course, the poll numbers we showed earlier say otherwise.

How did she handle answering Brianna's question, do you think?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a very practiced answer, because she's been asked this question for so long. I mean, she is right in one respect that the same issue has come up year after year after year for decades. And when her husband Bill Clinton actually ran for I election in 1996 and won, a majority of Americans still had questions about his honesty and trustworthiness and they still reelected him. So, I think that is the basis she's answering this question for. But, Ana, I was a little surprised -- she did not give an inch, take

an ounce of responsibility for anything she has done that might contribute to this. And we saw before the interview, the graphic there, her trust and honesty questions have actually gone up over the last year or so. Six in ten Americans, 57 percent, is all Americans, Republicans and Democrats.

So, we expect it to be around 50 percent or so. But there are Democrats in there who also have questions in this. But it is clear to say she's not going to accept any responsibility. She is going to say that this is all part of a Republican smear campaign. And, frankly, a lot of Democrats believe her. So, that will probably put her in pretty good stead with some Democrats she's trying to energize and get excited.

CABRERA: I will say as you watch that interview, my initial reaction was oh, man she missed a great opportunity if she were trying to take that opportunity to humanize herself or show some humble side of her. And it just seemed like she kind of brushed it off.

Nia, I want to ask about a little bit more about this. Of course, she also weighed in on Donald Trump and the Republican stance on immigration.

So, I want to play a clip of that and we'll talk on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Donald Trump is also creating quite a lot of commotion on the other side. He's a friend of yours, has been over the years. He donated to your Senate campaign, to the Clinton Foundation. What's your reaction to his recent comments that Mexican immigrants are rapists and criminals?

CLINTON: I'm very disappointed in those comments and I feel very bad and very disappointed with him and with the Republican Party for not responding immediately and saying, enough, stop it.

But they are all in the same general area on immigration. You know, they don't want to provide a path to citizenship. They range across a spectrum of being either grudgingly welcome or hostile towards immigrants.

And I'm going to talk about comprehensive immigration reform. I'm going to talk about all of the good, law-abiding, productive members of the immigrant community that I personally know, that I've met over the course of my life, that I would like to see have a path to citizenship.

KEILAR: Well, what about Jeb Bush's approach to that? It's different certainly than Donald Trump's --

CLINTON: Well, he doesn't -- he doesn't believe in a path to citizenship. If he did at one time, he no longer does. And so, pretty much, as I said, they're on a spectrum of, you know, hostility, which I think is regrettable in a nation of immigrants like ours, all the way to kind of grudging acceptance but refusal to go with a pathway to citizenship.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Nia, Clinton really focused on the Republican Party. Do you get a sense she's already focusing beyond the primaries?

HENDERSON: Oh, certainly. I think on the one hand, she is focusing on the primaries because she does have an edge among Latino voters over Bernie Sanders. He's kind of playing catch-up with that Obama coalition which, of course, includes Latino voters.

But, yes, I mean, you notice that quick pivot there where she's trying to attach Donald Trump's tarnished brand to the entire Republican Party there. She isn't being quite accurate in terms of what the spectrum of Republican views on immigration reform are. You know, somebody like Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio, they were at some point for a path to citizenship. They signed on to that big bill, in some ways Marco Rubio's backed away from it.

But, so, yes -- I mean, she's trying to pivot to the general election as focused on the primary, because she knows how important those Latino voters are going to be in the general election.

[09:25:04] She knows, but Republicans also know this and have made efforts to really restore their brand among Latino voters and they also are very aware that Donald Trump hurts that brand and that rebranding that they're trying to do. I thought it was a really interesting pivot and this comes as she's set to meet with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in the next couple of days. So we know that she's focusing on that Obama coalition.

CABRERA: Brianna brought up Jeb Bush and his team immediately hit back after this interview aired, saying in part this, "After voting for the poison pill amendment that stopped immigration reform in its tracks as a senator and saying she believed the unaccompanied minors should be sent back to their home country last year, she is now running further to the left on immigration policy than even Obama's White House believes is legally feasible. Hillary Clinton will say anything to get elected and her numerous flip-flops on immigration prove it."

Jeff, in a sense, all these candidates are showing maybe an evolution in their beliefs, or at least some of them.

ZELENY: Sure. I don't think you can call it a flip-flop from Hillary Clinton but it definitely is a shift to the left. She's shifted to the left on a variety of fronts and immigration is just one of them.

But, look, as Nia said, she's trying to build that or she's trying appeal to that Obama coalition if you will which also includes Hispanic voters. And it does her no harm in a general election sense, because in a sense the country has shifted.

So, the whole Donald Trump discussion, the whole divide that we see in this Republican Party, she is exploiting it in some respects. And she is saying, look, I'm going to point this out again and again and again. I thought the spectrum of hostility was a line that we're going to hear from her, you know, for months to come. That was kind of the takeaway I think from that interview.

CABRERA: Right.

Jeff Zeleny and Nia-Malika Henderson, our thanks to both of you.

ZELENY: Thanks, Ana.

CABRERA: And for more on CNN's exclusive interview with Hillary Clinton and the 2016 race, you can visit CNNPolitics.com. Got you covered there.

Still to come, United flights are all grounded, creating a big problem for a lot of travelers this morning, whether a computer problem is to blame? And we'll have more about that and what caused it, next.

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