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Trump Dominates Conversation in 2016 Race; Calls to Oust OPM Chief after Data Breach; Pope: Modern Capitalism is "Dung of the Devil"; Ticker-Tape Parade Honors Team USA. 10:30-11a ET

Aired July 10, 2015 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:29:49] ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There were a lot of passionate words and raw emotions on the House floor coming from Democrats yesterday. Let's play what Congressman Hakeem Jeffries had to say about it from New York. Let's play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D), NEW YORK: There are some in this house who have made the argument that the Confederate battle flag is about heritage and tradition. I'm perplexed. What exactly is the tradition of the Confederate battle flag that we're supporting? Is it slavery? Rape? Kidnap? Treason? Genocide? Or all of the above?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: So that's just a sampling of the emotion we saw on the House floor earlier. You played Congressman John Lewis. He was beaten by troopers in Selma, Alabama on a voting rights March 50 years ago and that picture he displayed showed the Confederate flag being displayed on one of those troopers' helmets.

Hakeem Jeffries went on to say if the people who backed this flag had prevailed, I would still be a slave. I wouldn't be a member of Congress. So a lot of passionate talk here on the Hill. I'll tell you this, a lot of us have been asking ourselves, you know, we saw Democrats come to the House floor railing against this move by Republicans. We didn't see a lot -- any Republican supporters of that amendment to allow the continued displays of the Confederate flag coming out on the House floor to defend their point of view. We also haven't seen a lot of them eager to come on camera to talk about this. But it's still a sign the debate is not over yet -- Ana.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely. It goes to show that what we saw today in South Carolina is not the end of the conversation. It really is just the beginning or part of the overall the debate on race in America and what's happening right now in 2015.

Athena Jones -- thank you so much, live in Washington today.

He's bold. He's brash. He's bombastic. And so far Donald Trump has dominated the conversation in the race to 2016 with his comments on immigration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will build a better wall and I'll build it for cheaper and Mexico will pay. If we bring them back and they push them out. Mexico pushes back people across the border that are criminals, that are drug dealers.

Illegal immigrants coming in are causing tremendous problems. In terms of crime, in terms of murder, in terms of rape. If somebody is an illegal immigrant, they shouldn't be here at all. There shouldn't be any crime. They're not supposed to be in our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: And the White House is taking notice. Yesterday Press Secretary Josh Earnest acknowledging Trump's comments while slamming congressional Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: These are the same congressional Republicans who have declined to criticize the race- baiting rhetoric of a leading Republican presidential candidate. That's to say nothing of a Senate Republican who saluted that candidate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Let's talk more about this. I'm joined by CNN's senior politics reporter Chris Moody and CNN politics reporter M.J. Lee.

Chris, let's start with you. Earnest using some harsh words, race- baiting when referring to Trump. It seems like at least Democrats would like to keep the focus there.

CHRIS MOODY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Well, no surprise there. Donald Trump and the way he characterizes immigrants that are in the United States illegally, it makes him a bit of a gift horse to Democrats. He is a caricature of what they would love Republicans to be because it allows them to promote the caricature of the Republican Party. And it really sets back a lot of Republicans that have worked very hard over the past couple years to try to do outreach into especially Latino communities.

This is not just happening on the Republican Party but also conservative groups have been going into states around the country. And they've told me over this past week that this really does not help their efforts. But it does help Democrats who like to paint Republicans with a broad brush, and they point to Trump as an example.

CABRERA: It does seem like the issues of race, of immigration, whether we're talking about African-Americans and the Confederate flag coming down or Mexican immigrants coming into the United States. I mean this is a very hot topic going into the 2016 election cycle and it's really interesting that people want to talk about it so much that Trump is just dominating all the conversation with these comments on immigration. In fact, M.J., we took a look at some statistics, 48 percent of social media and traditional media conversations have been about Donald Trump. This is according to an analytics firm that did some research. 1.9 million comments were on him, compare that to about a half million talking about Hillary Clinton. What is it that is really resonating with people right now regarding Trump?

M.J. LEE, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Clearly what people find so appealing about Trump is the fact that he will go out there and say anything. When he sat down with Anderson Cooper this week, he said, "Look, I'm rich. I'm a successful businessman. I am not beholden to anybody." And we have seen that over and over again in the first few weeks of his campaign.

[10:34:56] But I think it's worth pointing out that people who are talking about Donald Trump on Twitter, on Facebook, they are very divided. There are people who are very enamored by Trump and then there are people who cannot stand the guy. And the fact that he is so polarizing is actually a potential obstacle for Donald Trump because when you look at national polls, some six in ten people have said things like, "I will never vote for Donald Trump. My decision is made." So he's really working with a pool of people and a limited pool of people and trying to convince them, "vote for me". And the people who have already divided they would never vote for him, he doesn't have a chance of convincing them to vote for him for President.

CABRERA: All right. M.J. Lee, Chris Moody -- thanks so much. And we'll be right back.

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[10:40:00] CABRERA: Growing calls for President Obama to fire this woman. Her name is Katherine Archuleta. She runs the Office of Personal Management and that's at the center of one of the largest data breaches in U.S. history.

Evan Perez is in Washington following the story for us this morning. Evan -- we're now learning some 21 million people had their information compromised?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Ana. This is a story that gets worse and worse it seems every time the government announces an update. If you remember, they first said it was 4.2 million. We reported a couple weeks ago now that the FBI had told lawmakers that it was up to about 18 million. And now the number that the Office of Personnel Management says, the number of people affected has reached 22.1 million and that includes 21.5 million background checks, 4.2 million people were affected in a secondary breach, and, you know, this is a story also about an agency that should have seen this coming because according to OPM, they have been hacked five times since mid-2012.

And what's at work here is the concern about what exactly was gotten by these hackers. We believe, by the way, according to the investigators, they believe it's Chinese government hackers that have this. Chinese intelligence now has a lot of very intimate data on people who applied for government security clearances, including any sexual histories, any mental health histories, things like that that people who applied for security clearances entrusted the government in order to be able to get access to some of the government's biggest secrets. And now they feel that they've been betrayed because OPM did not take enough measures to protect the security of their databases.

CABRERA: So has the government now shored up whatever the vulnerability was that allowed these hackers to get in or are people still at risk?

PEREZ: That is a great question. To be honest, I don't think they know fully that they've solved this problem. I think they believe that they have. They've improved security both at OPM, but there is a tremendous problem across the government, and they now know this, and they also know that because -- we know that hackers, both from government -- foreign governments and also criminal hackers are constantly attacking U.S. Government Web sites.

So they know that they have a tremendous problem. This is only the beginning. The problem now is how do you help these people whose background information has been compromised? How do you make sure that they're protected? For years and years now they're going to have to have credit monitoring and other types of things to be able to protect themselves.

CABRERA: All right. Evan Perez, thanks for the update. We appreciate it.

Pope Francis having it his way. Taking a break at Burger King while he's in Latin America but the Pope also talking tough and not just about faith.

[10:43:03] We'll have the details straight ahead.

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CABRERA: We now turn to Pope Francis spending his last day in Bolivia, and this morning he visited with families at one of Latin America's most violent prisons. Last night he took a political stance calling world leaders cowards for not defending the earth from exploitation. He then went on to bash modern day capitalism saying, quote, "this system is by now intolerable. Farm workers find it intolerable, laborers find it intolerable, communities find it intolerable, people find it intolerable. An unfettered pursuit of money rules, that is the dung of the devil."

Now, in true heartwarming fashion though before his speech the Pope made this pit stop at Burger King. Inside he made a wardrobe change. Apparently the restaurant was closed at the time.

To discuss more, let's bring in CNN religion commentator Father Edward Beck. Father thanks for being with me. First I want to read you what Reverend James Martin said about the Pope's political remarks.

Martin says "It was the strongest language I can remember a pope using about the rights of the poor and about social justice." What's your take?

FATHER EDWARD BECK, CNN RELIGION COMMENTATOR: Well, I think that's true -- Ana. It's really a strong critique of the inequities of unbridled. He's getting in a little bit of trouble with it with some people, especially in the U.S. who have criticized that stance.

I don't know if you saw the photo-op that Abel Morales had. But he gave the Pope a crucifix with Christ with a sickle and a hammer being crucified, of course, communist symbol. And the Pope didn't really know how to respond when he got it. It was obviously unexpected and yet this was Abel Morales' way of saying that this is what I believe in. I'm a socialist. And can you accept this?

And of course, the Pope isn't there. The Pope about the gospel of the poor, not necessarily a political system, but he certainly doesn't think unbridled capitalism is the way to go. So it's a strong critique indeed and I think we have seen it before, and certainly when it comes to the U.S. we'll continue to see it.

CABRERA: And, of course, the Pope we've seen all along since he took over this position, he hasn't shied away from controversy and his comments do risk ruffling some feathers.

Here's another quote from his speech, I want to read it to you. It says "Human beings and nature must not be at the service of money. Let us say no to an economy of exclusion and inequality where money rules rather than service. That economy kills. That economy excludes. That economy destroys mother earth."

There are a number of Catholic presidential candidates, let me remind you, who have focused their message on the economy -- Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum, Martin O'Malley among others. Do you think this Pope is going to shake things up when he comes to the U.S. in September?

[10:50:00] BECK: I think he will. We know we have that speech planned before the joint session of congress. There have been some Catholic politicians, the ones you just mentioned, who have said that the Pope should stick to religion and not politics. Obviously the Pope is not listening to that advice.

Yesterday he made his strongest apology, too, against colonialism, apologizing to native South Americans for the colonialistic pursuit of missionaries who went to their countries and were not respectful of their traditions.

So he's saying things that some people don't like and some people are cheering, but controversy surrounds him and I think it will continue to.

CABRERA: Very quickly -- is he doing the right thing? Is this what's best for the Catholic Church?

BECK: Well, certainly, Ana, the Catholic Church needs to be a church of today. If these are the issue that today's people have in mind, this Pope wants to speak to them. Poverty certainly, the environment certainly. And so, of course, he's speaking to what matters to people. So of course, that's where the church needs to be. That's where the Pope believes he needs to be and he is certainly taking us there.

CABRERA: All right. Father Edward Beck. He's definitely drawing attention to the Catholic Church, no doubt about it. Thanks for your time today.

BECK: Thanks -- Ana.

CABRERA: We have this, just in to CNN. Legendary actor Omar Sharif has died. You might recall Sharif best known for his roles in Lawrence of Arabia for which he won a Golden Globe Award and also Dr. Shivago. According to his agent, Sharif died of a heart attack while in Cairo. He was 83 years old. We're remembering his life right now.

We'll be right back.

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CABRERA: This just in to CNN, a senior State Department official now confirming to CNN that the Iranian talks that are under way in Vienna will continue until at least Monday. This is, of course, to allow for additional negotiation time. They are not giving up yet.

It's a great day to be in New York City, especially if you're a fan of Team USA -- the champions of the women's World Cup. The crews have been getting everything ready for today's ticker-tape parade to honor the World Cup winners. And all of it kicks off at the top of the hour.

Our Poppy Harlow is joining us from New York. Poppy -- it's got to be pretty fun to be there right now.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's an amazing day. It's a perfect day for this. I have some amazing kids with me. Yes. What were you chanting earlier?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: USA.

HARLOW: How energetic were you? Can I hear it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: USA. USA. USA. USA. USA.

HARLOW: They were doing this all morning, Ana. I think what's so historic is that fact that this is the first time in New York City where this so-called Canyon of Heroes, you see some of the confetti coming down now, has been filled with a women's team. Finally, finally a women's team. There have been the New York Giants, there have been the Yankees, but this is the first time it is a women's team.

People across the country are celebrating from Los Angeles to New York. Take a look at this picture from one of the key players, Carli Lloyd tweeting this morning, "Champions in Times Square". She, of course, scoring three of the goals in that final game in the women's World Cup.

[10:55:10] Also really significant here, one of the players on the team, only one of them was on the team back in 1999 when they won the World Cup and on the team again this year when they won on Sunday night. One of the most exciting things for these players is finally seeing women, right? Finally seeing women honored in this way as they should be.

The coach Jill Ellis saying she envisioned this. She envisioned the team holding the trophy up. I know I want to hear your favorite players -- pretty quickly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Alex Morgan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alex Morgan, my girlfriend.

HARLOW: She's your girlfriend. Ok.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Carli Lloyd.

HARLOW: Alex Morgan, will you marry me? I will try to ask her during the parade, guys. What are you most excited about seeing them today?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My brother's favorite soccer player, Alex Morgan.

HARLOW: And by the way, their awesome mom made them these mustaches. Guys, have so much fun. This is indeed a historic day. A great day. The hash tag that the team is using is #shebelieves talking about inspiring young women, young girls to look at all of these athletes as role models for the amazing accomplishment that they achieved and being so rightly honored here in New York City today -- Ana.

CABRERA: Girl power, baby. Thank you so much -- Poppy Harlow.

HARLOW: Girl power.

CABRERA: What a fun time down there.

All right. Checking a few top stories:

A mother and baby lucky to be alive in Arkansas after their house caught fire and exploded. Tasha Pool and her 18-month-old were awakened by neighbors banging on the door and just moments after they got out the firefighters entered, a back draft blew out the insulation and the ceiling fell in. And Pool and her child, they were treated for smoke inhalation but they are doing just fine amazingly.

An about-face in Greece where lawmakers will vote on a debt reform proposal almost identical to the one rejected in a referendum less than a week ago. Now the plan asks for a $59 billion in loan from the Eurozone bailout fund. In return Greece would agree to some austerity measures including hiking sales taxes and cutting back pensions. E.U. leaders have to review this bailout proposal that's expected to have it tomorrow and a final decision is due on Sunday.

Well, Serena Williams is heading back to the ladies final at Wimbledon. She's beaten Maria Sharapova in straight sets yesterday and so she advances to the final. If Serena wins tomorrow, she'll hold all four grand slam titles at once and can still go for the calendar grand slam at the U.S. Open in September.

Well, thank you so much for being here on this historic day, a historic moment in South Carolina as the Confederate flag came down right around 10:00 Eastern time.

I'm Ana Cabrera in for Carol Costello. I'll leave you with those images of that flag being lowered.

And "@THIS HOUR WITH BERMAN AND BOLDUAN" starts after a quick break.

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