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Deal Reached on Greek Bailout; Deal in Iran Talks Imminent; Manhunt for World's Most Powerful Drug Lord; Clinton on the Campaign Trail; GOP Field Expands to 15, As Walker Walks In; Damaging Storms Slam Midwest. Aired 9-9:30a ET
Aired July 13, 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: Donald lost custody of his son 15 years ago after his wife died and he lost his way, found his way to drugs and alcohol. Our affiliate WFLA put them back together and were going to continue their story now.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, my gosh. That's exactly what we're hoping for with this story. That's -- and look how he cleaned up. Wow. He's almost unrecognizable. That's great. OK, I look forward to the next chapter.
CUOMO: Done.
CAMEROTA: OK. Time for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello.
Hey, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: That's nice. Hi. Thanks so much. Have a great day.
NEWSROOM starts now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, a now-or-never moment for an Iran nuclear deal.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're close but we're not there yet.
COSTELLO: Now negotiators are poring over the fine print as today's deadline ticks closer. The Congress says the fight ain't over yet.
SEN. BOB MENENDEZ (D), NEW JERSEY: What a deal looks like is incredibly important.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MAJORITY LEADER: I think it's going to be a very hard sell for the administration.
COSTELLO: Also, the most powerful drug kingpin on the planet busts out of prison.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This particular prison is considered to be the most secure prison in Mexico. COSTELLO: How did he get out? Did he have help? And how America is
helping track him down.
Plus, she may be the best of all time.
SERENA WILLIAMS, GRAND SLAM TENNIS CHAMPION: This is the greatest platform for a female athlete.
COSTELLO: So why are strong women still taboo on the tennis court and beyond? I'll ask Olympics hammer thrower and ESPN cover girl Amanda Bingson.
Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me this morning.
We're on the brink of two major agreements. One that could impact your bottom line and the other that could shape America's foreign policy.
In Greece there's a deal. European leaders have approved a measure to give Greece billions in loans and keep it in the euro. The said deal still needs to be approved.
And after 17 straight days of negotiations, it looks like the nuclear deal with Iran is within reach. Negotiators now poring over the fine print with a deadline now nine hours away, but even if they shake hands some in Congress still want to block the deal.
Our CNN reporters are covering these stories from every angle this morning. But let's start with a potential new lifeline for Greece. We're waiting to see how Wall Street will react to the news of the bailout deal that could infuse as much as $96 billion into that debt- strapped country. European leaders spent 17 long hours hammering out the agreement which is also said to call for serious economic reforms. It is a major first step for a country quickly running out of money and options. But the Greek parliament still has to vote on it.
CNN's Isa Soares is in at Athens this morning with more.
Good morning.
ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. After 17 hours of marathon talks, it seems Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, has bitten his lip and has caved in to creditors' demands from Europe. He is asking for a three-year bailout and is getting $96 billion. This is the third bailout for Greece in six years.
But, Carol, it won't be easy because Greece has a lot to of work to do. A lot of belt tightening. Almost a corset of sorts. They will have to have push more reforms through. More legislation through. In particular the VAT as well as pension reforms which was a huge red line, if you remember, when he told the people here, Alexis Tsipras, no more austerity. Now he faces a huge battle as he arrives here in Athens because he has just 48 hours to pass this legislation through parliament.
And it won't be easy. There are members of his own party who say no, they won't support him, although opposition parties say they will back him. But the ECB has said in the last few minutes they will not add more liquidity into banks. So now really is the ball into Greece's court -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Isa Soares reporting live for us this morning, thanks so much.
After months and months of talking we could also be on the cusp of a historic agreement over Iran and its nuclear program. A deal is actually in sight. In broad terms, that means Iran will reign in its pursuit of nuclear weapons. In exchange, the world loses its stranglehold on a defiant regime. Iran's sanctions are lifted and a longtime enemy of the United States gains even more power in a volatile region.
No surprise here many believe this deal won't make the world a safer place. And lawmakers on Capitol Hill are already vowing to kill it even before they see it.
CNN's Nic Robertson is in Vienna, Austria where the marathon talks drag on.
Good morning, Nic.
ROBERTSON: Dragging, Carol, that's precisely what they're doing at the moment. Secretary Kerry just had an almost hour long meeting with the Iranian foreign minister, negotiating opposite member here, Mohammed Javad Zarif. We have no read-out on that other than the other person in that meeting was EU Foreign Policy chief. She appeared on a balcony just above us inside the hotel there a few minutes ago. We shouted up to her, how was it going, and she gave a thumbs up and a smile indicating she thinks it's going well.
[09:05:12] But we're hearing opposing views here. What we were hearing this morning was that a deal is close. Just a couple of issues still to be decided. The Iranian Foreign minister saying that there will be no deadline beyond today but it still requires a political will, a political will on the U.S. side to make three decisions. We're hearing that from other diplomats.
However, we have been hearing people say that a deal is more likely than less likely that it could be coming soon. I'm also hearing, and I'm hearing this from Iranian diplomats, that don't expect a deal early today. If it's going to come it could come late tonight, even into tomorrow.
It seems, Carol, for what we're getting here is the bargaining is going down, down to the wire right now.
COSTELLO: All right. Nic Robertson, we'll check back. Thanks so much. Nic Robertson reporting live this morning.
In the end, as you know, Congress has to vote on any Iran deal. And without even knowing some of the details some politicians already have reservations. One Republican leader predicts the Obama administration will have a tough sell -- will have a tough time, rather, selling the plan, while others promise to kill it all together.
Here are some of the comments from this weekend's talk shows.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Getting a bad deal with Iran is the worst possible outcome because it's going to start a nuclear arms race and under the agreement they're talking about you're ensuring they're going to become a nuclear power. The goal was to dismantle their program. Now we're going to lock it in place.
MENENDEZ: It makes me anxious because what a deal looks like is incredibly important, and the problem here, George, is that we have gone from preventing Iran having a nuclear ability to managing it.
MCCONNELL: I hope there will be enough Democrats willing to look at this objectively. Look at the facts. Is this a good deal? Is this likely to achieve the outcome we had hoped for?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: If Congress were to reject the deal, President Obama could veto that legislation. But if lawmakers muster the votes to override his veto, the president would not be able to lift the sanctions on Iran. And many fear that would push Iran towards a more combative hard line stance against the United States.
We'll keep you posted.
An intense international manhunt now underway for a cold blooded killer. He is known as El Chapo. U.S. officials describe him as one of the most prolific and violent drug lords. He's suspected of arranging 10,000 murders. He's been in a prison west of Mexico City for a year, but he is free this morning after pulling off an elaborate escape that makes the Clinton prison escape in upstate New York look Mickey Mouse.
This is Joaquin Guzman, El Chapo's escape tunnel. It was dug near the shower he used. It is a ventilated tunnel, it's lighted, it has a motorcycle track. The question this morning, who helped this dangerous criminal escape?
Polo Sandoval is in Mexico near the prison.
Good morning.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol, good morning. As you mentioned, not only is he powerful, but he's now for the second time a wanted man here in Mexico and also across the border in the United States. Now as for the manhunt itself, it continues to intensify mainly here just outside of the town of Toluca which is about an hour's drive outside of Mexico City. And now the key question is, how this ruthless killer was able to tunnel his way right under that prison wall?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANDOVAL (voice-over): This morning a massive international manhunt for one of the world's most powerful and deadly drug trafficking kingpins is underway. Joaquin Guzman known as "El Chapo" and a major supplier of heroin, cocaine and marijuana in the United States, staged a brazen escape from this Mexican prison. It's his second escape and this time he busted out of a maximum security federal prison just west of Mexico City.
Prison officials said guards at Altiplano Federal Prison performed a routine check of camera feeds and noticed Guzman was missing on Saturday evening. At 5'6" Mexican authorities believe El Chapo, Spanish for shorty, fit through a carved 20 by 20 inch hole located near the shower of his cell. Beyond that, a vertical passage with stairs leading to a tunnel stretching nearly a mile.
The escape infuriated U.S. law enforcement officials who pushed for Chapo's extradition to the United States at the time of his recapture last year. They cited fears of corruption and question the ability of Mexican officials to keep him behind bars.
TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: It's estimated that he may have murdered or ordered the murders of more than 10,000 people. So this is not somebody that's playing around with prison officials. He pretty much controls what he wants to do. And they go along with it. They look the other way to keep their families alive.
SANDOVAL: Guzman got out by way of an elaborate underground escape route complete with electricity, lighting, and tracks for a motorcycle and even ventilation. Investigators swarmed a half built house at the other end but Guzman was nowhere in sight.
[09:10:06] The now two-time escapee broke out of prison in a laundry cart back in 2001. On the lam then for more than a decade. A break in that case came in 2013 when investigators discovered seven houses in Mexico that were connected by an intricate web of secret passage ways. Guzman evading authorities through a hidden hatch under a bathtub.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANDOVAL: And back out live the outskirts of Toluca. Mexico, I can tell you it is out here outside the prison's fairly rural area. Only a few cinder block homes in the shadow of this maximum security prison, Carol. And now the main question is exactly how he was able to orchestrate such an elaborate jailbreak. It's very likely that he had help on the outside but possibly even on the inside. At least 18 of the prison guards at this facility are in Mexico City now. They're speaking to prosecutors.
COSTELLO: Unbelievable.
Polo Sandoval, thanks so much.
El Chapo's escape drawing the attention and anger of -- you guessed it -- Donald Trump, who used the incident to argue that U.S. ties with Mexico need an overhaul. Trump tweeting this morning, quote, "Mexico's biggest drug lord escapes from jail. Unbelievable corruption and the USA is paying the price. I told you so."
Trump added, quote, "The U.S. will invite El Chapo, the Mexican drug lord who just escaped prison to become a U.S. citizens because our leaders can't say no." And finally, Trump took a shot at his competitors saying, "Can you envision Jeb Bush or Hillary Clinton negotiating with El Chapo, the Mexican drug lord who escaped from prison?"
For her part, Hillary Clinton will be focused today not on immigration or El Chapo, or on the economy. She gives her first major policy speech on the campaign. Clinton expected to tackle several topics that are key to her economic agenda including wage growth for the middle class.
Our senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny is at the new school in Manhattan, the sight of Clinton's speech this morning.
Tell us more -- Jeff.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol. Good morning. This is the first policy address that Secretary Clinton is giving at her campaign. And you're right, she is going to focus squarely on how she says she will fight for the middle class specifically on wages. She will talk about the rising wage gap between rich and poor in America. And a couple of things. She's going to call on companies to increase profit sharing through tax incentive, saying these companies who are making so much money should share that with their employees. So she'll offer some tax incentives on that.
She will also call for creating an American infrastructure bank. She says that will allow better jobs, higher paying jobs and of course she will renew her call to increase the minimum wage and expand medical leave and paid leave. That's to get more women working in the economy.
So, Carol, these are just a few outlines of the economic speech, not expecting a lot of specifics about how she would raise taxes on the wealthy and how she would implement some of these things. But this is the first of many policy speeches her aides say she'll be rolling out over the next coming weeks and months as her campaign continues.
COSTELLO: All right. We'll check back. Jeff Zeleny, many thanks.
And before the day is over the Republican presidential field will grow by one. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker announcing his candidacy via Twitter and in this video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. SCOTT WALKER (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now I'm running for president to fight and win for the American people. I'm not sacrificing our principles. We won three elections in four years in a blue state. Did it by leading. Now we need to do the same thing for America. It's not too late. We can make our country great again. Join our cause. Help us fight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: All right. So we're live in Wisconsin next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:17:51] COSTELLO: After weeks of speculation, Scott Walker makes it official today, becoming the 15th Republican to jump into the race for the White House. And while the official announcement comes tonight, Walker made his intensions clear on Twitter, saying, "I'm in. I'm running for president because Americans deserve a leader who will fight and win for them!"
Walker's sons told CNN's Dana Bash, they had, quote, "front row seats" to their dad's career, in his state assembly days to the governor's mansion. And they feel he has what it take to succeed at the next level.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEX WALKER, SCOTT WALKER'S SON: We've seen his leadership firsthand. We've seen that he can get things done. We've seen his passion and his drive for really he really does care. And we think his leadership is something that our country really needs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Joining me now to talk about this from Waukesha, Wisconsin, it's also the site of Walker's announcement tonight, CNN political reporter, Sara Murray.
Sara, good morning.
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Good morning.
COSTELLO: So, he's going to make his announcement at 5:30 Eastern this afternoon?
MURRAY: Yes. We're going to get the announcement later on this afternoon.
He's really going to try to cast himself as a fighter in this field. We saw in his sort of early announcement video, he says, look, these other guys have run, they have won election, but they haven't taken on the big fight. So, I think we're going to hear a lot about his record here in Wisconsin, a lot about winning three elections in four years, and a lot about his conservative principles. This has been sort of an interesting reawakening for Scott Walker
because on a lot of issues, from gay marriage to abortion to immigration, in his past elections, he tried to cast himself in the middle. Lately, he's been taking a much harder line on a lot of these issues.
COSTELLO: A much harder line on these issues and I'm sure it would appeal to conservative Republicans. But the only Republican anybody can hear right now is Donald Trump.
MURRAY: Yes. I definitely think Donald Trump is sucking up a lot of oxygen in the room. But, look, if you take a look at the most recent polls in Iowa, Scott
Walker is in the lead by eight points.
[09:20:02] Of course, Donald Trump is nipping at his heels, which is pretty funny to watch.
But, look, I think when you see voters in Iowa, they take their role in the process very seriously. They want to see these candidates up close. They think they're much more likely to vote for someone like Scott Walker over someone like Donald Trump, even if Donald Trump is sort of the flavor of the week right now and is stirring the pot with his views on immigration.
COSTELLO: I think the conservative Republicans like Scott's economic policies when it comes to domestic issues, but he had some -- well, he's had some gaps when he talks about national security. For example, I'm just going play one example of that for our viewers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. SCOTT WALKER (R), WISCONSIN: I want a commander-in-chief who will do everything in their power to ensure that the threat for radical Islamic terrorist do not wash up on American soil, but we need a leader with that kind of confidence. If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Of course, he's talking about union protesters and he sort of neutralized the unions in Wisconsin and there are all these big protests. He was saying, you know, if I can take on them, I can certainly take on ISIS. That struck many people as sort of naive.
MURRAY: Yes, I think there was no doubt that was a misstep in their campaign. And the interesting thing is we've seen after he's had some of these high profile moments, after he sort of had the speech earlier on in Iowa that really set his potential candidacy on fire. His campaign sort of reeled him in. They brought him back into the office, back into headquarters.
He's been working on policy briefings, meeting with advisors. They really want to make sure he's prepared for the national stage, because if you are a newcomer in the field and you're in a field as large as it is, you really can't afford missteps like that. I think that's going to be a big challenge for Scott Walker is proving to folks that he can go beyond sort of being the regular guy, the approachable politician and prove to people that he's presidential. That he's ready on the policies and prepared to lead on a national scale.
COSTELLO: All right. Sara Murray, reporting live for us this morning -- thanks so much.
Still to come in THE NEWSROOM: it's a spoiler alert for the ages. Why fans of "To Kill a Mockingbird" are going wild on social media, ahead of Harper Lee's brand new book.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:26:30] COSTELLO: The Midwest is under storm assault this morning. Torrential rain triggering flash flooding from Ohio to Kentucky. Water knee high in some places, cars stranded, some of them submerged. And it's not over yet.
CNN meteorologist Chad Myers is in Atlanta with more.
Good morning, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning storms rolling through Chicago and Gary, Indiana. But, boy, it was an ugly night last night. Severe weather all over the plains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MYERS (voice-over): Tornado sirens sounding in Minneapolis, as severe weather pummeled parts of the Midwest overnight. Damaging winds, large hail, and thunderstorms ripping through Minnesota to Illinois into this morning.
Drivers scouring to find safety under a bridge as southern Minnesota gets slammed with winds up to 80 miles per hour. In Kentucky, firefighters rescue stranded drivers in Louisville as up to 5 inches of rain triggers massive flash flooding over the weekend. Cars half way submerged under water in Ohio, after flash flooding 12 miles outside of Columbus.
And the severe weather is not over. Tornados, damaging winds, and large hail expected today throughout the Midwest and severe storms swooping into the South by Tuesday.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MYERS: Carol, big storms already this morning is slowing down Chicago's airports, both of them there. There's the severe weather rolling through and into the southeastern part of the country, as we said for tomorrow, along this front.
Look at this weather now -- here's what we're expecting 10:00 this morning through yips Indianapolis from Louisville, again, back to Cincinnati. Back here from Chicago, back here to St. Louis, more storms firing up. Now, there's not a massive line of weather today, but that's more of a
problem than not. When you have one storm by itself, it can rotate and it can make a tornado or two. When they're lined up and banging into each other, you're not going to get as many tornados. Today, we could see the potential across the plains, tomorrow not as much.
Look at the difference, it's going to be 98 in St. Louis. It's going to be 80 in Chicago, 76 Boston. Cold air here warm air here. We talked about that clash all the time, Carol.
You lived in Ohio long enough. I was looking at the pictures from outside of Columbus yesterday and thinking about the time we used to live in Columbus, a long time ago. You for one station, I for another. But there were some severe weather back then, through Bexley, used to be knocking down trees all the time.
When severe weather rolls through old towns, there are old trees that fall down and make big problems.
COSTELLO: Yes. It happened in my mom's front yard.
Chad Myers, thanks so much.
MYERS: You're welcome, Carol.
(MUSIC)
COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.
Checking some top stories for you at 29 minutes past.
In Vienna, world powers is said to be on the verge of a nuclear deal with Iran. And an announcement could come as early as today. Diplomats have worked through major hurdles in negotiations, but some say important issues need to be resolved.
We're about to get our first ever up close look at Pluto. NASA officials say their New Horizon space probe is now on the final approach for a flyby of Pluto tomorrow. It's a mission nine years in the making. New Horizons has traveled some 3 billion miles to get to this historic point.
And it's now to Greece's parliament to decide on the country's third bailout deal in five years after marathon talks dragged on for 17 hours. Eurozone leaders agreed to give Greece as much as $96 billion in fresh loans. But that's only if Greece can implement serious reforms.
And we're watching Wall Street closely this morning after investors woke up to news of that bailout deal.
