Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Iran Nuclear Deal; Oil Tumbles Amid Iran Nuclear Progress; Clinton Targets Wage Growth in Economic Speech; Walker Becomes GOP's 15th Candidate. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired July 13, 2015 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:29:50] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: In Illinois, two people are dead and two police officers recovering this morning after a wild shootout. The two officers were responding to a 911 call on Sunday when a man with a shotgun walked up and opened fire in the Chicago suburb. A shootout ensued. The suspect was shot and killed. Police then found a man shot to death inside the home where the officers were called to. Both officers will be OK.

We're about to get our first ever up close look at Pluto. NASA officials say their New Horizon space probe is now on its final approach for a flyby of Pluto tomorrow. It's a mission nine years in the making. New Horizon has traveled some three billion miles to get to that historic point.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, world leaders discuss nuclear weapons and the fallout could reach your neighborhood gas station. We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: After months of complicated negotiations, the U.S.-led nuclear talks with Iran may be on the verge of a deal. In broad terms, Iran would rein in its pursuit of nuclear weapons. In exchange, the world loosens its strangle hold on a defiant regime, Iran's sanctions are lifted, and a long-time enemy of the United States gains even more power in a volatile region.

[10:35:08] No surprise here, many believe this deal will not make the world a safer place. Those skeptics include U.S. lawmakers and critical Washington allies.

Jim Walsh is an international security analyst and a research associate at the MIT security studies program. He joins us now from Watertown, Massachusetts.

Good morning -- Jim.

JIM WALSH, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Good morning. How are you -- Carol?

COSTELLO: I'm good.

So we've been hearing that a deal has been closed more than once, but supposedly this time later today there will be a deal. Do you believe it?

WALSH: I do think that's true. There were some last-minute snags overnight. I understand that one of the three of those snags has been resolved. I think in the end we're going to get this. None of the parties wants a formal extension. Maybe they will drag it on an extra few hours but no one wants to do this again.

They have come so close. Closest than they've ever been before, and in contrast to what some of the skeptics say, I think this agreement if it's sort of what they announced back in April with the framework, this will be a very good deal for U.S. national security, for regional security and for domestic oil prices.

COSTELLO: Well, it's like 100 pages long. But hopefully lawmakers will read through it before they make up their minds about it, right? But what should we look for on the positive side?

WALSH: Well, on the positive side the most important thing will be that it will block Iran's pathways to the bomb. They have agreed to very significant restrictions on their centrifuges. They're going to cut their centrifuges by two-thirds. They're going to cut the amount of nuclear material they keep in stock on their territory by roughly 90 percent, and they're going to open up to greater and more intrusive inspection.

And in return they're going to get sanctions relief. Now, this will have all sorts of consequences but the main thing, the core point is that it will put Iran on a path where it will not become a nuclear weapon state. That's the single most important benefit of an agreement like this.

COSTELLO: So what are the red flags we should look for?

WALSH: Well, I think some people are worried what does this agreement look like 15 years out when some of those restrictions start to melt away? Not all of them do. Many of them are in perpetuity, they'll last forever. But some people worry what is this going to look like? Other people worry well, if they're going to get sanctions relief, they'll be a more wealthy country, won't they use this for nefarious things like terrorism and this and that?

What I say to those people is there's no such thing as a nuclear agreement unless Iran has restrictions coming off. So if you don't want the restrictions to come off, then you're essentially saying I want Iran to continue its nuclear program. I don't think anyone wants that.

And, frankly, I think Iran is bogged down. They're playing defense. They're defending Assad in Syria and they're losing. They're fighting ISIS in Iraq. That's also a defensive battle. So I think they have their hands full with their own problems. But the main thing, again, the core issue is nuclear weapons and a deal that prevents that is a deal worth having.

COSTELLO: I think though that critics say bottom line here is the United States should squeeze Iran as much as it can, just like, you know, put more sanctions in, really cripple their economy, make Iran useless in the world. Why wouldn't that be a better route to take?

WALSH: Well, I think sanctions are a lot like prescription medicine. There's some people who think more is better, but that's not true of prescription medicine. Just piling more sanctions on can actually end up killing the patient here and making them dig in.

Part of this is we've seen this history. We've been at this now for a while. So in 2005, Carol, negotiations broke down. At that point Iran had 164 -- one-six-four centrifuges. When those negotiations broke down and everyone walked away, we put on sanctions, and they built 19,000 centrifuges and began enriching at 20 percent. So both sides can impose costs on the other but neither side can force the other one to do what it wants to do.

It's only through a voluntary negotiation where people say if you do this, I'll do that, that's the only way this thing is going to get resolved.

COSTELLO: Jim Walsh, thanks for your insight. I appreciate it.

WALSH: Thank you -- Carol.

COSTELLO: You're welcome.

World leaders talk and the world's oil market cringes. A nuclear deal with Iran could allow Iran to cash out some of its huge stockpile and add to the glut that's already keeping oil prices down. You got all of that. I know you don't because I don't either.

CNN business correspondent Alison Kosik is here to explain. Good morning.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. So the basic idea is if this deal goes through, it means Iran is going to have a place on the world oil market stage because Iran has the fourth biggest oil reserves in the world. And if a deal is made to loosen sanctions, it could add one million barrels a day of oil to global markets.

So traders here are expecting that a deal would bring more oil to the markets to an already saturated oil market. I want to show you where oil has been at least over the past year or so. You see how erratic it's been? It's also been a lot lower, and in anticipation of this deal, you're seeing oil prices fall. Right now we are seeing oil at about $52 a barrel.

[10:40:06] You know, it's under some pressure, but it has been lower throughout the day and that's because, you know, crude has already been dropping because of uncertain outcomes in Greece and in China. And everybody wants to know, how low could oil go? Oil, as I said, trading around $52 a barrel. It was really low in March at $43 a barrel.

For oil companies this is bad news in the short term, but for us who drive, this is great news. You look at the national average today, it's $2.77. Experts, Carol, experts say that we could see gas prices fall an average price of $2 a gallon later this year. We can only hope.

COSTELLO: Get out. I wanted to hear you say $1.99. That would be even better.

KOSIK: Oh, come on. $2 is pretty good.

COSTELLO: I know it is. I'm greedy.

Alison Kosik, thanks so much. I appreciate it.

Coming up next in the NEWSROOM, Hillary Clinton lays out her plans for the economy. And she's talking a lot about your paycheck while taking aim at Jeb Bush. We'll tell you what she said next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:45:17] COSTELLO: Right now Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton is unveiling her economic plans for the country. She's doing that here in New York City at the new school in Manhattan. Among her top priorities: boost middle class wages and target companies that create jobs but don't provide benefits for workers. She also took a few jabs at her opponents -- namely Jeb Bush.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You may have heard Governor Bush say last week that Americans just need to work longer hours. Well, he must not have met very many American workers.

Let him tell that to the nurse who stands on her feet all day or the teacher who is in that classroom or the trucker who drives all night. Let him tell that to the fast food workers marching in the streets for better pay. They don't need a lecture. They need a raise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN's senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny is listening to Clinton's speech. He will join us in a moment.

But right now I'm joined by Monica Mehta. She's the managing principal for Seventh Capital Investment. Good morning.

MONICA MEHTA, MANAGING PRINCIPAL, SEVENTH CAPITAL INVESTMENT: Good morning -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning. So Hillary Clinton is laying out her economic plan and she's going to talk about what -- let me see, I have a list here -- she wants to increase investment in good paying jobs through tax incentives. She wants to support small business tax relief. She wants to establish clean energy products that would kind of like create jobs. She wants to expand child care and paid family leave and sick days. All of these things sound like they need a tax increase. Am I right?

MEHTA: You've got to pay for it somehow, but I like what she has to say in terms of understanding that a consolidation of power with big companies takes away power from the average worker. And that's basically why I pay so much attention to small business because when you have a fragmented economy where people have a lot of choices as to where they can work, wages do rise, and you give more competition for the worker.

Now, I think this idea where Jeb Bush was suggesting that Americans need to work more, I think he's actually speaking to the 6.5 million Americans that are working part-time but would like to be working full-time. I think those people would sure like a whole lot more hours so that they can make more money for their families.

But in general any kind of focus that puts small business first and really helps America understand that when America goes out to shop, we're not lifting America anymore. We're lifting the economies and the middle class of a lot of countries outside of this country. So if we really want to lift ourselves, we have to become a little bit more inwardly focused and make sure that when Apple makes 70 percent profit by selling iPhone 6, that a lot of those profits come back here and hire people here.

COSTELLO: Got you. OK. So you can see Clinton is still talking, but Politico got an advance copy of her speech. And one of the things that it pointed out that I found interesting -- Clinton is supposedly going to denounce the mindset of quarterly capitalism where executives focus on making a quick buck rather than building lasting value, creating bubble-driven growth that could evaporate quickly, and I suppose she's talking about companies like Uber?

MEHTA: Well, I mean I think there's a lot of different things at play there. This idea that the stock market has gotten so short-term focused that big companies are making decisions that focus on raising their stock price versus lifting up their employees is very valid. That is happening.

But, you know, there's a lot of other factors at play. A company like Uber exists because there are millions of people out there that can't even get a job that pays them no benefits at all. So they'd be happy to drive their own personal cars and earn income. And I don't see anything wrong with that.

You know, if there are companies willing to provide benefits, that is fantastic, but if people actually can't even get jobs like that, why are we cutting down possible employment opportunities for these people?

COSTELLO: All right. We're awaiting the end of Hillary Clinton's speech so we can check back with Jeff Zeleny. But Monica Mehta -- thank you so much for joining me this morning. I appreciate it.

MEHTA: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, even families of presidential hopefuls apparently have their differences. We'll talk to Scott Walker's sons next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [10:53:54] COSTELLO: Checking some top stories for you at 53 minutes past.

Massachusetts state police say they're not ruling out the possibility that a little girl found dead on a beach was killed by a family member. The four-year-old known only as "Baby Doe" remains unidentified. Her body was found in a trash bag on an island near Boston last month. Investigators are also trying to figure out how she died saying there are no clear signs of trauma on her body.

London's Heathrow Airport says it still expects some delays throughout the day after climate change protesters cut through a fence and chained themselves to the gates on the tarmac. Images posted on Twitter show police apparently using bolt cutters to remove them. The group calling itself "Plane Stupid" opposes the building of a third runway at the airport.

And then there were 15. After weeks of speculation, Scott Walker has become the latest Republican presidential candidate to throw his hat into the ring tweeting this, "I'm in. I'm running for president because Americans deserve a leader who will fight and win for them." An official announcement is expected later tonight.

Walker's sons say they've had front row seats to his political career. CNN's Dana Bash got their take on where their dad came from and what lies ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[10:55:05] DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Scott Walker's sons are a staple of his stump speech.

GOV. SCOTT WALKER (R-WI), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My sons, Matt and Alex --

Our sons, Matt and Alex.

My reasons are Matt and Alex.

BASH: So much that we were told some in Wisconsin made up a Matt and Alex drinking game. Every time he says Matt and Alex, you take a drink.

MATT WALKER, GOV. WALKER'S SON: I didn't know that.

BASH: Now it's the 21 and almost 20-year-old's turn to talk about their dad on the eve of his presidential announcement.

ALEX WALKER, GOV. WALKER'S SON: We've seen his leadership. We've seen he can get things done.

BASH: What Walker did as governor in 2011 shot him in national prominence -- trying to cut state spending by curbing collective bargaining and breaking state unions. It made him a hero to the right and a devil to the left. Passions ran so high through a failed attempt to recall Walker. His then high school aged sons say they faced death threats.

M. WALKER: We got a lot of those threats. We were able to just keep calm and work through them. In the end we got closer.

BASH: But their mother, Tonette, also gave her husband tough love telling him he wasn't communicating well.

A. WALKER: She tried to ask our dad to explain to people more what the reforms did and what he was doing.

BSH: Walker's wife is 12 years his senior. How they met, at this bar says a lot about his personality -- self-assured and at times a bit awkward.

A. WALKER: He wrote on a napkin, "Forgive me for being rude, but I have got to work early in the morning. If you'd like to go out sometime give me a call." And he put his number down and his name, and he slipped through the napkin on the way out.

BASH: The Walkers are close but even they disagree on some politics. Matt and Alex support same-sex marriage and complained to their mother when their dad called last month's Supreme Court decision legalizing it a grave mistake.

BASH: She said to you all when you complained, go talk to your father about it. Did you?

M. WALKER: We talked to him, like any family we have disagreements. He just explained his position and that was it.

A. WALKER: Matt and I aren't necessarily changing his stances on any issues.

BASH: Do you try?

A. WALKER: No, we respect his opinion on things.

BASH: Walker's intense political ambition began as a teenager. He lost a bid to be student body president at Marquette University and dropped out before graduating.

M. WALKER: He was offered a job before he even left so why would he not take it?

BASH: What would he say if either of you said, "You know what, Dad, I'm done. I'm not going to finish college."

A. WALKER: He might be all right with it if we told him we had a good reason. Our mom on the other hand would not allow that.

BASH: Walker was elected to the state assembly at age 25. He's been a career politician since but not always a political star.

CHARLIE SIKES (ph), WISCONSIN CONSERVATIVE RADIO HOST: Scott is one of those guys that does not fill up the room. He's not going to blow you away. He comes off as very intense, very thoughtful. BASH: Charlie Sikes is a Wisconsin conservative radio host where

Walker was a regular guest as he moved up through elected office.

SIKES: He is his own number one strategist. He's his own number one spokesman. He is his own media person.

BASH: Some would say that's micromanaging.

SIKES: Everybody would say that it's micromanaging.

BASH: And he's even keeled. Apparently no temper. Rebecca Kleefisch (ph) is Walker's lieutenant governor. Have you ever seen that at all.

REBECCA KLEEFISCH, WISCONSIN LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: No.

BASH: Not even during intense recall moments?

KLEEFISCH: I was floored by his calm. You know that he's a man of deep faith.

BASH: Walker is a preacher's son. Faith guides him spiritually and helps politically with Christian conservative voters he needs especially in Iowa.

KLEEFISCH: We don't go into meetings and quote scripture, like a lot of people assume of evangelicals, right. But you can see how he cares deeply.

BASH: Before Kleefisch ran for office, she was a reporter who covered Walker.

KLEEFISCH: When we're in a public meeting versus when the door is closed -- same guy. And I know that's weird.

BASH: For his sons, that typical guy also means dorky dad.

A. WALKER: A little embarrassing sometimes. He likes to sing karaoke definitely and embarrass Matt and I.

BASH: They're not the only ones.

KLEEFISCH: He has a tendency to sing.

BASH: What does he sing?

KLEEFISCH: He sang "Happy".

BASH: How did that go?

KLEEFISCH: Politics is really good for him.

BASH: But worse for his sons are his clothes.

M. WALKER: The big one is that he wears jean shorts sometimes and that's a little rough. Fashion choices need to be updated.

BASH: But dressing like a pirate when they were kids, not so bad.

A. WALKER: That's just how he's always been and he's shown the example for us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: I'm still laughing about the jean shorts. Drop them, Governor Walker.

CNN will bring you live coverage, by the way, of Walker's announcement. That will happen later this afternoon. It all gets under way 5:30 p.m. Eastern time with Walker expected to speak around 6:15 Eastern.

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

[11:00:00] "AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan starts now.