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Bush Senior Hospitalized; Defense Secretary Carter Visits Israel; 11 Commercial Flights Struck by Laser Beams; Obama Takes on Critics; Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired July 16, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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


[09:00:01] CAMEROTA: Thanks so much for watching NEW DAY. Time now for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello.

Hi, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: That was so bad.

CUOMO: Why?

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: I don't know. It took me a minute to get it, too, but whatever.

CUOMO: Got me a wedding ring. The marriage, the wedding.

COSTELLO: It doesn't get any funnier with the retelling.

CUOMO: Yes. Yes.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chris.

CUOMO: See you later. Have a nice morning.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Good morning, everyone. NEWSROOM starts now.

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

President George H.W. Bush in stable condition this morning after a fall at his home in Maine. The 91-year-old broke a neck bone but his spokesman says the injury is not life threatening.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is following the story from Washington.

Tell us more.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, aides say that the former president is in stable condition but he is still in the hospital in Portland, Maine, this morning. He took a fall yesterday while at their family home in Kennebunkport, breaking a vertebrae in his neck, and aides say he will be in a neck brace as he starts to recover. Now medical experts say this sort of injury can be very serious for

some. Here's what one doctor had to say.

And Bush is the oldest living former U.S. president. He has had some pretty significant health problems in the past. He has Parkinson's Disease. Last year he was hospitalized for shortness of breath and in 2012 he was in the hospital for two months with a bronchitis related cough.

This morning we're hearing some reaction from his family, his granddaughter Jenna tweeting out her thanks for the thoughts and the prayers, saying that they're optimistic that he will heal well. And aides say they do not expect for him to be in the hospital for long. But, Carol, as of now he is still there.

COSTELLO: All right. Sunlen Serfaty reporting live from Washington. Thanks so much.

We're also learning new details about a visit to Israel next week by Defense Secretary Ash Carter just days after that historic nuclear agreement with Iran. Those details include the possibility of more missile defense equipment.

Israel has already called that nuclear deal a historic mistake. This hour we're expecting the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make a brief statement.

Let's get right to CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. I'm also joined by CNN's Erin McLaughlin.

Erin, I want to start with you with the latest from Israel. Good morning.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Well, Israeli minister that I've been speaking to tell me that they are aware that the United States is open to exploring the possibility of increasing security cooperation between the two countries. But for now, they're focused on quashing this agreement.

Israeli Minister Yuval Steinitz I was speaking to earlier today and he says that there are two main areas of security concern as a result of the nuclear deal with Iran. He said the first is a more conventional concern, what could happen once Iran gets more money from the sanctions relief could potentially increase its own military prowess as well as fund proxies in the region. And he also said that he's concerned with the nuclear -- the nuclear end of this agreement, the possibility that Iran could somehow become a nuclear state.

I want you to listen to what he had to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YUVAL STEINITZ, ISRAELI MINISTER OF INFRASTRUCTURES, ENERGY, AND WATER: There is no real compensation for a direct nuclear threat from Iran to the state of Israel or to any other state in the region. We are afraid that this agreement first enabled Iran to become a legal nuclear state in the next few years but a decade from now a legal critical threshold nuclear state that will be able to park (PH) only few days for many nuclear bombs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLAUGHLIN: So for now, Steinitz says Israel's main focus is on trying to quash or in his words fix this agreement. You heard him there with the strong rhetoric trying to ramp up this campaign to quash the agreement. The focus is on potentially persuading U.S. lawmakers. We know that they'll be voting on this agreement potentially. They have 60 days to review this deal. So really right now Israel out to try and increase the level of propaganda relating to this deal. And if this agreement holds, the focus then becomes potential U.S. aid -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Erin McLaughlin, many thanks.

Barbara Starr, give us the view from the Pentagon.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Defense Secretary Ash Carter had a long planned trip to the Middle East. But now when he leaves, and he is there next week, it certainly will take on a different tone. Two key stops are Israel and Saudi Arabia.

First up, Israel. Israel, the U.S. believes knows full well that Washington is open to additional arms sales to Israel. More missile defense, more aircraft, B-22s, that sort of thing, if Israel needs and wants them. But as Erin is pointing out, the Israelis aren't making that case right now. So expect to see Carter discuss with the Israelis more intelligence sharing, more intelligence cooperation aimed at the Israeli's biggest concern of many right now, which is detecting any so-called malign activities by Iran.

If the sanctions are lifted, will if they get more money in Iran, will they turn around and spend that money on terrorist activities, on supporting their proxies such as Hamas and Hezbollah, which Israel has some very serious concerns obviously about what -- in terms of what threat that poses to their security.

So Carter will discuss intelligence sharing, intelligence cooperation. He moves on to Saudi Arabia. The Saudis also very concerned about the same set of problems. The U.S. open to more arms exports to the region, we are told. But don't expect to see anything concluded very rapidly. The focus is on getting past this initial phase of making those allies in the region feel reassured that the U.S. has their back if the Iranian agreement goes through.

COSTELLO: All right. Barbara Starr reporting live from the Pentagon. Thank you.

A scare in the skies, 11 commercial flights struck by a laser last night near Newark Liberty International Airport. This is what it looks like when the powerful green beam shoots into the cockpit. It can be blinding to the pilot and the co-pilot. Air traffic control scrambling to reroute those pilots for landing at Newark. Rene Marsh is in Washington following the story for us.

Good morning, Rene.

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. You know, if anyone needs a reminder, this is a federal crime and we do know the FBI and the FAA, they are now investigating at this point. But you hit it off the head. We're talking about 11 commercial flights struck with this blinding light between 9:00 and 10:30 last night over New Jersey. Now the feds are investigating and you're looking at a breakout of all of the airlines affected. Three American Airlines, two JetBlue flights, one Delta, one United. The list goes on there.

We do know that all of the flights were flying at an altitude below 10,000 feet. So that means they were either in the takeoff or landing portion of the flight. And of course that, as we have said many times before, the most critical point of flight. That is when the pilot is very focused, talking to air traffic control, focused on his controls or her controls in the cockpit. So that is not the time that you want any unexpected blinding distractions. And that's exactly what the FAA is saying happened last night -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So there were five planes and all diverted? Is that unusual to have so many diverted at one time?

MARSH: Well, I mean, you know, air traffic control identified that there was a problem there. And you know 11 in one evening. That's a lot so they identified that there was a problem. And because this is such a critical situation of a blinding light coming into the cockpit as a pilot is either taking off or landing, that's a move that air traffic control had to make. And it makes a lot of sense.

If you know that this light and one pilot after the next is calling in or radioing in that they're having an issue, you have to take some action. Actually, we do have some sound as some of those pilots were reporting this blinding light shining in. Let's take a listen to some of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: United 330-4-R, and we're getting a laser at 10:00 as well now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who's getting a laser at 10:00?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: United 330.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Laser event 10:00 at runway 4 right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And American 19-76 checking in with you and we just got the laser also here at 3,000.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARSH: All right. So that was just two of the 11 commercial flights, who again reporting to the FAA that they had this blinding light shining into the cockpit. Very troubling. We've seen in the past, although it's difficult, they have been able to find individuals responsible for this. And when they do find these individuals they do face some very serious charges.

COSTELLO: All right. Rene Marsh reporting live from Washington. Thank you.

Coming up in the NEWSROOM, Obama unscripted. Is he rewriting the rules when it comes to lame duck presidents? We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:13:45] COSTELLO: The Obama offensive, a feisty president pushes back against critics of the Iran nuclear deal. His patience running thin as the opposition grows. Here he is in the East Room of the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm hearing a lot of talking points being repeated about this is a bad deal. What I haven't heard is, what is your preferred alternative? I challenge those who are objecting to this agreement, number one, to read the agreement before they comment on it. And I think that if Congress does that, then in fact, based on the facts, the majority of Congress should approve of this deal. But we live in Washington, and politics do intrude.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Let's check in with CNN's Michelle Kosinski. She's live at the White House with more.

Good morning.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol. Right. This is something different. Because, you know, it's hard to over state how many times we tend to hear the same things from the president and his administration, especially in the midst of a big issue like this. I mean these carefully crafted phrases that they repeat over and over a million times until you can quote it right back to them word for word.

But this was the president getting out there and really taking on the toughest questions, not from fashion bloggers or comedians, but from the good old White House press corps. And he used plain language, laying out why he feels the preventative aspects of this deal outweigh Iran's terrible behavior.

[09:15:14] So the looser approach that we've been seeing from the president lately, although at the same time when he disapproved he let some folks have it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) OBAMA: Please have a seat.

KOSINSKI (voice-over): President Obama openly addressed the proverbial gorillas in the room.

OBAMA: This deal is not contingent on Iran changing its behavior. It's not contingent on Iran suddenly operating like a liberal democracy. It solves one particular problem, which is making sure they don't have a bomb.

KOSINSKI: The president challenged, chastised critics in Congress.

OBAMA: Explain specifically where it is that they think this agreement does not prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and why they're right and people like Ernie Moniz, as an MIT nuclear physicist and an expert in these issue is wrong, why the rest of the world is wrong. And then present an alternative.

KOSINSKI: But that's not all he took issue with. His annoyance reaching ahead in this exchange.

MAJOR GARRETT, CBS NEWS: There are four Americans in Iran, three held on trumped up charges, and according to your administration, one whereabouts unknown. Can you tell the country, sir, why you are content with all the fanfare around this deal to leave the conscience of this nation, the strength of this nation unaccounted for in relation to these four Americans.

OBAMA: I've got to give you credit, Major, for how you craft those questions. The notion that I am content? As I celebrate? With American citizens languishing in Iranian jails?

Major, that's nonsense. And you should know better. I've met with the families of some of those folks. Nobody is content.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSINSKI: Ouch. I mean, that was an unusual moment there. And you know lately we've also heard the president being extremely outspoken on race and on trying to reform the criminal justice system. He used the N word during one interview. He broke out in songs. So maybe we'll see something of the same today when he becomes the first sitting president to tour a federal prison out in Oklahoma -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Michelle Kosinski, reporting live from the White House. Thank you.

President Obama also raised some eyebrows with his strong response to a question about Bill Cosby and whether the comedian should be stripped of his Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The iconic entertainer is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting dozens of women. Here's what the president had to say at his news conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OBAMA: If you give a woman or a man, for that matter, without his or her knowledge, a drug and then have sex with that person without consent, that's rape. And I think this country, any civilized country, should have no tolerance for rape.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The president says there's no mechanism to revoke the medal, but an online petition by an advocacy group wants to show the public outcry. More than 12,000 people have signed on demanding the medal be taken back.

This morning we heard from one of Cosby's accusers who applauded the president's words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARBARA BOWMAN, ACCUSES BILL COSBY OF RAPE: To hear now that I don't have to scream my story anymore, that it's possible that the president will revoke the medal which I personally believe should happen. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the most prestigious and well honored and earned degree. And for Cosby to stand alongside those wonderful prestigious people who have made amazing cultural contributions is a disgrace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The president's no holds barred attitude about Cosby raised the criminal justice system, Iran, and reporters did not go unnoticed. Take a look at this headline in the "Washington Post." Here it is. "The Black President Some Worried About Has Arrived." There it is.

The article begins with this. Quote, "There's this thing people sometimes say down south. So-and-so is acting brand new."

So let's talk about what exactly that means. With me now, Michaela Angela Davis, a cultural critic and writer, and Nia-Malika Henderson, CNN senior politics reporter.

Welcome to both of you.

So, Michaela, what does that saying about down south mean?

(LAUGHTER)

MICHAELA ANGELA DAVIS, CULTURAL CRITIC AND WRITER: I think it's so funny to hear like the president referred to as feisty and acting brand new. I think we're all getting like very familiar. I would think he's more kind of bad and minus his glass, I think that's how he's acting right now. But I think this idea that he's brand new is taking away from the fact that I think this is a very strategic president, that he understands timing, that he understands diplomacy and when is the right time to get a little bit more gangster if you will with the press corps or whomever.

[09:20:17] COSTELLO: Did you just say gangs? DAVIS: I did. I did.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Nia, tell me how you feel about this.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I don't think I can top that in calling the president gangster. But I do think this is a different side of the president that we're seeing. It's come in, I think, waves. I think last summer for instance there was this whole theme of the bear on the loose, Obama getting out more. And so I think you have it in two ways.

And on one hand there is a policy shift in terms of the president doing things like signing an executive order on immigration reform, being more bold on Cuba, this Iran policy. And then there is just sort of a personality looseness as well that we see from this president, singing from the pulpit of that Baptist funeral down in South Carolina. And so I think we have seen it. But I do think just more broadly in terms of race.

If you look at what his rhetoric was on race in his first term, he talks about race far less than any other president going back to 1961. And you see in his second term he's addressed it much more and partly that's because of them have demanded that he talk about it. Now he's getting down to talking about policy as well.

I do think there's another thing here going on. Eric holder used to be Obama's race man, right? Eric Holder is no longer there. He sent, for instance, Eric Holder to Ferguson. He didn't go himself. Eric Holder was always more strident on race. And in some ways I think Obama is becoming his own race man on this administration.

COSTELLO: Interesting. Of course the moment in that presser that's getting the most buzz is the president's dressing down of CBS' Major Garrett. Now in my mind, Major Garrett took a shot at the president and the president shot back. Right. So that's what happens when you ask such a -- I don't know if it's a loaded question?

(CROSSTALK)

HENDERSON: It's kind of a loaded question. I think it was, actually. Yes.

DAVIS: Yes. But the way that it was framed was, I think, disrespectful. But also, we have to understand that so many incredible things have happened during this presidency and particularly this last year from Charleston to Ferguson, things that have forced him to really reconcile and talk openly about race and violence and rape and guns. Things -- so it's not just that he's acting brand new.

Things -- extraordinary circumstances have also moved him forward. And also I think Loretta Lynch is going to be on, you know, race too. I don't think that he's had to trade places with Holder. I just think it's time to work on this, right? And that they understand that we're at a time in our culture and Charleston alone has really I think made everyone move forward.

COSTELLO: Well, going back to Major Garrett for just a second, Nia, because when -- I've listened to the question time and time again. And maybe I've just grown jaded over the years. But it's like, he's just trying to get a rise out of the president and he actually did.

HENDERSON: And he admitted this. He said he was meant to be provocative. And lord knows we're talking about him today because he asked that question in such a provocative way. I do think it was a little loaded. His question. I don't think it was necessarily disrespectful but he got his moment. We all know Major down here and he certainly asks questions like this and is a very dogged reporter. And good for him for asking the question in that way and getting a rise out of the president that way.

COSTELLO: And he stands by it. I heard him on CBS' "Morning Show," he said I stand by it.

HENDERSON: Yes.

COSTELLO: I feel that I haven't done enough reporting on these Americans being held hostage in Iran. And I felt that I needed to phrase my question just that way.

Thanks for the great conversation, Michaela Angela Davis and Nia- Malika Henderson. I appreciate it.

Still to come on the NEWSROOM, Clinton's cashing in. So why does one of her top advisors say she has a lot of work to do? I'll talk to her next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[09:28:16] Jimmy Fallon, Host, The Tonight Show: Some bad news for Donald Trump. I read that the controversial remarks he's made since he began his presidential campaign have cost his brand as much as $80 million. You can tell things are rough for Trump. Today he wiped his mouth with a napkin instead of a $20 and he was like this is humiliating.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Jimmy Fallon having a little fun at the expense of Donald Trump and his vast wealth. For his part, Trump is giving the most detailed look at his finances ever thanks to a disclosure to the Federal Election Commission.

Well, the actual report is not yet available on the FEC Web site. Trump's campaign says his net worth exceeds $10 billion. The news comes on the very same day Trump and rival Ted Cruz held a meeting in Manhattan. It was just them together. Cruz telling reporters about why he respects Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There are a number of Republican presidential candidates who have gone out of their way to try to whack Donald Trump with a stick. I'm not one of them. One of the things I really respect and admire about Donald Trump is he stands up and he focuses on the problem of immigration and he speaks the truth. We need a lot more of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Ted Cruz is offering a peek into his own campaign fundraising. Federal filings show the Texas senator has raked in nearly $14 million. His rival Jeb Bush adding $11.4 million. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton has raised a whopping $47 million. That's the most of any candidate on either side. Bernie Sanders coming in at just over $15 million.

We should note that these filings provided by campaigns to the Federal Election Commission do not include any money raised by super PACs or other outside groups.