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Confessed Mass Murderer Due Back in Court; Bush Senior Hospitalized; 11 Commercial Flights Struck by Laser Beams; Reality TV Show Cancelled After Scandal; Inside Mexican Drug Lord's Tunnel; Defense Secretary Carter Visits Israel; Aired 10-10:30p ET

Aired July 16, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[10:00:30] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now on the NEWSROOM.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That's nonsense.

COSTELLO: President Obama outspoken and on the offensive.

OBAMA: What is your preferred alternative?

COSTELLO: Talking everything from Iran to Bill Cosby. Is he rewriting the rules for a lame duck president?

Also, tracing out El Chapo's last moments before he vanished.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This here was the blind spot that provided him access to this tunnel that led to his escape.

COSTELLO: From cell to tunnel to freedom.

VALENCIA: This is the bike that El Chapo used to ride out of the prison. It still has gas in it.

COSTELLO: CNN takes you inside the infamous drug lord's extravagant escape plan.

Plus, Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof expected in court at any moment. Will he be formally charged? Will we ever hear the 911 calls from that tragic night when nine people were gunned down? A judge could decide today.

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.

At any moment we'll get a new glimpse of confessed mass murderer Dylann Roof. The 21-year-old is due in court for last month's rampage that killed nine worshippers inside an African-American church. It was a cowardly act by a hate-filled young man and it reverberates today. This image alone ignited a new national debate over the Confederate

flag and even prompted South Carolina to pull the controversial symbol from its capitol grounds. President Obama at the funeral said it was time for a national discussion.

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OBAMA: We do not know whether the killer of Reverend Pinckney and eight others knew all of this history, but he surely sensed the meaning of his violent act. It was an act that drew on a long history of bombs and arson and shots fired at churches. Not random but as a means of control. A way to terrorize and oppress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN's Alina Machado sets the stage for this hour's proceedings. Good morning.

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Well, Dylann Roof is expected to be in court for this hearing. We are told he will be served indictments for the three attempted murder charges that were added last week. Those charges are for each of the three survivors of the attack that took place at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston last month.

Now the court will also address a number of miscellaneous issues including an order that was signed by the judge, by Judge JC Nicholson, that essentially put a gag order in place preventing anyone with information about the investigation or the potential trial from releasing any information to the public.

That order also stopped the release of the 911 calls and any document related to the case, documents like the medical examiner's reports, information from Roof's medical and mental health records, and any witness statements. Several media organizations are challenging that order.

Now the last time Roof appeared in court, it was through a video uplink from the detention center, and it was for his bond hearing on June 19th. You may remember that several family members of the victims had an opportunity to speak during that hearing. It's unclear at this point if any of them will be at today's hearing.

Authorities in Charleston have remained tight-lipped about what we can expect today but they have said they do not believe Roof will be entering a plea today. Roof, as you mentioned, according to law enforcement officials, has confessed to the killings -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Alina Machado reporting live for us this morning. Thanks so much.

With me is now, Danny Cevallos, CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney.

Good morning, Danny. Thanks for being here. So this indictment, Roof will likely not plead guilty or not guilty or -- why not? DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: He'll plead not guilty. I mean,

he should just as a matter of course.

COSTELLO: But he confessed.

CEVALLOS: He did confess and a lot of times that's what a lot of the members of the public say. They see a case, they say there's so much overwhelming evidence against defendant, why doesn't he just plead guilty at the outset? And I think even his attorney would be doing him a disservice. He technically could plead guilty. There is a 99.99 percent chance that he will plead not guilty because one of the main reasons, even in the face of overwhelming evidence, sometimes a defendant pleading guilty is the only token they have left.

[10:05:10] And their counsel in zealously representing them may be able to secure some sort of agreement from the prosecution, whether that be taking the death penalty off the table, some sort of reduced sentence in other cases. Oftentimes in cases like this, that guilty plea may be the only thing he has left.

COSTELLO: Well, it's just there's such a preponderance of evidence against him. They have the video of him going into the church and --

CEVALLOS: You know, I hear that a lot. When people say why -- you know, why waste all this time and resources?

COSTELLO: Exactly.

CEVALLOS: In going through a trial? But really, Carol, when it comes down to it, this is the one thing in our system that we should never think of as a waste. A trial is more than just an expensive proposition. For victims and witnesses or family members, this may be an opportunity to have a public, maybe even ceremonial catharsis of their pain. For them it may be good. And obviously for many victims it's not that, it's the opposite. It's much more painful to watch it happen.

But if you believe in punishment and the idea of retribution, a public trial is essential to the order of government because the idea is that the people see that the government is doing its job, and, of course, a defendant, you know, it's cases like this that are the strongest case for a public trial, as prolonged as it may be, because we want to say, hey, this is one of our worst defendants ever and even he is entitled to the rule of law, even he is entitled to a full jury trial and all the privileges and protections of our Constitution.

COSTELLO: OK. Well, let's talk about the -- why the judge won't release the 911 tapes or any other police records pertaining to this case.

CEVALLOS: This is always a very difficult balancing test. There is a First Amendment right of access. The presumption that court proceedings should be public and they can't be sealed just because information may be embarrassing or sensitive. Closing a court docket is a very, very difficult choice that is left to each judge in each situation. And they have to balance the public's right of access with the potential harm of releasing information about this particular case.

And I will tell you, Carol, that the court rules disfavor closing cases. So it has to be a very, very important reason. Another consideration, too, is that pretrial publicity can affect the outcome of a case. It can make a case, a conviction, appealable. And we've seen that in the past. The Supreme Court dealt with that very issue. It's rare. The mere fact that there's pretrial publicity will not lead to the overturning of a conviction, but if that pretrial publicity materially affected the outcome of the case, materially prejudiced the defendant, then they may prevail on appeal of a guilty verdict that everyone else may think was very, very strong.

So the judge has to be very cautious. It's a difficult balancing test with many constitutional considerations, but each judge has to make a case-by-case determination.

COSTELLO: All right. Danny Cevallos, thanks so much. I appreciate the insight.

In other news this morning, President George H.W. Bush is in stable condition this morning after breaking a bone in his neck. The 91- year-old fell Wednesday while at his home in Kennebunkport. His spokesman said the injury is not life threatening. Tweeting a few hours ago that President Bush remains hospitalized at Maine Medical Center.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is following the story for us from Washington. Good morning.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol. Well, the former president spent the night in a hospital in Portland, Maine, and he is still hospitalized at this hour.

He took a fall yesterday while at their family home in Kennebunkport breaking a vertebrae in his neck and aides say he will be wearing a neck brace as he recovers in the days coming up. Now medical experts say this sort of injury, it can be very serious for some. Here is what CNN's Sanjay Gupta had to say.

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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: One of the biggest concerns, though, even in some ways more so than the broken neck itself, is this is a guy who is 91 years old, who's had problems with lung problems in the past, developing a pneumonia, developing some sort of lung infection. Would be a very serious problem. So getting him up and about quickly I think is going to be the name of the game. If we hear that he's still in the hospital in the bed for several more days, that's going to raise some more flags.

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SERFATY: Now 91 Bush is the oldest living former U.S. president and he's had some pretty significant health problems in the past. Last year he was -- he was hospitalized for shortness of breath. He also suffers from Parkinson's Disease and in 2012 he was in the hospital for two months for a bronchitis related cough.

Now this morning we're hearing some reaction from his family. His granddaughter Jenna saying that they are optimistic that he will heal well.

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JENNA BUSH, GRANDDAUGHTER: Yes. He's doing OK. I mean, he's not the typical 91-year-old. He jumped out of a plane so I think he can manage a minor neck injury.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:10:03] SERFATY: And aides say they do expect him to be in the hospital not for long but as of now, Carol, he is still hospitalized.

COSTELLO: All right. Sunlen Serfaty reporting live from Washington. Thank you.

A scare in the skies. Lasers pointed at 11 commercial flights last night near Newark airport. This is what it looks like when that powerful green beam shoots into the cockpit. It can blind the pilots.

Here is a map showing the target area of where those planes were hit when the beams, you know, went inside the cockpit. Most of the flights were near Newark, near the airport itself. Others as far south as Ocean City, Maryland.

Rene Marsh is in Washington following this for us. Good morning.

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. All of these 11 commercial flights, they were struck with that blinding light similar to what you just showed there and it all happened between 9:00 and 10:30 last night over New Jersey. So now we know this morning the FAA, they are investigating to try to get to the bottom of who is behind this.

We do have a breakout of all of the airlines affects, all of the flights we know were flying at an altitude below 10,000 feet. So that means either this was the portion of flight that was takeoff or landing which, as you know, is the most critical point of flight.

You're looking at your screen there. Those are all of the airlines that reported -- their pilots reported that they were struck with this green laser light.

Let's take a listen to just two of those incidents as the pilots, they were struck, and how they radioed that into air traffic control. Take a listen.

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

UNIDENTIFIED AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Who's getting a laser at 10:00? UNIDENTIFIED PILOT: United 330.

UNIDENTIFIED AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: All right. Laser event 10:00 at runway 4 right.

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARSH: So you want to know what this is like? Carol, imagine being in a pitch black vehicle and someone takes a camera and that flash goes off, and then try flying a plane with hundreds of people on board and coming in for a landing. So you get just how complicated, how dangerous this sort of distraction is when a pilot is either taking off or coming in for landing.

It really is tough to try to track down. It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack to find who is behind this laser, but authorities have been successful before. They have been able to find people before, and when they do, they do face some pretty tough charges we know at the very least they could face up to five years behind bars as well as thousands of dollars in fines, Carol.

COSTELLO: Well, I hope they find them because that's just idiotic.

Rene Marsh, many thanks to you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: This is the bike El Chapo used to ride out of the prison. Still has gas in it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: We'll take you inside El Chapo's tunnel next.

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[10:17:22] COSTELLO: All right. This news just into CNN. TLC said it has canceled "19 Kids and Counting," that was this TV reality show that featured the Duggar family. Of course this happened in the wake of child molestation revelations within the family.

And I know that you've heard about these allegations involving Josh Duggar and his sisters Jessa and Jill.

Brian Stelter is our media correspondent who joins us now. It took them a long time but TLC decided it was time for that show to end.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: That's right. They're now just in the last few minutes confirming the show will not be resuming production. The issue, Carol, was the cameras weren't rolling in May when these

revelations surfaced thanks to "In Touch" magazine. So the network was able to wait a little while before deciding what to do. You remember they removed the episodes from the schedule right away and also wiped them off the Internet. So the show disappeared but they always left open the possibility that maybe it would come back.

And now today for the first time they're saying no, they're not going to resume production. They are going to cancel the series. However, they are leaving the door open to a possible spinoff sometime in the future. Not right now but --

COSTELLO: A spinoff involving Jessa and Jill?

STELTER: Yes. There's an idea that maybe some of the daughters will be featured in a new show but again that will be down the road. The bottom line is that this show, "19 Kids and Counting," will not be returning to the schedule. They won't be resuming production but they also won't be bringing the old episodes back either.

That is a big deal for TLC on a business level. Obviously it's one of those popular shows, highest rated shows, so they are taking a business hit here but culturally there would have been a whole lot of criticism if they had tried to bring the show back.

COSTELLO: So we may or may not see some of the Duggars on television again?

STELTER: There's always a possibility for a spinoff like that. The one time we know that some of the daughters will be back on TLC this fall is for a one-time special. I'm just being told about this from TLC. They are going to do a commercial-free special about the issue of child molestation. They're actually working with a couple of groups that advocate on behalf of victims of child molestation to produce and air a special that will try to tell the stories of Jill and Jessa. Those are the two women that spoke publicly about this.

COSTELLO: So Jill and Jessa will appear in this hour-long special in child molestation.

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STELTER: Yes, they're going to appear in this special. These are the women that were interviewed by FOX News who defended their brother in some cases and tried to describe what had actually happened to them. They will be participating in this special. And I have a feeling one of the reasons why it's taken a couple of months to get to this point is because TLC was in negotiations with this family. They were trying to figure out what they could do with this family in the future.

Obviously a really difficult situation on a number of levels. Business wise obviously but also emotionally. You know, this is a family that was really in crisis, that never expected these old molestation allegations to surface and become the big story they became.

COSTELLO: All right. Brian Stelter, many thanks. I appreciate it.

STELTER: Thanks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: It's very difficult to breathe down here. A lot of dirt, dust. This here for the ventilation system. Tight, tight space down here.

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[10:20:03] COSTELLO: CNN heads inside El Chapo's tunnel as authorities around the world hunt for Mexico's most wanted fugitive.

Nick Valencia showing us the very escape route the drug lord took just five days ago from inside El Chapo's cell down into the elaborate tunnel below.

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VALENCIA (on camera): This is where he kept his belongings.

(Voice-over): For the first time our cameras are allowed inside cell number 20.

(On camera): This is some remnants of what he left behind, the sink that he used to wash himself.

(Voice-over): For nearly a year and a half, Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was imprisoned behind these bars.

(On camera): That's the access point that El Chapo used to escape outside of this maximum security prison. This wall providing a blind spot for that 24-hour surveillance camera.

(Voice-over): Just five days ago that camera captured one of Mexico's most notorious drug lords vanishing below the shower floor.

(On camera): Here we go.

(Voice-over): A mile away from Mexico's maximum security prison, I climbed into the tunnel's exit.

(On camera): There's another ladder leading down into another part, a deeper part, a deeper section of the tunnel.

(Voice-over): It's hard to estimate how long and how many people it took to create this remarkable feat of engineering.

(On camera): You see here electricity lines. It's very difficult to breathe down here. A lot of dirt, dust. This here for the ventilation system. This motorcycle was on a track here. This is the bike that El Chapo used to ride out of the prison. It still has gas in it.

(Voice-over): The track also fixed with carts, used to carry out thousands of pounds of soil.

(On camera): Roll back and forth. You see that? There's buckets left behind. And look at this. Left behind oxygen tanks as well in order for them to survive down here. It is a very tight space. I can't even stand up. I'm about 5'10". I can't even stand up all the way.

(Voice-over): But the tunnel just right for Mexico's 5'6" most wanted fugitive.

Nick Valencia, CNN, outside the Altiplano prison, Mexico.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: As for the hunt, officials in the United States and Mexico are exchanging information. They're trying to find this guy. But as we've been telling you, Mexico has actually rejected some offers of help from the United States. Still one DEA officer is vowing El Chapo will be captured saying, quote, "If I was him, I'd be looking over my shoulder."

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, President Obama talking tough and adopting a bolder new tone as his presidency winds down. Should we expect more of what the president says is his fearless attitude?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:26:50] COSTELLO: We're learning new details about a visit to Israel next week by Defense Secretary Ash Carter. This visit comes just days after that historic nuclear agreement with Iran. The U.S. now offering to boost aid to Israel including the possibility of more military defense equipment. Moments ago Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this about the deal.

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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: When Arabs, many Arabs, and Israelis agree, I think it's worth paying attention. Our fate is most immediately affected by this deal, and the fact that this unreformed Iran gets hundreds of billions of dollars into its coffers right away or very soon, it won't take long for these sanctions relief to take place, I think raises questions for us whether, in fact, what we'll get is more terrorism, more aggression, more subversion rather than the opposite.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. Let's get more now from CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

Good morning.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Ash Carter had been scheduled to go to the Middle East next week anyhow, but now, of course, this trip takes on a much different tone. Two of the key stops will be Israel and Saudi Arabia, and he's going to be talking about the Iran deal, trying to reassure both of those countries.

As for Israel, officials here at the Pentagon are telling us it's not that there's a specific package of arms that Carter will offer. The Israelis know the door is open to additional weapons sales if they want to take advantage of that, but Carter will talk about reassuring them, offering perhaps more intelligence sharing, more intelligence cooperation to satisfy and deal with Israel's concerns that once the sanctions on Iran are lifted, Iran has more money, Iran can finance more what the U.S. calls malign activities, support for its proxies like Hezbollah and Hamas that cause Israel so much concern.

So look for some of those closed-door conversations about intelligence sharing to happen both in Israel and when Carter moves on to Saudi Arabia. Will there be more arms sales to the Middle East? Inevitably there will be, but it may be too soon right now to talk about that. Israel very much focused, it appears, on trying to get the deal quashed in Congress and if they cannot, then we'll see what the next steps may be -- Carol.

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

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

President Obama on the offense as he sells his Iran deal to the American public. Part of his efforts on display during a press conference at the White House yesterday. Things getting heated during this exchange with CBS White House correspondent Major Garrett.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJOR GARRETT, CBS NEWS: 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 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?