Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Former President George H. W. Bush Hospitalized; President Obama Defends Nuclear Deal with Iran; Cell from Which Mexican Drug Cartel Leader Escaped Examined; Caitlyn Jenner Honored at the ESPYs; Interview with Rep. Steve King. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired July 16, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00] SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- Maine, breaking a vertebrae in his neck. And he will be in a neck brace, that's according to aides. His spokesman tweeting in the last hour, quote, "President Bush remains hospitalized at Maine medical center. We will send updates as they become available."

And while we have seen the former president in the last few years out and about, skydiving, most recently just last year on his 90th birthday, he is of course the oldest living former U.S. president and he's had some pretty significant health problems in the past. Last year he was hospitalized for shortness of breath. In 2012 he was in the hospital for two months for a bronchitis related cough. And he used a wheelchair because he has Parkinson's disease.

Just last week in Maine Bush showed up at multiple events with donors for his son's presidential campaign, but he did miss Jeb Bush's big campaign announcement when he declared he was running for president in June. His wife attended that announcement without him.

And Jenna Bush this morning, she tweeted out her thanks for the thoughts, for the prayers for her grandfather, saying they are optimistic that he will heal well. Alisyn?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: As we all are. Sunlen, thank you so much for that.

We want to bring in now CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Good morning, Sanjay. So a broken bone in his neck, that still sounds serious?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. There are several bones in the neck. What I've read is that the vertebrae, which is one of the bones in the front of the neck, in front of the spinal cord, is what's broken. This is not an uncommon type of fracture. The big question, and this is what I was trying to figure out from reading the information we're getting, did he have any weakness or numbness in his hands as a result? Did that bone push on his spinal cord?

And from what I've read, Alisyn, and you've read a lot of the same things, it doesn't sound like that happened. It also doesn't sound like they're thinking he needs any sort of operation. They're going to put him in a neck brace, they're saying, which is a pretty standard treatment for someone who doesn't have movement of that bone. That bone is not pushing on the spinal cord. They think if they just put him in a neck brace, the bone will heal. That's the hope.

He's 91 years old. He's going to heal more slowly than other people, people who have fractures in the neck, people who have fractures in the hip, things like that. You worry that they don't become immobilized. You want to make sure they get up out of bed and they're moving around, things like that.

CAMEROTA: Of course. And even with this injury, the fear is with any sort of break in or around the neck is that there could be paralysis. How did he avoid that?

GUPTA: It's a little bit unclear. We haven't seen any images, but what can happen is essentially you can have what's called a non- displaced fracture. You think about the bone and it looks like a block, think of building blocks all stacked up one on top of each other. That's what the bones in front of the spinal cord look like. You can have sort of just a crack, if you will, in one of those bones. So the bones don't actually move but there's definitely a fracture going through the bones. That could happen. And that's a more common scenario than someone actually breaking the bone and developing paralysis or weakness or numbness as a result.

So again, it sounds like that's what's happened. We've not seen the images, but based on the fact that they expect him to go home quickly, based on the fact that they're not planning an operation, they're just going to treat him with a neck brace, that does sound positive.

One of the biggest concerns, though, even in some way more so than the broken neck itself, is this is a guy who's 91 years old, has had 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, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Let me just put that graphic back up, because he has had a series of health scares recently. He was hospitalized for shortness of breath in December. He was hospitalized for two months, as you were mentioning, Sanjay, for bronchitis related cough, that was in 2012. He does have Parkinson's disease. He is wheelchair bound.

And, as you point out, at 91-years-old, what is a relatively minor injury for other people sometimes, as we've all seen with older people, does have this cascading effect, and suddenly they do have problems with their long or their heart if they are not mobile. So that's what you as a doctor would be keeping an eye on?

GUPTA: Yes, absolutely. And there's all kinds of studies on exactly what you are describing, Alisyn. We know, for example, if people who are elderly get a hip fracture, even if that hip fracture is treated well, they get good care, it's fast care, this is a -- it does worsen other medical problems, especially if it makes you more immobilized. You can think of a neck fracture, an isolated neck fracture sort of

the same way. Even if it did not cause paralysis, the rehab around this, he's going to wear this neck brace. How debilitating is that going to be for him?

[08:05:00] I know that sounds like a simple thing, but again, because he is 91-years-old, because he has these other things, he has this form of Parkinson's, all of that is going to play a role here. Also his treating doctors, and, again, this may sound like a simple thing, what caused the fall? Was this just something -- did he trip? He's in a wheelchair typically. Was he standing at the time? Again, these aren't details that we have, but in order to put all the pieces of the puzzle together, you'd want to know the answers to those questions as well.

CAMEROTA: Sanjay, on a separate note, I see the beautiful skyline of Boston behind you. What are you doing in Boston?

GUPTA: I'm going to spend some time with Betsy Nabel today. She's the first NFL chief health advisor. She got announced just a couple of months ago. We've been asking her to sit down and talk to us, a lot of questions about the NFL, a lot of questions about the intersection between medicine and the NFL, something I'm very interested in. So she's giving us an exclusive interview and we're going to ask you some questions and hopefully report that for you.

CAMEROTA: OK. We'll look forward to that. Sanjay, thanks so much for all of the information on President Bush.

GUPTA: You got it. Thank you.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Sanjay, going to refer to his seven year career as an outside linebacker for the New England Patriots.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: The White House on the hard sell with the Iran deal today. They say there is no better deal available than the one that was made, period. The president, as we have not seen him before, taking it to critics and reporters. Let's check in with CNN's Michelle Kosinski live at the White House. Michelle?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Chris, this is very much the looser approach that we've seen lately from the president. You could also figure he needed to do this, especially on this issue, to just get out there, take on the tough questions, mix it up with the White House press corp. And this is plain language, too, laying out why he feels the preventative aspect of the deal outweigh all the terrible things that Iran is capable of. At the same time, though, when the president disapproved, he let some folks have it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Please have a seat.

KOSINSKI: 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 Iran doesn't have a bomb.

KOSINSKI: The president challenged, chastised critic in Congress.

OBAMA: Explain specifically where it is they think this agreement does not prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and why they're right and people like Ernie Moniz, who is an MIT nuclear physicist and an expert in these issues, 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 a head in this exchange.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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 leave the conscience of this nation, the strength of this nation unaccounted for in relation to these four Americans.

OBAMA: I give you credit, Major, for how you craft those questions. The notion that I'm 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's content.

KOSINSKI: He even took one question on Bill Cosby, on whether his Medal of Freedom should be taken back. And he answered it.

OBAMA: I'll say this, 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSINSKI: It was interesting. On Iran, the president even admitted that once Iran is flush with cash, billions of dollars when sanctions are lifted, yes, it is likely they will spend at least some of that on continuing to fund terror. The president said that's not a game- changer, that blocking Iran's path to a nuclear weapon is more important, and the other stuff can be prevented through other means as well.

The president's been extremely outspoken too, lately, on race, on criminal justice reform. We should hear more of that today when he becomes the first sitting president to visit a federal prison out in Oklahoma. Back to you guys.

CAMEROTA: That will be interesting, Michelle. Thanks so much for covering all of that. Well, 10,000 soldiers and police officers looking all over Mexico for fugitive drug lord "El Chapo." So far no reported sign of Guzman. But we re getting an up close look at the cell that he escaped from and the tunnel he followed to freedom. So let's bring in CNN's Nick Valencia. He is live from Mexico and he ventured into that cell and tunnel. What did you see, Nick?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. It was a journey to get there, at least 13 checkpoints inside this maximum security prison.

[08:10:04] We had to show our I.D.'s multiple times, finally arriving to the area where the high value prisoners were. It was a cell block of at least eight cells, home to the country's most ruthless killers and murderers, criminals. And in that corner cell was where "El Chapo" was until he escaped on Saturday night.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: For the first time our cameras are allowed inside cell number 20.

This is some remnants of what he left behind, the sink that he used to wash himself.

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

That the access point "El Chapo" used to escape outside of this maximum security prison, this wall providing a blind spot for that 24- hour surveillance camera.

Just five days ago that camera captured one of Mexico's most notorious drug lords vanishing below the shower floor. A mile away from Mexico's maximum security prison, I climbed into the tunnel's exit.

Here's another ladder leading down into another, deeper part of the tunnel.

It's hard to estimate just how long and how many people it took to create this remarkable feat of engineering.

You see here electricity lines. It's very difficult to breathe down here, a lot of dirt, dust. This here is 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.

The track, also fixed with carts, used to carry out thousands of pounds of soil.

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.

But the tunnel just right for Mexico's 5'6" most wanted fugitive. (END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: And this just in to CNN, we are now learning that "El Chapo" has been added to Interpol's list. This manhunt for the world's most notorious drug trafficker has turned worldwide. Chris?

CUOMO: All right, Nick, thank you very much for literally getting in there and getting to the bottom of that story for us.

We want to tell you about this scare in the skies for several commercial pilots over New Jersey. As many as five planes getting hit once again with lasers around 9:00 last night. Listen to some of the exchanges with air traffic control.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're getting 10:00 now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: United 330.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pan American 1976 checking in with you, and we just got the laser off at 3,000.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: The lasers are so bad that air traffic control reportedly rerouted some of the planes so they could land. New Jersey state police and the FAA is investigating. They believe at this point it's about mischief. I mean, this is certainly, Alisyn, stupid on display. And you were saying it hit close to home.

CAMEROTA: My husband travels all the time for work. He said that last night he was landing at that time, and he said it was the scariest landing he's had in 10 years, scariest air experience. He said he felt they were landing very quickly, and then when they got a couple hundred feet from the ground they took off again.

CUOMO: It blinds them, the lasers.

CAMEROTA: So really scary stuff.

Meanwhile this story has gotten so much attention online so far. Congressional scrutiny for Planned Parenthood after a video emerges reportedly showing an official discussing the sale of aborted fetus parts. Republican lawmakers including House Speaker John Boehner are calling for hearings to investigate Planned Parenthood now. The group says in a statement that the video in question is highly edited and the claims made by an anti-abortion are, quote, "flat-out untrue."

CUOMO: Caitlyn Jenner accepting the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPY's last night. It was her first major public appearance since transitioning to a woman. And Jenner used it to call for tolerance and to quiet critics. CNN's Stephanie Elam is live in Los Angeles with the highlights. What did we see?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris. It was in 1976 when Bruce Kenner stepped out as the world's greatest athlete. Last night Caitlyn Jenner took to the stage in a whole new arena.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM: In the world of sports Bruce Jenner made his mark in 1976 winning gold in the Olympic decathlon.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The courageous, the stunning Caitlyn Jenner.

(APPLAUSE)

ELAM: But at the ESPY's it was Caitlyn Jenner who took center stage as the recipient of the 2015 Arthur Ashe Award for courage.

CAITLYN JENNER, ESPY AWARD RECIPIENT: This transition has been harder on me than anything I could imagine.

ELAM: In her speech, Jenner joked about women's fashion.

JENNER: Picking out this outfit, OK, girls, I get it.

[08:15:01] ELAM: Yet used the spotlight to focus on people who are transgender like her, but who live without the protection of fame.

JENNER: If you want to call me names, make jokes, doubt my intentions, go ahead, because the reality is, I can take it. But for the thousands of kids out there coming to terms with being true to who they are, they shouldn't have to take it.

ELAM: Jenner got emotional when she addressed her family.

JENNER: The biggest I've always had in coming out was I never wanted to hurt anyone else, most of all my family and my kids. I always wanted my children to be so proud of their dad.

ELAM: On the red carpet, some of the athletes talked about the focus on Jenner.

VICTOR ESPINOZA, JOCKEY, AMERICAN PHAROAH: I think it's amazing. You know, life is all about happiness.

JENNIE FINCH, U.S. SOFTBALL PLAYER: Everyone can choose who they want to be and he has that opportunity.

J.J. REDICK, L.A. CLIPPERS GUARD: I certainly knew who he was prior to the Kardashians. I'm very happy with what she is doing now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think she's definitely stolen the headlines.

ELAM: Stolen headlines about the ESPYs for what Caitlyn's doing, not for what Bruce has done.

JENNER: We're all different. That's not a bad thing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM: And for the most part, the athletes that I spoke to on the red carpet were supportive of Caitlyn Jenner and what she is accomplishing now. There are a few people who did not want to address it all, and some who seemed to just temper their responses. But overall, while Caitlyn Jenner was on stage, it was very quiet inside of that theater and she did get a standing ovation when she was done.

Alisyn and Chris.

CAMEROTA: Wow. Thanks so much.

CUOMO: Thoughts?

CAMEROTA: I think it's an interesting moment in history. I think that it can't be underscored how important it is for that community, and the fact there does seem to be a level of acceptance in this country which we couldn't have imagined five years ago or ten years ago about what he's gone through.

CUOMO: Yes, it is now accelerating. That's for sure.

The criticism is this isn't closely related to sport enough. But when you look at other recipients of this award in recent years --

CAMEROTA: Robin Roberts.

CUOMO: Pat Summit.

CAMEROTA: Right, Nelson Mandela, who is obviously amazing, but not an athlete.

CUOMO: So it is often a platform to project different values into society that are borne of sport. So why wouldn't it qualify? The biggest shock to me was J.J. Redick, that good-looking guy in the blue jacket, saying I know who Jenner was before this. Really? One of the greatest athletes in American history? I'm glad he knew who he was.

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: Did you know that Bruce Jenner had a career before the Kardashians?

Meanwhile, Donald Trump is soaring in the polls despite the controversy around his campaign or maybe because of the controversy. So we will be speaking with a conservative congressman about what's behind the rise of Donald Trump.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:21:43] CUOMO: Have you noticed that the worse that the critics and party officials and other candidates come at him, the better Trump seems to be doing in the polls? Well, it happens to be the case. So is the party thinking about getting into bed with the Donald?

Let's bring in Congressman Steve King, an Iowa Republican, member of the House Judiciary Committee, chairman of the Conservative Opportunity Society. Good to see you, Congressman. Always a pleasure to have you on NEW DAY. Thank you for taking the opportunity. REP. STEVE KING (R), IOWA: Really good to be back. Thanks a lot,

Chris.

CUOMO: So Donald Trump says he's worth 10 billion. Do you believe it? Does it matter?

KING: I don't know. I've heard numbers a year ago at 7.5 billion. I believe I've heard them say nine billion. Ten billion, there's probably a little bit of blue sky invested in that. But his name's got to be worth something.

CUOMO: And, really, the FEC is worried about people understating their wealth. They're probably not used to someone arguably overstating it. And does it matter if he can't verify it? How much does it bother you?

KING: Well, I've heard Donald Trump say a number of times, and I quote, "I am really rich," close quote. And so I don't think he's backing away from it. And if anybody wants to examine his financial statement and challenge that, that's up to them. But I think it's true that he is really rich.

CUOMO: And that's probably good enough for most. Now, the rest of us in the media may be marveling at his momentum in the polls, but you have to look at it more seriously as one of the party and certainly conservative wing leaders. At what point do you have to decide whether or not to put your arms around Trump and make him a legitimate entity?

KING: Well, I'd say today he is a legitimate entity. And there is something that I see that mirrors some of the path I've followed. You know, I've stepped up and said things that were objective and delicate and truthful. And nobody listened. Then I doubled down on that to the point where they did listened. Then they tried to marginalize me, but I was speaking objective truth and fact.

Donald Trump did the same thing. And in the attempt to marginalize him has pushed him to the top of the polls. So right now he is legitimate, and he is a player. And I would say this, that if the caucus took place in Iowa today, I believe Donald Trump would come out on top.

CUOMO: Is there a concern in that? Because one of the criticisms is what he's doing is stoking outrage. You know, you went through this with your cantaloupe calves things, and how they're all being raped as they come through, and Donald kind of doubled down on that by making it seem as though immigrants were doing all the raping.

But isn't there a line and a balance between being provocative and then painting a picture that is just too negative?

KING: Well I think that sometimes you've just got to grab the American people and shake them a little bit and say, you're not paying attention. They pay attention when Donald Trump speaks. And there, that was June 16 when he first made that statement. It was a week before the news got a hold of it. And I think it might have died down if it hadn't been for the tragic shooting in San Francisco with Kate Steinle. That has added fuel to the fire and it's brought the focus of the entire nation on this. And, Chris, I'm glad we're looking at this now and people are starting to quantify the tragedies in America that are taking place.

CUOMO: But how it's you look at it too, though, right, Congressman? You don't want them to just be, hey, I'm listening to Steve, I'm listening to Donald, and I'm really pissed off now about this. It's not just about stoking anger, because you want progress. Look at what's happened with the San Francisco shooting.

[08:25:00] Obviously the family is not happy that Kate has been made a pawn. We're not talking about how to make the system better. People are deceiving us about what sanctuary cities are. They're blowing numbers all over the place about what immigrants do in this country instead of focusing on progress. Isn't that the risk of just being negatively provocative?

KING: Well, it may be. But I'd go back to the data that's there, and I've dug through this for years. I commissioned a GAO study in 2005, I refreshed it in 2011, I'm referring it again now. And the bottom line data on that is that there are 25,064 criminal aliens in prison right now for murder. And that's our federal penitentiaries. 25,064 -- that's --

CUOMO: And there's no question that you have to do better with enforcement. You have to enforce the law. You have to find ways to get people who are here illegally out of the country. But you don't want to distort the picture of who these people are either, saying, for instance, as Donald did, giving the sense that generally they're all rapists or that they're more criminally predisposed than most. You know, if you know the numbers, that people here, even illegally -- other than the crime of being here illegally -- are many times less likely to engage in criminal activity than people who are native.

KING: You know, Chris, I would say there's a distinction here. Those that are here on green cards are legal immigrants; they do respect the law. In fact, they respect the law a little more than natural born citizens do. But those that are criminal aliens that are here, that have broken the law to get here, commit more crimes than normal citizens do. In fact, the sentencing was 36.7 percent --

CUOMO: That's not what the statistics say. That's not what the statistics say.

KING: No, wait. You didn't hear my argument.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Finish, please.

KING: That of the sentencing, of the federal sentencing commission, 36 percent of those sentenced in federal sentencing are criminal aliens -- excuse me, illegal aliens is the language they use. When you take immigration law out of that, they're 13.2 percent. So that's the objective number out there represent 3.5 percent of the population.

So our illegal aliens are committing crimes almost four times the rate, but they've already demonstrated their disrespect for the law by breaking the law come into the United States.

CUOMO: And obviously what we want to see is that the focus gets somehow gets on not just villainizing or demonizing, but progress. And that's what you haven't had enough of down there where you guys are. And the point is will this dialogue wind up resulting in some type of progress for people?

But thank you for taking us through your thinking on this. As the debate continues, your wing of the party is going to be relevant, certainly early on. Please come back so we can keep the discussion going for the voters.

KING: Thanks for a good morning, Chris. Appreciate it.

CUOMO: All the best to you, sir.

So what do you think about this? You got to hear Representative King on the issue surround Trump and the bigger issues. Tweet us. Use the hashtag #NEWDAYCNN. Post your comment on Facebook.com/newday.

There is a lot of political news. Lucky for you, there's one place where you can go and get all of it. Where? CNNpolitics.com.

Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: I love when you ask the question and answer it. That's a great --

CUOMO: Really? Yes.

CAMEROTA: Exactly.

All right, the hunt for the drug kingpin "El Chapo" still coming up empty this morning in Mexico. The U.S. offering help but Mexico not taking it. We will speak with the DEA agent who has devoted his life to tracking down "El Chapo."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)