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Woman Found Dead in Jail Cell; Chattanooga Investigation; Donald Trump Strikes Back. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired July 21, 2015 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: To find out how you can help, go to CNN.com/Impact.

And we continue on, top of the hour. I'm Brooke Baldwin. You're watching CNN.

In 24 hours, Donald Trump has been called a jackass, a feckless blowhard, a sideshow, a distraction with traction, and, well, as we all know, Donald Trump is not the kind of guy to let insults go, especially not against his rivals.

So, moments ago, the billionaire, who, by the way, is leading many polls, got very personal, including giving out the cell phone number of a sitting United States senator and a rival of his.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So Lindsey Graham says to me, please, please, whatever you can do. You know, I'm saying to myself, what is this guy, a beggar? He's like begging me to help him with "FOX & Friends."

So, I say, OK, and I will mention your name. He said, could you mention my name? I said, yes, I will mention. And he gave me his number. And I found the card. I wrote the number down. I don't know if it's the right number. Let's try it, 202 (NUMBERS DELETED).

I don't know. Maybe it's -- you know, it's three four years ago, so maybe it's an old number. (NUMBERS DELETED) I was coming up and I see your senator. What a stiff. What a stiff, Lindsey Graham.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: By the way, by the way, he's registered zero on the polls. Zero. He's on television all the time.

So, this morning, they told me, Mr. Trump, because Bush said, my tone is not nice, my tone. I said, tone? We need tone. We need enthusiasm. We need tone.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: It's true.

But they said -- and, actually, Hillary Clinton said, I don't like his tone. We have people having their heads cut off, Christians in the Middle East. We have people that are being dumped in cages and drowned in the Middle East. This guy Lindsey Graham gets out and he is out there and he calls me a jackass.

I'm supposed to be -- I'm trying to be nice. I'm working hard to be nice. But every time I turn around, I have -- I have some guy that is hitting me, like, hard. Now, the reason they're hitting me, in all fairness, is when you register zero in the poll, what the hell, they have nothing to lose, right?

And then I thought to myself about Lindsey Graham, you know, I thought it was a very bad statement. You build a fortune, you're a smart guy, you want to do something great for the country, I'm giving up millions of dollars.

I had Macy's terminate a deal because, oh, Don, you're a little controversial. You're talking about illegal immigration. I said it's illegal. And this is why I'm angry at John McCain, for two reasons.

Number one, John McCain, you have got to remember this, he's totally about open borders and all of this stuff. And when I went to Arizona, he called these 15,000 unbelievable people, unbelievable. I know crazies, OK? I know crazies. These were unbelievable American people.

And John McCain, who I supported for president -- I think I raised him over $1 million.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Well, the timing for Trump couldn't be better. You see these numbers? This is a new ABC News/"Washington Post" poll. It puts him at the tip-top here of this Republican field nationwide with 24 percent.

Folks, that is an 11-point lead over his nearest rival, Governor Walker.

So, let me go to South Carolina and bring in my colleague, our chief congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, who is in Bluffton, South Carolina.

And so moments ago, you were in the room with Donald Trump. And you actually asked him afterwards, why did you give out Senator Graham's personal cell phone number? I'm dying to know the answer. What did he tell you?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's roll the tape and we will talk about it on the other side.

BALDWIN: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Why did you read Lindsey Graham's cell phone number?

TRUMP: So people can call him, so he can maybe get something done. But he won't be able to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Shortest sound bite ever.

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: Yes, exactly.

He actually -- the window was already up. He finally decided to roll down the window to answer questions. It was pretty crazy. There were a lot of people around. And it was kind of an intense scene after this event.

But just kind of the backstory here, as you know, not only is he going back and forth with Lindsey Graham in very personal ways. Graham argues that it's because he, Trump, went after somebody who he considers almost like a brother in John McCain.

But remember that Trump is talking here where I am in South Carolina. This is Graham's home state. So, it was personal in so many ways. Let me read to you what Graham's campaign manager put out, because his cell phone number is no longer usable.

I tried. It was the right number, by the way.

BALDWIN: Wow.

BASH: I knew that before.

But, anyway, let me read you the statement from his campaign manager.

[15:05:01]

"Donald Trump continues to show hourly that he is ill-prepared to be commander in chief. The two people most excited about Donald Trump's candidacy are Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Because of Trump's bombastic and ridiculous campaign, we're not talking about Obama's horrible deal with Iran or Hillary Clinton's plan to continue Obama's failed national security agenda."

Now, if you kind of take away a lot of this drama and a lot of this theater, because, let's face it, that's what a lot of this is, there's a very real feeling in a lot of the Republican Party that he has hijacked the conversation, that Trump isn't allowing them to talk about things that they think voters care a lot about.

Having said that, just being here and seeing -- I believe there were about 1,100 people who showed up at this retirement community. They wanted to hear him talking about illegal immigration. They wanted to hear, as many of these voters said to me, somebody who is unplugged and unscripted and not afraid to say things that are not politically correct.

So you definitely have, in this very outspoken man and outspoken opponents, exposing a rift within the Republican Party about where the conversation should be as they go against the Democrats for November 2016.

BALDWIN: And I should also add, I was just -- I was listening to, as always, hanging on your every word, Dana Bash, but I was just being told from my producers in the control room that Lindsey Graham has just tweeted.

And so here we have it, obviously responding with a sense of humor to Donald Trump releasing his personal cell phone, tweeting: "Probably getting a new phone. iPhone or Android?"

So that is Senator Graham's response. Just quickly, listen, you are our political veteran here at CNN, or one of them. You have been in many a room like this. You have heard so many different speeches. Have you ever seen anything like this before?

BASH: No. I really haven't.

I was watching and thinking that same thing. I was also watching the crowd to see how they were reacting. Maybe on television, it didn't look like it was a really raucous crowd. I think it's because it almost was like a one-man show. They were sitting in a theater, and they were mesmerized.

There was a couple of moments where they stood up and applauded, whether it was about illegal immigration or about the Iran deal. But for the most part, they were just enjoying the show and that's a big part of Donald Trump's appeal. He knows that and he tried to stoke that today.

BALDWIN: Dana Bash, thank you very much in Bluffton, South Carolina.

Let me push forward and have a bigger discussion. Let me bring in CNN political commentator S.E. Cupp. And I also have Lou Gargiulo, co- chairman for the Trump campaign in Rockingham County, New Hampshire.

So, to both of you, a big welcome.

And, S.E., you're up to bat first, because let's just put the cell phone bit away for a second and talk about the language being hurled back and forth, you know, words like jackass and bloviator and idiot here being hurled between two presidential candidates. To me, it seems a little juvenile. No?

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, it's pretty embarrassing, I think.

And it's hard to say who is really -- who is really stoking the fires. Lindsey Graham is already fund-raising off of Donald Trump's cell phone stunt. So I think the candidates might complain about Trump, but the smart ones are using him to their advantage and trying to sort of look like the adult. Hard to do when you're calling someone a jackass.

But I think that is sort of the game play for the rest of the field. OK. We have got to deal with this guy, he's doing well in the polls, he's obviously saying some things that some people want to hear. How do we look like grownups, but not alienate the people who seem to be appreciating what he is doing? It's tough for them.

BALDWIN: Lou, you just heard S.E. Is this embarrassing?

LOU GARGIULO, TRUMP CAMPAIGN CO-CHAIRMAN, ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE: No, I don't think it's embarrassing.

I think Mr. Trump has struck a chord in the average American who is sick and tired of the same old, same old of Beltway politics. And I think that his crowds demonstrate that there's a great deal of excitement. Unlike Bernie Sanders -- like Bernie Sanders, who has also struck a chord in the Democratic Party, there are a lot of people who are very sick and tired of seeing nothing happening in Washington, seeing the same people run again time after time and look forward to a do-nothing government.

And with that said, I think Mr. Trump has hit that particular chord. He's talking about things that are important to Americans, things like jobs and immigration, you know, education, Veterans Affairs, all of which are very important. And a vast number of the other candidates are all ducking for cover because they have nothing positive to say. They are not going out there with a strong agenda. He's come out with an agenda and people are excited about it.

(CROSSTALK)

CUPP: Brooke, can I ask Lou a question real quick?

BALDWIN: Sure.

(CROSSTALK)

CUPP: Lou, let me just ask you, what would Donald Trump do to solve the broken VA system?

GARGIULO: First, in New Hampshire, he's committed to seeing that a VA hospital is built. And the veterans in New Hampshire, in many cases, have to travel three and four hours to go to the VA.

[15:10:10]

CUPP: What about the problems at existing hospitals, though?

GARGIULO: There are no existing -- there is no VA hospital in this state.

CUPP: Not in New Hampshire. Nationally. What about the problems at the existing hospitals?

BALDWIN: S.E., I hear you.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: It's on substance, because we read Donald Trump's opinion piece in the "USA Today" yesterday and it was all about the money. He's definitely no doubt thrown a lot of money at veterans causes.

But I think to S.E.'s point, where is the substance? What are the solutions?

Let me go back to you S.E., because, substance or not, these are two big issues, veterans issues and also immigration.

CUPP: Immigration, yes.

BALDWIN: You see what has happened in Washington, or the lack thereof, and in one week, this is a man who single-handedly put these issues front and center.

CUPP: Yes. They are huge issues.

The problem is, most people in the press are going to spend the week asking other GOP contenders if John McCain is a war hero, because Donald Trump comes out with these bombastic statements. Look, he's not wrong. Immigration is an important issue.

I agree with the broad strokes of what he wants to do about it. He's not wrong that ISIS is a major issue. He's not wrong that the Veterans Affairs system is broken. But when he sends out these distractions, like John McCain isn't a war hero, which, by the way, factually, is embarrassing to all of us...

BALDWIN: Yes, let's just move past that one.

CUPP: ... then we don't really talk about the substance. And I don't know what Donald Trump's ideas to solve those problems are.

I wish he would talk about them. He might have some good ones.

BALDWIN: What is an issue the Republicans should be talking about?

(CROSSTALK)

GARGIULO: Republicans should be talking about immigration, clearly.

They should be talking about jobs. We have had a recession and we have come back from a recession with very little job creation. Those are things that Mr. Trump has been able to do in the private sector, create jobs.

You're not hearing any of the candidates on either side of the aisle talking about things that are important to Americans. And when you sit back and you look at the crowds that both he and Bernie Sanders are drawing, one has to take pause. People are excited to have a person speaking plainly about the issues that are of concern to them.

BALDWIN: Lou, let me just stay with you, because I have to bring up the new -- the "Des Moines Register" headline in the paper there, feckless blowhard, feckless blowhard. Do you think this will help him among Iowa conservatives? How will this play?

GARGIULO: I don't think that the media influences the electorate as much people in the media want to give credit to.

I think that "The Des Moines Register" has a perspective. And that's fine. That's their perspective. But I think again the average American, may they be in Iowa, New Hampshire, or South Carolina and anyplace else in the country, are concerned about core issues.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: I do think the media helps steer conversations, A. But, B, my point in the question was, actually, in the end, could it help Trump because of the headline, because it's a liberal-leaning paper?

GARGIULO: I suspect that it probably will help Trump and I suspect a lot of the controversies that are being created certainly help him, because they highlight that he's not the average politician who is talking the Beltway talking points. He's not the person who is looking at the polls and trying to craft a message that meets what the pollsters are looking for.

So he's doing it on his own. And clearly a lot of people are catching on. And I have to say, it's not only Republicans. I'm talking to many Democrats who are starting to take notice as well.

BALDWIN: S.E., let me just move off that and I want to ask you, here we have Ohio Governor John Kasich. He's the latest. He's number 16, right, to jump in this race.

We know that 10 ultimately will go head to head on that debate stage. My question to you is, what do you think will happen on that stage, especially with all of these personal attacks coming out now?

CUPP: Yes.

BALDWIN: Paint the picture for me, please.

CUPP: Yes. Yes. You have to wonder if it's going to be like a wrestling match, you know? You have got all of these guys who are going to be vying for airtime because it's -- you have got a finite period of time. They will probably get 90 seconds to answer a question.

And who knows. Is Trump going to interject and call people names? One would like to think that it will be treated with the decorum and dignity that this kind of platform exists, but I feel like all -- everything -- sort of all bets are off this time with some of the personalities in this race. It's not just Trump. Remember when we used to think Chris Christie was kind of a bully?

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Where is Rand Paul, though?

CUPP: Right. Where is Rand Paul? Exactly. Has anyone seen Rand Paul? You have got Ben Carson, who usually can be counted on to say something insane.

So, hopefully, in my mind, it makes the very serious candidates look serious at the end of the day, but it's definitely going to be entertaining. [15:15:05]

BALDWIN: S.E. Cupp, Lou Gargiulo, thank you both very much.

CUPP: Thank you.

GARGIULO: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, we have some breaking news today involving that Chattanooga shooter. New evidence now points to the motive of terrorism, including an online search he did days before the attack. We also have breaking new details on his uncle.

Also, moments ago, CNN went inside the very same jail cell where an African-American woman was found dead. Her death ruled a suicide, but her family, they are not buying that. And very, very soon, police will be releasing the dash cam video that led to her arrest.

Also, drones, right, they can do a lot of things, but this is a first, potentially a flying gun. Hear who did this, why and what the FAA is saying about this. Details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:20:21]

BALDWIN: President Obama ordered flags flown at half-staff in memory of the Chattanooga shooting victims. The move comes after rising pressures to do so.

Earlier today, the president also paid tribute to each of those victims in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Convention in Pittsburgh.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Back in Massachusetts, Tom Sullivan cheered for the Boston teams.

In battle, said a comrade, Sully was just everything that a Marine should be. In two tours in Iraq, he earned a Combat Action Ribbon; for his wounds, two Purple Hearts. When he was warned that a gunman was there in Chattanooga, he ran in, so that others could live.

Growing up in Georgia, Skip Wells was a true, serving leader. Devoted to God and to his friends. Quick to lend a hand or put you on his prayer list. During his hometown's Fourth of July parade, he was so proud to be a Marine, he went in his dress uniform. Just 21 years old, a year out of boot camp. Easy-going, always smiling, even during the hardest drills.

A friend said, "Skip is the kind of kid you want on your team." As Americans, we are forever grateful that Lance Corporal Squire K. Wells was on our team.

As an Eagle Scout in Arkansas, David Wyatt would race up a mountain to be the first on top. He was determined to do his part for our country, found his calling in the Marines. He led with courage in Afghanistan and Iraq, and with compassion, as a mentor to comrades with post-traumatic stress. It's said he was a gentleman and a gentle man.

Back home, Carson Holmquist was an embodiment of the spirit of Grantsburg, Wisconsin, population 1,300. Loved country music, loved to fish, to hunt, to play football. And he loved the Marines, showing up at his old high school in his dress blues. He's too served in Afghanistan, was devoted to his family. His wife Jasmine, their two year old son. Said his old coach, "Carson always did the best he could."

Today, our nation is stronger because America saw the best of Sergeant Carson A. Holmquist.

And in his hometown in Ohio, Randall Smith is remembered as the high school baseball star with a fierce pitch.

He was a fun and outgoing guy, and a guy they said you just wanted to be around. His buddies in the Navy knew it. He had just reenlisted. And his family knew it too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We are now learning about a possible motive for the gunman who killed those five service members in a targeted massacre at two military sites in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Investigators uncovering the 24-year-old's apparent hatred for the U.S. government in writing. Despite a friend telling CNN that Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez thought ISIS was -- quote -- "stupid," law enforcement officials say newly discovered writings paint a picture of a young man radicalizing and heading down a path of terror.

Let me go to CNN's Sunlen Serfaty, live in Chattanooga.

And, Sunlen, before I ask you what it was that the FBI found, you have news about the gunman's uncle. What do you know?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Brooke.

Well, we have just learned that the uncle of Abdulazeez who lives in Jordan, he's been held and is being questioned by authorities in Jordan and this is according to his lawyer, who says he's been held since Friday. That was just one day after Abdulazeez killed five here in Chattanooga.

Now, that's not to say that this is any guilt. It doesn't put any of the pieces together, but it shows that this is just one part of the investigation that continues. And we're told that the FBI who was already in the region, they are working with the officials in Jordan as this investigation continues.

Now, previous to this, we did know that investigators were really focused on his time with multiple trips that Abdulazeez took to Jordan and especially the last one, leaving in November of last year. According to the lawyer of the uncle, Abdulazeez stayed in the uncle's home. He possibly could have worked at his company, but, surely, Brooke, this new information shows just how broad of a swathe this investigation is, spanning not only here in the United States, but also of course in Jordan.

BALDWIN: All right, Sunlen Serfaty, thank you so much with those new details from Chattanooga on the uncle.

And you know what, today across the country, scenes like these are playing out. Armed civilians and Marines who had long since left their duties guarding military recruitment offices, the message is crystal clear, what happened in Chattanooga, Tennessee, will not happen again, at least not on their watch.

[15:25:12]

BALDWIN: And I want to show you a picture of the White House. We played some of the words from President Obama earlier today in Pittsburgh and so you see the flag there at the top of the White House flying at half-staff in honor of those killed.

I want to bring in retired Marine Staff Sergeant Joey Jones. He was wounded in combat and is now an advocate for the Veterans With the Boot Campaign.

Sergeant Jones, an honor and a privilege, sir. Thank you so much for joining me.

STAFF SGT. JOEY JONES (RET.) U.S. MARINE CORPS: thank you for having me, obviously under terrible circumstances.

BALDWIN: Terrible circumstances. But we wanted to talk to you because you went through that very same recruitment center in Chattanooga where this happened. Staff inside these centers, they are not armed. That would be against policy. Do you think they should be?

JONES: I think, at this point, we have to consider the fact that this is the 21st incident and that these are targets now.

I think, ultimately, when you arm the military, they have such an extensive amount of training specific to that situation that if you were to arm these recruiters, they would have specific training for civilian environments, for a civilian environment. So I think on that path you probably should.

I absolutely think you should allow one or more of these recruiters on duty to have a weapon to defend that office or that team of recruiters. Their job is to be out in the civilian population, to be approachable and not intimidating and to wear that uniform proudly so we get the cream of the crop at these high schools and in civilian population to come join us and be a part of our fold.

But they need to be able to protect themselves because our enemy is here, unfortunately. BALDWIN: You said something that I wanted to ask you about

specifically. You said our military is the target. Listen, this isn't a greater public safety issue. Clearly, our men and women in uniform are targeted. My question to you is, why do you think that is?

JONES: Well, I think it's pretty obvious. When you look at the social media campaigns mounted by ISIS and other terrorist groups around the country, they're shock and awe.

Their objective is to hit us where it hurts and hit us in a way that surprises us. We have the greatest fighting force on the face of the earth and if you can find the weakest parts of that fighting force and hit them there, that's a social media, that's a P.R. victory.

They can't stand on the front lines and go against us and win, so they have to be strategic and they are being strategic and we have to compensate for that by being ready for any situation that may come in front of us. At the same time, we have to be here among Americans and treat them like the people we love and protect.

So, you know, it is a horrible situation we find ourselves in.

BALDWIN: You know, I want to share a picture, if I may. It's a picture of you. You have lost so much. You have lost friends. You lost your own legs overseas in battle.

We see this photo of you here kneeling down. This was taken in Chattanooga, I have been told, just in this last week. And I'm just wondering how this attack there personally affected you.

JONES: Well, back in 2012, my best friend from this area committed suicide. He came back with post-traumatic stress, painkiller addiction.

And when he committed suicide, this unit here came out to do his funeral, to do all the honors. And I became very close to them at that point. And, actually, in 2010, they came out to notify my mom when I was injured. So, I'm very closely connected to this unit. So that just -- it's really difficult. It is.

There are lives destroyed right now. There are wives that don't understand why. There are families and moms and dads that just have no clue why this happened to their son who served honorably and treated everyone in this community like a best friend, like someone that he wanted to die for. And to be taken -- for his life to be taken in this way, it doesn't make sense. There is no rhyme or reason.

You can't try to make reason of it. The fact that this community has come together the way it has, that the feeling here is positive, it's loving, it's not -- there isn't hate and animosity here, and there's love, that speaks a lot for this community and this area. It speaks a lot for our country.

BALDWIN: Chattanooga is a special place. I have been there many, many times. Staff Sergeant Joey Jones, thank you so much for your service for this country. Thank you so much for joining me.

JONES: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up, was it suicide, was it something more? CNN goes inside the very jail cell where an African-American woman, Sandra Bland, was found dead.

Now the district attorney is treating this case as a murder investigation. We will have a live report when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)