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Trump to Visit U.S.-Mexico Border Today; Interview with Mayor of Laredo, TX; Cosby's Lawyer Speaks Out About Accusations. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired July 23, 2015 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:30:03] JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: Yes. The threat that ISIL presents, poses to the United States is very different in kind, in type and degree than al Qaeda. ISIL is not your parent's al Qaeda. It's a very different model. And by virtue of that model it's currently the threat that we are worrying about in the homeland most of all.

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JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: That interview occurring, as you could see, at an Aspen Institute Security forum. Just a reflection of the shift in priorities we have seen in national security over the last year or so -- Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Joe Johns, reporting live from Washington, many thanks to you.

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

Just about 48 hours from now Sandra Bland will be laid to rest at her church in Chicago. I'll talk with one of her pastors in just a minute, but first there are new details about her death while in that Texas jail cell, including prison documents that point to a previous suicide attempt following the loss of a pregnancy. Plus a haunting voicemail that Bland left her friend just two days before she died.

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SANDRA BLAND: Hey, this is me. I'm just was able to see the judge. I don't really know. They got me set at a $5,000 bond. I'm still just at a loss for words honestly about this whole process. How did switching lanes with no signal turn into all of this, I don't know. But I'm still here. Just call me back when you can.

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COSTELLO: We're going to hear from the friend that received that message from Bland. But let's head to Ed Lavandera first. He's live at Hempstead, Texas, with the latest on the investigation.

Good morning, Ed. ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Well, there

has been a lot of talk over the last few days about the video of the arrest of Sandra Bland. But now a lot of focus on the autopsies as we await for an independent autopsy that was done by the family.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA (voice-over): New details about Sandra Bland's condition have been revealed by local law enforcement.

ELTON MATHIS, WALLER COUNTY, TEXAS DISTRICT ATTORNEY: We have an initial report that she did have a quantity of marijuana in her system. However, we are waiting to make any kind of formal determination of that.

LAVANDERA: The Waller County district attorney also says the preliminary autopsy results show some scars on her arm.

MATHIS: The opinion of the medical examiner appears to be cutting scars on the arm. It looks like where someone has been cut over time. Some of those actually appeared to be fresher and that they were scabbed.

LAVANDERA: On this police intake questionnaire Bland notes a previous suicide attempt by way of pills after a miscarriage in 2014, but on another page the answer to the question of attempted suicide is no. Conflicting information leaving her family with continued doubts.

SHARON COOPER, SANDRA BLAND'S SISTER: I have a hard time dealing with inconsistency. And that seems to have been the theme over the last couple of days here. So I don't have a problem still asking questions.

LAVANDERA: Investigators are now analyzing DNA evidence on the trash bag allegedly used in Sandra Bland's hanging.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Step out of the car.

LAVANDERA: And on Wednesday police released another version of the dashcam video of Bland's arrest. But this one three minutes shorter than the original.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of the car. I will light you up. Get out. Now.

LAVANDERA: Attempting to clear up the visible anomalies in the footage where cars and people disappear and reappear, chucking up the glitches to an error in uploading.

And for the first time we are hearing from Sandra Bland while in police custody, a haunting voice message to a friend the day after her arrest.

BLAND: I'm still just at a loss of words honestly about this whole process. How did switching lanes with no signal turn into all of this, I don't know. But I'm still here. Just call me back when you can.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: And, Carol, a lot of people have been asking also is why exactly was Sandra Bland in jail, still three days after this arrest on a minor traffic violation. And we're told by county officials that over the course of those three days she had made several attempts to reach out to family members and friends. It was a $5,000 bond of which she needed $500 or so in cash but that she struggled either to connect with friends to get that money to be able to bond out.

COSTELLO: So where does the investigation go from here, Ed?

LAVANDERA: Well, they're waiting on more autopsy results. The county officials tell us that they want to reexamine and take a closer look at those autopsy results. Obviously, I think that would include the independent autopsy that is being done by the family.

There's also FBI work and forensic work that is being done on the videotape of the arrest. I remember we talked about the discrepancy there and the glitches and FBI officials are looking at that video to make sure that it wasn't doctored in any way. So those are the processes that we understand are going on.

[09:35:08] And listening to the family, it was really the families speaking out about being convinced that she was in a good place and couldn't have been in a place to commit suicide that really kind of redirected this investigation and had them take a much closer look at it.

COSTELLO: All right. Ed Lavandera, reporting live from Hempstead, Texas, this morning, thanks so much.

I'd like to bring in Theresa Dear, who is a pastor at Sandra Bland's church in Chicago, and hopefully shortly we'll also hear from LaVaughn Mosley, he's the man who received that phone message from Sandra Bland days before she died.

Theresa, when you hear that phone message, what goes through your mind?

THERESA DEAR, SANDRA BLAND'S FAMILY FRIEND: Well, first, thanks so much for having me on the show, Carol. I appreciate it. I am not the pastor at DuPage AME Church, that is the Reverend Doctor James Miller. However, I have been a minister at the church for about 25 years.

To hear -- before I respond to your question, just let me say this. We as a family and as a church will not feast on crumbs and morsels of which the Texas authorities have selectively decided to release. So when I hear the voicemail from Sandra, you know, it's almost prophetic. And we feel what she felt. We are at a loss for words regarding this process.

COSTELLO: It's just really haunting to hear your voice.

LaVaughn, I believe you're with me now? LaVaughn, can you hear me? LAVAUGHN MOSLEY, FRIEND OF SANDRA BLAND: Right. Yes, I can hear you.

COSTELLO: Yes, you are.

MOSLEY: Thank you so much for keeping the story alive.

COSTELLO: Thank you so much for being here. So when you listen to that phone message, what did you think?

MOSLEY: Well, it's just -- it still just haunting just to hear her voice on that voicemail for something so trivial as a routine traffic stop to end with such devastation and such travesty is really shocking.

COSTELLO: LaVaughn, Sandra told jailers she felt depressed over losing a child and she also had suicidal thoughts and then three hours later she denied being depressed. What do you make of that?

MOSLEY: I just think it's all a distraction to really take away from what is really important here. Here is a young black female who was on her way to being very successful because she had the characteristics for that. And I don't know what happened in that jailhouse but obviously something went terribly wrong. And I think now they're just trying to cover their tracks and they're just really distracting everybody from what's really important. And that is what happened in Waller County jail.

COSTELLO: Do you think --

(CROSSTALK)

DEAR: Carol, may I respond to that, please?

COSTELLO: Sure. Go ahead.

DEAR: So prior to Sandy going to Texas, she had been on a trip with her mom in Tennessee for about a week. She was in a great place. She had received two job offers and she was excited about starting a new job. And so she knew that she was going to be released on Monday and so how can someone go from, you know, a place of being excited about the future to now wanting to take their own life?

We as a family and as a community that loves Sandy Bland, we do not accept the notion nor this narrative that the Texas authorities are putting in the media that she had suicidal tendencies. That is just not the Sandy Bland that we know or knew.

COSTELLO: It's like --

DEAR: Furthermore, we don't know if the document that they released whereby she allegedly checked the box of yes, she had attempted suicide before with pills, we don't even know if that is true.

COSTELLO: Well, I want to -- I want to pray for you both.

DEAR: We don't know if the document is true or if it has been altered.

COSTELLO: I want to play for you both something that Sandra put on her Facebook. This is from March 31st of this year. Let's listen.

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BLAND: I am suffering from something that some of you all maybe dealing with right now. It's a little bit of depression as well as PTSD. I have been real stressed out over these past couple of weeks but that does not excuse me not keeping my promise to you all by letting you know that somebody cares about you, someone loves you and that you can go out there and do great things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:40:05] COSTELLO: So, LaVaughn, that's confusing. What do you make of it?

MOSLEY: Well, you know, we're listening to 30 seconds of a soundbite. And we don't know what the events were leading up to her making that outcry. So to make a blanket assumption based on 30 seconds that she was suicidal is completely absurd. Like I said, it was 30 seconds of a soundbite. We have no idea what events led up to her making that. We don't know if she had a bad day, she had an argument with somebody. We just don't know that.

So, you know, and today where young people are using social media for all types of outlets, and she also said she was feeling depressed as well as I know most of you out there are probably feeling depressed. We all have bad days. We all have down days. And I just think that was just merely one of those. And she just happened to tape it. Most of us don't do that. And so I just think again that has no relevance to this case.

COSTELLO: All right. LaVaughn Mosley, Theresa Dear, thanks to both of you for being with me. I really appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Donald Trump takes his tough talk on immigration to the U.S.-Mexico border. Will he be welcomed? The mayor of Laredo, Texas, is next.

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[09:45:37] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want people to come into the country but they have to do it through the legal process. And we can open up the legal process and make it go faster and all of those things, but it has to be a legal process. You can't have people just pouring into the country.

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COSTELLO: All right. That was Donald Trump talking to a South Carolina crowd earlier this week. As you know the Republican hopeful will take a tour of the U.S.-Mexico border today. But former Texas governor Rick Perry who dealt with border security firsthand is no Trump fan or should I say Perry objects to what he calls Trumpisms.

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RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My fellow Republicans, beware of false prophets. Do not let itching ears be tickled by messengers who appeal to anger, division, resentment.

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COSTELLO: Perry makes no bones about it. He says Trump does not know what he is talking about when it comes to border issues. Trump's wall idea not into that. So what do other Texas politicians think of it?

Joining me now, Mayor Pete Saenz of Laredo, Texas.

Good morning, sir.

MAYOR PETE SAENZ, LAREDO, TEXAS: Hi. Good morning. How are you?

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: I'm fine, thank you so much.

SAENZ: Yes. Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Are you going to meet Trump -- are you going to meet Trump when he comes into Laredo?

SAENZ: Yes, we are. Yes. Yes. As a matter of fact we have open arms. In fact we invite any and all political figures, you know, especially of his magnitude. I realize he's somebody unique. You know, he's got his own philosophies. But by all means it's an opportunity for us here in Laredo especially me as a mayor to -- you know, to describe Laredo to him in a different sense, a different sense of what he has now developed. But it's certainly an opportunity for us here, yes, to visit with Mr. Trump.

COSTELLO: Is Mr. Trump right? Are rapists and murderers pouring over the border from Mexico and is Mexico sending them our way?

SAENZ: No. No. Unfortunately, it's a huge exaggeration. You know, granted I'm sure we have some bad people here but not to the degree that he's espousing or advocating. You know, we have good, decent people. Laredo, Texas, is composed of 95 percent, 96 percent Hispanic population. Primarily of Spanish and Mexican descent. So, you know, we have good hard working people here.

Granted we may have some undocumented folks here but this is why it's so essential that we work on a comprehensive immigration reform bill of some sort. And the sooner the better -- because we do feel the pinch of the educational system, feel that pinch of the health system here locally. You know, we are the first responders, so to speak, you know, when these folks come across. But Laredo is also very safe. There is a huge misunderstanding and misconception in Laredo that there is --

COSTELLO: Well, can I ask you about your city, Mr. Mayor?

SAENZ: Go ahead.

COSTELLO: Because Donald Trump would call your city --

SAENZ: I'm sorry?

COSTELLO: Because Donald Trump would call your city a sanctuary city, a city where police are not allowed to ask illegal immigrants their immigration status.

SAENZ: Again that's --

COSTELLO: He says your -- cities like yours are adding to the crime problem in this country.

SAENZ: Well, again, that's a huge misunderstanding, misconception. We are not classified or some people may call us a sanctuary city but we are not. You know, there's no official ordinance or resolution that actually proclaim that status. But we're not. We work very closely with all law enforcement agencies, state and federal. We have a lot of federal people here, Border Patrol people. We welcome them as well. We need their presence. And we work very closely.

Now if an offense is committed in due course of the investigation or the inquiry the immigration status comes about by all means we call Border Patrol and then they handle it from that point forward. So, you know, we don't harbor people. We're, you know, a city of due process and obviously the rule of law. We enforce laws here in Laredo, Texas.

COSTELLO: So how many -- how many, sir, how many undocumented immigrants have you turned over to federal authorities?

[09:50:08] SAENZ: Well, I don't know the exact that number but there are -- I suspect you would have to ask our chief of police that question but I suspect that there's ongoing numbers, but that the accurate number I guess you would have to ask our chief of police if you don't mind.

COSTELLO: No, worries. I will ask. What would you like -- what are you going to say to Mr. Trump when you talk with him later today?

SAENZ: Well, welcome. I'm going to say that Laredo is a number one land port of the United States. NAFTA has been very good to us. We are a transportation logistics hub. There's over 12,000 daily commercial trucks that cross our bridges. We have four bridges, two commercial. We have 26,000 daily noncommercial vehicles. You know, we have, you know, two railroads here, and we have 1,200 daily rail crossings.

So it's a prosperous, vibrant city. Our unemployment rate hovers between 4.4 percent to 5 percent depending on the season. So we're active, Laredo is growing, and it's -- and we're planning for -- you know, for future growth. Mexico is very much part of our economy here. Just Laredo alone, just our bridges alone, and we do about 40 percent of all the Mexican trade, and in our district, the Laredo district which is basically from Brownsville to Del Rio, you know, we do over 50 percent of the trade with Mexico.

And that's $280 billion worth of -- over a quarter trillion dollars of value in trade. So it's -- you know, we're talking huge numbers. A lot of people depend on what happens here in Laredo as far as trade wise because it all north. You know, we are -- you know, people coming from the south, Mexico in particular, you know, Laredo is the entrance point and it's a huge entrance point to the rest of the nation, and a lot of jobs depend on what we do here locally.

COSTELLO: OK.

SAENZ: Because it all stems north and, of course, it goes south to Mexico and south America. Yes.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you so much for joining me.

SAENZ: So it's -- -Laredo is a vital link.

COSTELLO: Thank you so much for joining me this morning there. Pete Saenz of Laredo, Texas, I appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Bill Cosby's lawyer speaks out.

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MONIQUE PRESSLEY, BILL COSBY'S ATTORNEY: It's not really a revelation that Quaaludes were used in the '70s. They were commonly used as a partying drug and they were also known to be used to increase sexual arousal.

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COSTELLO: Up next, more from CNN's interview with one of Cosby's lawyers. Hear why the comedian could soon be forced to face tough questions under oath.

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[09:57:07] COSTELLO: A major win for one of Bill Cosby's accusers. California Supreme Court has ruled that a sexual assault civil suit can indeed go forward. That means Cosby could soon have to answer questions under oath.

Judith Huff claims she was just 15 years old when she was sexually assaulted by Cosby at the Playboy mansion back in 1974. Earlier today Cosby's attorney talked with CNN's Alisyn Camerota.

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PRESSLEY: So even though we hear excerpts from accusers and we see headlines that discuss things like calling him a rapist or saying that he's committed sexual assault, the case actually is in a civil court, and there are no criminal charges filed, and I think it's important no matter what manner the attorneys are speaking for him or the media is covering it that that's a point that stays clear.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: If called to give a deposition, will he give a deposition?

PRESSLEY: And certainly I'm not going to reveal strategy, tactics, or intentions of my client to testify or not or advice of counsel about that matter. We'll deal with that with the able counsel who are in California who are handling this case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK. So let's talk about that. Let's bring in CNN correspondent Jean Casarez.

So is it possible that criminal charges could come down the line now?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: This is civil, this case. But --

COSTELLO: This case but?

CASAREZ: But criminal there is a possibility because the Los Angeles Police Department is investigating it, so that is so true. But here's what's so unique about this case. This case right here with Judith Huff is a sexual assault case in the civil court, which is different from all the other cases going on right now which are defamation cases. But Judith Huff says that in 1974, and that's a long time ago, she was 15 years old, she met Bill Cosby at a park one weekend with her little 16-year-old friend.

The next weekend he had them go to his golf course and then it was on to the playboy club mansion, and she says that she had to go to the restroom, so she was ushered into a bedroom, went to the bathroom. She comes back out, there is Bill Cosby on the bed. She then remembers taking something and then waking up and just feeling so drugged.

Now in the deposition that was released this weekend from 2005, he mentions Quaaludes and drugs. Listen to his response because he says there are two sides to this story.

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PRESSLEY: It's not really a revelation that Quaaludes were used in the '70s. They were commonly used as a partying drug and they were also known to be used to increase sexual arousal and Mr. Cosby admitted in his deposition to offering one person who he was in a relationship with Quaaludes during that time period and that that person accepted it.

CAMEROTA: I've interviewed 11 of the accusers none of them were Quaalude users. Furthermore none of them consented to using Quaalude. They all acted a drink, sometimes a cappuccino, not even an alcoholic drink, and afterwards they became unconscious.

(CROSSTALK) PRESSLEY: The interesting part -- the interesting part about you saying that you've interviewed them and then you accept what they said is true, however, when you listen to the denial of the accusations by Mr. Cosby through his attorneys, repeatedly from the beginning, that's looked at and scoffed.