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Secret U.S. Strikes Against Al-Shabaab; Security Concerns Ahead of Trip to Kenya; Africa's War On Smuggling, Terror; Clashes Outside Greece's Parliament; WAFA News: Israeli Troops Kill Palestinian; White House Pushing To Approve Iran Deal; Donald Trump Defends Tough Talk; Dylann Roof Accused Of Hate Crimes In Shootings; Drug Lord's Folk Hero Status; U.S. Defense Secretary Arrives in Iraq. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired July 23, 2015 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[00:00:01] ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Just days before Barack Obama visits his father's homeland, the U.S. launches secret strikes on militants in East Africa.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: Plus violent protest outside Greece's parliament while inside lawmakers continue to debate the latest economic reforms.
BARNETT: And U.S. presidential candidate, Donald Trump, doesn't hold back during his one on one interview with CNN.
NEWTON: Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Paula Newton.
BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett. This is CNN Newsroom.
We begin this hour with new security concerns about Barack Obama's trip to the African continent this week.
NEWTON: Now besides visiting Ethiopia, he will go to Kenya, his father's homeland for the first time as U.S. president. And as Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr reports, soft targets near his tour route are a big concern.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Al Shabaab militants in East Africa now posing new worries for President Obama's trip to Kenya. CNN has learned in just the last week, the U.S. military has conducted nearly half a dozen secret air strikes in Somalia against al-Shabaab forces. Intelligence showed an attack against Kenyan troops there was imminent by the al Qaeda Africa affiliate.
SETH JONES, RAND CORPORATION: This sends a clear message to al- Shabaab not a try to attempt anything against the president.
STARR (voice-over): The U.S. does not believe al-Shabaab can get anywhere near the president, but there are other reasons to worry. JONES: What's most likely is not an attack against a U.S. government official like the president, but an attack that happens while the president is there. What al-Shabaab is likely to do is go for a soft target.
STARR (voice-over): Like the Nairobi mall attack in 2013 where 67 were killed. It just reopened or this April attack when nearly 150 people were killed in an al-Shabaab assault at a university. The Pentagon trying to confirm if one of their recent drone strikes may have killed the planners of that attack.
U.S. officials tell CNN in recent days, there is growing social media and internet chatter amongst the Somali-based militants about the visit of the president. They all know when he is coming, one official with access to the latest intelligence tells CNN.
A Kenyan flight bulletin outlining some details of the president's trip has been released including when air space in Nairobi would be closed because of the arrival and departure of Air Force One. But officials are brushing it off.
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRES SECRETARY: But the details of the president's schedule that are critical to keeping him safe are details that have not been disclosed publicly at this point.
STARR (on camera): Al-Shabaab has lost fighters, territory and financing in recent years, but one thing they have not lost is their ability to conduct attacks. In fact, the number of attacks by al- Shabaab has been growing steadily, and that is why there is so much concern about what the people of Kenya are facing as the president of the United States is about to arrive. Barbara Starr, CNN, The Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: Now for its part, Kenyan authorities are struggling with smuggling activity. The routes are used by militants and are a security nightmare.
Nima Elbagir joins us live from Nairobi with more on this story. Nima, good morning to you. The U.S. is taking aim at al-Shabaab targets with some, I guess, half a dozen air strikes in Somalia. This is all ahead of Obama's visit. Just how big a threat does al-Shabaab pose right now?
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is always a concern about soft targets when it comes to al-Shabaab and their ability to move through that very porous, very long border. This is almost 800 kilometers. But realistically, there will always be unease when you have a dignitary of that stature.
You have U.S. president visiting. But Nairobi, the capital, that really is not the focal point of so much of this concern. What people are worried about is that continued ability to move back and forth across the border and continue ahead to the northeast. This country is still reeling from that university attack that took the lives of over 100 students. We travelled t those Panya routes just to see how much of a security headache they really are, Errol. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELBAGIR (voice-over): Dirt tracks crisscrossing through the bush. They are known as the "Panya," the rat routes, essentially a back door into Kenya.
(on camera): We've been told that these are the routes that al- Shabaab are using to travel back and forth into the country and we have to put on our protective gear.
[00:05:07] Behind us that's the official route, but this is the smuggle route. It takes you from Somalia into Kenya and back out again. No government presence, no check points. You can bring in what you want and who you want.
(voice-over): Two years ago we travelled these same tracks. We'd come back to see if anything had changed. It's even busier than before. Surprised to see us, some spot the camera and turn back. One man stopped to threaten us with rocks. When our producer approaches he comes down and after he admits this is his regular route fairing people back and forth to the southern Somali port town of Kismayo, no passports, no questions.
(on camera): And this junction is not in the middle of nowhere, it's 20 kilometers from a major military base and the airstrip and yet out here you wouldn't know it. There is no government presence, just clear access all the way to Somalia.
(voice-over): In spite of an increased security drive for the government, al-Shabaab's attacks and ambitions have been spilling over into Kenya with deadly frequency, once little known back roads, the Panya, are now a security nightmare.
In Nairobi the spokesman for the Ministry of Interior tells us they are doing everything they can to fight this but it's not easy.
MWENDA NJOKA, SPOKESMAN, KENYAN INTERIOR MINISTRY: There is a border being constructed along the Kenya-Somalia border. It's a long border. It has been put us for a long time because previous have not taken serious action to ensure there is probably control. We have established a border patrol police. That is a specialized police unit. We are equipping them specialized equipment but we're are not denying that there is a problem.
ELBAGIR (voice-over): On the Panya routes the sun begins to set. Night falls as we wind our way directly into the heart of Dadaab town. No check points, no security searches and no one the wiser.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ELBAGIR: Security headaches aside, Errol, I have to tell you the mood here is extraordinary. There really is a sense of so much pride. Not only is a sitting U.S. president coming here, but they feel like it's one of their own coming home, Errol.
BARNETT: And we hope indeed the trip goes off without a hitch. Nima Elbagir with that very eye opening report. And we do invite our viewers to tune back tomorrow, when Nima return to Garissa University, of course, as she mentioned there, the scene of the deadly attack earlier this year. You'll hear why some believe a threat from al- Shabaab has only grown in the time since that bloody day.
NEWTON: Now the Palestinian news agency, WAFA, says Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian man near the southern city of Hebron. WAFA reports the troops stormed the man's home trying to arrest his two sons. The report says during Thursday morning's incident, the 53- year-old man was killed while his sons were injured by the gun fire.
Meantime, an Israeli defense force's spokesperson has another account of what happened in the village. IDF forces say it was forced to attack by a violent mob and during the incident a purported assailant attacked an IDF soldier who fired at the man. Now the IDF says that man was evacuated for medical care.
BARNETT: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras got the support he needed for a second package of reforms for his nation, but it took a marathon debate in parliament that stretched into the early morning hours. The bill includes overhauls to the banking and judicial systems that were required to kick start talks with Eurozone leaders
(VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: As you can see there, many people in Greece are upset about the vote. Protests erupted late Wednesday. Some demonstrators threw petrol bombs at police. Elinda Labropoulou joins us now live from Athens with more.
I mean Elinda, obviously you can understand the tension and why this is so heated. The reforms did go through, though, they passed. Is this now yet another phase of this drama, a point where perhaps the Greek people can take a pause?
ELINDA LABROPOULOU, JOURNALIST: Well, what we expect to see now is we expect the bailout talks to finally begin. All the steps until now were to get to that point. The vote yesterday and the vote last week was in order for some prior measures to be put into place so the final talks can begin.
So in that sense, there's going to be a little bit of rest as the negotiations get under way. We understand that some creditors' officials will be in Athens to discuss details as of tomorrow.
But at the same time, what we are seeing is a big division within the main political party, the leading party, SYRIZA.
[00:10:05] And what we're seeing there is that the hard left has really been very outspoken about how these measures are not good for Greece, how it's not going to support them. And in both of these two votes, what we've seen is the prime minister has lost over a quarter of his own MPs and he is actually very close to what we call the minority threshold. This is the threshold he can still hold a minority government which is 120 MPs.
In the vote yesterday only 126 of his MPs supported him. So while the negotiations get underway and what -- as when the status going to be asked from Greece is going to be very tough to implement the questions remain as to whether this government will be able to hold together and how it will be able to do it.
So we know there is a Congress that's happening in the beginning of September, a party congress and we expect that Mr. Tsipras will have by then who is in and who is out in order for this bailout to go ahead.
NEWTON: Yes, and after all this, there is speculation that the Greek people could be facing an election in the fall pending on what happens. Linda, if we want to step back a moment. You know, we were with you earlier in the week when the banks reopened. Of course, not much changed in terms of capital controls but people were able to get to their safe deposit boxes. What has the mood been in the last 48 hours that they have been watching the political drama unfold?
LABROPOULOU: A lot of skepticism simply because the political situation and the financial one are directly linked. And I think for most Greek people they were hoping there would be some unity within their own parliament that all sides would really kind of gather together realizing the seriousness of the situation and try to join forces.
We haven't seen that happen at this point, whether in the months ahead while the negotiations get underway, we will see that. I think along with the banks, along with everything we've seen, what people in Greece really crave more than anything else is a return to some kind of stability whether that's financial or political. So, this is really what would make the difference in most people's lives and what they would hope to see.
NEWTON: Yes, that would be understandable at this point. Linda, appreciate that update there live for us from Athens.
BARNETT: The White House campaign for support for the Iranian nuclear deal is moving forward on Capitol Hill and abroad. But there is some push back, thousands of people rallied against the agreement in New York's Times Square waving signs and chanting kill the deal. Protesters urged members of Congress to vote down the agreement.
NEWTON: Meantime, the U.S. defense secretary tours the Middle East, he is doing it right now, to try and reassure allies that the Obama administration is now meeting with members of Congress and this is important as well because people in his own party are against that deal. Now, as Elise Labott reports, opponents say there should be no deal while Americans are being held in Iran.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Secretary of State John Kerry arrived for a closed-door, high-stakes briefing, trying to sell the Iran nuclear deal to a skeptical Congress.
JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: That will make the region, our friends and allies safer and the world safer.
LABOTT (voice-over): But that may not be enough to convince skeptical lawmakers worried the deal will embolden Iran to wreak new havoc in the Middle East and angry four Americans are being left behind including "Washington Post" reporter, Jason Rezaian.
It's been exactly one year since Rezaian was arrested on spy charges and thrown in Iran's notorious Evin prison. Today, his family and employers at the "Washington Post" made another plea for his release, this time calling on the United Nations to step in.
MARTY BARON, "WASHINGTON POST" EXECUTIVE EDITOR: No evidence has been produced of espionage or any other offense. All he did was work diligently and fairly as a journalist.
LABOTT: Rezaian, a dual U.S.-Iranian national reported on the culture and daily life of the Iranian people. He spoke with CNN's Anthony Bourdain last year shortly before his arrest.
ANTHONY BOURDAIN, HOST, CNN'S "PARTS UNKNOWN": Are you happy here?
JASON REZAIAN, THE WASHINGTON POST: I love it and hate, you know, but it's home. It's become home.
LABOTT (voice-over): Ali Rezaian feels his brother's case was caught up in the nuclear talks. But now that the deal has done, he hopes the Iranians will send his brother home.
ALI REZAIAN, BROTHER OF DETAINED COLUMNIST: Certainly, I think the right thing to do would have been to release him long ago. The right thing to do is release him now because he is innocent.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Please have a seat.
LABOTT (voice-over): President Obama under fire for striking the deal while Rezaian and two other Americans are still being held, a fourth American missing. Tension was on full display when a reporter asked about their fate.
OBAMA: The notion that I am content as I celebrate with American citizens languishing in Iranian jails, Major, that's nonsense.
[00:15:03] LABOTT (voice-over): This week, the president once again promised to spare no effort.
OBAMA: We are not going to relent until we bring home Americans, who are unjustly detained in Iran, journalist, Jason Rezaian should be released.
LABOTT: Elise Labott, CNN, Washington. (END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: All right, more stories still to come. Hate crime charges have been levelled against the man accused of killing nine people in a house of worship. The U.S. attorney general reacts to the grand jury's indictment against Dylann Roof.
NEWTON: Plus, Sandra Bland's family is left with more questions after the release of the dash cam footage that shows part of her traffic stop and arrest. She was later found dead in a jail cell.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
IVAN CABRERA, CNN WEATHER: Checking on weather conditions in North America. The United States specifically the story has been across this south-eastern U.S. a very hot temperatures. We've been into the upper 30's heat in the season into the yellow 40s and that will continue over the next few days. We're talking about 90s and 100s if you prefer Fahrenheit.
Here across the northeast, a cold front has moved through and that has really brought temperatures down. In fact, we're now normal where we should be this time of year averaging high temperatures into the mid- 20s. So that's going to be feel fantastic after a few days in the 30s. And there you see the showers storm across the southeast.
Severe weather potential to the north and then north and west looking pretty good. Vancouver, how about probably cloudy skies in 21 degrees. We will take that. So that's sound fantastic after temperature (INAUDIBLE) just so very hot across the south.
Of course here we're used to. This is typical tropical weather across the Caribbean. Temperatures in the low to mid-30s. Few showers and thunderstorms developing through. They have to do. Nothing organized. We are in El Nino patterned. That favors last tropical activity at least in this base another world, so certainly some good news there but they will continue to monitor the storms. Some of them could be on the heavier side and in fact some torrential down pour (ph) certainly can't allow some flooding potential across (INAUDIBLE) of Central America.
That's the way pattern is going to be pretty much throughout the entire summer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARNETT: The man accused of killing nine black church goers in the U.S. state, the South Carolina now faces hate chime charges. The federal grand jury indicted Dylann Roof with a total of 33 counts, which also include fire arms charges. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch explained the grand jury's decision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[00:20:00] LORETTA LYNCH, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: We have here a defendant who was alleged to have harboured discriminatory views towards African-Americans to sought out an African-American house of worship, one that was particularly noted because of its age and significance and he also sought out African-American parishioners at worship implicating several hate crime statute, racially motivated violence such as this is the original domestic terrorism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Now Lynch says the 21-year-old accused had planned the shooting for months. He already faces state murder charges. The victims were members of a bible study group that included the reverend, Clementa Pinckney, a state senator.
BARNETT: A new revelations in the case of a woman found dead in her jail cell in Texas. Authorities say Sandra Bland committed suicide by hanging after three days in that jail.
NEWTON: Now her family wants to know why this traffic stop ended with Bland's arrest and ultimately her death behind bars. Now, they do not believe that she killed herself. Ryan Young has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Official documents show that when Sandra Bland arrived to the Waller County Jail she told the staff she previously tried to commit suicide. Jail intake forms released to CNN show that Bland said she tried to commit suicide using pills in 2014 after losing a baby.
Waller County Sheriff Glenn Smith says the investigation shows no foul play and all the evidence points to Bland taking her own life.
R. GLENN SMITH, SHERIFF OF WALLER COUNTY, TEXAS: There is absolutely no doubt in my mind now. As I stated, I eagerly, I want the Texas Rangers outside investigation. I want the FBI monitoring that investigation. I want the district attorney to stay independent.
YOUNG (voice-over): Despite the sheriff's public statements the family contest the claim that Bland was depressed.
CANNON LAMBERT, BLAND FAMILY ATTORNEY: I can tell you we take issue with the notion that she was suffering from depression. She was never clinically diagnosed, as this family understands. Everybody has hills and valleys, and the bottom line is there is no medication we are aware of that she was taking to address any sort of epilepsy or depression.
YOUNG (voice-over): But in her own Facebook post earlier this year, Sandra Bland addressed the issue.
SANDRA BLAND, SUICIDE VICTIM: I'm suffering from something that you may be dealing with right now it's a bit of depression as well as PTSD.
SHARON COOPER, SANDRA BLAND'S SISTER: She says I'm struggling with some things, but I am anchored in God and I want you to know no matter what you look like, no matter what part of life you come from, I come before you to say we're dealing with an issue you may have, which to me is just courageous.
YOUNG (voice-over): But this intense dash cam video shows part of what took place during the traffic stop of Sandra Bland, adding more fuel to the pointed questions from her loved ones.
BRIAN ENCINIA, TEXAS STATE TROOPER: Step out or I will remove you.
YOUNG (voice-over): The trooper now on paid leave. The family says the force used was excessive especially for being charged with an improper lane change.
COOPER: Sir, I simply feel like the officer was picking on her, point-blank, period. I personally think that is petty.
ENCINIA: Get out of the car now.
BLAND: Why am I being apprehended? You're trying give me a ticket.
YOUNG (voice-over): In his report, Trooper Brian Encinia writes, "Sandra Bland was arrested for assault on a public servant." The trooper writes that Bland began swinging at him with her elbows after she was removed from the car, which is not captured on video.
But a cell phone did pick up part of the exchange that was caught off of the dash camera.
BLAND: You just slammed my head into the ground.
YOUNG (voice-over): Investigators say they are trying to access to Sandra Bland's cell phone that may have captured parts of the arrest.
BLAND: For a failure to signal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: All of that so difficult to watch. Our thanks to Ryan Young for that report.
NEWTON: In the meantime, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, military officials are praising the heroism of Marines who risked their lives to save others during last week's shooting rampage that left five comrades dead. One Marine major general says, quote, "Their immediate actions that day saved lives."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJOR. GENERAL PAUL BRIER, 4TH MARINE DIVISION COMMANDING GENERAL: Our Marines reacted the way you would expect. Rapidly going from room to room, they got their fellow Marines to safety. Once they had gotten to safety, some willingly ran back into the fight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: And Mohammad Abdulazeez, who was killed in the incident, is accused of killing the servicemen. The FBI says they are treating Abdulazeez as a home grown violent extremist and they believed he acted on his own during the shooting spree.
NEWTON: It is exactly breaking news. We knew this was going to happen because U.S. presidential candidate, Donald Trump, is still talking, blunt remarks, still making headlines. He says he is not the only one doing the name calling on the campaign trail.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[00:25:01] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I guess, it was Lindsey Graham called me a jackass. So, am I suppose to say, "Oh it's OK if I'm called a jack" -- I'm called a jackass. You have to fight back. The country has to fight back.
END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARNETT: You are watching CNN Newsroom. Your last half hour of the day with the both of us. I'm Errol Barnett.
NEWTON: I'm Paula Newton. We want to get your top headlines this hour.
There are new security concerns about Barack Obama's trip to Kenya this week. CNN has learned the United States has been bombing al- Shabaab militants in neighboring Somalia ahead of the president's visit. Now U.S. officials do not believe that al-Shabaab poses a direct danger to the president, but they worry that they may strike vulnerable targets during his visit.
BARNETT: After grueling night of debate, Greek lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a second set of reforms needed to obtain the country's third bailout. The bill includes rules for dealing with failed banks and speeding up the justice system, conditions required by the Eurozone creditors to begin bailout negotiations.
NEWTON: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with members of Congress Wednesday to gain support of the Iran nuclear deal. Now lawmakers have 60 days to review the agreement and many Republicans are vowing to derail it. Kerry is scheduled to testify before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations later today.
BARNETT: Let's take a deep breath. Donald Trump is taking his campaign to the U.S.-Mexican border today weeks after he called undocumented immigrants, quote, "rapists and criminals."
NEWTON: Now his message seems to be resonating with primary voters, there is no denying that, but a new poll suggests that may not last. CNN's Jeff Zeleny reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[00:30:05] JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Donald Trump is heading to the border. He is trying to stay on top of the Republican field by doubling down on immigration. During a Thursday tour in Laredo, Texas, with border patrol agents. TRUMP: With the border and border security, lack of border security, and illegal immigrants, it's a huge problem.
ZELENY (voice-over): But tonight a new poll shows fresh vulnerabilities for Trump, not in the GOP primary, but if he would ever become the party's nominee.
TRUMP: We have to make America great again.
ZELENY (voice-over): In three key general election battle grounds -- Colorado, Iowa and Virginia, nearly six in 10 voters hold unfavorable views of Trump. For now he's resonating with some primary voters looking for a tough talking candidate, but party leaders say he's talking too tough specifically about fellow Republicans.
TRUMP: Rick Perry, he put glasses on so people will think he's smart. You have this guy, Lindsey Graham, a total lightweight. We have people that are stupid.
ZELENY (voice-over): It was Rick Perry's turn today to be singled out on social media. Trump released this picture and tweeted Perry was once begging for my support and money, hypocrite. The former Texas governor fired back, urging conservatives to dump Trump.
RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He offers a barking carnival act that can best be described as Trumpism, a toxic mix of demagoguery and mean-spiritedness and nonsense. Donald Trump's candidacy is a cancer on conservatism, and it must be clearly diagnosed, excised, and discarded.
ZELENY (voice-over): While the GOP free for all has Democrats smiling, the new Quinnipiac poll shows trouble for Hillary Clinton.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am going to keep going. I believe it's so important for all of us.
ZELENY (voice-over): In those same three general election swing states, majorities of voters had an unfavorable view of her. The survey also shows Clinton trailing Republicans Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and Scott Walker in hypothetical matchups in those three states. Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Now we have already discussed about probably what a circus it's going to be there. Given the comments that he has made it's incredibly controversial. You know the kind of interest it's going to happen at that border tomorrow.
BARNETT: That's right. But let's see how Donald Trump defends all of his actions these past few weeks. Anderson Cooper sat down with him one-on-one. Just watch here for the next few minutes as he tries to get a straight answer out of a man known as the Donald.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Talking yesterday, Jeb Bush said, if we embrace this language of divisiveness and ugliness, we'll never win.
TRUMP: When you say divisive, OK.
COOPER: No, he said it.
TRUMP: No, but you're quoting him.
COOPER: Yes.
TRUMP: But when you quote divisive.
COOPER: Right.
TRUMP: I mean, I get called all these horrible names by Lindsey Graham, who I don't even know. I didn't start it with Lindsey Graham. I couldn't care less about Lindsey Graham. He's registered at, I think, zero in the polls, by Rick Perry from Texas, who was up in my office a few years ago. I just posted a picture of him shaking my hand, looking for money and looking for support. And he was up -- you know, people will say, I called it hypocrite, but they are saying horrible things. Like, I don't even know these people and they are saying these things.
Now, am I supposed to, you know, just say, it's OK to for them to say -- one guy -- I guess it was Lindsey Graham -- called me a jackass? So, am I supposed to say, oh, it's OK if I'm called a -- I'm called a jackass. You have to fight back. The country has to fight back. Everyone is pushing our country around. We can't allow that, Anderson.
COOPER: Is it presidential, though?
TRUMP: I think it's presidential.
COOPER: To give out somebody's phone -- to give out a personal phone number.
TRUMP: Well, that was a long story. I mean, you have to see the whole story the way it morphed. OK? That was a whole story, where he wanted to get on "FOX & Friends," and he called me up out of the blue. I never met the guy. Then he wanted to come in for campaign contributions. He gave me his -- first off -- and then he starts hitting me years later. And I happen to have this crazy phone number. And I held it up. I said, this guy was over here. And, actually, as you probably know, the room was packed. It was standing room only. In fact, they had theaters.
COOPER: Overflow.
TRUMP: There was overflow crowds. They had all sorts of closed- circuit television into other rooms. The place went wild. We all had a good time.
COOPER: But is that presidential?
TRUMP: I think so. I think it is fine.
COOPER: Is that something, as president -- when you're opposed by somebody in Congress, you would give out their personal phone number?
TRUMP: I was hit by somebody unfairly. I was called names by somebody. So, he was up -- somebody that is hitting you, saying what a bad guy I am, was up in my office asking for money and asking if I can get him on television.
COOPER: So, when -- if you're president of the United States, you are going to be hit by half the country.
TRUMP: That's true. That's true.
COOPER: Are you going to call them dumb and stupid?
TRUMP: No, I think it's a little bit different. Right now, I'm trying to do something to make the country great again. Politicians will never make this country great again. Now --
COOPER: As president, you would change your tone?
TRUMP: I think so. I would deal very differently.
COOPER: Do you have the temperament to be president? That's what -- I mean, that's the question that George -- that Jeb Bush was really raising about the divisiveness, about the language. I mean, the kind of -- like, you take -- you have a no-prisoners approach. Somebody attacks you --
TRUMP: No, I don't have that. I am very different than you would think.
[00:35:00] Right now, I am fighting because I am number one in the polls by far, and I'm being attacked on all sides. When you're attacked, you have to -- in my opinion --
COOPER: Attacked all the time.
TRUMP: Excuse me. In my opinion -- yes, but this isn't the same thing. In my opinion, when attacked, you have to, you know, defend, and attack back, OK? I'm being attacked by certain people. Actually, Bush, I think he is probably a nice guy. I don't think he has the temperament.
And by that, he is a nice guy, but he doesn't have the temperament. You know why? He is too low-key. He is too laid back. Can you imagine Bush negotiating with China? You want to talk about temperament, I will introduce you to the Chinese. They have temperament. But can you imagine Bush negotiating trade deals with China?
COOPER: His brother George W. Bush in -- when he was running said that he would be a uniter, not a divider. What would you be?
TRUMP: I think I would be a great uniter. We are not united now. We have a president that, whether people love him or hate him, the world is a mess. Hillary Clinton, by the way, was the worst secretary of state in the history of this country, in my opinion. But we have a president right now --excuse me, doesn't get along with Russia, doesn't get along with anybody. I mean, the only one he gets along with is Iran. And even that is sort of very suspect, because they want to blow everybody up.
COOPER: Back in 2007 or 2008, I saw a quote on Wolf Blitzer. You said to him that Hillary Clinton surrounds herself with smart people and she would probably be a good negotiator against Iran.
TRUMP: Well, maybe she could be, but I don't think so. I don't think so. I know her very well.
And, again, when I am in the private sector and I am a businessman, I like everybody, because I have to deal with these people. I am not going to go and attack people. I have to deal with these people.
COOPER: So, Donald Trump as president would be a different Donald Trump than we have seen on the campaign trail?
TRUMP: Well, take a look at the world today. Who do we get along with? We get along with almost nobody. Our allies are decimated. We did a stupid thing in Iraq by going in. And you know that, in 2004, I was totally against going in. If you look, July of 2004, Reuters, probably stuff before that, but July of 2004, Bush actually sent a group to talk to me, because I was getting a lot of publicity on the fact that we shouldn't be doing Iraq.
I am the most militaristic person, but you have to know when to use the military. I said you will decimate this country and you will create an imbalance in the Middle East like you have never seen before. That's what happened. And I said Iran will take over Iraq and the second largest oil reserves in the world.
COOPER: People --
TRUMP: And I also said, and other groups will take over, that will be worse than Saddam Hussein. You know what happened, Anderson? It's ISIS. They took over the oil.
COOPER: Have you ever publicly acknowledged making a mistake?
TRUMP: Well, look, everyone makes mistakes. Do I publicly acknowledge making mistakes?
COOPER: I mean, have you ever said, you know what, I made a mistake; sorry about that?
TRUMP: Yes. I mean, I don't think about it. I don't like to make too many mistakes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: All right. So there you go. Did that clear it up for you? That five minutes?
NEWTON: Apparently it did.
BARNETT: One on one with Donald Trump.
NEWTON: Apparently it did. Now, Senator Lindsey Graham wanted to clear something up, though, because as we were just listening to Donald Trump gave his phone number out he had a phone that was useless to him now. We want you to take a look at what he did with it.
(VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Donald Trump said when you get attacked, you have to attack back. Lindsey Graham is doing it with humor and comedy.
NEWTON: And he didn't say -- well, no he did say a words at the end, right at the very end.
BARNETT: He said this is for the veterans actually.
NEWTON: Yes, it's an interesting campaign already.
BARNETT: And he continuous now. He is the leader of a brutally violent drug cartel but for some Mexicans, he is a folk hero. Ahead, the conflicting views of El Chapo.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:42:02] BARNETT: Take a look at this, a Soyuz spacecraft has docked with the International Space Station. It brought a three-member crew including a Russian cosmonaut as well as an American and Japanese astronaut. They cracked the hatch and entered the space station a short while later.
This happened just a few moments ago. I think it's the first time we are getting a look at these shots. And they joined the other astronauts already on board. One of the crews' missions, the new crew, will be studying the effect of micro gravity on headaches, which is a big issue for astronauts.
NEWTON: Meantime, a fast-moving wildfire is tearing through Glacier National Park in the U.S. state of Montana prompting, of course, evacuations, but it was one vacationing family in the area that just really got far too close to the flames. Take a look.
(VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Larry is like "You want me to speed up? What you want to me to do here?" This fire began Tuesday afternoon on the east side of the park doubled in size in a single night and spans over 4,000 acres and that's around 1,600 hectares. The visitor's center park most popular roadway has now been closed and park rangers, they're still searching for back country hikers who may be out there of course to get them out of harm's way.
NEWTON: Yes, our Ivan Cabrera joins us now. I mean it's terrifying. And the fires of course the way they spread and jump across the roads and you think you're OK, and within a couple of minutes it's cleared that you're not. CABRERA: Well, you don't double in acres like that without significant issues going on there. And of course, the wind has been the big factor and it's summer. Who doesn't go to the Northern Rockies in the summer?
I man this is a time when a lot of people are there. And so they're going to be impacted here.
Let's take you to do the board and show you what we're talking about here. We are flying to the Northern Rockies. This is about 24 kilometers just to the south of the Canadian border, in fact, 14 miles or a little over that or so. One historic structure we understand has burned and of course the evacuations right now precautionary, as you saw, some are self-evacuating and in a rapid fashion.
Dry heavy timber is what they're (INAUDIBLE) within. The demography here makes a difficult to fight the fire as well. But wind is not helping. We have a disturbance that's going to be coming in from the south, if we could just get this on top of the fire that would be fantastic because that would be bringing the rain, but it's not going to be brining the raid.
What it will do is it'll kick up the wind out of the south and west. So we're going to be talking about significant wind gust over I think over the next couple of days. So that's not going to be helpful at all. Temperatures is OK 69 about 70 degrees, that's the (INAUDIBLE) heading through the remainder of the weekend.
We'll take you now to Croatia where the fires are burning. This is the Adriatic Sea. Albania also getting in on that. I show you some of the pictures coming out on the region there. Of course hot Mediterranean climate. You're getting trouble here with these patterns that we get into.
We have a big high that's in charge now and that has brought temperatures are from 35 to 40 degrees.
[00:45:00] Imagine fighting a fire. We're talking temperatures in the hundreds in the Fahrenheit here. So datas (ph) went through. You're having to content with villages that have been cut off as well, electricity down, we have livestock that have been involved, farmland destroyed, acres upon acres and also, we understand some of the vineyards there unfortunately had been decimated as well, so obviously an economic impact that will be felt for a time.
Back on the (INAUDIBLE) you should be able to see this pattern does not break, remaining hot to the south and remaining cool and showery and stormy to the north. That a relatively strong area of low pressure of wind across Northern Europe. But it is going to roll through to the north with some heavy rain over the next few days. That's where the cool air is. Temperatures in the 20s, but down to the south highs will be anywhere from 35 to about 40 degrees.
We'll cool off a little bit if we can call that back in the low to mid-30s. So we're doing a little better by the time we get into the weekend, but the winds are an issue there as well, guys? BARNETT: All right. Thanks for keeping us updated on that, Ivan. Appreciate it.
We have this information just in to CNN. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter has made an unannounced visit to Baghdad. He's expected to meet with Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi as well as other Iraqi leaders there.
This is just the latest stop on Carter's Middle East tour. Of course, he's been trying to reassure allies there about the nuclear deal with Iran which is meant to restrict the country's nuclear program. Gulf States of course concerned. Tehran will be able to develop atomic weapons. But this information just in. U.S. defense secretary Ash Carter now in Baghdad.
CNN's Freedom Project is dedicated to the fight against modern-day slavery. This week we're airing a new documentary, "Children For Sale."
NEWTON: Yes, and what you're about to see is actress and activist, Jada Pinkett Smith how she shows us the viciousness that the human trafficking operations are underway right now in the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JADA PINKETT SMITH, ACTRESS/ACTIVIST (voice-over): The unwritten rules of the streets can be as bewildering as they are brutal. This undercover footage shows a young woman arguing with a suspected exploiter.
Other men sense her weakness and surround her. According to Rebecca, a trafficking survivor, I girl can be taken as property simply by making eye contact with one of these men.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you look at him you can be taken from who you're with and he can't do anything about it because you looked at another person.
SMITH (voice-over): On this night, this woman made it to safety. So many others do not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's happening every day, every neighborhood, every socioeconomic status. These guys trade women like kids trade baseball cards.
SMITH: He is taking their bags, putting it in the car, you're coming with me.
Coming with them to any place that clients are waiting and willing to pay for sex.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the places they utilized was a field where a woman serviced over 50 men in a field. And you can -- you can -- people can say -- well -- nobody, nobody chooses to do that.
SMITH: Right. (END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: That is so uncomfortable to watch but reality for so many people. Make sure to join us this weekend for the CNN Freedom Project documentary "Children For Sale" the find to end human trafficking. Watch an encore presentation Sunday night at 8:00 in London and that's 9:00 in Berlin. We're back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:53:06] NEWTON: Now Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is still on the run after escaping from a Mexican prison nearly two weeks ago now.
BARNETT: But as Polo Sandoval reports the admiration that some have for this man is complicating efforts to find him.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the streets of Mexico City everyone knows the name of Joaquin Guzman. At this buzzing market in the heart of the city, we found that ruthless cartel boss known as El Chapo. About $8 will get you a t-shirt that bears the face of Mexico's most-wanted man.
Jesus Jimenez (ph) the shopkeeper here says his El Chapo tees became his hottest item after the escape.
(on camera): He says people of all walks of life, all economic background come here to buy this shirt.
(voice-over): For Jimenez, it's not about the face on the shirt he tells me he simply filling demand.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Money and drugs.
SANDOVAL (on camera): And it was interesting they also have the custom made t-shirts like this one here. It's a plain white t-shirt, but they have the machine here on the premises to be able to print El Chapo's face on there, even as FBI on the top. This is the actual one poster that's been circulating here in Mexico.
(voice-over): Then there are the musical tributes to El Chapo, narco ballads are flooding the internet. The lyrics of this (INAUDIBLE) tell the story of a so-called Great Escape.
ANABEL HERNANDEZ, MEXICAN JOURNALIST: People are saying it was epic. The escape was epic. It's amazing. It's incredible, like El Chapo is a hero and a smart man and it's not true. This guy is a terrible criminal.
[00:55:02] SANDOVAL (voice-over): Mexican journalist, Anabel Hernandez, says, El Chapo was often admired and seen as a Robinhood like figure.
HERNANDEZ: OK, let's be like El Chapo. SANDOVAL (voice-over): She says it's this glorification of the narco culture that allows Guzman to remain camouflaged among the people that revere him. Polo Sandoval, CNN, Mexico City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: Al right, just time for one quick story for you. Taylor Swift's plans for global domination have hit an unexpected roadblock with Chinese sensors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TAYLOR SHIFT, SINGER: Be sure to check out my new authentic merch, now available in China.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: The singer just announced plans to sell her clothing lines in Chinese websites. To come inside with her tour stop in Shanghai this November. But the tour's name, 1989, well yes, that's an issue.
NEWTON: OK. Let's first explain she was born in 1989. Now in China that date is heavily censored because it was the year of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. Now websites and internet searches containing those numbers are regularly blocked, even worst Taylor Swift's initials, T.S., yes, you guessed it, looks like a reference to Tiananmen Square.
BARNETT: I love that one. It's been a pleasure having Paula Newton here this week. Thanks so much.
NEWTON: Thanks for having me.
BARNETT: I wasn't too bad to hang out with.
NEWTON: Not at all. We'll talk later. And I'm Paula Newton. Stay with us. "Early Start" is next for viewers in the United States.
BARNETT: And for the rest of you, another edition of CNN Newsroom begins next. Have a great day.
