Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Gunfire Erupts, Police Clash with Protesters in Ferguson; U.S. Consulate in Istanbul Attacked by Two Women; GOP Rivals Pounce on Trump "Blood" Comments; Hillary Clinton to Unveil College Affordability Plan; Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired August 10, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:01] PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: And the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM begins right now.

Good morning to you. I'm Pamela Brown in for Carol Costello on this Monday. Thank you so much for being here with us.

And we begin this Monday in Ferguson, Missouri. Gunfire, bricks and a war of words. A barrage of bullets overnight forcing peaceful protesters to run for cover as we see in this video. All of this one year after unarmed teen Michael Brown was shot and killed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDRE ANDERSON, FERGUSON INTERIM POLICE CHIEF: We just want to be as patient as possible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Message to those who are looting --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get down.

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Is that gunfire?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take cover.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Here's what we know so far, at least four people are behind bars after multiple shootings. And during one of those incidents, police say a man in his 20s used a stolen handgun to shoot at plainclothes officers. The alleged gunman now listed in critical condition.

Plus, new video shows the aftermath of that shooting as police surround the suspect. And we want to warn you here, the video you're about to see is graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back up. It's a crime scene. Back up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Man, get him some help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back up. Back up. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get him some help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give the man some help.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We see him breathing. The man -- you see he's still alive. He's still alive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. All right. We will get some help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back up. Back up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get him some help now. He's still alive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back it up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know he's still alive. He's still (EXPLETIVE DELETED) alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: All of this as Ferguson gears up for more protests later today.

Let's bring in CNN's Sara Sidner. She was on the ground when gunfire broke out.

Sara, we got a little taste of it in that video there. I imagine it was a very scary situation for a lot of people.

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it was surprising, first of all, because the protesters and the police were facing off as they have done many times before here. And there weren't that many protesters out at that hour. There were maybe a few dozen protesters who were out coming face-to-face with prison. Then the shooting happened a couple of hundred yards away down the street.

And according to police, they don't think it had anything to do with the protests breaking out between two people who started shooting at one another. Then police say when they pursued one of the suspects, that suspect then turned around and shot towards police. And then was fired upon. And so I think this took a lot of folks by surprise in some ways because they weren't really a part of any of the protests. And they were sort of expecting this to be, you know, sort of one of your typical protests at night.

But all day it had been very peaceful. It has been a silent march. They had had held a moment of silence for Michael Brown. All of this, though, happening in the city that certainly tensions have gone up and down over this year. And this was commemorating the anniversary of the day that Brown was killed by Officer Darren Wilson, who we have to mentioned was exonerated by both the Department of Justice saying that he did not do anything wrong when it comes to self's rights and taking someone's civil rights and by a grand jury who said that he was not guilty of wrongdoing when it comes to the shooting in this case.

BROWN: Sara Sidner, thank you so much for that. We appreciate it.

And even though a year has passed since Michael Brown was shot and killed, many people are still angry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: We're ready for what?

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: We're ready for war.

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: We're ready for what?

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: We're ready for war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: In fact, several police officers were injured during last night's unrest, including one who was hit in the face with a brick.

Joining me now to discuss, CNN law enforcement analyst Cedric Alexander. He is also a public safety director in Georgia.

Thank you so much for being here with us.

CEDRIC ALEXANDER, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Thank you for being me.

BROWN: I first want to ask, what is your reaction when we hear about this violence that unfolded in Ferguson last night, one year since the death of Michael Brown?

ALEXANDER: You know, it's very unfortunate that the peaceful protesters that were out there last night were exercising their constitutional rights. There's clearly a different population out there that's creating this violence. And the local authorities there certainly will have to attend to them appropriately should it continue to erupt, but it's so unfortunate as we mark the first anniversary of Michael Brown's death.

Certainly by many people in that community, not to be forgotten, but I think part of the healing process is going to have to be moving forward. And a lot of work, a lot of good work has been done in that community over the course of the last year. And certainly that should not be mired by those who imposed so much violence last night.

BROWN: So last hour I spoke with Jeff Roorda from the St. Louis Police Officers Association, and he told me that he is not surprised by what happened last night. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) [10:05:01] JEFF ROORDA, ST. LOUIS POLICE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION: This is what happens when you plan civil disobedience and you have a Justice Department that pressures and bullies local police departments from doing their job. This hands-off disengagement approach was never going to work. It was a disaster in Baltimore and it was a disaster last night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So do you think that criticism is fair, Cedric?

ALEXANDER: Absolutely. It's unfair. And let me be clear about that. To blame this on the Justice Department is totally unfair. And it is a very limited view of a much bigger social problem that exists in that community. In one of the biggest challenges that we have today of course in any police agency is how much force to apply. And I think in certain situations whoever the incident commander, they have to make that judgment. They make that judgment based on information that they have in front of them.

But you cannot blame the Justice Department or anyone else in cases such as that. It is a very difficult and challenging balance. We remember what took place in Ferguson. We remember how it took place in Baltimore. And in each incident commander, each police chief, whoever was in charge of that operation have to make that decision based on how they know their community, the intensity of what they're feeling and experience, and they have to go on the consult of others as well, too, who are in that environment with them.

So it is much bigger than just what's been spoken to. Blaming it on the Justice Department is not going to get us where we need to be. In fact, the Justice Department has been actually quite supportive, quite helpful of local police across the country when it comes to incidents like this.

BROWN: And speaking of the Justice Department, the attorney general, Loretta Lynch, just tweeted and here's what she said, "I strongly condemn the violence against the community, including police officers in Ferguson, Missouri."

I want to ask you, Cedric, it seems like there has been so much talk about this violence and the tension between the police officers in the community especially in the last year since the death of Michael Brown. But it seems like there hasn't been a lot of progress. What is the solution here?

ALEXANDER: Well, progress takes time. And you -- you know, we have to remember the relationships between police and communities of color have been strained for a long time. A lot of great work has been done across this country and over the course of the last year, and you take, for example, the 21st century task force, a lot of recommendations that were made out of that. A lot of police agencies across this country are employing those recommendations.

Communities are embracing those recommendations. So Ferguson, in and of itself, still has a lot of work to do. There's still a lot of bad feelings towards police. It's a lot of community work that needs to be done over the weekend. I had an opportunity to speak to the interim chief there, Andre Anderson. And he's working day and night with the support of a lot of community people there in order to make some changes in that community. So we must note and highlight those things, but it is going to take time.

And I truly believe that over time we're going to see police continue to advance and move itself in a way in which community and police are more joined together. But it's had its challenges. I'm a police administrator in my own community. We have our challenges. I don't think there's a community anywhere that doesn't have these challenges. But we have to -- we got to find a way to be optimistic about this and continue to work towards the change. And not blaming on anything -- you cannot blame any one person or any one institution. We are all in this together. We're going to find resolve about it. I am thoroughly convinced of that.

BROWN: That is certainly the hope.

Cedric Alexander, thank you so much.

ALEXANDER: Thank you for having me.

BROWN: And we are following breaking news out of Turkey right now. The U.S. consulate in Istanbul coming under attack today. Turkish authorities say the attackers were armed with a long-range weapon and artillery.

Our Barbara Starr joins us from the Pentagon with the very latest.

So, Barbara, were there any casualties at the consulate?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Thankfully no, not at this hour that the Turks or the U.S. are reporting, Pamela. However, the U.S. State Department put out a message a short time ago, saying the consulate would remain close for the rest of today. They will see about tomorrow whether they reopen. They are also warning American citizens in Turkey to be very cautious about being in large gatherings and actually to stay away for now from the consulate area.

This attack said to be carried out by a left-wing group in Turkey. That consulate has come under attack before. Most recently in 2013 when a Turkish security guard was killed there. So a lot of concern, you know, about what is going on. There have been a number of attacks across Turkey today. Turkish authorities very watchful -- Pamela.

BROWN: And Barbara, the U.S. just deployed six fighter jets to Turkey. Does the U.S. suspect a possible connection given the timing of this attack?

[10:10:05] STARR: Well, the timing is very interesting. There's nothing yet to indicate any solid connection. This is a group, however, as we mentioned that has been a very public place in its opposition to the Turkish government so we will see. These are six U.S. Air Force F-16s. It's about 300 military personnel flying out of Aviano, Italy to the Incirlik Air Base right into the heart of southern Turkey.

They are prepared now to carry out airstrikes across the border in Syria. Their goal, their mission is to try and shut down the last area of that Turkish-Syrian border where ISIS is still able to cross over with its fighters, weapons and equipment. If they can shut it down using airstrikes, they hope that will go a long way to putting a crimp into ISIS, at least in this part of Syria -- Pamela.

BROWN: Barbara Starr, thank you so much.

And still to come right here in NEWSROOM, Donald Trump unapologetic for comments he made about a FOX debate moderator. But could his reaction cost him in the polls? We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:15:34] BROWN: Donald Trump dominating the political headlines once again. Controversy swirling after remarks he made about FOX News' Megyn Kelly. Comments that some say suggested she was menstruating. But Trump is defending those comments to CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No. I said, blood was flowing for, wherever, because I wanted to finish the sentence because I went on to -- I wanted to get off from the whole thing and get back on to the subject of jobs or whatever we were talking to about right after that. So I didn't even say anything because I didn't even finish the thought. I was going to say nose and/or ears. Because that's a very common statement. Blood flowing out of somebody's nose.

It's a statement showing anger. She had great anger when she was questioning me. Only a deviant would say that what I said was what they were referring to, because nobody can make that statement. You almost have to be sick to sort of put that together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Well, a lot of people are deviants because it did offend a fair amount of people. And as you might imagine, Trump's rivals seized on his comments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Come on, give me a break. I mean, are we -- do we want to win? Do we want to insult 53 percent of all voters? What Donald Trump said is wrong.

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They were completely inappropriate and offensive comments. Period.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: All right. So let's talk. Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist and co-chair of a pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC, and Cheri Jacobus is a Republican strategist. Cheri, I'm going to start with you here. Jeb expressed concerns about

offending women voters, half of the electorate. Are you fearful that this will have a broader impact on the Republicans pulling in female voters?

CHERI JACOBUS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I really don't. I mean, it could just on the margins, but Donald Trump does not represent Republicans. And the people who are still supporting him, we still don't know how many there are, there aren't any credible polls out there yet after the debate and his comments this weekend, but a lot of them aren't really Republican voters. They don't necessarily say, well, if Trump isn't the nominee, we'll vote for another Republican. They are -- these are like "Apprentice" fans. They're kind of new.

I don't think he has the ability to bring these new people in. But where this is -- why this is so important to Republicans is because Hillary Clinton in the polls is now losing women -- white women voters. Last week there was a poll five days ago, came out and said she's down by 10 points. And this is with her not even out there saying anything. This is on her honesty and credibility with regard to e-mail scandals.

There's a real opportunity here for the right Republican candidate to do very, very well with women, in particular, because Hillary is now doing so poorly.

BROWN: Well, you bring up Hillary and I think some would debate with you that she's doing poorly, Paul, but --

JACOBUS: But there's a poll that says she is among women.

BROWN: Well, Paul, I'm going to bring you in on that. We haven't really heard from her or any other Democrats in terms of the controversy surrounding Trump's comments. Do you think that that is a smart play here? Do you think that that is, you know, the way they should handle this or should they speak out?

PAUL BEGALA, CO-CHAIR, PRO-HILLARY CLINTON SUPER PAC: Well, I think she's doing exactly the right thing. You know, it was Napoleon who said never interrupt your opponent when he's destroying himself. And Trump is not destroying himself but he is helping to destroy the Republican Party and the rest of the Republicans are helping.

Let me give some free advice to Jeb Bush, who's a good guy, a decent guy, smart guy. He's not a very good candidate it turns out. I'm surprised to say this. I thought he'd be the class of the field. That comment is very instructive. He did not say it is intrinsically wrong to insult women. He said, we could lose votes.

Now, Jeb, just pretend at least when you're in public that you care about the American people, you care about women, instead of simply women voters. He sounded like a strategist, like a hack like me instead of a potential president. The Republican Party is in such trouble with women. And it's not just Mr. Trump, it's Governor Bush saying that he doesn't think we shouldn't spend a half a billion dollars on women's health. It's Senator Rubio saying he would not allow a woman's right to choose

even if she's raped, even if she's a victim of incest.. Republicans have very big problems with women and Donald Trump is just one of them.

BROWN: Well, we heard that -- a lot of talk about that after the last presidential election, that Republicans need to do more to bring in women, to bring in minority votes. Do you think that Trump is impacting that at all?

JACOBUS: What Trump is doing in some ways is just sort of putting off the start of the real Republican primary. He's not going to be the nominee. He didn't answer the question at the debate when he was asked how long have you been a Republican. We don't even know if he really is one. And he's now -- I find it hard to believe he's going to be the frontrunner.

[10:20:09] We have all these candidates who were struggling with name I.D. We have 17 of them, for goodness sake. He had name I.D. so in these early days he was able to go out there, but I think he's messed up so badly he does not have Republican support. And what's going to happen is, I think people are going to start coalescing around some of these other candidates. Now they're inching forward and doing better and impressing people.

The other lesser candidates will drop out so the votes will increase, the support will increase for these other candidates, and Trump, you know, I think within a short period of time we won't be talking about him anymore, but right now he's very much a distraction. His comments were just horrible. He does not represent the Republican Party.

And again, with Hillary losing so many -- so much support with women voters that she needs to win, she desperately needs Trump to run as a third-party candidate because she can't win with a majority. She can only win maybe with the plurality so she needs Trump as a third-party candidate. He's now making noises like he's going to promise not to run. That's a big problem for Hillary again because she's losing so much of the support that she depended on from women.

BROWN: Quickly, Paul, some would argue on the flipside, though, you know, Cheri is saying look, Trump is not representative of the GOP field, but some are saying that look, he's actually helping the Republicans. He brought in millions of viewers to watch -- that's what some say, millions of viewers to watch the GOP debate.

BEGALA: Right.

BROWN: I think it was something like 24 million. Of course, Trump takes full credit for that. Is there concern among Democrats that he is in some ways helping the Republican Party in bringing more attention to their issues?

BEGALA: No, the only concern I have as a Democrat is how long can he sustain this? Cheri may be right, he may burn himself out and he will likely not be the Republican nominee. And Cheri is right. She knows her party better than I do anyway. Better listen to her than me. But those 24 million, I wish it was 124 million. I want every

American to see what the Republican Party stands for. And it's not just Mr. Trump's theatrics, it is the substance of every one of them would criminalize a woman's right to choose. Every one of them opposes the equal pay law that Hillary Clinton supports. Every one of them opposes raising the minimum wage. Every one of them wants to cut taxes for the rich.

This is exactly what I want people to know. So this is a gift that Mr. Trump is giving to the Democrats by shining a light. He says it in a more coarse way but everybody on that stage agrees with him.

JACOBUS: Well, you know --

BROWN: Quickly, Cheri.

JACOBUS: Paul -- Paul, I think if you believe that, you'd be anxious to have your candidate out there and she's not out there. Now --

BEGALA: She's out there today announcing her college plan.

JACOBUS: Paul, when she does go out there --

BEGALA: Talking about issues and ideas.

JACOBUS: Paul, when she does go out there and talk to people and give speeches, give press interviews, her poll numbers go down. Now you've got her hidden, she's not even out there and her poll numbers are going down with women.

(CROSSTALK)

BEGALA: She's out there --

JACOBUS: Look, you're kind of darned if you do and darned if you don't. People don't like her when they talk to her and when they get to see her and talk to her, they don't even like her when you keep her hidden.

BEGALA: OK.

(CROSSTALK)

JACOBUS: So I think --

BROWN: I have a feeling we're not going to reach a conclusion during this segment.

Cheri Jacobus, Paul Begala, thank you so much. Great having you on.

JACOBUS: Thank you.

BEGALA: Thanks, Pamela.

BROWN: And hearing your different your perspectives. And just weeks after a study showed college costs have soared 16

percent from a year ago, speaking of Hillary Clinton, she is set to roll out a plan to make higher education more affordable calling it a, quote, "right and not a privilege for those who can afford it."

CNN senior political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson joins me now from Washington.

So, Nia-Malika, Clinton wants to make college more affordable, but her plan has a pretty hefty price tag, $350 billion. Who will foot the bill?

NIA-MALIKA, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is one of those plans that would call on the wealthy. It would tax or it would cap the value of itemized deductions that wealthy individuals can claim on their tax -- on their tax forms. So that's how she's looking to pay for it.

And let's look at what this thing would do for college students. It would mean that they would be able to attend public universities or colleges without having to take out any loans. It would also continue President Obama's free community college plan. And for folks out there who already have loans, it would cap at 10 percent the amount of loans you would have to pay, 10 percent of whatever your income is. And of course, the price tag is $350 billion over 10 years.

She's going to make this announcement today at 1:30 in Manchester, New Hampshire. And remember of course in New Hampshire, Bernie Sanders is very much nipping at her heels, at least according to the polls we've seen so far. He already has released a college plan that would call for free tuition across the board. Martin O'Malley has also released a similar plan or called for a similar plan. And you've had from progressives really a desire for Hillary Clinton to get on board with making college much more affordable. Elizabeth Warren, this has been very much a hobby horse of hers, so we'll see what the reaction today is when she releases the plan.

BROWN: I have to quickly ask this, Nia-Malika, because we just had this segment on with Donald Trump and his controversial remarks about Megyn Kelly. Do you expect to hear any sort of reaction from Hillary Clinton on that today?

HENDERSON: Certainly. You know, I think as Paul said, she's kind of in a sweet spot here because here is, Donald Trump, kind of doubling down on some of the things he's said. And she's able to kind of quietly be under the radar there. But obviously she takes questions from reporters today. I imagine that will something that comes up.

[10:25:16] BROWN: Absolutely. Nia-Malika Henderson, thank you so much.

HENDERSON: Thank you.

BROWN: And still to come right here in NEWSROOM, outrage growing after the rape and murder of an Air Force veteran. The prime suspect, an undocumented immigrant who's been in trouble with the law before. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two weeks before this murder, Santa Maria police officers arrested him for possession of meth. And do you know what we had to do? We had to cite him out. That's the problem with the system. This is not just in Santa Maria. This is all over the state of California and all of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:30:05] BROWN: Good morning, I'm Pamela Brown in for Carol Costello. Thanks for joining us.