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Senator Chuck Schumer Speaks Out On Why He Is Not For Iran Nuclear Deal; Hillary Clinton Rolls Out $350 Billion Plan To Make College More Affordable; Riots In Ferguson Mark One-Year Anniversary Of Michael Brown's Death; Zinc, Copper and Lead Flowing Down Animus River After EPA Error. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired August 10, 2015 - 15:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:34:25] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: He is poised to be a top ally to President Barack Obama. Just in Senator Chuck Schumer is speaking for the first time about why he's going to go against the president when it comes specifically to this Iran nuclear deal. He said it last week in a statement the U.S. cannot trust and he now thinks the negotiations should start over.

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SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: First, let me say this. This was one of the most difficult decisions that I had to make. I studied it long and hard, read the agreement a whole bunch of times, had many, many, many meetings and interviews with people on both sides, including three classified briefings where you can ask questions that are not in the confines of the document but very relevant to making a decision. And I have found when it's such a difficult decision as this one has been, you've got to study it carefully, come up with a conclusion, not let pressure, politics or party influence your decision and then do the right thing as one sees it. Well, that's what I've done.

In terms of Iran, during the first ten years in nuclear weapons, I found the inspections regime not anywhere anytime but with lots of holes in it. Particularly troublesome, you have to wait 24 days before you can inspect. That will allow some of the radioactivity to be seen but not the non-radioactivity that goes into building a bomb, all of the other things that you need.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:36:03] BALDWIN: Senator Schumer is expected to become the next leader of the Senate Democrat once leader Harry Reid retires.

So with me now, our chief Washington correspondent, host of "STATE OF THE UNION" and "the LEAD," Jake Tapper.

And so, you know, we found out about the news, timing of it, right? It was right around the time of the Republican debate and we knew he would be a "no" vote. And now hearing from him for the first time, a, your reaction to finally hearing from him and, b, would the president still have the votes?

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's unclear and, to be honest, even though the White House is trying to downplay this, this is a very significant moment because Senator Schumer, what he does is he provides cover for other Democrats. He is the third- ranking Democrat in the Senate right now. He aspires to be the number one ranking Democrat in the Senate. And by coming out, the way he has come out, there are a lot of other Democrats who might be inclined to vote that way as well.

All the Republicans need to do is pick off 13 Democrats in the Senate and 44 in the house, assuming all Republicans vote against the deal, which I think is a fair assumption, and they can defeat this deal with a veto-proof majority. So it's very significant development.

There are those who say that Schumer would not have come out this way unless he knew ahead of time that there was a way to make sure that this was not going to be veto-proof. I don't know that for a fact, but a lot of people are providing that as conjecture given that Schumer aspires to be the top Democrat.

And look, it's going to be very difficult for Republicans to pick off 44 Democrats in the house to vote against president Obama's signature foreign policy accomplishment. But I do think this makes it is more difficult. After Schumer came out, you saw the top Democrat on the house foreign affairs committee, Elliott Engle and the number two Brad Sherman who we are going to talk to on "the LEAD" in a few minutes come out and oppose the president's deal as well.

BALDWIN: So it's Brad Sherman will be on "the LEAD." we'll look for that.

Jake Tapper, thank you so much. We will see you at the top of the hour on "the LEAD." Thank you.

TAPPER: Thank you.

BALDWIN: And now, coming up on CNN here, just in to us, Hillary Clinton is taking questions from reporters as I speak. She's talking about a range of issues. She's also apparently taking on the issue of Donald Trump's recent comments head-on. Wait until you hear what she had to say about that, about the Republican debate. We'll turn that around for you quickly and share it next.

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[15:42:53] BALDWIN: All right. Just a few moments ago, Hillary Clinton stood with a number of reporters and did something she doesn't actually often do. She answered a number of questions from members of the media and she spoke for quite a while. She addressed a wide spectrum of issues all way from taking Donald Trump on to talking about the Republican debate which happened last week in Cleveland to the possibility that vice president Joe Biden could run for president. Here she is, Hillary Clinton.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I said it was outrageous. I stand by that. I think more people should say the same. They should be going after him. The Republican Party is going to have to deal with him. But I just want to remind us that what they say about women, not one woman who is perfectly capable and incredibly impressive, able to take care of herself, but all these women that I have fought for, worked for, stood up for, advocated for and want to be a president for who may not have the opportunity to defend themselves, who may lose the right to exercise a personal choice if certain of the Republicans were to be successful, I don't want that forgotten. So, yes, I know it makes great TV. I think the guy went way overboard, offensive, outrageous, pick your adjective.

But what Marco Rubio has said has much of an impact in terms of where the Republican party is today as anybody else on that stage and it is deeply troubling and it should be to the press, not just to those of us who have been doing this work for so long.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE). Did you take offense to that?

CLINTON: You know, it is entertainment. I mean, look, it's all entertainment. You know, I mean, I think he's having the time of his life, you know, being up on that stage, saying whatever he wants to say, getting people excited, both for and against him.

(INAUDIBLE)

[15:45:00] CLINTON: I didn't know him that well. I mean, I knew him. I knew him and I happened to be planning to be in Florida and I thought it would be fun to go to his wedding because it's always entertaining. Now that he's running for president, it's a little more troubling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: One more. (INAUDIBLE), do you have any reaction to that and does it have any impact on you seeking endorsements?

CLINTON: Not at all. I was proud to be endorsed by the American federation of teachers. I'm proud -- I've been proud to work with nurses for many, many years on health care and, you know, better treatment for nurses. I'm a strong advocate for nurses and I look forward to working for them when I'm president.

(INAUDIBLE)

CLINTON: Nick is the man. I'm sorry. He's the man. I've got to let Nick do what he does here. That's his job. OK, guys.

BALDWIN: All right. So that's a wrap from Hillary Clinton on that. But we have to talk about her big plan that she announced today when it comes to education. This week, after study, show college costs have soared 16 percent from one year ago. Hillary Clinton rolled out a $350 billion plan and making college more affordable.

Sandra Block is here. She is a senior associate editor with Kiplinger's Personal Finance. So thank you so much, Sandra, for joining me. And, you know, when I

first read this this morning and I saw, you know, no loans, I thought, what? How does this work? Explain this to me.

SANDRA BLOCK, SENIOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR, KIPLINGER'S PERSONAL FINANCE: Well, this is really a very broad proposal. Much more sweeping than anything I think anybody has introduced so far. And one of the ways that she wants to eliminate loans is by giving states federal grants that they can use to pay for public colleges but only if the states agree to continue to subsidize colleges, those have cut the amount of money that go into public colleges won't receive the grant. So there's a lot of carrot and stick in here. As I said, this is so broad. It's really a very wide-ranging look at all of the problems that people have complained about with respect to the costs of higher education.

BALDWIN: So when we're talking federal grants, my question really is, who foots that bill?

BLOCK: Well, Hillary's proposal is that would be paid for by -- she calls it closing tax loopholes. Basically, it would limit the amount of itemized deductions high taxpayers will be able to take. That's come up before in various tax reform proposals. It has never gone anywhere. But that's how she would pay for this.

BALDWIN: Bottom line, do you think this could fly?

BLOCK: I think it's going to get a lot of -- I hate to say this, but retraction from both progressives and conservatives because there is accountability in here for colleges, there is refinancing of student loans which is going to be hugely popular with millennials and may get them out to vote and as I said, and simplification too, because right now, just the process of applying for college, getting financial aid, taking advantage of all the programs, is insanely complicated and she has made a stab at making it easier.

BALDWIN: Sandra Block, thank you so much.

BLOCK: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Hillary Clinton's chief rival for the Democratic nomination, Bernie Sanders, he had a huge weekend.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

BALDWIN: This Portland, Oregon, crowd, some 19,000 strong, this is his biggest so far. Not just for Bernie Sanders but for any single candidate running for president right now. And from Portland, let's head north to Seattle, a crowd of 12,000 packing a University of Washington rally. But the size of his crowds was overshadowed by an incident earlier in the day when a couple of Black Lives Matter activists shoved him aside, took his microphone. This is how it happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you, Seattle, for being one of the most progressive cities in the United States of America.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Sanders eventually left the event without giving his speech but this theme in a question about Black Lives Matter is something that has come up with number of these candidates. And I am sure will continue to do so on the campaign trail.

Next, you see these pictures? It looks orange slime, sliding down the Colorado River. What's heck is this? Where does it come from? And how can officials get rid of it? That's next.

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[15:54:04] CLINTON: I want to take you back to New Hampshire. We have been listening even more to some of his comments that Hillary Clinton has made to reporters, again, speaking specifically about Donald Trump and about these Republicans. Here is more of her comments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: And while what Donald Trump said about Megyn Kelley is outrageous, what the rest of the Republicans saying about women is also outrageous. They brag about slashing women's health care funding. They say they would force women who have been raped to carry their rapist 'child. And we don't hear any of them supporting raising the minimum wage, paid leave for new parents, access to quality child care, equal pay for women, or anything else that will help to, you know, give women a chance to get ahead.

Megyn Kelly is a strong woman, and more than capable of defending herself against Donald trump. I'm worried about what Republican policies would do to the rest of the women. And will continue to speak out and speak up about that today and through the rest of this campaign and in the White House.

So with that, my thoughts are once again with the people of Ferguson, as they mark this painful anniversary, and in light of the continuing violence that we saw last night. You know, violence has no place in our streets, and we should all be working for peace and justice there, and everything where in our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:55:38] BALDWIN: So that was Hillary Clinton just a few moments ago there in New Hampshire.

I have Sara Sidner standing by for us now in Ferguson, Missouri. And the last few minutes of our show, Sara, I think it is important for people who are just tuning in. Again, this is the one year, as Hillary Clinton was alluding to, the one year since Michael Brown was shot and killed right around where you are, and not too far from where you are, we've been learning of these arrests just outside of the St. Louis courthouse. Let's start there. Tell me what you know about what is happening in St. Louis.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are told that there are dozens of people that were arrested. And we knew this would happen, because they had planned to do civil disobedience. It was part of the protest. Monday was going to be that day. And indeed it has been. We know there are some very high-profile people have been arrested in the name of justice, they say, including Dr. Cornel west, the thinker, author and someone who has been a very big figure in the civil rights movement including this latest one, really talking about how young people have created this.

But what happened last night was something that the protesters did not appreciate, and that was that there was a shooting, not one, but three. One that started, according to police, between someone down away from the protesters who had nothing to do with the protesters, but the police said they were criminal that started shooting.

And you then successive shootouts. One was the police with one of the suspects, and then after that another shooting on (INAUDIBLE). It is the place where Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer Darren Wilson, who was later exonerated in that case by the DOJ and the grand jury. This has definitely been a tensed time. But protesters says, look, that's not part of our movement. Our part of our movement is to try to get justice. And they get frustrated when there's a violent act done in their name --Brooke.

BALDWIN: We will stay in close contact with you. I know we'll watch for your reporting through the evening here on CNN. Sara Sidner, thank you so much. And we will be watching what happens in St. Louis.

Meantime, before I let you go, we have to talk about what's happened here in the Colorado River. This EPA safety crew who was supposed to be cleaning up this event in Colorado mine, accidentally sent more than three million gallons of chemical-filled wastewater pouring into this river. It's even worse than for it is first thought. It is ugly orange brew of heavy metals, including iron and zinc and copper, is now flowing down -- it's the Animus River. This is through Southern Colorado and across the state line into New Mexico.

CNN's Tom Sater is up with more on this. And when I saw the pictures this morning, I thought, my goodness. And I know that the governor there in Colorado has not declared a disaster emergency. How harmful is this and how do they fix this?

TOM SATER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Brooke, the EPA has been extremely tight-lip about this because they are typically not the ones that are on the side that caused the accident or have to clean it up. But again in Durango, I mean, the tourist industry and recreational industry is shut down now through the summer.

River is shut down because of high levels of arsenic as well. It's not just zinc and copper and lead. They are not sure how bad it is. Originally, the EPA said when they went to investigate this mine, which has been shut down, the Gold cave mine since the 1920s, they were there to try to take care of a small leak. We know now that possibly this leak has been going on, it is spilling maybe 50 to 250 gallons per minute for many, many years.

They said one million gallons were dispersed by accident. And now, we know from the USGS, who has better ways of determining the debris and flow saying, no, it's three million. It's the gold king mine. It's up here, tell you not too far. And it makes its way down. It is called the cement creek into the Animus River, goes to Durango, again, that's high recreation area, now into New Mexico where it means the San Juan River.

Right now, New Mexico is under a state of emergency as well. If it continues, it makes its way, of course to the Colorado River. And even further from that it's Lake Powell which is drinking wall for cities such as Vegas and San Diego and L.A.

Thunderstorms are starting to help disperse some of it. And we know it's getting better in some regions. But I break it down for you, it really is amazing. Think of personal water wells right now. They're being tested. Irrigation for farmers, not to mention hundreds of thousands of livestock right now that use this and irrigation for the farmers. Do the Gold Mine had a leak now. We expect or I think for years, but this went in and it's a problem. And now they are not sure what they are going to do. And they are not sure how bad the water levels really are. It is starting toget better in Durango and Silverton and starting to get a little better in New Mexico. But it is unsure. They have beentight-lip about all the situation.

BALDWIN: They have got to get in there and contain it. That is not a good situation.

Tom Sater, thank you.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thanks for watching.