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Arrests, Violence During Ferguson Protests; Kelly: 'I Will Not Apologize for Good Journalism'; Clinton Critiques Trump, Rubio; Sen. Schumer Spells Out Why He's Rejecting Iran Deal. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired August 11, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: ... protesters, calling themselves the Oath Keepers.

[07:00:04] "JOHN", OATH KEEPERS: Everybody has the right to be safe and secure in their person and things.

YOUNG: The men say they're protecting rioters with Info Wars, a site run by a conspiracy theorist. They say police are leaving them alone.

Earlier on Monday, protesters shut down an interstate in St. Louis.

WESLEY BELL, FERGUSON CITY COUNCIL MEMBER: Many of these are people who have their own agendas, who do wish to escalate violence; they mix in with a lot of the peaceful protesters. It is difficult. And particularly for law enforcement, who has no idea, oftentimes, who is who.

YOUNG: Tensions growing after a reported four shootings Sunday night. Eighteen-year-old Tyrone Harris remains in critical condition after being shot by police late Sunday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please get him some help!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YOUNG: Chris, I can remember the last time we were here, we talked about this: the two separate groups that are here, some people who are here to protest and some people who are here for other reasons.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: And often taking advantage of the people coming out in that community, who just want change because they live there. Ryan, thanks for staying on it. Please be safe.

So Megyn Kelly skipped an opportunity to fire back at Donald Trump. This happened just hours after her boss, the head of FOX News, announced he'd cleared the air with Trump. But Trump says that he was promised he would be dealt with fairly. So what's going on?

CNN is covering the race to the White House like no other. Let's start with Athena Jones, live from Washington. What do you have, my friend? ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris.

That's right. Trump is trying to make more headlines today, so let's get everyone up to speed on the very latest. We know that Trump spoke with Roger Ailes, the head of FOX News, as you mentioned yesterday. We don't know what time they had the conversation, but by late morning, Trump had tweeted this: "Roger Ailes just called. He is a great guy and assures me that Trump will be treated fairly on FOX News. His word is always good."

Now as you mentioned, Roger Ailes said that conversation was blunt and cordial, and they cleared the air. But this comes after Trump has been blasting FOX News and especially FOX News anchor Megyn Kelly for what he saw as unfair questioning in Thursday night's debate. He has said that she owes him an apology rather than him apologizing to her, even after the comments he made about blood coming out of her wherever.

Take a listen to what Kelly said about that last night on her show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Apparently, Mr. Trump thought the question I asked was unfair and felt I was attacking him. I felt he was asked a tough, but fair question.

I certainly will not apologize for doing good journalism. So I'll continue doing my job without fear or favor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: So there you have it: No apology from Megyn Kelly. We'll see what Trump has to say about that a little later -- Ana.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Athena Jones in Washington.

Hillary Clinton hasn't said a whole lot about Trump. And now, she's taking off the gloves, slamming Trump's comments about Megyn Kelly as over-the-top, calling them outrageous. But she's also not limiting her attack to just Trump. She claims all women need to be wary of the entire Republican Party. More on that from CNN senior correspondent in Washington, Jeff Zeleny -- Jeff.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Ana.

You're right. Hillary Clinton seized on this opportunity not just to lash out against Trump's comments. She did call them offensive and outrageous. But she took the opportunity to paint all the Republican field with a broad brush, particularly on some comments that were made at last week's debate on abortion.

She singled out Senator Marco Rubio, the Republican of Florida. She said his position is just out of touch and out of date, and

voters, Republican voters, women voters should be onto this. He opposes abortion in all cases, including rape and incest. She highlighted him specifically but painted all Republican candidates as out of touch.

Of course, you know, this is a good moment for her to try and distinguish herself if she becomes a general election candidate.

But we have to step back for a second. She actually knows Donald Trump better than most of the other Republican candidates. He's given to her campaign. He's given to their family foundation. And the Clintons, Bill and Hillary Clinton, even attended his wedding. So she was asked yesterday why that was. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I mean, look, it's all entertainment. You know, I mean, I think he's having the time of his life.

I didn't know him that well. I happened to be planning to be in Florida. And I thought it would be fun to go at his wedding, because it's always entertaining. Now that he's running for president, it's a little more troubling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: A little more troubling, perhaps, but she seemed to be enjoying the politics of it all by really drawing these big distinctions.

Of course, women are the majority of the voters in all elections. And Democrats have tried to wage the war on women. It worked in the 2012 presidential election. So that's what we saw the beginning of yesterday.

And this is why, Chris, Republicans are worried about this. They believe that Donald Trump's comments, as well as other comments in the field, will bring down the whole party here. But, you know, this internal Republican food fight at least has some people smiling. And that was Hillary Clinton yesterday -- Chris.

[07:05:04] CUOMO: Interesting way to term it: inside Republican food fight. You and I have become somewhat of the cafeteria for that on Twitter right now. All different flavors of the GOP coming out to say how they feel about how Trump's being handled or whether he should be handled at all.

So please, get online and give your comments as you want, most of them directed to Mr. Jeff Zeleny.

All right. So let's dig a little deeper into what's going on here. We have Clinton, we have Sanders and, of course, Donald Trump all mixing it up. So we have CNN political commentators at the ready, Paul Begala and Margaret Hoover. Paul, a Democratic strategist, senior advisor for Priorities USA Action, a pro-Clinton super PAC. And Margaret is a Republican consultant.

So Margaret, he's got huge crowds coming in the tens of thousands. His voice is resonating with a hungry and almost desperate part of his party. And yet, people are not taking him seriously. Who am I talking about?

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Could be either Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders.

CUOMO: Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders, tens of thousands are coming. He's saying what people want to hear. His supporters are so passionate. He is the Donald Trump of his party, not in the same disruptive way, but in the way of speaking to those who don't feel spoken to. Do you think he's got a shot?

HOOVER: They are two different sides of the same coin. Aren't they catalyzing and codifying that same populist instinct that is dissatisfied with government institutions; they dissatisfied with the economy; they're dissatisfied, frankly, with our cultural institutions. They feel disenfranchised. And Bernie Sanders is not the establishment pick. He is the guy who actually is codifying their voice into something they feel like they can identify and relate to.

Sanders also, though, has some problems with the Democratic coalition. He's got a "black lives matter" problem. Everywhere he goes, it seems like he can't be stormed off -- everywhere, he's getting stormed off the stage by the "black lives matter" crowd. He -- his poll numbers aren't going up. In other words, he's got a galvanized base of support, but it's not really hedging into Hillary Clinton's support.

So the main challenge, I think, for Hillary Clinton is not Bernie Sanders, but keeping Joe Biden out of the race just so that that support stays around her. But Paul Begala is the Clinton guy. I've got to ask him.

CUOMO: How are you going to do that? How are you going to do that with those super PAC deep pockets, Begala? How are you going to keep Biden out of this race?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You can't. Nobody can control the vice president or anybody else's access to the race. I have said from the beginning that I never wanted a coronation for Hillary. It's much better to have a contest of ideas. And by golly, Bernie Sanders is giving it to her.

Tens of thousands of people he is drawing. But where I disagree with Margaret slightly, I don't think it's the opposite side of the same coin as Mr. Trump, and here's why.

What Mr. Trump is saying is galvanizing the right but at the cost of alienating the center. People in the center of this country do not want to have a president who attacks Mexicans, attacks immigrants, attacks women, attacks everybody.

Bernie Sanders is not doing that. The things Bernie Sanders is saying, talking about income inequality, talking about the top 1 percent, that can translate to the middle of this country. Yes, he's probably -- not probably, certainly more to the left than Hillary. But that's -- can be a useful debate within my party. He is not attacking her. She's not attacking him. They're both actually talking about ideas. I think it's a really important difference.

CUOMO: Margaret, you were doing very well to restrain yourself while Paul was answering. What were the points that you were scribbling down furiously?

HOOVER: Well, I mean, the only plan [SIC] I would make, Paul, is they are opposite sides of the same coin. Sure, there's no food fight, and there's no celebrity with Bernie Sanders. And that's the difference with Trump. You're right; he's more ideas, granted. But his ideas are not going to be palatable to the center of American politics. I mean, they are not a tax the -- "tax the rich to feed the poor" crowd. Everybody understands you have to have some better economic policy fixes and fixes to government spending, et cetera, in order to get the economy going.

Whereas Bernie Sanders, a Democratic socialist from Vermont, is not going to be the guy that codifies the center of American politics.

BEGALA: I think that's right, but I can sell a whole lot of what Bernie's talking about in the center of this country. And I can't sell anything that Mr. Trump is saying in the center of the country. What Mr. Trump is doing is enormously divisive and destructive.

CUOMO: Well, let me ask you something. Let me stop you there for a second.

BEGALA: It's not what Bernie is doing. Bernie is very healthy for the Democratic Party.

CUOMO: Let me ask you something. Donald Trump, does he have a point? It's no secret that the GOP sees him as problematic. We just had Tim Pawlenty was on, who was very sober-minded. And he was like, "Look, the guy is a tornado or a hurricane. He's going to pass." Are they being a little unfair to Donald Trump when he has all these big poll numbers? I mean, at some point, don't you think GOP people who are looking at him will be like, "Who are you guys to tell us who to like and not like?"

HOOVER: Well...

CUOMO: "We like him." His numbers keep going up.

BEGALA: Yes. I think that's part of the appeal. Remember a couple weeks ago, "The Des Moines Register," very respected newspaper, attacked Mr. Trump, said he wasn't even fit to run in the Iowa caucuses. Right? He moved up after that happened. He moved up after he bitterly, and I think unfairly and viciously attacked John McCain. He moved up. He is likely to even move up now after attacking Megyn Kelly and FOX News.

He's not moving up despite these incendiary comments but because of them. There is an anger in the Republican base he has tapped into. He has -- I said this last night and I'll say it again. He is the pirate in that movie, "Captain Phillips": "I am the captain now. Look at me. I am the captain now." That's what he's telling the GOP establishment.

[07:10:14] HOOVER: Yes, but how did that movie end?

BEGALA: Well, see, the Navy SEALs come and rescue Tom Hanks. The Republicans don't have the Navy SEALs to save from Mr. Trump. He is driving this boat, or yacht, I guess it is for Mr. Trump and for the Republicans.

CUOMO: Do people keep trying to figure out what it is that's going to take Donald Trump down? And we've become more and more suspicious of those questions, because people are either going to stay with him or they're not.

This intrigue with FOX News, he goes after -- you could argue, I mean we all watched the debate. I mean, I thought they did a hell of a job, all three of them asking tough questions and, I think, benefited you, if you were watching the debate and allowed the people on the stage to distinguish themselves.

But now, so he gets in trouble with FOX News, and then he talks to the head of FOX News. Then he says he gets an assurance they're going to be fair to him. Then all of a sudden, Megyn Kelly, who's not known for missing an opportunity to take a shot, doesn't take a shot, takes the high road. And now he's back on FOX News. Is that -- is that curious? Is that concerning at all to you about the relationship between media and politics in this one?

HOOVER: Megyn Kelly did her job.

CUOMO: No question.

HOOVER: She was a journalist. She asked a tough question. She got a -- you know, she got a terrible answer. Then she got personally vilified and attacked for it. There are a lot of folks who like Donald Trump who watch FOX News. And I think FOX News found themselves in a pretty uncomfortable predicament, whereby their viewers were upset with Megyn's question. But then some other viewers were quite defensive of her.

Look, all of this is great for them. It's also all great for both Megyn Kelly and Donald Trump. All of their name, their visibility, everything has gone up. And frankly, nobody is really stained from it except potentially the Republican Party and this narrative about how we are on women.

Look, if you ask, we -- not a single candidate made a case for why conservative policies are going to be better for women. Not a single candidate made a case for why conservative policies are going to be better for the environment. There are some issues that really weren't talked about in the debate that I think the Republican Party needs to address.

Frankly, Hillary Clinton came out with a big plan for college tuition. That's a big issue for a lot of people in this country. Republicans need their own answer, their policy solution to that, and answer to Hillary Clinton. CUOMO: We're going to -- we're going to get all those questions

to Donald Trump this morning. That's one of the beautiful things about him coming on the show.

Begala, thank you very much.

Hooves, as always.

And as Margaret is suggesting, there's a lot of policy still to be discussed. And the man on your screen is coming on NEW DAY to be tested about it all. He's going to be coming on about 7:30. We'll ask him about the recent drama but also what are his ideas and solutions for you -- Mick?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: I feel like you might have a few questions for him.

CUOMO: He may have a few questions for me.

PEREIRA: He might, as well. Look forward to it, Chris. Great conversation there.

In other news, New York Senator Chuck Schumer, who is poised to become the next Democratic leader in the Senate, speaking on camera for the first time about why he's rejecting the nuclear deal with Iran. He says the deal is too flawed, and today, he's expected to speak more about his concerns.

CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski is live in Martha's Vineyard, where the first family is vacationing.

Hi, Michelle.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Michaela.

To hear him speak now, it really underscores how enormously important this is and how disputed. He lays out three reasons why he now very publicly opposes the deal.

First, he says inspections aren't 24/7 access, that in some places, it could take up to three weeks for inspectors to get in. But in 10 to 15 years, Iran would be a threshold nuclear state, and then lifting sanctions would only give Iran more money to be more threatening. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: They'll fund Hezbollah and the Houthis in Yemen, and Assad in Syria. They will also be able to use it to build an ICBM, which can only be aimed at the United States, since they have enough missiles to reach Israel and Europe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: You guys, I've lost the feed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

KOSINSKI: So, Schumer is now one of the several congressmen who've said they don't think that the alternative to this, as the White House says, is eventual war with Iran. He says why not go back and try to get a better deal?

But of course, the White House could not see this more differently. They say negotiators got the best possible deal. And even if, in ten to 15 years, Iran does try to break out and build a bomb, that breakout time would be even longer than it is now and the U.S. would be able to know about it and respond -- Ana.

CABRERA: All right, Michelle Kosinski, at Martha's Vineyard, traveling with the president. Thanks to you.

Now, Rick Perry's campaign could be in trouble. The former Texas governor has stopped paying his South Carolina campaign staff. Perry's campaign chairman in that state says for now, everyone has agreed to keep working in a volunteer capacity. Perry's handlers insist he remains committed in competing for the GOP nomination in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

CUOMO: A New Jersey man is under arrest for allegedly trying to join ISIS. Prosecutors say the 20-year-old traveled from New York to Jordan last May, attempting to reach ISIS-controlled territory, but was then detained. And get this: His 23-year-old brother was arrested in June, similar charges.

[07:15:05] PEREIRA: We have to show you a scary bike crash that was caught on video at the Tour of Utah. We have to warn you it is tough to see. A rider is going a little too fast down this hill and slams full speed right into a car. That cyclist, Matt Brammeier, comes down on the road, barely moving as crowds rush to help him. What is amazing is he has a couple of broken bones, but is otherwise OK. He actually sent a tweet from the hospital, "All good in the hood, guys. Thanks for the messages."

CABRERA: That's why I stick to running, and not riding. That sort of thing scares me.

PEREIRA: Oh, my goodness. That could have been so terrible.

CUOMO: Wow. Amazing that he made it through.

PEREIRA: I know. I know.

CUOMO: Young, strong, lucky.

PEREIRA: Closed course is a good idea for those kind of tours, right?

CUOMO: Well, it's got to be in the out open -- got to be out in the open.

All right. So Donald Trump is doing something he's never done before. He's going to come on NEW DAY. Republican frontrunner has a lot to talk about. He's got a lot swirling around him right now, and he also has a lot of ideas that he needs to get out there for people to keep seeing him as the frontrunner. So see, straight ahead. And we'll have a good convo. Coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: At least 23 arrests in Ferguson overnight after police say protesters, some protesters threw rocks and frozen water bottles at officers. It was calmer than previous night, though, when gunfire rang out during demonstrations, leading to a state of emergency. Clearly, a community that remains on edge, a fragile state, one year after Michael Brown was killed.

[07:20:02] With us this morning is Jeff Roorda. He's of the St. Louis Police Officers Association; also a former Missouri state representative.

Jeff, good to have you here today. We've heard that...

JEFF ROORDA, ST. LOUIS POLICE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION: Good to be back.

PEREIRA: ... organizers have called for a day of disobedience. We know it's a tenuous and fragile state there in Ferguson. What do you make for the marchers -- of the marches for change there in Ferguson? Not the protests at night, the kind of action that pops off, but earlier in the day activities?

ROORDA: Yes, well, it is hard to separate the two things. But it's worth talking about the differences.

PEREIRA: Why is it difficult to separate the two things?

ROORDA: The -- well, because you know, we -- the transition is so seamless from folks out there during the day, and daylight hours are generally very calm. And then you -- night falls, and things get dicey quickly. And you just don't see it coming sometimes. But...

PEREIRA: They're different people. You have the clergy and you have activists and you have Cornel West and those people, those community leaders and faith leaders out there during the day.

ROORDA: Right. Yes. And if they were able to help keep things calm during the evening, that would be a wonderful thing. And a lot of them have tried, without much success. But, you know, they have a right to assemble and to be heard. Some of them are misguided in what they're saying. Some have continued to cling to this "hands up, don't shoot" myth.

But the broader conversation is one we really need to have; and -- and the bad stuff that happens at night really distracts from that.

PEREIRA: Well, you know, and it's interesting. I understand your perspective. But I think it is also frustrating for people on the ground that are saying this has to stop. The fact is, I think most agree that there's something... ROORDA: What is "this"?

PEREIRA: There is a situation in Ferguson that people are trying to address. They want to make sure that what the Justice Department found of the pattern and practice of discrimination against African- Americans...

ROORDA: Well, the Justice Department -- the Justice Department...

PEREIRA: ... within Ferguson P.D. and the city municipal court...

ROORDA: ... conjured up...

PEREIRA: You're going to argue with the Justice Department?

ROORDA: Yes, absolutely. They conjured up this grand distraction. You know, this whole thing started with this lie about "hands up, don't shoot." We know now that Michael Brown tried to kill Darren Wilson. Darren Wilson defended himself and was justified in doing so.

And the Justice Department couldn't -- just couldn't let that go. They weren't happy enough to say, "Hey, you know, the myth has been debunked. And let's move on. Let's have a conversation about policing in America."

Instead, they pivoted to this really unwarranted attack on what was happening in Ferguson to keep the concentration on criticizing law enforcement. And we missed -- you know, 366 days, we missed one opportunity after another to talk about the real problems that underlie the violence that we've seen between police and young black men.

And that is the dreadful, dreadful socioeconomic conditions that these kids live in. The crime that they're immersed in, the violence they're immersed in, the failing school districts. That's the conversation we ought to be having. Because if you keep concentrating on trying to fix police...

PEREIRA: And it is a conversation that many people want to take, that this is a conversation they want to have in this community.

But I think you are discounting the thousands of people that are saying the system is broken. If I look at this picture behind me, an image of people there, you have clergy. You have people from the community. You have elders. You have young people alike. And you think about all the people that have been supporting the "black lives matter," "hands up, don't shoot." You're calling all of those people misguided, Jeff?

ROORDA: No, I'm just saying that what we need to have is a conversation about what really gets -- what really underlies these -- these confrontations.

PEREIRA: OK. So how do we do it?

ROORDA: And all this talk -- well, clinging to this myth and emboldening kids to believe that they have some right to attack police officers, to get in physical confrontations, to turn deadly violence towards police officers.

My God, we've had -- we've had eight instances where law enforcement in St. Louis City and St. Louis County alone have taken the lives of a young black man since Michael Brown. And in all those cases, the person involved turned deadly violence on the police. And there seems to be this emboldening, this -- almost this martyrdom that has come out of Ferguson that I think takes us in the exact opposite direction...

PEREIRA: I'm going to take issue with the martyrdom. And I think there's going to be a lot of people are going to take issue with that.

Let me read you from an op-ed from "The Baltimore Sun's" editorial board. Let me read that to you: "The fact is that the police, as an institution, are particularly ill-equipped to deal with the consequences of systemic discrimination, because the only real tool at their disposal is force, which often makes matters worse."

ROORDA: That's nonsense.

PEREIRA: So let's talk about the other alternatives and the other policing that needs to happen, and the other kind of training that can happen in our police departments.

[07:25:05] Because you have to recognize, there are a large group of people who feel as though their rights are being infringed upon. So if, let's practice with that premise, how do we then heal and use different practices in our police?

ROORDA: Well, first of all, we have to -- we have to have an honest conversation. I mean, if we continue to base this whole thing on a lie, then we're not going to make any progress, and we haven't made any progress for the last year.

I was on an interview with -- on a different network with the president of the St. Louis NAACP. And, you know, we've -- we've disagreed for the last year. And I started talking on that interview, just as I am today, that we need to address these socioeconomic issues and get guns off the street. For God's sakes, I mean, these kids having guns in their hands is a recipe for disaster.

And much to my surprise and pleasure, he started singing from the same hymnal. And that was refreshing to me. It seems like that is our opportunity to move forward from this, not cling to faux police reforms that don't avoid the next Michael Brown.

PEREIRA: Well, the fact is, Ferguson and other communities have to move past this. It takes all players involved.

ROORDA: I agree. PEREIRA: Want to make sure you're part of that conversation.

Jeff Roorda, thanks for joining us on NEW DAY today.

ROORDA: You bet. Glad to be here.

PEREIRA: Ana.

CABRERA: Thanks, Michaela.

Donald Trump is always one to speak his mind, and that hasn't changed since he began running for president. He's going to join us live, next, to discuss his run for the White House and some of his controversial comments. Stay with us.

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