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Kentucky County Clerk to Appear in Federal Court over Marriage License Issue; Couple Denies Marriage License Speaks Out; Trump, RNC Chief to Meet on Loyalty Pledge; Woman in Court for Hoax Sighting of Suspected Cop Killers; Judge Overturns Tom Brady's Suspension; Former Clinton Aide to Face Congress, Another Pleads the Fifth; Aired 10- 10:30a ET

Aired September 03, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:00] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Also, Trump taking on Bush again.

Donald's new message for Jeb? Speak English on the campaign trail.

Plus, this morning this Kentucky clerk faces a judge. Will he find her in contempt of court for refusing to issue gay marriage licenses?

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: Obey the law. Obey the law.

COSTELLO: Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. We begin with that legal showdown between a federal court and a Kentucky clerk who refuses to issue same-sex couple's marriage licenses because of her religious beliefs. In less than an hour Kim Davis will appear before a judge and come face-to-face once again with couples who say she's breaking the law by turning them away.

In June the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage nationwide. The big question this morning, whether Davis will be held in contempt. On Wednesday protesters stormed her office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIM DAVIS, KENTUCKY COUNTY CLERK: But we're not issuing marriage license today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually the United States Supreme Court has authority over you.

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: Obey the law. Obey the law. Obey the law.

DAVIS: Our Constitution was founded by faith. Not --

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: No. This is not. Our council is not.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: Davis, who by the way, has been divorced three times, argues issuing licenses to same-sex couples is a heaven or hell decision for her.

So let's bring in CNN's Alexandra Field. She's outside the courthouse in Ashland, Kentucky.

Good morning.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol. A lot of people are actually outside of this courthouse in Ashland, Kentucky, and they're waiting for this hearing to start. These are people who have been following this case since it began to unfold garnering national attention earlier this summer. We know it is the law of the land. The Supreme Court of the United States of America ruled earlier this summer that same-sex couples could marry nationwide.

This court, this federal court here in Kentucky upheld the ruling earlier this summer when it came to the county clerk who believed she did not have to issue these same marriage licenses. The court here said it was her job to do that. She is now appealing that ruling at a higher court.

But while that appeal process unfolds, she believes that she should be granted a stay from the court which would mean that she will temporarily not have to issue those licenses as the appeals process moves forward. Those requests have been denied by a higher court. That request has even been denied by the Supreme Court. And yet this clerk continues to refuse to issue marriage licenses.

So what you'll see in the courtroom today is a hearing on whether or not to hold this judge, Kim Davis, in contempt of court. We got a statement from the U.S. attorney's office saying this, "Government officials are free to disagree with the law but not disobey it. The county clerk has presented her position through the federal court system all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. It is time for the clerk and the county to follow the law."

Kim Davis has issued her own statement defending what she believes is her religious right not to certify these marriages. She says, "To me this has never been about gays or lesbians. It is about marriage and God's word. It is a matter of religious liberty which is protected under the First Amendment."

Kim Davis will be appearing here at 11:00. The judge has also asked for six of her deputy clerks to be present in the court as well, Carol.

COSTELLO: So the people behind you, are they supporters of Kim Davis?

FIELD: This is a mixed crowd. And what you'll actually see in the crowd, you'll see a couple of rainbow flags, you see a lot of American flags, and a number of different religious posters. From our survey of the crowd, we would say that anecdotally there's a larger group here in support of Kim Davis than the group that is here in support of the couples who brought this class action suit against Kim Davis earlier this summer.

But certainly they're very passionate supporters of the people on both sides of this issue and all of them do want to be heard out here this morning. All of them are waiting, of course, to hear what the judge will say, Carol.

COSTELLO: We're waiting, too. We'll get back to you. Thank you so much, Alexandra Field, reporting live this morning.

Kim Davis is not alone. Last hour I spoke to another clerk named Casey Davis, no relation. He also refuses to issue same-sex couples marriage licenses.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASEY DAVIS, REFUSES TO MARRY SAME-SEX COUPLES: I don't think that I'm trampling on anybody's rights. I have never prevented them from getting anything. They can go all the way around my county and get marriage license at any of those places, and that's fine with me. The problem is, and it's Kim's problem as well, it's not that these people can't get the license. It's they can't get them from someone who says they have a religious conviction, and that's wrong in itself. They can get the license. It's just that they're trying to force her to give them to them, and I think that's wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But for one couple being denied a marriage license isn't just hurtful, they say it's scary. James Yates and Will Smith Jr. say they have been denied a marriage license not once but five times. And they join me now via Skype.

[10:05:10] Welcome to both of you. Thank you so much for being with me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Good morning. James, how would you character Kim Davis and Casey Davis who you just heard from?

JAMES YATES, DENIED SAME-SEX MARRIAGE LICENSE FIVE TIMES: I -- I just think it's their religious belief. I think they're not separating it from their duty. I think they mischaracterize that we can go anywhere else to get this because that's just saying, yes, you can do it anywhere but here where you live, where you pay taxes, and it could lead to other rights denied for beliefs.

COSTELLO: Will, you guys have said this is not just wrong, it's scary. Why is it scary?

WILL SMITH JR., DENIED SAME-SEX MARRIAGE LICENSE FIVE TIMES: Lately the rumors and reports have been saying different things about people bringing guns, possible violence, and you always worry about that as a gay person. It's always in the back of your head, but you don't -- we can't focus on that. We have to stay as optimistic and positive as we can. We can't let it get to us. We just keep an eye out and look around more to protect ourselves.

COSTELLO: James, can you describe what it's like to go into the county clerk's office and like, say, I want to apply for a marriage license and to be denied? What's that like?

YATES: Well, the first time after -- there had been several clerks around the country that had stepped down, so we thought, you know, there was a great chance of getting our marriage license then, and it was such a big letdown. And our first few times, it wasn't as tense as it's getting now. This last time we went in, you could just feel the hate coming from people outside, and it was --

SMITH: Seems harder.

YATES: A lot harder. Even though we'd done it before, just seeing that hate just pointed right at you and the cheers when you leave because you didn't get your license, it's -- I don't know how to deal with why do they hate us that much? It was a lot this time.

COSTELLO: Will, what about the suggestion that why not just go to the neighboring county and get a marriage license? Why do you have to get it in Rowan County?

SMITH: We live in Rowan County. We lived here -- I have lived here for 16 years. I have never experienced anything like this before, but this is where we live. We pay taxes, we work. You know, this is our home. You know, this is our right. We should be able to get, you know -- we go there to pay our car taxes, so we should be able to get our marriage license there. It's just wrong.

COSTELLO: And, James, Marco Rubio came out earlier today and said there ought to be some sort of compromise put into place. Should there be a compromise in this case in your mind?

YATES: I don't think so, because if there's a compromise put on this, then there can be a compromise on any other rights. These were duties that were known before the office was taken, and if there's a compromise on this and somehow we do get our marriage license here, there might be a compromise on -- like if we buy a house together. Maybe they won't agree with that and it could just set up more and more rights being denied.

COSTELLO: All right.

(CROSSTALK)

YATES: Sorry.

COSTELLO: No, go ahead. Finish up.

YATES: This isn't a new fight. You know, this has been going on -- people have been fighting for this for a long time, and we thought it was settled with the Supreme Court. It's -- it blows our mind that it's come down to this. COSTELLO: Well, we'll see what happens in federal court today.

James Yates, Will Smith Jr., thanks to both of you. I appreciate it.

On to politics. The air is thick with anticipation around Trump Tower in Manhattan where today Donald Trump will meet with the head of the Republican National Committee. At issue, a loyalty pledge the RNC is circulating to the party's presidential candidates. By signing on the dotted line, the field of 17 vows to back the eventual nominee and not run as an independent.

Today's meeting coming just days after Mr. Trump said the issue of an independent bid could be settled in the near future.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have been treated very nicely, as you know. I'm leading in every poll, leading in every state by a lot, and nationally by a lot.

[10:10:05] I have a great relationship to the Republican Party, to the conservatives, to the evangelicals, to the Tea Party. You probably noticed, right across the broad.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So will you not run as a third party candidate?

TRUMP: Well, we're going to see what happens. But it's going to be -- a decision is going to be made very soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So here is the pledge. Short and sweet. So will Mr. Trump actually sign it? That is the question on actually every Republicans' mind this morning.

CNN's chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash joins me now.

What do you think will happen, Dana?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, I have been talking to sources on all sides of this since yesterday, and the latest reporting is I think maybe we can go a bit further than we went last night, which was that all signs are pointing to Donald Trump signing this pledge, and to say that that is the plan.

However, this is the caveat that is important to underscore, this meeting, I am told, between Donald Trump and Reince Priebus, which will happen in a few hours right behind me in Trump Tower is really critical because, you know, this has been in the works for some time. This didn't just happen overnight. I mean, weeks and weeks of sort of back and forth, very quiet discussions between Reince Priebus and Donald Trump and their associates. And so it's going to culminate in these meeting.

The plan again is to sign it, but that's assuming that the meeting goes as Donald Trump hopes it goes and that he feels comfortable in the way that his discussions are with Reince Priebus.

You just played a bite that kind of underscores what I'm telling you, Carol, is that his whole issue has been I just want to make sure that they're treating me well, that they're nice to me. So that's what he expects. And I mean, look -- just look at the optics of this. Reince Priebus sent out this pledge request to all of the candidates, the 16 candidates, he's only making one trip from Washington, and that's here to Trump Tower to do this in person with Donald Trump.

COSTELLO: And by the way, this is non-binding. I mean, Mr. Trump could sign this and then later change his mind, right? He can't go to Republican jail if he violates the pledge.

BASH: Carol, I -- I can't hear you. I just -- I'm not sure if you can hear me so I will just keep talking just in case. The other point that I wanted to make is that this pledge is not legally binding. So it is a political document. It is maybe a public relations document, but it is not legally binding at all. So this is -- Carol, can you hear me?

COSTELLO: I can hear you, and you answered my question without hearing it, and I'm amazed by that.

BASH: This is not legally binding at all, so the idea is that -- the bottom line is that Donald Trump simply doesn't have to abide by this. He probably, you know, would have a lot of trouble getting support from anybody who even considers himself a Republican or herself a Republican down the road if he kind of signs this pledge and bolts to become an independent, but it's not legally binding.

And the other point I want to make is that Trump doesn't necessarily -- isn't necessarily doing this because his supporters want him to. I am told that his supporters have been calling Trump Tower saying that they want him to not be an independent, that they want him to -- not to sign the pledge, that they want him to be -- leave the door open to be an independent.

Carol, back to you. I'm sorry about that.

COSTELLO: I know.

BASH: I had a lot of -- a lot of things going on technically in my ear. I wasn't even sure if you could hear me so I'm just going to toss it back.

COSTELLO: Well, you were fantastic and we understood every word.

Dana Bash reporting live from Manhattan.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a tip in the search for cop killers in Illinois leads to an -- leads to an arrest, but it's not what you think.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [10:18:00] COSTELLO: New this morning, CNN has just received the last radio transmission from the Illinois officer who was killed in the line of duty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. JOE GLINIEWICZ, ILLINOIS POLICE: I'm out near the old concrete plant checking out two male white, a male black.

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE DISPATCHER: 10-4. Do you need a separate unit?

GLINIEWICZ: Negative, Dispatch. They took off before this call.

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE DISPATCHER: 10-4. Do you need a second unit?

GLINIEWICZ: 10-4. Go ahead and start somebody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: In the meantime the search for the killers hit a snag today. This after police say a woman gave a false report that she spotted two -- she spotted the two of the suspected cop killers. Authorities say Kristin Kiefer told police that a pair of men tried to steal her car and then they ran off into a cornfield.

Nearly 100 officers responded to that call spending hours scouring the area. Authorities say she later admitted to making the whole thing up.

CNN's Rosa Flores joins me now with more. Good morning.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. I want to set the scene for you as to what was happening right before that tipster that police say ended up being a hoax, what was happening in this community. There was a very emotional vigil going on. Imagine more than 1,000 people, the wife of this slain officer was on the stage speaking from the heart, giving everyone in this community strength with words spoken from the heart. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MEL GLINIEWICZ, WIFE OF SLAIN POLICE OFFICER: Joe was my best friend, my world, my hero. My world got a little bit smaller with his passing.

FLORES: Where do you think that she found her strength to speak in front of several thousand people?

KELLY, FRIEND OF OFFICER'S WIDOW: I can only think that the strength comes from knowing that Joe knows that people needed to hear something from her so that they could find some strength from all this -- nothing that makes sense in the world right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: Now, in that crowd there were also a lot of police officers, federal and state agents. And from being there I can tell you they were holding back their tears. Some of those officers wiping their tears off their faces and then a few hours later a call from that tipster saying, suggesting that these two suspects could possibly be in the area.

[10:20:13] Of course, they immediately responded to the scene. More than 85 agents were immediately on the ground, 11 K-9 units, three aircrafts, and they searched for hours only to find out later, according to authorities, that this woman confessed that it was all a hoax, that she was doing this just to get attention. She's actually in a bond hearing today facing a judge.

And we don't know yet the results of that bond hearing, Carol, but we are here, we are bringing you the very latest, but you can only imagine the emotion in this community and the play of emotions as someone tries to get attention by playing on the grief in this community -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Rosa Flores reporting live this morning. Thank you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, English or Spanish?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: (Speaking in Foreign Language)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: A brand new battle between Trump and Bush. Why the Donald believes the campaign trail should be English only.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:25:27] COSTELLO: Two big developments today in Congress' ongoing investigation of Hillary Clinton. This morning her former chief of staff is testifying behind closed doors. Cheryl Mills is appearing before a House committee investigating the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya. She'll face questions on Clinton's use of a controversial and unsecured e-mail server as well.

And one week from today that same panel will also question another Clinton aide but they are not likely to learn much. We now know that Bryan Pagliano will plead the Fifth and not answer lawmakers' questions.

Let's get more from CNN's Elise Labott. She's live in Washington this morning. Good morning.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER: Good morning, Carol. Well, Bryan Pagliano is a former State Department employee who did work on Secretary Clinton's technology and e-mail server. The House Select Committee on Benghazi subpoenaed him to testify, but we understand in a letter to the committee his attorney said that Bryan will assert his Fifth Amendment right not to answer any questions, and he also will not submit any documents to the committee that they might be asking for. He's also told other committees that have been asking about Secretary Clinton's e-mail server that he will not be answering those questions.

Now the Clinton camp has really been charging that this is a political witch hunt on Secretary Clinton, and in this letter to the committee, Pagliano's attorney quotes, quote, "The current political environment for his reason to assert his Fifth Amendment right."

Let me read a little bit from a statement from the Clinton campaign. Her spokesman Nick Merrill says, "Hillary Clinton has made every effort to answer questions and be as helpful as possible and has encouraged aides, current and former, to do the same including Bryan Pagliano."

But Merrill defended his decision to invoke the Fifth, saying, he's a wonderful man, he works very hard and understandably he would not want to be involved in a -- what he called a political spectacle.

Now Cheryl Mills, who is testifying before the House Select Committee for Benghazi, also has had this similar concerns. She asked, according to sources close to her, for the committee to put out her full testimony in full. She was concerned about selective leaks that we've seen from other employees and State Department aides that have testified before the committee.

That committee, Carol, has refused that request and that's why Secretary Clinton has charged that this is all about politics.

COSTELLO: All right. Elise Labott, thanks so much.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

COSTELLO: All right. Breaking news out of the sporting world. Tom Brady wins. A judge has now nullified the NFL's four-game suspension of Brady over the deflategate scandal. The ruling coming down more than one month after failed settlement talks between the league and the players' union.

This means Brady can go ahead and suit on up for the Patriots' first game next week against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

So let's talk about this decision. CNN's Sports anchor Coy Wire is on the phone.

And, wow, I didn't -- I just didn't expect Tom Brady to win for some reason.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes. And I think a lot of people are with you in that sense. I mean, this process had gone so long and it looked as if it was going to be Tom Brady missing at least a couple of games, maybe this suspension would have gotten reduced, but as it turns out, the full four-game suspension completely overturned in a huge decision by Judge Berman, who is essentially now challenging, completely challenging Roger Goodell's authority, you know, as the collective bargaining agreement, players and the NFL owners agreed that Roger Goodell could have full power as arbiter over decisions such as this. Well, as it turns out, it doesn't look like that's the case when these

cases go to court of law. So this completely changes the game for any other case to come in the future where players are going to be battling suspensions handed out by the NFL.

COSTELLO: But what about all that stuff about Tom Brady throwing his cell phone away and, you know, destroying text messages? Didn't the judge take that into account?

WIRE: He certainly did, but the thing for the judge the entire time was that the NFL kept coming back and saying, look, this was the power that we had to -- you know, they gave us the authority to be able to rule in cases like this, and the one thing that really stood out to me, as you mentioned, a lot -- a big case built up against Tom Brady, and so it is fully expected that the NFL will appeal the situation and they will likely file for a judge.