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Bikers for Trump Serve as Unofficial Security for Trump Rallies; Police; Bomb Caused Bus Explosion in Jerusalem; Torrential Rains Shutdown Houston; Saudis Warn of Economic Fallout if Congress Passes 9/11 Bill. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired April 18, 2016 - 14:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:34:32] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: The group is called Bikers for Trump. But they say all they want to do is make American great again through peaceful protests. These bikers crisscrossing the United States serving as unofficial security outside of the different Trump rallies. But they say their new priority is this, swarm the Republican National Convention in Cleveland to stop party leaders from denying Trump the nomination.

Joining me now, Chris Cox, founder of the group. He is in Buffalo, New York, where a Trump rally is planned hours from now.

Chris, thank you for joining me.

[14:35:24] CHRIS COX, FOUNDER, BIKERS FOR TRUMP: Thank you, Brooke. I'm pleased to be here.

BALDWIN: All right. Tell me why do you want to be at the convention in Cleveland?

COX: Well, first of all, we are going to keep our eyes focused on these primary states. When we get to Cleveland we anticipate a victory dance. We are not anticipating being there for any other reason than to raise our hands and do some high fiving. Right now, we are concentrating on New York. And once we're done with New York, Bikers for Trump will be moving into Pennsylvania where we will have two to three rallies there. From there, we'll be moving into West Virginia and then on to California.

BALDWIN: I have to ask. How did Bikers for Trump become a thing in the first place?

COX: Well, I started taking the political temperature back in August. I talked to several bikers in the southeast, several different venues, and the bikers were definitely on board. I'd walk into a venue and I'd have a handful of bumper stickers, and there would be a feeding frenzy. After speaking with bikers, I identified that the bikers were on Trump's team for three major reasons. The first reason is radical Islam. Who's going to fight ISIS? And we believe Donald Trump's the man for that job. The second reason is illegal immigration. Because bikers want to see a wall built, because bikers want to see Syrian refugees vetted, that doesn't make us racist. It makes us patriots. BALDWIN: OK.

COX: And the third reason would be getting behind the American veteran. Last night 40,000 veterans slept homeless on the streets of America and we find that unacceptable that we're thinking about bringing in all of these Syrian refugees when we haven't even fortified the heroes within out own boundaries. So we'd like to see the veterans treated much better and we think Donald Trump is the man for that job.

BALDWIN: There are your three reasons. Tell me what you say to people who worry that your presence, especially at the convention, a large presence of the bikers, will simply be an intimidation tool to others, including potential delegates.

COX: Oh, I disagree with that. If you know anything about the biker, they're citizen crusaders from all walks of life. They're having a rally to support Old Glory, then they're having poker run to put a roof on the house of a veteran or organizing a toy run to see that children have a great Christmas. We have no -- we have a very strict code of conduct. We do not condone violence. And we will stand strong and we will protect the people that are there to support Donald Trump if it comes to that. But we're confident that the police have learned from past mistakes, for instance, in Chicago and Arizona, and they have fortified the boundaries a little closer now and so we continue to have a presence at these rallies but we're not looking for trouble.

BALDWIN: Chris, I understand. But we also have Mr. Trump recently saying if he doesn't get the party's nomination, in his words, the RNC's in for a rough July. Here he was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: You're going to have a very, very upset and angry group of people at the convention. Now, I hope that doesn't happen because if I win, people are going to be very happy. Well I hope it doesn't involve violence. I hope it doesn't. And I'm not suggesting that. I hope it doesn't involve violence. And I don't think it will. But I will say this. It's a rigged system. It's a crooked system. It's 100 percent crooked.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So Mr. Trump says he doesn't want violence. You're telling me you all are not a violent group. But what if he doesn't get the nomination? How are you prepared to act then?

COX: Well, you certainly won't see bikers looting any pharmacies or setting police cars on fire and expressing themselves in civil disobedience. Bikers are patriotic and they will be there to serve a purpose. Whatever that purpose is, is yet to be seen. But we've definitely will have a presence here. We'll not an intimidating factor. We have a patriotic group of men and women who are very loyal and we vote and we are going to stick with Donald Trump here through the end. We like to think of ourselves as, you know, we are the citizen crusaders and we will make sure that we keep as much peace as possible. But as far as us being out there screaming and shouting and raising cane, I really don't predict that.

BALDWIN: OK. Chris Cox, founder of Bikers for Trump, thank you, sir, for the time. We'll see you in Cleveland.

COX: Thank you, Brooke.

[14:35:04] BALDWIN: Thank you.

Coming up next, breaking news out of the Jerusalem, a bus exploding with passengers on board. Authorities now saying it was a bomb. We'll take you there live.

Plus, family members of the victims of 9/11, they're pushing for a bipartisan bill in Congress to allow them to sue foreign governments for terrorist acts. Why Saudi Arabia is warning, if this goes through, there would be billions of dollars in economic fallout.

Back after a quick break.

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[14:39:53] BALDWIN: Breaking news right now. An explosion on a city bus is being called an attack. At least 21 people were hurt when an explosion ignited this bus in Jerusalem. A police commander says there is no doubt this was some sort of attack.

CNN correspondent, Oren Liebermann, is live for us in Jerusalem.

Attack? Can we be more specific? What are you hearing?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're being careful with the terminology. They said it could be criminal or a terrorist attack. Police being deliberate, methodical here. Police say there was an explosive device in the back of one of the bus that exploded, causing a fire that consumed two buses and a car that was parked nearby. It was in those buses that police say 21 people injured at least. We have seen the number rise in the course of the evening here since the explosion and police say at least two of those are seriously wounded. So police --it took them how to say, but police now saying definitely this was an attack, an explosive device, and it still leaves a lot of questions about what type of device, how did it get there, and most importantly, Brooke, who put it there?

BALDWIN: As soon as you learn more, we'll talk more.

Oren Liebermann, thank you so much in Jerusalem this evening.

Back here in the states, torrential rains have virtually shut down America's fourth-largest city. Look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SYLVESTER TURNER, HOUSTON MAYOR: If you do not have to leave your homes, I'm certainly emphasizing and encouraging you not to leave your homes today. This is not the day to be on the roads in the city of Houston.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Instructions there crystal clear of the mayor of Houston, Texas. Driving treacherous if not impossible and 400 water rescues since the storm began overnight in the city. Look at that.

The man you saw in the clip barely made it out of the car and needed the help of a local news crew who happened to be reporting live nearby. Here's the whole moment as it unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Dude, you got to get out of the car. You got to get out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What can I do?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Swim.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Swim. Swim.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know what to do.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Leave the car. Swim.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay in the car?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Leave the car? Swim.

No.

Come here, sir. Sir, come here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Yeah. So we're here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't see it.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Yes. Hey. We can hear you. Are you OK, sir?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm OK.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You're OK?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm OK.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You -- watch your step, sir. Watch your step.

Did you just not think the water was deep?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

My car is under.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You have to leave the car. I'm just glad you're OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, I am, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: How about that? Remarkably, no deaths or injuries blamed on the storm. More than 1,000 homes flooded.

Let's get an update on the storm over Houston, Meteorologist Jennifer Gray is in the CNN Weather Center.

I couldn't believe that. I saw it this morning. I thought at least the news crew nearby. A rare time to truly help someone.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I know. I know. The pictures are chilling. The problem now is a lot of the waterways or roadways washed out completely and the emergency crews can't get to the people who need help. News crews are helping out, truckers helping other truckers. We've seen it all morning long.

We have had an incredible amount of rain and part of the country that's already totally saturated and so that's why we're seeing the floodwaters. Look at this. Just in the past day or two, almost 15 inches of rain just west of Houston. We had this line of should recalls and storms push through the downtown area and head to the south. We were seeing rainfall rates at about 3 inches per hour from midnight on through the wee hours of the morning and there's no place for this water to go. That's where you get the flash flooding. It looks like the heaviest rain pushed to the south of the city.

However, we could start to see some of this filling back in as we get into the late afternoon hours. So the flood threat and by no means over. We'll continue to see this develop throughout the afternoon. We still have flash flood warnings in place west of the city and flood warnings in place.

And look at this. This is where the problem comes in. You have the creeks and rivers that are filling up to capacity. We are almost at record flood stage here at Cypress Creek and it's going to rise another four or five feet and where the water is now you have to keep in mind all the water coming in off the streets, downtown Houston and everywhere else around the city have to make the way back into the gulf of Mexico. And so you're going to see the rivers rise even more even once the rain stops. And so, that's going to be the problem as we go through the next 24 hours or so. Continuing to see these rivers, these creeks continue to rise. So the future radar paints a better picture. We are going to continue to see some showers and storms in the area and it should start to taper off, Brooke, going through the next 12 to 24 hours. But a mess. And it's going to continue to be bad for the next day or so. [14:45:08] BALDWIN: I feel like even with Texas, Jennifer, we talk

about severe droughts or, you know, torrential downpours such as today.

Jennifer Gray, thank you so much.

Coming up next, family members of the victims of 9/11 are pushing for a bipartisan bill in Congress that would allow victims to sue foreign governments for terrorist acts. Saudi Arabia is warning there would be billions of dollars in economic fallout if that were to happen. We'll talk to the relative of a man that lost his life on 9/11/2011. What she thinks about this, coming up.

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[14:49:36] BALDWIN: As President Obama prepares to travel to Saudi Arabia this week, tensions between the oil-rich kingdom and the U.S. rising. Saudi Arabia is threatening to sell off billions of dollars in American assets if Congress passes this bipartisan bill to allow the victims of 9/11 and other terror attacks to sue foreign governments.

This case centers upon the 28 pages, this congressional inquiry, into the 9/11 attacks. They remain classified, all 28 pages, and are said to focus on the role of oversees governments in the plot. Saudi Arabia has long denied any involvement and never been implicated in 9/11. But for the family members of those victims, this is about getting to the truth of what is in the pages and who's behind the deadly attacks, and really, ultimately, I think going to court.

With me, Terry Strada. Her husband, Tom, was in the World Trade Center and was killed on 9/11, and she is now co chair of the 9/11 Families and Survivors United against Terror.

Terry, thank you for being with me.

TERRY STRADA, HUSBAND KILLED ON 9/11 & CO CHAIR, 9/11 FAMILIES AND SURVIVORS UNITED AGAINST TERROR: Thank you for having me.

BALDWIN: I know you're fired up on this. I want to get into that in just a moment. But for people that don't know Tom's story, you talked to him that Tuesday morning.

STRADA: Yes.

BALDWIN: On the phone?

STRADA: I did.

BALDWIN: Tell me a little bit more about your husband.

STRADA: Tom was a great person, a great father, a great son. He was full of energy, full of life. He brought all of the happiness and fun to our family. And he's greatly missed by everybody this knew him and loved him. BALDWIN: With regard now to what's at hand, I know that, you know,

secretary of state said that this would lead to a terrible precedent of potentially then flipping it around and having others sue us, sue the United States. You say he's misleading people. From what I understand through this you want to -- you can't bring your case to court as it stands now. Is that correct?

STRADA: Right. That's correct.

BALDWIN: Explain what you want.

STRADA: Our case is standing in court. We have had the Saudis in the courts -- not in the courts. We've been suing them for the past 12 years, and we have been up and down the appellate court and Supreme Court three times. And what happens is they get dismissed on sovereign immune. We have to, you know appeal and put them back in the case and just been going on and on for 12 years.

BALDWIN: You want your case heard?

STRADA: Yes.

BALDWIN: You want evidence out there?

STRADA: Exactly, yes. That's what we want and that's what JASTA does. It just allows our case to be heard in the courtroom.

BALDWIN: I understand. I think a colleague of mine, Deborah Feyerick, says that you've said you feel like it's a middle of a "Homeland" episode.

STRADA: Yes, that's right.

BALDWIN: Tell me why.

STRADA: It feels surreal at times and it feels very unbelievable that the government doesn't side with us and work with us, that they come out and make the types of claims against JASTA. Secretary Kerry is misinformed and he is wrong when he says that other states could then turn around and sue us. We're trying to do is hold anyone accountable collaborated in a terrorist attack against the U.S. on U.S. soil. So there's no reciprocating going on there.

BALDWIN: If you're going after, from what I -- this is explained and read, going after Saudi Arabia, going after the government. We know with 9/11, 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals and perhaps there was a rogue -- I'm making this up -- a rogue Saudi minister but wasn't representative of the government. And by the way Saudi Arabia's been a long-time ally, as you well know, of the United States, a key player in the region, and they, too, are fighting terrorism. How do you take that into consideration?

STRADA: I would say if there's a rogue person that was doing this, and there was no evidence that led back to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, then we would be not having this conversation. So the problem is that there's an abundance of evidence that leads back to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and that's --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: How do you know that?

STRADA: The evidence? Because there was an investigation done. And all the time that you follow the money trail it leads back to Saudi Arabia. So there is definitely an abundance, pages, thousands of pages of evidence that we would like to get into a courtroom.

BALDWIN: Why do you think then that the -- was it the Bush administration and then the Obama administration -- have kept those 28 pages classified?

STRADA: You know, it's hard for me to speak on their behalf, why President Bush did, President Obama continues to do it. Keeping Saudi Arabia's little secrets about the spread of Wahhabism and the spread of it. It's all going to shed light on where we are today with ISIS and the terrorism threats we are now experiencing. So they don't want it to all come back to Saudi Arabia. But we need to get the 28 pages out there before we can ever really fully assess our current threats and how we go forward. So it's about protecting Saudi Arabia.

BALDWIN: You talk about current threats. I mean, at the end of the day, say it goes through, investigation, evidence is exposed, you have your day in court, at the end of the day, is this about money?

STRADA: No, absolutely not. Not money to me, anyway. It's about taking the money out of the terrorists' hands and stopping the flow of money continuing to flow out of the Middle East, like al Qaeda, like ISIS, like Boko Haram. These organizations cannot operate without money. They can't do the communications. They can't buy bomb making materials.

BALDWIN: What about all the money Saudi Arabia said they would sell in U.S. assets, hundreds of billions of dollars?

STRADA: As far as I know, and things that I have read, economists said that's absolutely impossible for them to do. "Forbes" did an article online saying the same thing. If they sell it at a discount, they would be ruining their entire economy to what? Just not have what's in the 28 pages released? That kind of tells you they're a little bit afraid about what's in there.

BALDWIN: Terry Strada, let's stay in touch.

STRADA: OK.

BALDWIN: We'll see what happens with the bill.

STRADA: All right.

[14:55:16] BALDWIN: And especially with the president's visit to the kingdom this week.

Thank you. STRADA: You're welcome. Thank you.

BALDWIN: Now to this. When Donald Trump says he wants a little showbiz at the Republican National Convention, how would he do that? We'll speak live with a Broadway producer about how he would produce the biggest political party of the season.

Plus, I'll speak live with a republican gay man who confronted Ted Cruz today over whether the candidate would protect him and his husband. See what happened and whether he approved of the Senator's response.

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[15:00:02] BALDWIN: All right. Here we go. Rolling on. Hour two. I'm Brooke Baldwin.