Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Trump Courts Military Vets at Rolling Thunder Rally; Families Honor Military Loved Ones At Arlington; Iraqi Forces Aim To Retake Falluja; Zoo Defends Killing Gorilla To Save Child. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired May 30, 2016 - 09:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[09:00:00] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Our veterans have been treated so badly in this country.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: But are vets convinced?

Plus, three's a crowd? Libertarians pick their ticket. Will Trump feel the biggest fallout?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my gosh.

COSTELLO: And on the defense. The Cincinnati Zoo says it had no choice but to shoot a gorilla to save a child. So why are some people still angry?

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.

This Memorial Day, we pause to remember those who never made it home. Our nation's fallen heroes. Today's events already unfolding in Washington. Right now President Obama hosting a breakfast for military families, as the Air Forces Association holds a wreath laying ceremony.

Then the president and the Defense Secretary Ash Carter head to the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Ceremony. Families at Arlington already paying tribute to loved ones. This of course is Section 60. It's known as the saddest acre in America. It is the final resting place for service members killed in recent wars like Iraq and Afghanistan.

We'll take you there in just a minute.

But first this morning Donald Trump marking his Memorial Day weekend by reaching out to military veterans. The Republicans' presumptive nominee appearing a Rolling Thunder Motorcycle rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial, but many vets around the country are looking ahead to tomorrow when Trump addresses long-standing questions about a fundraiser and the money raised on their behalf. CNN's Sara Murray live in Washington with more for you this morning.

Good morning, Sara.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Like you said Donald Trump spent his weekend rallying vets and rallying bikers, but tomorrow he says he will put to rest the questions that have been dogging his campaign about the money he says he raised for veterans charities and exactly where that money was funneled.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: We're going to rebuild our military and we're going to take care of our veterans.

MURRAY (voice-over): Donald Trump making the case to veterans at the annual Rolling Thunder motorcycle rally, a tribute to the armed forces.

TRUMP: Illegal immigrants are taken much care, really are taken much better care by this country than our veterans. And that's not going to happen.

MURRAY: Trump, insisting the undocumented immigrants he plans to deport are treated better than veterans, and after months of scrutiny, also promising to explain where the $6 million he says he raised for veterans' charities went.

TRUMP: We're announcing on Tuesday all of the groups that we put up this money, and we raised this tremendous amount of money, because we love the vets.

MURRAY: This as the presumptive nominee is battling new efforts to derail his presidential campaign.

"Weekly Standard" editor Bill Kristol teasing a possible independent opponent in a continued effort to stop Trump, tweeting, "There be will an independent candidate, an impressive one with a strong team and a real chance."

Trump unleashing his anger in a series of tweets, calling Kristol a "dummy" and "an embarrassed loser," warning the Republican Party to unify behind him if it wants to win in November.

COREY LEWANDOWSKI, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: A third party run by any candidate is a complete disaster and you're handing over the White House to the Democrats.

MURRAY: The Libertarian Party also locking down their ticket, selecting two former Republican governors, New Mexico's Gary Johnson and Massachusetts' Bill Weld, to challenge both parties' candidates, especially Trump.

GARY JOHNSON, LIBERTARIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Taking him on when he says that Mexicans are murderers and rapists, when -- I mean, it's incendiary. Call him out on what is really racist. It's just racist.

MURRAY: But for now, the Trump campaign is staying laser-focused on the Clintons.

PAUL MANAFORT, TRUMP CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF STRATEGIST: Trouble follows the Clintons everywhere. People are frustrated with all the drama around the Clinton family. If they're going to be back in the political milieu, then their history is relevant to what the American people can expect.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MURRAY: Now, Carol, that Rolling Thunder event was an interesting venue for Donald Trump. It's an event that's really designed to honor military members who were taken as prisoners of war or who went missing in action. And as you can recall, Donald Trump stirred up some controversy on this front last year when we questioned whether John McCain, who is a POW -- was a POW, is a war hero. He said, I prefer people who weren't captured. In spite of all of that, he still got a pretty warm reception here in Washington -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Sara Murray, reporting live from Washington. Thank you.

We expect Mr. Trump to tell us how much money he raised for veterans and where that money will go tomorrow at some point. But let's talk about that now with CNN political commentator and op-ed columnist for the "New York Times," Ross Douthat. I'm joined also by Rich Galen, a Republican strategist and Julian Epstein, a Democratic strategist.

RICH GALEN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I just want to say --

COSTELLO: Welcome to all of you.

GALEN: Carol, we all got the memo on the ties. Thank you, guys.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: I know. You look very casual but fashionable. Very excellent choices.

I'll start with you, Rich. Donald Trump said in his speech to the Rolling Thunder, he said undocumented immigrants are treated better than military veterans. How so?

[09:05:05] GALEN: I don't know. His political hyperbole is political hyperbole. And Julian and I have worked together long enough here in Washington to know that if a hyperbole were actionable, our parking problems would be over, but I think the general point he's making is that the horribly well-documented failures of the VA under presidents of both parties, by the way, needs to be fixed.

And if you need to place -- put it that way to bring the spotlight on it, I think that's overall a good thing. I don't have any problem with him saying things like that. I know others will. But I don't.

COSTELLO: OK. So, Ross, why did Mr. Trump announce how much money he's raised for veterans at that Rolling Thunder rally? ROSS DOUTHAT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Because there has been a lot

of sort of reporting, questioning whether any of that money has actually gone to any actual veterans, which is, you know, part of a pattern with Trump overall. There's a lot of -- I mean, there's skepticism about basically everything he claims. If he says he's worth $10 billion, you should assume the actual figure is a lot lower, and if he says that he's raised $6 million for vets, you should question how much of that money was, one, actually raised, and two, how much has gone to actual veterans. So he was sort of addressing one of the many ongoing controversies stirred by his tendency towards hyperbole.

COSTELLO: So, Julian, when Mr. Trump makes this announcement about the money, about where that money will go, how do you think he'll present that?

JULIAN EPSTEIN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think again as both Ross and Rich said, I mean, his tendency for overstatement is -- I think he could get away with it during the Republican primaries, but in the Democratic -- in the general election, I think it's going to be a different story because he's going to be facing much tougher scrutiny in a Democratic attack machine that he hasn't had to face so far. So if he had said what Rich said which is that the VA system has been broken under both Republican and Democratic presidents needs to be fixed, it would have been fine.

But his tendency to so politicize it in such a kind of gross and misleading way will allow those of us on the other side to point out things like, really Donald Trump talking about veterans, the guy who avoided the draft with a series of deferments? The guy who has insulted one of the most important military heroes of this country, Senator McCain? The guy who promised to raise money for veterans, and now can't seemingly account for it? And the guy who says he wants to fix the VA system, when the Concerned Veterans of America, a very well-respected veterans group, comes out and says that his plans is basically meaningless rhetoric? He doesn't have a serious plan to fix the veterans system.

So I think he's looking out on this and a series of other issues a kind of response and attack machine that he has not been used to. And I think it's going to be a much, much different story in terms of how he gets away with these things in the general election.

COSTELLO: I don't know, Rich, because the crowd, the Rolling Thunder crowd was receptive, right?

GALEN: Yes.

COSTELLO: And they're rallying -- they're rallying on behalf of POWs, right?

GALEN: Yes.

COSTELLO: And I just want to play for my viewers what Donald Trump said about John McCain. Just to refresh their memories. And then I'll ask you a question on the other side. Let's listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He's not a war hero.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is a war hero.

TRUMP: He's a war hero --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five and a half years as a POW.

TRUMP: He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured, OK? I hate to tell you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But even that --

TRUMP: He's a war hero because he was captured. OK? You can have -- and I believe, perhaps he's a war hero, but right now he said some very bad things about a lot of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So, Rich, Donald Trump did not serve in the military. He fought in no wars. He was granted multiple deferments. And as you heard he challenged John McCain's heroism, yet the crowd warmly accepted him, so is all forgiven among the veteran community?

GALEN: Well, you know, I suspect -- I mean, as most people do, they get better at this as they go along. My sense is, although I'm not sure, that if he had to do that again, he wouldn't have said that, but, you know, it just comes out reflexively. But going back to what Julian was saying, if this -- the PolitiFact, you know, needle is going to wear itself out in this general election campaign between what the two candidates say and what the facts actually are.

So I think what this is going to come down to are -- given all of the points that you appropriately make is who the American people think is better able to fix some of the problems that really do concern them and we'll see how it comes out in November. Anybody who thinks this thing is over has missed the last eight months.

COSTELLO: So, Ross, I do want to talk about this idea of an independent candidate. Bill Kristol came out and he asserted that there is an impressive independent candidate on the horizon who will run against Donald Trump. Who is he talking about?

DOUTHAT: Well, nobody knows for sure. And this was a subject of much speculation on Twitter and among conservatives last night.

[09:10:02] I mean, basically the names that have been bandied about have included Mitt Romney, obviously, because he's been outspoken against Trump and is pretty much the only person who seems like he could sort of pull together and mount the infrastructure that he would need to run such a campaign, so there's Romney, and then there are figures like Ben Sasse, the Republican senator -- the very young Republican senator from Nebraska who's also been anti-Trump. Tom Coburn, the former senator from Oklahoma who's very well regarded among conservatives, also anti-Trump.

So those are the names. There have been some generals in the mix, but those have been the names that have come up. And the general sense is that all those men have been saying no. The fact that Kristol put this out there has some people thinking that maybe one of them cracked the door open a little bit over the last week or so which would -- you know, as with everything in this campaign, it would be very interesting.

COSTELLO: Yes, it would be very interesting. OK, so Julian, the Libertarians picked Gary Johnson and I could hear many viewers out there saying, who? But --

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: But voters, many voters are eager for another choice. Might Johnson spoil things for either Trump or Hillary Clinton?

EPSTEIN: Well, more for Donald Trump because you see Republicans flirting with Johnson. And remember Al Gore would be president in the year 2000 if it weren't for Ralph Nader, who was able to take away 1 percent or 2 percent of votes that made the difference. You could see --

GALEN: 29,000 votes. Yes.

EPSTEIN: Yes. You could see a very similar situation happening here with Republicans, particularly because one of Donald Trump's biggest problems, apart from being the most unpopular general election nominee for a major party in the history of polling, at somewhere between of 65 percent and 70 percent, one of the problems he has is the Republican Party is still fundamentally a house divided. Republican leaders, Republican elected officials, a long list of leading Republican thinkers are still in the never Trump movement.

And if they flirt either with a Libertarian Party or if they flirt with another third party that Kristol or others may circulate, that spells more trouble for Donald Trump particularly when you consider the fact that Hillary Clinton starts off this election with 242 electoral votes in 18 states that have consistently voted Democrat since 1992. She doesn't have to win but 28 more electoral votes to probably win this election.

You put that together with the problems Donald Trump has with Hispanic voters, with even Republican women voters, particularly in suburbs, and you start to look at a situation and again combine that with a third-party possibility, you start to look at a situation where a general election win for Donald Trump isn't possibility, but it looks very, very daunting just looking at the electoral map alone.

(CROSSTALK)

GALEN: Julian is correct -- let me just say this very quickly. The second most unpopular with the highest unfavorables in American history, by the way, is Hillary Clinton.

COSTELLO: Hillary Clinton. Right. You're right about that. I got --

EPSTEIN: But all those polls also shows that they think that she's more prepared to be president than Donald Trump. She only has to beat one person. That's Donald Trump.

GALEN: But you see --

COSTELLO: I've got to leave it there. Ross Douthat, Rich Galen, Julian Epstein, thank you all.

DOUTHAT: Thank you.

EPSTEIN: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, one by one, Iraqi forces are retaking smaller ISIS-held towns around the city of Fallujah. Now they're headed for the heart of the city.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, communities across the country are paying tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice. You're looking at live pictures from the nation's capital. As you can see, multiple ceremonies are taking place right now.

CNN's Barbara Starr is at Arlington National Cemetery. She joins us now with more. Good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. I think can you hear the bagpiper playing "Amazing Grace." For over 150 years, the nation's fallen have been laid to rest here, over 400,000 Americans, this is their final resting place.

We are at Section 60, however, a very poignant moment here. This is where so many of the young service members, men and women who served on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan have been laid to rest.

I want to pan the camera over a bit. You will see hear mothers, fathers, grandparents, young children, wartime buddies so many people coming here to pay their respects.

This is really the history of the nation's military over the last 15 years, those who have fallen on the battlefields of Falluja, Ramadi, Baghdad, in Afghanistan, the (inaudible), Kandahar, Jalalabad, Kabul, all the places, of course back in the news today.

But these are the people being remembered by their family and friends. As you look over here, you know, when we first started coming to Section 60, much of this was an open green meadow. Now today it is a place of remembrance and respect.

So many people call Section 60 the saddest acre in America. I don't think you can call it that on this day. This is the acre I would say is full of the most love in America -- Carol.

COSTELLO: That's an awesome way to put it. Barbara Starr live in Arlington National Cemetery, thank you.

The sacrifice continues for our men and women. The ISIS flag has fallen and the Iraqi flag is flying again over several villages surrounding Falluja. The next stop, the hard of the city itself.

Iraqi and coalition forces including U.S. forces have launched an offensive to retake the ISIS stronghold. Hanging in the balance as many as 50,000 civilians living in the city. The U.N. refugee agency says they're at extreme risk. They could be hit by bombings or executed by ISIS refusing to join the fight.

Cnn's senior international correspondent, Frederick Pleitgen is in London with more on this. Hi, Fred.

[09:20:04]FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, carol. This offensive was something that started very early this morning. The Iraqi security forces are calling this phase 3 of their effort, and of course, also involving U.S. coalition forces of trying to retake that key city of Falluja.

Now they say they started this push early this morning. They also say that at this point in time, there are no Iraqi Security Forces that have managed to get inside Falluja yet.

However, they are fighting on the outskirts in very close proximity to the city. They know that this is going to be very tough going, not only to get into the city itself, but also once they do get in, because, of course, ISIS is hiding among the population.

It's an urban battlefield. It's going to be really hard door-to-door combat going on there once the Iraqi security forces do get in.

However, one of the things that is remarkable is that the Iraqi Security Forces at this point in time are in a position to be able to conduct such a battle to take the fight to ISIS the way they are.

That of course is in no small part is also thanks to the U.S. efforts to try and rebuild the Iraqi Security Forces. Colonel Steve Warren, who is, of course, the spokesman for the anti-ISIS coalition there in Iraq, he was on "NEW DAY" earlier today. Here's what he had to say about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLONEL STEVE WARREN, SPOKESMAN, ANTI-ISIS COALITION IN IRAQ: A year ago here in Iraq, the barbarians were at the gate. Baghdad was actually threatened and in theory, was in direct danger of being invaded by these animal that we call ISIL.

Now we've driven them back. They have lost almost 45 percent of the territory that they once held here in Iraq. They've lost 20 percent of the territory that they once held in Syria.

So we are seeing the Iraqi Security Forces that in 2014 quite frankly collapsed under the pressure that ISIL put on them. We are seeing them begin to rebuild. (END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: As you can see there, Carol, there are results on the battlefield. However, also, a very tough battle ahead. You mentioned it, some 50,000 civilians experts believe still inside that city of Falluja at grave risk as the battle moves closer and closer -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Frederik Pleitgen, reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM --

(VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Heart-pounding video of a small child being dragged like a doll by a huge gorilla. What happened next and why zoo officials say they had no choice.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:26:38]

COSTELLO: Dramatic video of a little boy inside the gorilla exhibit at the Cincinnati Zoo. The boy, 4 years old, climbed through a barrier and fell into a shallow moat, coming face-to-face with a 450- pound gorilla.

His mother above shouting to the boy that she loves him and asking God to protect her child. We're about to roll the video, which starts with the gorilla cornering the little boy in a nook of the enclosure. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mommy is right here. Mommy is right here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Dragging the boy through the water. The people above starts screaming which seems to agitate the gorilla so eventually you'll see the gorilla, he's calm right now. He's going to stand up the little guy, right?

He seems to adjust his clothing. It's very strange. OK. You see him picking him up. The boy is standing up. People saying be calm, but then he takes him by the pants and drawings him, and he puts the boy behind him, so you don't know what he's doing with the boy.

It took 10 minutes for zoo officials to show up with some kind of weapon. They shot the gorilla to death. They didn't want to tranquilize the gorilla because it would enrage him.

The tranquilizer would take about 5 minutes to sink in, and they were afraid that the gorilla would hurt the boy so they say they had no choice but to shoot and kill the gorilla, then the little boy was rescued. Jessica Schneider is at the Cincinnati Zoo. She has more for you this morning. Good morning, Jessica.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. The boy was in imminent danger, that's the word from the zoo director, Thane Maynard. He said the dangerous animal response team had no choice but to act quickly and to shoot and kill that gorilla.

He said that the team tried other tactics, including trying to lure the gorilla out of the exhibit, but it didn't work and tranquilizers would have taken too long. The zoo director has been very forth coming about the fact that it was the only option and that they had to act fast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THANE MAYNARD, DIRECTOR, CINCINNATI ZOO: It's a sad day all the way around. The right choice was made. It was a difficult choice. We have protocols and procedures. We do drills with our dangerous animal response team, but we've never had a situation like this at the Cincinnati Zoo.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHNEIDER: So now anger is boiling over to the parents. There is an online petition circulating that's already garnered more than 20,000 signatures, calling for criminal charges against the parents for allegedly acting negligently.

The district attorney nor police have commented on the investigation or whether charges will be filed, but animal expert, Jeff Corwin, put it very bluntly, parents, watch your kids.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF CORWIN, HOST, ABC'S "OCEAN MYSTERIES": When you go to a zoo, and I'm not saying this is the case with this family, the zoo is not your baby-sitter, OK? Put down the selfie stick, refrain from the texting, be a part of that family experience and watch your kids.

I have seen so many crazy things happen at zoos. I've seen people put their children up on (inaudible) knowing that there is a predatory animal beneath just to get that photo.

I've seen people stick their hands into cages. I've seen --