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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Democratic Senators Filibuster For Gun Control; OneOrlando Fund Raises $2.5 Million In One Day; Vigils Held Worldwide For Pulse Attack Victims; 28 Victims Still Hospitalized; GOP And Dems Working "Feverishly" To Close Gun Loophole; Trump Speaks At Campaign Event In Atlanta. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired June 15, 2016 - 12:30   ET

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

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[12:30:02] SEN. CHRIS MURPHY, (D) CONNECTICUT: Resulted in death 4 percent of the time, whereas 40 percent of the attacks involving firearms resulted in deaths.

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CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, that's Chris Murphy. What he's doing now is kind of the context of his political argument. He's talking about what the facts are that support his feeling that needs to be more regulation of the type of weapons that we saw in Newton and here in Orlando.

Now, some will criticize this as politicizing a situation. Others will see it as the mandatory conversation to have because of situations like this because of the gun, because of the death, because of the ease of access that this man had. But there are a lot of other issues as well.

None matters as much as remembering those who were lost and what they represented to the people who loved them most.

And for all the reporting we've done on these other issues, that's what we simply cannot overstate which is just the remarkable outpouring of support, not just here in Orlando, not just in Florida overall, but literally the country and the world.

Just 24 hours after we've heard about the horror here at this nightclub. It had the Orlando on that was set up to help victims. It's already raised $2.5 million. Just remember, there are a lot of needs for those who are injured and for the families who have to deal with the end of the lives of people that they'll get back from that nightclub.

Today, the city of Orlando opened a Family Assisted Center so that people affected by the shooting have to go to one location to get whatever they need from grief counselling to help with funeral services to lodge complaints about people taking advantage of them this these times of need. You'd be shocked, but it happens.

And then the memorials. The vigils. It is a happy thing to report there are too many of them to count. That's how enormous the outpouring has been but just to show you some. This the University of Central Florida. UCF as they say down here. Students, faculty, staff, filling every floor of the student union. Here's a little sound.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz, Eric Ivan Ortiz- Rivera, Joel Rayon ...

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CUOMO: Reminding you that the names, the dead, are not just numbers, people raising their lights for each name that's read. Each one. Now worthy of remembering for far more than just how their lives were taken. Across the world, talking Taiwan over Nicaragua, China, crowds have gathered to wave rainbow colored flags, light candles, observe moments of silence for the victims.

And that brings us back here to Orlando and how you move forward and what this means and why this happened. We have two community leaders who feel the tragedy very deeply and personally.

We have Joe Saunders, his a former state representative, one of Florida's first openly gay elected officials. He's also the Southern Regional Field Director for the Human Rights Campaign, and we have Vivian Rodriguez. She's a transplant to central Florida from New York. But 20 plus year in the NYPD, she served as president of the gay officers action league and now serve as president of Democratic Hispanic caucus of Florida.

Thank you for joining us. I wish it were for a different reason.

First thing, who somebody who understand the politics of the situation, both do, Joe as well. There was a fear early on. Will this matter as much as if it had been a school, if it had been a mall? You know, will the targeting of gays, which is definitely what this was, terror, anything you want to call it, certainly a hate crime directed at gays and now we see the outpouring of support. We see lawmakers who may have had disagreements about gay marriage coming out in support. What does that mean to you?

VIVIAN RODRIGUEZ, DEMOCRATIC HISPANIC CAUCUS OF FLORIDA: For me, the time has come for everyone as a community, all communities, all Americans to unite. Because when you hurt one American, you hurt all. And this obviously, when you look at all the indicators, it was an act of hate and domestic terrorism as it's being reported.

We won't know for sure until the facts are presented and the actual authorities decide, you know, what the facts were. But I just think that seeing the overmounting love and support from everyone, all religious backgrounds, all nationalities, coming as one. I think it's going to change the hearts and minds. And I hope that at least is something good that comes out of this.

CUOMO: I mean Joe, as you well know. The movement has always just been about equality, not wanting anything special. Not wanting anything different. I mean, that was what made gay marriage such an interesting legal equal protection argument. It was a someone of a no brainer for the court. It's the political acceptance.

[12:35:00] And it's impossible to mitigate the tragedy or in any way justify it as having some kind of positive. But how you respond to it can often be a measure of positive or negative. What are you seeing in the reaction that matters to you?

JOE SAUNDERS, REGIONAL FIELD DIRECTOR, HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN: One of the things that I've noticed in the aftermath of this is the global media community responding to this and engaged leaders across the world that are across the countries. But there are some people who have tried to erase the LGBT community from this story. To erase the fact it was a person who came into an LGBT institution, home for Orlando. It's not just another bar. This is a place we've gathered to raise money for our community to take care of each other, to find places that are safe.

There have been those who try to erase us from this story but the global reaction you were talking about has proven that won't happen. People understand that our community was targeted.

CUOMO: Now Joe, when you say erased, you mean not emphasize the gay targeting and say Americans were killed, this was a bar, not a gay bar. You believe that there was intentionally attached to the omission of what we know to be true.

SAUNDERS: I think for some. But I also think that we've seen leaders across the state of Florida and here in Orlando and across the world really who have immediately called this out for what it was which was bigotry at its core.

We had a huge vigil that was organized about six hours on the steps of the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center just a few blocks from here. Over 10,000 people showed up and speakers from across the country came to be there. Local leaders like Imam Musri from Islamic society of Central Florida and local LGBT leaders, but if there was one thing that -- I think was crystal clear from those in attendance simply is that people were outraged by the impact of gun violence on our community and by the lack of real control over who has access to what kind of guns. And were people outraged by this act and called it out for what it was. Which was discrimination at its core, targeting the LGBT community.

RODRIGUEZ: And one thing that I like to add to that is with my background, meaning that I was a directive of intelligence, the LGBTQ community, this is not the first time that we've been targeted.

CUOMO: True, fair point.

RODRIGUEZ: If you look at in 1977, we had a domestic terrorist by the name of Eric Rudolph who had bombed the Otherside Lounge in Atlanta, Georgia. He was also responsible for the Olympic bombing as well as abortion clinics.

So that's why knowing that the perpetrator had announced an allegiance to ISIS, we can see that there is definitely a connection of domestic terrorist. That's what I am assuming. If you look at the San Bernardino attacks, also, weapons were used and something, you know, has to give here. We have to really start holding our representatives accountable.

There is no reason to have assault weapons in the hands of civilians. If you look at Ronald Reagan, our former president, he even stated that assault weapons should be not in the arms of civilians but in the military and law enforcement.

CUOMO: The proponents of these laws the way they are now saying you don't need them. Not that you don't have the right to have one. Political discussion going to happen. I understand your desire to see them as in hand and hand if this happens and you see cause and effect. I get it. The politics get in the way. It's happening again this time. But what is crystal clear is the intentionally and the passion of people like you two.

I'm sorry you have this occasion to talk to you about it. But we're talking about things in the right way. Joe, thank you very much.

RODRIGUEZ: Thank you for being here.

CUOMO: Thank you Vivian, I appreciate.

All right. We're going to take a little break here. When we come back, so many were lost. There are so many lives changed. And yet, you do have to remember so many survived as well. What did it take for people to make it out of the club that night? Stories ahead.

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[12:42:45] CUOMO: So, Orlando happens. It is the deadliest terror shooting we've ever had in our history. We deal with the loss. We try to make sense of how it happened and then the question becomes obvious. What will you do about it? How will something change? What can change? Well we see a movement some movement righty not. Right now in the floor the senators are filibuster going on. Democratic senator started it trying to push for some type of action. We're now hearing that maybe there is a deal in the works. Let's figure out if that's true and what kind of deal it might be, we have CNN Senior Political Reporter Manu Raju joining us from Capitol Hill, what are you hearing?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Well Chris, this is an effort by Chris Murphy, the Connecticut Democratic senator to draw attention to Congress' inaction on gun -- on the gun issue of course is an issue that badly divides the two parties and Chris Murphy representing Connecticut, the state of 2012 that represented the deadly massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Right now, the issue that before the Senate and how to deal with suspected terrorist and whether or not they should get firearms, there's a bill that Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat introduced last year that would essentially prohibit anyone who is considered a suspected terrorist, people on a no-fly list, for instance, from getting being able to acquire or purchase handguns. Now that failed last December on a 45-54 party line vote and the reason why Republicans believe that it was drafted too broadly that it would ruin the due process rights and undermine constitutional rights, citizens who are not actually on that no-fly list shouldn't be on that no-fly list. But now the (inaudible) hold on to that no-fly list.

But Republicans do have an alternative measure, similar one that John Cornyn, number two Republican had introduced actually in December. What that essentially does is give the justice department some authority to go and see whether or not this is -- these people are actually going to use these firearms for terrorism-related activities. It brings to court into the picture too. Republicans believe it gives more rights to ensure that someone's due process is respected.

Now, what's happening right now, Chris, is that John Cornyn, Dianne Feinstein are discussing some sort of middle ground to see if they can actually get one. Collin Cornyn just told our colleague Deirdre Walsh that they're working feverishly to get a deal with Dianne Feinstein on this issue.

[12:45:06] And separately, Chris, there's also have been negotiations that are happening between Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Mike Bloomberg's group over figuring out another way forward on this very issue. So a lot of discussion right now, but we'll see if it would actually lead to something this time, Chris.

CUOMO: Well, the language is going to mean everything. We're showing on the screen right now GOP Senator Cornyn saying we both believe, meaning he and Feinstein, the Democrat, that terrorists shouldn't get guns. You know, if that isn't a duh, I don't know ever what was one, Manu. Obviously nobody believes terrorists should get guns.

So it gets into the language that's also the same language used by the NRAs, that terror watch list? Feinstein just put out a report, I think, in the last day or so that shows that 91 percent of those on the terror watch list get guns after a review of their applications. So that's not a cure-all and certainly that would appease the due process concerns of those who are Second Amendment proponents.

The biggest concern, Manu, is going to be well, does their deal cover the risk that was exposed here in Orlando? This is a man with a closed case, this murderer, who was on no list. He would not have been on a no-fly list. And I say that because of the suggestion of a fix being no-fly no-buy, he would not have been on the list. But sources at the FBI tell us say he represents often who they are most concerned about, people who they looked at, haven't made a case against, but exist and/or sympathetic to radical Islam and any extremist tendencies.

So we'll have to see what the language is and see how far that can get us. Manu, if you hear more about the language or which way it's headed, let us know. Now this comes on the heel of a lot of political discussion about what to do after Orlando. Donald Trump said, I want to talk to the NRA. They endorsed me. I want to talk to them to make sure that people like this can't have a weapon. What kind of meeting will happen with that, we don't know, but we do have Jeff Zeleny who is covering that part of the story. Jeff, what do we know?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: We know that Donald Trump, Chris is at least giving us overture to say that he would like to talk to the NRA. I mean, Chris, the politics of this are clear in terms of every time there is a mass shooting like this, you know, this becomes part of the conversation here but that tweet's so interesting from Donald Trump. So we'll find out what the scope of that meeting actually is here.

But this could be one of the interesting points where Donald Trump, since he doesn't have a voting record, he doesn't have a long history of being aligned with one party or the other, he could surprise and this could be an issue where he actually surprise us on here. He is referring specifically to the fact that if you're on a watch list of some kind, why should you be able to buy a gun here? So I'll be very anxious to see what he says in his speech, you know, shortly in Atlanta here on this. But Chris, the politics of guns are going to become front and center here, not just on the NRA. The owners and the manufacturers of these gun companies also will be coming under much sharper focus here. As will the stores that sell these, some national chains and others.

So, we've had the politics of the gun debate, but not this close to a presidential election before here. So this now is an issue that will be central here in the next four months or so, five months before November.

CUOMO: You know, sometimes context is everything as well pointed out, Jeff Zeleny, we are having this in the midst of the presidential election at the same time. Right now you're seeing Cory Booker is part of this filibustering the Senate to push for some type of action after what happened in Orlando.

But remember this, as we go to break, this isn't just about the gun. There are a lot of different elements that went into this crime. One of them that's really important is that the FBI did not have the authority to question this man's gun application. That's law. It's not about the weapon. It's about the man and the FBI's ability to talk to him even when they knew he had these tendencies. They didn't have that authority. Will Congress give it to them? That's the question to stay focused on, or one of many.

We're going to take a break while waiting for Donald Trump he wants to speak to the NRA he says about this issue. What will happen when he takes the stage in Atlanta? Coming up.

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[12:53:42] CUOMO: All right. There's a lot going on here in Orlando and surrounding this story. Right now, I want to show you the lack of any action in Atlanta. We're waiting for Donald Trump. He says that he wants to meet with the NRA to talk keeping people from getting guns if they're under investigation for terror. We don't know what the exact language or the context is, but we know the result of the suggestion to the NRA is. They have responded by saying, the executive director of the NRA basically said they're happy to meet with Donald Trump. The NRA on this issue has not changed. They don't think terrorists should get guns. Who does think that terrorists should get guns? Nobody. It's about how we keep guns out of the hands of people who could become terrorists with those weapons.

Now, on that score, that issue, take a look at what's going on in the senate right now. There's a filibuster. It was started by Chris Murphy, the Democrat out of Connecticut, of course, that's where Newtown happened and he is filibustering to create some type of legislative action. Now, ordinarily, what does a filibuster get you? Very little.

However, right now, we hear there may be a deal in the works between GOP and Democratic leaders. Maybe John Cornyn and Senator Dianne Feinstein to try to find a way. You see on your screen, working feverishly to close a gun loophole. What loophole?

[12:55:03] Well, maybe, it's that if you're on a watch list, you can't purchase a weapon during that duration. We don't know what the exact language is but we know something is in the works.

Now, that brings us back here to Orlando. We are getting ready for 1:30 press conference here now with an update from what the investigation is yielding both inside the club over our shoulder and also looking at the murder who committed this horrible, horrible death scene behind us.

So let's talk about the politics that are surrounding this situation in Orlando. We've got Scottie Nell Hughes in Nashville. She supports Donald Trump. This is an interesting development for him. This is very dicey territory when you get to the GOP and what matters for him to say I want to talk about getting more right to limit the ability of someone to get a weapon, that's going to bring some political flak along with it. How do you think he plays this?

SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, POLITICAL EDITOR, RIGHTALERT.COM: Well, I think you're right. It is going to bring political flak but it's not just someone as Mr. Trump is pointing out. This is actually nothing new. It's a terrorist or somebody suspected in terrorism.

Mr. Trump first came out back in November on another network and said, you know what? If we know someone has links to terrorism or they themselves potentially could be, you're right. They don't need to have a gun and in this case, Chris, this is where both sides are correct. Both the Republican legislation and the Democrat legislation have a lot the same aspects. The question is how broad are we going to make this list? There's over 64,000 that are on the terrorist watch list right now. If you add in the Democrat proposal ...

CUOMO: Scottie?

HUGHES: ... would broaden maximum within a million. Yes?

CUOMO: Scottie, let's hear from Donald Trump himself what he wants and then we'll talk about how realistic it is.

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DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESUMPTIVE REPUBLICAN NOMINEE: Thank you, darling. I love you too. I love you too. I thank you. But it's been an amazing journey. It's been an amazing journey. And it's been incredible because I've really gotten to know the people of our country and they are incredible, incredible people. They are unbelievable people.

And they want to see us making great trade deals and they want to see us strong at the borders because otherwise, we don't have a country and they want to see people come in that really want to be here and they want to love us and they don't want to do harm or hurt us. They want to see that. And if they don't see that, they're not happy. And there are a lot of people right now that are not happy. Abd we're not going to take it any longer.

Now, we'll talk about jobs. And we'll talk about the economy and we'll talk about all the things that I talk about. And where I seem to be hitting a cord, and, you know, part of the reason I hit a cord because from an actual real wage standpoint, people are making less money today than they made 18 years ago and they're working harder. They're working longer hours, and it's not good, folks. It's not good.

But we had an event, a horrible, horrible event this weekend in Orlando where 50 people, they say 49, but it will soon probably be 50 people. People are so badly injured and so badly wounded sitting in hospitals. Unthinkable. And when you listen to the stories of what took place and the laughter as this man was shooting incredible people, you say to yourself, how can this possibly be happening in the United States of America? How can be this happening?

And we have to be tough. And we have to be smart. And we have to be vigilant. We have to be vigilant. And we have to have people report other people when they see things happening. Because they're not doing that. They're not doing it. They're not reporting people. And they have to do that. It's all right. That's OK. This house is packed. Boy, we are packed. This is amazing. Yeah, you can get them out or if he wants, he can stay. I don't care. I don't care. I don't care. So look, we have to be strong and we have to be smart. We can't let these things happen anymore. Right? Do you agree with me protester? Do you agree? Or do you think it's easy to be weak and ineffective like we are right now?