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The Pulse Nightclub Attack Marks Deadliest Mass Shooting In Modern U.S. History; Oakland PD Rocked With Allegations Of Sexual Misconduct And Racist Slurs; Iraqi Officials Say Just Two Fallujah Neighborhoods Left Under ISIS Control; "Anybody But Trump" Movement Gains Strength; Paul Ryan: It's Not My Job To Tell Delegates What To Do; Putin: We'll Work With Any Candidate U.S. Voters Choose; "Declassified" Premieres Tonight. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired June 19, 2016 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:13] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks for joining me. I'm Fredericka Whitfield.
Take a look of some live pictures right now. A vacant seats of church of St. Louis in Orlando, Florida. A memorial service will be held there tonight ahead of the candlelight vigil (INAUDIBLE). Police estimate more than 20,000 to turn out to honor the 49 victims gunned down one week ago at a gay nightclub.
The Pulse nightclub attack marked the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Five victims were laid to rest in Florida yesterday. Four people remain in critical condition at a hospital. We soon will know some of what Omar Mateen, the shooter, told police during that attack. Tomorrow the U.S. justice department will release limited transcripts from three phone calls he had with negotiators that night.
On CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" Loretta Lynch said they will help explain the gunman's motive perhaps and how hostage negotiators handled the situation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LORETTA LYNCH, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: They will talk about what he told law enforcement on the ground as the events were unfolding.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What did he tell them?
LYNCH: You know, as we have said earlier, he talked about his pledge of allegiance to a terrorist group. He talked about his motivations for why he was claiming at that time he was committing this horrific act. He talked about American policy in some ways. The reason why we'll limit these transcripts to avoid re-victimizing those who went through the horror but it will contain the substance of these conversations and there were three conversations between this killer and the negotiators.
BASH: And he was, of course, in a gay nightclub. Did he talk about his feelings about gay Americans? LYNCH: He didn't get into that. And so, we are still exploring why
he chose this particular place to attack. We're asking people who have information to come forward. People have. We greatly appreciate that. We are trying to learn everything we can about this individual's motivations. As you know, he was in a gay nightclub. This was an act of terror and act of hate. Targeted against a community, the LGBT community, Latino community, and of course the LGBT community is so far too often the victim of these types of crimes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Lynch will go to Orlando Tuesday to meet with survivors, their families and first responders. She will also be briefed on the latest in the investigation.
I want to bring in Matthew Horace, a former executive for the ATF. Good to see you.
MATTHEW HORACE, ATF FORMER EXECUTIVE: Good afternoon, Fredericka.
WHITFIELD: So in your view, why release some of the logs, the transcripts to the public?
HORACE: I think the public is clammering for information as part of DOJ's crisis information strategy to make sure the public knows why law enforcement did what they did. As you know probably by day three, the issue became, why did Orlando move in when they did? How come they didn't move in faster? Why they didn't pull out an assault on the place as soon as they knew he was inside? How come it took until 5:00 a.m. to do it? And I think these audio tape will give the American public, at least, a little clammering on why things took as long as they might seem to have taken.
WHITFIELD: And then there is a surveillance video inside the nightclub which investigators have said that the weekend are poring over, however, those images may never be released to the public. What are you hoping the logs will reveal perhaps about the killer?
HORACE: Well, you know, we already know what the killer said, but looking at those logs and videos will show us what the killer did. And there was going to be much more graphic and gruesome a those obviously shouldn't be released he public but will be used to analyze the situation for the weeks and months ahead.
WHITFIELD: And we know that the FBI looked into the shooter's background on two separate occasions before this actually happened but nothing came of it in order to prevent this kind of tragedy from unfolding. So, does this say something about flaws to you or reveal more about how hard it is to stop something like this before it starts?
HORACE: Fredericka, very challenging, you know, also saw where attorney general Lynch indicated that although this gunman went into a gunshot, he didn't fill application out. So therefore, it did not able to identify the scriptures (INAUDIBLE). Had he done that, it would have given us a lot more information to go after the information and determine what might have occurred in the future.
WHITFIELD: All right. Matthew Horace, good to see you. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
HORACE: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: So meantime, the outpouring of support that we have seen for the Orlando community following this tragedy will be on full display tonight when thousands are expected to attend the memorial and vigil honoring the 49 who died.
CNN's Ed Lavandera is live for us at (INAUDIBLE) where the candlelight vigil will be taking place.
But we will also begin with CNN's Brynn Gingras at the cathedral church of St. Louis -- Brynn.
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, good afternoon. Yes, the service tonight is titled the healing and hope and maybe those are the best words to describe the emotions that the Orlando community is going through right now. That service begins at 6:00 tonight here at Saint Luke's cathedral behind me. And overseeing this faith based mass is going to be the central Florida bishop as well as leaders from this church and also political leaders. It's going to be about an hour long and again keeping in line with those two messages, healing and hope one week after that shooting -- Fred.
[14:05:27] WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Brynn.
And Ed, back to you now. The organizers of the vigil are stressing that the spirit of this event is not religious or political, simply a place for anyone to come and mourn and honor those who died. What more do you know?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredericka, they are expecting a possible massive turnout here on this lake front just on the edge of downtown Orlando. We are told thousands and thousands of people expected to turn out for this vigil as they make their way from the church service to this location here. Behind me will be filled with people and they do expect a number of survivors and perhaps victim's relatives to show up tonight as well -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Ed Lavandera and Brynn Gingras, thanks so much to both of you, appreciate it, from Orlando. We will be here to follow up this, of course.
Also ahead, crisis in Oakland, California, a major city goes through three police chiefs in just over a week. Our live report next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As mayor of Oakland, I'm here to run a police department, not a frat house.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:09:34] WHITFIELD: A former Vanderbilt University football player is found guilty in the sexual assault of an unconscious female student. I want to warn you, this next part is disturbing. The events leading up to the attack were caught on surveillance videotape. Vanderberg was seen carrying the young woman out of the car and then into his dormitory. He was with several other members of the football team. She, the young lady was eventually taken into a dorm room and after about 30 minutes, Vanderberg was seen leaving the room, a towel covering his head to block his face from the surveillance cameras then other men inside ran out. The woman stayed in Vanderberg's room. She had no memory of what happened. A jury convicted Vanderberg of five counts of aggravated rape and more. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[14:10:23] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Count five, aggravated rape, guilty of aggravated rape. Count six, aggravated sexual battery, guilty of aggravated sexual battery. Count seven, aggravated sexual battery, guilty. Count eight, unlawful photography, guilty of unlawful photography.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: This was the second time that he was convicted in the case. He and other player were found guilty last year but judge declared a mistrial after discovering the jury four men was the victim in a statutory rape case.
And now to another disturbing story, this the mayor of Oakland, California is now wringing her hands after the city has gone through now its third police chief in just nine days. The Oakland PD is rocked with allegations of sexual misconduct and racist texts and emails.
CNN's Nick Valencia is joining me now.
So, I understand the mayor has put the department under civilian oversight now.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's been an embarrassing two weeks for the city, for the police department especially for this mayor who had to address these scandals, expressing very little confidence in the police department, now putting the city administrator in charge in the interim while they figure things out.
The allegations are exploding now but they date back to March when a young woman, a teenager, went to social media to say she had sex with several officers from the Oakland police department while she was under age. Now, if that scandal wasn't enough, there's a separate scandal also in the Oakland police department involving officers sending racism text messages to each other while on duty.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VALENCIA (voice-over): The message this week outside of Oakland police department headquarter was clear and deliberate.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE). It is rotten to its core.
VALENCIA: Rocked by two separate scandals, members of the public and city officials are fast losing faith in the department.
MAYOR LIBBY SCHAAF, OAKLAND: As mayor of Oakland, I'm here to run a police department, not a frat house.
VALENCIA: On Friday, Mayor Libby Schaaf, addressed widespread misconduct, including a sex scandal involving the exploitation of a teenager and racist text messages sent within the Oakland PD.
SCHAAF: I want to assure the citizens of Oakland that we are hell bent on rooting out this disgusting culture and holding those accountable, responsible for their misdeeds.
VALENCIA: It all started last fall with a suicide of an officer, officials say an investigation into his death uncovered disturbing allegations within months, an 18-year-old alleged she had sex with him as well as a number of other officers from Oakland PD and surrounding police departments.
NOEL GALIO, OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL: We may have to go to the complete federal oversight of our police department.
VALENCIA: Oakland city councilman Noel Galio has watched the fallout. In just nine days, three chiefs have been fired or resigned. One chief lasted only five days.
Meanwhile, there are also reports that African-American officers within the OPD exchanged racist text messages with each other. The content of the messages have not been made public.
SCHAAF: We not only hold people accountable for engaging in unacceptable hate speech, but also for tolerating it.
VALENCIA: The department is already on a short leash with the feds over police misconduct dating back to 2003. It's now under civilian leadership.
SCHAAF: I feel this is an appropriate time to place civilian oversight over this police department and to send a very clear message about how serious we are of not tolerating misconduct, unethical behavior and to root out what is clearly a toxic macho culture.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VALENCIA: Unfortunately for the Oakland police department, this is not the first time a major scandal has hit them. Back in 2003 they were found to have failure to adequately hold officers accountable. They already have limited federal oversight, Fred, but apparently that wasn't enough to stop these things.
WHITFIELD: And that's what I was going to ask you, this civilian oversight now, she's asking for that kind of involvement, what about on the federal level or perhaps even the state level?
VALENCIA: Well, they already have a federal overseer, who was looking at the excessive force, police brutality, cases like that. But this scandal involving a teenage girl, an 18-year-old now but she was under age when this happened. This slipped through the cracks. Now a timetable of what happens next. The mayor saying that it could take a week before they can realize that the racist text messages before they can solve that, no timetable given.
WHITFIELD: And what do we know about the 18-year-old, how is she doing?
[14:15:00] VALENCIA: Well, she is talking to the media. She is putting herself out there. She is giving a variety of news interviews to local news stations saying that she feels now, looking back on it, taking a step back from being involved, she feels like a victim, like she was taken advantage of by the officers. No word yet on specifically who those officers were and what they are facing but this is statutory rape. She was under age when this happened. This woman we would love to talk to her if she is willing to talk to CNN. But already speaking to local media.
WHITFIELD: All right, Nick Valencia. Thanks so much. Keep us posted on that one.
VALENCIA: Thanks, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Straight ahead, new video from inside an ISIS jail as one city in Iraq makes headway in the fight against terror. CNN's Ben Wedeman looks inside Fallujah.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heading inside one of the neighborhoods in southeast Fallujah.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: A report from the front line next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:19:35] WHITFIELD: Iraqi officials say there are just two neighborhoods in the city of Fallujah left under ISIS control. Meantime, new video from Iraqi state television shows how the terror group used some of Fallujah's neighborhood, this house reportedly was turned into a makeshift prison with steel cages, each built to hold one person. An ISIS apparently turned the city's main hospital into a makeshift bomb and munitions factory.
CNN's senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman has the latest from the front lines of the Fallujah fight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[14:20:10] BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): To save Fallujah from ISIS, Iraqi forces have destroyed vast expenses of the city, block after block, one flattened building after another.
In military parlance, the city was softened up before the push into the center of Fallujah by days of heavy bombardment from land and air.
So we are in this Iraqi army Humvee heading inside one of the neighborhoods in southeast Fallujah, we have already heard small arms fire crackling inside. And also heard the thud the incoming artillery rounds. So we will see what we find inside.
I asked the soldiers in the Humvee if Daesh (ph), the Arabic acronym for ISIS is still inside the city.
No responds (INAUDIBLE), a 12-year army veteran, there's no daesh. He then qualifies his statement. There are pockets, one or two still fighting here and there. The pockets we soon discover were many and it seem deep.
This is the (INAUDIBLE) neighborhood in central Fallujah, it was until day before yesterday under the control of ISIS. Now we see lots of Iraqi troops and Humvees in this part of the town but we're not seeing are any civilians.
This officer, he asked to be called simply (INAUDIBLE) encountered civilians fleeing the fighting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WEDEMAN: They were in a bad way, exhausted, he says. They were suffering from lack and food and water.
Iraqi officials expected stiffer resistance in Fallujah, the first major city seized by ISIS two and a half years ago. But Iraqi forces have managed to push rapidly inside. Officers insist resistance is at best scatter.
There's still a few snipers and we're dealing with them, says (INAUDIBLE) and soon we'll finish them off.
One group of fighters did manage to liberate an ISIS banner, the liberation of the city, however, is still a work in progress.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Fallujah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. Ben Wedeman, reporting from the front line there.
All right, straight ahead, anybody but Trump? That's the message some Republicans are hammering home ahead of the convention. But will it work? That discussion coming up next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And now, as soon as I ran, I became an insurgent. I became an outsider.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[14:25:55] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just a tragedy. It can happen anywhere. It's a different kind of pain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to help our community.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't realize that one of my friends' little brothers was in that tragedy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: A community coming together after a horrific shooting that rocked the city of Orlando and the nation.
Welcome back, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitefield.
It has been one week since the tragic shooting at the gay nightclub in Orlando that left 49 dead and dozens injured. Those victims are being remembered today. Take a look at these live pictures right now of (INAUDIBLE) park. City officials there are preparing for more than 20,000 people to attend a candlelight vigil this evening. Before that begins a few blocks west of the park there will be a memorial service at the cathedral church of Saint Luke. We'll take you back to those events as they get under way.
Meantime, in the race for the White House, the anybody but Trump movement first it was a discussion then a coalition, and now some are calling it a full-on revolt. A group of republican delegates is pushing for a rules change in next month's convention where those bound to vote for Donald Trump can vote for whomever they want possibly against him. But the presumptive Republican nominee says the movement will never make it because it's illegal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: There are a couple of guys trying to go to get delegates. I thought they already tried that. I mean, I could give you names but I won't because it's meaningless. First of all, it is illegal. Second of all, you can't do it. Third of all, we, not me, we got 14 -- almost 14 million votes, 14 million votes in the primary season. So that's more votes than ever received in the primaries in the history of the Republican Party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right. Joining me now is CNN's Chris Frates.
So Chris, is this movement, this anyone but Donald Trump movement gaining strength? CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that remains to be seen, Fred.
But what I can tell you is that a small group of Republican delegates is pushing for the party to adopt a so-called conscience clause and that would allow delegates to vote against Donald Trump. Now, the group scheduled a whole another conference call tonight. So we will see what comes from that.
But look. A successful convention coup has not a lot of chance at success here, Fred. There's a couple of reasons for that. Let's take and look at them, right. Number one, Trump has installed his loyalist on the convention's most important committee. So people who are loyal to Trump are serving in the most influential positions. And more importantly, there is no alternative candidate to Donald Trump. So the never Trumpers have never been able to find someone, to find anyone to challenge Donald Trump. But the group and top Republicans who have been critical of Trump have gotten the billionaire's attention anyway.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They shouldn't be talking so much. They should go out and do their job. Let me do my job. I have tremendous support from both politicians and the people, tremendous support. Unfortunately, the media just likes to cover really a small number of people that maybe have something to say. I think they should go about their work. Let me run for president. I think I'm going to do very well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRATES: Now, it's Trump's own rhetoric that has helped keep the dump Trump movement alive. His comment that a judge hearing a lawsuit against of a conflict of interest because he was a Mexican descent were called racist by members of his own party. And when he doubled down on his policy to ban Muslim immigration in the wake of the Orlando shootings, top Republicans again opposed the idea with house speaker Paul Ryan even suggesting the house might sue a president Trump to stop that ban.
And Fred, with the general election under way, Republicans have hoped Trump would tone it down and act more presidential. And that is something Trump has said he will do as soon as he is president. But many Republicans worry that if he doesn't do it sooner, he is never going to get that chance, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Chris Frates, thanks so much. We will check back with you.
So Donald Trump is telling leadership to keep their opinions to themselves and
[14:30:02] House Speaker Paul Ryan may be heeding that call. On NBC's "Meet The Press," Ryan explained why he will not tell delegates what to do at the GOP convention and when it comes to the general election, he is telling fellow congressmen, vote your conscience.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), HOUSE SPEAKER: He won the election, the voters voted for him. That's the point. He won the delegates. That's the choice they made. This isn't a top-down party where a handful of people pick our nominee and the president. The voters picked him. That's the choice they made.
We -- what can I control? That's not something I can control. I'm not going to tell the delegates how they should do their jobs because I am chair of the convention.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a ton of prominent Republicans that have said they are not going to do it, governors of Maryland and Massachusetts. You know the handful of senators whether it's Senator Sass (ph), Senator Graham (ph). Do you think it is that members in the House Republican Conference, follow your conscience? If you don't want to support him, don't do it?
RYAN: Absolutely. The last thing I would do is tell anybody to do something that's contrary to their conscience. Of course, I wouldn't do that. Look, believe me, Chuck, I get this, this is a very strange situation, a very unique nominee. But I feel as a responsibility institutionally as speaker of the house that I should not be leading some chasm in the middle of the party because you know what I know that will do? That would definitely knock us out of the White House.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The party is already divided.
RYAN: Well, it's divided and I'm not going to tell somebody to go against their conscience.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk about this with our political panel, Brian Morgenstern is a Republican strategist, and Ellis Henican, is a political columnist and author of "The Party's Over." All right, good to see you, guys.
So Brian, you first, is Paul Ryan in a lot of trouble here in terms of his leadership? Here he is the leading elected Republican leader and you know, he took all of this time to think about Donald Trump and finally came around and said he is supporting him. But then even with his leadership position, he's saying don't necessarily follow me. Vote your conscience.
BRIAN MORGENSTERN, REPUBLICAN: Yes, I mean, if anybody deserves a happy father's day greeting it's Paul Ryan because he does more parenting than anybody in America. He has his own children and Republican caucus. Now he has his party's nominee for president.
He's in a job remember that he didn't really want in the first place. Now that job entails answering for a nominee he didn't want in the first place. I mean, Mike Rhodes should do an episode of the show "Dirty Jobs" about the speaker of the House.
Because this is a brutal position to be in trying to bridge this divide, numerous divides really and push a policy platform, which he's trying to do, which has a national security component, task component, and entitlement reform.
These things that are he's worked on his entire career, but he is shouting into a hurricane because Donald Trump is the nominee of his party. So he's doing the best he can, but man, it seems there's no good outcome for him day by day.
WHITFIELD: And so Ellis, it sounds as though he's admitting, yes, there isn't this unified party in place. It is divided but it sounds it's getting even further splintered if there's a contingent that says vote your conscience. There isn't an alternative. But what does that mean, throw that vote away? They are certainly not going to vote for a Democrat.
ELLIS HENICAN, AUTHOR, "THE PARTY'S OVER: HOW I BECAME A DEMOCRAT": Well, Fred, I've got to tell you, I wanted to send in a SWAT team. It sounded to me like he was being held hostage there, right? I mean, there was no --
WHITFIELD: It looked a little uncomfortable.
HENNICAN: There is no good answer. I just hope he doesn't get that Stockholm syndrome we've heard about. Listen, think about his options, they are all terrible. If he turns on Trump again that has huge divisions in the party. If he supports Trump, he has to explain day by day every crazy thing that Donald says. If he tries to play this middle course, he looks like a waffle. You know what, I want to give him a hug.
WHITFIELD: Brian, it really doesn't seem like Paul Ryan can get out of this mess because either way, you know, this divided party becomes even more fractured. And even he seems at a loss as to what to do?
MORGENSTERN: Yes, well, I think Trump alluded to one course of action, which is something Ryan is trying to do but it probably won't work. He's saying you do your job, I'll do my job and Ryan is trying to do that.
He came up with this three-pronged policy approach that he's having. He's vulnerable House members pushed and he'll fly around the country and campaign with vulnerable members and try ferociously to stay on the message, on his House Republican policy agenda.
But we all know every question he's going to get day by day, do you agree with what Trump said? Do you agree with Trump said when he said xyz about the judge in this case?
I mean, he's not going to be able to get away from this, try as he might, but he'll continue trying because it's the only option for a way forward.
WHITFIELD: Yes, and Ellis, the flip side to that, you know, the party is really in trouble if here you've got this presumptive nominee who has won the majority of votes in the primary season. [14:35:09]And then he has challenged on the floor by delegates changing their minds. This is unlike the situation of superdelegates for the Democrats where they can change their minds, but we're talking about delegates who are to be committed to a Donald Trump or the presumptive nominee.
HENICAN: That's right. Of the three reasons that Donald gave in the earlier, but actually only one of them is true. It is legal. They can do anything they want, right. They have the power to do it, number two.
But the political impact of it, I mean, how do you look into the faces of those with 12 or 13 million people who voted for Trump in the primaries and say we don't care what you said? It's politically untenable in any direction, which is kind of what it makes it so much fun, I think.
WHITFIELD: So Brian, what do you see as the next potential step?
MORGENSTERN: Well, I don't think it's going to result in anything because as Chris Frates has pointed out, they don't have an alternative candidate in mind. They don't seemed to have a big enough group of delegates to pull it through.
I liken this to when Boehner was speaker and there was a small group of rebellious members who voted against him, but they couldn't decide on who the alternative candidate would be and they didn't really have a plan for whipping votes.
And so it seems to be a similar situation here. I will say if they were to be able to get their act together and pull this off, I think, Ellis, the way you look those 13 million or 14 million voters in the face is say, he wasn't going to win anyway, is this really worse? They are both bad outcomes frankly --
HENICAN: Good luck with that.
MORGENSTERN: -- I don't know that pulling off this coup would be worse than nominating Trump.
WHITFIELD: And it's not just the Republican Party, but there is fracturing within the Democratic Party too. I mean, Ellis, you've got, you know, Bernie Sander, who is digging in his heels while he is talking about this five-month commitment to make sure it's not Donald Trump.
He is not saying that he's throwing support behind Hillary Clinton. So what could potentially unfold at the Democratic National Convention? Do you sigh Bernie Sanders making himself still part of the equation?
HENICAN: Not too much. Listen, you're right there is fracturing on both sides, but I would describe it as a hairline fracture on one side and maybe the Grand Canyon on the other. Bernie is going to fight about the platform. He has some interesting points to make, but I don't know, do you care about the platform? I don't care too much about it.
WHITFIELD: Brian, do you care?
MORGENSTERN: Well, the platform I think is -- you know, much ado about the platform. But here's the real issue. Bernie's people are really serious about being angry about this rigged system and Hillary Clinton representing the status quo.
This is going to be quite the herculean effort if he expects them to get on the Clinton bandwagon once he finally hangs it up. That is no easy fete. We've seen polling data that suggests Trump's talk about the rigged system is more appealing to many Bernie voters than the possibility of just fighting turning against Trump and going to the Clinton side.
This is going to be a massive problem for the Democrats and this convention is going to have big time protests and a lot of fighting.
WHITFIELD: I think people will see fireworks potentially at both conventions.
HENICAN: Wouldn't you rather have my problems than yours, Brian?
MORGENSTERN: If I got to pick one or the other, probably at this point, but we'll see what happens going forward.
WHITFIELD: All right, we're going to see you again, Brian, Ellis, thanks so much. We'll talk some more.
All right, up next, Russian President Vladimir Putin weighing in on the race for the White House. His thoughts on Clinton versus Trump and who's better to improve relations between the two nations after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:42:15]
WHITFIELD: As the world watches the U.S. presidential race, another voice has weighed in. Vladimir Putin in a conversation with our own Fareed Zakaria, the Russian president shares his outlook on a Trump presidency.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIA (through translator): I only assert he was a bright person. Isn't he bright? He is. But there is one thing that I paid attention to and that I definitely welcome, that Mr. Trump said he's ready to restore full-fledged Russian-American relations. What can they be bad about it?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Let's talk more about this with CNN's global affairs analyst, Kimberly Dosier. So Kim, what are your thoughts? I mean, he was fairly complimentary throughout. KIMBERLY DOSIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Fred, this is Putin once again being coy about things he said before, very positive comments about candidate Trump. You also have to stand back and look at some of the things he was saying about Hillary Clinton in this interview.
He declined to say what thought she was as a candidate. But look at Russian media, they are pro Trump and anti-Hillary Clinton. If you look at this interview as something that's probably being more message to the Russian people than the American people, it marches in lockstep with what's been said before. Trump is someone we can talk to and Hillary Clinton is possibly a dangerous commodity.
WHITFIELD: Interesting, in fact, this is what he said about Hillary Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PUTIN (through translator): One thing that I'd like to draw your attention to. It is not relevant to Russian-American relations or to any other political issues. It is more relevant to human resources policy because you know based on my own experience, I can say the following.
I've seen many people change after they were appointed at some office because you know when they have different responsibilities they start to think differently, to speak differently and even their appearances change.
Because you know, if you believe -- in this regard I can say that we believe that the sense of responsibility of the head of the state of the United States and the United States as a country that all depends on in the world.
We hope that this sense of responsibility will encourage the future American president to work together for a more secure world to work constructively.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: So Kimberly, is it the feeling that he applies that to either candidate Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump that either one of these candidates could change, could evolve with the conditions of the country and the conditions of leadership?
[14:45:13]DOSIER: You know, he could have been referring to both but again, to read the signals of what Russia is actually saying, you've got to look at both what Putin says publicly and then what the official media is allowed to say to the Russian public.
And they've been calling Hillary Clinton a war monger who wants to put America first. He's also positioning Russia as usual to be the one who wants to negotiate. This is the face they've been presenting to the world since they invaded the Crimean peninsula and Ukraine.
And also since they gave military assistance to the Bashar Assad regime in Syria. Always we are just the ones who are helping our allies. You are the ones who are being unreasonable, United States and the rest of the world.
He also talked about the fact that Europe, he wanted to warm up relations with Europe. Of course, Europe, the E.U. just re-uped sanctions against Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine.
Again, he's trying to make this image of Russia to the world of being the reasonable one and everybody else is standing against them.
WHITFIELD: And you said Russian media a lot more pro Trump less so for Clinton and I guess, it has been the case that the media -- Russian media's reflection of a Vladimir Putin sentiment. So is it go ahead and safe to say that he is far more proponent of Donald Trump?
DOSIER: Pro or neutral about Trump and very anti-Hillary Clinton. You can read page after page of editorials tearing her down and saying that she would start a war around various parts of the world and possibly threaten Russia.
It was even cited as one of the reasons that Vladimir Putin has ordered some of his military advisers to step up their missile weapons programs because of a possible Clinton presidency.
WHITFIELD: All right, Kim Dosier, good to see you. Thanks so much.
DOSIER: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right, straight ahead, we'll have the latest on the investigation into that shooting at an Orlando nightclub. Plus, we'll take you live to the vigils and memorial services for the victims. Stay with us.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It hit home when they released the first victim's list and four names on there and I read them and their ages and broke down and started crying.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today I wanted to grieve and mourn my friend who -- I never get the chance to speak to again.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We lost a very young person -- he made you smile every time he walked in a room.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wanted to be a part of this. I wanted to feel the love and just the -- grieve with everyone here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[05:51:38]
WHITFIELD: CNN's new original series, "Declassified" exposes the untold stories of American spies. The first episodes premieres tonight. It explores how the CIA swayed a Soviet diplomat to spy for the U.S. during the Cold War. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we were looking all around the world for Soviet recruits vulnerable to our approaches and who we thought we could turn. We found one in Bogota.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We became aware of him through a telephone tap that CIA had on the Soviet Embassy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was doing things in Bogota that showed that he might be vulnerable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He womanized and he liked parties and fast and loose with money.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of those things we saw, and clearly he was not a real communist. He wasn't a true believer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So we arranged for a meeting with him in the Turkish bath in the Hilton Hotel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We started talking to him he wanted a better life and wanted to do something that he could really believe in. He was clearly on our side. He didn't like communism and believed the American system was superior. All of those things came together. We realized we could make a deal with him and we did.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: "Declassified," the host of the show, Mike Rogers, with us now, a national security commentator for CNN as well. And you're joining us from the International Spy Museum, very cool place in the nation's capital. It looks like you're giving us a window into the world of the CIA.
MIKE ROGERS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY COMMENTATOR: Well, we absolutely are. In this episode, Fredricka, you're going to meet the first woman CIA officer who went to Moscow to run that spy that in your clip they talked about recruiting.
And I will tell you people wonder if it still happens today, there are many Russian intelligence agencies in the United States today than there were at the height of the cold war.
So the espionage game is still on and tonight people are going to get a little inside view on how all that works.
WHITFIELD: My goodness, that sounds like that may be one of the most valuable things we learn about "Declassified" or are there other things?
ROGERS: Lots of different things and you'll learn how trade craft is the same but different. As a matter of fact, we're at the spy museum today and you can see this is a transmitter used during World War II to transmit information about Nazi Germany back to England. You can rise up here. That's a shoe used to record conversations up into the 70s by Romanian intelligence, which was trained by Russian intelligence. So the only difference is they still use transmitters in spy work today and concealed the transmitters in spy work today. It looks a whole bunch different.
WHITFIELD: Get smart is real. The U.S. relationship with Russia, clearly it's changed over the years. I mean, like you said, there's still vestiges of the cold war being applied today. We heard from Vladimir Putin and his opinion about the race for the White House. If you were to gauge the relationship, the working relationship, intelligence relationship between U.S. and Russia, how would you?
[14:55:07]ROGERS: Well, our intelligence services are still very adversarial so we do have relationships with intelligence services around the world that are maybe not completely our friends but we have these alliances that we built up.
And we haven't shared intelligence relationships, really not so with what's known as the former KGB, it's not called the SVR. So they still attempt to steal secrets and you saw that they broke into the Democrat National Committee and stole information.
That was likely the Russian intelligence services backed operation took that information so that they could do their own assessments or presidential candidates, both Republican and Democrat.
They are going to continue to keep pushing us around the globe. You see what they did there, occupy 20 percent of the country and Crimea and all of those things they'll continue to do. He bases his decision, Putin, a former KGB officer, on his strength.
He believes strength in his intelligence apparatus, all around the world, including here in the United States.
WHITFIELD: All so fascinating. Mike Rogers, thanks for bringing it to us and thanks for giving us a little mini tour of the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. So the premiere of this new CNN series "Declassified" airs tonight at 10:00 Eastern. We'll be right back.
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