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The Pulse Nightclub Attack Marked The Deadliest Mass Shooting In Modern U.S. History.; The Oakland PD Rocked with Allegations Of Sexual Misconduct And Racist Texts And Emails; Iraqi Officials Say Only Two Neighborhoods in Fallujah Left Under ISIS Control; "Anybody But Trump" Movement a Full-On Revolt. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired June 19, 2016 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:00:19] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. And thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredericka Whitfield.
Take a look now, live pictures now of the cathedral church of Saint Luke and Lake Hill Park, both in Orlando where memorial services and a vigil will be held this evening to honor the 49 victims gunned down at the gay nightclub. It has been one week since the tragic event. And police are estimating more than 20,000 people could turn out to show respects.
The Pulse nightclub attack marked the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. And we just learned that one more patient has been released from the hospital while four others still remain in critical condition.
We will soon know some of what the shooter Omar Mateen said to police during the attack. The U.S. justice department will release limited transcripts tomorrow from three phone calls he had with negotiators that night. Among them the killer's claim of allegiance to ISIS. Since the shooting there have been questions over whether the FBI missed potential red flags on Mateen during previous background checks.
On CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION," attorney general Loretta Lynch pushed back against arguments that quote "political correctness," end quote, is hindering the way the government investigates potential terror suspects.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LORETTA LYNCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I can tell you how we handle these investigations now. We handle these investigations by looking into anything, everything and everyone. But that also includes reaching out to the Muslim community for information that they may have. Many of the investigations that we do involving individuals who have been radicalized here or individuals that we learn of overseas, a lot of information that we gain is from the Muslim community.
So what I would say is that certainly we investigate these cases aggressively. No stone is left unturned. There is no backing away from an issue. There is no backing away from an interview. Because of anyone's background because for us the source of information is very, very important. And what I will say though, is that it is very important for us to maintain our contacts within the Muslim community because often individuals, if they are from that community and being radicalized, their friends and family members will see it first. They will see activity first and we want that information to come to us.
Also those communities are targeted as well. They are often swept up in this. And so, we want to make sure that every community in the United States knows that they are under our protection.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Lynch will go to Orlando Tuesday to meet with the survivors, their families, and first responders. She will also be briefed on the latest on the investigation.
I want to bring in retired major case investigator, James Copenhaver.
Good to see you again, James. So in your view, how important are these logs, even though they will be partial as Loretta Lynch just described?
JAMES COPENHAVER, RETIRED MAJOR CASE INVESTIGATOR: I think they are extremely important, if nothing else just to give the community a chance to listen as to what happened and transpire and maybe it would help them in the healing process, in the meantime, until we get the rest of the facts out.
WHITFIELD: Do you concern yourself at all that that dialogue or even those logs will reveal too much to, you know, to help fill in the blanks of how this unfolded?
COPENHAVER: I don't think so. And I think if we learned anything in this process, I think the federal government has done an amazing job to keep certain information out of the public realm and out of the media realm to continue the integrity of their investigation. But more importantly, the people that live here locally and nationally, you know, they really need to hear some of this so they can start getting a grasp as to what truly happened in the slaughterhouse and help them heal.
WHITFIELD: And hard to believe this really happened one week ago today. And at this point, investigators do have that surveillance tape from the club. We talked about it briefly yesterday and now together with these logs, is it your feeling this will help paint the more complete picture about what happened, how it transpired and his actions throughout, dialogue, et cetera?
COPENHAVER: Yes, absolutely. I mean, we covered enough of these tragedies over the past two or three years to know that you literally take one piece at a time and you are going to construct an entire puzzle at the end of their conclusion of their investigation. So, you know, unfortunately, we have got many people dead and many people nationally affected by this. And I do really -- I think this will help some of the people to heal.
And like I said they need to hear some of this because, you know, the most important thing is, we need to learn and be prepared in our own minds if we're in a situation like that, it may help someone know what to do and you're prepared for that.
WHITFIELD: James Copenhaver, thanks so much. Good to see you there from Orlando.
All right. As we said earlier, thousands of people are expected to come together tonight in Orlando to attend a memorial and a vigil honoring the 49 victims who died in the shooting at the pulse nightclub.
CNN's Brynn Gingras is at the cathedral church of St. Luke and also CNN's Ed Lavandera is there in Orlando. HE is at Lake Eola Park where the candlelight vigil will take place.
So Ed, you first, how are police preparing for what could be 20,000 people showing up?
[15:05:24] ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredericka. Well, this is turning into a kid of an elaborate display here where thousands and thousands, as you mentioned, expected for this candlelight vigil here this evening where there is a long list of speakers including dignitaries here in city and state leaders and as well as perhaps some of the victim's relatives showing up as well as survivors from the Pulse nightclub attack.
So all of that still very much up in the works and it will begin to build here over the course of the next few hours. It will take place at this outdoor amphitheater on the edge of this lake in downtown Orlando. As we mentioned, thousands and thousands of people expected to turn out, kind of really speaks to what has been going on in the city throughout the course of the last week. Wherever you go, you can really get a sense from the community here of people trying to bond and share this intimate time with each other. And many people as you walk past them and you see them, if they are ever victims of pictures that pop up on television sets, you catch a lot of people just kind of stopping and pausing to take a look at those who lost their lives. So this kind of speaks to that. And that's how all of that mourning process here continues here one week later -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And Brynn, the church where this vigil will be held, this was a reflection of one of the first groups to respond to this tragedy. Why do they feel so connected?
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they are just part of the community Fredericka, so they want to continue with the hope and the healing and really that's the theme of tonight's service that begins at 6:00 tonight. And we talk about all these people that are coming out for this tonight. Well, this church holds 600 people at capacity. Last night they had a funeral for one of the victims, Christopher Leinonen (ph) and 750 showed up. So they are expected this church to be packed tonight, possibly even spill over onto the street. I do want to mention after the service today an interfaith service,
they are going to be handing out candles and that's when the procession sort of continues down the street and down a few blocks to where Ed is by that lake. So it is certainly going to be a very powerful event tonight.
WHITFIELD: Yes, very beautiful sight indeed.
All right, thanks so much Brynn Gingras and Ed Lavandera. Appreciate it. Check back with you.
All right. Also up next, Senator Chuck Schumer has a message for Donald Trump before tomorrow's vote on U.S. gun laws.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: You've got to walk the walk, not talk the talk. To say you're going to meet with the NRA, countless people have met with the NRA. They haven't budged their position. If Donald Trump wants to help, let him not meet with the NRA but come up and say he is with this reasonable position.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[15:10:58] WHITFIELD: All right. This breaking tragic news, tragic news now after Anton Yelchin, known for roles in "Star Trek" and "Alpha Dogs" was found dead in his Los Angeles home this morning. Police say Yelchin sat behind his car for a moment when it slid backwards then pinning him against a brick pillar and security fence. Police are not sure whether the car was running at the time. Yelchin was found by friends who went to his house to check-up on him when he didn't show for a rehearsal. He was just 27 years old.
The attacks in Orlando, San Bernardino and even Paris are part of what authorities believed to be the latest strategy by would be terrorists striking so-called soft targets where large groups gathering in every day places. Experts warn there could be more.
CNN's Ryan Young met with terrorism experts and first responders learning to fight back.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Through the Internet and magazines ISIS commanders are trying encourage more attacks on soft targets around the world. So far their call has been met with deadly results. One hundred and thirty people killed in Paris, 14 killed in San Bernardino and 49 killed in a nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Security experts tell CNN the major goal in all of these attacks is to maximize the human toll with the smallest amounts of resistance.
ROBERT PAPE, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO: We are seeing a near perfect soft target. What do I mean by that? I mean, a target where the attacker can count on their being a large number of people, minimum dozens, often hundreds, clustered together, packed together in time and space that he can predict.
YOUNG: Robert Pape is the founder of a project on security and terrorism at the University of Chicago. He says the sheet in ISIS strategy happened less than a year ago when the terror group started inspiring lone wolves to carry out attacks and he believes it will continue.
PAPE: What ISIS has been doing over the last eight months is unleashed a campaign of attacks against soft targets in the west.
YOUNG: But predicting a type of soft target an attacker might strike is what's so difficult.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How would we respond to target hardening?
YOUNG: That's why agencies are gearing up, learning more and trying to prepare for the next attack.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a soft target someone is looking to exploit an attack every day.
YOUNG: This week, just outside Chicago, law enforcement leaders met to discuss and learn what their communities can do to prepare for an Orlando style attack.
DEPUTY CHIEF ENAN BODDS, WESTERN SPRINGS, ILLINOIS POLICE: This is a problem that is not going to go away. And we have an obligation in public safety to take the lead and again partner with our communities and our other leaders to stop another one from happening.
YOUNG: Tom Brady helped lead the post office investigation when several letters containing the poison anthrax were sent in the mail after 9/11.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out in the street.
YOUNG: Today he serves as director of the homeland security training institute at the College of Due Page in Illinois. A place where police officers train for all types of hostile situations.
What do you want law enforcement out there to understand about soft targets?
TOM BRADY, HOMELAND SECURITY TRAINING INSTITUTE: Well, we want people to know soft targets are something that's soft target are not going to stop. And we are going to see more of them.
YOUNG: A sobering thought for officials who tell us they need the public's help now more than ever in an effort to harden soft targets around the world.
Ryan Young, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up, the U.S. Senate votes on several gun control proposals tomorrow, already many feel the vote is doomed. We'll talk with someone who has been greatly affected by gun violence, the mother of a Sandy Hook victim.
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[15:18:26] WHITFIELD: Mass shooting in Orlando renewed impassioned pleas for tougher gun laws. The U.S. Senate has agreed to vote on several different amendments tomorrow, but the expectation is none of the gun control measures will pass. It's a scenario that family members of the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting in Connecticut are all too familiar with.
The mother of one of those victims wrote a heart wrenching letter to the Orlando families saying this in part quote "I have one message for those families in Florida. I am sorry, I am so sorry. I'm sorry that our tragedy here in Sandy Hook wasn't enough to save your loved ones. I tried and I won't stop trying. You will receive love from a million places, embrace it. Take good care of yourself. This will be a forever journey some ugly will come your way too. Delete, ignore. Let it go," end quote.
Those words from Nelba Marquez Greene. She who wrote that letter and she is joining me right now. She lost her 6-year-old daughter during the Newtown shooting.
Nelba, thank you so much for being with me and for sharing your heart, your pain and your hope to so many people just now unfortunately learning of the same kind of pain you went through. What was the inspiration of that letter? Why did you feel like you needed to do that?
NELBA MARQUEZ GREENE, DAUGHTER KILLED IN NEWTOWN SHOOTING: My heart was with those families in Orlando. And my heart is also with those families who wake up to this who don't get TV time, right. Because there is 91 Americans a day who do this. And I knew what day one -- I remember what day one who feel like and I just wanted to reach out to them.
[15:20:10] WHITFIELD: And what kind of response have you received? Have you heard from any of the grieving family members out of Orlando?
GREENE: You know, I'm not but I'm not surprised. I wasn't in any shake for a week or few days out to be reaching out to anyone. So I'm not surprised. But I have heard from many people who are supporting those families in the Orlando community. For example, Ricky Martin, that they really resonated with what I said and that especially with the part about making sure the funds raised go in 100 percent to victim families.
WHITFIELD: And it's hard to believe that's been four years. You've been living it. You have been feeling it. What has this four years been like without your then 6-year-old, she would be 10 about now? What has this experience been like for you, especially when you hear of another shooting? I imagine it only conjures up those initial feelings again.
GREENE: Well, it's not just four years. Today is father's day and no father should have to celebrate a father's day with a broken heart. I want to wish all of the fathers out there who are suffering from these kind of losses, a gentle father's day. We have been working for four years not just on - and it's not gun control, I want to clear that up. It's really gun safety and gun responsibility. There are millions of, you know, well-intentioned legal gun owners who are amazing who also agree that we have to do something that keep Americans safe. And we also primarily work on mental health. So I wrote this letter but, you know, we're not necessarily, you know, just a gun control family. We believe that there are many, many, many things we can do to help this -- keep America safe.
WHITFIELD: There was a sentiment, a real universal sentiment especially after Newtown, that change of the any number of things that you just mentioned, responsibility, et cetera, it would provoke something. But now many people are reflecting and saying it hasn't really promoted enough. But there's greater hope by those proponents that following what happened in Orlando, this might be that thing. Where are you on this Specter of whether this could promote anything different?
GREENE: You know, we are one of the most amazing countries in the world. We put a man on the moon. To think we can't figure outweighs to protect the U.S. constitution and save the lives of American families is absolutely ridiculous. So I really, really hope that people understand that cultural change takes time, that we didn't see some laws after 9/11 for ten years after that, you know, while it is a hard, long journey, people need to remember that this is going to be something that takes time.
I'm not hopeful for tomorrow to be honest with you. I don't think that vote is going to go through. But I'm hopeful that we're not going to back down. We are not going to go away. We need to keep guns out of the people who should not have them.
WHITFIELD: You're not hopeful but Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer has sounded somewhat optimistic. This is what he had to say recently.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCHUMER: I'm always hopeful and I know one thing, if we stop the NRA would always get its way. We keep going after it and going at it. And there are number of senators who always spoke with the NRA who say well, now, they are looking for a compromise. That says they are feeling the heat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Does that influence your opinion in any way?
GREENE: You know what influences my opinion, the heroic acts of Chris Murphy who stood up and filibustered for I think for 14 hours and the number of people I know who aren't going to give up. Like I have said before about a million times, we are going to win this in the end. It's just going to take time. Love will win. It's just going to take us working together.
WHITFIELD: All right. Nelba Marquez Greene, all the best to you and your family.
GREENE: Thank you. Happy father's day to you all.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you.
A group of Republicans is mounting a growing effort to dump Trump at next month's convention. The speaker of the house says not my problem. We will talk about the threat to the Trump campaign. Could Republicans have an alternative candidate after all?
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[15:27:32] WHITFIELD: Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
A coalition of anti-Trump Republicans is making a new push for next month's convention to allow any delegates bound to Trump to vote for whomever they want. And now house speaker Paul Ryan says it's not his job to stop them. And furthermore offering this guidance when it comes to Trump, all Republicans should vote their conscience, he says.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PAUL RYAN (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: I'm not going to tell delegates how to do their jobs because I'm chair of the convention. 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, Chuck. I get this. This is a very strange situation. This is a very unique nominee. But I feel as a responsibility institutionally as speaker of the house that I should not be leading in (INAUDIBLE) party because you know what I know about you? That would definitely knock this out of the White House.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The party is already divided.
RYAN: Like I said, it is divided. And I'm not going to tell somebody to go against their conscience.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right. Joining me right now is CNN's Chris Frates.
Chris, how is Donald Trump reacting to this movement and to Paul Ryan's latest words?
CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, doesn't sound very happy about it, Fred. You know, he said a number of times that Republican leaders who have criticized him should just be quiet and let him do his job. And now, there's also a small group of Republican delegates who are pushing for the party to adopt a so-called conscience clause that would allow delegates to vote against Donald Trump and that group is scheduled to hold another conference call tonight.
But here's what Trump had to say about that coalition? (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There are a couple of guys here trying to go to trying to get delegates. I thought they already tried that. I mean, I could give you names but I won't because it is meaningless. First of all, it's 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 system. So.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRATES: Now, a convention coup has little shot at success for a couple of reasons. One, Trump's loyalists on the convention's most important committee, so he has got a lot of influence there and perhaps more importantly, there's no alternative candidate to Donald Trump. The never Trumpers have been unable to find someone to find anyone, frankly, to challenge Trump. Still, Trump's own rhetoric has helped keep the dump Trump movement alive.
He has commented a judge hearing a lawsuit against him had a conflict of interest because he was Mexican descent or called racist by members of his own party. And when he doubled down on this policy to ban Muslim immigration in the wake of the Orlando shootings, top Republicans again opposed that idea with house speaker Paul Ryan even suggesting the house might sue a president Trump to stop that ban.
And with a general election under way, Republicans had hoped Trump would tone it down a little bit, act more presidential. Something Trump has said he will do as soon as he becomes president but many Republicans worry that if he doesn't do it sooner, Fred, he is never going to get that chance.
[15:30:25] WHITFIELD: All right. Chris Frates, thanks so much in Washington.
Let's talk more about this, the growing divide between and within the party. CNN political commentator Tara Setmyer and Scottie-Nell Hughes.
Good to see both of you. Scottie being a Donald Trump supporter.
Tara, you first. So, you know, is Paul Ryan doing the right thing when it comes to this anti-Trump delegate movement s staying out of it but he is also encouraging people to vote their conscience, follow their conscience?
TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. I mean, Paul Ryan has been walking this political tight rope for months now, concerning Donald Trump. I mean, he really is stuck between a rock and political hard place here with Donald Trump. I mean, anyone who knows Paul Ryan knows his brand of conservatism, knows that he does not agree with Donald Trump. I'm sure that in private conversations he is horrified by this prospect. But he is also speaker of the house --
WHITFIELD: Why did he feel then compelled, do you think? I mean, because of his position he had -- SETMAYER: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Had to throw his support behind Donald Trump?
SETMAYER: Yes. I mean, I don't think he had to. I wish he would have stood on principle and said this not what the Republican Party stands for and I'm not going to stand by and allow this guy to hijack it this way. But he is speaker of the house. And he can't - he is not only responsible for his own vote and own constituents, but he has got to control, you know, the entire Republican conference. And there were a lot of members of Congress who are willing to jump on the Trump train so early on, including his own leadership. So he reluctantly (INAUDIBLE) at a time where, you know, Donald Trump is continue to do things that have ramped up the Never Trump movement again. That has really, really concerned people. And that's why you have delegates quitting, I mean, nine delegates of the Arizona delegation quit over Donald Trump in his latest antics. And you are going to see more of this. This chatter of a potential coup is percolating because of Donald Trump's own behavior, not because of anything else. He is responsible for this.
WHITFIELD: And that's (INAUDIBLE) here because you talk about, you know, the leadership position of Paul Ryan. He felt compelled he had to do that, you know, as the, you know, top elected, you know, leader of the Republican Party, yet at the same time, now he's saying I'm not going to lead you as it pertains to this. I'm telling you now, you can vote your conscience.
So you know, I wonder, Scottie, you know, how does that translate for Donald Trump? I mean, he says you can, you know, I don't need you. And he have said that a few days ago, I don't need you. I can go it alone. But does he really mean that?
SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well, the thing is, I think it would be better for Representative Ryan to tell the house members, you know what? I don't want you e your conscience. I want you to vote what your congressional district that you represent? What is their conscience? And when you have 14 million people came out and voted for Mr. Trump in the primaries and were already seeing effects of those establishment candidates that are against Mr. Trump as we saw this week in Virginia in the fourth district where the establishment candidate Randy Forbes was beat by Scott Taylor, a Trump supporter, that the folks are identifying with Mr. Trump's messages. They are agreeing they are engaged. And so, a lot of the panic that we are seeing are by these house incentive members that realize that for once, they are going to be held accountable for their past, their history of votes that might not be aligned with Republicans --
WHITFIELD: So Scottie, does that also mean that, you know, Donald Trump will say I'm not going to work hard for those delegates to, you know, maintain their vote with me because the rules can't change. I mean, he just said they can't change the rules. They can't do this. But if there is resistance, does that mean he is going to work hard to persuade these delegates, you know, otherwise?
HUGHES: Well, the rules can change. All the rules can change before a convention at the rules committee, but it's very highly unlikely as your reporter pointed out. The majority of the rules committee have to vote on it then it has to go to the floor of the convention and the majority of those delegates. And what we're talking about is very, very small. In fact, the only spark it has about as much as a decaffeinated cup of coffee, less than 24 were on that first of all. And when you're dealing with more than 1237 delegates that have promised their support of Mr. Trump on the floor, you know what? They are going to need to get a little bit more steam. But once again, I think this is just the last bit of a Hail Mary of continuing plumbing of this never Trump movement that in the end all they are doing is helping Hillary Clinton. And if they really want to win the White House and continue to hold the house and the Senate, then they probably just need to get on board and get involved and actually just start trying to mentor Mr. Trump and make sure that they are all in the same team.
SETMAYER: Mentor Mr. Trump. You don't think that people have been trying to do that for months? He clearly doesn't listen to what anyone has to say. He takes that advice. He sits there in meetings and he listens and reassures people, don't worry about it, right. This other Trump that are allegedly exists behind closed doors then he goes out in public and does whatever the hell he wants. That's why you have people like Senator Bob Corker from Tennessee say, listen. I have given my advice and I'm disappointed in the results.
He is not the only one. There's a litany of people who are looking at this and trying to tell Donald Trump like, look buddy. You can't go out and start, you know, claiming that a judge is biased against you because he is Mexican when he was born in Indiana. Like those things don't work but is it doesn't matter. Behaves recklessly and that's why his negatives are where they are, 94 percent of black disapproved, 89 percent of Hispanics disapproved, 77 percent of women disapproved. This is historic, unprecedented. And there is nothing to do with Republicans.
(CROSSTALK)
[15:35:43] WHITFIELD: And there are some reason polling that showing that he is, you know, losing some of that support, not just in those categories but even within the Republican leadership, people demonstrably saying I'm not so sure anymore. So, you know, Scottie --
(CROSSTALK)
HUGHES: Well, it's real easy to work with. Because the majority of people are still on his side. Listen. The latest Pew research came out, actually the (INAUDIBLE) said 65 percent of people agree with Mr. Trump's stance with the judge. But that is weeks ago. That has nothing to do with the present situation.
And yes, he had a rough week last week. I will admit it, Hillary Clinton got a nice little bump, 15-point bump (INAUDIBLE). However, post Orlando, post the idea that once again people are reminded that we have a national security as you - that point - I mean, he is already right taken back five of those points. So we are seeing the gap once again begin to narrow and it is going to continue as people realize that we are at war. We do have national security issues. And as we are continuing job numbers come out in the economy once again shows that Barack Obama is not done such a great job with the recovery. I think you're going to see it tighten even closer as the days go on.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: Last word, Tara.
SETMAYER: All of that is wonderful except that Donald Trump does not have a campaign apparatus in place to prepare for the onslaught coming from Hillary Clinton and the Democrats. $27 million in ad buys are already under way in swing states like Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Florida. And this is, you know, Donald Trump needs to realize it's not a national election. You have to win state by state. And he is not running his campaign that way. He is wasting time in places like Texas where he doesn't need to campaign there. So, in end, the fact that he just starting to hire people on the ground in these states, he is not prepared. And you can't throw a presidential campaign together in a couple of months. So, this is all wonderful but --
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: We have to leave it there, ladies. We are going to have to have a part two on this one.
SETMAYER: We have plenty of months.
WHITFIELD: OK, all right. Tara Setmayer and Scottie Nell Hughes, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
All right, Putin, Vladimir Putin has a message now to the U.S. stop meddling in our affairs. We will talk about that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:41:33] WHITFIELD: An extraordinary moment in U.S. Russian relations involving a video conference call. It took place after Pentagon officials said Russian forces launched airstrikes on U.S. backed Syrian rebels fighting ISIS near the Jordanian border late last week. A senior defense official tells CNN, the incident quote "raises concerns about Russian intentions." Russia denies bombing the rebels. Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin told CNN's Fareed Zakaria that the U.S. needs to back out of Russian affairs and stop meddling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The U.S. is a great power. At the moment it is probably the only super power and we accept this fact. We want to work with the U.S. and we're ready to do that. And no matter how these elections are held, eventually they will be held. There will be a new head of state elected and they will have broad authority. I know that there are complex economic and political processes in the United States. At the moment, the world needs a country as strong as the U.S. is and we do need the U.S. too. But what we do not need is for them to interfere with our affairs all the time, to instruct us how to live, to prevent Europe from building relations with us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Let's bring in CNN military analyst lieutenant general Mark Hertling.
General, so what do you make of this possible Russian airstrike on American backed rebels and Putin telling America to stop meddling in its affairs?
LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Fred, I watch the interview, terrific questions by Fareed Zakaria. And also the kind of answers you would expect from a guy who is a former KGB agent, who knew he was going to be speaking for not only his internal audience there in the auditorium, but also to an external audience being covered Brit.
There were about five things that I heard from Mr. Putin that just really shocked me. The first one was NATO needs an enemy. That was really surprising to me. And if that's true, it's just surprising that Mr. Putin and his Russian forces have provided that because of their continuous threats against European forces, their expansion of their Navy, their fly overs by the air force and their external approach to diplomatic affairs.
The second one was, as you just started, one should never interfere with the internal workings of a foreign government. He has done that in Ukraine, in Georgia, in Moldova, in Syria and the list goes on and on in terms of his intimidation. The fact that he said Assad must assure trust with the various sectors of the society; that just floored me because he has been the one, Mr. Putin, that is, who has been forcing Mr. Assad to continue to bomb and continue to go after his enemies that Mr. Putin called all terrorists.
But the most interesting one was his comments on American politicians where he said, you know, he countered Fareed by saying he never said Trump was brilliant. And in fact, all Russian publicity and their news media has been painting Mr. Trump as a buffoon and the fact he pulled back from saying that the Clintons were the devils on two sides of a coin, he claimed that, you know, that would be something that he would have to deal with depending on the American vote. All of this was just diplomatic talk from an individual who has been known to establish propaganda when he talks to outside audiences.
[15:45:01] WHITFIELD: And then, how do you characterize the state of affairs. Because, you know, Putin said he didn't necessarily think the world was sliding into a new cold war but then there is this kind of language.
HERTLING: Exceedingly tense right now, I would say, Fred. You know, I left Europe in 2013 when I was commander of forces. And we, in fact, were attempting to bring the Russian military into various exercises, expand our engagements with the Russians and every step we received - they give us the hand. They didn't want to play. And it has gotten worse since then. We have attempted to actually engage the Russian forces and the Russian diplomacy and every turn they have reneged on that agreement.
So yes, you know, the first question that Fareed asked about reinstatement of a cold war, whereas I don't think it was as bad as it was when I was a young lieutenant in Europe. It certainly is getting worse than it will be in the late 90s. And I think it's directly an effect of what Mr. Putin has attempted to do.
WHITFIELD: All right, lieutenant general Mark Hertling, thanks so much.
HERTLING: Thank you, Fredericka.
WHITFIELD: All right, straight ahead, Oakland in crisis as it tries to replace its third police chief in eight days. That's 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)
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[15:49:58] WHITFIELD: Just in to CNN, an update on the 12 girls found in a man's home in Pennsylvania. Extremely disturbing case. The parents telling investigators now that in addition to the child they quoted "gifted" to Lee Kaplan, nine others, other daughters, were also gifted and the remaining two are granddaughters fathered by Kaplan. Authorities will corroborate those statements with birth certificates and DNA tests. Police have also executed a search warrant on the house. Kaplan has been charged with statutory sexual assault. The parents have been charged with endangering the welfare of children. The girls were recovered Thursday after a neighbor's tip to police and they are being kept together with county social services.
All right, turning now to another very disturbing story. The mayor of Oakland, California, is wringing her hands following the removal of a police chief in three weeks. The Oakland PD is rocked with allegations of sexual misconduct and racist texts and emails.
CNN's Nick Valencia joining me now.
So the mayor has been very upset about this. Now there's an oversight by a civilian type of committee. Now what?
[15:51:11] NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: City administrator has taken over the job, so to speak, of interim police chief even though she doesn't have that title. It's a civilian leadership now.
The mayor on Friday's press conference just sounded outright disgusted with these allegations being leveled against the Oakland police department, one of them having to do with an 18-year-old girl who claims when she was underage she had sex with a handful of police officers from the Oakland police department. Now, if that wasn't enough, they're also dealing with the separate scandal involving officers sending racist text messages 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: This 18-year-old, who we are not naming but goes by the alias Celeste says she met the officers on social media. And she also said to have encountered at least one of those officers on International Boulevard in Oakland which is a known hot spot for prostitution.
WHITFIELD: And do we know whether she reached out? They reached out? I mean, how did that happen?
VALENCIA: She's the daughter of a police dispatcher so you might think there's a connection there. Who knows exactly the math it did, if she reached out to them. But that she made these claims and that she has sex with them when she was underage.
What's really interesting about this all is Oakland police department has been in trouble before. They have a federal overseer there who is in charge of looking into investigations of police use of force, police excessive force, is limited in his jurisdiction but now solutions being thrown out there is perhaps his jurisdiction could expand to the hiring of these officers. It's alleged in some of these local media reports that a lot of the officers involve with this young woman were rookie officers or new to the force so perhaps if there was a change in culture there. But the thing is, I mean, they had somebody there that was a federal overseer. How did this slip through the cracks? That's a question I would like to know and I'm sure other people wants to know.
[15:55:03] WHITFIELD: So potentially a real code of silence, people weren't talking so it wasn't revealed?
VALENCIA: Just sounds like a mess.
WHITFIELD: Is there a pursuit for a new police chief?
VALENCIA: Not right now.
WHITFIELD: Why not?
VALENCIA: The city administrator has -- well, we don't know. We would like to find out. We would like to know what's going on there. I this I the mayor there locally is really stunned by everything going on. And she sounded just outright disgusted at this press conference on Friday.
WHITFIELD: It is unbelievable. All right. Thank you so much, Nick Valencia. Appreciate that.
VALENCIA: You got it.
WHITFIELD: Bring us more when you get it.
All right. The police chief turnover comes at the same time Oakland is about to host the biggest of the NBA season. Tonight the golden state warriors in Cleveland Cavaliers will play game seven for the championship ring. The Oakland police department says it will have extra patrols out focusing on locations where Warriors fans gather. The championship game is the hottest ticket in the bay area. Courtside seats going for up to $50,000. All right. Coming up, we could soon know what the Orlando nightclub
shooter told police the night of the attack. Details on that next.
And we will have more from (INAUDIBLE) Park where officials are expecting more than 20,000 people to turn out for a candlelight vigil in honor of the 49 victims. Stay with us.
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[16:00:04] WHITFIELD: Hello again. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
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