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Fallout from Bill Clinton's Meeting with Attorney General; Trump Escalates War With GOP Over Trade; U.S. Rep. Names Suspected Planner of Attack. Aired 9:00-9:30a ET

Aired July 01, 2016 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00] CAMEROTA: Statue of Liberty this Independence Day. So everyone, enjoy it.

SCIUTTO: Enjoy -- enjoy the weekend. It's been great joining you and the team today. We wish them the best this holiday weekend.

CAMEROTA: Great having you here.

Time now for "NEWSROOM" with Pam Brown, in for Carol Costello. Take it away, Pamela.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you both. Have a great holiday weekend.

NEWSROOM starts right now.

Well, good morning to you. I'm Pamela Brown, in for Carol Costello. Thanks so much for being here with us on this Friday.

Well, the fallout was fast and furious over a meeting between the attorney general and former president Bill Clinton. And now Loretta Lynch is expected to announce she will accept the decision from career prosecutors and the FBI about whether there should be any charges in the Clinton e-mail investigation. That decision had been in the works for months, but the public announcement today is an attempt to downplay the significance of the attorney general's encounter with Bill Clinton.

This all started earlier this week, when the pair met on the tarmac in Phoenix for about 30 minutes. Now Lynch said the meeting was casual and that she was surprised by the president coming on to her plane there on the tarmac, but both Republicans and Democrats criticized it, saying it didn't look good.

Earlier this morning, Trump renewed his attacks, tweeting, "Bill Clinton's meeting was a total secret. Nobody was to know about it. But he was caught by a local reporter."

Sunlen Serfaty is following the story -- Sunlen.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Pam.

Well, that quick impromptu 20-minute meeting between Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch really has set off quite a political firestorm. So clearly this announcement is a move to kind of minimize the damage and the uproar caused by that. Announcing today, the DOJ says that Lynch will accept the recommendations, as you said, of the career prosecutors and the FBI director in this e-mail investigation case involving Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

To note, sources tell CNN this is not unusual move for Loretta Lynch, but clearly, the fact that they're having to emphasize this -- this fact shows that they know they have to minimize any potential damage, really try to squash all of the conversations that are going on around this.

This has been quickly, of course, picked up by Hillary Clinton's opponent, Donald Trump. He has been, as you noted on Twitter and in interviews, really blasting this decision, really suggesting wrongdoing by Bill Clinton, and saying that just shows the system is rigged, in his opinion. Here is more of what Donald Trump has to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Well, when I first heard that yesterday afternoon, I actually thought they were joking. I thought the people that told me was -- you know, I said no way. There's just no way that's going to happen. And it happened. And I am just -- I'm flabbergasted by it. I think it's amazing. I've never seen anything like that before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: And we don't have a response yet from the Clinton campaign, to this announcement by the DOJ and this emphasizing from the DOJ today. But we expect to hear a lot more from Loretta Lynch. She speaks later this morning as the Aspen Ideas Festival where she intends to speak specifically on this -- Pam.

BROWN: All right. That's going to happen around 11:00 a.m. Eastern time.

Sunlen Serfaty, thank you so much for that.

And to talk about this, we're joined by Donald Trump supporter and KABC talk radio host, John Phillips, and Hillary Clinton supporter and Democratic strategist Taryn Rosenkranz. Thank you both for coming on.

Taryn, first to you, just bottom line question, if you're Bill Clinton, why ever do this in the first place, meet with Lynch privately given the optics of this? I mean, do you not think that he realized what the fallout would be?

TARYN ROSENKRANZ, CLINTON SUPPORTER: Well, I think we'll have to wait to hear what the campaign officially said on his true reasons. I can only -- I can only try to guess here. But I'm guessing that he didn't realize this was going to kick off the kind of story that it has and the kind of firestorm surrounding it. You know, they've been having these discussions and investigations for several months now with Loretta Lynch. So I think that, in his mind, this wasn't going to be something that would likely kick off the kind of story that it has.

BROWN: So, John, in new tweet this morning, Trump is alleging some sort of conspiracy theory about the meeting between the two. What evidence does Trump have of that? Because our sources at DOJ say that Loretta Lynch was caught off-guard when Bill Clinton came on her plane.

JOHN PHILIPS, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Right. Well, whatever correspondence did Bill Clinton had with Loretta Lynch is not something that can be subpoenaed. It's not in an e-mail, it's not in a text message, it's not in anything that was in any kind of public forum. And this is the damage that the e-mail scandal is really doing to the Clinton campaign. It's in her head. They don't want any kind of electronic correspondence. So they do these things, and look, it could have been a perfectly innocent meeting.

The answer is we don't know. We have to trust him. We have to trust her. So far neither one has given the details of what was discussed there. But this is going to be an ongoing problem that's going to play itself out during the campaign because the scandal brings out the worst impulses in both of the Clintons. They're secretive, they're paranoid and that's what you saw play out in Phoenix.

[09:05:02] BROWN: Well, and on that note, to you, Taryn, you know, people think that she's untrustworthy. I mean, she addressed that earlier this week, saying that's something she needs to work on. Does this only feed into that and only call attention once again to the fact the FBI is investigating her and her e-mail use?

ROSENKRANZ: Well, you know, I think what she said was spot on, right. She is careful with her words because she's careful with her words. And I respect that. And I think most people understand that. But I do think that, to her point, that she is going to work on it to make sure it's not because there is some underlying, underhanded thing. And to your -- my colleague earlier point there is that, you know, we have to trust them. It's one thing that the press, that the media and most people have really never done.

I mean, the Clintons are always under the microscope and have been for so many decades with so many things going on that I just think that she can't really live her life any way but to feel that way. And I can understand that. And I think most people can.

BROWN: OK. Quickly, John, does the fact that Loretta Lynch is saying look, I will take whatever recommendation that the career prosecutors make to me, and the FBI, as the decision, of course, she has the final say, but does this allay any concerns, any fears that there is political intervention with the outcome of the case, John?

PHILIPS: The person I'm watching is James Comey, the director of the FBI, who is a man with a stellar reputation in Washington, D.C., a man who gets along with both Republicans and Democrats. Respected by the Congress, respected by most people who have worked with him at the FBI. If he takes a step back after the Justice Department makes their decision, he says, wait a minute, this looks like a political hit job to me, then I think you're going to see a very different reaction than if he says all right, this is -- this is kosher.

BROWN: All right, John and Taryn, stay with us. A lot more to discuss.

On the Republican side, Donald Trump is sounding a lot like his old self, throwing jabs at the Republican Party and its big money supporters over trade.

CNN's Jason Carroll is here now with that story -- Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Pamela. You know, Trump has said repeatedly that he can win with or without endorsements. But clearly this is something that is getting under his skin. A number of those within the GOP still have not gotten behind the presumptive nominee and now the convention is just weeks away.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: It was a rough primary and they got beat up, and -- but they went after me, too. And you know, we beat them up and now they don't want to endorse. And you know, it's almost in some ways like I'm running against two parties.

CARROLL (voice-over): Donald Trump at war with his own party and defending his protectionist trade agenda.

TRUMP: Why are people upset that with free trade, that I like, that I want to make better deals? I said, "I want to make better deals with Mexico. I want to make better deals with China." They say, "Oh, Trump is messing with free trade." No, I'm messing with bad deals that we can make good. I can make good deals. Why would somebody fight that?

CARROLL: Trump calling out the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for the second day in a row.

TRUMP: The U.S. Chamber fights. They said, "Oh, Trump wants to stop free trade." I don't want to stop free trade. I love free trade. But I want to make great deals.

CARROLL: At his rally in New Hampshire, Trump criticized for his latest off-the-cuff comment, making an awkward joke at the expense of Mexico while discussing NAFTA, which he says takes manufacturing jobs away from the U.S.

TRUMP: Their leaders are so much smarter, so much sharper, and it's incredible. In fact, that could be a Mexican plane up there. They're getting ready to attack.

CARROLL: Trump drawing more criticism for this exchange with a woman who asked him about using veterans to replace Muslim TSA workers wearing head scarves or hijabs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get rid of all these hibby-jabbies they wear at TSA. I've seen them myself. TRUMP: I understand.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need the veterans back in there to take it. They fought for this country and defended it. They'll still do it.

TRUMP: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

TRUMP: You know, and we are looking at that.

CARROLL: Trump did not miss an opportunity to slam Hillary Clinton on jobs, highlighting Clinton's vulnerability among white blue-collar voters. Trump referring to a statement Clinton made at a CNN town hall while talking about her clean energy bill.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We're going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.

TRUMP: She said, "I want to put the miners and the mines out of business." Who would vote for her? We want to put our people back to work.

CARROLL: Clinton later apologizing to coal workers for what she called a misstatement.

TRUMP: Our people should have more pride in buying made in the USA. Remember the old days?

CARROLL: Clinton quick to point out that Trump benefits from the foreign labor he now scorns.

CLINTON: Trump ties are made in China. Trump suits in Mexico.

CARROLL: All this as sources tell CNN that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich are being vetted to be Trump's running mate. Trump intends to announce his pick at the Republican National Convention just weeks away.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: And Pamela, in terms of a vice-president, Trump is looking for someone who can bring experience to the table, someone who knows the ins and outs of Washington.

[09:10:02] Also, someone who can mend some of those fences with the GOP, and finally, it's got to be a candidate who has the same type of star power that he has that they can bring to the ticket -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right. Speculation will continue to swirl. We're going to discuss possible VP picks later in show.

Jason Carroll, thank you.

And I want to bring back John Philips, a Trump supporter, and Taryn Rosenkranz, a Clinton supporter. Good to see you both, again. John, this rift between Trump and his fellow Republicans not showing

any signs of going away. We're about two weeks from the convention. Are you worried about the party's ability to unite? And do you think Mr. Trump even needs the party to unite?

PHILIPS: Well, going based on the Republican establishment has done the last couple of cycles, we've lost Ohio twice, we've lost Michigan twice, we've lost Pennsylvania twice. We've lost Wisconsin, we've lost Iowa. A lot of those states there in the Midwest, where trade policies have really damaged them. You talk to coal miners, you talk to truck drivers, you talk to people in the construction industry. They've been badly damaged by this.

And when Hillary Clinton runs around the country saying that she's here to protect the people that have been left behind, Donald Trump needs to answer the question, left behind by who? Because President Obama has been in charge for the last eight years. Hillary Clinton was part of that administration. They were the ones who championed TPP. Hillary Clinton's husband was the guy that signed in NAFTA.

And I think Donald Trump driving home that point does nothing but help him in that part of the country which is going to decide the election.

BROWN: All right. And Taryn, Trump, as he pointed out, you know, continues to hammer Hillary Clinton on jobs and trade, two economic issues that are critical to those white working class voters that they both need to win the White House. Is she vulnerable here?

ROSENKRANZ: I don't think so for the very reason she pointed out in her speech last week, right. Trump's talking out of both sides of his mouth a little bit as when he's walking the walk when it comes to his products, when it comes to Trump products, they are all made overseas. And he's part of the problem, right. He is using workers overseas to make those Trump ties in China and everything else that he has been talking about.

In those battle ground states that he mentioned, that is about American jobs leaving to go overseas. And I think that what she points out is exactly that, is that, you know, he is part of the problem. He is not part of the solution. And just because he is saying something doesn't mean he is actually doing it.

BROWN: And John, yesterday, Trump made this joke on the stump about being a plane being from Mexico ready to attack. It seems like we're seeing both the old Trump and this new Trump, with the speech earlier this week with the teleprompter, many people in the Republican Party applauded that, saying he was acting more presidential, but then he makes these statements that are reflective of his old self. Which one is it?

PHILIPS: Well, certainly they get a response from the crowd when he goes into his triumph routine. But sometimes you watch it, you just cringe and you wish that Andrew Dice Trump could just stick with the script because his poll numbers are bouncing back. We saw that Rasmussen poll out yesterday that showed him in the lead. He's always been tight with Hillary Clinton in the battle ground states. If he just sticks to the message, if he sticks to the issues, I think he'll do just fine.

BROWN: And Taryn, Trump is making this point to reach out to Sanders supporters, and Sanders has said that Clinton has to reach out to his supporters. Do you think there will be a more concerted effort to do that in the future?

ROSENKRANZ: I think that Trump may try to reach out to Bernie supporters, but I think at the end of the day, you know, a true progressive who is supporting Bernie Sanders could not bring themselves to support Trump and the kind of outrageous policies and anti-American policies that Trump is spewing. So I don't think there is any real chance that he is going to be able to win those over. And I do think that the Democratic Party in general is working toward unification ahead of our convention in a few weeks, so.

BROWN: All right, Taryn Rosenkranz, John Philips, thank you both.

PHILIPS: Thank you.

BROWN: And still ahead on this Friday, travelers run for their lives as terrorists turn the Istanbul airport into a killing field. And now new information on what you don't see. The terrorist who put the deadly plan into motion.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:18:11] BROWN: In Istanbul, Turkey, barbaric terror and unspeakable cruelty now have a name. Akhmed One-Armed. Turkish media say that's the former ISIS lieutenant who organized this week's military-like siege on the airport there.

A U.S. lawmaker says he is on the U.S. terror list and was a number one enemy in his native Russia.

Let's get the latest from CNN's Alexander Field who is right outside the airport in Istanbul.

Good morning, Alexandra.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there. Good morning, Pamela.

You know, from the beginning, Turkish intelligence officials and U.S. intelligence suspected ISIS was linked to this attack, that either ISIS has inspired it or had direct connections. Now, you've got a U.S. lawmaker saying Akhmed Chatayev was the leader of this attack, was the ringleader in this case. He is a well-known ISIS militant, known to counterterrorism officials. They believe that he is the one who directed his foot soldiers as you might call them, people who spent time in Raqqah, which is the de facto ISIS capital in Syria.

Sources tell CNN that the three bombers had traveled from Raqqah to Istanbul a month ago and that they had rented an apartment here. That's where investigators located a passport belonging to one of the bombers. It's a big break in the investigation, as officers try to learn more about who these men are and as they continue to carry out counterterrorism operations, raids that have already resulted in the detainment of 22 people who are brought in for further questioning in connection with these attacks.

Also at that apartment complex, we know that investigators are talking to neighbors, talking to people who may have seen these bombers. One woman tells CNN that she smelled chemicals coming from the apartment, even though a source tells CNN that he believes that the bombs were made outside of Turkey. There are new video, new pictures today to show you of what the news agency Haberturk says are the three bombers arriving at the airport.

[09:20:03] As we've reported before, the men came here in a taxi. These are images, according to Haberturk, that show the men getting out of the taxi before they entered the airport, unleashing this deadly attack.

The death toll, 43 people, the bombers hitting three locations -- the departure hall, the arrival hall and also an area just outside of the terminal -- Pamela.

BROWN: Alexandra Field, thank you so much.

Joining me now to discuss this, CNN military analyst, Major General James "Spider" Marks, and Jill Dougherty, the member of the advisory board for the Kennan Institute, which works to improve U.S. knowledge about Russia and other states in the former Soviet Union.

Thank you both for coming on.

General Marks, first to you. The alleged planner to a terror list last year as we heard in her report. How does his involvement in the attack highlight the concern of ISIS attacks in the West and more to come?

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, what it shows you is that this network is very, very extensive. The targets are really frankly ecumenical.

We've heard the narrative that because Turkey now has entered in, has taken a side in the fight against ISIS, and that they've gotten more aggressive. The fact remains, it really doesn't matter. I don't necessarily buy into the narrative that actions of the West, partners in NATO, those that are not directly engaged with ISIS, are in fact now on a list that ISIS will go against and will target, because of actions they have taken.

It really doesn't matter. There is little logic behind that. What ISIS is trying to achieve in all forms, this metastasis of radical Islam that we've seen is that it really doesn't matter what the West does. Those that are not apart of ISIS are legitimate targets, and that's what we've done in Turkey. That has always been a very loose border, very open for control and -- I mean, very much a lack of control on those borders.

It's not hard at all for the former -- for all of the stands to have migration into Turkey that we've seen.

BROWN: And I think, Jill, this shows how many, you know, the issue of Russians fighting with ISIS. These alleged attackers from the North Caucasus region, home to Russia's biggest supplier of ISIS recruits. How did the group get such a foot hold?

JILL DOUGHERTY, MEMBER, KENNAN INSTITUTE ADVISORY BOARD: You know, I think it is important to point out that this goes back a long time. This guy just didn't just magically appear with ISIS. He has been involved in terror for a long time. Both in Chechnya, where he comes from, you go back to the late '90s, during the Chechen wars, then he joins ISIS apparently in 2015.

Now, I think that would illustrate that you have people who are homegrown, let's call it, in Russia and in that kind of war torn previously war torn and still, destabilized area in the south of Russia, then when there is a bigger organization like ISIS, oftentimes they hitch their wagon to that.

And this man, very notable, because he was missing one arm, used that, reportedly used that fact to argue when he went to Europe to get refugee status. He said I have been tortured by the Russians. And because the West, you know, sometimes looked at the Chechen war not necessarily as terrorism, but kind of Russia's problem, it may have -- this is my opinion -- it may have kind of down-played his significant and did not extradite him back to Russia.

So I think the message here, the question would be, how serious will the West get, and you know, vis-a-vis Russia, in terms of dealing with people who defined as terrorists but don't meet the criteria, until it gets a lot later. Remember, the U.S. placed him on the terrorist list just last year. He has been around for a long time.

BROWN: You said lot later, when it is too late, clearly in this case, General Marks. And ISIS is yet to claim responsibility days after the attack. Why is that?

MARKS: I don't think it is surprising. Again, what we see is that the motivation of ISIS, the radicalization as Jill laid out so brilliantly is that this takes place over the course of time and it is easy for ISIS to take credit for it, clearly, what we saw in terms of the trade craft, the tactics, the techniques, procedures that were used in this raid, very much are akin to what we've seen with ISIS in the past.

And it's easy for them to take credit for this and they will, at some point. But really what it tells you, the insidious nature is that there is no -- these are mission orders, if you will. This is inspirational type of guidance that is occurring.

ISIS did not direct, there is no chain of command, there is no direct chain of support.

[09:25:00] These are individually radicalized, and then brought together individuals that have initiated this attack on their own timing. It's like building a bigger box. You don't get outside of the box. Just build a bigger box and within in it you've got missions that will be taken on.

That's what we will see. We will see this again. We'll see it in the United States as well, which is very shocking.

BROWN: Yes, you know, I've been speaking to my counterterrorism sources and this is sadly the new reality. Each attack we've seen in Europe and even in the U.S., it just highlights the issue of people being radicalized when they're looking at their computer, this virtual movement that's going on.

Jill, right now, the Obama administration is considering a proposal to coordinate military strikes in Syria with Russia against terror groups, and in exchange, Russia will end its attacks on U.S.-backed rebels fighting President Assad. How likely is it this deal will go through?

DOUGHERTY: Well, I think probably both sides want it. You know, one of the problems has been that Russia was saying to the United States, please tell us where those forces are that you an the United States was saying, well, if we do that, you may attack them any way, because they are fighting against the Assad government.

So, now, apparently, they've gotten to the point where there is some know, agreement on the fact that they could at safe for these fighters. These are fighters that are not specifically terrorists, but who are fighting against the Assad government.

So if that's correct, and they can define that, then you have got a deal. But don't forget, it is kind of a military deal. There are broader issues of dealing with Assad, et cetera, but that would be a step forward, certainly.

BROWN: Quickly, General Marks, on that note. There has been a lot of frustration that Turkey has not done more to fight ISIS. Do you think this will change that?

MARKS: Well, Turkey is stepping up. I would think that Turkey has clear motivation based on what we've just seen that took place in Istanbul to be engaged much more fulsomely. But again, Turkey has always been a very strong ally within NATO. There is intelligence sharing, there is logistics, there is training, as Jill indicated. There is training takes place among those NATO members.

So, in terms of coordinated efforts that we could see with Turkey in a broader effort, I would anticipate that going forward for sure. And I would say there would be success of those operations.

I must say, I disagree with Jill, in that I don't see the likelihood of a Russian/U.S. vis-a-vis Syria, it's just though, as Jill pointed out, it's just so messed up right now. There are so many layers and so many entanglements on the tactical level, it becomes very impractical to institute and to execute something like that.

BROWN: All right. Major General James "Spider" Marks, Jill Dougherty, thank you very much. Very interesting perspective from both of you.

MARKS: Thanks. BROWN: And still ahead on this Friday, the battle to be V.P. heats up. A former Trump rival now filling out his paperwork to be his running mate.

Plus, self-dubbed "boring", Tim Kaine just got a little more interesting. The scrutiny he is now facing, up next.

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