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Recent Terror Attacks Raise Security Concerns; Latest on Istanbul Investigation; Lynch-Clinton Meeting Issues; Florida Algae Bloom; Toxic Algae Bloom Blankets Some South Florida Beaches; Clinton, Trump Vetting VP Picks; Historic Week Of Wins For LGBT Community; One Dead, Nine Injured In Chicago Shootings. Aired 11a-Noon ET

Aired July 02, 2016 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:01:07] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, it's 11:00 on the East Coast. I'm Fredericka Whitfield. The NEWSROOM starts right now.

More on the breaking news that we have been following this holiday weekend, the world is on edge after two deadly terror attacks in a span of just four days, as the international manhunt continues for all those responsible. Here's what we know right now.

Overnight in Bangladesh, gunmen seized a popular tourist cafe in Dhaka. Twenty hostages were killed and among them nine Italians and three U.S. college students, two Emory University students, American Abinta Kabir and Bangladeshi Faraaz Hossain were visiting family in Dhaka. And from the University of California at Berkeley student, Indian citizen Tarushi Jain was also killed.

The standoff with police lasted 10 hours. The attackers welded guns, explosive devices and sharp domestic weapons that were at times describe as swords. Thirteen hostages were rescued. Although there has not been one report of -- there has been rather one report of ISIS claiming responsibility. The U.S. State Department will not confirm that the terror group is indeed behind that attack.

Meanwhile, investigations are progressing into Tuesday's bombing in Istanbul, Turkey. Officials say a top soldier in the ISIS War Ministry organized that suicide bombing. The chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security says the man nicknamed "Akhmed one- armed" ordered the attack on Istanbul's at a Turkey airport. He is from Russia's Caucasus region. And his Jihadis' activities are well documented.

Forty-four people were killed in Tuesday's attack there in Turkey, 239 were injured. We have full coverage. CNN's Sumnima Udas is following the latest developments in Bangladesh. Also with this, Global Affairs Analyst Kim Dozier and Bob Baer and at CNN -- who is a CNN intelligence and security analyst also joining us on the phone.

Sumnima, let's begin with you, where does the investigation stand right now? SUMNIMA UDAS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, as we've been saying Fredericka, one of the terrorists was captured. That's what the prime minister of Bangladesh announced earlier this morning. So presumably, they will be questioning that one terrorist. Of course, we don't know what's really -- what he has said, whether the questioning has even started.

But a few new details coming from Bangladesh and that is that this clamp down that happened early in the morning at 7:30 local time, this was actually sanctioned by the prime minister of Bangladesh because of this tense situation. Then that's when the commandos stormed into the restaurant. And within 13 minutes, they were able to kill all six of the terrorists, captured one of them.

Now, all 20 bodies have been sent for their autopsy reports to a hospital, a military hospital Dhaka. Out of those 20, 9 of them we know now were Italians, one, an Indian citizen, a student from Berkeley University. And of course, two from Emory University. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right Sumnima. And let me bring in Bob on the phone with us. So ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, but some sources are telling CNN that instead it may be a group with some extension or a relativity to Al Qaeda. So Bob, what do you think?

ROBERT BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: Well, the Islamic State rarely claims attacks it hasn't undertaken and it takes time. This one, in fact was done fairly quickly. It has the hallmarks of an Islamic State attack, multiple attackers, soft targets.

[11:05:08] I think the interesting thing is they didn't have explosive vests. It's a technology that apparently hasn't moved to Bangladesh yet which is not really a surprise. It's something you really need to be trained on in the battlefield.

So, I think the fact that these guys tried to withstand the military assault meant that they were ready to die. The fact they didn't negotiate also tells me they were ready to die.

So right now, it looks like the Islamic State and then certainly Al Qaeda hasn't claimed it. And, you know, at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. It's people that are radical -- radicalized and are ready to attack western targets. And they consume any, you know, group identity they like.

WHITFIELD: So Kim, while there may be these distinctions, what might it say about whether it's a shared philosophy, whether there are competing groups, and as Bob says, you know, in the end perhaps it doesn't really matter because so many people die.

But when it comes to counter, you know, terrorism, intelligence and law enforcement, global law enforcement trying to get to the head of these terror efforts, how important is it to know whether these are competing groups, whether these distinctions say something about with who might be behind these attacks? KIM DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, to Bob's point, ISIS seldom claims responsibility for something that it doesn't have some connection to. And I've spoken to U.S. officials, U.S. Special Operations who say they've seen ISIS try to make inroads with preexisting groups throughout Southeast Asia.

And one of their frustrations is that they can't get local governments to recognize that there is this outreach happening in their midst.

What happens with a lot of these groups is they go with whoever they perceive as the strongest terrorist group. And right now, that's ISIS one of the reasons that it carries out attacks like the attack in Turkey is well, it may be losing territory on the battlefield in Iraq and Syria. On the television sets for all intents and purposes what everyone sees is a victory, a few militants taking out large numbers of people.

That has drawn groups like Boko Haram to pledge allegiance to ISIS and we're hearing that there are some groups across Southeast Asia that are considering doing that.

We've also seen some groups splinter. The Shabaab in Somalia and the Taliban in Afghanistan where young men who are members of those other groups want to split off and join ISIS if they perceived their own existing group as not being radical or in their bloody terms, successful enough.

WHITFIELD: All right. And Sumnima, there have been other recent attacks in Bangladesh. Was there a level of anticipation from police there, from law enforcement that something may be afoot, something may be coming, even though it was not necessarily predicted it would be in this highly diplomatic area?

UDAS: Nothing that we've heard or been aware of really. As you mentioned, several attacks against intellectuals, bloggers, people from the minority groups, Christians, Hindu priests, Buddhist monks in the past two years. More than 40 people have been killed by various attackers. Sometimes ISIS has claimed responsibility. Other times groups related or linked to Al Qaeda have claimed responsibility.

And every time the Bangladeshi government has always come out and denied that at least ISIS is present in Bangladesh. Attributing most of these attacks against individuals to what they call home-grown militants. So no, this kind of attack was not anticipated at all. People have gotten used to those kinds of individual attacks against bloggers and writers. That's when these attackers arrive on motorcycles, hack certain individuals to death with machetes.

But this kind of attack at a quite profiled area, wealthy part of Dhaka where there's so many expats, so many embassies, so many five star hotels, this was completely unexpected and is unprecedented. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right. Sumnima Udas, thank you so much. Kim Dozier and Bob Baer. We'll check back with all of your momentarily, thank you. All right, meantime, coming up, Donald Trump is slamming the nation's top law enforcer for something she did out of the office. But hear how Democrats agree that Loretta Lynch should not have made this unforced error.

Then, a toxic algae as thick as guacamole will taking over parts of South Florida. And some are blaming the federal government.

[11:10:02] A live report straight ahead.

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WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. Donald Trump is seizing on the controversies surrounding Attorney General Loretta Lynch. The nation's top prosecutor is now on the defense, announcing she will accept the findings of career justice department lawyers and investigators in the case of Hillary Clinton's use of a private e-mail server while secretary of state.

The move by Lynch is standard procedure. Her public declaration of it however, is not. And it comes in response to the outcry over Lynch meeting with Former President Bill Clinton on the tarmac. Their planes parked side by side. And some are saying that was very inappropriate.

Lynch speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival said, their conversation was social. But admitted the meeting does raise questions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LORETTA LYNCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL: It's either I had already determined that would be the process. In large part is because as I'm sure you know, as a journalist, I do get this question a lot. But in this situation, you know, because I did have that meeting, it has raised concerns, I feel.

And I feel that's while I can certainly say this matter is going to be handled like any other as it has always been. It's going to be resolved like any other as it was always going to be. I think people need the information about exactly how that resolution will come about in order to know what that means and really accept that I had faith in the ultimate decision of the Department Of Justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Donald Trump trying to use this to his advantage. CNN's Chris Frates has that part of the story. Chris?

CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Hey Fred. Well, it's important to note here that it's not just Donald Trump. Republicans generally have pounced on this meeting between Lynch and Bill Clinton saying that it shows that she can't be impartial, that she has a conflict of interest here and that she really shouldn't be allowed to proceed.

Now, Lynch, of course, making the case that she decided this spring not to get involved to accept whatever her team says and whatever the FBI recommends. But, you know, that did not stop Donald Trump from mocking the idea that somehow this impromptu meeting at the Phoenix International Airport was a coincidence.

Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You know, when I first heard the story I said, "No, you're kidding I don't believe it." I thought somebody was joking. But it's not a joke. It's not a joke. It's very serious thing. And to have a thing like that happen is so sad.

[11:15:07] And as you know, Hillary is so guilty. She's so guilty. I mean, you can read them right of here, and how that's not being pursued properly.

And I think that he really, I think he really opened it up. He opened up a Pandora's Box and it shows what's going on and it shows what's happening with our laws. And with our government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRATES: So there you have Donald Trump really hitting both Hillary Clinton and Democrats generally. And that's a real vulnerability for Hillary Clinton with voters is the trust issue. In fact, she even said recently she needs to work on that issue with voters. And this is something that Donald Trump really trying to exploit here Fred, to show you can't trust the Clintons. They have private meetings while Hillary Clinton is under investigation and really trying to stir the pot here, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And when Loretta Lynch was asked about it, you know, during that very fascinating conversation yesterday she did make it appearance though, it was spontaneous, it wasn't necessarily planned. Although she wasn't asked that directly. She did try to poke a little fun even at herself over the controversy, didn't she?

FRATES: Yeah, she did, Fred. This was interesting. She poked a little fun at herself, shows some self-awareness. And to kind of set up the joke, you have to remember that both Loretta Lynch's plane and Bill Clinton's plane were on the tarmac. And Bill Clinton essentially just decided to pop over to Loretta Lynch's plane to say hello. Here's how she made a joke of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN CAPEHART, WASHINGTON POST EDITORIAL WRITER: What didn't Eric Holder tell you about this job? What's the one thing you wish he had told you?

LYNCH: Where the lock on the plane door was.

(END VIDEO CLIP) FRATES: So there you have Loretta Lynch making a light of the situation. You know, and she was asked in that interview, well, couldn't you have kicked him out. And she kind of made the point that, well, it was kind of a social call that would have been a little bit awkward. Certainly, you know, she's trying to get past this, the Democrats are trying to get past this. But I don't think the Republicans are going to let this go.

You know, certainly, also important to remember here Fred, she was appointed by President Obama. He's a Democrat, he's stumping for Hillary Clinton. So this will continue to be an issue, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yeah. And I guess that's what she was trying to underscore and making it very awkward because he did get a lot of credit as to how she even got on this particular, you know, plateau of her career. However, you know, she is kind of regretting it. She did use that word she actually regrets it.

All right, Chris Frates, thank you so much.

All right. So even Former Obama Advisor David Axelrod has been weighing in on this. Tweeting, "I take Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton at their word that there are convo in Phoenix didn't touch on probe but foolish to create optics".

All right, let's turn now to Basil Smikle, the executive director of the New York State Democratic Party. He used to be an aide to Hillary Clinton when she was a senator. Good to see you. Also here is CNN Political Commentator Marc Lamont Hill who is also host at B.E.T. News.

All right, so Basil, I want to begin with you. Good to see you as well Marc.

So, Lynch herself said, you know, if there was a do-over she'd take advantage of that and she would not have met with Bill Clinton. But clearly Donald Trump is going to get some real mileage out of this. How big of an error is this?

BASIL SMIKLE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE NEW YORK STATE DEMOCRATIC PARTY: You know, I don't think it's that big an error. Simply because the Republicans, frankly, are hitching their wagon to this idea that Hillary Clinton is going to be indicted. It seems like a good -- the cornerstone of their presidential campaign is that she is indicted in a criminal investigation.

So I understand that Republicans are going to make hay about this. I think the democratic response has been -- what the Democrats have said is been hasn't -- I think there hasn't been a lot of outrage there. And look, you know, what -- yes, she was appointed by President Obama but she was also appointed to the eastern district in New York by Bill Clinton back in 1999.

So, there is a preexisting relationship here. If the former president of the United States wants to pop over and say hello, you know, I take her at her word that there's been ... WHITFIELD: Yeah, but I know, but Basil, all the more awkward, though. I mean Marc, we're talking about, you know, that Clinton or Hillary Clinton under investigation, yes, Bill Clinton did appoint her. He is married to the Democratic presumptive, you know, candidate. So, if it says awkward all the way around.

So, Marc, is this a big problem for Hillary Clinton in that now she's looking also at her husband, the former president, as a potential liability? I mean this is another moment that puts her in a very awkward situation. How does she recover?

MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, it remains to be seen how big a deal this will be. I think there are bigger fishes she's going to have to fry than this particular incident. I'm a bit confused about that's his point. I mean he said this isn't a big deal because Republicans are already painting Hillary Clinton as someone who is crooked.

[11:20:07] Well, if you're painting someone as crooked and you're painting Hillary Clinton as someone who doesn't follow the rules and undermines justice. And then you have a moment where your husband who also was the president of the United States and appointed Loretta Lynch to a position at one time having a conversation with her, it only adds to the narrative.

Now, I believe Loretta Lynch. I don't believe -- let me finish. I believe Loretta Lynch. I don't think anything inappropriate happened. I do believe that it was a social conversation. I don't believe that Bill Clinton attempted to influence a judicial process or investigation. I believe them.

But the point here is it was a bad choice and it continues to add to a narrative that they are undermining justice and that they don't play by the rules, they continue to color outside the lines.

WHITFIELD: But Marc, why would you even think Bill Clinton -- I mean Bill Clinton understands optics, too. And I mean, it was a convenient moment, the planes are parked alongside one another. But his wife is running for office. Why would he not think about the potential ramifications?

HILL: I think she just didn't think she get caught to be quite honest. And I don't think anyone thought this was going to be a big deal. And, again, I don't think that they had like, I don't think they had like a criminal mind. I mean (inaudible), I just think they were thinking about it and then there was a big deal but it's a bad choice. It was an unforced error. You don't need unforced errors to only reinforce the narrative.

WHITFIELS: So Basil, for Hillary Clinton -- I mean that this really is potentially damaging for her, right? I mean she now has to either respond -- it's been pretty quiet. Either she responds or she hopes it just goes away, which?

SMIKLE: Well, I don't think really figure and, you know, just to go back to Marc's point a little bit. You know, I don't think that -- I think the point that I was making is still fair here, which is that I think Republicans are going to make more hay of this than I think the situation actually warrants.

I don't necessarily thinks it fits substantially into her narrative. Look, I don't have a plane, I don't have a friend who has a plane but if my car went up against somebody else car in a parking lot and I went over and said hello and ...

WHITFIELD: But if there's an investigation going on you might not step into the other vehicle to talk.

SMIKLE: You know, what -- listen, I understand that some of the -- that there are people who are concerned about that. I totally get that. But I don't think that this -- again, I don't think this is something that she's going to have to deal with for the next one, two or three weeks. Certainly not leading into the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

WHITFIELD: Well, there's no doubt Donald Trump is going to continue to use this in his favor.

SMIKLE: He will, he will.

HILL: And that's the problem.

WHITFIELD: And that's the big problem if you're Hillary Clinton.

HILL: Absolutely. He's going to use that narrative to beat up. Donald trump has his own narrative, he's around xenophobia, around racist and around being wildly incompetent and around being, you know, irrationally and unstable.

All those things are going to hurt Donald Trump. So if he does something that doubles down on that, it's also a problem. That's why in many ways this election cycle seems to be a race to the bottom. They both keep making unforced errors that only reinforce the worst critiques in the biggest sites of the distrust word, is weird.

SMIKLE: But I would also add that, you know, with Donald Trump at 70 percent of the country believing that he is unfavorable. I don't think that Hillary's racing to the bottom. I think he's going a lot -- he's doing that very well on his own. And quite frankly ...

HILL: That's just -- only arguing that he's racing to the bottom faster. The problem is, Hillary Clinton when she does stuff like this, when Bill Clinton does stuff like this, it doesn't help. It's a unfortunately -- it's a bad choice and gives the perception of impropriety. Even though I don't believe the Clintons in this instance were doing anything wrong.

WHITFIELD: All right, we're going to leave it right there gentlemen. Thank you so much. Marc Lamont Hill, Basil Smikle, thank you.

All right. A very grisly discovery being made in Florida. A toxic algae bloom. It's blanketed several South Florida beaches this holiday weekend. We're live on the ground, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:26:37] WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. An unwelcome guest at some of Florida's beaches this holiday weekend, a toxic algae bloom. And it's actually killing some animals and it's stinking up the beaches. And there it is right there. Some have described it looking like guacamole. This nasty bloom coating some of the waterways there.

Our meteorologist Jennifer Gray is there in Stuart, Florida. It's hard to believe what we're seeing there. How did it get to this point?

JENNIFER GRAY, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's all a water management issue. You know, they drain Lake Okeechobee to regulate the water levels there. And they have just pushed all of this fresh water out into the canals. And look at this, it is created this thick toxic algae bloom. Somebody on social media described it as sticking your head in a trash can of rotting meat and cat litter and multiplying that by ten. And I would have to agree with her.

It smells awful, it looks disgusting. And it is created this huge economical and nightmare but not only that. Look at these estuaries. I mean they're pushing all of this fresh water out into the salt water estuaries, suffocating the marine life of oxygen, deflating the plant life of sunlight because it can't filter through.

And what's happened basically is because they're releasing all this water out, all of the fertilizers from the agriculture industries are in that water in Lake Okeechobee. A lot of the pollutants from the urban runoff are in that water. And so all that polluted water Fred, is coming down into the beautiful pristine waters of Florida. And people are furious.

WHITFILED: I'm sure.

GRAY: Couple years ago, back in 2014 they vote to buy out some land south of Lake Okeechobee to store all this polluted water. And they voted for it but nothing has happened. And so people are screaming wanting answers. But, yeah, this is just disgusting quite frankly, it's a mess down here in these canals.

WHITFIELD: Well, that's horrible. OK so what about a cleanup? I mean, is there such a thing? Is it even possible in this stage of the game?

GRAY: Well, I think they're just going to have to let it run its course, honestly. I think that rainfall in the afternoons will help. I don't think you can just go around and pick it up because a lot of this extends throughout the entire water column. And so, it's not just on the surface.

And so, basically something needs to be done about the water management across all of Florida. So, it's really a bigger issue than what you see right here. But the cost as far as tourism and fishing and recreation, this is -- the people's livelihoods in Florida depends on the waterways and they're being ruined. WHITFILED: Right. It's horrible for people, it's horrible for the marine life. Jennifer Gray, thank you so much. We'll check back with you. We'll talk more about this. Because not far from where Jennifer is, a family actually saw a huge manatee struggling to survive in that thick algae.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM PALAS: Oh, let's clean out your nose, buddy.

WHITFIELD: They did what they could. The Palas family rushed over with that garden hose you just see right there. They showered the manatee with fresh water. Let's find out how that manatee did after all of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Joining us now, Adam Palas and Chris Palas, who actually shot that video. Good to see you. So, tell me about that moment. You know, could you make out right away that was a manatee that was struggling? What happened at that moment?

[11:30:08] PALAS: Well, I was in the kitchen I looked out the window and saw a manatee up against the wall. And you can tell he was -- we had never seen one back there before, so seeing one was kind of a shock. And then we ran out there with our cameras and we look that in and it looked it was definitely struggling.

So ran and got the hose and we couldn't find him. He came up against the hose and sat there for about 20, 30 minutes drinking water and cleaning himself off.

WHITFIELD: My gosh, that's amazing you had the instinct to do that. You use that hose to kind of break up a path. That manatee clearly was able to see that and took advantage of it. So have you been watching this kind of algae bloom over a gradual period? I mean, have you been able to look out your window and see what was happening? Describe for me how long this has been going on.

ADAM PALAS: This has been happening in Stuart for many years. And every summer they start dumping and then people forget about it because they stop the dumping. It's a continual problem. We need the water to stop flowing from Okeechobee here. It's decimating our waterways. It's disgusting, the smell, the look, everything about it is absolutely disgusting.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh, and then the manatee, do you know anything about, you know, how it's doing in terms of did it stick around in that area for while? Were you able to watch its behavior, or how about other manatees?

CHRISTINE PALAS, STUART, FLORIDA RESIDENT: We honestly have never seen a manatee over here with building (inaudible) house for the past two and a half years. We just moved in about two months ago. In that process of building, we were here every day. Over seeing our house being built. We would often take our boat out, which we took out of dry storage as soon as we bought the lot and put it at the dock. We were out there, we have never seen anything before as far as manatee, just fish but --

ADAM PALAS: Now we see no fish as a matter of fact. All the algae is so thick. It chokes all the marine life out of here. We haven't been able to see any fish or crabs or ducks or anything except for that one manatee that was looking like it was searching for fresh water.

WHITFIELD: And in terms of feet, are you able to estimate you know, how wide this swath is from the docks into the depths of the water?

ADAM PALAS: Well, it's choking all our waterways, it's not just our canal. It's under the bridges, beaches. It's just miles and miles. I believe there's a 33 mile bloom in algae bloom inside Lake Okeechobee that purposefully released into our waterways. That's been the big problem. We need this to stop. We need to buy the land south of Lake Okeechobee and clean the water and send it down to the everglades where they need it and where we don't need it.

WHITFIELD: It's hard for anybody to understand at this point. Chris and Adam Palas, thank you so much. Keep us posted. Appreciate it.

All right. Still ahead, with just a few weeks until the Democratic and Republican conventions kicking off, both presumptive presidential nominees are in full VP vetting mode looking at all their possible running mates. We'll run through the short list after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. A speculation over the presumptive presidential nominees will pick as their running mates is heating up as the party conventions draw near. CNN has learned that Donald Trump could announce his vice presidential pick before the Republican convention, which begins July 18th in Cleveland.

Here are the people that we know are actually being considered. The list includes former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Both are finalists and have submitted their paperwork even for vetting.

And we just learned that Trump is scheduled to meet with Indiana Governor Mike Pence today at the Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey.

Hillary Clinton's short list of potential running mates include former Virginia Governor Tim Cain and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. Joining me now is CNN political commentator, Ben Ferguson. Also with me is Basil Smikle. He is the executive director of the New York State Democratic Party. Good to see you both.

All right, so Ben, you first, what's the criteria that Donald Trump would be looking for?

BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think the criteria has probably changed over the last week, especially with this meeting with Justice Department and Bill Clinton on the plane. If I'm Donald Trump right now and I think his team is going to be smart about this, they're going to realize they need somebody who can go out there and prosecute Hillary Clinton, especially if she is indicted.

Chris Christie has got to be at the top of the list now. Newt Gingrich also has gone after Bill Clinton and can easily go on stage and say, hey, I know what the conversation was like on the plane. I've prosecuted him as well. He lied to me when I was speaker.

So those two have to be looked at in a better position they were before. If immigration becomes an issue again, at the forefront I think you got to look at Alabama and Jeff Sessions.

I also think you could look at Tennessee and Corker if you're looking for someone that can help you get things done on the hill. But ultimately right now, Newt Gingrich and I think Chris Christie have got to be in a really good position for the VP pick.

WHITFIELD: So Basil, do you agree with Ben, that the recent current events may, indeed, dictate who a Donald Trump might lean toward?

BASIL SMIKLE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEW YORK STATE DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Tried dutifully to make the cornerstone of their race for the White House, a Hillary criminal investigation. But I don't think that's what Trump is looking for and I don't think that factors in.

I think for any of his potential VP picks it's got to be somebody that has nothing to lose because that person is going to be spending a lot of time defending Donald Trump's speeches and language. So I think Chris Christie --

WHITFIELD: Who would that be?

SMIKLE: -- you know, I think Newt Gingrich or Chris Christie I think are probably the better candidates for Trump. Chris Christie is probably someone who the Republican establishment can get behind if there are concerns about that.

He's not a darling of the conservatives. Obviously, took a lot of heat when he hugged the president when the president -- President Obama came after Hurricane Sandy to express his concern and send support.

So he certainly is not a darling of the conservatives. But I do think he has been at Donald's side ever since Mr. Trump dispatched all of his other opponents in the primaries. So he may be the leading candidate.

WHITFIELD: All right. So Ben, if you think Donald Trump is looking for a prosecutor type of vice president who would Hillary Clinton be looking at?

FERGUSON: At this point, you have to look at who really wants to put their career all in on Hillary Clinton when there's a big trust issue here.

[11:40:00]Elizabeth Warren in them had I think great chemistry on stage. I think Elizabeth Warren is probably one of those that if she decided to take that job as VP candidate, it would be towards the end of her career. Is she going to have a chance at the White House on her own? Does she even want that? Probably not.

And I think that's the reason why you saw her on stage do so well with Hillary Clinton. And I think she really does hate Donald Trump. It would be easy for her to go out there and be an attack dog against Donald Trump and whoever he picks.

But outside of that right now, if you're younger, and you're -- or you have your own independent career when you see the trust issue that Hillary Clinton has had to deal with throughout this entire campaign, why Bernie Sanders has done so well, and she even admitted a week ago.

She said I have to work on that issue. Are you willing to put your entire campaign at the feet of Hillary Clinton and this investigation right now? There's a lot of people that may decline even to take that job.

WHITFIELD: You mentioned Bernie Sanders, Senator Warren would appeal to those progressives, Bernie Sanders supporters, that would bode well for Hillary Clinton.

SMIKLE: Listen, I think that the democrats are uniting behind Hillary Clinton, but the Republicans certainly not uniting around Donald Trump. So I don't think the issue of unity and career is the concern for Democrats. Certainly not a concern for Hillary Clinton in choosing a vice presidential pick.

But I would say, you know, as we discussed, I think Elizabeth Warren's a pretty good surrogate. She's certainly knows how to get under Donald Trump's skin. She's been great on the campaign trail. I think a lot of this has to do with chemistry.

She probably will be auditioning candidates in the next couple of weeks. I like the idea of Cory Booker because he certainly is a very energetic and energizing member of the Senate, and has certainly has national credentials, not just coming out of New Jersey. So --

FERGUSON: You also have the --

SMIKLE: -- number of great leaders to choose from. But a lot of it's going to come down to chemistry and someone that she can work with on policy.

FERGUSON: And I think history, too, that's one of the things, if you had a ticket with Elizabeth Warren and Hillary Clinton and Hillary's being a woman a major center point of her campaign with equal pay and everything else she's talked about. There's an excitement there especially with women voters.

That may be enough for her to say it's worth taking this risk and moving forward in this way because I've got all in on this issue and people will find that exciting the same way they found Barack Obama exciting as being the first African-American president.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ben Ferguson, Basil Smikle, moving right there. Thank you so much.

All right, speaking of Cory Booker, one of the folks on the possible, you know, VP shortlist for Hillary Clinton. He's going to be a guest on "STATE OF THE UNION" tomorrow morning. Don't miss that conversation at 9:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

All right, also coming up, it has been a week of history making wins for the LGBT community from the battlefield to the bathroom. That's next.

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[11:46:14]

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. This week brought with it multiple victories for the transgender community. On Thursday, the Pentagon announced that transgender people can now openly serve in the military.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASH CARTER, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I'm also confident that we have reason to be proud to do of what this will mean for our military. Because it's the right thing to do and it's another step in ensuring that we continue to recruit and retain the most qualified people. And good people are the key to the best military in the world. Our military and the nation it defends will be stronger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Meanwhile, history was made again when for the first time ever not one but two transgender candidates won their major party congressional primaries. Misty Plowright and Misty Snow, who are both supporters of Bernie Sanders made their campaigns not about their gender identity, but instead on issues like raising the minimum wage.

CNN's Victor Blackwell just spoke with Misty Snow. He is with me now. What is that conversation like?

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Yes, I mean, she's a political outsider for sure, 30 something grocery store clerk is her first entree into politics, and she won in a run off for the Democratic nominee for Senate in Utah. The first openly transgender person to win that position.

And she holds a lot of the positions that we saw from Bernie Sanders in the primary, $15 minimum wage, legalization of marijuana, criminal justice reform, free or reduced tuition for college.

But I asked her about the big win that Fred mentioned at the top of this story, now transgender people being allowed to serve openly in the military. Here is part of that conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: You're running for federal office, let's talk about some federal issues, Pentagon announced that it would drop one of the last major barriers allowing transgender men and women to serve openly in the military. That prompted backlash from former Marine and Family Research Council President Tony Perkins.

Let's put this up here. He said this is another example of President Obama using America's military to fight culture wars instead of fighting real wars against the enemies of our nation. What's your response to that?

MISTY SNOW (D), UTAH SENATE CANDIDATE: I think, you know, I think it's a right move by the military. You know, there's no reason why a transperson couldn't serve in the military. I think it's long overdue. The comments from more conservative people, it's like, you know, we need soldiers, why deny qualified people for any reason if they're willing to serve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So here's the barrier here, the state of Utah has not elected a Democrat to the Senate in more than 45 years so my follow up was how does she turn this historic nomination into a historic win? She plans to play up those Bernie Sanders supporters and her connection there, of course, Utah voters chose Bernie Sanders four to one back in March over Hillary Clinton.

WHITFIELD: All this taking place with the backdrop, sharing the spotlight, North Carolina, and this bathroom bill.

BLACKWELL: Yes, there has been a revision that's been passed by both houses of the state legislature there sent on to the governor of North Carolina. But it does not touch the clause that requires people to use the bathroom that's assigned to the gender that's -- sex that's on their birth certificate.

So this is not yet a win for people who believe that the Charlotte Bill, which was originally passed that allows people to use the bathroom assigned to their gender identity should be the law of the state.

The only change here is that it allows people to sue based on employment discrimination. The governor likely will sign that. The fight continues for people who want to overturn HB2.

WHITFIELD: All right, Victor Blackwell, thanks so much. Good to see you.

BLACKWELL: Likewise.

[11:50:01]WHITFIELD: All right, catch Victor every weekend before you sit with us at this hour. Starting so early in the morning. I like it.

BLACKWELL: Clean face, I had hair. When was that picture taken?

WHITFIELD: Yes, happy. Ready to go. Every Saturday and Sunday morning, Christi Paul and Victor Blackwell. Thanks so much. All right, straight ahead, a crime is on the rise in Chicago and the city's top cop says he's, quote, "sick of it." What officers are doing this weekend ahead of what could be the year's deadliest holiday?

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WHITFIELD: All right. Checking in our top stories with right now, residents of a Detroit suburb are assessing the damage caused by a natural gas pipeline fire. They had to evacuate in the middle of the night after a car crash into the gas main triggering the fire. A person in the car was injured. The flames have been put out, but several homes have reportedly been damaged.

We're now learning the extent of the devastation caused by the severe flooding in West Virginia that claimed 23 lives. Officials say there is more than $36 million in damage to the roads, 1,500 homes have been destroyed and 4,000 homes and businesses have also been damaged.

Several new gun control laws are in effect in California. Governor Jerry Brown signed into law legislation that bans assault weapons with detachable magazines. One law also requires background checks on ammunition purchases and making it illegal to lend guns to anyone other than relatives. The governor says his goal is to improve public safety while improving the rights of gun owners.

Just within the last 24 hours 10 people have been shot in Chicago and one has died. Historically the 4th of July weekend marks some of the deadliest days in that city all year long. CNN's Ryan Young has more.

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RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With the continuing images of crime scene tape and grieving in the city that earned the nickname, "Sherack," the Chicago police are trying to avoid a repeat of last year's holiday weekend bloodshed. Half way through the year, the city is on pace to blow past last year's murder rate.

[11:55:06]EDDIE JOHNSON, SUPERINTENDENT, CHICAGO POLICE: Listen, the crime in Chicago is totally unacceptable. It's ridiculous.

YOUNG: Last month a bullet struck a 3-year-old boy's side as he sat in his father's car leaving him paralyzed. A few days later, a 4- year-old boy holding his mother's hand felt blood pouring down his face after he got shot in the face. He survived.

But the children are the latest innocent victims of Chicago's continuing violence. In the month of June, 72 people were killed with a total of 429 shooting victims. One recent shooting took place near downtown in front of several people getting off of the subway.

The 4th of July weekend was one of the deadliest of the summer last year, at least nine people were killed, over 50 more were injured in shootings. Heading to this year's long holiday weekend, more tough talk from police. JOHNSON: Repeat gun offenders are telling us that they're not going to stop that behavior unless we stop them. So that's what we're going to do. We're going to stop them.

YOUNG: Police say 5,000 officers will be on the streets over the holiday weekend helping to protect big events. But the south and west side neighborhoods of the city are where the bulk of the murders and shootings are happening.

Look at the numbers so far and the increase in violence is easy to see. This year through the end of June there were 315 murders, over 100 more than the same period last year. And more than 700 more shooting victims reported through the first six months of this year, according to the Chicago Police Department.

Windy city residents can only still hope for some winds of change to help blow away a crime problem that only seems to be getting worse. Ryan Young, CNN, Chicago.

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WHITFIELD: Also ahead, U.S. officials on high alert this holiday weekend after multiple terror attacks overseas. A live report next.

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WHITFIELD: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. On this holiday weekend, the world is on the edge after two deadly terror attacks in a span of just four days overnight in Bangladesh, gunmen --