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Military Attempts Coup in Turkey; ISIS Claims Affiliation of Man who Conducted Attack in Nice, France; Donald Trump to Official Name Indiana Governor Mike Pence as Vice Presidential Running Mate. Aired 10-10:30a ET
Aired July 16, 2016 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone I'm Christi Paul.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. We are live in Cleveland, Ohio, the site of the 2016 Republican National Convention. And we're following three big developing stories this hour. First the breaking news. Just moments ago President Obama calling a meeting in the situation room after that bloody coup attempt in Turkey that has left 161 dead. Now the airspace over a key U.S. military base in Turkey has been closed off, halting U.S. airstrikes against ISIS. Reaction from the Pentagon in just a moment.
PAUL: Also new details on the man behind that truck rampage in the south France. Officials now saying he was, quote, "rapidly radicalized." This as ISIS calls the man a, quote, "soldier for his cause."
BLACKWELL: And in about an hour, Donald Trump makes his official announcement of the number two. He'll introduce his pick for vice president, Indiana Governor Mike Pence. We'll bring you that coverage live from New York. You're looking at the stage there, and of course we'll bring that to you when it happens.
For more on this major blow potentially in the fight against ISIS, let's get to CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr who joins us on the phone. Barbara, what do we know about this meeting?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Victor and Christi. The president calling his team to the White House to get a full briefing on what is happening and what it obviously means for U.S. national security. Turkey a major NATO ally. This is a country that is in Europe that is one of the U.S.'s key security partners in the fight against ISIS.
The picture this morning for the U.S. military in Turkey, there's about 1,500 troops at a base in southern Turkey conducting ISIS air strikes. The picture for them quite confused at this hour. The word we have gotten in the last few minutes from defense officials is that the Turks have restricted access to this U.S. air base called Incirlik and have closed the airspace around Incirlik because the Turks are not sure they have full control of the airspace by the government. The confusion is whether and when the Turks will in fact reopen that
air space. There seems to be some indication from defense officials, U.S. officials they are not getting clear word on this. As far as we know, right now U.S. air strikes out of Incirlik air base in southern Turkey against ISIS are halted at least for now. The U.S. flies out there to conduct their strikes mainly just across the border into northern Syria. U.S. officials say if this does go on for some time, they'll simply try and shift everything to another base, that ISIS should not think the U.S. isn't out there patrolling the skies. But at least right now, the operations of the U.S. military against ISIS are undergoing a shift and a bit of a halt due to this coup in Turkey. Christi, Victor?
BLACKWELL: Barbara, we know that the U.S. and the global community had waited for so long for Turkey to make that base available to get involved in this fight to take on ISIS. And now this at least brief pause which could be extended as they review security there in Turkey after that coup attempt. Barbara Starr there from the Pentagon. Thank you so much. Christi?
STARR: Sure.
PAUL: Shutting down the airspace over the air base follows an intense night of bloody fighting as the Turkish military battled its own troops trying to carry out the coup. We know parliament is meeting right now to review the situation which has left the country badly shaken. And 161 people died as the revolt was crushed there. Nearly 3,000 military officer and troops are now in custody suspected of being behind the coup attempt. Just moments ago, Secretary of State John Kerry addressed the situation.
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JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: We stand by the government of Turkey. It is our understanding that things are now calm, that order is being restored.
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PAUL: CNN's senior international correspondent Nima Elbagir takes us through how all of this unfolded.
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[10:05:03] NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At 11:25 p.m. Friday, local time, the Turkish military says in a statement it has taken control of the country and imposed martial law. 12:26 a.m., Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaking to the country via a face time call into CNN, telling his supporters to go to the streets to fight for democracy. The anchor holding her microphone up to the phone to hear what he is saying.
At 1:50 a.m. gun shots reported at the presidential complex in Ankara and reports of helicopters opening fire at the national intelligence headquarters. Video and photos posted on social media showed large crowds marching through the streets and taunting soldiers, some facing off against tanks and armored vehicles. Crowds also gathering at Istanbul's airport, the site of a terror attack two weeks ago. Another flashpoint, the Bosporus Bridge connecting Turkish Europe and Asia.
KAT COHEN, AMERICAN TRAPPED IN ISTANBUL: We heard bombs the past hour and the fighter planes going over us. And the last one, everyone just got up and ran inside.
ELBAGIR: At 2:51 a.m. the Turkish national intelligence unit claims the coup is over. There are also reports of bombs thrown outside the parliament building in Ankara. Meanwhile, troops entered TV stations taking over the newsroom of TRT and shutting down the network.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was quite a scary moment. My staff, their phones were confiscated.
ELBAGIR: Around 3:20 a.m. Turkish President Erdogan's plane lands at Istanbul's airport. He said law enforcement has started arresting military officers at various ranks. Turkey's deputy prime minister talks to CNN on the phone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who is in control now in Turkey?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, there has been a failed coup attempt. Government is in full control. There is still some rogue aircrafts over Ankara, and I think they will likely to be forced down.
ELBAGIR: At 6:30 a.m. at dawn on Saturday, President Erdogan addresses a large crowd. He calls the coup attempt treason and says his government is in control.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via translator): We will stand firm. We are not going to compromise.
ELBAGIR: Daylight brings clear pictures of the aftermath. These incredible scenes from Istanbul's Bosporus Bridge have soldiers surrendering en masse, walking away from tanks and abandoning their posts. And in Ankara, pictures of serious damage to the Turkish parliament.
Nima Elbagir, CNN, Nice.
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PAUL: Thank you. As we told you in about 20 minutes President Obama will meet with his national security and foreign policy team about the situation in Turkey.
BLACKWELL: We are also following another developing story this morning, new details about the man behind the truck rampage in southern France. There are reports that investigators are now probing phone logs between that man and a potential terrorist. We'll talk about that.
Also, ISIS says he was a soldier for its cause. PAUL: And a lot of people watching New York at the top of the hour.
Donald Trump is expected to make it official, his choice for running mate, Governor Mike Pence of Indiana. Live coverage of that evne begins with Wolf Blitzer in just a minute.
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[10:10:26] BLACKWELL: Welcome back to Cleveland. Just a short time from now, Donald Trump is set to introduce Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate. We're covering the Trump announcement from all angles of course, with CNN national politics reporter M. J. Lee, CNN correspondent Chris Frates. But we're going to start with CNN national correspondent Jason Carroll. Jason, good morning to you.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you. Trump and Governor Pence will appear at that news conference here in New York in just about an hour from now. This really seemed to go down to the wire, Victor. Thursday evening Trump telling another network he still had not made a final decision. Pence had until Friday, as you know, to withdraw his papers to run for reelection. Trump officially offering Pence the position on Thursday. We're told Trump's children were heavily involved in the decision making process, some of them feeling it was the right choice. Cameras caught up with Pence for just a few moments after he got the official word on Friday.
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GOV. MIKE PENCE, (R) INDIANA: I'm excited. I'm excited to be joining the ticket tomorrow with Donald Trump. I think he'll be a great president and I look forward to carrying his message all across this country in the months ahead and serving with him in the next administration.
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CARROLL: The feeling among some GOP insiders is that Pence brings balance to the ticket by appealing to social conservatives, Tea Partiers, and to evangelicals. Remember, the 57-year-old governor was a Catholic until becoming a born again Christian in the late 70's. Pence and Trump, though, have disagreed on some key issues. Pence called Trump's proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from the U.S. unconstitutional. Pence voted to support the war in Iraq. Trump was against it and, as you know, has criticized Hillary Clinton for supporting it.
Pence also endorsed Ted Cruz during the primaries. Dan Senor, who once served as a senior advisor to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, basically saying Pence used to be a real Trump critic. Senor tweeting "It's disorienting to have commiserated with someone regarding Trump about how he was unacceptable and then to see that someone become Trump's V.P."
A little bit more about Pence, he was elected as Indiana's governor back in 2012. He served in Congress for 12 years. In the 90s he hosted a radio show called "The Mike Pence Show." He gained some notoriety for his role in that Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Critics said that measure essentially legalized discrimination against gays. Pence later amended it, but in the end few on either side of the debate were basically happy about it. He'll be returning to Indiana later today for that welcome home rally. Victor?
BLACKWELL: All right, Jason Carroll for us. The announcement first in New York. Thanks so much. Christi?
PAUL: All right, so let's bring in our national politics reporter M. J. Lee for some perspective here. M. J., we just got essentially I think Donald Trump's resume here and some good background from Jason Carroll. But what are you hearing about the reasoning behind this choice overall?
M. J. LEE, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: Christi, this is an example of Donald Trump actually listening to his advisors. What we know is that those in Trump's inner circle, including some of his children, have been urging Donald Trump for a while now to go with Mike Pence. Now, why did they want him to pick Pence? It really boils down to they believe he was the safest pick.
Jason touched on some of this, but a lot of people believe that Mike Pence is a true conservative and that he brings those credentials and can appease the right, especially Republicans who are a little skeptical about whether Donald Trump is a real conservative. They also know that Mike Pence understands Washington and knows Washington. He has relationships on Capitol Hill. And Donald Trump himself has said all along he wants someone who can help him really understand and navigate the legislative process.
And I think another huge factor was simply Mike Pence's temperament. He's in a lot of ways perceived the opposite of Donald Trump. He has a steady and calm demeanor. And I think that those in Trump's inner circle thought he could sort of balance out Donald Trump's more volatile style.
Of course Mike Pence is about to have his first audition in a little bit here in New York City. But I think the even more interesting thing to watch will be his first solo audition. That's going to happen later this afternoon in Indiana.
[10:15:00] PAUL: We just saw that litany of differences, though, between Donald Trump and Pence in terms of their policies and position. Any indication that we're going to hear more about that, even from Donald Trump, and how they plan to reconcile it?
LEE: Right, I mean it is not unusual for a nominee and their running mate to have differences in opinion. However, Trump and Pence have significant differences some of which Jason laid out, on the Muslim ban for example, on trade. That's another big issue that Trump has been talking about a lot.
So I think -- I can guarantee you on the Trump campaign there are aides right now who are devising up ways for Trump to answer questions about the different things he's said, differences between himself and Trump on policy, because he is going to get asked these questions over and over again heading into the general election. PAUL: All right. M. J. Lee, thank you so much.
BLACKWELL: So we of course have heard from Republicans about this choice. How are Democrats reacting to Trump's pick of a running mate? Chris Frates has that part of the story. So Chris, what's been the reaction?
CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Victor. I can tell you that Clinton's campaign beat Trump to the punch of the roll out of his own V.P. Just minutes after announcing Pence was his choice, Clinton's camp unloaded on the Indiana governor, blanketing reporters and social media with anti-Pence messages like this video.
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PENCE: I long for the day that Roe Versus Wade is sent to the ash heap of history.
The American people don't want comprehensive immigration reform.
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FRATES: Clinton rolled out much of her anti-Pence campaign before Trump even posted his own video announcement or sent out a single fundraising pitch, missing key opportunities to put that choice in a positive light before Clinton spun it the other way. While her team was trashing Pence, Clinton was busy hashing out her vice presidential choices in a series of meetings at her Washington home -- Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro were a few of the veep stakes contestants who met with Clinton on Friday. Clinton is leaning towards announcing her choice right after the GOP convention ends on Thursday, trying to steal some of that thunder.
But she's leaving open the option of waiting until the Democratic convention begins that following weeks. And that's a move that could help stoke some drama and help Clinton control the new cycle for a couple days, Victor.
BLACKWELL: All right, it certainly could. Chris Frates there for us in Washington. Chris, thanks.
PAUL: New this morning, ISIS is claiming that the Nice attacker is one of its soldiers. We're getting different information from French -- from the French authorities who say they just can't make that link. We're going to talk more about it.
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[10:21:44] BLACKWELL: Secretary of State John Kerry there at a memorial in Nice along the promenade where 84 people were killed when that driver drove a truck down that road just along the French Riviera on Bastille Day. You see him placing flowers at the memorial. Of course, we're learning now more about the man who killed all those people. PAUL: We are. In fact investigators discovered a phone link between
the Nice attacker and a terror suspect who fled to Syria from that area. But they're still looking into how the two might be connected. ISIS meanwhile is calling the attacker a, quote, "soldier who targeted nationals of the coalition countries fighting ISIS," and the prosecutor's office says five people, including the attacker's ex-wife are now in custody. Will Ripley is live there. Will, what are you learning this morning?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly there are a lot of elements of the investigation. We don't know much about four of the men who were taken into custody. We don't know if they're friends, relatives, or associates of some kind of the attackers. We do know his estranged wife is also being questioned. But being taken into custody doesn't necessarily mean that they are suspected of anything, of any wrongdoing. Of course there is that intelligence of a possibly between the attacker and a terror suspect. But all of that still very unclear right now.
But what is certainly clear is the tragedy that has occurred here along the promenade, the iconic spot on the French Riviera. The scene of so much tragedy, these flowers are everywhere. They somewhat conceal the stains that still linger on the pavement here because everywhere you stand someone was injured or killed. We spoke with man who was staying at this hotel on the fifth floor. He was watching it from his balcony and he described what he saw.
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GEOFF DONOVAN, WITNESS: What we saw was bodies everywhere, people limping. Straight after people ran every direction. There was pandemonium. They just cleared out and it was bodies on the ground and a few people helping. And it took an hour it looked like ambulance drivers and paramedics an hour later to tend to these people. And then the bodies stood her -- laid here till 12:00 the next day.
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RIPLEY: All those bodies laying here, and now for the first time since the attack, the beaches are back open. People are out there enjoying the sunshine, I mean, it really is a picture perfect day by all appearances. Things at least look like they're back to normal. But as you walk along here and think about the fact that people were huddling in between the chairs, hoping this would shield them from the truck and you look at the all these areas where the truck was swerving around, you know that things are normal here and the probably won't be for a long time to come. They're everywhere. Look at the flowers there. Someone else died right there. People are out, the tourists are back out. But life just feels different.
BLACKWELL: Will, it's Victor. And, you know, after the Brussels attack that airport was shut down for some time. We saw in Istanbul the airport was open the next day, and to see people on the beach and people walking along the promenade, I find it shocking, maybe I shouldn't be shocked. But is there some reverence walking down this with?
[10:25:10] RIPLEY: And people are stopping and they're pausing and taking a look at these flowers. If you go over here, you can see those women down there, they're looking at an area where there was a candy shop where a group of children were hit and killed, Victor. The police said they reopened as quickly as possible because they wanted to make Nice feel more normal again even though clearly it doesn't.
BLACKWELL: Will Ripley there in Nice for us. Will, thank you so much.
That's it for us, but don't go anywhere.
PAUL: Wolf Blitzer is picking up live coverage. Donald Trump introduces us to his new running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence. That begins after this quick break. Have a great day.
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