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Florida Club Shooting; Outgoing DNC Chair Jeered at Speech; German Suicide Attacker's Home Searched. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired July 25, 2016 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00] ART RODERICK, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: So, really, the whole -- and they've got more than one crime scene at this particular incident. So it's going to be wrapped around, what is the motive behind this. So --

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: So -- so the big question out there is, how can we keep people safe when they go out just for a fun night? This was teen night.

RODERICK: Teen night, I know. They weren't even checking IDs. So it's -- it's sad. It's horrible. I can't imagine what those phone calls were like with these kids calling their parents, you know, just prior to this shooting. I know it was a madhouse when the incident occurred. But it's like we're not safe anywhere anymore. This is not an incident that -- that -- that's a soft target by any stretch. They had armed security there. And, you know, we've just got to figure out what the motive is before we can move on from this.

COSTELLO: I know because we -- we sort of kind of know why Orlando happened, right?

RODERICK: Right.

COSTELLO: Right.

RODERICK: We do, right.

COSTELLO: A mentally unstable person, inspired by ISIS, right?

RODERICK: Right. Right.

COSTELLO: Who may have had many other problems. But this -- is it -- I don't know a lot about the neighborhood in which this took place in Ft. Myers, do you?

RODERICK: There has been shootings there in the past. It's not a fantastic neighborhood by any stretch of the imagination, but it's not -- it's not like an intercity neighborhood. You know, I mean we're talking about Ft. Myers. And we all know --

COSTELLO: Well, it's just strange that three adults were arrested --

RODERICK: Yes.

COSTELLO: For allegedly shooting up a teen party. RODERICK: Right.

COSTELLO: So what does that tell you?

RODERICK: It tells me that there's some major criminal activity involved. We just don't know if it's gang related or drug related. And that's really what it's going to come down to here. What -- what is the motive behind this type of incident in -- and we have two other crime scenes. So the Ft. Myers Police and all their backup units will figure out exactly what's going on here.

COSTELLO: All right, Art Roderick, thank you so much.

RODERICK: Carol, thank you.

COSTELLO: All right. MJ Lee is at this breakfast that the Florida delegation just held. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the embattled now I guess fired DNC chair spoke. And as you can see, people were waiving those signs right in Debbie Wasserman Schultz's -- they were e-mail signs, and they weren't very positive signs. At times the crowd booed. Some people cheered, but mostly it was a very negative reaction to Debbie Wasserman Schultz. So you have to wonder, why did she speak? I know she's running for re-election in the state of Florida, but, seriously, when things are at a full boil, why did she speak?

MJ Lee was at that event. Let's ask her if she knows the answer to that question. Why?

MJ LEE, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: Yes, Carol, I mean this was just a scene of complete chaos. As Debbie Wasserman Schultz took the stage, as you mentioned, there were some people who were cheering, "Debbie, Debbie, Debbie" to show their support. However, the protesters, I guess you can call them, the critics of Wasserman Schultz began to chant, you know, against her, basically sort of booing her off the stage. They were yelling things like "shame, shame, shame." And you can see from the pictures, holding up signs that said the word "e-mails." And also some people who were holding Bernie Sanders posters.

Now, Wasserman Schultz tried to power through her speech despite there being so much booing and so much yelling against her, but you could obviously tell that this was a very sort of awkward situation for her to be in. This was a breakfast that she was supposed to speak at originally, even before she made the decision yesterday to resign from her position as head of the DNC.

Now, I think the big question is, after seeing what went down at this breakfast, will she still insist on speaking at the convention later today. If that were to be the case, you could imagine a situation where this kind of sort of anger and frustration erupts on the convention floor. And you can imagine why Democratic leaders would not want that kind of scene to break out again on the convention floor.

COSTELLO: I saw Debbie Wasserman Schultz being escorted out. Who was surrounding her, MJ? LEE: Yes, as she left the stage, obviously, a lot of reporters and

members of the press wanted to talk to her, wanted to ask her questions. So there was a huge scrum of press trying to follow her. So she was basically surrounded by members of security as she left. We tried to ask her some questions to get her reaction to all of this. She just looked forward and left the room very quickly, Carol.

COSTELLO: Is it curious that she did not mention this scandal at all surrounding the DNC and its hacked e-mails?

LEE: Right. I mean this was, obviously, the huge elephant in the room. And I think even when people started yelling specifically about this scandal, she did not address the issue. I think that she originally wanted to come here to talk about the issues that she wanted to talk about. The issues that matter to Floridians. The room here is filled with Florida delegates and I think she stuck to that script.

[09:35:17] I don't know what she could have said to address the e-mail controversy since she has already made the decision to leave her post as chairman of the DNC. Again, I think the big question is, will she still insist on speaking on the convention stage later today, you know, despite some of the clear anger and frustration that's really boiling over here in Philadelphia.

COSTELLO: All right, MJ Lee reporting live from Philadelphia. Thanks so much.

With me now is Stephanie Schriock. She's the president of EMILY's List and a Hillary Clinton supporter. Also Suzan Johnson Cook, a former U.S. ambassador at large for international religious freedom. She's also a political analyst and columnist for "The Huffington Post." And CNN political commentator and Trump supporter Scottie Nell Hughes.

Thanks to all of you for being with me.

Stephanie.

STEPHANIE SCHRIOCK, PRESIDENT, EMILY'S LIST: Yes.

COSTELLO: Why? Why did -- why did Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a, speak at the breakfast this morning, and, b, why is she even considering speaking on the convention floor?

SCHRIOCK: Well, let's just remember that she is a very popular congresswoman in Florida, and it was the Florida delegation breakfast this morning. So I think that makes complete sense. And they'll make decisions on what happens yet on the floor tonight.

I think what's really important here is that we have a great night of speakers tonight, right? We're showing the power of Democrats --

COSTELLO: Yes, we -- yes, the Democrats do have a great line-up. Michelle Obama.

SCHRIOCK: We do. We do. That's right.

COSTELLO: Elizabeth Warren.

SCHRIOCK: Elizabeth Warren.

COSTELLO: Bernie Sanders.

SCHRIOCK: That's right. And, don't forget, EMILY's list supported candidate Kirsten Gillibrand is talking tonight, so --

COSTELLO: Right. So Debbie -- if Debbie Wasserman Schultz speaks, that speech will be remembered over the others, perhaps, because of the reaction she may get.

SCHRIOCK: Well, I don't know. You you've got Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. I think that -- and Michelle Obama. I'm not sure who's most is most remembered tonight. That is an incredible testament to the power of the Democratic Party this year.

COSTELLO: But -- so, Suzan, should Hillary Clinton, you know, she could make a phone call to Debbie Wasserman Schultz and say, please don't speak at my convention.

AMBASSADOR SUZAN JOHNSON COOK, PRO VOICE MOVEMENT FOR WOMEN: No, Hillary, she'll just concentrate on her speech on Thursday night. This is the first time we can have a history making event and we're unified and so is -- Hillary's doing what Hillary needs to do and I think, you know, all of us are going to survive. We're going in as a unified body. That's what's most important.

COSTELLO: How can you say we're -- that we're going in as a unified body when Debbie Wasserman Schultz was fired as the chair of the DNC for --

COOK: Yes, but also Donna Brazile went in as the new chair (INAUDIBLE).

SCHRIOCK: That's right.

COOK: And so I was with her this morning. Everyone's ready. One -- for the sake of the unity of the party we want to go in together. So we are united in terms of where we go from here. So Donna Brazile is ready and I think we salute her, support her, support Hillary to be our first president --

COSTELLO: Did you see Scottie Nell Hughes's face over here?

COOK: Yes, I see it.

SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I'm trying to be -- I'm trying to be neutral.

COSTELLO: She's trying not to like do the happy dance.

HUGHES: You know, I actually do have sympathy for you ladies because I have been there about a week ago. And I have to say, as much as you want to sit there and say, unity, unity, unity, we all know as much as you say it, it does not mean it's necessarily going to come true. And what we learned last week at the RNC is that we can have people give great speeches, like Mayor Giuliani, even Pence, but that booing factor, if something negative comes from the crowd, that will be the headlines and that will haunt you the next day in every interview you ladies will do.

So I understand where you are. And, actually, I think, you know, Ms. Schulz had a -- or she had a -- Congressman Schultz had a great opportunity. If she would have said, you know what, for the good of this party, I'm going to step down. I'm not going to join the Hillary Clinton campaign. I am going to completely remove it, and we can deal with this after the convention so that it is focused on the amazing lineup of speakers you have. But the story continues.

COOK: She did it (INAUDIBLE) this week is very different because the larger picture is that Thursday night we're going to have our first female president nominee.

SCHRIOCK: That's right.

COOK: And I think this is a very different picture than the RNC.

SCHRIOCK: I agree.

COOK: (INAUDIBLE) --

SCHRIOCK: You also -- right. I -- with all due respect, we also have, you know, we finished a contentious but a primary in which we really were talking about the issues, moving forward, and we're going to have -- and we're going to have --

COSTELLO: But -- but the reason it got so contentious is because Bernie Sanders supporters thought the system was rigged against him. This e-mails intimate it was.

SCHRIOCK: No, but Hillary Clinton's clearly won this with the most votes and the most delegates by far. Nothing changes that. Including, more importantly, Senator Sanders feels that way.

COOK: Very much so.

SCHRIOCK: He is standing by Hillary Clinton.

(CROSS TALK)

SCHRIOCK: He's already -- unlike other Republican candidates with their nominee --

HUGHES: But it doesn't matter what Senator Sanders says, it's what his voters (INAUDIBLE).

(CROSS TALK)

COSTELLO: OK.

HUGHES: You have 13 million. COSTELLO: I'm going to stop this -- I'm going to stop this conversation because (INAUDIBLE) -- because I've got to get in a break. But we'll continue it right after.

HUGHES: Sounds good.

COSTELLO: Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:44:13] COSTELLO: Today kicks off day one of the Democratic National Convention. You're looking at live pictures out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Among today's headline speakers, Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and the first lady, Michelle Obama.

My panel is back with me to talk about that and more. Stephanie Schriock, she's the president of EMILY's List and a Hillary Clinton supporter. Also Suzan Johnson Cook, former U.S. ambassador at large for international religious freedom. She's also a political analyst and columnist for "The Huffington Post." And CNN political commentator and Trump supporter Scottie Nell Hughes.

Welcome to all of you.

OK, Stephanie, I'll start with you because a lot rides on Hillary Clinton's speech because Donald Trump did get a big bounce from his convention, right? And she still has that, well, voters still don't think she's so trustworthy. And in the most recent poll, 68 percent don't trust her. But before we get into that, I want to play for our viewers something that Hillary Clinton said about the Republican National Convention on "60 Minutes" last night.

[09:45:11] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: There's the Hillary standard and then there's the standard for everybody else.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's the Hillary standard?

CLINTON: Well, it is, you know, a lot of, as you saw at the Republican Convention, unfounded, inaccurate, mean spirited attacks with no basis in truth, reality, which take on a life of their own.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So she said it made her sad because her America doesn't look like that. And I think for voters who are still deciding, do we live in Donald Trump's America, or do we live in Hillary Clinton's America? And how do we decide?

SCHRIOCK: Well, we very much live in -- in America, and we -- we are trying -- we're trying to unify our country again. I think it's really questionable what kind of bump we saw last week. What we saw during the convention was still, again, a lot of lies and insults coming out every single night. And I -- what I -- COSTELLO: But some of that resonated, that this vision of a dark America where crime is rampant and he's the man on a white horse coming to its rescue, that had to resonate with a good number of voters, since he's now five points ahead.

SCHRIOCK: He is -- well, it depends on which poll you look at, because that's the problem with polling. There's another poll that has it 42/42 today. So I think the thing about these polls is we're going to see ups and downs. This race is going to be a close race. The ultimate poll is on Election Day.

But after last week, they went in knowing that they have a huge problem with women voters. Seven out of ten women voters don't like Donald Trump. Fifty-three percent of the electorate are women. That is not a good place to start from. And nothing that came out last week, including how dark his speech was, really is going to resonate with women voters who are looking for solutions, for their everyday economic situation. Equal pay, these kinds of issues.

COSTELLO: So will Hillary Clinton talk about women in her speech, Suzan, do you think?

COOK: Oh, without a question. But the other fact is that she is a woman. For the first time -- we're in Philadelphia, the history of America. We have a history making convention. First female who's going to be nominated to be president. I think, ultimately, she will -- her presence is female, but she certainly will talk about women. And she doesn't have to talk about the dark side of America. She talks about bringing what she brings to the table, skill set, experience, you know, beyond the gender, her skill set and experience. She got the 3:00 a.m. call. She got the 3:00 p.m. call. She knows how to lead America and that's what we need now is a leader.

COSTELLO: But, still, going back to this -- because I do think voters are confused because they don't know who to believe any more. So Donald Trump paints this stark picture of America. Hillary Clinton might paint a much brighter picture of America. And I think that Americans are so distrustful of their institutions and their politicians that they don't know what to believe. So how can Hillary Clinton say, you know what, President Obama's done a great job and I'm going to continue his policies and America's going to continue to be great.

COOK: Well, she says that, but she also says how I build upon that. That's one thing. But I know what Americans don't want, they don't want a crude and a rude person who's talking -- who takes down women, who takes down immigrants, who talks against everything that is America. We are supposed to be the United States of America. We need someone who can unite us at this point. It has been a dark America, but we need some light. And I think Hillary's going to be the light that comes this week. We're going to see it happen. And then we've got three months to make it happen.

COSTELLO: OK, so, Scottie, Ivanka took to the stage at the Republican National Convention and she talked about women's issues at length. And she talked about policies that were new to us when it came to Donald Trump. He didn't talk about those female oriented policies in his speech.

HUGHES: No.

COSTELLO: Why -- why was that?

HUGHES: Well, he talked about a lot of things in that speech.

COSTELLO: Yes, he did.

HUGHES: It was a record (ph) speech. You know, this idea that it was dark, I don't -- I don't agree with that and I guess it has to be from what viewpoint you're looking at it. You know, sometimes it -- what the present for some is dark. You are $19 trillion in debt. There are people that are being hurt because we have porous borders and there are criminals that have come to this country and hurt families. We have issues in the military. There are boys that did not come home and their mothers were on stage because of the decisions made by this administration. That's the truth.

What he did show us, here's how I'm going to do it differently. And I love this idea that you're going to sit there and say, well, on one hand it's historical that we have Hillary Clinton as a woman and talk -- you know, that's a great thing and we're going to talk about women, but we're going to talk about unity. That's the problem with America today, we keep -- we keep addressing things as these individual demographics, which I understand, but let's talk about what we all want to know about, which is the economy and security, hence why those in the RNC, they had one night focused on one and another night focused and Mr. Trump's speech encompassed it all. It doesn't matter whether you're male or female or what race you belong to. In the end, you just want to protect your family and you want to provide for them. And that's why the RNC, I think, saw the (INAUDIBLE).

COOK: But the very fact that you talked about the boys not coming home, you omitted women from your conversation as well. So I think what we see here --

HUGHES: No, I was talking about Benghazi, is where -- we had their mothers on the stage.

[09:50:00] COOK: Yes, but -- yes, but, I mean, the point is that women are often omitted from the conversation and women are often attacked when they are the candidate. So what we're looking at now is a woman who's going to put policies forward that are family oriented, that are gender neutral, that makes sure that all of America is taken care of. That didn't happen in the RNC.

HUGHES: But (INAUDIBLE) --

(CROSS TALK)

COSTELLO: Well, I have to --

SCHRIOCK: Well, and it often has to do with perspectives and assuring that women's perspectives are heard. We will have a country where Congress is only 19 percent women. HUGHES: Right.

SCHRIOCK: It's been 130 years, we've never had a woman president. It is about perspective because we need to look at the whole of the family --

HUGHES: Exactly.

SCHRIOCK: And not just one side --

(CROSS TALK)

COSTELLO: We could talk about this forever. I have to leave it there, though. Stephanie Schriock, Suzan Johnson Cook, Scottie Nell Hughes, thanks to all of you.

COOK: Thank you.

SCHRIOCK: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: For the third time in a week, a violent attack rattles southern Germany. Germany authorities or German authorities, rather, are now searching the home of a 27-year-old Syrian national who detonated a suicide bomb outside of a music festival. Yesterday -- that happened yesterday. It injured 12 people. His home is located in this hotel, which is used as a shelter for refugees. Authorities are also investigating if the attacker was motivated by his religion, by religion of any kind.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen joins me now live.

Good morning, Fred.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.

Yes, and there was a press conference that was actually just going on by a top level Bavarian official. This is the state in which the city of (INAUDIBLE) is in (INAUDIBLE). And they say that they have found Salafist material on a computer that belonged to this man during that search of the house. They also say that they found what appears to be chemicals that could be used for bomb making in that location as well. And so they say right now the indications are that this could very well have been an Islamist motivated attack.

Now, they also have a lot of information about the attacker himself. He was a 27-year-old man from Syria. He came here about two years ago. And one year ago his application for asylum was rejected by the German authorities. They say at this point in time they're not sure whether or not that might have also played a role to motivate him because he was supposed to get deported to Bulgaria. However, that deportation order had not been serviced yet. [09:55:20] They also say that he had a record of crime here in the

city that he lived in. That he had drug-related crime issues and also petty crime as well. As far as the attack itself, they say what happened, at around 10:00 p.m. last night, he went to the scene of a music festival that was going on here. He went to one of the entry checkpoints to that festival. They didn't let him in, however, because he didn't have a ticket. And that's when he blew himself up, killing himself and, of course, wounding 12 others. And I can tell you, the people here, very much concerned about the situation, not just because of this attack, but, of course, because of the other ones that you mentioned as well, three high-profile incidents here, just in the south of Germany, within the past week, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Frederik Pleitgen reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello, live at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Thank you so much for joining me this morning.

It is the Democrat's turn to hold their convention, but Donald Trump is again seizing the spotlight. The Republican nominee once again surprising many of the political pundits with a bigger than expected bounce from his party's convention last week. In our new CNN/ORC poll, he now leads Clinton by 5 points, not counting the margin of error.