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Trump Promises Major Speech on Immigration; Shooting Scare Triggers Security Breach at LAX; Two Brothers Charges with Killing NBA Star's Cousin; Hip Hop Artist Badly Treated When Reporting a Crime; Aired 10-10:30a ET
Aired August 29, 2016 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[10:00:00] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, chaos at one of the nation's busiest airports. Passengers at LAX running past security and on to the tarmac. All for nothing?
Plus, Trump set to set the record straight on his immigration plan.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: On day one, I'm going to begin swiftly removing criminal illegal immigrants from this country.
COSTELLO: But what about that deportation force?
REINCE PRIEBUS, CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: He is reflecting on it and his position is going to be known.
COSTELLO: And more death on the streets of Chicago.
DIANN ALDRIDGE, VICTIM'S MOTHER: They said they want their mom and their mom won't be in their lives anymore.
COSTELLO: Police charge two men for the murder of Dwyane Wade's cousin.
SUPERINTENDENT EDDIE T. JOHNSON, CHICAGO POLICE: When will enough be enough?
COSTELLO: Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.
Donald Trump is promoting a major speech on his immigration plans. Trump had appeared to be softening on one of the most severe promises to boot all 11 million undocumented immigrants from the country. But his more moderate tone did not last.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: On day one, I'm going to begin swiftly removing criminal illegal immigrants from this country. Including removing the hundreds and thousands of criminal illegal immigrants that have been released into the United States and United States communities under the incompetent Obama-Clinton administration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: CNN's Sara Murray live in Washington with more on this. Good morning.
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Well, immigration was really, as you know, the central issue of Donald Trump's campaign. But you know it reached a confusing period when even his running mate can't explain exactly where Trump stands on the issue. And he's not the only one of Donald Trump's allies who's struggling to explain exactly what's going on with Trump's immigration policy. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: He has said that if you want on it here legally, you have to apply to be here legally. He is not talking about a deportation force but he is talking about being fair and humane, but also being fair to the American workers who are competing for jobs, being fair to all of us who want secure borders and want the law enforced.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: You're not pledging that there will be a removal of all undocumented immigrants. You're not saying that.
GOV. MIKE PENCE (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, what I'm saying, Jake, what I've said to you a minute ago, I want to be very clear, there will be no path to legalization.
TAPPER: Right.
PENCE: No path to citizenship. People that want to gain legal status, you heard Donald Trump say again and again, will have to leave the country.
TAPPER: What about the millions in this country right now?
PENCE: Well --
TAPPER: What happens to them?
PENCE: I think Donald Trump will articulate what we do with the people who are here, but I promise you --
TAPPER: But he already has articulated.
PENCE: Donald Trump is more concerned about the American people.
PRIEBUS: I believe that he is going to, when he talks about deportation, he's going to go after people who are here and are criminals and shouldn't be here. I think --
CHUCK TODD, MSNBC: Who's a criminal under this circumstance, though? Because, you know, some people believe just being here illegally is a crime.
PRIEBUS: Sure.
TODD: And that makes you a criminal. Does that count?
PRIEBUS: Well, look, I mean, those are the things that Donald Trump is going to answer. And this is not obviously a simple question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MURRAY: Now plenty of people are going to looking to this Wednesday speech in Phoenix for a little bit more clarification of where Trump stands. And it's really going to come down to two key issues. What does he do about the 11 million undocumented immigrants who are right here in the country right now? Does he stick with his plan to use a deportation force to send them all home?
But the other question is, what about so-called birth right citizenship. He said he wants to get rid of it. These are the people who were born in the United States but whose parents are undocumented immigrants. So we'll be looking for clarity on that issue as well, Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, can't wait until Wednesday. Sara Murray reporting live from Washington, thank you.
So let's talk about this. Joining me now, Nayyera Haq, a former State Department spokesperson under Hillary Clinton, and Alfonso Aguilar, Trump supporter and former chief of the U.S. Office of Citizenship.
Welcome to both of you. So, Alfonso, I had a Trump supporter on last hour, Betsy McCaughey, who told me that Donald Trump still wants a deportation force, but he wants to put it before Congress. Is that your understanding?
ALFONSO AGUILAR, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well, at this point, it's hard to figure what exactly his plan is going to be. I think we have to wait until his speech on Wednesday. But I think he has said however a couple of months ago that he only wants to deport those individuals with criminal backgrounds, not those who have no criminal record.
And to be fair, from the very beginning, he did say that those people -- that everybody would have to leave and those people without criminal records, the good people as he calls them, could come back quickly. The question at this point is, would those people would have to actually leave, do the touchback, outside of the country, or could they do it internally, go to an embassy, a consulate, and register there, and then we can put them in a path to legal status? That is the question.
[10:05:13] COSTELLO: So -- that is a -- that's a big question. And Nayyera, you worked for the government. How might that work with 11 million people, even if they don't have to leave the country and come back in, but to go to an embassy or a consulate?
NAYYERA HAQ, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESWOMAN UNDER HILLARY CLINTON: Well, this is the fundamental question and the challenge with Donald Trump is I think what Alfonso just articulated right now, is more clear than anything we heard from anybody on his campaign or from himself in this last week of the exploration of softening on immigration.
I mean, Congress and the executive branch have been wrestling with what is a proper way to deal with 11 million people here, many of whom are hard working, paying their taxes, and these are the same people that Donald Trump says everybody's going to be treated the same and needs to be gotten rid of.
The challenge that we're seeing now with Trump's rhetoric is that he built a base of support around build a wall, kick everybody out, and that base is very different than the large swath of independent undecided voters right now who want a more humane and more reasonable policy, which is something his campaign manager said he might be exploring. So he's in a tough position right now of, do you stick with what your base wants, which is very hard line, kick everybody out, put them behind a wall, or do you try to appeal to a broader group of society that wants something more reasonable and an articulated plan?
The challenge Trump is having is that he doesn't really seem to understand the nuances of policy and what various words mean, amnesty --
COSTELLO: Well, going back to the specific policy. I just want to -- because, Alfonso, you're a former chief of the U.S. Office of Citizenship, so you know these things, right. If Donald Trump ump now wants to make the bad ones leave the country, how do you figure out which of the undocumented immigrants in the country are our bad ones?
AGUILAR: Well, it's actually --
COSTELLO: What does that mean, bad ones? Because I think definition, if you're undocumented, you're breaking the law. Who are the bad ones?
AGUILAR: Well, it depends. I don't think he's ever defined who the bad ones really are. I mean, from my perspective, the bad ones are people who've actually committed criminal offenses. Being illegally in the country per se is a illegal infraction, it's not a crime. Now having said this, I think at the same time, to be fair, we also have to look at Hillary Clinton. She hasn't gone into detail --
COSTELLO: Now before we do that, before we deflect to Hillary Clinton, Trump said this weekend, Alfonso, he'll have -- he'll have the criminal undocumented immigrants out in an hour of his inauguration. Can he do that?
AGUILAR: No, of course not. I think look --
COSTELLO: Why does he say these things then?
AGUILAR: Well, I mean, we talk about it every day, Carol. Donald Trump is not a politician. He says things that a nonpolitician says. I mean, and yes, it's not a serious statement. I don't think he believes it himself.
COSTELLO: But isn't that answer getting a little tired, Alfonso? Because right now, you know, we're what, some 70 days within the election? People are going to start voting in 30 days. They kind of need to know where he stands on this. Right?
AGUILAR: But, Carol -- but, Carol, at least he's talking about it. Is Hillary Clinton going to continue the deportation policies of the Obama administration? And the Obama administration's prioritizing undocumented immigrants with criminal records. Obama deported more people --
COSTELLO: I hear you on -- I hear you on the Hillary Clinton thing.
AGUILAR: But we haven't heard --
COSTELLO: But I think voters want to know exactly what Donald Trump's about and what he's going to do and maybe we'll find out on Wednesday but some of the thing he's saying right now are impossible to achieve.
AGUILAR: Well -- no, I agree, I mean, deporting people in an hour, it's impossible. I don't think anybody thinks it's a serious proposal beginning with Donald Trump. Donald Trump talks --
HAQ: And that's -- that's part of the challenge, is what is he serious about and what is he not. I mean, it seemed that he was the candidate who was going to speak the truth to the people, be very authentic. And now he's trying to be somebody who's supposedly more reasonable and that leaves him upsetting his base and not really appealing to anybody who is looking for policy nuance.
AGUILAR: Look --
HAQ: So what is he left with right now?
AGUILAR: The fact that he talks that way I think shows that he's very authentic. I mean, go back to Hillary. She says she now wants to build bridges, not walls. But she voted for the Secure Fence Act which calls for the building not of one wall, but two walls, along the southern border. Is anybody talking about it? No.
COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. Nayyera Haq, Alfonso Aguilar, thanks to you both.
New audio from inside the cockpit as a pilot calls air traffic control during a major security scare. You're going to hear that in just a second. But this was the terrifying scene overnight as passengers ran for their lives at the Los Angeles International Airport.
[10:10:03] Rumors that an active shooter had opened fire spread like wildfire. Police say it was a false alarm but that did not stop panicked passengers from breaching restricted areas and spilling onto the tarmac.
Let's get right to that call from inside the cockpit and CNN's Paul Vercammen. Good morning. PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Yes, quite
an effect here at LAX. 281 flights delayed on both departure and arrival and here's what it sounded like for a pilot who was hoping to land his plane and found out that there was mass chaos here at LAX.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ground, this is United 488 at 72.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 488, go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir. We can't get a hold of ops. Apparently there's an active shooting in the terminal. Can you please advise us what's happening?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we can confirm that. There are people running in the streets here. That's why you can't get a hold of them. We're going to try to call them. Give me about five minutes here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Do you have any idea where this is taking place?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was told this is United --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is 488-72.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, apparently Terminal Eight is what I heard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERCAMMEN: And, Carol, they still don't know what was that loud noise that somebody mistook for gunfire near Terminal Eight or inside Terminal Eight at Gate 82. Back to you.
COSTELLO: So pandemonium broke out, Paul. Are they talking about new security measures to prevent something like this from happening again?
VERCAMMEN: Right now they're not. And basically some of these people got on to the tarmac by going through emergency doors or fire doors. They said that they've got cameras on those doors and they're not worried about it. But what seems to be an underlying concern here is something that may not have happened 15 years ago and that is people got on social media and whipped this up even more than it needed to be. No, you can't, you shouldn't shout fire in a crowded theater, and here's now the new question in the modern era, should you re-tweet gunfire in a crowded airport? Somebody to be chewed on, Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Paul Vercammen reporting live from LAX this morning.
An NBA star's cousin shot to death as she pushes her child into a stroller. Hear what the victim's mother had to say to the two men arrested in her murder.
And an award-winning rapper tries to tell police he was robbed at gunpoint. He wants to report the crime. But wait until you see what happened at the police station.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHE "RHYMEFEST" SMITH, GRAMMY AND OSCAR WINNING HIP HOP ARTIST: What information do you need?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sir --
SMITH: What information do you need? I would like to give you the information to report that I've been robbed this morning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[10:16:58] COSTELLO: Chicago police have charged two men in the shooting death of Nykea Aldridge. Nykea is the cousin of NBA star Dwyane Wade. She was gunned down on Friday, caught in the cross fire of a nearby argument as she pushed her newborn in a stroller. Nykea's mother talking with CNN struggled to make sense of the killing and the four children now left without a mom.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALDRIDGE: Want their mom. It just hurts to hear kids saying they want their mom and their mom won't be in their lives anymore. Only through spirit. Only through pictures. That's the only way they can know their mom for the rest of their lives. Only thing they have to go on is what they had. It's just heartbreaking. It's really -- oh, god, it's heartbreaking. To raise her own children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: CNN's Rachel Crane sat down for that emotional interview. She joins us with more from Chicago. Good morning.
RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. It was truly heartbreaking speaking to that mourning mother. She went on to say that she wanted to celebrate Nykea's life. She said that her daughter was a fashionista. She described her as simply amazing. She said that Nykea was obsessed with the color purple. That she was a wonderful writer and loved writing poetry. That her whole life was about her four children. She also had a very powerful message for the shooters. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALDRIDGE: I forgive them. I forgive them. I can't bring her back but I forgive them and I just pray to God that they pray to God to ask for forgiveness for what they've done. They've taken a person's life senselessly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CRANE: Just remarkable that through all of that pain she's sending out that message of forgiveness.
And, Carol, this is not the first time that Diann has lost a child. Her oldest daughter died 10 years ago, also the result of gun violence.
We've learned a little bit more about the brothers, Darwin and Derren Sorrells, who committed this crime. They are described as career criminals, known gangsters. Derren, the youngest brother, was at the time under electronic surveillance but at the time of the incident he was legally not wearing his anklet. That's because he was supposed to be looking for a job -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Rachel crane, reporting live from Chicago, thank you.
Chicago's police chief visibly frustrated with the violence in his city.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNSON: When will enough be enough? How often do we have to stand at a podium like this demanding from our judicial and policy partners some type of resolution?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: His sentiment understandable. But resolution, community healing and trust no easy task in Chicago. Just this weekend, Grammy and Oscar Award winning artist Rhymefest, he tried to tell police about a serious crime. Someone held a gun to his head before stealing his wallet.
[10:20:08] Rhymefest will join me live in just a moment, but first I'd like you to watch what happened at the police station.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: I told you exactly what was wrong with me. I told you exactly what my problem was.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: First of all, you're in a police station, you can't do that.
SMITH: I can use my camera.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not in a police station.
SMITH: I can use my camera.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, you got to go.
SMITH: I would like -- I cannot make a report on me being robbed?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I tried to give you a report --
SMITH: I can't make a report of me being robbed?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, the supervisor --
SMITH: What did the supervisor say?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He asked you to leave.
SMITH: Why?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because you're not dead. You weren't giving the information that we needed to take your report.
SMITH: What information do you need?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sir --
SMITH: What information do you need? I would like to give you the information to report that I've been robbed this morning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're in a police station.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's using a camera --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I don't care, but --
SMITH: I'm asking you, I'm asking you, what information do you need to report that I've been robbed this morning?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was this officer asking you?
SMITH: She asked me what happened and I told her what happened.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Calm down, calm down. This is not --
SMITH: OK, I'm not. I'm using -- I am in shock because I just had a gun to my head. So she asked me what happened and I told her what happened. I would even like to tell you what first happened. When I walked through the door and she asked me what was wrong, she kept eating, she kept playing Candy Crush --
(CROSSTALK)
SMITH: OK, well, let's talk about this. I will tell you since no one else listened. So I don't feel comfortable because I feel like I'm being treated -- when the camera goes off, you all start telling me to get out, I can't make a report.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: All right. So let's talk about this. Che "Rhymefest" Smith joins me now live from Chicago. Welcome. And thank you for being on with me this morning. So when you initially --
SMITH: Thank you for having me.
COSTELLO: Thank you for being here. So when you initially walked into that police department to make a police report, how were you treated?
SMITH: Well, when I walked in, I don't feel as though the police even saw me. The first thing that happened was that I told them that I was robbed violently. The lady was playing Candy Crush and eating cookies and she said hold on. I thought she was going to make the report. She started to finish her game. And so I said really? And another lady said, come over, I'll take the report. She's listening to me, then she said to me, put your hands on the table so that I can feel secure.
I put my hands on the table so she could feel secure. And she said, well, you still have your phone, you must not have been that good of a robber. I started to feel patronized at that point and I asked to speak to a superior. They told me that I couldn't speak to a superior. I couldn't ask them questions that I needed to just talk to them. I said, I need to speak to a superior. Lo and behold, the sergeant was standing in the room watching the whole thing go down.
The sergeant then told me that if I didn't want to talk to them, I was not going to make a report that day and I needed to get the F out of the police station. And that's when I turned the camera on. When I turned the camera on, the police became more concerned with the camera than they did the crime. At that point, I felt like I'd gotten robbed twice that day. I'd gotten robbed for $3 by a robber who put a gun to my head and took my wallet, but I also got robbed of my tax dollars from the Chicago Police Department.
COSTELLO: So take me back to the initial crime because if someone pointed a gun at my head, I would be horribly frightened. What was that like?
SMITH: Well, you know, I'm a writer, I do music. I was writing in my car, 7:30 in the morning. I parked my car. Many times, you know, when you put the car in park, the doors unlock. My doors unlocked. Moments later, someone jumped in, put a gun to my head and told me that I was going to die today. I asked the robber what did he want. He said, I want the money, all of it. I gave him my money.
And I would like to say, if I can, to the person who robbed me, if you look in my wallet and you see the I.D. that says Chase Smith, reach out to me, contact me. You got $3 from me. I could have easily have helped you to get a job more so than given you $3. You know, I understand that Chicago is suffering from decades of disinvestment from the closing of three mental health centers. From a record closing of schools on the south and west sides of Chicago.
You know, I understand that violence is happening in my community. But it's interesting this encounter with the police took the wind out of the sail of the robbery. I haven't even dealt with the trauma of a gun pointed at me because I'm trying to fix how can I respond as a citizen.
COSTELLO: So when you walked into that police -- I'm sure your adrenaline was pumping, right? You go in there, you want to report a crime.
SMITH: Yes.
[10:25:00] COSTELLO: Did they think that -- did it appear to you, seem to you, that they thought you were the dangerous guy? SMITH: Unfortunately, I believe that where we are in Chicago right
now, most citizens are perceived as dangerous. Whether we are or we aren't. Chicago's in a fragile state. However, it's not what Donald Trump is saying it is either. I live in a South Side community. I can walk down my block without getting shot. I can walk down many blocks without getting shot. But it is the decades of disinvestment in the community that makes us not able to really come together.
You know, I work with police on many occasions. I have friends and family who are police officers. You know, what I would like to do, and I did get an apology from the Chicago police, I must say that. But what I want to make sure that the apology doesn't just go to the Grammy award winner or Chase Smith, that the apology goes to Joe Smith, to John Smith, who's also tried to make a report. You know, we expect more from our taxes.
COSTELLO: Going back to the things that, you know, because this is all going to play out in the political election, right, because Mr. Trump has made this an issue. Says you can't walk down the street if you're an African-American because it's like a war zone. He said the Democrats have not helped America's inner cities. They've made things worse. What do you think?
SMITH: Chicago -- I mean, Illinois has had many Republican governors who have had access. Right now, we have a Republican governor who is also a businessman, Governor (INAUDIBLE), who has held back millions dollars in political fights with Democrats but has held back dollars that go to prison reform, that go to schools, that go to hospitals, and that go to communities. By no means do I think that Rahm Emanuel has been the greatest mayor of Chicago. Rahm Emanuel has shut down a record amount of schools.
But there are solutions to our problems as well. And there are many of us in the community that have to be part of the solution. So, for instance, like I said, you know, I do music and I'm well known. However, I repurchased my father's house. A father who I've never met. I purchased the house that my father grew up in. And I went to go find my father. And you know, when I found my father, he didn't run out on me at all. My father had been homeless for 30 years. My father had fell in a hole.
So I brought my father back to the house that he grew up in with the son that he never met. We have to -- we have a responsibility as citizens to repair our families and our communities and the system has a responsibility to the citizens for the tax dollars that they collect. You know, we need investment in our communities. I work with young people. I have an organization called Donda's House. I don't only do music professionally, I teach creative writing for free in the community I grew up in. So, you know, I think it just takes more people to live in the community, stay in the communities. And we have to root out the corruption and politics.
COSTELLO: So -- right. So -- and I think this is an important conversation. So I just want to wrap it up this way because you don't seem to be demonizing anyone. Not the police, not our politicians, not Republicans, not Democrats, not anyone. You're just saying, you know what, it's time we work together.
SMITH: Yes, you're hitting a very important point. Unless we can begin to see each other. Unless we can begin to work together. Then nothing's going to get solved. But first and foremost, the guy who robbed me was not even good at his job. He had the outfit. He was out at 7:00 in the morning. But he sat on top of my bag that had bank deposit slips, and had my laptop and my camera and my phone and all he wanted was my wallet.
What I would ask is, if this robber had another opportunity to go to school, to get a job, would he do that instead of robbing? I don't think people are making that decision for fun. We need investment in our communities and we need people to look at our communities as more than just political soccer balls.
COSTELLO: Che "Rhymefest" Smith, thank you so much for being with me this morning and having such an important conversation.
SMITH: Thank you. And I want to say -- I want to say that I'm inviting Donald Trump to Chicago. I will walk you down a block, Mr. Trump, and I guarantee you won't get shot.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: OK. The invitation's there, Trump, now it's your turn. Thank you so much. I'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
