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Trump to Meet Mexican President in Mexico Before Delivering Immigration Speech; Pulse Nightclub 911 Calls Released To Media; Aerial Census of African Elephants Shows Severe Decline; Commercial Passenger Flights Resume Between U.S. and CUBA after Nearly 50 years; Tropical Weather Threatens Gulf Coast, East Coast. Aired 10:30-11a ET
Aired August 31, 2016 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:30:56]
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, I'm Carol Costello, thank you so much for joining me. In just a few hours Donald Trump will get on board the Trump plane and he'll take off for Mexico to sit down with Mexico's president.
I said before the break that the staff at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico advised the Trump campaign against doing a hastily arranged trip. And they did advise him but it's not a critical thing, it's just a suggestion. They think the trip would be better if it was pre-planned and logistically planned out.
Despite that, of course, Mr. Trump will go to Mexico to meet with the president. And you know, it is a critical day for Donald Trump. A high stakes meeting with Mexico's president and then that major speech on immigration. Many hoping to get clarity on what Mr. Trump intends to do about the 11 million undocumented immigrants in America.
Will there be a deportation force or not?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have a law, right? You're supposed to come in legally. I would get people out and I would have an expedited way of getting them back into the country so they can be legal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They're illegal immigrants. They got to go out. They got to leave ...
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": But how do you do it in a practical way? You really think you can round up 11 million people ...
TRUMP: They got to leave. You know what? At some point we're going to try getting them back, the good ones.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You're going to have a deportation force. And you're going to do it humanely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Are you going to be sending in officers ...
TRUMP: We're going to be sending in people in a very nice way ...
BURNETT: ... A force of people, into people's homes to get them out.
TRUMP: We're going to be giving notice. We're going to be saying, "you have to go."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out. They will come back -- some will come back, the best. Through a process, they have to come back legally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You know it's a process. You can't take 11 at one time and just say "boom, you're gone." We have to find where these people are. Most people don't even know where they are. Nobody even knows if it's 11.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: So it still costs (ph) ...
TRUMP: It could be 30 and it could be five. Nobody knows what the number is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: OK so maybe Mr. Trump will provide some clarity in his speech later this afternoon. With me now to talk about that and more is Hipolito Acosta, he's a former border patrol agency, he's worked in Homeland Security and worked for Immigration Services. He's also written three books about immigration enforcement. Welcome, Sir.
HIPOLITO ACOSTA, FORMER BORDER PATROL AGENT: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Thank you for being with me. And just to make it clear because we have so many partisan conversations on this network. And you know everybody talks in a partisan way about this election. You're not sold on Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, is that correct? ACOSTA: Well I'm certainly not supporting Secretary Clinton. I am
not convinced at this particular point of Mr. Trump. Although, I believe in what he wants for our country. And I, and I'm not convinced because of some of the statements he's made, specifically about Judge Curiel. But I think that the matter here is immigration today. Which is a big topic for our country.
COSTELLO: Yes, a very important topic, too. So let's talk first about that deportation force. And we don't know if Donald Trump is going to tweak that idea or not. Is that at all possible?
ACOSTA: Well I think that there's a change in the rhetoric at this particular time. They're talking about baby steps for deportation. But look, let's be very clear, the reason we are where we are today with 10, 12, 13 million undocumented aliens in the country is because we've never had an effective interior immigration enforcement.
And that's what's lacking for the country. Before we can even consider that the border will be secure, we need to have an effective interior immigration enforcement. And it's been neglected for decades.
COSTELLO: So what do you mean by that? What does the United States need to do to have an effective system?
ACOSTA: Well one of the things we have is we've increased our agents along the border from 1800 when I first started with the border patrol to over 20,000 right now. But there's very little priorities given for the magnet that attracts the -- attracts the millions that have come in. Which is the jobs, employers not being held accountable, ICE not giving it a priority to make sure that the employers will stay consistent and obey the laws.
And I think that that's one of the things that I would offer to Mr. Trump. If he's serious about securing our borders, securing our country, we need to start with a strong interior immigration enforcement program. Which we don't have right now. The priorities and the attention given by ICE right now is no different than the decades of negligence. There hasn't been an interior enforcement program and that's needed.
It's not just along the border but we have 40 percent of the people that are in the country in an undocumented status entered with VISA. So it has to go hand in hand. Mr. Trump has spoken about securing the border. But we need to secure the interior of the United States.
COSTELLO: OK so one of the ways that Mr. Trump wants to secure the border is to build this wall. And he says it will be a physical wall that Mexico will pay for. Would that keep, effectively keep -- is -- first of all, is that even possible? And secondly, is that the answer?
[10:36:02]
ACOSTA: Well that's not -- in my view, that's not the answer. Certainly we need barriers along certain parts of the border to make sure that those communities are secure. But it goes hand in hand with what I just stated. When we have the increased border patrol agents. But if you were to ask the head of ICE in Washington, D.C. how many people they dedicate to employer sanctions, to auditing, to making sure employers comply with hiring laws, I don't think that they would give you an answer that it's, that it's a huge number.
And I think that -- I'm hoping that when Mr. Trump makes his presentation today, that he gives us some clarity as to where he's going to go with employer sanctions, where he's going to go with -- how to deal with the folks that are already in the country in an undocumented status. And certainly what I've been hearing the past two days, when they're talking about baby steps, I don't think that that's a right answer.
COSTELLO: All right, Hipolito Acosta, I hope you'll come back, perhaps after Mr. Trump's speech. And thanks so much for joining me this morning.
ACOSTA: Thank you .
COSTELLO: Still to come in the Newsroom -- you're welcome. Still to come in the Newsroom, family and friends desperate for help.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
9-1-1 CALLER: There are now four dead in the bathroom and two shot, they're bleeding out. And if somebody doesn't get here -- there soon they're going to die.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: 9-1-1 calls capture the panic unfolding inside the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:41:45]
COSTELLO: We're hearing for the first time, the frantic calls for help as a lone gunman opened fire inside the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando. 49 people died in that attack, dozens others were injured. We want to warn you, what you're about to hear are emotional phone calls. Mostly from family members and friends. And you might find some of them disturbing. Martin Savidge has more for you this morning, good morning.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Yeah, instantly these calls will transport you back to June 12th just before 2:00 in the morning. We've had transcripts of 9-1-1 calls but to actually hear them is totally different. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
9-1-1 CALLER: My girlfriend's hiding in the club Pulse.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): They are the first 9-1-1 calls to be heard from the Pulse Nightclub attack.
9-1-1 CALLER: He's still in the bathroom where he's bleeding. He got shot and nobody's going in for him.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Spanning three hours beginning minutes after the first shots were fired.
9-1-1 OPERATOR: How many shots did you hear?
9-1-1 CALLER: I -- more than 10.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): None of these calls are from inside the club during the shooting. One is from a man who's just managed to escape.
9-1-1 OPERATOR: And you're not injured?
9-1-1 CALLER: No, no, no.
9-1-1 OPERATOR: OK.
9-1-1 CALLER: I'm fine. We were leaving the club and then as soon as we left, gunshots were just going like crazy.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Others are from the family members and friends receiving desperate calls or texts from those inside, relaying to authorities a chilling glimpse of the unfolding horror.
9-1-1 CALLER: One of our friends sent us a text and said that he has been shot and he's in the bathroom and no one sees him.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): One man overcome with fear and frustration after multiple calls unloads on the operator, unable to understand why police have not rescued his girlfriend.
9-1-1 CALLER: There are now four dead in the bathroom and two shot, they're bleeding out. And if somebody doesn't get here -- there soon, they're going to die.
9-1-1 OPERATOR: OK, Sir, we have ...
9-1-1 CALLER: And this is like the (BEEP) fifth time ...
9-1-1 OPERATOR: All right, Sir, we have people ...
9-1-1 CALLER: No ...
9-1-1 OPERATOR: We have people there.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): These are the rollover calls, calls that went to the Orange County Sheriff's Department after the Orlando 9-1-1 call center became overloaded. Operators try to get information.
9-1-1 OPERATOR: Where is your brother located in the club? Did he say?
SAVIDGE (voice-over): And try to console desperate family members. 9-1-1 OPERATOR: We are in the club, we're searching for everybody.
We're pulling victims out.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): It will be hours more before the world learns the extent of the mass killing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: Carol, these are not the only 9-1-1 calls. There are believed to be many, many more. The ones that were actually made to the Orlando Police Department, for instance. But right now the Orlando Police Department is holding onto them because they say they are part of their ongoing investigation, Carol.
COSTELLO: Martin Savidge reporting live for us this morning, thank you. Still to come in the Newsroom, a staggering drop in the elephant population. CNN's exclusive trip to the heart of Africa's crisis, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:48:29]
COSTELLO: For decades the population of African elephants has been largely guesswork. Beginning around 2007, a large upswing in poaching of illegal ivory, driven by demand in China, hammered the most common Savannah elephant species. But until now nobody knew just how bad it was. I want to warn you, some of the pictures you are about to see are extremely disturbing. CNN's David McKenzie has our exclusive report from Botswana.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Getting ready to fly in Botswana's far North. Elephant Ecologist, Mike Chase has spent years counting Savannah elephants from the sky.
MIKE CHASE, ELEPHANT ECOLOGIST: Never before have we ever conducted a standardized survey for African elephants at a continental scale.
CHASE: All right, start counting. I see my side more than 20 (ph).
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Hundreds of air crew counted elephants in 18 countries across the continent over two years.
CHASE: Elephants seven. Seven elephants, right? (ph)
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Flying the distance to the moon and then some. Their results more shocking than anyone imagined.
CHASE: We've spent thousands of hours of counting. Flying over areas where elephants historically occurred (ph) but are no longer present in these habitats.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Killed for their ivory, in seven short years up to 2014, elephant numbers dropped by a staggering amount, almost one-third. Across Africa their numbers are crashing. If nothing changes, the elephant population will halve in less than a decade. In some areas they will go extinct.
CHASE: Some landscapes we saw both dead elephants and live elephants.
MCKENZIE: It seems like there's a disturbing uptake in the poaching on the borders of Botswana and Namibia. And this bull was killed, it seems, just a few days ago, even.
CHASE: Three days.
MCKENZIE: Three days max. And you can smell it all the way from here.
CHASE: Wow, he was spectacular.
MCKENZIE: Look how big he was, it's awful.
CHASE: In fact, not even three days. And there you have a clear evidence with his face hacked away like that. That he met his end with people chopping away at his tusks.
MCKENZIE: And you've grown up in this country, you are from Botswana. What is it like to see these magnificent beasts killed like this?
CHASE: I don't think anybody in the world has seen the number of dead elephants that I've seen over the last two years of the great elephant census. And for me this becomes a lot more personal.
UNKNOWN SOLDIER: We will continue to check point two.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): To fight the war, Botswana has mobilized the army. With more than 700 troops guarding its Northern border. Patrols spend days in the bush on foot, armed with a shoot to kill policy for poachers. They're up against a sophisticated enemy.
MCKENZIE: So they're looking for any sign of poachers. If they come across them they're often highly organized groups of about 12 people. Two of them could be shooters, often. And those shooters are frequently foreign special forces.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): Mike Chase's research proves that if we can't protect elephants they will learn to protect themselves.
MCKENZIE: They can hear him snoring ...
CHASE: Uh-huh, yeah.
MCKENZIE: Is it a he or she?
CHASE: He. He's in his prime, about 30 to 35 years of age. And it's these young bulls that have the propensity to move dramatic distances and map (ph) their transboundary conservation corridors.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): But they're satellite tracking shows that the elephants use incredible levels of intelligence to avoid poaching hotspots in neighboring countries. Retreating to the relative safety within Botswana.
MCKENZIE: It's quite incredible being this close to this animal.
CHASE: It is. It certainly is.
MCKENZIE (voice-over): We called this bull "Promise," for the promise that Mike Chase has made, and perhaps we all should, to save this magnificent species.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[10:52:40]
COSTELLO: Our thanks to David McKenzie for that report. Still to come in the Newsroom, the long forbidden island now much less of a mystery. History made today as passenger flights between the United States and Cuba return to the skies.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:57:05]
COSTELLO: Checking some top stories for you at 57 minutes past. It is history in the skies. For the first time in more than 50 years direct commercial air service from the U.S. to Cuba resumed today. This is a JetBlue flight. It took off from Ft. Lauderdale. Renee Marsh, our correspondent, is on board. That plane, as we understand, just landed in Cuba. So history is made. Renee Marsh of course will be reporting from Cuba a little later on, on CNN today, so stay tuned.
Brazil's suspended President could be ousted in a final Senate vote today. She's accused of mishandling the budget. But she calls her impeachment a power grab by her rivals. Her former Vice President, already the acting President, will take over permanently.
R&B singer, Chris Brown facing charges, assault with a deadly weapon, following a 14-hour impasse with police at his suburban L.A. home. Police say the incident started when a woman called 9-1-1 claiming Brown threatened her with a gun and told her to leave. Brown refused to let police inside until they got a warrant. And he posted videos on social media saying he was being unfairly demonized. He eventually surrendered to police. His lawyer was tweeting overnight the allegations are false.
Right now watches and warnings are in place as a tropical depression takes aim at Florida's Gulf Coast. The system expected to strengthen into a tropical storm later today, and could make landfall Thursday night. In the meantime, North Carolina's outer banks expected to get drenched with several inches of rain. A second tropical depression is sitting off the coast of Cape Hatteras but now moving back out to sea.
This Thursday, CNN Films will premier "Holy Hell." A look into a spiritual group known as Buddhafield. The film takes an up close and personal look at the group's leader who attracted hundreds of followers to his controversial moment -- or movement, rather. Take a look. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNKNOWN WOMAN, BUDDHAFIELD MEMBER: He was contemporary. He wasn't some little old man with a gray beard sitting in a dodi. He was wearing Speedos and Ray Bans, you know? And he was dancing, and he was doing contemporary music.
UNKNOWN WOMAN, BUDDHAFIELD MEMBER: He spoke four or five languages. He was amazingly humorous, witty.
UNKNOWN MAN, BUDDHAFIELD MEMBER: Very playful, like a child. He could do something, I'm like, "oh my God, I can't believe he just did that!" He could dance, he was artistic, he was all those things we all wanted to be.
UNKNOWN MAN, BUDDHAFIELD MEMBER: He was unlike anyone I'd ever met before. He encouraged me to drop all my ideas of what I thought I was supposed to be.
UNKNOWN MAN, BUDDHAFIELD MEMBER: I finally felt like I was on the right path. I attended every meeting, every group outing we would take, and even went to Michelle's weekly, individual hypnotherapy sessions called "cleansings." I really felt like something important was happening in my life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Don't miss this inside look into the Buddhafield's journey for enlightenment and the consequences that followed. "Holy Hell" premiers tomorrow night on CNN, 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
Thank you so much for joining me today, I'm Carol Costello. "AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan starts now.
