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Trump Attorney: President Is Not Under Investigation; House Intel Wants "Tapes" Trump Tweeted About On May 12; Dems Aims To Halt All Senate Business Over Health Care; Bodies Of 7 Missing Sailors Recovered; Georgia's Congressional Race Most Expensive In History; Bill Cosby's Attorney Talks Mistrial, Next Steps. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired June 18, 2017 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:02] BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But today, Jay Sekulow, a private attorney hired by the president disputed that statement. I'm going to show you part of his interview with CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY SEKULOW, MEMBER OF THE PRESIDENT TRUMP'S LEGAL TEAM: Let me be clear, the president is not under investigation. As James Comey said in his testimony, the president was not the target of investigation on three different occasions. The president is not a subject or target of an investigation.

That tweet was in response to a "Washington Post" story that ran with five unnamed sources without identifying the agencies they represented saying that the special counsel had broadened out his investigation to include the president.

We've had no indication of that. The president was responding to that particular statement from "The Washington Post" again with five anonymous sources and, again, without even identifying the agency. So, no, the president is not under investigation and has not been.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: So the president said "I am under investigation" even though he isn't under investigation?

SEKULOW: That response on social media was in response to "The Washington Post" piece. It's that simple. The president is not under investigation.

TAPPER: Well, I wish it were that simple but, you know, with all due respect, the president said "I am being investigated" in a tweet, and people take his word on that.

SEKULOW: Yes.

TAPPER: And -- but you're his attorney, you're saying that the president when he said that was not accurate?

SEKULOW: No. The president was -- it was 141 characters. There's a limitation on Twitter as we all know, and the president has a very effective utilization of social media. So here's what you have. The president issued that tweet, that social media statement, based on a fake report, a report with no documented sources from "The Washington Post."

And I want to focus on that for one moment. Isn't it ironic that a leak would take place by five anonymous sources saying that the special counsel had increased the scope of their investigation and they don't even identify the agencies upon which those individuals were speaking?

So the president response, I want to be crystal clear here, the president's response was as it related to "The Washington Post" report. He cannot, in a Twitter statement, include all of that in there, but "The Washington Post" statement came out that morning.

TAPPER: So the president --

SEKULOW: So there should be no confusion, no confusion. The president is not under investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: And important to note here, in addition to that "Washington Post" reporting, sources tell CNN that the same Special Counsel Robert Mueller will soon speak to Trump senior intelligence officials and ask them whether the president ever urged them to lift the cloud of the Russia investigation.

Let's discuss the latest on the investigation with our panel, CNN Political Commentators Maria Cardona and Alice Stewart, CNN Legal Analyst Michael Zeldin and also CNN Crime and Justice Producer Shimon Prokupecz.

Michael, let's start with you. The president's attorney as you just heard said that it only appears that the president acknowledged that he was under investigation for obstruction of justice because of the character limit on Twitter. It seems like a simple explanation, but it's not really that simple, right?

MICHAEL ZELDIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it doesn't make sense is what it is. I think that president probably was trying to write, "I feel like I'm under siege." And Sekulow was saying he is not under investigation in a legal sense, that is he's not been notified by the prosecutor that he is a target or a subject of an inquiry.

So you've got things that are -- that seem related, but are a little bit disconnected. The president stating his state of mind and the lawyer for the president saying he's not technically a target of an investigation. So they can be read consistently with one another.

And then we'll see what happens if Muller is bringing people in as has been reported to talk about whether or not the president asked them to intervene as Comey testified to, then the fact though he is under investigation for the possibility of obstruction of justice, because that's the only reason you'd ask those people those types of questions.

SANCHEZ: Right, right. Alice, to you, you helped us kind of interpret some of what Donald Trump has said before. What do you make of this?

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think it's not the first time we've had conflicting or covfefe (ph) statements out of this administration. Look, we had the same thing with the travel ban. Is it a travel ban or is it not a travel ban.

SANCHEZ: Right.

STEWART: Look, we all know that there is an investigation with regard to Russia and this administration. We all know that there is the possibility that President Trump will be part of that.

But, look, here's the reality. An investigation is an investigation. It's not mean that someone has actually done anything wrong. And to date, there's been no hard evidence that there has been any obstruction of justice or any collusion on the part of the Trump campaign.

And I think it's really important for everyone to let the information play out, let the investigation carry out to its full extent, whether it's the Mueller investigation or the House and Senate. And let's not pre-judge, let's not jump to conclusions, and see where things land.

And there's a big part of this that Democrats are really pushing hard and those on the left to try and derail the Trump presidency. But I think it's important not to prejudge and let the facts play out here.

[15:05:05] SANCHEZ: And today we got some brand new tweets from the president. Let's take a look at one of them. Here it is (ph), "The make America great agenda again is doing very well despite the distraction of the witch hunt. Many new jobs, high business enthusiasm." He goes on to continue to tout some of his achievements.

But, Maria, to you, are you just thrilled every time that he tweets something like this out? Because even when he is showing the things that he's done well, he still kind of manages to sneak in witch hunt and he continues to make the discussion about Russia instead of about his agenda.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Absolutely. Let's be very clear. Democrats are not trying to derail the Trump administration and the Trump agenda. Donald Trump is doing that all by himself with his little hands every time he goes on Twitter, which is why his supporters do not want him to go on Twitter, which is why his closest advisers beg him not to go on Twitter every single day. This is of his making.

The White House is so discombobulated right now that they don't know which end is up. The president says something, his lawyer say something else when reports come out. What they should be focusing on and from the president on down and I agree with Alice on this, he should be the first one to say, "Let's let this investigation play out." If there is nothing to hide, then he has nothing to hide.

Every time he screams witch hunt, it makes him look that much guiltier. You already have 60 percent of Americans that believe he did something either illegal or at least unethical. He is at a low of 34 percent in the last Quinnipiac poll of approval rating in his presidency.

He is getting absolutely nothing done despite his proclamations on Twitter that he is incredibly successful. He needs to do that because he knows it's completely the opposite. He should focus on trying to get something done, on focusing on his agenda and let the investigation play out.

SANCHEZ: Now, something that we've kind of lose in this mix that we talked about a lot over the past few weeks since he tweeted about it with the existence of possible tapes of his conversations with James Comey.

I want you to listen to something that the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, said on ABC this morning. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM SCHIFF, (D) RANKING MEMBER, INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: But one way or another we need to get an answer. And if we can't an answer, then I think we need to - we'll ultimately need to subpoena those potential documents to make sure that we have them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Shimon, to you, have we heard anything new about the possible existence of tapes? I mean, what happens if Congress subpoenas something that doesn't exist?

SHIMON PROCUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE PRODUCER: Then it doesn't exist. And, you know, they'll just get a letter or the White House may say that this doesn't exist. Potentially, they would have to if Congress went in that direction.

But keep in mind also, the Department of Justice through the special counsel could potentially -- or the special counsel through the Department of Justice, they could subpoena, you know, any communications.

But bigger than that, I think as part of this investigation just in the last few weeks people who worked on the campaign have been told not to delete messages, not to delete e-mails.

SANCHEZ: Right.

PROKUPECZ: So you still -- you're going to have potentially the special counsel subpoenaing all sorts of records if, if he does head in the direction of an obstruction investigation.

If he doesn't, you know, he could talk to Coats, the head of DNI, and the head of the NSA, Rogers, and determine perhaps maybe there isn't a case here for obstruction and put that to the side and just concentrate on, you know, what's sort of been consuming this country is the Russian whether the meddling and whether there was any collusion on the part of the Trump campaign.

So that is probably the more important thing for the special counsel to look at, and they can potentially subpoena and request records for almost anything if it feels -- if they feel it would help in their investigation.

SANCHEZ: I want to get to you, Alice, because this is kind of is a recurring theme here, this mixed messaging. We wouldn't be having this conversation about tapes had the president not tweeted about them.

We've gotten confusion as to whether or not he's actually under investigation, his lawyers seemingly contradicting him. We've gotten covfefe from the president's Twitter account. Are you among those that wish that someone would just take his phone away or at least have a conversation with him about consistent messaging?

STEWART: Absolutely. Absolutely. I think that his Twitter account should be handled by his communications team and that way they would be able to stay on offense and not on defense.

And what they do, they've had a great couple of weeks with regard to pushing out their legislative agenda, with regard to infrastructure and jobs and then Friday with rolling back the concessions on the part of the Obama administration with regard to travel and trade in Cuba.

These are important issues and messages that they should be driving, instead the president will tweet something out and they spend all their time pushing back and responding to questions on that.

[15:10:02] So more than anything, especially now we're getting into the legal realm and the legal arena, it's important for him to stay on message because what could possibly happen is the cover up or the tweets about something could be much worse than the original possible obstruction of justice in this case, and they need to be extremely careful.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. We're also getting mixed messages from Republicans about something else. Here's Senator Marco Rubio on "State of the Union" today reacting to some of the president's acquisitions of a witch hunt, listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: It's not a witch hunt. You believe in the integrity of the investigation.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R) FLORIDA: I do because I believe in Bob Mueller's record of serving our country. If there's ever any evidence to the contrary, then obviously that may change. But I don't anticipate that being the case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Maria, how do Democrats benefit from Republicans saying different things about this investigation, and the special counsel? Newt Gingrich called Mueller the tip of the deep state spear trying to undo the president's agenda.

CARDONA: Yeah. I think this is a really important point, Boris, and I'm glad Marco Rubio and some other Republicans have underscored that they do have confidence in Mueller and about his integrity and his career and that it's unimpeachable.

And the reason why that's important is because we have gotten an inkling more than an inkling from Donald Trump supporters, including Newt Gingrich as well as others that he could be, he, Donald Trump, could be on the verge of wanting to fire Mueller.

And we all know that that would be a complete disaster. It would be a disaster for the White House. It would be a disaster for the investigation. It would be really bad for this country.

But I think that's a really important point that Republicans in Congress who are supporters of this president are really saying to him under no uncertain terms, "You better not be thinking about Bob Mueller, because -- about firing the special counsel, because that will be the worst thing that you can embark on in this, you know, really bad situation that you're in. You're just going to make it all that much worse."

And I also think it's a signal to this administration and to this president, especially, that he needs to start taking the Russia investigation much more seriously than he has. He is only concerned as to whether he himself is under investigation, under investigation for obstruction of justice, that's why he was harassing Comey into telling him that he was not under investigation, which got him into trouble to begin with and now it's going to be the reason why he is under investigation for obstruction of justice.

He only cares about himself seemingly, not about how one of our worst adversaries meddled into our election, which should be the one thing that is of most concern to him as it is of real concern to all Americans.

SANCHEZ: We still have a ton more questions to get to. Alice and Maria, stick around. Michael and Shimon, thank you so much for the time this Sunday.

STEWART: Thank you so much.

SANCHEZ: Next, Democrats are pulling out all the stops to throw a wrench in the GOP's new health care bill, details on their plan to stop business on Capitol Hill this week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:17:20] SANCHEZ: Business in the Senate could come to a screeching halt this week. Democrats are considering a dramatic shutdown to pressure Republicans to open up the process surrounding the health care bill.

Democrats are upset the GOP is working to craft the bill behind closed doors seemingly crowded in secrecy. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer sent a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell asking for an all senators meeting.

CNN's Ryan Nobles joins us now from Washington. So, Ryan, how would the Democrats actually go about slowing down Senate business?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, the Democratic senators are threatening to essentially grind Senate business to a halt unless they get what they want, which is a fair and open vetting of the new version of the health care reform bill and they want to make it hard for Republicans to schedule votes on -- even bills that are considered non controversial.

This could keep nominees from the Trump administration from getting confirmed and they would create a glacial place -- pace of work in the Senate in a body that is already notoriously slow.

Now, among the techniques they may employ, preventing committees from conducting routine business, even stopping committees from having extended hearings when the Senate is in session.

Now, the goal would be to force Republicans to open debate on the health care bill, which at this point has been done behind closed doors. All Democrats and even quite a few Republicans have yet to see what is in this new bill despite the fact that Republican leadership has promised to vote before the July 4th holiday.

Now this morning on "State of the Union," Senator Bernie Sanders who has a powerful voice, he is an independent, but caucuses with the Democrats, endorsed this move.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I) VERMONT: Jake, I think that the Democrats of the Congress should do everything possible, A, to defeat that legislation, which is, again, to my mind unspeakable. How do you throw 23 million people off of health insurance and at the same piece of legislation give tax breaks to the wealthiest folks in this country? That has got to be defeated.

But second of all, as you've indicated, we have an insane process, insane. Here you have legislation which deals with one-sixth of the American economy, that's the health care situation. And there are Republicans who haven't even seen this legislation, and certainly no member in the Democratic caucus has.

What kind of process is it that when you deal with an issue that impacts tens of millions of people in this country, Republicans don't even have the guts to allow it to go to a committee where we can have an open hearing, where questions could be asked.

It seems to me that what they want to do, because this legislation is so bad, is keep it secret, keep it hidden, and in the last possible second rush it before the Senate and get a vote within a few hours. That is beyond belief.

[15:20:06] TAPPER: So I'm going to take that, unless you disagree, as a confirmation that Senate Democrats you've -- you're in favor of Senate Democrats bringing the chambers business to a halt to pry open.

SANDERS: I am in favor of the American people and members of Congress doing everything that we can to defeat that horrific piece of legislation that will hurt tens and tens of millions of people in our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: Well, this is by no means that done deal. Democrats would prefer not to go this route, especially in the wake of the unity display at the congressional baseball game after the shooting at the Republican baseball practice last week.

But as you pointed, Boris, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, he wants a meeting of all senators at the beginning of next week to hash out their differences. He wants to hold this meeting in the old Senate room, the old Senate chamber, which is largely a ceremonial building. In fact, the only business that really takes place in there on Capitol Hill are tours.

He hopes to make this process more bipartisan, but at the end of the day, the Republicans have the votes. So this is really a symbolic and public relations stunt by Democrats so they're hoping they can put pressure on the Republicans to come to the table. At this point, Boris Republicans don't appear to be willing to do so. We'll have to see what next week brings.

SANCHEZ: And they are under a bit of a time crash with Mitch McConnell reportedly telling the president they're going to vote on this by July 4th. Ryan Nobles, thank you so much from Washington.

The search for seven missing sailors ends in tragedy after the USS Fitzgerald collided with a containership. Next, what could have happened in those final moments before the collision? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:25:51] SANCHEZ: An update now to a tragic story that we've been following all weekend. The U.S. Navy says it recovered the bodies of seven sailors missing since an American destroyer and a merchant ship collided off the coast of Japan.

Their bodies were found in flooded sleeping compartments in the USS Fitzgerald. The commander of the navy's Seventh Fleet says the ship suffered significant damage, but that "heroic" efforts by the crew prevented the destroyer from sinking.

CNN's Alexander Field is in Yokosuka, Japan that serves as the home base of the USS Fitzgerald. Alex?

ALEXANDER FIELD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Boris, they're holding on to hope here at the U.S. Navel Base at Yokosuka as the search went on, on the water and also by air. But that search came to an end once the ship arrived back at the port and divers were sent down into the flooded compartments of a U.S. warship that inexplicable collided with a containership some three times its size.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD (voice-over): A search for seven sailors by water and by air comes to an end after bodies of missing crew members are found still on board a U.S. destroyer that's now back at port.

JOSEPH AUCOIN, VICE ADMIRAL, COMMANDER OF THE U.S. SEVENTH FLEET: We have found a number of the remains of a number of our missing shipmates and our deepest sympathies to go out to the families of those shipmates.

FIELD (voice-over): At the U.S. Naval Base in Yokosuka, Japan, divers found the sailors in the flooded compartments of the USS Fitzgerald. The vessel had been out on a routine operation when it collided with a Philippines containership and started taking on water.

(on camera): The destroyer holds a crew of about 300 people. The crash happened in the early morning hours when many of them would have been asleep. Seven service members were still missing by the time the destroyer got back here to the port. Its starboard side smashed in, water still flowing from it.

AUCOIN: The significant part of the crew was sleeping. Two compartments that housed 116 of the crew are in those compartments and it was a significant impact to the side of the ship and you can't see most of the damage.

The damage is mostly underneath the water line and it's a large gash near the keel of the ship. And so that the water flow was tremendous and so there wasn't a lot of time in those spaces that were open to the sea. The ship is still listing and so they had to fight the ship to keep it above the surface.

FIELD (voice-over): The crew has credited with keeping the ship from sinking and getting it back to port. The navy has announced an investigation into what went wrong, how one of its own destroyers could collide with a massive container ship in the heavily traffic highly regulated waters of Japan's coast.

Is the commander stable enough to answer any questions at this point?

AUCOIN: He is -- he was at medevac. His cabin was destroyed. He is lucky to be alive and he's at the hospital right now. He's undergoing treatment, but he's not available for questions.

FIELD (voice-over): The U.S. Coast Guard will lead a separate investigation into the casualties and the painful question of why some sailors never made it out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD: The process of finding answers about what went wrong, how these two massive ships could have collided could be a long one. You heard there that the navy has called for its own investigation, but there could be additional investigations carried out by the coast guard at the same time. Everyone working to try and determine how these two ships could have been put on a path toward collision. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Alexandra Field reporting from Japan. Thank you. And, of course, our hearts, and thoughts, and prayers go out to the families of those servicemen. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[15:33:44] W. KAMAU BELL, "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA" HOST: One thing I felt is that people are suspicious of me and this camera crew rolling through here, you know, because I know there's been a lot of news people rolling through here and just take out the image of Beattyville, the poorest white town in the country, you know. (Inaudible) have been out there, but people are suspicious like you talk about that, what are your thoughts on that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Its home. It's no matter what we have or what we don't have, it's always going to be home. But in all honesty, in a small community like us just being going downhill for 40 years, a lot of people, they draw money from the government, no jobs leads to no money, which leads to depression, which leads to drugs or alcohol.

BELL: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, we just have 35 percent of our high school kids' graduates, so young people leave to find something to do.

BELL: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want young people to stay. I want to find jobs and I want to be with their families just like I want my children to be with me. I ran for mayor back in 2010.

BELL: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I got beat by just a handful of votes.

BELL: Well, that's all you got is a handful of votes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. Listen, I'm proud of who I am. I'm proud of my mother. She has a sixth grade education. She's cooked these home cooked meals.

BELL: Absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is taking care of me for 33 years and she's still taking care of me.

BELL: Yeah. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm proud to be from Beattyville and I want to help the community. That's what a small town is about, helping everybody.

BELL: Do you feel like if you're running for mayor that maybe there's a target on you now, that people kind of run your name down?

[15:35:03] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't care how big a target is on my back. I'm guns loaded. I'm ready to come out.

BELL: And I hear when you say guns loaded, you actually mean that there's probably some guns you could load.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you know how it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back to the "CNN Newsroom." It may broke the record for the most expensive House race in history and that was weeks ago. Georgia 's sixth congressional district race goes to a runoff this Tuesday and Democrats will finally see if the outcome is what they've been hoping for, a referendum on President Trump.

Just this past week, a new ad from Democrat Jon Ossoff takes on critics of his national security credentials. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON OSSOFF, (D) NOMINEE FOR GEORGIA'S SIXTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: Let's put this to rest once and for all. I want to see ISIS destroyed. As an investigative filmmaker, I helped to expose atrocities committed by ISIS against women and girls. They're evil. No, we have to stop them. That's why I'll work to make sure our military and intelligence community have every tool they need to fight terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Now, that ad was partly in response to this from the national Republican congressional committee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Infiltrating America and using Syrians to do it. The FBI warned we can't safely screen every Syrian, yet Jon Ossoff's liberal party bosses brought 10,000 Syrian refugees to America. With our safety at risk, Jon Ossoff is just too risky.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

SANCHEZ: Republicans want to hold on to that district, Democrats want to flip it. Tuesday's runoff election will give both parties a small glimpse at a possible playbook for how to run elections in the Trump era and could for shadow 2018.

So let's bring our political panel to talk more about this, Maria Cardona and Alice Stewart.

Maria, lets start with you. The Democrats pumping more than $23 million into this campaign. It's now the most expensive House race ever. Ultimately, though, this is just one seat. What's the significance here?

CARDONA: Well, the significance, Boris, is that the fact that we're even talking about Georgia's sixth district is already a win for Democrats. There is no way we should even be talking about this. There is no way that this district should even be on the radar screen, Boris. This is a district that has been held by Republicans for 37 years. It was new Gingrich's old district. Tom Price was the last one to win it and he won it by more than 24 points.

So, again, the fact that we're even having this political panel with this topic as the topic of conversation is a win for Democrats because it mirrors the kind of chaos that is happening in Washington and how it is impacting local races and how Democrats are taking advantage of the concern and how scared constituents are that Republicans are following Trump in lockstep of his dangerous agenda.

So, hopefully, the Democrat will win. But even if he doesn't, I think it has already been a win for Democrats and had shown us that we can make other districts much more competitive. There are 71 other districts that are much more competitive than this one, Boris. So going into 2018, I think that's a big concern for Republicans.

SANCHEZ: Alice, we have to mention, you're actually from this congressional district. Do you agree with Maria the fact that this one race has become such a hot topic and that so much money has been put into it, a good sign for Democrats?

STEWART: I agree with the fact that it is certainly in the national spotlight. I do take exception, Boris, to my good friend Maria, with her comment about the Republicans in this race running lockstep with Donald Trump.

Look, Karen Handel won the primary by promising the constituents of this district that she would be a traditional conservative Republican and be a check and balance to Donald Trump, not a rubberstamp. Those who are rubberstamps didn't fare quite as well.

Look, this is the largest money race in congressional history. Important to note, Jon Ossoff, 95 percent of his donations have come from out of state, largely from California. Many Democrats and those on the left think this is their Scott Brown moment. They're going to take a very traditional Republican district and flip it to someone like Jon Ossoff.

The problem is -- well, these are high education, high propensity voters in this district. I know these are hard working high educated voters. They're doing their homework. Jon Ossoff is out there talking about being a moderate candidate, but they look at his record.

He is a stock and trade liberal. He is someone that supports funding for Planned Parenthood. He supports funding for the minimum wage and he thinks climate change is going to lead to a worldwide catastrophe.

These are not issues that resonates with people in that district. And I can assure you that come Tuesday we're going to see a large turnout for Karen Handel because she represents the large propensity of Republican voters in that area.

CARDONA: You know, its interesting, Boris, that Alice mentioned that a lot of the money that is being raised by Jon Ossoff is coming out of state.

[15:40:04] A hell of a lot of money that's being raised by Karen Handel is coming out state, too, because Republicans understand how important this race is, and how much of a slap in the face it would be to them nationally if Democrats win.

And it's also interesting that the three issues that my good friend Alice mentioned are actually three issues that most Americans agree with Jon Ossoff on and, especially, the moderates, the highly educated voters that are in that district agree with him as well. It's why this district has become a true tossup.

If that wasn't the case, Karen Handel would be running away with this as she should be if Republicans would work in such trouble nationally as they are because of Donald Trump being in the White House.

SANCHEZ: Alice, Donald Trump won this district only by about two percentage points. So, is there really a reason for Republicans to worry in the long run or is this just a certain place in which his message doesn't really play well?

STEWART: No. I -- like many in that district and those who are watching this race on the conservative side are confident that the voters will come out. They want conservative values represented in their district in Washington.

Look, Marco Rubio won this district in 2016. Mitt Romney won in the last election, so this is a long history of Republicans voting -- turning out on Election Day for this specific seat.

And, look, as Maria had said, this is -- look, we formerly had -- we have Tom Price, Johnny Isakson, Newt Gingrich, a very conservative leaders that people in this district want to see their values represented in Washington.

And what we're going to see now, the early voting data in the polls have indicated that we're seeing record number of turnouts similar to 2016, which will be a good sign for Karen Handel. And this is generally going to be a high propensity turnout election, which means that those who voted in several previous elections will come out.

And while Ossoff is getting a lot of media attention, certainly the left-leaning, "Atlanta Journal Constitution," has been extremely favorable to him. Look, it all matters who comes out on the Election Day and I have every confidence in the conservative voters and (inaudible). CARDONA: I agree with Alice that it will all be about turnouts. So, Democrats and independents and people worried about Trump in the White House, get out and vote.

SANCHEZ: Alice and Maria, we are out of time, but thank you, ladies, so much for joining us this weekend.

CARDONA: Thank you, Boris.

STEWART: Thanks Boris.

SANCHEZ: Coming up, the murder rate is skyrocketing in some inner cities. Now, many in those communities are looking to President Trump for help and asking, "Is the President keeping his contract with black America?"

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:46:50] SANCHEZ: Bills Cosby's attorney is preparing for a retrial after the jury deadlocked in the comedian's sexual offense trial. In the aftermath of yesterday's decision, Attorney Brian McMonagle sat down with CNN for an exclusive interview. He talked to our Jean Casarez about why he's concerned for Bill Cosby's health and his thoughts on the mistrial.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN MCMONAGLE, BILL COSBY'S ATTORNEY: I had been greatly concerned for his health. I don't know that I'll ever see 79, but if I do, I don't know that I could survive what he survived this week.

I've been trying cases for 30 years, and it was difficult for me and I have no idea how he managed to sit in a room and endure while strangers were deciding his destiny and his fate. I think it did take a tremendous toll on him.

Any time you start a trial and end a trial with your client being presumed innocent, it can't be a loss. Having said that, there are no winners here. We tried the case for a week. The jury deliberated for 50-some hours without a verdict. But, you know, as I've said many times before, as long as you can leave that courtroom with your client presumed innocent as he began, then I'm satisfied.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: That was a one on one exclusive interview with CNN's Jean Casarez. Thank you, Jean. We should mention the prosecution does plan to retrial Bill Cosby within the next few months.

We have much more ahead, but first, check out our latest installation of CNN "Future Tense."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ (voice-over): Robo cop is no longer just a character in a movie. This robot just joined the Dubai Police Force. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope you don't mind.

KHALID AL RAZOOQI, DIRECTOR GENERAL OF SMART SERVICE DUBAI POLICE FORCE: Well, it has a specific intelligence system. It can interact with the people. Most of the countries, people -- they afraid dealing with the police officers, but as you know, this kind of tools can remove all kinds of walls between the human beings and the police.

SANCHEZ (voice-over): The robot won't carry a gun and can't make arrests, but people can use its touch screen to pay tickets and report crimes. And there are plans for the next generation of robo cop to identify wanted people as well. But security is a concern, especially when it comes to the collection of personal information.

MOHAMAD AMIN HASBINI, SENIOR CYBER SECURITY EXPERT, KASPERSKY LAB: We would love to believe that government and big organizations are protecting our personal data, even though we've seen biometric solutions being bypassed with a picture, that's definitely something to worry about.

SANCHEZ (voice-over): Despite those worries, the Dubai Police Force is moving ahead with plans to put more robo cops alongside human officers.

AL RAZOOQI: We want to be the smartest police force in the world.

SANCHEZ (voice-over): Its goal is for 25 percent of its officers to be robots by 2030.

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SANCHEZ: For more on this and other tech news, visit our website, cnn.com/tech. We'll be right back.

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[15:54:08] SANCHEZ: We're only about six months end of the year and the City of Baltimore has already reached record homicide levels with an average of one murder per day. And some people there are recalling what President Donald Trump said when he asked for the vote of the inner city.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You're living in poverty. Your schools are no good. You have no jobs. 58 percent of your youth is unemployed. What the hell do you have to lose?

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SANCHEZ: Now, many of the black communities say they need President Trump to live up to his promise to help them. Victor Blackwell has more.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you're in this neighborhood, you're guaranteed to hear at least one shot.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This time, the shot was just a few doors away. 37-year-old Charmaine Wilson was killed this week.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gun her down right in front of her children.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): One of six people shot to death over a matter of hours Monday night into Tuesday in Baltimore.

[15:55:06] These two are so afraid of retaliation, they won't show their face. According to the "Baltimore Sun," there have been more than 150 homicides in Baltimore so far this year. It's the highest rate in its history. These communities and the local leaders they've elected are desperate for a solution, and President Donald Trump says he has it.

TRUMP: I will restore law and order to our country.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): As a candidate, Donald Trump promised to make inner cities safer, highlighting Baltimore often.

TRUMP: These killings on an hourly basis virtually in places like Baltimore.

Baltimore.

Young Americans in Baltimore.

We'll get rid of the crime. You'll be able to walk down the street without getting shot. We'll straighten it out.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): He had promise to straighten it out and make our communities safe again was at the center of Trump's proposed new deal for black America, calling safety a civil right and crime reduction a necessity.

Kimberly Lagree is a minister and community activist in Baltimore and she agrees with the president's goals, but as the body count grows in her community, Lagree wonders what he's going to do to achieve it and when.

REV. KIMBERLY LAGREE, BALTIMORE COMMUNITY ACTIVIST: I think that it sounds great on paper, but when and how will we really receive the benefits from some of these things.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): One approach that Lagree says benefits Baltimore now, community collaboration.

LAGREE: About 50-plus officers that are specifically designated to be in the community. They don't, you know, answer, you know, crime calls or things like that. They build relationships right here. They build relationships.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): Those relationships are often crucial in resolving disputes before they turn violent and Lagree fears they are in jeopardy. Because despite President Trump's proposal to invest more in law enforcement overall, the Justice Department's 2018 budget request slashes its community oriented police and workforce by around 45 percent. And the Baltimore City official tells CNN that federal grants the city relied upon to fund its community policing squad have ended.

LAGREE: That 50-plus platoon of officers that are dedicated to community is cut down to nine. So what were supposed to happen with safer communities? I'm not sure. But community policing is something that our urban communities need, especially considering some of the things that's happened with the police relations post Freddie Gray here in Baltimore, something like that was the extensile.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): Guns are not the only dangers on the streets, the heroin epidemic has ruined life and blinded neighborhood here.

JEFF SESSIONS, ATTORNEY GENERAL: We know that drugs and crime go hand in hand. They just do. The facts prove that so.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): And Attorney General Jeff Sessions believes that going after the drug dealers will reduce shooting deaths.

SESSIONS: Going forward, I have empowered our prosecutors to charge and pursue the most serious offense as I believe the law requires most serious readily provable offense.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): Now the Trump administration has overturned Obama era policies that reserved its most severe drug related sentences for high-level and violent traffickers.

JAKE OLIVER, BALTIMORE AFRO-AMERICAN NEWSPAPER CEO: You can't address crime by locking people, all people, up.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): Jake Oliver is CEO of the "Afro-American Newspaper", published in Baltimore for 125 years.

OLIVER: I think they are taking a sledgehammer to a problem that needs to be a lot more sensitive and it being addressed. You just can't eliminate something by storming it out. And the program that his attorney general has produced is an insult.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): Catherine Pugh is Baltimore's mayor.

MAYOR CATHERINE PUGH, BALTIMORE: The focus by the Justice Department on reducing crime is a major one for all urban cities across this nation that are experiencing spikes in crime as we are.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): She's balancing the demands of the crisis with the restraints of the budget and appreciates any investment.

PUGH: So to the extent that we're looking at investing in police departments by providing them with the technology and so forth that they need to help us continue to deal with this particular problem is major for most urban cities.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): But Mayor Pugh said an investment in law enforcement alone will not make Baltimore safer.

PUGH: We hope that what the administration understands is that we're going to improve crime in neighborhoods and communities. That means investment in neighborhoods and communities. That means fixing neighborhoods that have been broken. That means creating jobs so that we can reduce unemployment.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): Back on Gertrude Street, neighbors are comforting Charmaine's eight children and recounting the story of one of Baltimore's latest shooting victims, at least until the next shots are fired.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every night this is an ongoing thing. It never ceases.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm just over this whole city.

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SANCHEZ: Our thanks to Victor Blackwell for that report. The next hour of "CNN Newsroom" starts right now.

[16:00:07] Hey, there, I'm Boris Sanchez in for Fredricka Whitfield. Thank you so much for joining us on this Sunday afternoon.