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NYPD Officer Shot, Killed In "Unprovoked Attack"; Questions Mount Over Security Of Raqqa And Mosul; Iraqi Troops Closing In On ISIS In Mosul; Trump, Putin Expected To Talk About Syria At G20; Venezuela's Humanitarian Crisis Spills Into Colombia; Thousands of Venezuelans Crossing Bridge Into Colombia. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired July 05, 2017 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:33:02] JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: A New York City Police officer was killed in an unprovoked attack early this morning. The police commissioner is calling it an assassination. The officer, a parent of three, was sitting in her police when a man walked up and opened fire. This is the call for help from the slain officer's partner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OFFICER: 10-85! 10-85! Shots fired! 183. 183. (INAUDIBLE) quick. 10-85! 10-85!

DISPATCHER: What's your location for shots fired.

OFFICER: Give me a (BLEEP) bus! Give me a (BLEEP) bus!

DISPATCHER: What's the location?

OFFICER: 10-85! 10-85! (INAUDIBLE) My partner's shot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Just horrifying. You can hear the officer saying my partner's shot, and she asked for a bus, which is what police call an ambulance in that situation. I want to bring in CNN's Brynn Gingras live from New York City. Brynn, let's start with the crime itself. What have we learned?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, this is where it took place, it was just a few blocks from here when that suspect, who police have identified to us as Alexander Bonds, a 34-year-old man. Police say it was unprovoked, surveillance camera actually shows him just going up to one of those larger NYPD mobile units and firing his gun through the window, striking the officer in the head, and that's when her partner called for help, called for an ambulance. You heard the distress in his voice and how frantic it was of a scene here early this morning.

Now after that happened, we know that that suspect, Bonds, he took off and a nearby NYPD unit was able to track him down about a block away from where we are. And they shot at him when police say he pulled out a gun. A gun was actually found here at the scene, but just a horrifying sequence of events. We know that Bonds, he has a criminal history. He was actually on parole for an incident that happened in 2005, a robbery in Syracuse, New York.

[13:34:56] And again, now, police are just at his house, investigators talking to family members, trying to sort of figure out what went wrong here, why did this officer do this? But you heard the commissioner say this was an assassination, and at this point, this is a community that's devastated. We've been talking to people who say at the precinct, officers are crying. We actually not too long ago, saw a gentleman come up here and hold the hands of a fellow -- a few police officers and they started praying. So, this is certainly something that has shocked everyone, particularly that happening on the 4th of July, and it's certainly happening here in the Bronx -- John.

BERMAN: So talk to us about the slain officer, a veteran, a parent of three?

GINGRAS: Yes, we know that she was a parent of three, she actually had twins and then a 20-year-old. She was on the force for 12 years, 48 years old, John. Life certainly taken too soon.

BERMAN: Just awful. Other officers will remember that smile, and our heart goes out to the family and the officers in her precinct. Brynn Gingras, thanks so much.

Still ahead, the battle for Mosul, Iraqi Forces have the upper hand there and could soon clear the city of all ISIS fighters, but what then? We're going to dig into that, next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:40:32] BERMAN: ISIS is losing its grip on two of their most important strongholds, the City of Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq. They are close to being liberated. But once ISIS is kicked out, the question is, what will fill the void? I want to bring back Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Also joining us, CNN Military Analyst, Major General James "Spider" Marks.

Barbara, I want to start with you. Mosul has been complicated for centuries, you have religious tensions, you have ethnic tensions there. Now, you add to the fact you have millions of displaced people in a city that has been devastated, what's the plan there to go forward?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the key question, I mean, people are coming out of Mosul just in dire straits, plus the people that have already been displaced. So it's going to be the responsibility of Iraqi government to rebuild the city, to out some form of governance back into it and to help these people. And will the Iraqi government be strong enough in shape politically to be able to do all that? That's really the key question. And that's what's fallen apart in the past, the rebuilding, the governance, civilian control in these areas that are racked already with ethnic divisions. You know, will security forces treat people even-handedly, will there be a deduction in the violence?

The U.S. is trying to encourage that, but that's not something that U.S. troops can really do for the Iraqis at this point. The Iraqis are going to have to stand up on their own and do it. But they're going to need help from the State Department and other elements of the U.S. government, help from the Trump administration. Getting rid of ISIS in combat is really just the beginning of the process.

BERMAN: You know, General, you were the Senior Intelligence Officer in Iraq in 2013, you have seen Iraqi civil society all but dissolved. You know, you also -- we all watched what happened after the surge in Iraq and things seemed OK for a while, but then they descended again. How do you keep it from slipping away again?

JAMES MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: As Barbara just described, you know, she has absolutely nailed the challenges in front of the government in Baghdad. If you'll recall, the strategy was always to clear, hold, and build. Clearly, what has happened so far is the clear part in Mosul, the hold and build. That's where the heavy lifting really begins. You have to be able to sustain all of those elements of governance and the ability of this military to take a step back and allow civilian leadership to move forward, not disappear, but be available to provide what we call the "outer ring of security and protection" so that ISIS and other elements cannot slip back in.

This is really the very, very difficult part and there's a long-term engagement. Lots of money. There will continue to be conflict that will take place, there will be attempts at trying to undermine what's taking place in Mosul and in Baghdad in terms of their relevance. And then, the ironic thing moving forward is the Kurdish people are now looking at this as their victory or are the Iraqis looking at this as their greater victory? We could have the greater discussion coming up about the vulcanization of Iraq.

BERMAN: And look, you bring up the issue of the Kurds in Iraq. You know, the Kurds are also at play in Syria as well, Barbara Starr, where Raqqa could be on the verge of falling. Do you have any sense of what the U.S. strategy is there during this next phase of the war?

STARR: Well, I think that U.S. military officials are a bit cautious at this point about it, you know, falling anytime soon. They like to take a more cautious approach to this. They're suggesting it could be some time. But, you know, again, it's the post-combat phase, to paraphrase, and I admit, I'm paraphrasing, President Trump, you know, bombed the heck out of ISIS. That again, is far from the total solution, because already two things, we are seeing ISIS leave Raqqa, they are now down in the Euphrates river valley; much of the ISIS leadership is believed to be there.

They're going to have to go after that, and several of the terror attacks that we have all seen in Europe, sadly in recent weeks, have been from people already living in Europe, not from ISIS fighters necessarily going back to Europe. So again, getting rid of ISIS doesn't end the guerrilla attacks, doesn't end the terror threat.

BERMAN: In general, would there be any utility in a greater U.S. troop presence inside Syria? Would that help with the transition at all? [13:45:02] MARKS: It would if we are narrowing the discussion to going after ISIS and not broadening the discussion in terms of what happens with Assad, and is there a discussion about a regime change, and what does the next regime look like in Damascus? The discussion has to be narrowly defined against our strategy going against ISIS, decreasing the size of that caliphate, making them increasingly irrelevant so that we can have increased pressure from locals that ISIS has to go away. Then, as that atrophies or at least moves to a lesser important part of the strategy, we then have to bring to the table, what are we going to do in Syria long-term, how does our strategy match-up with Russia's strategy in Syria? And that becomes the larger discussion going forward.

BERMAN: And Barbara, quickly, just as we close here, what is the current relationship, because it's going to come up at the G20 between the U.S. and Russia when it comes to Syria.

STARR: Well, this is the problem, Vladimir Putin is not going away, he is backing Assad, and President Trump right now is not calling for Assad necessarily to go. So if the rebels take Raqqa, what happens when the Russian-backed Syrian forces say, hey, wait a minute, this is our country, too?

BERMAN: You know, the fall of Raqqa, even the fall of ISIS in some parts of Syria does not mean the end of problems in Syria by any stretch of the imagination. Barbara Starr, Retired General James "Spider" Marks, thanks so much for being with us. I appreciate it.

MARKS: Thank you, John.

BERMAN: All right. Coming up for us, Venezuela's humanitarian crisis spills over the border. We are live there, where thousands of people are currently screening past in search of food to feed hungry families. We'll take you there next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:50:41] BERMAN: All right. Fresh off U.S. Independence Day, celebrations, Venezuela is now marking 206 years of independence from Spain today but in place of celebrations, clashes unfolded at the national assembly as the South American nation has been facing months of political turmoil with nearly daily protests. Pro and anti- government forces have been on the streets battling.

Venezuela's civil unrest in a humanitarian crisis in the wake of President Maduro's austerity program has left that nation on the brink of collapse and lacking 80 percent of the basic medical supplies needed. Now, across the border in Colombia, tens of thousands of Venezuelans are crossing a bridge. They are desperate for that medicine they need, not to mention food and that is where we find CNN's Leyla Santiago live right there on the border. And, you know, these people fleeing, what are they hoping for?

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're hoping for relief, John. We are in Bogota, Colombia, where tens of thousands of people are crossing this very bridge every single day. Let me sort of walk you through what we're seeing. On this side, you can see that this is where Venezuela is. They're coming in, checking in with immigration, and you'll notice that some of the folks come in with empty suitcases. They are ready to try to find the very goods that they cannot get in Venezuela. You mentioned the medical supplies. That is certainly something that they come here to find.

And then also, John, it's just basic food. This gentleman just walked by. They have basic things like bread, rice, oil, things that every family should have in their home, but they can't find because of the shortages in Venezuela. You know, I talked to one woman who let me go through her suitcase. Let me let you listen to what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANTIAGO: She's crying because she says the insecurity is too much. She doesn't know what she's going to do. She said she would like to leave but she's got a family of four so it's too tough. That's why she crosses here once a week to get her basic needs, her basic supplies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANTIAGO: John, this woman is a lawyer, and she cannot afford, with the wage that she makes, the price controls that the government puts in, to buy those basic things that she had in her suitcase, the cooking oil, the garlic, the crackers for her infant children. And these are the stories that we are hearing over and over. I also met a woman who could not take one more step when she crossed that border into Colombia. She was on the ground, waiting for an ambulance because she can't get the medical supplies in Venezuela -- John.

BERMAN: And we're seeing what looks like, you know, small-scale exodus right behind you as you're speaking, while the people move back and forth. Quickly, you got a chance to visit a hospital. What'd you hear there?

SANTIAGO: We did and those hallways are filled. Hospitals here, we went to the largest public hospital in this region, and they were already having strained resources, financial problems. Now you add to that more people coming in, in need of pretty dire need of medical attention, and the doctors will tell you that it's unsustainable, and they're actually calling this, like, treating patients in a war zone given the injuries and the conditions they're coming in.

BERMAN: All right. Leyla Santiago for us on the border between Venezuela and Colombia. Terrific report. Fascinating perspective. Thank you all for joining us. For our international viewers, Amanpour is next. For our viewers in North America, "NEWSROOM" with Brooke Baldwin starts after a quick break. And for all of you, we want to give you a sneak peek of the upcoming CNN Original Series "The 90s."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 90s is a (INAUDIBLE) Some of my favorite shows up all time aired in that decade.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't talk about the 90s without so many monumental bands. Nirvana gave the record industry a wake-up call.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pressure was building up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gangster rap really starts to take hold.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a hip hop tsunami.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: While 90s represented so much growth, so much progress, we still had so much further to do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rodney King in 1992, exposed some of that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: O.J. was a guy who felt like he was above race.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We, the jury, find the defendant --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Columbine. The bombing in Oklahoma City, the Davidian compound in Waco, something dark was moving in the society.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Something is happening outside. The skies over Baghdad have been illuminated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The promise of a new world order --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: George Bush took the loss to Bill Clinton very hard.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bill Clinton was a President who was turning the corner to a different time. There was scandal, scandal, scandal, scandal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bill Clinton is christened the comeback kid because he was resilient.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bill Gates' game plan was world domination.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You could see the start of this new online culture.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've got mail.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is the equivalent of the industrial revolution. It's the equivalent of electricity. The changes are just so profound.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Here we go. Top of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. We begin with a potential nuclear showdown.