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U.S.'s Top-2 Intelligence Positions Are Now Vacant; Trump: "Never Been a Fan" of U.S./South Korea Military Exercises; WAPO: El Paso Suspect Told Police He was Targeting "Mexicans"; Walmart Pulls Violent Game Displays but Not Guns; NRA Member on Guns: "Enough is Enough". Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired August 09, 2019 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: So, Bob Baer, let's talk to you, former CIA operative and CNN intelligence and security analyst.
And let me play this first. Just a week ago, Sue Gordon said this about President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUE GORDON, FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: The president is actually a really great motivator of change in intelligence. This is a man who wants to dig. He wants to take action.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: But two sources tell CNN Gordon wasn't viewed as a Trump loyalist. What do you think of that?
BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE & SECURITY ANALYST: It's not a question of being a loyalist, Brooke. It's a question of staying out of the public and not disagreeing with the president.
What he wants is a yes man in that job. It's very important for him because that -- the DNI takes care of national intelligence estimates.
For instance, if the Russians were to go after us, our elections in 2020, he wants a DNI that will not make -- will not go public with this and won't spill the facts on this.
He basically wants somebody that defers to authority and Admiral Maguire is the one to do it.
BALDWIN: He's a yes man. You mentioned Russian meddling. We heard from Robert Mueller that Russia is meddling as he speaks. Talk to me about the significance of the sensitivity of this job and why you need somebody who maybe isn't just loyal.
BAER: Well, what Trump does, he believes that the Intelligence Committee is part of the Deep State, that they're against him. He doesn't like the Intelligence Community, anybody in it.
Maguire is not coming from that. He's coming from the military. He will take orders. He will do what the president tells him to and he'll stay out of public. All those factors were very important, I'm sure, in the choice.
He would prefer Ratcliffe, but there was no way he was going to get through the Senate, so this is his best second choice. I think he is a yes man.
BALDWIN: I want to ask you also, Bob, today, President Trump talked about North Korea being upset over military exercise by the U.S. and South Korea. Here he was.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, he wasn't happy with the test, the war games, the war games on the other side with the United States.
As you know, I've never liked it either. I've never liked it. I've never been a fan. You know why? I don't like paying for it. We should be reimbursed for it. I told that to South Korea. But I don't like it either, but I said do this, because this is a big test. This was a turnover of various areas to South Korea. I like that. Because that's what should happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: What do you think?
BAER: Well, Kim Jong-Un has no intention, as we talked about over and over, giving up his missiles or his nuclear bombs. But what this president needs going into 2020 making it look like we're getting sort of an agreement.
That was one of the conditions in North Korea that we gave up joint exercises with South Korea. Our military was totally against that. We have to prepare for war there all the time.
So what he's trying to do is sweep these problems under the carpet, make them go away until he gets to the election.
BALDWIN: Not to mention the U.S. has been working side by side with Iraq and the Republic of Korea for years in that part of the world.
BAER: Of course.
BALDWIN: Bob Baer, thank you very much.
As the NRA warns the president not to support background checks, an NRA member says she has had enough and will join me live.
Plus, news in on the El Paso suspect. A new report says he told police he was targeting, quote, "Mexicans." We'll go right back to El Paso, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [14:38:23] BALDWIN: Breaking news from El Paso. The "Washington Post" is reporting that the suspect in the mass shooting there told police he was targeting Mexicans.
Let's go straight to Ed Lavandera, in El Paso.
Ed, tell me more of what you know. This is coming out of an arrest affidavit?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It was one of the initial and early court documents filed in this case. In this document, it kind of alludes to much of what we already know in a picture that has been painted in our reporting over the last few days.
But this arrest warrant affidavit explicitly states that the gunman, 21-year-old Patrick Crusius, had confessed he came here to El Paso to kill, quote, "Mexicans."
And then he was arrested not far from where we're standing, up the road, and he was approached by officers and he got out of his car raising his hands declaring, "I'm the shooter." These are new details emerging in these court documents.
We have reported throughout the week from El Paso police officials that the look in the gunman's eyes was stone cold. "Nothing short of evil," is the way it was described to us in our earlier reporting this week.
This really captures the intensity of that moment in the initial moments after this attack here at this Walmart in El Paso.
BALDWIN: Ed, thank you. Ed Lavandera, again, for us in El Paso, Texas.
[14:39:50] Mixed signals out of Congress on what action will be taken on guns, but one NRA member says enough is enough. She joins me live, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Walmart is announcing it is temporarily removing advertising displays for violent video games following the recent mass shootings. Not guns or the violent video games themselves. They're still to be sold.
The CEO of Walmart, which is one of the largest gun retailers, issued a statement vowing a, quote, "thoughtful and deliberate response to the shootings."
Walmart is no stranger to this type of violence. Besides the El Paso shooting Saturday and the Mississippi shooting on Tuesday, a random search turns up more Walmart shootings than we have to mention.
Here are a couple. Eight injured at Walmart in Pennsylvania after shooting in checkout lines. Man accused of randomly killing three people at Walmart captured. Teens involved in central Texas Walmart shooting identified. Two men arrested in Great Falls for Walmart shooting. And just from last year, a 7-year-old killed in Texas Walmart shooting.
[14:45:15] It should be said, obviously, Walmart isn't alone in these sorts of shootings, but it is one of the world's largest gun and ammunition retailers.
So is the temporary removal of violent video game displays a, quote, "thoughtful and deliberate response" on mass shootings on Walmart's part?
I want to bring in Republican strategist and CNN political commentator, Alice Stewart, who has written the new opinion piece called "NRA Member, Enough is Enough, Something Has to Change." Erika Lamb is here. She is the former communication director for Every Town for Gun Safety and is now the vice president for social impact strategy for Comedy Central.
Ladies, thank you.
ERIKA LAMB, VICE PRESIDENT FOR SOCIAL IMPACT STRATEGY, COMEDY CENTRAL: Thank you.
BALDWIN: Before we get to Walmart, you're a Mexican-American from El Paso. You just reacted viscerally to the news that the gun suspect in El Paso targeted Mexicans. What did you just say to me?
LAMB: I am Mexican-American and my heart breaks continuously to hear such hate and vitriol.
But what I want to say about El Paso and the 915 is that it is so strong. It is so diverse and beautiful and it's a bi-national community that it will prevail.
And this was an outsider who came in and attacked us. I know this community is what America should be more like, not less like.
So this community will be strong and we will survive and we will stand up for ourselves.
BALDWIN: So what about the news about Walmart yanking the violent video game displays.
LAMB: I happen to work for another brand. I work for Comedy Central and my mission is to use our content in entertainment to drive our audience towards change.
I've been really proud this week to work with a show that was on yesterday that's about Latino representation. Even beyond this. That we should not think of Latinos as just drug dealers and rapists.
And the shooting in El Paso really gave him and us at Comedy Central an opportunity to say enough is enough.
BALDWIN: What about Walmart? LAMB: You know, I think that all of us, companies and individuals,
and political leaders, need to take action to end this crisis of gun violence that we're all in.
BALDWIN: OK.
To you, my friend, because you are a card-carrying member of the NRA.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: You just said something about this changed something in you. Why?
ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's enough is enough. It gets to the point to where you have seen this time after time after time and you have to say, when are we going to do something to put an end to this.
Look, yes, I am an NRA member. I support Second Amendment rights. I support the right to bear arms. I think anyone who wants to own a gun should have a gun if you pass the proper background check.
BALDWIN: Are you in favor of that?
STEWART: I'm in favor of background checks. But we do need to make sure that we are using precautions, because we can't just look at universal background check as the end all and be all. Universal background checks are not universal. Criminals that want a gun will get a gun.
We have to make sure when we're talking about this legislation that we protect the Second Amendment rights while we're working to protect Americans.
Look, what I do think, we will see some change this time. The president has been having communications with Republicans and Democrats as well as the NRA.
The red flag laws I believe is a good first step. We can't talk about comprehensive measures when we have real short-term solutions right in front of our face.
The red flag laws would allow police and family members to seek protections from the court and prevent people from owning guns that are a threat to themselves or others, that have a mental illness or are an imminent danger. That's a good first step.
The background checks are good as well, but we need to make sure we're not infringing on Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.
BALDWIN: Just so I have you on the record because I heard you say enough is enough, and you're not burning your NRA card. But you would support background checks as long as it, of course, didn't infringe upon the Second Amendment rights of Americans. What about banning the sale on assault rifles? Would you support that?
STEWART: Here's what we need --
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: The majority of Americans do.
STEWART: They do. Six in 10 support that and nine in 10 support background checks. The overwhelming majority of Americans do want to see change.
With the ban, the key is not to take all guns out of the hands of some people, not some guns out of the hands of all people. That is the critical component, making sure people that want to own guns that are law abiding citizens do have access to them.
[14:50:03] With these, the A.R. 15 is classified as an assault weapon. Those are the most popular rifles out there. Many Americans use them for their protection.
We need to make sure we protect the rights for those that want to have them, that pass all the clearances can have them. So that is one -- I think, is the steepest hurdle to climb right now. There are more short-term fixes that are doable.
BALDWIN: So here -- this is someone, Erica, who you need on your side.
LAMB: Absolutely. I'm so happy. Alice and I have been talking about how this is not a part of an issue. This is a humanitarian issue.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: It's mighty political.
LAMB: The bullet doesn't ask you for your party designation before it hits. This is one of those moments where we're coming together to see, we have to do something. We have to disarm hate.
We've had enough of these events where people are targeted because of their identity, because of their religion, because of their race, because of who they love. Pulse, Charleston, El Paso, where we have to disarm hate.
And also in the everyday gun violence that we see. More than 100 people are killed every day.
So we have to start somewhere and Alice has identified some places where gun owners and card-carrying NRA members agree.
(CROSSTALK)
LAMB: It's not about being anti-gun. It's about being anti-gun violent.
STEWART: Right. It's not about gun control. It's about crime control and gun violence control and putting it into that. And Republicans and Democrats are on the same page. They need to just
get out of their little burrows and have this conversation and get it done.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: If this could be a microcosm of what we could see in Washington.
(CROSSTALK)
LAMB: -- the political rhetoric and how it emboldens hate. So both those things. End hate and disarm the haters.
BALDWIN: Erica and Alice.
Again, read Alice's opinion piece. Go to CNN.com/opinion.
Ladies, thank you both very, very much.
LAMB: Thank you.
BALDWIN: Right now, anger over a White House photo op. What we have learned about this photograph of the president and the first lady posing and smiling with a baby who lost both of his parents to the mass shooting in El Paso.
Plus, we are hearing from more children who were left alone without their parents as the president defends those massive ICE raids in Mississippi.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:56:54] BALDWIN: First responders going "BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY" when the first shots were fired in Dayton, Ohio. They train for unthinkable situations, but this one hit close to home.
I talked to the Dayton Fire Department earlier this week who responded within minutes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FIRST RESPONDER: Dispatch, we've got shots fired. We've got multiple people down. We're going to need multiple medics.
BALDWIN (voice-over): It's what they're trained to do -- respond to emergencies and save lives.
ADAM LANDIS, DISTRICT CHIEF, CITY OF DAYTON FIRE-RESCUE: Obviously, fires, fire alarms, medical emergencies, car wrecks, things of that nature.
BALDWIN: But when the men and women of the Dayton Fire Department went to sleep at their stations Saturday night -- (GUNFIRE)
BALDWIN: -- none of them could have imagined the call they were about to receive.
UNIDENTIFIED FIRST RESPONDER: At Wayne Street for an active shooter incident. Engine 15, Engine two, Engine four, engine eight, East chief, ISU, Ladder 11, Ladder 14, Medic 11, Medic 13, Medic 14, Medic 16.
UNIDENTIFIED FIRST RESPONDER: I was here in bed and woke up with the initial tones (ph) and headed out the door.
BALDWIN: Members of Dayton fire's first platoon responded within minutes.
CNN getting the exclusive opportunity to speak with the men and women of Station 11, the closest station to the Oregon District.
JACQUELINE BECHLER, EMT, CITY OF DAYTON FIRE-RESCUE: I woke up and I thought it had to have been something really bad. When I looked down at the computer and I saw that it said mass casualty and I thought it was a mistake. I couldn't hardly believe something had happened like that here.
BALDWIN: District Chief Adam Landis helped run the fire and EMS response that night.
LANDIS: Just to be clear, the cops are the heroes in this. They did an outstanding job of neutralizing the threat. The crews -- they had boots on the ground -- that were in there doing what they did, they did an outstanding job.
BALDWIN: Landis' team falling back on its training. Firefighters, paramedics, and EMTs jumping into action to start the triage process and get victims to nearby trauma centers as quickly as possible.
PATRICK BERNARD, FIREFIGHTER-EMT, CITY OF DAYTON FIRE-RESCUE: When we got on scene we were just -- we were part of the initial, like, search and triage team to find victims, patients, and treat them accordingly.
LANDIS: You fall back on your training. We got the information that we had and then had to develop a plan, which is exactly what we had trained for. We've trained with Dayton police. We've trained with the surrounding departments on these types of situations. So we were prepared for it and we that plan into place and it worked very well.
BALDWIN: Nine lives lost, dozens more injured. These first responders doing everything in their power to save lives.
BERNARD: Obviously, we all wish we could have done more than we did but, yes, I mean, I'm happy with -- I think it was the best outcome we could have hoped for.
BALDWIN: A horrible situation that hit these men and women very close to home. UNIDENTIFIED FIRST RESPONDER: A tragic outcome, but we saved a lot of lives that night.
BALDWIN (on camera): How proud are you --
LANDIS: Extremely --
BALDWIN: -- of what your fire department did?
LANDIS: -- and we've talked about that and I told them I was proud of everybody there. Everybody hit their marks. The training that's been conducted over the last several years in preparation for events like this, it all paid off.
The guys did extremely well. They did just like they were trained to do and -- yes, very proud, very proud.
(SIREN)
BALDWIN (voice-over): The Dayton Fire Department going "BEYOND THE CALL OF DUTY."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[15:00:00]
