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At This Hour

Obama Comments on Trump as Trump Rises in Polls; Mike Huckabee Invokes Holocaust on Obama's Iran Nuclear Deal; Boat Found, Boys Still Missing at Sea; Cosby's Alleged Victims Line Up on Magazine. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired July 27, 2015 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Lost at sea. Two teenage boys go missing during a trip. Their boat has been found, but the search right now is under way. Why NFL legend, Joe Namath, is now involved.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: A short time from now, families and friends saying good-bye to the women shot inside the Louisiana movie theater. This, as investigators discover secret journals from their killer.

Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman.

New this morning, Donald Trump making waves from Iowa to Africa, leading in both the polls and provocations. Now for the first time, President Obama, all the way from Ethiopia, is commenting on Trump's controversial remarks about John McCain's time as a prisoner of war. This is what the president said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In fact, it's been interesting when you look at what's happened with Mr. Trump when he's made some of the remarks that, for example, challenge the heroism of Mr. McCain, somebody who endured torture and conducted himself with exemplary patriotism. The Republican Party is shocked, and yet, that arises out of a culture where those kinds of outrageous attacks have become far too commonplace and get circulated nonstop.

We're creating a culture that is not conducive to good policy or good politics. The American people deserve better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: The president's remarks come as a new CNN poll gives you a look at what's behind Donald Trump's surging ahead of his GOP rivals right now. It sure seems to rest largely on widespread dissatisfaction with Washington. 53 percent of Republican voters say they do not feel their views are represented by lawmakers right now. That's nearly double the Democrats who share that sentiment.

Jake Tapper is joining us now, host of "The Lead" and "State of the Union," for more on this. Jake, we can bring in all the polls at any point but I want to ask you

what you heard from President Obama during his trip in Africa talking about Donald Trump not once mentioning his name, but mentioning his name multiple times without even being asked. I kind of wonder why you think he thinks it's time to take Donald Trump on now since he seemed to avoid it so much to this point.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": He's gone after Donald Trump before at the White House Correspondent's Dinner a few years ago. Trump before that was one of the leading birthers questioning the authenticity of the president's birth certificate and where he was born. President Obama, of course, was born in Hawaii.

But I think President Obama not only going after the Donald Trump remarks but some of the other remarks of the other Republicans. I know you will talk later in the program about comments made by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and also comments by Senator Ted Cruz accusing Mitch McConnell of lying on the Senate floor. There's been a lot of talk about the language we're hearing from the Republican Party.

On Sunday, yesterday, on "State of the Union" Donald Trump called in and I asked him what he made of the fact that he is only rising in the polls. Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP GROUP (voice- over): They view me as an outsider I guess and now they're starting to view me not as an outsider because I'm leading in all the polls and I think they've been really nice over the last few days. They're starting to see what's happening. There's a movement going on. This is more than me. This is a movement going on. People are tired of these incompetent politicians in Washington that can't get anything done. They can't make deals. They can't do anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Now, of course, Trump was in second place in our CNN poll in June and now he is in first place with 18 percent. This poll was taken entirely after his comments attacking John McCain's war heroism, so that doesn't seem to have hurt him at all. If anything, it may have helped him.

BERMAN: No, our poll has him in first place, some state polls he's in second place, very close to Scott Walker in Iowa in the NBC/Maris poll and in first place by a lot in the NBC/Maris poll. But he does have some problems which is a lot of people still don't like the guy. His favorability rating among Democrats, unfavorable was 80 percent. Independents unfavorable 53 percent -- having a hard time getting my numbers out. With the Republicans the unfavorable view is 42 percent. That's a pretty high unfavorable number for presumably your own party.

TAPPER: It is. Although when you look at the fact that he is running against 15 other Republicans and you think about he only really needs to appeal to a small chunk and those individuals really like him and they like what they're hearing from him, they like his blunt talk, they like the fact that he is certainly not of Washington, one wonders where and when it will end because you don't have to win a majority to win a primary. You just have to win a plurality.

And the fact is the more the establishment in Washington tries to take Trump down, the stronger he seems to get fueled by a lot of people, who are conservatives and Republicans, and they don't like Republican leadership in Washington, D.C., and Donald Trump is certainly not of that establishment. In fact, you could observe that he gave money to the Democrats in 2006 to help them recapture the House and Senate.

[11:05:45] BOLDUAN: That's exactly right. People keep talking about kind of a growth cap that Donald Trump will have when you look at the unfavorable ratings but we certainly haven't seen it to this point.

Jake, thanks so much.

TAPPER: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Thank you.

Just as the president called out Donald Trump, he also called out another Republican candidate, Mike Huckabee, saying that the former Arkansas governor is trying to one-up Donald Trump in terms of outrageous rhetoric saying Huckabee's remarks about the Iran deal in the president's words would be considered ridiculous if it weren't so sad.

BOLDUAN: It started when Governor Huckabee invoked the Holocaust while criticizing the nuclear agreement. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE HUCKABEE, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (voice-over): This president's foreign policy is the most feckless in American history. He's so naive he would trust the Iranians and he would take the Israelis and basically march them to the door of the oven.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: To the door of the oven.

Here now to respond to these comments is Michael Salberg with the Anti-Defamation League.

Thanks so much for being here with us.

Your organization put out a statement after Mike Huckabee said what he said saying it's completely out of line and unacceptable. Why?

MICHAEL SALBERG, ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: References to the Holocaust, trying to score rhetorical points at the moment in time when the American people need to hear about the details of the Iran deal and understand it, all of those factors, but the primary concern that we expressed was making the analogy to the Holocaust. It is inappropriate. It's offensive. And it does cross a line. The Holocaust, there was no state of Israel for the Jewish people. Israel had no allies. And today the United States is Israel's greatest ally. It trivializes the horror and the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and it impacts on the survivors and the descendants of the victims. And it's not appropriate. It distracts from the kind of conversation that the American public deserves from its leaders and expects from members of Congress in this very critical review period of the Iran nuclear deal.

BOLDUAN: This is a critical review period, but it's interesting, it's important to hear your view that Mike Huckabee does not -- clearly doesn't seem to agree. He's not only not backing down, he's continuing to discuss this. Just today the Huckabee campaign put out a statement saying that President Obama does not take Iran's repeated threats seriously, and then says, for decades, Iran's leaders have pledged to destroy and annihilate and wipe Israel off the map with a big Holocaust. Have you heard from the Huckabee campaign?

SALBERG: We have not heard directly from the Huckabee campaign. I think that the response that you just read is hearing from the Huckabee campaign. The fact is the governor's statement is accurate with regard to what Iran has said. It's annihilationist comments and behavior, it's support for terrorism, Hezbollah, Hamas attacking Israel are serious, serious concerns. It's one of the things that isn't addressed in the JPCPOA, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the nuclear deal. It's not a part of the deal. It's something that Congress can address and should address. It's one of the questions we raised. It's not inappropriate to raise that concern. It is inappropriate to make a direct analogy to the Holocaust. And that was the primary driver for our statement and criticism.

BERMAN: So it's clear that you have reservations to say the least about the Iran deal. Mike Huckabee does also. So why do you think he's saying what he's saying? Is he just trying to get a rise out of people?

SALBERG: He's scoring rhetorical points, and, unfortunately, at this particular point, it distracts from the really important questions that need to be addressed carefully, seriously examined and to give Congress and our political leaders the space to address some of the weaknesses and concerns that people have, including the Anti- Defamation League.

[11:10:09] BERMAN: Would you vote for a guy who talks about the Holocaust like this?

SALBERG: I wouldn't get involved, I don't want to get involved in -- my own personal political views are not relevant, quite frankly. The Anti-Defamation League, as an organization, objects to the misuse of Holocaust references, and that's what we objected to ho here.

BERMAN: Michael Salberg, thank you for being with us.

SALBERG: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Thank you. BERMAN: Two teenagers missing at sea after going out on their boat. The boat has been found, but what about the life jackets? We'll speak live with the Coast Guard next.

BOLDUAN: Plus, a stunning cover showing nearly three dozen women who accuse Bill Cosby of drugging and assaulting them. Many of their stories we have never heard until now.

And a plot to kill. New discoveries from the secret journal of the man who opened fire inside a movie theater in Louisiana. Hear what investigators have found.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: New this morning, a briefing from the Coast Guard taking place this now in the search for two 14-year-old boys that went missing off the Florida coast on Friday. The U.S. Coast Guard is calling the search really a needle in a haystack right now as they scour an area the size -- an area of sea roughly the size of Indiana.

BOLDUAN: The boys' boat was found capsized but there is still no sign of Perry Cohen and Austin Stephanos.

This morning Perry's mother, Pamela, along with his stepfather and their friend and neighbor NFL legend, Joe Namath, spoke with CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA COHEN, MOTHER OF TEEN MISSING AT SEA: None of us are giving up hope they're going to find those boys. Obviously, it's a terrifying experience to be living through --

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

COHEN: -- second by second. But I have 100 percent faith that they will find our boys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:15:14] BOLDUAN: Terrifying experience, no kidding.

Joining us now with the latest on the search is Petty Officer Mark Barney, with the U.S. Coast Guard.

Officer, thank you very much for jumping on the phone with us.

It's described as searching for a needle in a haystack. Where does the search stand right now?

MARK BARNEY, PETTY OFFICER, U.S. COAST GUARD (via phone): Yes, ma'am. Thank you for having me. Right now, we are searching, our focus area is 50 nautical miles east of Jacksonville. It stretches from Daytona Beach north of Jacksonville. It's a huge search area but we have resources available to us that are actively searching in those waters.

BERMAN: A huge area that spans far north of where they departed from down near Jupiter. The boat found north of where they departed from as well. What do you make of the fact now that the boat has been found? How difficult would it be for these boys to survive in the water without their vessel?

BARNEY: It's pretty difficult. We've had cases before where we've had people tread water for over 24 hours alone. But those were adults. These are children. So it's really a scary situation. However, we are pleased to know that the boys have had boating safety courses. They were regular fishermen, always on the water -- they're still 14 years old and that that's what makes this case scary.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Scary for anyone. Talk to us about these waters. Was there weather in the area and what bad weather in that area would mean because we are, as you said, we're talking about two 14-year-old boys that seem so young. How experienced do you need to be to really be able to navigate these waters?

BARNEY: Well, the thing about the state of Florida is that it has a huge recreational boating community. Like these two boys, they're no exception. But at the same time they're still only 14 years old. Like you said, the search has originated off in the Jupiter area and it extended all the way far north to Jacksonville and that pretty much is attributed to the weather. The weather for the past week, we've had scattered thunderstorms throughout the state. We've had low seas. We've had high seas. It really depends where these boys are which will determine where they could end up being depending on the current.

BOLDUAN: Petty Officer Mark Barney. The search under way, another day for these families hoping something will turn up. Thank you very much. As the search continues, we appreciate you giving us an update.

BARNEY: Not a problem, ma'am.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, a road rage encounter turns deadly. Two men both calling the police on each other. It ends with one man killed in front of his family. Now the shooter is out of jail. And you want to hear the 911 call play out as it all unfolds.

BERMAN: And new accusers coming forward against Bill Cosby. And now, look at this, they're all together on a stunning magazine cover. Hear why these stories are different from the others.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:21:47] BOLDUAN: In a stunning statement of unity against Bill Cosby, 35 women accusing Cosby of sexual assault, they now appear on the new cover of "New York" magazine" all together. You can see it there in the image. All the women seated in the same pose against a white backdrop. The headline reads, "Cosby, the Women, an Unwelcome Sisterhood."

BERMAN: It's a stunning image to see. It has interviews with each of the accusers describing the alleged incidents. It includes their difficulty getting people to support them all these years and, in some cases, we're talking decades.

CNN's Jean Casarez joins us.

Sometimes a cover like this really is evocative.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's amazing. We just got a copy of this. You see the chair there, the empty chair, that is for accusers that have not yet come forward, that are still silent that possibly don't have the courage to come up.

But this article, as you said, in depth, it focuses on the accusers, quotes from them, what they have to say, but even more than that it goes into really an expose about sexual assault and rape as it has evolved through the years because 1960s are when the earliest accusations of sexual assault, the latest 2001 200 -- one 2008. Bill Cosby has never been charged or convicted of any crime at all of sexual assault.

But one thing that's interesting, we have a quote from Joan Tarshis from this article who you have seen on CNN many times. She says, quote, "I didn't realize that I had been raped back then. Rape was done in an alleyway with somebody holding a knife to your throat that you didn't know. There was no date rape back then. I just knew that something horrible had happened, but I couldn't put a name to it."

And it talks about that early on rape was the culture of silence and shame, and that younger women are now speaking out, having the courage to do it. And social media is their medium to do that.

Now, we do also want to say Andrew Wyatt from Bill Cosby's camp has said they have no comment at this time. But this article has just come out.

And I think also one thing that in regard to social media can be the megaphone, that also denotes a responsibility, right? Because when we think of like another case, the Duke rape case, obviously, the attorney general found them to be innocent, separate case, but social media also then regards a responsibility on the part --

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: We have heard many of their stories. I think we looked and CNN has interviewed 25 of the women. There are 35 on the cover. But seeing them altogether, when you hear 25, there is something -- when you hear 35 and you see 35, it puts it in a completely different perspective. So that means that there are some ten women, if that's not just the women who haven't come forward, if there were more, that are now telling their stories for the first time in "New York" magazine. What more are we learning about their stories? I think the thing that's probably the most startling is how similar they are.

CASAREZ: Exactly. I think that's the headline. You're seeing in depth them talking about what they allege happen to them. These are women who didn't know each other but the modus operandi is so similar. The article quotes the 2005 deposition. They analyze some things from the deposition that aren't said but they have their own slant to it. So I think the fact is that all these women had to sit down for this -- these photographs, they did so willingly, and the artistry is amazing, the photography in there. You have to see it.

[11:25:31] BERMAN: Jean Casarez, thanks so much.

BOLDUAN: Thank you.

BERMAN: A case of road rage turns deadly as one man shoots another in front of his family. The chilling 911 calls next.

BOLDUAN: A secret journal, wigs, and other disguises, clues that suggest the gunman planned the theater shooting well in advance. We'll have the latest as investigators visit the crime scene today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: New developments this morning, what appears to be a shocking case of road rage. Robert Doyle charged with second-degree murder posted bond and is out of jail this morning. He's accused of shooting Candleario Gonzalez in front of his family.

Both men called 911 to complain about the other's driving. Doyle said Gonzalez was trying to run him off the road. Gonzalez followed Doyle home, allegedly to write down Doyle's home address, and that's when Doyle told police he got his gun ready.

(BEGIN AUDIO FEED)

ROBERT DOYLE, ACCUSED SHOOTER: They're following me to my house. I'll be there in 20 seconds and the guns are already out.

911 OPERATOR: Hold on for me.

DOYLE: It's going down right now.

UNIDENTIFIED WIFE OF ROBERT DOYLE: I can't even get the garage open.

DOYLE: You don't need to. Just you take your hand and throw it in park when I'm stopped.

(END AUDIO FEED)