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At This Hour

False Tip Called In as Manhunt Ends for 3 Suspected Cop Killers; County Clerk Refuses to Issue Marriage Licenses; Migrant Boy Died on Way to Canada Identified. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired September 03, 2015 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:17] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, a manhunt expanding for three suspected cop killers on the loose near Chicago. A false lead sent some 100 officers scrambling in the wrong direction. A woman who called in the hoax is behind bars awaiting a bond hearing. Police say Kristin Kiefer admitted she lied about seeing two men running in a cornfield. Why? They say it was because she wanted attention. Law enforcement officers acknowledge they have very little information to go on right now. The suspects might have already left the area. Still, officials insist they will not stop searching until they find the men who shot and killed police lieutenant, Joe Gliniewicz, a man affectionately known in the area as G.I. Joe.

We now have what we believe to be his last audio transmission with police dispatch. Listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO FEED)

LT. JOE GLINIEWICZ, SLAIN POLICE OFFICER: I'm out near the old concrete plant checking out two males, white, a male black.

DISPATCH: Do you need a separate unit?

GLINIEWICZ: Negative, dispatch.

DISPATCH: Do you need a second unit?

GLINIEWICZ: Go ahead and start somebody.

(END AUDIO FEED)

BERMAN: That is why people were saying two white men and a black man being searched for right now. Dispatch asking if he wanted backup. The last thing we hear from lieutenant Gliniewicz is go ahead and send somebody. He was a 30-plus-year police veteran weeks away from retirement.

Lenny DePaul is the former commander of U.S. Marshal Service's Regional Fusion Task Force for New York and New Jersey.

Lenny, they could be anywhere at this point is the message we are getting from law enforcement in that area. How hard at this point will it be to locate them and what will turn the tide for law enforcement there? LENNY DEPAUL, FORMER COMMANDER, U.S. MARSHAL SERVICE REGIONAL FUSION

TASK FORCE FOR NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY: Well, good afternoon, John. And you're right, it's very frustrating for law enforcement right now. They're scratching their heads. They're chasing a ghost is what it is and they're on a fishing expedition. More importantly, no one has identified, John. They don't have any names to put into any databases, NCIC, National Crime Information Center, a national database. Borders aren't covered. They can't put any names in Interpol or red notices. If these suspects did escape and did get into a car and onto an airplane, we don't know who they are. They could have been stopped five times on the highway and nobody has identified them. So law enforcement at this point is relying heavily on the public. I know social media is fired up, tweet these things, Instagram them, Facebook the story out to all your friends and that one tip, that one lead that comes in that's being vetted and investigated is the game-changer that law enforcement needs right now, John.

BERMAN: And the key, you pointed out, they don't know who they're looking for or, if they do, we don't know that. We just went through this manhunt in New York State with these two prisoners on the loose. Well, they knew who they were. They had faces. They had posters. They had pictures that everyone could be looking for. Here they don't have that. So at this point law enforcement has, what? They have the body of this slain police lieutenant, this heroic police lieutenant, looking for fingerprints, perhaps matching fingerprints, maybe having some ballistics matches, is that it? Surveillance footage if there is any in the wider area around that?

DEPAUL: Absolutely. The autopsy has been completed. Not sure what had come from that. Possible DNA hits is a possibility. Video coverage from commercial buildings, even homes along the routes and whatnot maybe picked up on a couple things. I know they're looking at video as we speak and they need that little break. They need that one deal. But more importantly, too, John, these three suspects, their worst enemy are themselves. One person possibly shot and killed this officer, the other two may be scratching their heads, do I lawyer up, do I turn somebody in? That person needs to step up and call law enforcement. They don't need to be in the middle of an investigation involving a murdered police officer. So I would ask the public if they did receive a call, a text message, an e-mail, anything, from one of these suspects to make that phone call. Don't put yourself in the middle of this investigation.

BERMAN: Lenny DePaul, good advice. Thank you so much.

"Under God's authority." A Kentucky clerk refusing to hand out marriage licenses to gay couples. AT THIS HOUR, she is in court. We have some brand new information about the security surrounding this hearing and also the judge involved in this case.

"Everything I was dreaming of is gone" -- the father of Aylan Kurdi is speaking out about the devastating loss of his son. That is the little boy right there, found on the beach. That picture breaking so many hearts around the world today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:38:51] BERMAN: Happening now, a showdown in the Kentucky court. A county clerk is there for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Kim Davis says it is against her religious beliefs. A supreme court order, protest, nothing seems to have changed her mind.

This is an exchange between her and a same-sex couple that came in for a marriage license.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIM DAVIS, COUNTY CLERK: We are not doing marriage licenses today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why?

DAVIS: Because I'm not issuing marriage licenses today.

(CROSSTALK)

DAVIS: We're pending an appeal --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Under what authority?

(CROSSTALK)

DAVIS: Under God's authority.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Under God's authority. I knew you would say that.

(CROSSTALK)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Davis is now being held in contempt of court and attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union want her to be fined heavily for not performing her duties.

I want to bring in Laura Coates, assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

Laura, a lot of interesting things going on. Right now, this court hearing is overflowing, 300-plus people in there. No one else can go in. The second thing we learned is the federal judge received special protection, special armed protection to travel from home to the courtroom because there is such high interest in this. Despite the high level of interest, the legal complications -- well, it's not very complicated, is it, Laura?

[11:40:08] LAURA COATES, ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Not at all. In fact, she has no legal legs to stand on. This is a woman who appeared to have very steadfast religious convictions. However, she does not have any legal authority to not perform her functions in her official capacity. There is no argument that she can make that is founded in the law or on the Constitution or under her official duties that actually supports her claim.

BERMAN: One question that some people are asking is, if she's not doing her job, why can't she be fired?

COATES: Well, you know, the easy thing would be to fire her, correct? But the problem is she's an elected official, which means in order it get rid of her in that position, you have to impeach her and have a trial in state legislature and that's not a very easy thing to do, particularly because recently it was filed an amicus brief by the Senate in Kentucky saying they wanted the judge to go easy on her because we need to take time to have the law in our state catch up to the supreme court ruling, and, in fact, we know that's very dangerous territory because the all deliberate speed or as its convenient already haunts the brown v. Board of education legacy and we can't allow states to simply take their time to comply with the Supreme Court's authority. She's under a very big misimpression, that the judiciary does not have the right to force the hand of the social conscience. In fact, it does, and it did.

BERMAN: So where does this end up? Does this end up with fines that keep on growing every day? Does it end up with possible jail time, federal prison time for this woman?

COATES: Initially, the attorneys who are trying to seek prosecution in relief against her do not want her to have jail time. And the reason is they do not want to create a martyr. In fact, the most likely outcome is going to be fines, but the thing about the fines is that they should come from her personal revenue, not from the taxpayers' dollars. Because if you fine her in her official capacity and ask the taxpayers to pay that, you're essentially fining the community at large that she is elected to represent. And, in fact, there's no indication that the entire community agrees with her stance or agrees with her stance not to comply with the court's order. I think what's going to happen is there are going to be increasing fines that will be increasingly onerous from her personal funds.

BERMAN: All right. Laura Coates, thank you very much. We'll bring you the latest when we hear it. Appreciate it.

COATES: You're welcome.

BERMAN: "I don't want anything else from this world" -- those words came from the father of the little boy, his name is Aylan, who washed ashore during his escape to try to survive. The heart-breaking words as we learn more about Aylan Kurdi. This image outraged so many around the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:46:36] BERMAN: Just into CNN, four Syrian suspects are in custody for human trafficking resulting in the death of 12 refugees.

We have some pictures we're going to show you right now. Some of them are very graphic.

The tragic image of the little boy whose body was washed ashore in Turkey outraged people around the world. He and his family were fleeing Syria when the boat that they were traveling in capsized killing 12 people on board.

The little boy has a name, it is Aylan Kurdi. His brother and his mother were all killed. His grief-stricken father says they were trying to get to Canada where they have relatives.

They are among the thousands and thousands of refugees streaming out of war-torn regions, many of them headed toward Europe every day, getting out of conflict zones.

CNN's Hala Gorani is live for us in Berlin.

Germany is the site, Hala, where so many people are trying to get.

HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And many of them are currently in Hungary on over-packed trains hoping to make it across the border, though no such luck right now.

But back to Aylan Kurdi, it is truly the one image that has spread like wildfire on social media. It is on the front pages of nearly every single newspaper in Europe. We've had reaction from all over the region, including the French president, who is saying this is something that Europe needs to deal with because it's a matter of the conscience of the continent. The question, of course, is going to be whether that will translate into concrete action and more settlement spots will be open to Syrian refugees and refugees from other war-torn nations.

We are hearing from the father of little Aylan Kurdi, the 3-year-old who was photographed dead on that Turkish beach, and he is saying essentially that he's recounting the horror of that Wednesday morning when he, along with 11 others, were crowded onto a rubber dinghy. His two children, 3-year-old Aylan, a 4-year-old, as well as his wife, that he even told the people smuggler, according to the conversation he had with our produce producer, is this boat not over packed, do you think we should get off the boat? The human trafficker told him, "No, no, no, stay on. It's fine. We're going to make it." As we know, his two young boys and his wife perished. He now says he wants nothing from any country, Canada or any other country. He wants to go back to Syria and bury his kids and wife there and essentially wait to die. That's what he told our producer.

BERMAN: These are the horrifying risks, the horrifying risks, Hala, families are willing to take because there's no hope. Staying at home, there is no hope, no chance for a normal life if you stay in Syria, and they want to go somewhere, anywhere, that will take them in.

Hala, I should tell you, this morning, we spoke to Arwa Damon. She was on a train that had left Budapest filled with migrants and refugees hoping to get to Germany.

Let me play you a short clip of our chat with Arwa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As we're stopped at a station, it's about maybe 20, 30 miles outside of Budapest. These are families around us right now that have all fled the wars in Syria, making this horrific journey with their children. They're not entirely, 100 percent sure where this train is going to end up. Some people have told them it's a town that's on the Hungarian/Austrian border. Others told them they may be going to a one of the locations where the camps are in. They don't know. They got on the train uncertain of where they were going but they want to cling to the small, little hope that maybe it would get them all the way to Germany.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:50:20] BERMAN: Hala, do we have any information about where that train did end up among the thousands of people hoping to get somewhere?

GORANI: Yes. It is stopped outside of Budapest and migrants and refugees onboard are terrified that it will be stormed by riot police. They are concerned because Hungarian government officials are being quite clear about this. They're saying we will not allow you to cross the border into Austria and Germany. You do not have the paperwork to prove you are refugees. I personally spoke several times over the last 24 hours with the government spokesperson, Zoltan Kovacs. They are illegal migrants and must register with police and go to relocation camps inside of Hungary. We are not allowing them into Germany.

Right now, the train is stopped. It is packed. It is hot. People are running out of food and water. And what happens next right now is unclear because at some point this is not a tenable situation. At some point, they're going to have to get off that train. But where do they go if they're unwilling to go to these camps and resist police? So we're going to keep our eye on that story in particular in Hungary, because it is a chaotic situation right now.

BERMAN: From one into another. Let's hope these people get help from someone somewhere.

Hala Gorani, thank you so much.

It is a pledge of allegiance that no one can enforce. The vow of loyalty the Republican Party demanding that Donald Trump give. Will he sign on the dotted line? We should know very soon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:55:58] BERMAN: It was the early 1980s, a meeting with consequences that we wear every day, when hip-hop met fashion, and it changed the world of pop culture. That is the story behind the newest CNN film premiering tonight called "Fresh Dressed." In it, some of the biggest names in pop culture reflect on the exPLOsion of style born in the streets and those who ran with its success.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEAN "PUTTY" COMBS, RAPPER: I didn't just want to make it a fashion brand. I wanted to make it a lifestyle. I wanted to make sure we were able to go from the block to the boardroom. And if you had a job interview, you were able to represent yourself the right way. If you were going to church, you were able to represent yourself the right way. Fresh from head to toe. We didn't take no prisoners. If Ralph was doing it, Gucci was doing it, we wanted to do it just as good as them or even better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: By Ralph, I think he means Ralph Lauren. He's on a first name basis.

For more on how hip-hop revolutionized fashion, I'm joined by Chris Witherspoon, CNN analyst, entertainment editor for thegrio.com.

Really interesting to hear Sean Coombs talk about it. I'm asking for a friend here, who is the number-one fashion icon right now if we're talking about hip-hop fashion?

CHRIS WITHERSPOON, CNN ANALYST & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR, THEGRIO.COM: I mean, I think Kanye West. Kanye West is the man to watch right now. He has this line of sneakers. They're sold out everywhere. So hard to come by. I think he's the man to watch, he's the one people are talking about. Whatever he says goes. What Diddy is talking about is people like Jay-Z and Kanye. They went from the block to the boardroom. It's so rich and compelling and a story I think transcends hip-hop and culture. It is like a fairy tale story, if you will, of business and e-commerce and hip-hop.

BERMAN: And you can see the awareness in fashion sprout up over the last few decades. I did a piece once on Amar'e Stoudamire, a basketball player for the New York Knicks, and he's designing clothes. He's playing basketball and designing clothes. All of a sudden it's something that's not just sought after but it's cool. Just incredibly cool in so many different walks of life.

WITHERSPOON: And I think it's true what they say in this film, everybody wants to be fresh. You look at some of the biggest designers like Dior, they're listening. Guys like Kanye West, like Jay-Z to be the spokesperson for their brand or to be at their fashion show and endorse their brands. When you have that hip-hop audience, have them engage in listening, your label explodes.

BERMAN: And has it changed from the early '80s to now, how much power hip-hop has over overall fashion?

WITHERSPOON: Totally. They have their own labels. In the '80s you had a lot of them endorsing Ralph Lauren. Now they have their own label like Diddy, like Jay-Z, Kanye West now owning their own labels and these are multimillion dollar industries and businesses, so it's huge.

BERMAN: Is it judged on the clothing, on the person's ability to reach worldwide? WITHERSPOON: I think it's the swagger and you see that in the film.

It's more than the message behind the clothing. They communicate. The way that they dress is a way of kind of telling their story. And I think it's more about each artist and each label and their individual story behind it.

BERMAN: Chris, thank you for being with us.

WITHERSPOON: Thank you.

BERMAN: Really appreciate it.

Be sure to see "Fresh Dressed" on CNN tonight, 9:00 p.m.

We'll leave you with this. Florida officials warning residents to be on the lookout for a king cobra, a snake, on the loose in Orlando. It's an eight-foot snake. Yes, it's venomous. It escaped from a man's home. This is not the actual cobra, but it looks just like this one, which the man also owns. The snake's owner did have a permit for the king cobra. I did not know you could get a permit for a king cobra. He is well known for rescuing exotic animals. It escaped less than a mile from a school. Wildlife officials have sent out patrols to look for it.

That's it for us AT THIS HOUR.

"LEGAL VIEW" with Ashleigh Banfield starts right now.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. And welcome to "LEGAL VIEW."