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Greece Open to Deal; Black SC Church Set on Fire; Terror Warning for the Holiday Weekend; Donald Trump Rising in the Polls; Team USA Makes it to the Final. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired July 01, 2015 - 09:30   ET

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

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What I'm trying to give you is a feeling of the complete shock the events of this morning and the complete confusion, If you like, over which way this goes now.

[09:30:04]PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: So many twists and turns. And we know that what happens where you are in Greece, Richard, will impact us here in the U.S.

And, Christina, for that, how are the markets reacting to the news?

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: Well, the markets are really rallying because last night, as Richard alluded to, the Greek prime minister sent a letter to the European finance leaders saying, remember that bailout package that I said I would never take? Well, I'm going to take that with a few tweaks. Now, of course, this is after Greece missed a payment to the IMF, which puts it in a really tricky situation. And, look, we are still far away from a deal, but investors are really looking for any signs that Greece will remain in the Eurozone. And that's because if Greece doesn't remain in the Eurozone, it creates -- there's a fear that it creates a precedent for other countries to leave the Eurozone and that creates a lot of instability and investors just don't like that kind of question mark over such an economic powerhouse that is the European Union.

Now, let's just put this all into context. We're going to have to see how the European finance leaders react to this over the next several hours because that will really dictate how the markets react as well, right, because if the European leaders come out and say, you know what, as Angela Merkel indicated, we want this referendum to go through, we want the Greek people to decide, that could create some question marks that actually result in the rally reversing itself. So we're going to have to pay attention because investors are trading on these headlines right now and it's really, really just very unstable.

BROWN: And I know you'll be keeping a close eye on that for us. Richard Quest, Cristina Alesci, thank you so much for that.

And turning now to our other big story this morning, the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms trying to determine the cause of this church fire in Greeleyville, South Carolina. It happened at Mt. Zion AME Church. And some 50 firefighters needed to put out last night's blaze. We see here in this video some of those firefighters.

And joining me now by the phone to discuss this, South Carolina State Representative Cezar McKnight.

Cezar, you were on the scene last night of this fire. You spoke with and prayed with members of the congregation. What were they saying?

CEZAR MCKNIGHT, SOUTH CAROLINA STATE REPRESENTATIVE (via telephone): Well, good morning.

The congregation, their spirits were uplifted. Of course they were a little heartbroken, but there wasn't anyone in a doom and gloom despair mood. They basically did what all good Christians did, they laid it at God's feet and they're letting God deal with it.

They have been through a situation where their church has burned before. So, of course, they didn't want this to be a recurrence of what happened 20 years ago. But they've been down this road before. They dealt with it so bravely. And they're doing the same right now.

BROWN: Cezar, you alluded to what happened 20 years ago. The cause of this fire, still unknown. But, as you mentioned, Mt. Zion's original structure was burned 20 years ago by the Klu Klux Klan. Are there fears that history could be repeating itself, not just at this church, but other fires mentioned recently in the news?

MCKNIGHT: Of course. I mean that's the natural reaction. When you see something like this that happens in the climate that we have now, particularly with the deaths of the nine people at Emanuel AME, and then here we are, 45 minutes to an hour away from Emanuel, we have a church that has been burned before, the natural reaction is to assume that this is history repeating itself or some people engaged in a sinister plot, just like we did before.

However, we don't have any evidence of that yet. It's a fear. But we're going to -- I think the people here are ready to let the facts play out. They -- we've had a superb turnout from law enforcement both on the federal and state level. The FBI's been here. The ATF's been here. Our state law enforcement division's been here and they're been outstanding. They're on the scene right now because I'm back at the church. So I believe that the congregation and the citizens around us are patiently waiting for law enforcement to do their due diligence, which we see they're doing, and they'll give us what -- they'll give us a report as to what it is. And I think people will rely on that because we've had outstanding support from law enforcement.

BROWN: So, as you mentioned, the investigation into the cause still very active. I know that this has just happened, Cezar, but is there already talk of rebuilding this church?

MCKNIGHT: I haven't talked -- I haven't spoken with the pastor this morning. I see him. He's engaged in a conversation with someone else. But I've spoken with the presiding elder, Alan Parrach (ph). Of course they're going to rebuild. That's just their nature. I'm sure they'll probably have church Sunday. Now, they may not have it here, but this community is a tight knit community and I'm certain that other local churches in the near vicinity will open their doors to them and accommodate the Mt. Zion family. And they'll gradually rebuild. Now, life will never be the same, but they'll get a new normal and I think they'll be back and be vibrant as they were when we had the tragic events 20 years ago.

[09:35:10] BROWN: And, again, this is the sixth black church to burn down just in recent weeks. Still trying to figure out what the cause of this fire is, but very good to hear your perspective. South Carolina State Representative Cezar McKnight, thank you so much and good luck to your community there as they try to rebuild.

BROWN: And still to come right here in the NEWSROOM, are lone wolf ISIS supporters plotting attacks right here in the U.S. this July 4th holiday weekend? Law enforcement officials are not taking any chances. We're going to tell you coming up what's being done to keep you safe, right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Welcome back.

Well, you will be seeing a lot more police out on the streets at landmarks and at tourist sites this July 4th holiday weekend. That's because law enforcement officials are ramping up security around the country. The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are worried right now about homegrown, lone wolf attacks by ISIS sympathizers right here in the U.S. And officials say there is a lot more concern surrounding this Independence Day compared to last year.

[09:40:17] Let's bring in our CNN justice reporter Evan Perez, who has been following this story for us.

Hey, Evan, good morning to you.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Good morning, Pam.

BROWN: So, break this down for us. Officials are saying there's no specific credible threat. So why are counterterrorism officials more concerned about this year's 4th of July?

PEREZ: You know, that's actually the point. The fact that they don't have a specific plot that they know of and, frankly, that makes their job a lot -- a lot -- a lot harder. If they knew of a plot, it's -- you know, the FBI's very good at disrupting plots if they know about it in advance. And so what they don't know is what is concerning to them because they know that ISIS has called for attacks on the west during the month of -- the holy month of Ramadan, which is what we're in right now.

And they also know that there are hundreds of ISIS supporters across the country that they're keeping an eye on and they're worried that there's some that they're miss -- that they're missing frankly because of what happened in Garland, Texas, just a few weeks ago, where you had someone who was being watched by the FBI but wasn't on the 24 hour monitoring and they didn't know that he was on his way to carrying out an attack. And if they knew, they would have stopped it.

BROWN: Well, it's interesting too, you know, talking to officials, they say sometimes the ISIS sympathizers don't even necessarily have a premeditated plan when they're going to act out. PEREZ: Right.

BROWN: It could happen at any moment. And that's what makes their job so difficult.

Evan, we've seen these arrests in New York and in Boston of these groups of alleged ISIS sympathizers, but is the predominant concern still the home grown violent extremists?

PEREZ: That's right. I talked to a counterterrorism official yesterday who said, you know, they have -- some of these guys are sitting in their basements, they're consuming this ISIS propaganda, and really they're just looking for an excuse to be operational. And so that's the issue is that they don't know when that will happen. The terrorist -- the plotter really has all the advantages on his or her side simply because they know when they want to do something. The FBI doesn't. The law enforcement does not.

BROWN: And the old forms of communication that was easier to track aren't around like they used to be.

Really quickly, you had reported -- broke the news that there was more security around this 4th of July. What can people expect to see?

PEREZ: Well, you know, in -- especially down in Manhattan downtown, for instance, you're already seeing more vigorous security. You'll see a lot more uniformed police. You'll see more guards at places like -- prominent places like that. The New York Police Department says that they're deploying a lot more resources, including dogs, radiation detecting machines. The Los Angeles Police Department says they're doing the same thing.

So we expect that here in Washington and other places, where large crowds are going to be gathering to watch fireworks, to do celebrations, you're going to see a lot more police.

BROWN: And they're certainly not taking any chances here.

PEREZ: Absolutely.

BROWN: Evan Perez, thank you so much for breaking it down for us. We appreciate it.

PEREZ: Sure.

BROWN: And still to come right here in NEWSROOM, Donald Trump in the middle of a firestorm over his remarks about Mexico. But he keeps climbing in the polls. So what's the appeal? We're going to talk about it after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:47:38] BROWN: Chris Christie is the latest Republican to run for president, but his entrance into the race may be upstaged by Donald Trump. Both candidates stumping in New Hampshire yesterday. Christie starting a five-day tour while Trump addressed a gathering of supporters in the town of Bedford. Trump wasting no time touting his successes not just in business but also in the polls.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDDIATE: I do a show called "The Apprentice" and it was a tremendous success. In fact, so successful that NBC was really angry when I said I'm running for president. Now, at least you know it's my rain because it's raining out here. If this wasn't my hair, believe me, I would not be out here.

Somebody said I made a fantastic speech two weeks ago. They said my only problem is I speak through the applause.

Who's done more than me? I've employed tens of thousands of people throughout my life. They said the other day isn't it sad when Donald Trump is going to be up on that stage? And various senators and Republicans -- no, no. They're saying. And various senators and Republicans won't make it. And these guys haven't done anything compared to what I've done.

So CNN, so they do a poll and it was a nice poll. And they had me second. It's hard to believe I'm second to Bush, because Bush is not going to get us to the promised land, folks, I tell you. This guy, I don't want to say he's a stiff, because that's too rude.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Certainly no lack of confidence there. Trump seeing a surge, now sitting at 12 percent as we see right here. That's up nine points from just last month. Bush also making gains. He leads the pack at 19 percent.

So here to discuss all of this Sara Murray, CNN political reporter, and David Chalian, CNN political director. Great to see both of you.

Sara, let's talk about this, this poll. Trump in second place nationwide in Iowa according to a Quinnipiac poll out this morning. This is in the wake of these controversial comments he made about Mexico. Why do you think he is resonating so much with voters, Sara?

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: I think it's the spectacle. Donald Trump is an interesting guy to watch. People sort of know who he is so a lot of these early polls have a lot to do with just name recognition, and people are familiar with Donald Trump. But I also do think he speaks to a wing of the party who isn't fully comfortable with our immigration system at the moment, who isn't comfortable with the way that we've been handling the border. And they like that he's a business guy.

[09:50:00] There is a wing of the Republican Party that this message resonates with. And I think that that's what we're seeing. Whether that has any longevity, I'm a little bit skeptical of that.

BROWN: All right, so David, let's go to you on this. Trump making strides, as we talked about, despite these controversial comments he made. And in fact he doubled down on those comments last night. Let's take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Hundreds of thousands of people, illegals, coming over the border. Hundreds of thousands in jail -- federal jails, state jails, local jails. The crime is enormous. When I mention that, people went crazy. What a terrible thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So, David, even if he doesn't win the nomination, could Trump succeed in making this a critical issue for the campaign?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, listen, immigration would not be as divisive an issue inside the Republican Party if there wasn't a faction of Republican voters out there from the conservative wing of the party, the Tea Party wing of the party, that is, as Sara was saying, opposed to this notion of comprehensive immigration reform, very concerned object our border security.

And this is not new for Donald Trump, Pamela. We've actually seen this pattern before. If you remember, back in 2011, Donald Trump was leading the charge on the birther controversy, asking for Barack Obama's birth certificate. And that also ginned him up -- ginned up a lot of support from that very conservative Tea Party wing of the party that was very excited about that. But that sent a lot of mainstream Republicans sort of like scampering and saying, please get him off the stage. And that's what's happening now.

You had Reince Priebus, the RNC chairman, or Mitt Romney, the former nominee, say we can't win the White House unless we do better among Latinos. Now you have Donald Trump making these controversial remarks that does excite a wing of the party, helps him get up that support in the polls, and yet every Republican now is going to have to answer questions for it. And a lot of the mainstream establishment Republicans are concerned that he is, in the long run, doing damage to the brand that they are trying to rehabilitate.

BROWN: So we see Trump surging in the polls, Sara. But two notable names fell out of the top five; that's Marco Rubio and Scott Walker. There's still more than 400 days till Electionn Day, but should there be any concern in their camps?

MURRAY: I think this is exactly where you want to be when you're this far out. You sort of want to be in the middle of the pack. You want to definitely be able to get on that debate stage and I don't think that's going to be a concern for Marco Rubio or for Scott Walker. But if you are the front-runner, and we've seen this with Jeb Bush, it comes with a really big target on your back. So I think Marco Rubio and Scott Walker are perfectly happy to sort of sit in the middle, be these kind of sleeper candidates, and the wait for a breakout moment, whether it comes on the debate stage, whether it comes with a win in Iowa or a win New Hampshire. They still have a lot of time to get their numbers up the polls.

BROWN: It's sure to be an interesting nomination fight. Thank you so much, David Chalian and Sara Murray. We appreciate it. And still to come right here in NEWSROOM, celebrating victory. Fans

all over the country going wild as the U.S. women take down the world's best soccer team. Andy Scholes, the Americans now just one win away from the trophy, is that right?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Pamela. Team USA shutting out Germany in the semifinals. We'll show you how they got it done and hear what the team has to say about playing in the finals when NEWSROOM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:57:44] BROWN: Welcome back. American soccer fans in a frenzy as Team USA goes roaring into the Women's World Cup final.

The U.S. gets a shot at bringing home a third World Cup title after shutting out top ranked Germany 2-0 in yesterday's semifinal. Very exciting win for the team.

Andy Scholes joins me now to discuss. So, Andy, the U.S. has some good momentum heading into Sunday's final to say the least. Were they expected to get this far?

SCHOLES: You know, Pamela, the U.S. has made it to the semifinals in every single Women's World Cup so they were expected to do well in this tournament. But Germany was supposed to be the team that kept Team USA from winning it all. They're the No. 1 team in the world. But you know what, that's probably going to change after team USA shut them out last night.

This was a very physical match and things weren't looking too hot for the U.S. in the 60th minute when Germany was awarded a penalty, but their shot would be wide left. That's the first penalty Germany has ever missed in the Women's World Cup. Moments later, Alex Morgan got taken down in the box. That gave the U.S. a penalty of their own and Carli Lloyd, who's just been awesome in the last few games, she drilled it home for the U.S. to give them the lead. And then Lloyd found Kelley O'Hara in the 84th minute. And this goal put the game away. Team USA, an impressive 2-0 shutout over Germany. They haven't allowed a goal now in 513 minutes. And of course now they're heading back to the World Cup final.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JILL ELLIS, COACH, USA: We knew we had this in us. This team had a lot of confidence. We've done a really good job of blocking out you guys and distractions and I think just focus on what we need to do. We had every belief that we could win this game.

CARLI LLOYD, MIDFIELDER, USA: It's just been a collective team performance. But we didn't come here just to make the final. We came here to win it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Team USA now awaits the winner of tonight's match between England and Japan. The final game will be Sunday night at 7 Eastern. And Pamela, no matter who the U.S. plays, they will end up being huge favorites in that game on Sunday.

BROWN: And hard to forget, Andy, that heartbreaking loss to Japan four years ago. So it will be interesting to see what kind of match- up there is. Is it England or Japan? We shall see. Andy Scholes, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

[10:00:04] And the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM begins right now.