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Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert Accused of Making False Statements to FBI; White House Announces Change in Strategy to Fight ISIS; Interview with Rick Santorum; More Heavy Rain Moves Through Central Texas; U.S. May Directly Arm Iraqi Sunni Fighters; Do Iraqis Have the "Will to Fight?" Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired May 29, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00] JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- other things, if Hastert was paying somebody off as a cover-up, if he had been a victim of a crime, perhaps extortion, or if there was an innocent excuse for the big cash withdraws four different bank accounts. The federal indictment, however, tells only part of the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: The former speaker of the House, once second in line to the presidency, now facing federal charges, accused of making false statements to the FBI and trying to hide large financial transactions that the government alleges was hush money.

According to the indictment, Dennis Hastert agreed to pay $3.5 million to someone only identified as "Individual A" after meetings between the two five years ago, payments meant to compensate for and conceal Hastert's, quote, "prior misconduct." The indictment does not describe what that misconduct was but does say Individual A knew Hastert most of Individual A's life and was a resident of the Illinois town where the former speaker of the House was high school teacher and coach for years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In consultation with the White House --

JOHNS: In December of last year the FBI launched an investigation on the payments and whether Hastert was trying to avoid currency transaction reporting requirement as well as using the cash to cover-up past misconduct.

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: That's why they would be looking into this, if there was a pattern of withdrawing around $10,000 from the bank without another explanation.

JOHNS: Hastert told FBI agents that the withdraws were because he did not trust the bank system. The government alleges that was a false statement. It's a stunning turn for the former Republican leader who was House speaker from 1999 until he stepped down in 2007. Since then he has been a lobbyist at this Washington firm which quickly removed Hastert's biography from its website after the indictment was announced.

(END VIDEOTAPE) JOHNS: People who worked on Capitol Hill with Hastert stunned

this morning with no explanation. Hastert will have to stand in front of a federal judge at some point for his initial hearing likely next week. Our attempt to get a statement from him through his former law and lobbying firm have not been successful, Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: So mysterious this morning, Joe. Thanks for that.

Well, another top story. The Obama administration reevaluating its strategy against ISIS, considering arming Sunni tribes directly to fight the terrorists. CNN's Barbara Starr bring up that story from the Pentagon. Good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. The Pentagon would like to call it fine-tuning the strategy rather than reevaluating it. Be that as it may, one of the things they are looking at -- let's go right to the map. Anbar province west of Baghdad, the Sunni heartland, Fallujah, Ramadi, what they want to do is figure out how they can get the Sunni tribes more directly involved in the fight.

So on the table, could they change and starting giving the Sunnis arms directly rather than going through the central government in Baghdad. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter talking about this. Let me read you exactly what he said yesterday, and I quote, "We can enhance, hasten, train, and equipped. I think one particular way that is extremely important is to involve the Sunni tribes in the fight. That means training and equipping them."

But, and it's a huge but, if the Pentagon, if the White House decides to give to start giving Sunnis arms directly, even in coordination with the government in Baghdad but distributing to the Sunnis directly, it may cause a lot of problems in Iraq, a lot of concern, a new round of sectarian violence. Will the Sunnis use those U.S. arms against ISIS, or against the Shia? Chris?

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: It's a good question, Barbara, and also leads to the suggestion of how Iraqi officials feel about the possibility of Sunni fighters being armed by the U.S. CNN senior international correspondent Arwa Damon is monitoring those and other developments live from Baghdad. Arwa?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Chris. The concerns the Sunnis have, though, in all of this is that at the end of the day it is those Iranian-backed Shia paramilitary forces that are involved in the fight in Anbar, and their argument is that they, the Sunni tribes, are the ones that know the lay of the land. They are the ones that really have a vested interest in wanting to drive ISIS out of their territories, and that is why they have been begging, pleading with anyone to give them weapons.

The Iraqi government has promised to do so but. It made a token distribution a few months back, around 1,000 AKs, but it has yet to really make good to the pledge to truly arm the Sunni tribes. And that has been one of the many sources of the ongoing grievances. Key to arming the Sunni tribes when it comes to leading the Shia-led government is trying to establish that trust between the Sunnis and the Shia which is so vital moving forward.

As for the U.S. arming the Sunnis, they will take those weapons, if that is all that they have. Remember, America has worked with these tribes before back when it was the U.S. military that was here and was trying to defeat Al Qaeda.

[08:05:06] America knows how important the Sunnis are to the fight against ISIS, but the big question is will America make good on its promise, or will the slowness to come to actual action aggravate the Sunnis at a very critical junction, Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: The delicate nature of these negotiations to be sure. All right, Arwa, thank you so much for that.

NSA surveillance programs are set to expire Sunday night at midnight if Congress does not renew key provisions of the Patriot Act this weekend. Lawmakers do not return from their week-long recess until just hours before the deadline. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is following the ticking clock for us live from the White House.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Michaela, the White House sure has been ratcheting up their warnings, claiming that the expiration of the programs will provide dangerous enter interruptions in their ability to track terrorists, but also at the same time having a hard time explaining and pointing to one specific case where these program have helped prevent a terror attack.

Now, the programs will expire on midnight on Sunday, but according to administration officials, at 4:00, that's when the NSA would have to start winding down the surveillance programs, informing phone companies, shutting down servers on their end. Officials say if it has been approved that House passed reform bill and President Obama signs that legislation into law by 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, then that can be reversed. The White House though is ramping up the pressure on Capitol Hill, saying that the House passed measure is the only viable option going forward. The White House communications director says there is no backup plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There isn't a plan b. There's no magic bullet, there's no switch here. This is really an issue that the Senate needs to work through. The question is, why can't the Senate move forward? Can the Republicans work through the family feud to get to an agreement over the next couple days?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: Republican senators have been working through the week- long recess to try to strike a deal, but Alisyn, there are no signs of a breakthrough yet.

CAMEROTA: OK, Sunlen, thanks so much for monitoring that. Joining us now to talk about this and so much more, newly

declared Republican presidential candidate and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum. Good morning, senator.

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Good morning, Alisyn, thanks for having me on.

CAMEROTA: Thanks for being on NEW DAY. Let's start with the big breaking news this morning, and that is the charges against former speaker Denny Hastert. You worked with him in Congress. What do you make of this?

SANTORUM: I don't know. I don't know anything that what I heard reported. It doesn't make any sense to me. I am very disappointed, obviously, in what I have heard, and I want to find out more about it. It's very disturbing.

CAMEROTA: He was seen as this real standup guy in Congress. He was seen as a conciliatory voice, and to hear that he may have been for years he may have been paying hush money, it really takes you back.

SANTORUM: Yes. Again, it certainly seems very much out of character. He was a coach, a wrestling coach. He was someone, you are right, was elected as speaker to try and create more conciliatory atmosphere in the House. And to see this kind of revelation is really upsetting. I feel bad for everybody involved.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Senator, let's talk about the news in terms of the fight against ISIS today, and that is that the White House is considering arming the Sunni tribal leaders to try to take the fight to ISIS. What do you think of that plan?

SANTORUM: Well, I have been an advocate of arming the Kurds for a long time to give them military aid, and there has been a resistant of trying to make everything go through the Iraqi government. And there is a group of folks that we don't have to worry about turning around and using on the Iraq government. And we should be doing that. We should have been doing that for quite some time. They are willing to fight, they are effective fighters, they are very strong in support of our ideals, and they can be a great front against the Islamic State.

As far as Anbar, I think we have to look at that as an option to get the kind of support that we need to push back. ISIS is winning this war, contrary to what the administration, says and if we don't do something to change our tactics, they will continue to win this war.

CAMEROTA: Some of your fellow Republicans are suggested a change in tactic by adding U.S. ground troops of about 10,000. What do you think of that plan?

SANTORUM: Yes. I have been calling for that actually for several months now and also been saying we need to step up our air strikes. From what I'm hearing, we are flying about 14 to 20 air strikes a day and most of those air strikes aren't even dropping ordinance. This is a public relations campaign, not a real campaign, for trying to win the war.

If we are going to win and we're going to say we are going to fight, then we can't fight and lose. And not really fight and then lose, that's even worse.

[08:10:00] So putting requisite number of troops on the ground not in front line combat positions primarily but in support positions for the Kurds, for the Sunnis in Anbar, for the Jordanians and others who want to fight this fight but don't have the resources to do it. And the Americans can be there to help, we can step up our bombing campaign, we can change the rules of engagement in those bombing campaigns. I've heard reports that we have all these delays in trying to get approvals for dropping ordinance. This is micromanaging for politics, not trying to win a war.

CAMEROTA: Senator, I want to ask you about your presidential campaign. What is going to be different this time around now that you are back in the race?

SANTORUM: Well, I announced outside of Butler, Pennsylvania, which is where I grew up outside of Pittsburgh, and we did it on a factory floor. We talked about the importance of the last four years, a lot has changed. We have seen wages now continuing to flat even though we've had a modest recovery, wages for working men and women have not gone up, median income continues to go down and flat line.

And I laid out a proposal even as I was announcing to dramatically help those that are the 74 percent of Americans that don't have a college degree that are really being the most impacted by this economy, and laying out a tax plan and energy plan and immigration plan to try and make sure that we can increase wages and create better opportunities for people to rise in this country.

CAMEROTA: Now, yesterday -- sorry, on Wednesday, you were asked why your poll numbers are not better at the moment. And you are currently at the back of the pack of the Republican contenders in the latest Quinnipiac poll. I just want to read what you said, because it's interesting. You said "I have seven kids. I had to go to work after I ran last time. I had to provide food for my family and I was not in front of your TV very often over the last three year. I just couldn't be. I had responsibilities to my family and that may have something to do with it. But that doesn't matter. I did what I felt was right for my family."

And so given all of that, why are you getting back into this presidential race? That is one thing that takes you away from your family for the next year and also drains your bank account.

SANTORUM: No, it's absolutely true, and we had to think long and hard about that. And I said during my speech on Wednesday, we are doing this for the family and doing this for the country. I think, as you heard, we have a very different message than anybody else that's in this Republican field, frankly anybody else in the field, period. We have a message that can really get this country going again. We have experience that nobody has on national security. That is something that is critically important, I think, going up a former secretary of state with a candidate with really no national experience, it's a prescription for disaster for the Republican Party when national security issues are going to be very, very important.

So I just looked at the field, good people, a lot of really good people, but I felt we offered something different. And if you care about your country and you care about your family and being raised in a country that will be free and safe and prosperous, then you have to step up and take that responsibility. And that's what we did. And we are really excited about the message and what we could do for this country.

CAMEROTA: In 2012, last time around, everybody was so touched by your daughter, Bella. She was then three years old and was struggling with health problems. She has a rare genetic condition. So how is Bella today?

SANTORUM: Thank you for asking, Alisyn. And I just want to thank everybody for their prayers over that time. And she is doing great. She has not been seriously ill since the campaign. We started a new treatment which has just been life changing for her. And she just celebrated her seventh birthday, and her doctors told when we went in for her checkups which we do every three to six months that she is doing so well we don't have to go back for a year. That's how well she's doing.

So that was sort of our last check off. People are saying, what were you waiting for? Why are you doing it? We had those medical appointments, and I felt like I needed a runway to say I am not concerned about the health of my family, and we felt very good about that. Bella and everybody is rearing to go. She was up on stage with us on Wednesday, and we had a great time as a family.

And, you know, the family is really looking forward to this. They come out on the road with me. And so while I am on the road and travel quite a bit, it's a family -- it's like anything else, like the family business, if you will, to go out and help dad, and there is a lot of excitement in the ranks.

CAMEROTA: Well, we're so happy to hear that, senator, and we're so happy to hear that Bella is doing well. And thanks so much for talking to us, and we would love to have you in the studio on NEW DAY as soon as possible. Thanks so much.

SANTORUM: I look forward to it. And if people want to help they can go to RickSantorum.com, I would appreciate it.

CAMEROTA: Got it. Thanks so much.

CUOMO: All right, so we are dealing with the Dennis Hastert scandal, and there's another one this morning following FIFA's president fighting for his job after a massive corruption scandal. You are looking live at the FIFA Congress in Zurich back at work following a bomb threat. Obviously it was cleared as they were allowed to continue. They are about to vote for president.

[08:15:01] Sepp Blatter still the favorite even after so many people surrounding him, helping him, just go indicted.

CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson has more from Switzerland. Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Chris, Sepp Blatter says that there is no place for wrongdoing inside FIFA, that he cannot alone be the eyes and ears of 1.6 billion people who are involved in soccer, that he can't be watching out for all the 209 different delegates who will be voting for or against his presidency later today.

He says that he does want to be leader, that it is time to move forward, move forward together. The challenger, Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan is campaigning on bringing more teams to the World Cup, up from 32 to 36. He hopes that will get him more support from the Africa and Asia federations that, at the moment, really support Sepp Blatter. The wind really is in Sepp Blatter's sails, though. He seems to be the most likely person to win. The challenger not seen as a particularly strong candidate.

That despite these massive allegations of corruption. Seven arrests of senior FIFA executives here just in the last few days. $150 million in fraudulent bribery back payments that, according to the Department of Justice over the past 24 years, Sepp Blatter seeming to be able to withstand the impact of all of that. But the advertisers, they don't have a say in the vote here. Visa, Hyundai, Coca-Cola, all advertisers in the World Cup, they have their concerns, they want to see a clean house at FIFA. But right now, they look like voting in the incumbent, Michaela.

PEREIRA: Alright. Stay with CNN for all of that, Nic, because we know that vote is coming down. It's scheduled for today and we will be watching it here at CNN.

Meanwhile in Texas, there are rescues underway at this hour in Garland. In fact, I think we have video of a person being pulled from their stranded car in rushing floodwaters. The region's inundated. Many cities are now facing even more rain, exactly what they don't need.

Dan Simon is on the ground for us in Highland, Texas, outside of Houston. We know conditions there are worsening as we speak, Dan.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Michaela, the rain really starting to come down here in Highland, Texas. As you can see, it's really pounding. We are in the middle of a storm cell. This is an area known as the banana bend and the water level has come up here about a foot in the past 24 hours. It's just going to continue to rise now that this rain is really coming down.

The homes here are on stilts so they are not going to flood, but really the only way around some of these subdivisions is by boat. This is not what Houston needs right now, just as they were beginning to clean up. We were going through some of the neighborhoods yesterday as people were putting sort of their trash and sort of their wet couches and mattresses on the front curbs, hoping that those items will be collected today. That cleanup effort is really going to be stalled now that this rain is coming down again.

A crew is also keeping a close eye on the town of Warden, Texas. That's just southwest of here. You've got about 300 homes under a voluntary evacuation order as the Colorado River there continues to rise. Also in Wimberley, Texas, the place where we saw so much devastation and so much loss of life, having this rain come down is really going to complicate matters as crews there continue to look for the bodies. Alisyn, we'll send it back to you.

CAMEROTA: They sure are. The weather has just deteriorated since we've seen you in the last hour, Dan. Thanks so much for that update.

Well, Cuba is about to be removed from America's list of state terrorism sponsors. Congress had 45 days to override the president's recommendation on this, but that deadline passes today and lawmakers will not oppose it. Just another step towards full renewal of diplomatic ties between the U.S. and Cuba.

CUOMO: Pilots on four commercial jets all reporting lasers being pointed into their cockpits. The FAA says all the flights were about 8,000 feet over Long Island Thursday night. That's off the coast of New York City. The laser apparently coming from Bethpage State Park. Here is sound from one of the cockpits as it happens.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

PILOT: I thought it was just a rogue laser, but they were definitely aiming for us a couple times, because we caught it a couple times into the cockpit.

ATC: I've got two aircrafts right over where you are got struck by a green laser. American 185, if you see a green laser be careful. A green laser might be in your vicinity right now.

PILOT: American 185 we just had a laser strike, left side.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

CUOMO: All the planes landed safely. New York State Park Police are investigating. Laser strike may sound a little overly dramatic, but how stupid do you have to be to do something like that? It really can make a difference. That's why the pilots are talking about it. You can threaten the people onboard, you fool. Don't do this. I hope the park police catch you.

CAMEROTA: There you go. Well, the U.S. considering a plan that would directly arm Sunni tribal fighters.

[08:20:02] Iraq's Ambassador to the United States joins us live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Welcome back to NEW DAY on this Friday. One of the big headlines, the Obama administration considering arming Sunni tribal fighters against ISIS. Critics say there is no guarantee those Sunnis will use those weapons against the bad guys. So could they end up in the wrong hands? Is that a good enough reason not to do it, given all the sectarian trouble there?

Let's ask Ambassador Lukman Faily. He is Iraq's Ambassador to the United States and he joins us now.

Ambassador, thank you very much for joining us. Let's have you deal with some of the headlines. The idea of arming the Sunnis to help in the fight against ISIS. Yes, no, good, bad? What do you say?

LUKMAN FAILY, IRAQ AMBASSADOR TO U.S.: Thank you for having me to start with. Obviously, arming the Sunnis, arming the Kurds, arming the army, arming any side on Iraq to fight against ISIS will be welcomed. We need to coordinate this by the central government to make sure that the right weapons go to the right people and certainly, with the right ammunition and the right training. So we will support that (INAUDIBLE) certainly.

CUOMO: The criticism is that you are not arming the Sunnis, that the government still has somewhat of a Shia bias in that regard and that's one of the reasons that the U.S. is thinking about doing it directly. Is that a fair criticism and what do you make of the United States' thought to do it unilaterally?

[08:24:58] FAILY: The U.S.' administration has been clear in the sense, consistently saying that it has to work through the central government to preserve the unity of Iraq, certainly for the sovereignty of the country, and the make sure that this is the most effective way.

The government is a formation of all parties, including Sunnis, that the minister of defense is a Sunni from Nainoa province. We have been providing arms, we have been - however, we have limited amount of them, anyway. We have limited ammunitions. Whatever we have been getting, whatever we have been able to buy, we have been able to give a fair share to all sides who, you know, (INAUDIBLE) this fight. We know each localities have to deal with their own issues, but we also know the unity of the country means we have to work with each other.

CUOMO: What is your quick response to the notion of whether or not the Iraqi army has the will to fight?

FAILY: Well, everyday, if you look at the news back home, every day we are having fighting in Anbar, in Nainoa and all other fronts we have and the (INAUDIBLE) fronts. The army is doing it, the people of the mobilization forces doing it, the (INAUDIBLE) are doing it, Sunni tribes and all doing it together. Yesterday more than about 1,000 joined the Anbar tribes, joined the popular mobilization force in the fight. We are all having this fight. This is our fight, we need help, but this is our fight.

CUOMO: It is a more fair criticism to say it's not the hearts of the men on the field fighting, but it's the heads of the men who are leading them that sometimes are in question, that the leadership, the direction to the fighting men on the ground, needs to be better?

FAILY: This is since last June when the whole ISIS situation came up, the prime minister has since made tremendous changes, even last -- two weeks ago, with the situation in Ramadi, where have been a substantial change. We need to look at our structure, (INAUDIBLE) and decision-making, and so these are what you might call operational issues, which we need to look at in reflection of what is taking place on the ground.

However, as a theme of our prime minister leading the charge and making sure that all parties work together for the unity and for the success of our fight against ISIS, each party on their own will not be able to do that. The United States on its own will not be able to do that. We have to all pull our weight together. This is a serious threat to the region. We need to work with each other.

CUOMO: There is no question that what needs to change will not end on the battlefield, that it is much about what happens in your society and specifically, your government, as it does what happens in terms of combat. Do you believe that your government is making the strides it needs to to embrace the Sunni part of the population?

FAILY: Representation in the government reflective of all societies. We don't have what we might call (INAUDIBLE) democracy opposition parties. They are all part of the government. So this is a reflection of the whole society. Our politics need to improve to reflect the seriousness of the situation. Nobody is denying that. But at the same time, the amount of challenge we have is tremendous. The situation in Syria has not helped. Internationally there is polarization. Iraq is the forefront of this fight. This is not a pure domestic issue in Iraq, by the way. If anybody tells you that, then unfortunately they are misreading the situation. This is an international fight. Iraqi is the forefront of it. We need the support, you need us, we need you. We need to help each other here.

CUOMO: Ambassador, thank you very much for joining us on NEW DAY. Appreciate it.

FAILY: Thank you for having me, sir.

PEREIRA: Mohammed cartoons and guns. Sounds like a recipe for trouble, doesn't it? Well, it's going down in Phoenix tonight. We have details ahead.

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