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New Day

Gay Palestinian in Fight for His Life; New Climate Change Report; Interview with EPA's Gina McCarthy; Who Commits Mass Shootings? Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired June 22, 2015 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:24] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, here we go with the five things to know for your NEW DAY.

At number one, the search for two escaped killers shifts again. The manhunt for Richard Matt and David Sweat now centered on Owls Head, New York, about 25 miles west of the prison that they escaped from more than two weeks ago.

The South Carolina church at the center of that deadly shooting massacre reopened Sunday with messages of hope. This as we learned the suspected shooter is linked to a racist online manifesto.

This morning, the Supreme Court could issue its rulings on Obamacare and same-sex marriage. Justices deciding which states are eligible for federal health care subsidizes and if gay couples have a constitutional right to marry.

Nearly 2,000 firefighters battling a massive wildfire in California's San Bernardino National Forest. So far, more than 17,000 acres have been scorched, hundreds of structures are threatened.

Twenty-one-year-old Jordan Spieth becoming the youngest golfer to win the U.S. Open since Bobby Jones back in 1923. Dustin Johnson had a 12- foot eagle putt on the final hole to win, but three putted to finish in the runner-up spot.

For more on the five things to know, be sure to visit newdaycnn.com for the latest.

Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, my friend.

The grandson of a co-founder of the terror group Hamas says he's in the fight of his life. He's gay, lives in Canada, and is now a Christian. He's also fighting deportation to the West Bank which he says would mean certain death. CNN's Laurie Segall spoke with him one- on-one. Here's his story.

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LAURIE SEGALL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Tuesday night for John Calvin, his favorite gay bar, his favorite people. Bingo and dancing in his current hometown in Edmonton, Canada. But for Calvin, it's bittersweet because it might not last. He's fighting to keep from being sent from Canada to the West Bank. He says it's also a fight to stay alive.

SEGALL (on camera): If you are sent back, what will happen to you?

JOHN CALVIN, FACING DEPORTATION TO WEST BANK: It's a certain death. It's - that's undisputable fact.

SEGALL (voice-over): Calvin is a Christian convert. He's also gay. And where he comes from, he says that's a deadly combination. Calvin is the grandson of the co-founder of Hamas. He has five uncles, all in and out of prison for committing acts of terror.

CALVIN: My family was very, very extremist. Islam, Hamas were the two things that my family revolved around.

SEGALL: Calvin says at 14 he ran away from home, illegally crossing the border to Israel. He was arrested and sent to an Israeli prison where he had an experience that changed his life.

CALVIN: I was sexually assaulted by another Palestinian fellow. Sorry.

SEGALL: It was his treatment after the attack that he says turned his core believes upside down. He says Israeli prison guards showed him compassion.

CALVIN: For me that was the moment when I started breaking off from my beliefs.

SEGALL: When he came back home, he says he started looking for meaning outside of Hamas and found it in an unlikely place given his background, Christianity. Calvin says when his father found out, he tried to organize an honor killing.

CALVIN: My father have actually banded (ph), so I was to be put to death.

SEGALL: Calvin fled to Canada in 2010 where he applied for refugee protection, but that application was denied earlier this year. The government cited his admission that he had been a member of Hamas, along with many in his family.

NATHAN WHITING, CALVIN'S ATTORNEY: The evidence consisted of him essentially carrying some messages that he hadn't read from one of his uncles to another one of his uncles. There was evidence that someone had given him a handgun. But he certainly wasn't involved in any actual acts of terror.

SEGALL: We called Calvin's father. He denied being a member of Hamas and said he never tried to kill his son. But then he made a damming reference to Saddam Hussein's son-in-law, who was killed after he defected.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, JOHN CALVIN'S FATHER (through translator): Well, our family's no less dignified than Saddam Hussein's family. His faith may not be different than that traitor, General Hussein Kamel, who was the son-in-law of Saddam Hussein's.

SEGALL: The implications? He could be killed by the community.

The Canadian government would not comment specifically on John Calvin's case, but says a risk assessment is one of the safe guards to ensure people in need of protection are not removed. For Calvin's friends, it's unthinkable.

MIKE, CALVIN'S FRIEND: This is - this is what we want to see people do. We want to see people who have a - a family history (INAUDIBLE) and other organizations escape that and find safe places like what we have here.

[08:35:08] SEGALL: Just weeks ago, he learned the date he'd have to leave, November 4th. So this admitted member of a Hamas family, who is now openly gay and a practicing Christian, likely will be deported unless Canada or another western country believes him when he says he left Hamas behind when he left the West Bank.

Laurie Segall, CNN Money, Edmonton, Canada.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, well, first the Pope, and now the feds sounding the alarm on the dangers of climate change. The EPA's administrator, who met with the Vatican, will be live with us on NEW DAY, next.

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PEREIRA: Well, first it was the Pope with a call for action against global warming. The pontiff delivering an urgent plea to the world's 1.2 billion Catholics to protect the earth from climate change. Now, this morning, a new report from the EPA sounding a similar warning, if we don't take action, wildfires, extreme temperature changes, and storm surges, well, they could become the norm. Here to discuss is EPA administrator Gina McCarthy, who met with Vatican officials earlier this year.

[08:40:03] Ms. McCarthy, thank you so much for joining us.

GINA MCCARTHY, ADMINISTRATOR, U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY: It's great to be here with you, Michaela, thanks.

PEREIRA: I understand that you met with the Pope's climate team. What was your takeaway from the meeting?

MCCARTHY: We did. Well, we knew that the Pope was serious, that the encyclical was going to come out. We wanted to let him know that the U.S. is taking strong, domestic action. And we wanted to let him know that there was hope that we could change the future if we take action now.

PEREIRA: So in terms of the Pope's encyclical on the matter, how is it changing the dialogue here?

MCCARTHY: I think it is - it is changing things. I think he stood up and made it a significant moral responsibility. He's reaching many, many people with that message. And I think it's an opportunity for us to really globally respond to this challenge, which deserves the needs of global challenge - a global response, as our report shows.

PEREIRA: It's very interesting to see how highly politicized this topic is. And even with the 2016 presidential contenders, we're seeing them come out and make some statements. Jeb Bush, for his part, essentially saying that he's not going to take matters of economic policy from the head of the Catholic Church. But it does bring up an interesting question, is this outside of the Pope's purview?

MCCARTHY: No, I don't think so. This is a moral issue. In fact, it's one of the biggest issues of our time. It's about how we treat the natural resources that we were given to be stewards of and how we make changes in order to preserve a future for our kids. If you look at the report that EPA put out today, we take a look at what unmitigated climate change results in, in terms of impact to the U.S., and then we take a look at what global action can mean in terms of direct benefits to human lives, to our property, to the safety of our communities, to the natural resources we love, and to the economy of this country. And it's pretty startling information. People should pay attention to it. But it's hopeful as well because if we take action now globally, we can make a significant difference in the quality of the life of our children and we can make it a safer, healthier place for them to live.

PEREIRA: So, we know the president is paying attention. How will the Pope's encyclical, how will the EPA report, how do you think that - well, I guess there's the hope and the reality of how it's going to impact the policies that he chooses to implement domestically.

MCCARTHY: Well, I think we have to look at what people are feeling today. The Pope, two years ago, stood up and said climate change is a moral responsibility and we have to take action. He said domestically we're going to come out strong, but we're going to do that with the global community in hopes that leaders can get together and make this global action happen. And so EPA is moving forward with domestic action as other parts of the administration are. We're going to show that the U.S. is providing leadership. We're going to bring that global action to the table. We're going to meet our responsibility, and we're going to avoid the damages that otherwise would happen if we continue to have our heads in the sand.

PEREIRA: OK, so heads in the sand. You probably get a chance to make this argument all the time. Dinner parties, at the bus stop, et cetera, et cetera, so I'm going to give you a chance to do it here. How do you convince somebody who, as you say, has their head in the sand, who says, I don't buy it. I don't believe this. I think it's just a bunch of trife rhetoric. How do you convince somebody who says no, climate change isn't how we're making it out to be?

MCCARTHY: Well, Michaela, you'd be surprised, but most of the people that I meet on the streets ask us why we're not doing more. Businesses communities come forward. Businesses come forward and say, why isn't government doing more? People are experiencing it.

PEREIRA: OK, fair enough, but what about the - what about the critics, because they are vocal.

MCCARTHY: They are vocal. The critics are vocal who are deniers, but the rest of the people really want government to provide the leadership we were brought here to provide, which is to keep them safe and healthy and to hand the world to our children in a shape that we can - that we can be proud of. Climate change is not a belief system, it is a fact. This is science. So EPA is putting the science on the table. We're providing all the information. And we're showing that, in fact, if you actually take action today, you will save significant lives, thousands of lives every year. You are going to save precious resources that we all care about. You're going to address issues of extreme drought. You're going to reduce the amount of acreage that's destroyed by wildfires.

PEREIRA: OK.

MCCARTHY: And this is an important issue that we all need to embrace. It's not political. It's science. And we can do this. We always have.

PEREIRA: Gina McCarthy, thank you so much. We should let you know at home that CNN is taking a look at the difference just two degrees Celsius could make in changing the world we live in and how we can prevent a global catastrophe before it happens. You can get more information at cnn.com/2degrees. Again, cnn.com2degrees.

Gina McCarthy, thanks so much.

Chris.

[08:44:57] CUOMO: All right, so it's just such a horrible laundry list that this Charleston massacre brings to mind. You know, Aurora, Columbine, Newtown, and, of course, Charleston, all mass killings, all carried out by young, white men with obvious problems. Is it a coincidence? And if not, why do we keep seeing it? We'll discuss with someone who has an answer.

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CUOMO: Unfortunately, Charleston now has to be added to the list of ignominy when we start thinking about places that are marred by shootings by young white males. Whether it is Newtown or Aurora, now here. We keep hearing about this and the person who commits the crime seems to fit a demographic. Is it just coincidence? Is it just what we decide to cover? Here is somebody who understands this in depth. He's the author of "Columbine," Dave Cullen.

CAMEROTA: Dave, thanks so much for being here.

DAVE CULLEN, AUTHOR, "COLUMBINE": Thanks for having me.

CAMEROTA: So our impression is that these mass shootings are carried out by young 20-something white males. Is that accurate? CULLEN: Not completely. That was my impression, too, because - and

when you at the look list of them - "Mother Jones" was good enough to compile a list of all 70 since 1982.

CAMEROTA: How do they define mass shooting?

CULLEN: I believe they did it as anyone with more than four killed. Had to be a gun involved but there could be other types of death, like one involved a fire as well. Didn't have to be completely shooting.

CAMEROTA: What did they find?

[08:49:8] CULLEN: If you look just at the top ten, which are the notorious ones which we see on television, so I think we're basing all of our judgments off of because, you know, we haven't seen the other 60. Those -- there are -- seven are white, one black that was very recent, the naval yards a couple of years ago, and two Asians. I think in my mind, I kind of brushed off the Asians as aberrations, like, you know, and the black had been more recent. So I was thinking, you know, all white.

If you look at the whole list, it turns out that whites and blacks are pretty proportionate to their population, very close. Latinos are almost nowhere to be seen and where they are, they're very close to the bottom. They're just not doing this. Asians continue to be heavily overrepresented more than two and a half times their size in the population all the way throughout.

CAMEROTA: I wish we could make sense of this. And I wish that everything that you're saying somehow led us to a conclusion that could be predictive and we could stop it. I mean - But generally, I don't know if the race is as important as the personality characteristics that seem to be. Do you see a pattern in the personality characteristics?

CULLEN: Well, there's some other kinds of patterns in there. There's really interesting things -- the age group. Well, first of all -- male. Of the 70, 68 were male. We know that. Males do most of the gun violence -

CUOMO: Especially in that age range.

CULLEN: Yes, yes. Age is very important. But if you look at the list, I was a little surprised -- I color coded here -- almost all of them fall into one of two categories. One is sort of late adolescence, sort of like 18 to 22 that, you know, just sort of post- adolescence. The other group is in their 40s. That second group is much bigger, especially as you go lower down the list. You can't see here -- there's like 20 in a row who are in their 40s.

CUOMO: How many are seen as having been predictably mentally ill?

CULLEN: They're scattered. This data had - looks like at least half them. I'm not sure I trust all their conclusions here. Particularly in Columbine, they say, ahead of time --

CAMEROTA: You don't think that those two were mentally ill?

CULLEN: Depending how you define it. Dylan was definitely depressive. Eric was just a psychopath. One of the big problems there is that almost all these end in suicide or death of the perpetrator and so it's a lot harder, you know, looking back to get good data on that. But if you include depression, really, really heavily, you're talking about mental illness in terms of schizophrenia or somebody who really doesn't understand -

CUOMO: Depression counts --

CULLEN: Yes --

CUOMO: Especially if it isn't treated properly, if they're not taking their meds and they become isolated. It's as dangerous as anything -

CULLEN: Yes, yes, it is. If you include that, much more than half.

CAMEROTA: You know, Chris and I share an opinion about not saying the gunman's name if we can avoid it.

CULLEN: Good. Thank you.

CAMEROTA: We try not to say the gunman's name, because it is our impression that they're seeking media notoriety. Is that accurate?

CULLEN: I believe so. I wrote a piece for Buzzfeed about that that caused a lot of controversy. And their picture, minimally too, except when we're trying to catch them. And Anderson Cooper does it - Actually, so does Megyn Kelly on Fox, are the only two who have sort of a strict edict about that. But I'm glad you're doing that.

CUOMO: I think we started it.

CAMEROTA: I do, too.

CULLEN: Oh good. Oh great. Thank you. I think that is a huge part of it where - And again, if you look at the list, there's sort of two groups. The smaller events are the ones who are practical. It's a revenge, a workplace, a girlfriend, a boss - and they kill associates -

CAMEROTA: They're getting back at somebody. But I'm more interested in the stranger shooting.

CULLEN: Yes, which is most of the top ten and most of the really big ones. They don't care about any of the people involved. They're just bodies. They're doing this as a spectacle. And over time, they've really learned that they either need to get in our top ten or they have to do something more horrific, like going after really little kids like at Newtown or some sort of cruel or unusual or doing it in a church. They have to do something new and novel. They're clearly going for the spectacle, going for -- It's theater. And, yes, the more we can rob them of the - satisfaction, I think that's very -- it's crucial.

CAMEROTA: Dave Cullen, thanks so much. The book, again, is "Columbine." We appreciate all your expertise.

CULLEN: Thank you.

CUOMO: All we learned in Columbine and we keep learning, the only thing that works as the antidote is to show that you're going to love yourselves right through it and just diffuse whatever hate spawned it in the first place. Thank you very much.

[08:54:22] This has been a tough day. There's a lot of tough news. You know what happens on this show. "The Good Stuff" coming up next.

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CUOMO: Oh, it is the goodest of stuffs. Today's "Good Stuff" comes to us from a small town in New Jersey.

PEREIRA: Oh! I like it already.

CUOMO: 29 years ago, a child decided to not be defined --

CAMEROTA: Are you kidding me?

CUOMO: -- by unsurpassing beauty, nor her (INAUDIBLE) intellect.

CAMEROTA: Are you kidding me?

CUOMO: She decided, this child, she would be defined for her ability to rock checkered flannel (ph) --

PEREIRA: Oh, and she did!

CUOMO: -- without irony.

PEREIRA: Look at that.

CUOMO: A patented lippy and resplendent smile.

PEREIRA: Look at that hair!

CAMEROTA: Oh my god, my mom. Look at my mom.

CUOMO: Not to mention a dead-on Dolly Parton impersonation motivated, of course, by her obvious physical similarities.

PEREIRA: Are you kid - Drop the banner.

CUOMO: Her childhood dreams of rock star fame would be realized years later here on the NEW DAY set.

CAMEROTA: Are you kidding me? Where did you get these?

PEREIRA: We have our ways.

CAMEROTA: There she is.

PEREIRA: Yeah! CAMEROTA: What is happening right now?

CUOMO: The head bobble. Natural, of course.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: That's my favorite moment.

CUOMO: It is not unusual to see her perfect hair comprised only by her desire to unleash the (INAUDIBLE) during commercial break. Today, we celebrate Alisyn's day of birth, known in most (INAUDIBLE) as the day she walked among us.

PEREIRA: It's true.

CUOMO: Her humor, humility, grace, incredible intelligence. Something we're looking to witness here every day as part of our NEW DAY family. You people are lucky to have her as well. We wish you many, many more.

CAMEROTA: Oh, thank you! You guys are so sweet.

PEREIRA: Happy birthday! It was actually yesterday. We're a day late and a dollar short.

CAMEROTA: It's the first day of summer so I share it with everyone because it's a glorious day.

PEREIRA: It just occurred to me, though, that's Father's Day and your birthday.

CAMEROTA: I know.

PEREIRA: They're on the same day. What are the children to do?

CUOMO: One pales in comparison to the other.

CAMEROTA: Thank you.

CUOMO: I'm surprised they haven't moved Father's Day, which is really just a Hallmark holiday.

[09:00:00] CAMEROTA: Thank you. Even Tim felt that way, but they just - They did a lot of cards. There was a lot of card drawing yesterday.

PEREIRA: Happy birthday, love.

CAMEROTA: Thank you, guys.

CUOMO: There should be flags, there should be parades.

PEREIRA: We'll continue our (INAUDIBLE) parade, but "NEWSROOM" for Carol Costello starts now.

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