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New Day

Donald Trump Steps Up Attacks on Sen. McCain; FBI Looking Into Chattanooga Gunman's Text Messages. Aired 6:30-7:00a ET.

Aired July 20, 2015 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Big story this morning, Donald Trump stepping up his attack on Senator John McCain saying in an Op-Ed in USA Today last night that McCain has failed our veterans and made America, quote, less safe. Trump lashing out at republican rivals saying he does not need to be lectured by people he called failed politicians. This follows Trump saying that McCain was Vietnam war hero only because he was captured.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: The FBI looking into a text message the Chattanooga gunman sent to a friend just before attacking two Tennessee military facilities. Now in the message, the 23 year old, said in part he was declaring, quote, war and even included an Islamic verse. Investigators are reconciling that with the shooter's family, saying he had been battling bipolar disorder and drug abuse in his final days.

CAMEROTA: We have a terrible car crash to tell you about this morning police on New York's, Long Island said a drunk driver claimed four lives this weekend. This happened on Saturday when a pick-up truck hit a limousine carrying a bride-to-be and seven close friends. The bride-to-be survived, but four friends did not.

The 55 year old suspect was hospitalized this morning. He pleaded not guilty to DWI charges Sunday during a bed side arraignment. And in a tragic twist, the woman hired the limo so they would not have to worry about driving after a day trip to the winery.

[06:35:00] CUOMO: Yes. We live out there. And everybody is talking about it. And it's just horrible for the families. Horrible for the families.

CAMEROTA: Yes. And even for a wedding.

CUOMO: All right. Of course, you've been checking the weather. We have the tale of two very different stories going on here. We got a record of rainfall in southern and central California actually forcing interstate 10 to close, cut off the main roadway connecting California and Arizona. A bridge collapsing. And a heavy rain. A truck crushed in the incident. That's what we're showing you here right now. Crews actually freed the driver inside and he's expected to survive, a little bit of good news in a terrible situation. A very different story of course in the northeast. It's hot. So

hot you have to call the police and firemen. Meteorologist, Chad Everett Myers is here today.

CHAD MYERS, METEOROLOGIST: I'll go with that. Christopher Charles, CCC, anyway, you know, it - there's a song when I was growing up. It never rains in Southern California, but when it does, it pours. And did it come

down over the weekend. First time they had to cancel San Diego Padres baseball game in years, like almost 10 years. Moisture come in from Dolores, it was an old dying tropical system. And a dying tropical system. But right there, where the heavy rain was, that's where the roadway actually collapsed because all the water rushing under it, washing away the foundation of that road. Unbelievable.

Hot across the northeast Houston. You said when can you stop this Heat? The heat index 105. I love how that smells. 103 is what it will feel like in Raleigh. 102 in D.C. if you have never smelled New York city in summertime, you don't know what you are missing. 95 in D.C., 91 in New York City. With the heat index, the humidity is the problem.

For the next few days, it will feel like 105 to 110. Guys, enjoy the heat as we head down here for six weeks.

CAMEROTA: If you have smelled New York in the summertime, sometimes it's hard to get that out of your scent memory.

MYERS: Yes, I know. I see it as a bouquet.

CAMEROTA: You do.

CUOMO: You have to love the city.

CAMEROTA: Wow, you are a lover of that. Meanwhile, Donald Trump not apologizing for saying John McCain was a war hero because only because he was a captured. So, we will see for the veteran who was a P.O.W with McCain, what is he saying of Trump's latest charges?

[06:40:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: You rarely hear any American insult one of our P.O.Ws. It is unheard of for a would be president the do so and double down. But that's exactly what Donald Trump seems to be doing in an Op-Ed piece in the USA Today. Insisting the Arizona senator has made America less safe while abandoning his fellow veteran.

Now, political positions are of course, fair game for criticism. But attacking what he lived through at war and in service for our country something very different. And our next guest snows John McCain struggled well because he lived with him. A fellow prisoner of war was captured after his plane was shot down in Vietnam.

Here to tell his story and shares perspective, former Navy fighter pilot. Captain Charlie Plumb. Sir, thank you for joining us on "New Day." Sorry it's for this reason. But thank you for the service.

CHARLIE PLUMB, POW WITH JOHN MCCAIN: Thanks, Chris. A pleasure to be with you.

CUOMO: Captain, remind people of what you, John McCain, others endured.

PLUMB: Chris, I was shot down in May of 1967. John McCain came into the camp about three or Four months later. I knew him well. He was my flight instructor. I went to the Naval Academy with his brother. I served under their father, the Admiral, J.F. McCain. So, I knew who he was. He was one of the most injured prisoners I ever saw in that prison camp. Seven broken bones when he was shot down and they were twisting his broken bones to torture the poor guy, yet one of the toughest guys I have ever - I had ever seen. So we - we were in and out of a prison camp in North Vietnam for nearly almost six years.

CUOMO: Six years. What happened in your head and your heart when you heard that Donald Trump said what he said about John McCain as a P.O.W?

PLUMB: I have to be honest with you, I was amused. To begin with, John or any one of the 591 guys we were with would never call himself a hero. John McCain has never referred to himself as hero. He doesn't feel he was a hero. It's a bit of a nonissue calling a person a hero.

We were over there in uniform, fighting for our way of life. We were dedicated to the mission and in some small way, we were in uniform to protect Donald Trump's right to free speech. Not only that, it occurs to me and I thought about this immediately when I heard Trump's remarks. That, if it hadn't been for men and women in uniform, if we had all gotten deferments in college, there would be no opportunity to be a billionaire in the United States.

CUOMO: Do you think that John McCain, you, others are owed an apology by Donald Trump?

PLUMB: I don't need an apology. I don't think John needs an apology. We know who we are. We are very well adjusted people. We understand that, first of all, it's political rhetoric for the most part. It's stirring the pot. So, I don't need an apology.

CUOMO: You ever heard anybody say anything like that, let alone someone who wanted to run for president?

[06:45:00] PLUMB: You know, I never have. We were treated very well when we came home. In fact, you know, we were really sad to find - we didn't know this at the time, but when we came home to find so many veterans got such a poor welcome when they came home.

We, including John McCain and me, started visiting vets hospitals. We had a program every February on the 14th of February, every year. The P.O.Ws would visit V.A. hospitals to talk to the veterans who didn't get the welcome home we got. So we didn't feel like heroes, but we accepted the fact, at that time in history, America needed heroes. We were the only thing you had. So, we accepted that.

CUOMO: Well, that's the problem with you heroes, you never accept your heroism. That's always the challenge for the rest of us is make you recognize that is so obvious to everyone else. Look, political attack is part of the game, captain.

PLUMB: Thank you for that.

CUOMO: No, thank you, sir. Political attacks are part of the game.

PLUMB: That's true.

CUOMO: And John McCain's policies are worthy of criticism by Trump as anybody else in the game. But do you think it's wrong to confuse that criticism with the service to the country John McCain and so many others gave?

PLUMB: Well, to begin with, it certainly somehow degrades military people and people in uniform. On the other hand, you have to consider the source. And you know, Trump has never served in the military. We used to call them draft dodgers. That's basically we are looking at.

CUOMO: But he's at the top of the polls, Captain. How do you explain that?

PLUMB: You know, in all fairness, I really appreciate and respect some of the things that Trump is saying. He's being honest. He's being blunt. He's right out front with everything. He's transparent and, so, no, there's really good reasons, I think, to listen to Donald Trump.

CUOMO: Any chance he'd get your vote?

PLUMB: No.

CUOMO: You were being very open minded for a second. I appreciate that, Captain, thank you for your candor and transparency. Thank you for reminding us a little bit of what was lived through in those camps. And again, sir, thank you very much for what you did for our country and coming on "New Day." The best to you.

PLUMB: Thanks, Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Thank you, Sir.

PLUMB: Absolutely.

CUOMO: Captain Charlie Plumb. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: OK. Chris, will Bill Cosby admits to buying drugs to give to women that he wanted to sleep with. And there is much more in these newly released documents. We will read you excerpts, next.

[06:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK) CAMEROTA: CNN has obtained Bill Cosby's 2005 deposition from a

lawsuit filed by Andrea (Constand). That's a woman who claimed that Bill Cosby sexually assault her. The documents reveal stunning new details and many of them, we should warn you, are sexually graphic. Let's bring in Barbara Bowman, one of the women who says that says Cosby drugged and raped her. She is also a spokesperson for the group PAVE and National Non Profit dedicated to Sexual Assault Prevention and Victim Empowerment. Good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA BOWMAN, ACCUSES BILL COSBY OF RAPE: Good morning, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: So, you have had quite a wild 24 hours since this deposition and Cosby's words have come to light. I know you haven't had time to read through all 1,000 pages. Give us your initial, first impression to the things he said.

BOWMAN: The first thing that came to my mind was finally, after all the years that I had been screaming my story and certainly since 2005, after Andrea (Constand) was brave enough to file her suit. And I was supposed to testify with 13 other women in that case.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

BOWMAN: It was a wonderful day. A wonderful, great, opportunity to move forward to education and bring awareness about sexual, predatory behavior.

CAMEROTA: So let's go through the excerpts from this deposition and I want you to respond to specific moments. Let's start here.

This is the moment where Bill Cosby talks about the minutes after Andrea (Constand) says she was sexually assaulted. Here is his interpretation of what happened. I walk her out, she does not look angry. Doesn't say don't ever do that again or with an attitude of huff. I'm a good reader of people in romantic, sexual things, whatever you want to call them. What is your response?

BOWMAN: It makes me sick. It sends a very wrong message about what consent really means. Consent is not the absence of a no. When you put drugs and alcohol in the mix and put a person into a state of impairment and incapacitation where they are unable to respond in a normal setting, it's manipulative, diabolical and controlling. It's behavior of a sociopath. That's the most dangerous type of predator out there.

CAMEROTA: Barbara, I know here is another expert you find sickening, this is where Bill Cosby claims that he actually tried to avoid intercourse with women because he felt they became too attached to him. Sexual intercourse is more of a romance and feeling, not love. It's deeper than a playful situation. What did you think when you read those?

[06:55:00] BOWMAN: To me, that's just another example of narcissistic behavior and thinking pattern. Sociopaths and psychopaths operate on a different system than a normal, average person who has rational thinking. They begin to believe their lies, as a way to justify their behavior and to continue to manipulate those around them, to create confusion. It's a method of control and dominance.

He's unable to think clearly, it's sick thinking. When you are dealing with that type of mental impairment, it's - it's - it's incongruous with reasonable thinking and the way we operate as normal human beings in a civilized society. It's controlling, it's sad.

CAMEROTA: And Barbara, you know, you are one of the people, one of the 12 women that I have interviewed, who believes you were given a powerful sedative by Bill Cosby before the assault. Here is where he talks about seven prescriptions of Quaaludes. The lawyer says why didn't you take Quaaludes? He

said, because I use them. The lawyer says, for what? He said the same with the person would say he is equating giving them a Quaalude as a glass of wine. What is your response?

BOWMAN: It's a loaded question, Alisyn, you could go on for a while. The one glass of wine I was given certainly had something powerful in it that made me unable to make reasonable decisions and in a vulnerable position where my body was violated. I would consider that ultimate control, considered kidnapping, in my opinion because I was unable to make decisions, blacking out, waking up, my body was violated. And that is a crime.

That's rape. Anyone that says that, hey, you know, we were just doing drugs and having a drink. It was all fun. It was cute. It was petting. It was this. I am, you know, it was - she could have said no. Sending the wrong message to young people about what that really means. That's what I'm working on in the future is to speak out and educate young people on the subject.

CAMEROTA: Yes. You have turned your ordeal and pain into trying to empower young people about exactly what consent means. Barbara Bowman again, it was your Op-Ed in Washington Post that opened the flood beats on this. We appreciate being able to check in with you as the developments come from Bill Cosby.

CAMEROTA: Thank you so much, Barbara.

BOWMAN: I appreciate it, Alisyn. Thank you so much, too.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much too. Let's get to Chris.

CUOMO: A significant step in that story. There is a lot of news this morning. Let's get to it.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Disqualifier as commander in chief.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rhetoric from Donald Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's nothing funny about the insults he's directed at a genuine war hero.

CAMEROTA: The nuclear deal with Iran put to a vote.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If Congress doesn't pass this, you are not going to have a negotiation.

CAMEROTA: There are still many unanswered questions about the shooter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had issues with his family. He had issues with drugs and alcohol.

CAMEROTA: The latest bombshell with Bill Cosby.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It sickens me. I have to be strong.

ANNOUNCER: This is "New Day" With Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira.

CAMEROTA: Good morning, welcome back to your "New Day." Michaela is off today. Donald Trump is not letting up on John McCain. He rejecting to apologize. In fact, he is going back on the attack. He says McCain abandoned veterans and made America less safe.

CUOMO: He also lashes out to his presidential rival saying, he does not need to be lectured by failed politicians. To hear Trump tell us, the proof is in the polls. CNN chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash. It is in his favor.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Worried Republicans have been saying they are sure Trump would say something so outrageous his candidacy would implode. It is no question, this is it.

In a new Op-Ed in USA today, Donald Trump remains defiant saying the reality, John McCain, the politician made America less safe and McCain abandoned our veterans, I will fight for them.