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Donald Trump Leads GOP Field in New Poll; Ohio Governor John Kasich to Announce Presidential Candidacy; David Sweat Details How He Escaped Prison; Investigators Uncover Chattanooga Gunman's Writings. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired July 21, 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] ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome back to your NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, July 21st, now 8:00 in the east. Donald Trump is pulling away from the GOP field in a new national poll. Trump has a double digit lead over his closest rival. But the new poll was largely completed before Trump's controversial war hero criticism of Senator John McCain.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And this morning Iowa's largest newspaper demanding that Trump drop out of the Republican race, calling the billionaire candidate a, quote, "feckless blowhard." Let's get the latest from CNN's chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash. She is traveling with the Trump campaign in South Carolina. You have been busy, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And there's no question when Donald Trump finally does respond to this new editorial he's probably going to say it is more evidence that the media, including the Republican establishment, the traditional parts of the country that help elect a Republican presidential nominee, simply don't get how he's really affecting the important part of the electorate, the one that votes. And so far the polls back him up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: In a brutal editorial, Iowa's biggest newspaper, "The Des Moines Register" is demanding Donald Trump, quote, "pull the plug on his bloviating sideshow," calling him a "feckless blowhard who can generate headlines, name recognition, and polling not by provoking thought but by provoking outrage." His Republican competitors agree.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R-SC) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's becoming a jackass.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have respect for Senator McCain.

BASH: Trump is still not apologizing for criticizing John McCain's war service but did come closer than before.

TRUMP: I supported him. I raised a lot of money for his campaign against President Obama. And certainly if there was a misunderstanding, I would totally take that back. But, hopefully, I said it correctly.

BASH: Even for the bombastic Trump who appears to crave controversy, the bipartisan backlash from his weekend remarks about McCain's five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam was intense.

TRUMP: He's not a war hero. He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured, OK. Perhaps he's a war hero, but right now he said some very bad things about a lot of people.

BASH: Still, a new national poll shows Trump isn't just leading the crowded GOP presidential field, but leading big at 24 percent with second place Scott Walker and third Jeb Bush trailing by double digits. But that same survey may signal trouble for Trump. He got 28 percent on three consecutive nights, but on Sunday after his controversial comments, his support dipped.

McCain himself is determined to take the high road. But McCain's son Jack, a fourth generation McCain naval officer currently on active duty, didn't hold back about what he thinks.

JACK MCCAIN, SON OF JOHN MCCAIN: My father, he's a public figure, he's a politician, he's open to attack. But prisoners of war in general, Donald Trump has to understand he's running to be the commander in chief of the United States military. If an individual gets rolled up and becomes a prisoner of war, then is he going to abandon them simply because he doesn't like people that are captured?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: Now how Donald Trump's comments about McCain play here in South Carolina, which is of course is the first in the south primary states, will be very key because, Chris, this state has eight military bases. And in the last election, the last primary here, about 25 percent of the electorate was either a veteran or active duty. Chris?

CUOMO: All right, Dana, thank you very much, appreciate that. We'll check back with you in a little bit.

So do you think the Trump bump is bunk and feeling the dump Trump pump? Well, then relish this news. Ohio Governor John Kasich will announce this morning he is in, becoming the 16th contender in the fight for the Republican nomination. We have CNN correspondent Athena Jones lives this morning in Columbus. And he can offer a lot to a lot of different aspects of the GOP.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Good morning, Chris. Governor Kasich is throwing his hat into the ring here in just a few more hours. Here he is on Snap Chat making the case for why he should be president. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOHN KASICH, (R) OHIO: No one running for president has helped balance the federal budget, saved a state from near bankruptcy, or served on the defense committee for 18 years. Maybe I ought to run.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And so now he's going to be turning that "I ought to run" into "I am running." And as you mentioned, Chris, Governor Kasich's resume could be appealing to a lot of voters. He spent nearly two decades in congress. He has padded his experience in helping to balance the federal budget. He was also on the armed services committee. He served as a FOX News commentator at one point, and he's now in his second term as governor of this crucial swing state. This is a state Republicans have historically had to win in order to win the White House. And to tell you he won that second turn with a huge, overwhelming majority of the vote, nearly two-thirds, doing well with independents, with moderates, with liberals, with women. He won even a quarter of the black voters and a quarter of Democrats.

[08:05:08] So he's someone who should get a look. The thing is that he has very low name recognition. So the challenge for him is going to be breaking through in this already very crowded field. He's polling in the low single digits right now, two percent, three percent. And so the question is, will this announcement today give him the bump he needs perhaps to make it onto that stage for the first debate on FOX just a few weeks from now? Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: OK, Athena, we'll watch for all of that later today.

Meanwhile, let's talk about all of this. We have so much to discuss. Here to weigh in is CNN political commentator and Jeb Bush supporter Ana Navarro, and former Reagan White House political director and contributing editor for "American Spectator" Jeffrey Lord. Great to see both you this morning.

JEFFREY LORD, FORMER REAGAN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hi, guys.

CAMEROTA: Hi. Ana, let me start with you. Let's put up this latest ABC News poll that is getting all the attention this morning that shows Donald Trump with a big lead. He has 24 percent, almost twice that of his closest competitor Scott Walker at 13 percent and then Jeb Bush at 12 percent.

And Ana, I want you to also see this next part of the poll, which is in a head to head match-up how Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush do against one another as well as once Trump is added to that. So here's the equation, Clinton in a head to head match-up with Jeb Bush gets 50 percent. Let me go back to the other one.

CUOMO: Just read the numbers.

CAMEROTA: It's 50 percent versus 44 percent for Jeb Bush. When you add Trump to that mix, Trump gets 20 percent and takes 14 percent away from Jeb Bush. So is he hurting Jeb Bush, Ana, in this race?

ANA NAVARRO, JEB BUSH SUPPORTER: I don't think he's hurting him short-term certainly. If anything, I think he's been an opportunity for Jeb to stand in sharp contrast with Donald Trump and what he stands for. Jeb is a person that's not out there spewing venom, spewing victual, going after folks. He's a guy that's talking policy issues and offering a vision and offering an optimistic agenda for America. So I think he really does stand as somebody that's head and shoulders, literally and figuratively, above Donald Trump.

He is hurting I think the rest of the field. He is sucking up the oxygen. And you have seen him take numbers from a lot of that very crowded right wing lane. And I do think he has got the capacity to cause long-term harm to the party's brand.

CUOMO: But the Trump bump thump is being felt by your boy Jeb Bush. So Jeffrey, let's come to you. What is this momentum behind the man that we're seeing with Donald Trump? If it's not just about him, then what is it that's keeping him up?

LORD: Sure. I'll tell you, what I think was the most important news development yesterday was that Rush Limbaugh spent a chunk of his show defending Donald Trump. He hasn't endorsed anyone. That's not Rush's style. But his point was that this is a teachable moment for conservatives about how the media deals with conservatives who are perceived to make a mistake or make a verbal fluff or what have you, that they go after them and after them until they sort of whimper away, admit a mistake, and then sort of leave with their tale between their legs and that Donald Trump isn't doing that.

As he explained this, remember, to an audience of, what, 15 to 20 million people who are conservatives, I thought, you know, this is a very important moment, because this is a Republican primary situation obviously. We're not talking about the larger Democratic -- you know, the entire electorate. And when Rush Limbaugh speaks up on something like this, his audience listens. So I do think that you need to factor that in as we move ahead.

CAMEROTA: We do have that moment. Let's play it, Ana, and get your take on Rush Limbaugh. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Trump can survive this. Trump is surviving this.

The American people haven't seen something like this in a long time. I'm serious. They have not seen an embattled public figure stand up for himself, double down, and tell everybody to go to hell.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Is that the secret sauce there, that he's standing up for himself, he's not backing down?

NAVARRO: It's his persona, right? It's part of his persona and it's, frankly, something that I think we have helped make as part of the American public by watching shows like "The Apprentice" where the premise is this is a rich guy who can act like a jerk and scream at people and fire people and treat them like that and we're all watching. So I think we've all kind of fostered this Donald Trump persona. Rush Limbaugh is a guy that goes against the current. He is a guy that takes on these causes. But the bottom line is with Trump you have a guy who, even for an unfiltered, guy he's got no filter. And this is somebody -- I'm accused of having no filter. Well, I've got a huge filter in comparison to him.

(LAUGHTER)

[08:10:05] NAVARRO: He is shooting off the hip. This is a guy that can say anything at any moment.

And here's the thing, though. I think we're all coming to the rescue of a guy, people like Rush, who is a conservative, a true conservative, is coming to the rescue of a guy who is a fraud. He is not a conservative. If you look at his views on abortion were, in the same forum in Iowa he said he had never asked God for forgiveness. He's attacking POWs and the servicemen and servicewomen who served. This is a guy whose corporations have been in bankruptcy four times. Why are we supporting this guy? He used to be a Democrat seven years until he changed his mind.

CUOMO: There's no worse sin than that in the GOP.

But Jeffrey, let me ask you something. Weigh in on two aspects of what Ana just said. The first is the POW stuff is getting all the action and traction, and probably should. However, what he said before this group of evangelicals about religion, forget about what he did with Catholics with calling the Eucharist a cracker and a little bit of wine, but where he said to this crowd, yes, I'm not really so much about God's forgiveness. What does that do you think mean for him long-term in terms of what he's really about?

LORD: Certainly the third leg, if you will, of the Reagan coalition is social conservatives and what so many people like to call the Christian right, et cetera. It will be very interesting to see how they react to this type of thing. As time goes on, we will see. It's undecided.

He gets points for honesty. I think this is his strength here that people like him because he just says what he believes. So we will see. I honestly can't tell you at this point. There are a lot of people that feel that's very important and they vote accordingly. So we will see.

CAMEROTA: Jeffrey, that is interesting. So you think that honestly even with Iowa voters Trump's --

LORD: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Trump saying I don't bring god into the picture when talking about forgiveness.

LORD: You know, the problem is for his opposition, he's playing against a background where so many people view politicians, Republicans, included the Republican establishment, as not honest. That they skim and they shape and they move and they do this to appease one group or the other. And here comes somebody who says flat out exactly what he thinks. That under this circumstance is very, very appealing.

CAMEROTA: Go ahead, Ana.

NAVARRO: I think there's something ironic about talking about Trump as being honest when he's a guy who rails against illegal immigrants, and then we find out he's employing them at his worksites. And saying that he's never asked God for forgiveness, frankly, as somebody that is a Christian and that requires a lot of forgiveness, I don't find that as honest. I find that as arrogance and narcissism. I know that I have to ask God for forgiveness a lot lately for what I think of Donald Trump.

LORD: Well, you know, in my religion, I'm a Christian, you basic Congregationalist, "Judgment is mine, sayeth the Lord," and they don't mean me. They mean the Lord. So I reserve Donald Trump's right --

NAVARRO: That's why you're supporting a guy who judges everybody as losers, pathetic, as not worthy. I can see a consistency in your words.

LORD: I'm not endorsing anybody for president here, but I will defend him because I think he has been unfairly attacked and I think a lot of Americans feel the same way. It's the same old, same old.

NAVARRO: Poor victim Donald Trump. He's so unfairly attacked because he's not attacking anybody.

LORD: Well, you know, if Jeb Bush were doing a little bit better in the polls you might have a different view. So I understand why you feel this way. What can I tell you? You're trailing here.

NAVARRO: If doing better in the polls means going out there spewing venom and being vitriolic and not offering any solutions, I'm happy with where Jeb Bush is.

CUOMO: Last word, Jeffrey.

LORD: For veterans, Donald Trump has given millions of dollars to various causes to veterans over the years. What has Governor Bush done? I'm asking, just generally. I don't know.

NAVARRO: OK, let me tell you. I think you should look it up. Maybe instead of listening to three hours of Rush Limbaugh every day and reading Ann Coulter's book, every time you come out here that's what you quote, maybe you should go and have some original research and original thought.

Jeb Bush was very good for the military. He was part of the process that brought South Com to Florida. As you know, Florida is a big place for veterans. And it's something that he focused on. He focused on their health. And he always had somebody in his office that was specially designated to that to work with veterans. So I can tell you I'm very proud of where he stands. It's a little bit more than giving billions of dollars to causes, or millions of dollars. (CROSSTALK)

[08:15:04] CUOMO: All right, guys. We've got to hold it there.

CAMEROTA: You've raised some very interesting and thought-provoking topics. We will cover them soon.

But, Ana, Jeffrey, thank you.

CUOMO: It was a holy war in a way there that was going on about Donald Trump. That's what he's brought us to.

CAMEROTA: You're running with this metaphor. I see that.

CUOMO: I love it.

CAMEROTA: I know.

CUOMO: Mick?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Some other news we need to get to here.

This morning, we are learning new details about that brazen prison escape in upstate New York, the captured inmate telling all to investigators about how they planned and how they successfully executed the escape.

CNN's Alexandra Field joins us now with more of the details.

And there's a lot of details there, Alexandra.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there are, Michaela, and we've been seeing this since the beginning. But this is really an elaborate escape plot requiring the prisoners to cut through walls and pipes and find a tunnel that would take them outside the prison wall.

But now, "The New York Times" is saying the physical work on all of that actually started back in January and the prisoners got a pretty big break just a few weeks before that escape.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD (voice-over): It was a plan at least six months in the making. Several people briefed on the investigation tell "The New York Times" that prison escapee David Sweat has portrayed himself as the master mind behind the June 6th break out.

According to "The Times", Sweat says he has long planned to escape. But it wasn't until he was moved into a cell in January near the now deceased Richard Matt that he moved forward with his plan. The 35- year-old says he used a hacksaw blade to cut a hole in his cell and then the back of Matt's.

He says another inmate heard the commotion. But Matt, a painter, blaming the noise on his artwork. HARRY HOUCK, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: You said he used a

sledgehammer on that pipe, and to be able to make that noise for a month, trying to get through that pipe with just a hacksaw, that's incredible. By February, sweat says they gained access to the catwalks behind their cells. He told investigators, for months he would explore the tunnels beneath the prisons for hours on end, between 11:30 at night until 5:30 in the morning.

FIELD: All made possible because he says the guards were asleep.

ARTHUR RODERICK, FORMER ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE: The complacency of the guards in that honor block is just unbelievable to me.

FIELD: Sweat says he slowly began chipping away at the prison's outer wall using a sledgehammer. But on May 4th, they got their big break, when the prison turned off the heating system, giving the prisoners a chance to cut through a cooling steam pipe with a hacksaw.

"The Times" also reports that the convicted killers relished the possible legend of their plan, even joking about it. Bragging while it took Shawshank redemption years to break out, it would take them only ten.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD: Just like Dufresne, these guys actually had plans to get to Mexico, instead they were found near the Canadian border.

Today, David Sweat is in solitary confinement. There is, of course, a wide ranging investigation into what happened at that prison, how a prison break like this could happen. It has resulted in 12 employees being put on leave, two people are facing criminal charges relative to the escape.

But again, according to "The New York Times" an official briefed on this investigation, says authorities have reason to believe that David Sweat's account is credible. And frankly, he's the only one that's able to talk.

CAMEROTA: That's right. Good point. All right.

CUOMO: The question is, what is the rest of the story?

Thank you for staying on it. Appreciate it, Alexandra Field.

So, a tough moment to show you, a 19-year-old woman stares down the man accused of killing her parents, her little brother and family housekeeper. Abigail Savapoulos sitting just feet away from D.C. mansion murder suspect Daron Wint during a plenary hearing. Investigators revealing they found new DNA evidence linking the suspect to the crime scene. They also say they found a partial DNA sample from an unidentified person.

Now, Wint's attorneys maintain he could have killed the family alone. That's not a defense to the crime, but that is their suggestion. CAMEROTA: Dramatic video out of Kansas. You can see a woman frantically trying to break a window. Authorities say a couple had left their two-year-old niece locked in there. There was a sweltering day. They left her there while they shopped. The child was sweating and crying when she was rescued. But she is OK. That couple was ticketed for child endangerment.

PEREIRA: There's been a movement on social media to sort of highlight this, the danger to children and pets in cars. Yet, I don't understand why it's still happening.

CAMEROTA: Right.

PEREIRA: It takes not very long in the vehicle. It doesn't have to be that hot.

CAMEROTA: And thank goodness that other people come to the rescue when they see -- you know, they either call the authorities or try to get the child out.

PEREIRA: Right. So, I'm not going on their side, though, on --

CUOMO: No, no, you leave your kid in the car, you've got a problem.

PEREIRA: No, no, I mean, the people trying to break a car.

CUOMO: No, no, in a situation like that, their criminal responsibility for the vandalism of the car is not going to be a legal aspect because there's someone's life at risk under reasonable circumstances.

It's interesting. They were watching -- I hope they're also helping that woman and they couldn't get any closer. If -- unless you forget, there's no defense to leaving your kid in a car under those circumstances.

[08:20:01] So, investigators have uncovered writings about the government and suicide penned by that Chattanooga gunman. But is it enough to prove what the motive was behind last week's attacks on two military sites?

Former congressman and intelligence expert Mike Rogers will weigh in on why it matters what the motive was, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: New details about the Chattanooga gunman. A friend telling CNN the shooter thought about ISIS was, quote, "a stupid group." That's his quote about ISIS. And authorities are revealing writers from the shooter showing he was displeased with the war on terror.

So, what does this say about motive?

Let's bring in former Congressman Mike Rogers. He's a CNN national security commentator, and former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Mike, thank you for the help as always.

There is a notion that the motive should be clear, this was some type of distracted, deranged jihadist who hated America. What else do we need to know? Your take.

MIKE ROGERS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY COMMENTATOR: Well, I think that's right. Remember radicalization is a process. So, he had certainly some mental issues. He had rampant drug use that was apparently affecting his interaction with his social group. His parents sent him to Jordan for some time hopefully to get him off alcohol and drugs.

Something clearly happened there. But we have to remember, even though he said, hey, I don't like ISIS, he used martyrdom. He talked about martyrdom.

[08:25:00] He talked about that notion in radical Islam that committing an act of violence and losing my own life is a purification way and closer to his religion. And he was having all of those pressures at home about not being a good Muslim, he felt that this was a way.

So, all of those messages, all of that narrative out there on social media and other things from ISIS and al Qaeda and others about martyrdom and jihad, about jihad, all of those things resonated. And I think it resulted -- remember, he didn't go down and randomly find store clerks. He targeted unarmed military personnel.

CUOMO: He, by his own, admission, was not a particular fan of ISIS. But I get you on the personal side of this collective experience, multi-factorial, including mental health aspects that aren't getting as much attention I think because of the intensity of interests in jihadism right now, especially in the U.S.

But people in your community offer something else up. They say, no, I'm not so fascinated about the personal narrative. I care about motive, because motive includes who was giving him this information, where he was getting it and if there are any loose or strong affiliations here or in Jordan. That's what motive is to us.

Help me understand that.

ROGERS: Well, it's critical. Remember, the problem that we're having with ISIS's success in the United States or al Qaeda when you're recruiting these young folks into the notion that you're going to show up in Syria and fight jihad is that narrative. So, it is a process. You have to find somebody who is lacking identity in their community. Well, he fits that profile. It's a process. You need to talk to somebody that can work you into the position that martyrdom is consistent with your religion. And I think it's inconsistent with Islam, but in this case, that's what they're preaching, and then you have to have the right circumstances.

Well, he had all of those things fit this profile. So, I think motive is important in the sense that you need to understand, hey, was ISIS directly targeting him. Was there an al Qaeda somebody who helped him along? And it's not just because they might be back in Jordan, those individuals in Jordan might be talking to people in Tennessee, or New York or California or Michigan.

So, I think investigators have to run that down and they have to make that determination. But at the same time, you can't discount, this is a self-radicalized. And he did that based on his personal circumstances.

Again, when you look at old law enforcement models and you look at how street gangs are successful in taking pretty good kids and getting them into gangs, there's a process and there's a spectrum and this fits this criteria to me when I look at it almost perfectly.

CUOMO: Why is it that narrative that end up being to relevant and not the drug addiction and mental health issues for a long time aspect? It seems like that's not getting the attention that the other aspect is.

ROGERS: Well, those are factors of what he based his decision on. And I think that's why they're making that determination. So, they've got to rule out -- I would not rule out yet that there was some outside influence.

Somebody walked him through the process of martyrdom. We need to know who that person is. So, it could be today it's this person who was Muslim who felt disaffected, who felt he was not living up to what he needed to live up to in his standards in his family and his community being a Muslim. All of those were factors for radicalization. Remember, those are exactly the kind of people that ISIS and al Qaeda are targeting. Those are the folks they're going after. That's why I think that component of it, Chris, is so important.

What we've got to do generally is go back and say we've got a youth drug problem. If you look at the shootings in South Carolina, he had mental illness and drugs that affected his psychology were critically impactful on him going through and killing those innocent people. So, yes, that's a whole societal thing. We better start getting a handful on our youth. We're losing a generation of youth to a very pervasive drug society. And when you compound that with mental illness we have a huge problem. In his case, his motivation was radical Islam and martyrdom, and that was very clear in some of his writings I've seen.

CUOMO: Many in the clinical community marvel at the fact that our culture doesn't yet see intense drug addiction as a form of mental illness.

Mike Rogers, thank you very much for helping us breaking this down and why it's so important to develop the why in a situation like this. Appreciate it.

ROGERS: Thanks.

CUOMO: Mick?

PEREIRA: All right, Chris. This story has gotten so much attention. Imagine being attacked by a shark like this pro-surfer was this weekend. How did he survive? And what should you do if you happen to come face to face with a shark? We're going to speak to one of the nation's best shark experts, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)