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Three Dead, Nine Injured In Movie Theater Shooting; Trump's Plan To Combat Gun Violence; Obama Presidency Plagued By Gun Violence. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired July 24, 2015 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:08] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Ed Lavandera is live in Lafayette, Louisiana this morning that community waking up to terrible violence.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela. We are moments away from another briefing from the governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, as well as state police and local police on the updates on what is going on with the investigation.

Throughout the night, evidence teams have been inside the theater where the shooting erupted, collecting evidence, shell casings, and of course, as you mentioned, three people dead in all. Two victims and the gunman killed himself.

I'm told by a state police official that the gunman killed himself just as police were entering the movie theater. In fact, we are told that one of the last things the police officers there heard was the last shot as the gunman killed himself.

A 100 people inside that theater, and of course, the most important news, and most ongoing news right now is the conditions of those victims. Some of them are in critical condition. Nine other people wounded in all.

So, keeping close tabs on the conditions of those victims. We are told some are in critical condition. We are also told by state investigators here that they believe, at this point that the gunman came to this theater by himself.

He was not with anyone else, sat down and just as the movie credits have ended, he stood up and started firing -- Michaela.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you very much. Please let us know when the press conference is going to get started.

The other big story this morning has to do with politics and Donald Trump, the GOP candidate confidently claiming at the U.S. border that he will get the Republican nomination for president.

Hours earlier, he really started messing with people's heads. He talked to "The Hill" newspaper and said he would consider a third party run if he's not treated fairly by the RNC. That could have major complications if the numbers stay as they are. So let's get perspective from inside the Trump camp, Michael Cohen, special counsel to Donald Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization.

Good to see you, Counsel. Obviously, I'm sure Mr. Trump as the entire country shares the sympathies of what's going on in Louisiana right now.

MICHAEL COHEN, EVP, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: Tragedy. It almost appears there is a tragedy every day these days.

CUOMO: You know, it's our battle culturally to figure out why and what to do about it. He hasn't spoken on this issue yet. Now that it's relevant, do you expect that we will hear something from Donald Trump about how he feels about guns and what's going on with this culture of shootings?

COHEN: Absolutely, there's no doubt that he's going to weigh in on this. He'll announce his position at the right time. It's a tragedy. It's a tragedy with what happened. It's a tragedy almost to the year of Aurora. It's just terrible.

The country is really going downhill. I saw the president talking about how, you know, this is part of his agenda that he just wasn't able to get going. It's, again, a shame for the families of everybody that was affected in this shooting.

CUOMO: So, the third party thing, getting a lot of heat. In a previous appearance on NEW DAY, I said, why not just run as the Trump party? He has bad blood with the GOP. You brushed it aside and said he's a Republican. That's why.

COHEN: He is a Republican.

CUOMO: So is he just floating that out there as threat? Is it something you think he might actually consider?

COHEN: No. I think right now what he is sort of doing is sending a message, play fair, GOP. I know you don't want me or maybe it's my perception that you don't want me, but that's how I feel. If that's how I feel, I want to make it known.

I want to be treated fairly. Right now, I'm the front-runner. Right now, my polls are going up by the day and all I'm asking you is to treat me the same as you treat everybody else.

There was a statement put out by an RNC member last week. I found it to be disrespectful to Mr. Trump. I presume that he must have felt the same way.

CUOMO: Do you hear the political gossip that they are working within the party to find ways to change some procedure or something to disadvantage Mr. Trump?

COHEN: Well, there was talk about trying to figure out how to not have Mr. Trump on the debate stage. He's never going to file his FEC forms. He did it a day in advance. Boy, it's complicated. It's 92 pages because those forms are really not intended for somebody of Mr. Trump's net worth.

I believe right now there are only two individuals, Mr. Trump and Marco Rubio that have filed. So before they start talking about Mr. Trump not being on the debate stage, someone like Rick Perry needs to file his forms.

CUOMO: But it's real?

COHEN: It's real.

CUOMO: If they screw with him at the convention or he feels that he should be guy and he is not, whatever happens, you think that he could look at that option for real?

COHEN: Donald Trump is a rich man. He's already said that he is going to spend a substantial amount of money on this race. If he doesn't spend it as a Republican, maybe he will spend it as part of the Trump party.

But he's a Republican. He wants to run as a Republican. He believes he can make this country great again. He truly believes that he's entitled. If the people want him and he continues to do great in the polls, he should be the nominee.

[07:35:10] CUOMO: He has not responded yet to this charge against him back in 2004, he told Wolf and others, you know, you'd be surprised, but I'm actually more sympathetic to the Democrats than the Republicans. Republicans are using him. They are saying he's not even a real Republican, this guy.

COHEN: And because nobody has ever changed their minds over, what is that, you know, 15 or 20 years? You are not allowed to change your mind, why, because it's Donald Trump. Everyone is entitled.

You grow. You mature. You think has changed at the time he's a New York City real estate developer. New York City is a Democratic state. He donated money, yes, to Democrats as well and they turn around and asked him why.

He said because they came to my office and they needed money and it just made sense for him, as a businessman. As a presidential candidate, he's all in as a Republican. He's always been a Republican. He's never changed his check box. He's a Republican.

CUOMO: Do you care about the mayor of New York City? Does Mr. Trump care about the mayor of New York City saying he's going to try and find ways to box him out?

COHEN: It's another terrible attack on Mr. Trump. Again, we talk about this all the time. It's a distorted message that the liberal media are playing against him including this young lady that was on your show right before me, Anna Salazar.

Mexicans did not come down and picket him yesterday at the border. This whole issue about the border patrol pulling out. Mr. Trump was in his aircraft, on his way, at their request, and then they decided, something happened, nationally, where they said you can't do it.

You are not allowed to take Mr. Trump around so what did he do? He met with the mayor and other city leaders. He got a perspective. He got the perspective that he want and he was greeted with open arms.

CUOMO: He was certainly greeted with open arms. They wanted to show him what the reality was on the border and how it's different than what he has been portraying. It did seem as though Mr. Trump softened his position a little bit.

I don't mean that as a criticism. You just said people change and evolve as they learn things. You know, he's now actually getting out there and seeing things. He obviously is safe.

He learned about how it's not as dangerous down there. He changed about the wall. He wasn't as hard about the wall everywhere. He never said Mexico is going to pay for it. Do you think that the fiery rhetoric will come down in terms of flames as he learns more about the situations that he's talking about?

COHEN: Well, I think Mr. Trump's position remain the same. There are certain areas by Mexico that do require --

CUOMO: He used to say a wall around the whole thing and I'm going to get Mexico to pay for it. Now it's --

COHEN: But he still says, Mexico -- he's going to get Mexico to pay for it. He hasn't changed on that. Was he safe yesterday? Thank God he was safe. It's dangerous. Everybody understands that you have to go to the location to fully understand it.

But I think his understanding of immigration and illegal immigration and the crime that's committed and the fact we spend more money on their health than we do our veterans. These are all issues that Mr. Trump is concerned about.

I do suspect that he's going to say something on gun control because of this terrible tragedy, but he's -- his whole message, make America great again is resonating. It's resonating with people. Again, he speaks from the heart.

So nothing else can be done other than be yourself and that's what Mr. Trump is.

CUOMO: Start offering solutions and he'll start doing that he says. We will be covering them here. We look forward to your help in doing it.

COHEN: I appreciate it. Great seeing you again.

CUOMO: All the best, appreciate it -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right, Chris, we are staying on top of our breaking news out of Louisiana. A gunman shoots a dozen people killing two and himself inside a packed movie theater. We are awaiting a live news conference. We'll bring it to you ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The great thing about America is when any of us suffers, whether it's one family or one community, we all suffer. This is a time for us to come together. We will get through this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:43:08]

PEREIRA: The tragedy in Louisiana is unfortunately just the latest incident of gun violence taking place during President Obama's administration. Keeping guns out of the hands of would-be criminals has been a focus for the president even in an interview that he gave to the BBC just yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The one area where I feel that I have been most frustrated and most stymied, it is the fact that the United States of America is the one advanced nation on earth in which we do not have sufficient common sense gun safety laws. Even in the face of repeated mass killings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: For more, we turn to John King, our chief national correspondent and host of CNN's "INSIDE POLITICS." You hear the president there, John. He's stymied. He's frustrated, but enough of his colleagues on the Hill feeling the same way to get something done.

JOHN KING, CNN HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": I would not anticipate that, Michaela. The president is reflecting his own frustration with the fact that this is a very divisive political issue and the president has been unable despite more than a dozen times, Michaela, he's come in to the briefing room or somewhere else as president of the United States to act as consoler-in-chief.

We know these shootings now by their first names. We say Aurora, Tucson, and Newtown. Listen here to the just the sampling of the more than dozens times we've heard the president trying to console the nation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: My immediate thoughts and prayers are with the wounded. So at this time, I asked all Americans Join me and Michelle in keeping all the victims and their families including Gabby in our thoughts and prayers.

I'm sure that many of you who are parents here have the same reaction that I did when I heard this news.

As a country, we have been through this too many times whether it's an elementary school in Newton or a shopping mall in Oregon.

These are men and women going to work, doing their job, protecting all of us.

[07:45:05] We are heartbroken that something like this might have happened again. I have had to make statements like this too many times.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Well, he knows he's not going to get new legislation, John. There's also the issue of lack of enforcement with an abundance of laws that you do have right now.

That never seems to get any attention, either. Of course, it's not the president's purview, necessarily, but part of the political reflection, you think, that gun policy is about more right now, not less?

KING: Well, it is part of the president's purview in the sense that if you look just recently at Charleston, Chris, the FBI director came out and candidly admitted that somebody made a mistake, a bureaucratic mistake by an employee that that shooter in Charleston should not have been able to buy a gun, but the paperwork was not followed up on right.

You see in the reports this morning, we need a lot more information about what happened in Lafayette that some reports that the shooter had a criminal record. There will be questions about whether should or should have an access to a gun.

So look there is a -- one of the remarks you get constantly from the gun rights community is enforce existing laws before you try to pass new laws. That is part of it.

I will say on this issue, a lot of what the president has been frustrated by, whether it's Obamacare or whether it's immigration is a Democratic and Republican divide, we should be careful. Guns is not so much a partisan issue, it's much more regional, geographical, and cultural.

There are a lot of conservative Democrats or Democrats from gun right states who disagree with the calls for new gun laws as well. So it's a different issue than most of what we have watched throughout this presidency.

PEREIRA: And we have been talking about is why we respond with violence and anger, and reach for a gun when there are these issues. You can't legislate that necessarily.

Let's pivot, John, because there's another big story that we are watching in "The New York Times" report that the Justice Department is being asked to look into the potential mishandling of sensitive information and whether or not Hillary Clinton was involved.

I mean, that is pretty damming. I have to imagine, politically, for a presidential candidate.

KING: As a headline, it's very troubling. Our Elise Labott, our foreign affairs correspondent has confirmed that the inspector's general for the State Department and the intelligence community have asked the Justice Department to look into weather sensitive government information was mishandled in the time period where Hillary Clinton was using a private personal e-mail server outside of the government network, if you will.

The Clinton campaign is saying she is confident she did nothing wrong. She is certain she did nothing wrong. We have no information as yet that the investigation is specifically raising questions about something she did.

We do know it is raising questions about this arrangement where she had a private e-mail server at her home in New York where she had government information going back and forth.

The question is, was sensitive government information somehow mishandled. We'll watch it play out and be careful and watch as the investigation goes forward. But look, we've talked daily almost recently about how one of her biggest issues in the campaign is honesty and trustworthiness.

So a headline like this will not help. You can also be certain as Republicans in Congress say we want more information about that. We want testimony from the former secretary of state that this will only intensify those efforts as well.

CUOMO: Is it relevant that "The New York Times" changed its language taking out Hillary's name of what is being looked at in terms of who did something wrong in this situation?

KING: Well, it certainly is relevant if you are going to look at -- again, relevant from a journalism perspective. I'm not there. I wasn't there. Did they properly vet and edit all this? Did they get the information just right? They did lean too far forward. These are journalism questions.

Of course, now, that will factor into every political conversation. The Clinton campaign is saying, look, they changed the story. The story initially said it was more about her, now the story says it's about the practice. What happened? Why was this set up? How did it happen?

Sure it matters. It's a tough one. Only "The Times" can answer how it happened, but it plays out of politics.

PEREIRA: Well, and you can imagine that her competitors are going to run with it no matter what. John King, really great to have you with us on this Friday. Make sure to watch John King and his "INSIDE POLITICS" panel break down all of the political news of the week every Sunday 8:30 Eastern. Have a great weekend, John.

CUOMO: All right, once again, we keep repeating it because it matters. There is going to be a press conference from local authorities about what they now know about the Lafayette, Louisiana movie shooting.

We are going to talk live with Governor Bobby Jindal. You know, he was live at the scene within hours of the shooting. Stay with us. We'll get you the most information we can as soon as possible.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:52:50]

PEREIRA: We are following breaking news. Three are dead including the gunman in a shooting at a movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana. Authorities have identified the shooter. We know, he's a 58-year-old white male, but we still do not know why he opened fire inside that crowded theater.

Nine people wounded in the shooting. We're told some of them are in critical condition this morning. Police say about 100 were gathered in the theater at the time. It happened during a screening of the movie "Trainwreck." The film's star, Amy Schumer tweeted, quote, "My heart is broken and all my thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Louisiana."

CUOMO: We have breaking news overnight from Turkey. They are now taking a bigger role in their fight against ISIS in Syria. The country's air force has been conducting airstrikes near the Turkish border. Officials said intelligence suggests ISIS is storing weapons and explosives there. Turkey is also now allowing American war planes to use two of its bases for bombarding the terrorist group in Syria.

PEREIRA: An autopsy ruling that Sandra Bland's death was suicide by hanging. Guards found the 28-year-old woman hanging in her cell two hours after she was last checked on. Her family denies claims that Bland was suicidal instead saying her arrest and the officer's actions were out of line. Bland was arrested two weeks ago after a Texas officer pulled her over for allegedly failing to use her turn signal.

CUOMO: Suicide homicide is one issue why she was ever in this cell is another. All right, so of course we are following the latest developments in the movie theater shooting in Louisiana.

We're going to speak with Governor Bobby Jindal and we are going to get a live update from authorities that will take us much deeper down the road of who is still hurt, how are they doing, and why did this happen. Stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Out of tonight's tragedy you're beginning to hear heroism and self-sacrifice. Two friends together, one jumps in the way of a bullet. The one pulls the fire alarm to save other people's lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:58:45]

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Friday, July 24th, 8:00 in the east. And of course, we are following breaking news of what happened in Lafayette, Louisiana. A gunman came in during a movie and started shooting. He killed two people, turned the gun on himself and also died. Nine others injured as well.

PEREIRA: The question is why did he do it? Now keep in mind, it's almost three years to the week of the Aurora movie theater killing in which so many people died. We have the story covered the only way CNN can. We start with Ed Lavandera is in Lafayette, Louisiana this morning, a community reeling from this violence.

LAVANDERA: As you mentioned, eerie similarities to what happened in Aurora, Colorado, but here this morning, evidence teams continuing to work inside the movie theater where the gunfire erupted collecting evidence and trying to piece together the motive behind all of this. It's been a long night here in Lafayette, Louisiana.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police have the Grand 16 on Johnston Street on lockdown.

LAVANDERA: Breaking overnight, a gunman opens fires in a packed movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana leaving at least seven wounded, some with possible life threatening injuries and three dead including the 58-year-old male shooter who turned the gun on himself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do know the identity of the shooter. We are not releasing it at this time. We are right in the middle of this investigation and we don't want --