Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Officer Who Shot Unarmed Black Man Speaks Out; Trump Declares America in Crisis & He'll Fix It; brazil Arrests 10 in Olympics Terror Plot. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired July 22, 2016 - 06:30   ET

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


[06:30:03] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: And it's known as Europe.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: I mean, yes. But also, CNN had this focus group and took an instant poll. And 57 percent of them saw it as very positive. Not somewhat positive, very positive speech. Only 24 percent saw it as negative.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Strength and confidence were really good for him.

CAMEROTA: Panel, thank you very much. We'll have much more on the Republican convention ahead for you.

But next, new questions about the police shooting of an unarmed man in Florida. Why did the officers shoot this behavioral therapist who was sitting on the ground with his hands up trying to help his autistic patient? We talk about that in a live report, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: The North Miami police officer who shot an unarmed black behavioral therapist who was helping an autistic patient is now on paid leave and speaking out. The police union is doing that speaking. They're saying that the officer was actually trying to protect the therapist.

CNN's Polo Sandoval is live in Miami with more.

That's going to be a reckoning that seems to fight the facts.

[06:35:00] What have you found out?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know now, Chris, that this police union is stepping up to represent this officer, now saying that this officer likely accidently misfired, striking this gentleman in the leg, that he was initially trying to shoot his patient, believing he posed a threat. Well, we now know that threat wasn't a gun, that was previously called in, but was actually a toy truck. That patient, Mr. Charles Kinsey's patient, was actually autistic.

In fact, if you look at that video that's now gone viral, you're able to see and hear how Mr. Kinsey is trying to de-escalate what was an extremely tense situation here, trying to talk to officers, explaining that he was the behavioral therapist and the man sitting next to him was actually his patient.

Ultimately, though, the officers feeling the need to -- at least that officer feeling the need to pull the trigger, wounding Mr. Kinsey, according to these new reports, accidently. That officer releasing a brief statement, not identifying himself, but saying, quote, "I took this job to save lives and help people. I did what I had to do in a split-second to accomplish that and hate to hear others paint me as something that I am not."

Now, this -- again, this new theory that's circulating on the ground here is very important here, Chris, as it can ultimately take a different turn in this story. But we do understand that the community here asking for questions but the city of North Miami actively speaking to Mr. Kinsey's attorneys trying to resolve this, trying to settle this and most importantly, Chris, trying to find some of those crucial answers for the community and, of course, Mr. Kinsey himself.

CUOMO: A lot of bizarre circumstances to this one. The man who was shot quoted as saying that the officer told him he didn't know why he shot him.

Polo, we know you'll stay on it. Appreciate that.

Coming up in the next hour, we're going to hear from the r victim's attorney about this controversial police shooting. How did the victim see this situation?

CAMEROTA: All right. Donald Trump talking tough on foreign policy and slamming Hillary Clinton's legacy as secretary of state. What do her supporters think about what happened last night? We have one of them next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:41:02] CAMEROTA: Donald Trump gave the longest convention speech in decades. It was an hour and 15 minutes. Chris was clocking it.

CUOMO: Nothing compared to the length of our show.

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: That's true.

If you can make it through that, well, maybe you can make it through this. Donald Trump focused heavily during his speech on terror and immigrated and he painted Hillary Clinton as weak on both issues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: After 15 years of wars in the Middle East, after trillions of dollars spent and thousands of lives lost, the situation is than it has ever been before. This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction, terrorism, and weakness. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Joining us now, former Democratic governor of Michigan and senior adviser to Correct the Record, Jennifer Granholm.

Governor, thanks so much for sticking with us this morning. Great to have you on set.

JENNIFER GRANHOLM (D), FORMER GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN/CORRECT THE RECORD: I'm so glad to be here so early with you guys.

CAMEROTA: Thank you. We almost believe you.

GRANHOLM: I'm drinking his coffee now.

CUOMO: You're not the first, by the way.

CAMEROTA: It's true.

All right. Let's talk about the lens through which Donald Trump sees the world and so many of his supporters and even Americans who are on the fence. And that is that things have gotten more unstable.

Look at the rise of ISIS. Look at the terror in Paris, in Brussels. Look at Brexit. Look at -- all of that makes people feel that, yes, in the past eight years, some of which Hillary Clinton was secretary of state, the world has become less stable. What do you say to that?

GRANHOLM: Well, I think that him picking out individual incidents that he can amplify allows him to make that case. But if you look at the actual or example, he keeps saying that crime has gone up. Well, actually, crime is at its lowest point --

CAMEROTA: Here, domestically, violent crime, yes.

GRANHOLM: Since 2007.

He keeps saying there's all these immigrants coming in. The actual stops at the border have gone down dramatically. There's been a negative immigration. There have been international incidents.

What's his prescription for doing something about it? Pull out of NATO, insult our allies, especially the Muslim world, doing things that make us less safe. And that's why the economist intelligence unit has said he's the third greatest global threat in the world, the biggest instability.

I'm not kidding you after last night. If they re-evaluated, I bet he moves up a notch or so. It was such a negative, horrible speech. Our allies and people who are online watching this, world leaders, are horrified.

CUOMO: So, there's your negative, your take on the negative aspect of the speech. The challenge for Secretary Clinton is that she is viewed largely in a negative context as well, right? Her numbers are upside down. Her negatives are often higher in polls than her positive. So, from the Trump base perspective, the system is corrupt, they check

the box. So is Hillary Clinton. She lies about things that matter. The world, I'm not safe. ISIS is on the come. There are more attacks from terror, homegrown or otherwise, than we've ever seen before. She was secretary of state. I check that box.

How does she defeat that premise when she does have her hands all over the status quo?

GRANHOLM: Well, first of all, you said something smart at the beginning of that question, which was for the Trump base, yes, she checks that box. There was such vitriol and hatred here for her. But this is the very hard core Republican base and they did nothing last night to --

CUOMO: But her negative numbers are polls that assess voting Americans.

GRANHOLM: What a great opportunity she's got next week though. It is going to be a positive convention. They're going to talk about bringing people together, that we're stronger when we are together. I just -- I am looking forward to this contrast because I think it will be quite stark.

CAMEROTA: You know, last night Donald Trump made an appeal to Bernie Sanders supporters. He said that the system is rigged against you. We heard from Corey Lewandowski this morning that they feel that trade policies in the past she supported were stacked against them.

[06:45:06] GRANHOLM: Well, trade -- I'm coming from Michigan, right? So, there's no doubt that trade is an important and huge issue and we have to adopt trade agreements that are fair.

She is saying that same thing. She says how she'll do it. She's going to appoint trade prosecutors. She's got specific plans in how those would be renegotiated.

CUOMO: He did not have his hands on trade policy. She has.

GRANHOLM: She voted against -- well, all right. So, she worked -- she supported her boss in the Trans Pacific Partnership. But when it came down for her evaluation of it, when she was gone, she said, I'm not supporting that. But she's not going to go against the person who appointed her to the position. She's going to do what her boss tells her.

CUOMO: That's leadership?

GRANHOLM: Well, come on. Your dad appoints somebody as a member of his cabinet and they go against their boss? They won't be in the cabinet very long if they do that. It's a boss.

When she had the chance to do it on her own, she voted against CAFTA: She voted against trade agreements that she felt were unfair. What she says is, we're not afraid of trade, bring it on, let's just make sure it's fair and we're making stuff here and exporting it there. And that we go after China. We don't allow them to manipulate

currency. We make the best stuff. And she's got plans to be able to bring stuff here and create economic cluster like manufacturing here.

CUOMO: All right. We got to go to break. Who's going to be the V.P. nominee? Quickly. Quickly, just a name, just a name, just a name.

GRANHOLM: Oh, come on! I love these guys, all of them, but I do think the smart money is on Tim Kaine.

CUOMO: Good. Then that's my bet. Would you like to wager?

CAMEROTA: I do like that one too.

GRANHOLM: I like Tom Vilsack too. He's a great guy. I love Tom Perez. They're all great.

CUOMO: Vilsack is certainly in the running.

CAMEROTA: Governor Granholm, thank you.

CUOMO: We just put up the short list. We're going to have more on the RNC ahead.

But, first, ten people were just arrested in Rio with suspected terror ties. Now, we know that's where the Olympics are in just two weeks. What are officials doing to keep people safe? There's something you need to know about these ten people. We'll tell you straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:56] CUOMO: A scare in Rio just two weeks before the 2016 Summer Games get under way. Brazilian police arresting ten suspected of plotting an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack.

Joining us now, CNN correspondent Shasta Darlington. She's in Rio already. We also have CNN global affairs analyst and contributing writer to "The Daily Beast," Kim Dozier. Few understand the international terror environment as Kim does.

Shasta, let's start with the reporting. What did with we hear about how they found these ten and what they believe they represent?

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, Chris, what we know is they're all Brazilian nationals arrested in a nationwide sweep. In fact, there were 12 arrest warrants. So, two of them are still outstanding.

Officials say they've been monitoring this group for quite some time. They used messaging apps to communicate. In fact, they didn't know each other personally. They pledged their allegiance to ISIS. They celebrated the attack in Nice. But according to the justice minister, they were loosely organized, even amateurish.

But when they started talking about planning their own attack, that's when police moved in. One man, for example, was trying to buy an AK- 47 over the internet from Paraguay. They were talking about getting martial arts training. Although, there's no evidence there was a specific target in mind, Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Let's take that reporting, Shasta, to you, Kim. What we hear from officials is here's the cold water on this situation. These guys were a bunch of fools. He's trying to buy an AK-47. We don't usually deal with geniuses in these terrorist situations.

What do you make or it?

KIM DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, they didn't know each other, and most terror plots that succeed are carried out by people who already know each other through family, through fighting together in the field, or through criminal networks. But we do know that the Olympics is a target for ISIS.

And a previously unknown group called Ansar al-Khilafah did pledge itself and its allegiance to ISIS earlier this week. That is a Brazilian-based group.

It's also a country that has a lot of crime. They've had a spike in violence in this year across the country. A lot of guns available.

So, you do have networks of criminals and criminals do often work with terrorists who have access to weapons so they have the means. Whether ISIS will be able to pull something out or inspire something, we don't know.

CUOMO: All right. So that's on the threat side.

On the defense side, Shasta, what does this tell you about how well they're doing there in terms of picking up threats and policing the games?

DARLINGTON: Well, listen, Chris, what we're hearing is analysts are actually impressed. While this group may have been amateurish, they moved quickly to nip it in the bud. And they're also setting up a pretty noticeable security presence right here in Rio. The city's in lockdown, if you will.

They're bringing in 85,000 police, soldiers, the navy, firefighters to secure these games. That's more than double what we saw in London. They've been working with intelligence groups around the world for over a year now. They're going to have a command and control center right here in Rio with many representatives from those agencies.

And just walking around right now, I can tell you there are navy ships off the coast of Copacabana. There are soldiers on the corners, in front of the hotels. And venues are also already being secured by the National Guard. After the attack in nice, they widened the perimeters. They're setting up more check points.

But you can definitely feel the security presence. That is intimidating for the criminal organizations here in Rio, and they're hoping it will be for any potential terror planners as well, Chris. CUOMO: Kim, give us just a quick coda here on why them finding and

locating this plot is a sign of them being on their game for the games.

DOZIER: It's positive that they're watching the usual suspects. If I was in a crowd in brazil, despite the high security, I'd have my vigilance up going into choke points, standing in lines outside major venues, where perhaps the security isn't as high.

[06:55:04] You can let your guard down, I believe, once you're inside.

CUOMO: Between terror and Zika, it's going to be very interesting to see how these games shake out.

Thank you very much to both of you this morning.

Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: OK, Chris. Donald Trump giving a 75-minute address, and one line in particular made history. More on that when NEW DAY returns.

(COMMERICAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP: ISIS has spread. Iran is on the path to nuclear weapons. A refugee crisis threatens the West.

IVANKA TRUMP, DAUGHTER OF DONALD TRUMP: When my father says that he will make America great again, he will deliver.

DONALD TRUMP: USA, USA.

Attacks on our police, terrorism in our cities threaten our very way of life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our country is divided. Our people are afraid.

REINCE PRIEBUS, RNC CHAIRMAN: I have a message to America: Hold on. Help is coming.

DONALD TRUMP: On January 20th of 2017, safety will be restored.

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY live from the Republican convention in Cleveland. Donald Trump had his big night. He declared only he can fix the issues facing America.