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Frontrunner Donald Trump Takes Swipe at Lindsey Graham; Terrorist Arrest in Great Britain; YouTube Video of Drone Gun Worries Police. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired July 21, 2015 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:33:19] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: More now with Donald Trump. The Republican presidential front-runner, according to the latest polls, he targeted his rivals at a speech in South Carolina just this past hour. He took a direct swipe at Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, a Republican presidential candidate, calling him, and I'm quoting, "a stiff," even giving out his personal cell phone number.

Let's bring in our chief congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, who is covering the campaign in Bluffton, South Carolina.

The decision by Donald Trump to release his personal cell phone number, Lindsey Graham's, I know Lindsey Graham called Donald Trump a "jackass" for his comments about John McCain's being a POW during the Vietnam War, and now Donald Trump basically called Lindsey Graham an "idiot," if you will, gave out his personal cell phone number. What's going on over there, Dana?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's just getting ugly and it's getting surreal. I was standing in this hall listening to him. As soon as he started to utter the numbers I thought, oh, my goodness, that's actually Lindsey Graham's cell phone number, he's giving it out. I tried to call it the minute Trump said the numbers out loud and it was already going right to voice mail, meaning it was either bombarded or off already.

Let me quickly read you a statement from Lindsey Graham's campaign manager. He said, "Donald Trump continues to show hourly that he is ill-prepared to be commander-in-chief. The two people most excited about his candidacy are Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. We aren't talking about Obama's horrible deal with Iran or Hillary Clinton's plans to continue Obama's failed national security agenda."

[13:35:00] And as you mentioned, the backdrop of this is that Graham has been aggressive about going after Trump. He made it personal as well, calling him a "jackass" on CNN last night. But Trump did this in Lindsey Graham's home state of South Carolina and it's gotten incredibly, incredibly personal as you mentioned. The reason that it got even more so is because Graham is close with John McCain. The two describe one another as almost like brothers.

And the comments Trump made about John McCain over the weekend, which are still reverberating, is something that still was doing so in this hall. I talked to a lot of people coming in this tent, and there was a line snaked outside. There were about 1,100 people here. It was a packed crowd, an overflow room. I talked to veterans and non-veterans and most veterans said they were offended. One said he would be on probation. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: As a veteran, did his comments about John McCain offend you?

UNIDENTIFIED VETERAN: At my age, he just disappointed me. I wasn't offended, I was disappointed?

BASH: But it's not a deal breaker?

UNIDENTIFIED VETERAN: No, not yet.

BASH: Why is that?

UNIDENTIFIED VETERAN: Too far to go. The man has tremendous background. Obviously, he has a great ability to delegate. He can make a decision on the spot, but it gets him in trouble.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Another veteran I spoke to said he thought Trump was right and that he -- this man I talked to -- had served in Vietnam himself. He said he killed people. He doesn't consider himself a hero, the word hero is thrown around too much.

But I should say that obviously, Wolf, this was a self-selecting crowd. People that are angry at Donald Trump because of his comments wouldn't wait in line in 100-degree heat to see him.

BLITZER: I take it, Dana, it was a packed auditorium there. How many people there are?

BASH: As I mentioned, about 1,100 is the latest number we just got. This is the main auditorium where he spoke. I think the maximum is over 600. There were people standing as well. After Trump was done, what you didn't see live was he walked across to another building in this complex where there was an entire auditorium, an overflow room. He went in, saw the crowd, turned to people like me and said, "I hope you're going to report this accurately that all these people are here." And it was an impressive crowd for somebody who is going to come and talk to people, even though he's never run for office before.

A lot of people I talked to coming in say he's a celebrity and they want hear what he has to say and many of them said as Trump himself says over and over again, they like the fact he tells it like it is and he's not necessarily politically correct. That was obvious here today -- Wolf?

BLITZER: All those negative comments he was making about the South Carolina Senator there, Lindsey Graham, in South Carolina, were they serious? Was there criticism? Was there anybody complaining about it or were they applauding it?

BASH: I didn't hear jeers, and I was listening. I did hear a few "atta boys." Graham has been a divisive figure in the Republican Party because he has been very much against most of the Republican base, especially on the issue that has helped Trump skyrocket, which is illegal immigration. He was a part of creating the bipartisan immigration deal that includes a path to citizenship and he has not backed down from that. That makes him not very popular in a lot of corners of the Republican Party.

BLITZER: He's got himself re-elected several times in South Carolina.

Dana, thanks very much.

For the latest political news, check out our politics page at CNN.com/politics.

Up next, terror arrest in Britain today. How one suspect is being linked to an alleged plot to attack U.S. servicemembers. New information. Stay with us.

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[13:41:43] BLITZER: British prosecutors have charged a man they say was planning to attack U.S. military personnel in the United Kingdom. The man was arrested along with his uncle. Both were attempting to join ISIS in Syria.

Let's go to our senior international correspondent, Fred Pleitgen, joining us from London.

What do we know about these charges, Fred?

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It isn't much but we know some interesting and scary details, if you will, they appeared in front of the Westminster court earlier today and the man in question is 24-year-old Junead Kahn. It's alleged he was platting attacks on U.S. military members in Britain. There were some details. Apparently he was planning what they call a hit-and-run or car accident style attack, that means hitting a U.S. servicemember with a car and killing the U.S. servicemember with a knife. Apparently there was also talk about possibly using a suicide vest as well and also some talk by him saying possibly he could kill a British servicemember but he preferred to kill Americans. Now, these two were arrested on July 14, so a week ago. There was a third man arrested with him as well. He was in his 30s. He's been released without charges. These two will remain in custody until their trial starts, but it's that one man, he's named Junead Kahn, who has been charged with plotting to kill American servicemembers.

BLITZER: Fred Pleitgen, thanks very much.

Let's get analysis. Joining us now, retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, a CNN military analyst, former commanding general in the U.S. Army. General Hertling, what do you make of this? I remember just before

July 4th, one base where there are U.S. military personnel in the U.K., basically they said no July 4th celebrations because of terrorist fears. This looks like a serious development.

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: And I think we talked about it back then, Wolf, these kinds of things. This is the kind of stuff that base commanders have to be aware of. They're constantly evaluating threat streams. I'm sure the base commander said that he had indicators or was going to be a terrorist attack. At least there was increase chatter. It's the kind of things the garrison and base commanders get paid to do. They have to assess this. This isn't the first time this has happened that kind of operation that was being planned. A possible hit-and-run or a suicide vest has happened before and they've been thwarted by European forces against U.S. military forces throughout Europe, not just in the U.K.

BLITZER: It shouldn't be surprising because ISIS on social media publicly said to their sympathizers, their supporters if you can't come over to Syria or Iraq and fight there, do some fighting where you are, go out there and attack U.S. military personnel, or law enforcement for that matter, as well, right?

HERTLING: Exactly right. And remember just recently bases in the United States have gone to threat con Bravo, threat condition Bravo. It's always like that in Europe and sometimes they up that to Charlie just to exercise the system but there's a continuous stream of intelligence that says jihadis or disenfranchised with the U.S. government will go after members stationed throughout Europe.

[11:45:] BLITZER: Let's talk about that suicide attack that we all saw yesterday in Turkey. A horrendous attack killing a lot of people, it's raised new questions about the ability of the West to keep ISIS in check. As you know, "The New York Times" has been reporting that the radical group is essentially decentralizing power so it can stay intact even if a senior member, any of the leaders, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi were to be killed. What's going on?

HERTLING: In the Turkish incident, what you're going to see, Wolf, is the continual pressure by the Turkish government to close the ports going into Syria. That's number one. Number two, the Kurdish forces in that particular, the YPK in that particular region between the border of Syria and Turkey have been extremely effective. They've retaken Kobani, so they're closing down ports where ISIS gets their flow of foreign jihadists from Turkey into Syria. So this is important. I think this was certainly to send a message to the Turkish government, hey, we can conduct terrorist operations inside your country, too, if you continue to pressure those border outposts and continue to stop our flow of foreign fighters coming through your borders.

BLITZER: One final question, General Hertling, before I let you go. These new revelations about the killer in Chattanooga killed four Marines, one sailor. We're learning today that he had, actually, according to his social media contacts, searching out religious teachings on martyrdom, on jihad. It looks increasingly like at a minimum he was inspired by a terror group, maybe not necessarily ISIS, maybe AQAP, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. What do you make of this?

HERTLING: Well, this was certainly a troubled young man, Wolf, all of the psychologists and psychiatrists have talked about things that may have affected him over the last several years, from his own depression all the way to family issues to perhaps contact with others who were talking about jihad. But in this case, the thing that troubles me the most was the recent finding that there had been videotapes or postings from Anwar al Awlaki on hiss web. This goes back several years and it continues to show some of the effects of these kinds of jihadists on citizens in the United States on what they might be asking others to do, even though al Awlaki is long dead he's still having an effect on some people who want to take up the cause. That's troubling.

BLITZER: Anwar al Awlaki, the American-born al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operative, who was very active on social media. He was killed in a U.S. drone strike, as you know, in Yemen.

General Hertling, thanks very much for joining us.

HERTLING: You're welcome, Wolf.

BLITZER: We've seen drones capture amazing views, but this video posted online of a drone with a gun has a lot of police alarmed right now. Authorities are scrambling. Who's behind it? Rene Marsh is here. She has new information. Stay with us.

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[13:52:22] BLITZER: As more and more people are getting drones as toys, in effect, we've seen pretty amazing fly-over videos, but we've also seen drones used in pretty precarious ways, drones flying near airplanes and near the White House. And now this.

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(GUNFIRE)

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BLITZER: This YouTube video shows an unmanned drone equipped with a gun firing shot after shot.

Let's get more from CNN's aviation correspondent, Rene Marsh.

What is going on here?

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION & GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Police say an 18-year-old engineering student was the mastermind behind this flying gun. A drone was on top of the gun. Police say he fired the shots on his private property in Clinton, Connecticut, and then posted the video on YouTube. And it's gotten the attention of the government. The video has gained more than 1.7 million viewers and it's raising questions about public safety. Online, one person saying, "Strange and scary for someone to have a drone carrying a firing gun."

The FAA now says they are investigating to see if they violated any of their rules. However, the Clinton Police Department, which is the department in this area, they say, quote, "It would seem to the average person there should be something prohibiting a person from attaching a weapon to a drone but, at this point, we can't find anything that's been violated."

So at least, Wolf, on the state and local level, they are not finding that this video that you're being looking at is a violation of the law in any way.

BLITZER: So this whole world of new technology, I assume they have to start looking at the laws because you see a drone like that flying around. It's one thing for the U.S. military to have drones and hell fire missiles attached to it. But this is pretty scary stuff.

MARSH: It is. And as of right now, you know, we said the FAA is looking to see if any rules were violated but no entity has come forward and said that this person has violated a rule. So I think this is a perfect example of which the technology has moved a lot faster than the laws on the books and that's kind of why we are at a standstill as it relates to this.

BLITZER: Those are real bullets, a real gun and all of that?

MARSH: According to the Clinton police. Here's the thing. When they looked at their law on the local level, they said that it is OK for an individual to fire a firearm on their private property if it doesn't endanger an individual and they don't have any evidence that this, as alarming as it may be to some because it was on the private property.

[13:55:11] BLITZER: Rene Marsh, thank you very much.

A very touching story, a touching tribute to Ted Turner taking shape in downtown Atlanta. He changed the way we cover and watch the news. He really did change the world by creating CNN back in 1980.

Much more right after this.

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[13:49:45]BLITZER: It's been a very special day in Atlanta for our friend, the CNN founder, Ted Turner. City leaders approved renaming a section of a road downtown Atlanta near the CNN Center as Ted Turner Drive. Take a look. The sign went up today. He's not must a media mogul, but he's an amazing philanthropist who has done so much for the city of Atlanta, so much for the world. Congratulations, Ted Turner.

The news next on CNN.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Wolf, thank you so much.