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Determining If Debris From MH370; Second Day Shots Fired at Camp Shelby; Incident Between With U.S., Iran War Ships In Gulf; Expectations of Trump in GOP Debate; Awaiting Obama Speech on Iran Nuclear Deal; Obama Speaks on Historical Iran Nuclear Deal. Aired 11:30a-12p ET
Aired August 05, 2015 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:30:00] SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We know that it's from a 777 aircraft and, of course, we know there is no other 777 aircraft missing in the world right now. This is, of course, one of the greatest aviation mysteries of all time. But they don't want to just say that by a process of elimination. They want a direct link between the flaperon that was brought here over the weekend in a sealed container to MH370.
So what kind of experiments are they going to be running right now? They've agreed on what they're going to do over the last two days. Of course, every group has its own way of investigating an air crash. So the United States, France, Malaysia, had to agree what tests they'd run. And they're likely to be doing things like sonograms, x-rays, 3- D imagery. My colleague, Rene Marsh, went to a laboratory yesterday to see how they would be doing these tests. Then they will take the piece apart, part by part, to look inside it to see what clues that can give away.
Kate, they may well be able to tell us very soon whether this part belongs to MH370 and perhaps even with further tests how the plane came to go down in the Indian Ocean. Did this part come away from the plane in the air? Did it come away on the sea? But they will not be able to tell us why. That will come from the flight data recorder -- John, Kate?
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Saima, how much of this early analysis is to link it to MH370 and can that be done with something as simple as a part number or some kind of component number? And how much of it is, as you say, to try to forensically determine what might have happened to the plane either in the air or in the water?
MOHSIN: Yeah, John, there are a number of stages to this. I really want to clarify that. There are part numbers and there are serial numbers. I can understand the impatience of the loved ones of the 239 passengers and crew members on board saying, why can't you tell us just by using that? They want to be 100 percent certain. They cannot get anything wrong. So they wanted to all be together, look at the part for themselves and then make that decision. And I'm sure that's why we believe that this will come very quickly whether they can or cannot connect this to MH370. Then the further examinations, we believe some scientists have told us may take weeks, may take days, may even take months to tell us about more detail relating to these scientific experiments and forensics they're doing. But certainly whether it's connected to MH370 should come soon.
By the way, there are also two parallel investigations going on, I want to remind everyone. There's an air crash investigation going on under international law. And there's a judicial investigation right here in France. There is a manslaughter case led by the families of the four French nationals on board, a manslaughter, should hijacking or terrorism be involved. That's why the French and Malaysian judiciary representatives are here. They want to know the answers -- John, Kate?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Possibly one step toward getting all those answers could be coming very soon from that laboratory behind you.
Saima, thank you so much. Great to see you.
Coming up for us, we are awaiting a major speech from President Obama. You're looking at live pictures from American University in Washington right now. The Iran deal, his legacy, could be on the line here as the president tries to convince a skeptical Congress to join on board and support the deal that he and other nations brokered with Iran. We'll go live and hear him live at any moment. We'll bring that to you. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:37:26] BERMAN: We have breaking news this morning. An incident at Camp Shelby in Mississippi, shots fired there. This is the second day that soldiers reported gunfire near their training center. This is also the second time that soldiers are describing the suspect as a white man in a red pick-up truck firing shots into the air. Luckily, as was the case yesterday, no one was injured.
BOLDUAN: The governor there making a statement just a short time ago saying this, "All available personnel and assets will be utilized to locate the suspect and effect an effect an arrest. The soldiers at Camp Shelby and across the state can and should take appropriate steps to defend themselves as necessary. This is one of the reasons," the governor says, "I recently signed an executive order directing certain National Guard personnel to be armed."
A major statement coming from the governor.
BERMAN: A major moment for President Obama in Washington, D.C., today. Any moment now -- you're looking at live pictures right there -- the president will speak at American University. This is a major address, trying to sell the nuclear deal with Iran.
BOLDUAN: His goal, of course, is to win over a skeptical Congress, especially as Republicans and Israel's prime minister have been just at hard working to appeal to Americans this is a bad deal. The president is also facing high-profile defections from his own party on this.
As we await that, and we're watching an incident ongoing, really, that we're just learning of an Iranian warship and a U.S. helicopter. For that, let's bring in CNN's chief national security correspondent,
Jim Sciutto; as well as CNN's global affairs correspondent, Elise Labott.
Elise, lay it out for us. What more are we learning about this incident?
ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: This was just about two weeks ago in the Gulf of Aden. It was a U.S. coalition warship that was just a few hundred yards from an Iranian warship. And it seemed as if there was a U.S. helicopter that landed on the deck of this warship and one of the Iranian officers on the ship had a machine gun pointed at this helicopter. The whole incident, we understand from CNN's Barbara Starr, lasted just a few minutes. But clearly, it could have escalated into something much more serious. And then the U.S. noticed that, on this Iranian ship, was a photographer taking pictures. It was a little bit of a bizarre incident. No one knows what it's about.
But there have been a lot of potential escalations and confrontations between U.S. coalition ships and Iranian ships in the Gulf of Aden. There's been a lot of concern that the Iranians were sending weapons to Houthi rebels in Yemen. They've been in the same area. A lot of potential confrontations, nothing thankfully escalated.
[11:40:22] BERMAN: Jim, you've spent a lot of time in the region. For years, there's been a game of cat-and-mouse between the United States and its allies in Iran and the gulf. But having it happen right now when the U.S. is trying to win support, when the president is trying to win support for the Iran nuclear deal, does that complicate matters domestically and does it complicate matters on the international stage as well?
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: You have to remember there are factions in Iran. A key question is, was this a ship from the Iranian revolutionary guard corps? They have their own navy ships, smaller patrol ships. They were responsible for some of the previous run-ins, once that Elise referred to where you had these Iranian revolutionary guard patrol ships confronting a U.S. flag cargo ship as well as another international flag cargo ship. They do their own thing, run by the hardliners in Iran. They're not trying to go to war with the U.S. Navy ships there. They're trying to send a signal. And that signal, not just to the U.S. but to other factions within Iran. And that's potentially significant because the other incidents happened at very sensitive parts of the negotiation before a nuclear agreement was reached. There are some who read that as the hardliners saying, hey, we can scuttle this at any time. Now the deal has been signed. There are still folks in that country who are not happy with it.
This one is a really strange circumstance because it was a cameraman behind this machine gunner. Was this an alarmingly stupid selfie moment, possibly. But you don't do that in close quarters, a couple of hundred yards away and it shows the dangers. Those factions have their own weapons, their own navy. If they're allowed to send signals like that in close quarters, it's potentially dangerous. BERMAN: Jim Sciutto, Elise Labott for us right now following what's
going on in the gulf with interaction between Iranian warships and U.S. planes. Who knows --
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: Could this be a propaganda film? That would be outrageously weird.
BERMAN: Thanks, guys.
Coming up for us now, Donald Trump, his new debate strategy, how will he face off against the nine other Republicans standing next to him on the debate stage? We will tell you what to watch for in this first 2016 presidential debate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:46:16] BERMAN: There is a big presidential debate tomorrow night, if you have not heard. It is the first Republican presidential debate, if you have not heard. And Donald Trump is in it, if you have not heard.
(LAUGHER)
BOLDUAN: I thought I was going to get that one.
There are also nine other candidates that will be on the stage with him. And do not forget, there are seven other candidates with serious credentials that will be in a forum beforehand. They did not make that main debate stage this time.
Let's discuss the expectations with our senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny.
Let's talk about the main stage first, Jeff, if we can. What are you looking out for? What's the talk of the town?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: I think optics mean a lot in a debate like this. Donald Trump will quite literally be front and center in every expression of the word because he is polling the highest. He will be at center stage and flanked on either side by Jeb Bush and Scott Walker. I think those three figures really are going to be -- going to have most eyes on them throughout the evening. They have different burdens, different challenges. We'll see if Donald Trump takes a more serious tone, if he brings CEO, boardroom, Donald Trump, to this debate stage as we enter this new phase when people are paying more attention to campaigns, people will tune in to see if he has ideas for things they haven't heard him talk about before.
Jeb Bush has to show he's able to sort of be the mature candidate on stage, get through this without stumbling and maybe show some fire in the belly. We don't necessarily see him as one of the most energizing speakers out there. So I think that's what he'll do. But Scott Walker, the Wisconsin governor, he is really the bell of the
ball in a lot of conservative circles, if you will. But the question for him, is he able to play on this bigger stage? Is he able to talk about foreign policy, other things? So I think those three as well as the other seven in the wings have different burdens. We'll start with those three.
BERMAN: Jeff, you hear people theorizing the main goal for many of these candidates, including Donald Trump, is do no harm. It's hard to win a ten-person debate but it is easy to lose. I do wonder, though, if you're Chris Christie, if you're Ben Carson, if you're some of these candidates -- Marco Rubio, who have had a hard time making headlines lately, if you can really just sit back and not lose, if you have to do something aggressive to get your name in the headlines?
ZELENY: I do not think you can sit back, not if you are one of those seven sort of in the wings, if you will. If you sit back too much, you may wind up in the undercard debate in the next one here. This is not a sure thing all ten of these are going to remain the top ten as the debates go on throughout the fall. So you cannot sit back. This is a primetime moment for you to make your argument, to make your case to a bigger set of people. But don't forget, a lot of people watching this are already family with Marco Rubio's policies. They like his life story. All these candidates have been practicing short, quick policy points, zingers as well, to distinguish them from the rest of this very, very large field.
BOLDUAN: Even though it's a long debate, you may only get a few minutes with that many people on the stage.
Jeff, thanks so much. Great to see you.
ZELENY: Thanks.
[11:49:28]BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, just in to CNN, the U.S. making a big move in the hunt for one of the most notorious drug lords on earth. Hear what the State Department is now doing after el Chapo escaped from prison.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: Breaking news on the search for el Chapo. The U.S. State Department is now announcing plans today of a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest of this man, one of the world's most notorious drug lords.
BERMAN: The award will be issued out of the State Department's rewards for justice program. It's given out about $125 million over the years leading to international terrorist trips worldwide. That man escaped from prison several weeks ago, digging out of that prison where he was supposed to be under 24-hour guard. Apparently, he was not.
Any moment now -- you're looking at live pictures on the corner of your screen -- President Obama will give a major address at the Iran nuclear deal at American University in Washington. BOLDUAN: His goal, to win over a very skeptical Congress, especially
as Republicans and Israel's prime minister have basically launched a counter campaign against the deal, telling Americans this is a very bad deal. The president is also facing high profile defections from his own party on this agreement.
Let's bring in CNN's chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto; CNN's political analyst, Gloria Borger; and CNN's global affairs correspondent, Elise Labott, to discuss.
We're awaiting the president right now, Gloria, but it can't go without saying what is at stake. The history steeped not only in what he's going to be talking about but the location he chose to offer this speech.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Right, at American University channeling JFK who spoke there in 1963, saying we ought to engage with Russia, that was after the Cuban Missile Crisis. And he's going to talk about what he talked about in 2007 and 2008, his vision of constructive engagement. We've seen it with Cuba and Iran. This is a president who on domestic and foreign policy is trying to close his legacy loop here, right? He's saying we need to engage with Iran or it could lead to war. His opponents say it's a false choice, if you oppose this deal you could get a tougher deal. He's trying to make his case to the American people, as well as Democrats, people in his own party he's waiting to hear from and lobbying them one on one. We're seeing him work very hard on this. It's very clear he believes this is an important part of his legacy.
[11:55:14] BERMAN: "The New York Times" reports that he heads to Martha's Vineyard, by the way, far two-week vacation this weekend.
(LAUGHTER)
BORGER: He does.
BERMAN: "The New York Times" reports he is willing to make phone calls to anyone during that vacation that he needs to, to convince them. You could suggest perhaps Martha's Vineyard won't be the best place to lobby Congress if the entire deal is in jeopardy.
Elise, the immediate audience is Congress. They vote for September 17. The bigger audience, the American people, because these members of Congress go home over the next few weeks and they will hear from their constituents. And of course, the bigger audience is the international community, who also working very hard for and against this deal. Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, trying to speak directly to American Jewish groups to say no.
LABOTT: That's right. Yesterday, Netanyahu did a web cast with American Jewish groups here in the United States, talking to them, saying this is a bad deal. As Gloria said, the choice is not between this deal and war. And really, basically, in his arsenal are thousands of foot soldiers from Jewish pro-Israel Jewish interest groups making the case. This has been a campaign-style epic battle between supporters of the deal and opponents. Groups like AIPAC, Christians United for Israel, spending millions of dollars on TV ads, on polls. They have millions of members who'll be fanning out across congressional districts trying to make their case against the deal. The administration doesn't have that kind of time, money, resources, but President Obama is putting his muscle into it, which is very important.
BOLDUAN: They have a powerful spokesperson for it, the president of the United States, for that part of the deal.
Jim, one of the audiences he's speaking to is the undecideds, people on the fence here in Congress. How many undecided lawmakers are there really? We keep hearing stories that the president has kicked up key support from key Democrats, but in the same breath he's also seeing defections from high profile Democrats who are coming out against the deal.
SCIUTTO: He has a long way to go to get to that comfort zone, 34 votes in support, for instance, in the Senate, to be able to -- so that they can't override a veto.
BOLDUAN: Right.
SCIUTTO: Listen, the president will argue today that this shouldn't even be a close call, says the White House. But clearly, it is a close call, and not just for members of the Republican Party but members of his own party. There are a lot of people on the fence here. He has got momentum in recent days. Senator Chris Murphy coming on board today, Tim Kaine yesterday. These are big foreign policy voices in the Senate. And Nancy Pelosi believes she can get the votes in the House. But he's still got a long way to go. And, as Gloria said, the argument he'll make here is it's this or war, and that's scene as a false choice by even some members of his own party.
BERMAN: Jim, Jim, there's the president right there at American University delivering the speech on Iran. Let's listen.
(APPLAUSE)
[11:58:14] BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you very much. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: Everybody, please have a seat.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: Thank you very much.
I apologize for the slight delay. Even presidents have problems with toner.
(LAUGHTER)
It is a great honor to be back at American University which has prepared generations of young people for service in public life. I want to thank President Kerwin and the American University family for hosting us here today.
Fifty-two years ago, President Kennedy, at the height of the Cold War, addressed this same university on the subject of peace. The Berlin Wall had just been built. The Soviet Union tested the most powerful weapons ever developed. China was on the verge of acquiring a nuclear bomb. Less than 20 years after the end of World War II, the prospect of nuclear war was all too real. With all of the threats we face today, it's hard to appreciate how much more dangerous the world was at that time.
In light of these mounting threats, a number of strategists here in the United States argued we had to take military action against the Soviets to hasten what they saw as inevitable confrontation. But the young president offered a different vision.
