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President Obama Open to Meet Texas Governor at the Border; Israel Ramps Up Military against Hamas; Harris Family Under Spotlight in Baby Death; Drawing the Lines of Criticism and Racism

Aired July 08, 2014 - 09:00   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, I'm Brianna Keilar in today for Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

This morning, the White House appears to be taking Texas Governor Rick Perry up on his request for a meeting with President Obama to address the border crisis. In a letter, Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett writes that the president would, quote, "welcome the chance to talk to Perry." It also invites Perry to a meeting with a group of faith leaders in Dallas.

President Obama will be in Texas tomorrow for a series of fundraisers. Earlier, Perry refused to greet the president at the airport, a somewhat customary gesture, saying that it would be, in his words, "nothing more than a tarmac handshake that doesn't address immigration."

President Obama still has no plans to visit the U.S./Mexico border during his visit. And that's a decision that has been criticized by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP., HENRY CUELLAR (D), TEXAS: I hope this doesn't become the Katrina moment for President Obama saying that he doesn't need to come to the border. He should come down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: I want to bring in now CNN White House correspondent -- senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta.

Jim, there's a letter to Governor Perry that the Obama administration sent to him. It also addresses some concerns about specific policies that are in place to fight what we're seeing this flood of undocumented immigrants. What are they saying?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Well, just to get you up to speed on what's happening with this potential meeting between President Obama and Republican Governor Rick Perry, we at this point can tell you that Perry's office has not yet accepted that invitation, at least we don't know whether or not they've accepted that invitation, according to a senior administration official here at the White House.

Aides to the president were in touch with Perry's staff late last night, trying to arrange this meeting and of course, this comes after Perry sent his own letter to the president saying as you mentioned, Brianna, that a tarmac meet is just not enough down in Austin. He wants a meeting with the president to talk about this border crisis that has seen a surge of tens of thousands of migrants including unaccompanied minors on the southwest border over the last several weeks.

And so the president, through Valerie Jarrett, sent a message back to Rick Perry saying OK, let's have those meeting. Instead the president wants to do it in Dallas tomorrow and the president from what I understand from talking to officials here at the White House had already set up this meeting. It was not previously announced but had already set up this meeting with faith leaders and local elected officials to talk about this plan in Dallas to transform local schools there, and to temporary housing facilities for some of these unaccompanied minors, so the president wanted to get a look at that and now wants Perry to join him.

In the meantime, speaking of that letter from Valerie Jarrett, it goes on to explain the supplemental funding request that the president is making to Congress. We should officially see that later on this morning. The president asking for more than $2 billion in Valerie Jarrett in her letter to Rick Perry details a bit of that.

Let me read it to you and put it up on screen, it says, "The administration continues to address this urgent humanitarian situation with a whole of government response on both sides of the border, this includes appropriate care for unaccompanied children as well as aggressive steps to surge resources to the southwest border to deter both adults and children from embarking on this dangerous journey, increasing capacity for enforcement and removal proceedings and quick return of recent unlawful border crossers to their home countries after appropriate humanitarian screenings."

Brianna, the long story short there and we're expecting to hear this from the White House later this week they want expanded legal authorities for the Department of Homeland Security to expedite the process in removing these recent migrants including those children and sending them back to their countries of origin. They're not going to be able to stay by and large in this country, Brianna.

KEILAR: All right. Jim Acosta at the White House, thank you so.

Thousands of miles away from the Texas border the immigration battle is leading to heated protests in one California town. Those protesters have successfully blocked several buses of undocumented immigrants from entering Murrieta, California, forcing them to turn around.

And in an interview this morning with CNN's Kate Bolduan, this is what Alan Long, the mayor of Murrieta, said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MAYOR ALAN LONG, MURRIETA, CALIFORNIA: I think the general public really is at a boiling point. Many people are frustrated at the federal government for many different reasons. So when you bring such a controversial item to a very small town who, by the way, had information from Border Patrol agents before this was even planned, before the city even knew about it. We were getting phone calls of concern, rumors, and what we found out at a town hall meeting this past Wednesday, some of the rumors and some of the concerns the citizens had were verified.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR, NEW DAY: Mr. Mayor, what do you think should happen to the migrants, the undocumented immigrants, that are coming through your town, that are being moved to your facilities? What do you think is the fix?

LONG: Right. Well, great question. If you listen to both sides of the protest line carefully I think they're all asking for the same thing. That's why I've come up with -- there's a third side. It's not one of two sides. There's a third side where people just want a fair and efficient and legal process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: And a law enforcement source tells the "L.A. Times" that those busloads of detained immigrants were rerouted and processed at a federal facility in San Diego.

And in just a few minutes I will be speaking with Jose Luis Zaleia. He came to the U.S. 14 years ago unaccompanied and in a bid to re- unite with his mother. He shares his amazing journey from a teen in search of a better life to a PhD candidate and member of the so-called Dreamers, Young Immigrants without Documentation. We'll have that coming up at 9:30.

A massive storm unlike Japan has seen in 15 years is bearing down on the mainland this morning. It's slamming the island of Okinawa -- I should say bearing down on the islands, so this is Okinawa. It's threatening the U.S. military facilities there. The storm has already knocked out power to more than 100,000 customers there on Okinawa and more than 600,000 people have been advised to evacuate because of massive waves, rising waters and sustained winds of 125 miles per hour.

Check out this amazing shot. This is the typhoon from space. The storm is heading right now toward Japan. It's expected to hit there later in the week, or I should say the mainland China, I believe.

Now to the Mideast where violence is edging on the brink of war. Tensions over the recent killings and kidnappings of Israeli and Palestinian teenagers are nearing a boiling point. This morning, we are hearing from the mother of Naftali Frenkel, one of three Israeli teens brutally murdered in the West Bank. She offered her condolences to the family of Mohammed Abu Khdeir, the Palestinian teenager burned to death in an apparent revenge killing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RACHELI FRENKEL, MOTHER OF MURDERED ISRAELI TEEN: No father or mother should go through what we're going through now and we share the pain of the parents of Mohammed Abu Khdeir. The legacy and the life and death of Naftali, Ayel and Gilad, is a legacy of love, of humanity, of national unity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now despite a mother's call for peace and unity violence in the region appears to be spiraling out of control. Overnight Israel launched a major offensive against the Hamas rule in Gaza Strip called Operation Protective Edge. A new wave of Israeli airstrikes hit 50 targets including militants' homes and the shift in strategy here coming at a critical time. Since Monday night 100 rockets have been fired from Gaza into Israel.

Let's bring in CNN's Diana Magnay. She's near the Gaza Strip. Tell us what's going on there. Things are really heating up, Diana.

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brianna. Well, I think you can still see the plumes of smoke just as you were reading that introduction to me, there were about five blasts over across the Gaza Strip and we heard the red alert for incoming fire coming out of Gaza towards us. From where I am which is Sderot, you have a 15- second warning between the time that there is the siren and the time that it would hit to seek shelter.

We counted to 15 seconds and we were OK but that gives you a sense of what Operation Protective Edge, as the Israelis are calling it, is all about.

Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAGNAY (voice-over): Israel is now at the ready, even sending troops to positions alongside the Gaza border. This as rocket attacks between the Jewish state and Hamas continue to escalate. Overnight Israeli Defense Forces say they struck 50 targets in airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, at least 10 injured. Israel now launching a clear offensive.

Their operation even given an official name, Protective Edge, using increased targeted airstrikes and calling out several hundred reservists to build up troops for possible ground maneuvers.

Israel's change in tactic comes in response to an uptick in rocket attacks from Gaza with some 80 on Monday alone. Those strikes forcing hundreds in neighboring summer camps to be sent back home.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will do whatever is necessary to stop the attacks.

The Hamas spokesman issuing a battle cry on Facebook, "The enemy has crossed the red lines and will be made to pay the price for its crimes." Hamas even showing off its weaponry and a propaganda video on their

military Web site. These explosive scenes of violence just painting a backdrop to the mounting anger in Jerusalem, tensions in the city at their worst in a decade, after the murders and beating of both Jewish and Palestinian teenagers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MAGNAY: The IDF says that it is targeting Hamas operatives very specifically in precision attacks in the Gaza Strip. We know that so far 16 people have died, 10 of them we are hearing who were forming a human shield on the top of one particular house, who were killed in an airstrike.

Now the Israeli government says that they have authorized for 40,000 reservists to be called up as part of Operation Protective Edge. All of this clearly to try and put an end to this constant barrage of rocket attacks coming out of the Gaza Strip, threatening the lives of Israeli citizens -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Fear as back and forth violence is escalating.

Diana Magnay, thank you.

Still to come, could medical records shed light on the death of a Georgia toddler left all day in the back of his father's SUV? That is what investigators are seeking. And Nick Valencia will be following the story for us today.

Good morning, Nick.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Brianna.

I'm Nick Valencia in Atlanta. Coming up after the break I'll have the latest on the investigation into the death of 22-month-old Cooper Harris, and I'll tell you what police are looking at.

You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Let's check our top stories now.

A 19-year-old woman was shot and killed in Chicago overnight. This comes after a July 4th holiday weekend that saw more than 60 people shot and nine people killed. Mayor Rahm Emanuel says enough is enough. He spoke at a community meeting last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR RAHM EMANUEL, CHICAGO: The gun violence that was part of this weekend is totally unacceptable to anybody from the city of Chicago. I believe everybody in Chicago is part of building what I call a partnership for peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KEILAR: The city's police superintendent says without stronger gun laws, his officers face an uphill battle stopping violent offenders from getting back on the street.

Riders on the ninja rollercoaster at Magic Mountain in California got a bit more, way more, I would say, than they bargained for. Twenty- two people had to be rescued after the ride hit a tree branch and left them literally hanging 20 feet off the ground for hours.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were riding on the jet stream when we saw the Ninja go into the trees and it was just a lot of leaf noise and then cracking noises and crashing noises and a lot of screaming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Four people were hurt, thankfully not seriously. And rescuers lowered each person from the ride one by one to the ground. Today, the ride is closed while it's being inspected.

The defense in the Oscar Pistorius murder case rested today. Closing arguments now taking place on August 7th. Pistorius admits to killing his then girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp but says he mistakenly thought he was defending himself from an intruder.

And in Memphis, a massive police sick-out nearly a quarter of the 2,200-member police force called out sick yesterday. The head of the Memphis Police Association says officers are upset about cuts to their health care benefits, as well as proposed changes to pension plans. But the association said it doesn't condone nor did it organize the sick-out.

And as a Georgia father sits behind bars in the death of his infant son who sat in a hot car for more than seven hours, his wife continues to sit under the spotlight. All investigators will say is that Leanna Harris is part of the investigation but she has not been charged with a crime. Her husband, Justin Ross Harris, is charged with murder and child cruelty and investigators want the medical records for both the toddler and his father.

And as all of this happens, Harris may be losing the support of his friends like Chris Wilkinson who spoke this morning on "NEW DAY".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS WILKINSON, FRIEND OF JUSTIN HARRIS (via telephone): He's just a normal guy. I mean, I've heard him described as irresponsible and, you know, character out of "Animal House", and all kinds of pejorative terms that I just would not use about him. He seemed like a responsible, nice, decent guy.

You know, there are people to this day that still believe in him, because this just does not mesh with the Ross Harris they know.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Do you still believe in him? WILKINSON: You know, I'm a person that believes in the evidence, and

as it stacks up and you know, from what I've heard so far, I just, I can't really say that I do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Nick Valencia joining us with the latest.

Good morning to you, Nick.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL REPORTER: Good morning.

KEILAR: You're hearing his friends sort of defect. We heard some on the stand the other day, trying to stand by him. Now you're hearing friends who are obviously very conflicted. Is there anything in the search warrants that are now out, that may help Harris clear his name?

VALENCIA: It's interesting there, Brianna, to hear from Chris. When I was in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and spoke to his friends at the University Church of Christ, they said they want the facts to come out before judgment should be placed on the Harrises but they also said they have the very same questions that everyone else has.

Investigators have just scratched the surface in this investigation, and they're casting an ever widening net as they pour over these medical records and electronic data that they obtained from search and seizure warrants, a DVDR, an SD card, and external hard drive and as well as Cooper Harris' medical records to see if this little boy had developmental disabilities that may have contributed to his death.

Also part of this investigation, part I say, not under investigation is Leanna Harris. She has been drawn into the spotlight because of her behavior and her emotion or lack of emotion on the day her baby died, as well as since her husband was arrested. She has not been formally charged. She has not been officially named a suspect. And just a little while ago, I spoke to the Cobb County magistrate to see if there was any search warrants or arrest warrants out there on Leanna Harris, they said no.

And we should mention also that her husband, the father, Cooper Harris, charged with murder, he's pleaded not guilty, Brianna.

KEILAR: And that's the thing, Nick, when we look at Leanna Harris. We heard from some of the evidence presented by authorities that she as well was looking up on the Internet hot car deaths, right, and also that when she went to pick Cooper up the baby, when she went to pick him up at the day care without even talking to her husband, just finding out the baby's not here, she jumped to the conclusion that he must have been left in the car, and I think that surprised authorities.

VALENCIA: Yes, that's right. I mean, that was her reaction without even being provoked. They said we heard that in the probable cause hearing from detective Phil Stoddard with the Cobb County Police, that he thought her behavior was odd. But, you know, really, as we've been talking the last couple of days,

what is a normal reaction when your child dies? You know, I'm sure some people at home would say, if their child died, if their 22-month- old child, they would be inconsolable.

But grief hits people different ways. And I'm sure, if you talk to her family and friends, they'll tell you and I have spoke on it them, they say she's a great person and that Ross Harris, Justin Ross Harris, that they're just Christian family and it's not in their character to have done something of this heinous magnitude that they're being said that they did this horrible crime, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, so many questions. Nick Valencia, thank you.

VALENCIA: You bet.

And also joining me now, HLN host Jane Velez-Mitchell and Mel Robbins, CNN commentator and legal analyst.

Good morning to both of you.

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HLN HOST: Good morning.

MEL ROBBINS, CNN COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

KEILAR: And, Jane, I know you've been speaking to friends of the family. We just heard from Chris, one of the friends of Justin Ross Harris. He wants to stand by his friend. You can hear that, but he is sort of saying he's looking at the evidence and he doesn't know that he can.

What are these friends telling you?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I spoke to Chris as well last night, and there's a sense of betrayal, and that is really the essence of this story -- a man who was living a double life, and what these search warrants show is that authorities have just scratched the surface of this double life, and they want to dig deep and find out what other toxic secrets were going on in the Harris household.

We know this sexting which the defense tried to describe as irrelevant fantasy, had been going on for a while. One of the females that he was sexting as his son roasted in the hot car was 17, but she was 16 when he had started sexting her, according to authorities. So, that's going on for a while, and I really believe the questioning by the prosecution during that probable cause hearing was insinuating that this was more than fantasy, that it had crossed over into something else.

We know that he researched living a child-free lifestyle, but I am wondering, did one of these sexting situations or some other interaction with a female actually become a relationship? Was he also having an affair? I think that's what they want to find out by searching the hard drives and the computer equipment, because if he was, that would truly be a smoking gun. That would show that maybe he didn't just want a child-free life but he wanted a child and wife-free life to pursue another life with another woman.

KEILAR: And, Mel, that sort of makes me think of the Scott Peterson/Laci Peterson case, the man in California who was -- he's in jail for killing his wife, who was very pregnant at the time.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Absolutely.

ROBBINS: Right, you know, Jane's absolutely right, there is another way to look at this, which is what the defense is going to be arguing, and that is, let's say he was leading a double life, like so many people do when they carry on affairs. It actually could support the theory that he was so distracted by the sexting and the managing between the wife and the six women that he did forget about the child in the car, and that all the facts that happened afterward, the weird cover-up, the lies, were his freak-out that made it look intentional, like that he botched the cover-up when he realized oh, my God, I'm so distracted, I've been busy texting the women, left my son in the car, how am I ever going to explain this -- that in the cover-up of that, once he finds out, that's what makes it looks intentional.

The only thing that will clear his name at this point is all the evidence coming out and him actually testifying.

KEILAR: That would have to be, Jane, that would have to be some kind of defense to make up for the things we've learned in the probable cause hearing, right?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I think that's why prosecutors were really, in my opinion, trying to send a message to this wife during this probable cause hearing, where they went out of their way to mention things that could possibly be incriminating toward her.

Remember, he's the guy who was at the center of this hearing, not her. And yet they're mentioning things she did that were suspicious as you mentioned, saying when she gets to the day care, and they tell her -- your son wasn't brought here today -- and she quickly concludes oh, my husband must have left him in the car, and saying when they're reunited by police to her husband, did you say too much?

Why did they bring that into the probable cause hearing for the husband? Were they trying to tell her, look, lady, your loyalty to your husband is wildly misplaced? He's sexting with other women. You know a lot more perhaps than you're saying. Come clean. Tell us the whole story of the toxic secrets going on inside that household, and save yourself.

KEILAR: Is that what you saw, Mel, you think they were trying to sort of win her cooperation over?

ROBBINS: You know, Jane is making a brilliant point, Brianna, and here is the legal piece to back it up. She actually could be compelled to testify against him in Georgia, because while there is spousal privilege, while you normally don't have to be compelled to testify against a spouse, in Georgia, if your spouse is accused of committing a crime against a person who is a child, you can be compelled to testify, and you better believe she will be in this case. KEILAR: Oh, yes, I would not be surprised. I didn't realize there

was that exception in Georgia. That's very interesting when it comes to this case.

Nick Valencia, Jane Velez-Mitchell, Mel Robbins, thanks you guys.

VALENCIA: You bet.

KEILAR: And still to come, the o office of the president will always have its critics, right? But have the shots taken at President Obama gone beyond just politics? We'll be taking a look, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Well, as any politician will tell you, being in the public spotlight comes with more than its fair share of criticism and holding office a president is no different and worse. But do the signs, the cartoons and even parade floats directed towards President Obama have more to do with his race than his political decisions?

Erin McPike has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What's black and white and red all over? A New York newspaper using the most racially charged word to describe President Obama. A Fourth of July parade float in Norfolk, Nebraska, shows a dummy depicted in front of an outhouse marked "Presidential Library."

So, is it open season on the president's race?

RODELL MOLLINEAU, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: No, when you say it and if you're an African-American, if you're a minority and felt at any point time in your life you've been subject to racism, there are certain things that will get your back up.

MCPIKE: Using an outhouse for the first black president's library smacks of blatant racism to many.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you lost your mind?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, ma'am, but you're about to.

MCPIKE: It brings to mind the 2011 Academy Award nominated film "The Help."

According to KNTV, the float's creator said the dummy was him and not the president, and it's all political satire.

It's certainly not the first presidential Obama satire or protest sparking controversy. But is it racism or political free speech or in some cases just bad taste?

Norfolk's mayor said in a statement, quote, "We recognize and respect our citizens' differing political beliefs and rights to express them freely. However, we are disappointed the occasion of this family- friendly celebration of America's birth was used in a way to disparage the office of the president."

(on camera): Some supporters of President Bush would say that the way he was characterized also was disrespectful of the office.

MOLLINEAU: I think it's a false equivalency. And listen, let me be very clear. The idea of opposing a president or poking fun at a president, I mean, that's nothing new. It's when you cross that line.

President Bush, yes, during his lowest points certainly did take a lot of criticism from the left and from Democrats, but nothing that you would consider racist. Nothing that you would consider out of bounds or over the top.

MCPIKE (voice-over0: Like Bush, Obama's poll numbers have taken a nosedive. But do attacks like these detract from legitimate criticism of his performance in office?

The writer of this piece says his point was to criticize opponents who bring race into the discussion. Clearly, that backfired.

Erin McPike, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Still to come, he currently holds a masters degree and is pursuing his doctorate in education. He's also an undocumented immigrant and you'll hear his story next.

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