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Erin Burnett Outfront
Trump Dominates GOP Field With 32 Percent in New CNN Poll; Trump on Carly Fiorina: "Look at that Face"; Trump Slams Carson For Questioning His Faith; Police: 11 Confirmed Highway Shootings. Aired 7-8:00p ET
Aired September 10, 2015 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:12] JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: OUTFRONT tonight, Donald Trump still soaring in the polls. Now over 30 percent nationally. And still slamming his rivals. Can his insult strategy win it all?
Plus, 13 shootings along an Arizona highway in just the last 12 days. And now police fear a copycat shooter may also be out there. We are live on the scene.
And a former Olympian and tennis great tackled by New York police in a wrongful arrest. Did officers use excessive force? Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening. I'm Jim Sciutto in again tonight for Erin Burnett. And OUTFRONT tonight, Trump lobbing new personal insults at some brand new targets. Donald Trump is now the first GOP candidate to top 30 percent nationally in a new CNN poll, gaining eight points in just the last month. But even as his lead widens, Trump is taking his attacks from the political to the very personal. During an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, he took on the only woman in the republican field, Carly Fiorina saying, quote, "look at that face, would anyone vote for that?" And today, Trump lashed out at neurosurgeon Ben Carson, one of the few Republicans he had not insulted yet, after Carson questioned Trump's religious faith. Here is how Trump responded this morning on CNN's "New Day."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Frankly, he looks like -- he makes Bush look like the energizer bunny. He was a doctor, perhaps, you know, an okay doctor by the way. You can check that out. We're not talking about a great -- he was an okay doctor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: An okay doctor. Tonight, one of Trump's favorite targets, Jeb Bush told CNN, it's time for Trump to stop the insults and start sharing some ideas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think he believes that he can insult his way to the presidency.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Dana Bash is OUTFRONT tonight. And Dana, these insults, as bad as offensive as they seem to many people, they don't seem to make a difference at all to Trump supporters. How is that?
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, that's a hard question to answer about how. But you are right. They are not. In fact, today's new CNN/ORC poll suggests Donald Trump is moving closer to doing what Jeb Bush accused him of, insulting his way to the presidency. But to be fair, his supporters see it as showing some spine and using the right rhetoric to capture a very real anti- Washington fervor.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH (voice-over): Donald Trump's dominance in the republican field is even more solid, a high water mark for any GOP candidate, 32 percent and no one else coming close. This while Trump is getting in trouble again talking about women's appearances. Quoted in a new Rolling Stone article as saying this when seeing Carly Fiorina on TV, look at that face, would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that the face of our next president? The brash billionaire tried to clarify on CNN this morning.
TRUMP: The statement on Carly, I'm talking about her persona. Her persona is not going to be -- she's not going to be president.
BASH: Fiorina strategy is to not take the bait.
CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not going to spend a single cycle wondering what Donald Trump means. But maybe, just maybe I'm getting under his skin a little bit because I am climbing in the polls.
BASH: But in an interview with CNN, Jeb Bush was quick to pounce.
BUSH: This disparaging of women is deeply troubling. It just doesn't make any sense to me. Carly Fiorina has made a good contribution already and will continue and make a contribution in this nomination process.
BASH: It's hardly the first time Trump has made waves talking about women.
TRUMP: She wanted to breast pump in front of me. And I may have said that's disgusting. She's a vicious, horrible person.
You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.
BASH: Despite all that, Trump's support among republican women has grown, up 13 points in today's CNN/ORC's poll. He is winning at 33 percent. Meanwhile, another GOP candidate unleashed on Trump today.
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: The reality of Donald Trump, however, is absurd. He is non-serious. He's a carnival act.
BASH: Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal struggling in the polls through a political Hail Mary.
JINDAL: I have enjoyed him as a reality TV show star. Just because a lot of people like watching Kim Kardashian, we wouldn't put her in the White House either. He is an unserious, unstable, narcissistic ego maniac.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Now, the only thing worse than getting hit by Trump is not getting his classic counter punch when you do take a swipe at him as Jindal did. Trump's statement responding to Bobby Jindal was kind of devastating Jim in how tame it was. He said he only responds to people that register more than one percent in the polls. He never thought Jindal had a chance rather and he has been proven right -- Jim.
[19:05:12] SCIUTTO: He doesn't mind getting personal. Dana Bash, thanks very much in Washington.
OUTFRONT tonight, Katrina Campins, she is a former "Apprentice" contestant who has known Donald Trump for more than a decade. Also conservative radio host Ben Ferguson and CNN political commentator S.E. Cupp. Katrina, Donald trump has been -- to say, impolite in some of his language around women. Megyn Kelly, the blood comment, a woman who used a breast pump disgusting. Rosie O'Donnell a slob. And now Carly Fiorina. As a woman, do you personally find this kind of language insulting?
KATRINA CAMPINS, FORMER "APPRENTICE" CONTESTANT: Well, I'm not a proponent of bashing in general. However, politics is a blood sport. So, regardless of gender, if you go in for combat, you have to be ready to battle. You know, we as a women want equality, but we have to take the good for the bad. This kind of reminds me of the feud between Obama and Palin where he said, you could put lipstick on a pig but she's still a pig. So, even Obama -- and yet he made it to the White House.
SCIUTTO: Well, to be fair, he was talking about -- as I remember, at the time, he was talking about a plan rather than the person. But I wonder S.E., on the Carly Fiorina --
S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: But that's the big debate.
SCIUTTO: Okay. I'd like to ask what you think.
CUPP: That's the big debate though.
SCIUTTO: I mean, let's talk about the Carly Fiorina example. Because it's the latest one. He's speaking to Chris Cuomo this morning trying to explain the way saying, his remarks was not about her looks but her persona. Do you buy that?
CUP: No. A face is a face. Trump can't rewrite the English language. And if he -- his raise on detra is straight talk, then we should take him at his straight talk and assume that he means what he says. That's what he insists. You know, when people like Jeffrey Lord, who I am frequently on television with, discussing Trump, defend what he says, I can kind of understand it. Men, particularly of Jeffrey's generation, have defended misogyny and misogynistic attacks for decades. But what I don't understand Katrina is that you are a beautiful, successful, hard-working woman. How can you possibly defend what Trump has said about men, women, everyone in between? How could you possibly think that that's effective or productive or dignified even in the blood sport like politics?
CAMPINS: Let me ask you --
SCIUTTO: I want to give you a chance to answer, Katrina.
CAMPINS: Let me ask you a question. Yes. Isn't everybody else doing it? You know, Jeb Bush, which is the --
CUPP: Is that your defense?
CAMPINS: Even he is swinging. But he is absolutely -- he swing it, politics is a blood sport. We as women want equality. Well, even in the business world, you know, I have been in business now for over 15 years. And I'm dealing with men. And they're not always so nice. But I have to take it -- I want equality --
BEN FERGUSON, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST, "THE BEN FERGUSON SHOW": You don't get equality -- let me say something. You do not get equality by defending a chauvinist pig. Let me finish.
CUPP: Yes. This is nothing to do with equality.
FERGUSON: Let me finish again. You do not get equality by defending chauvinist pigs. I have been totally shocked by how many women -- let me finish. Let me just finish, okay? Including you and other Tea Party women who have come out and defended Donald Trump for saying, look at her face, look at that face. How do you -- how in the world could you want that woman to be president? It doesn't get anymore chauvinist than that. And the fact that women are defending him because I guess they're just in love with being -- I don't know a Trump supporter on TV talking about Donald Trump as a supporter, it's sad to see you are willing to throw it away just to defend Donald Trump.
CAMPINS: Let me actually stop you on that. Okay? Let me stop you on that. I am a successful woman. And I don't need anybody's name to be successful. I have built myself from the beginning. And I have earned it one step at a time.
FERGUSON: Then why are you defending Donald Trump?
CAMPINS: He speaks truth. Let me finish. Let me finish, sir.
FERGUSON: You are saying --
CAMPINS: I'm a lady. Are you going to give me respect or not? Practice what you preach. I'm not speaking about -- are you going to let me finish? Let me know when you're ready for me to talk.
FERGUSON: Let me just --
CAMPINS: Basically, everybody is swinging. But yet, when Donald Trump swings, then -- what about other comments about his hair? So, all of a sudden, that's okay?
FERGUSON: Swing on policy.
CAMPINS: Is it okay for you all to say that --
SCIUTTO: But look, Katrina, Katrina -- hold yourself for a moment. Because I want to ask Ben and S.E. as well --
CAMPINS: I'm sorry.
SCIUTTO: Because many people did think the Trump's comments about women would hurt him about female voters. But you look at the numbers.
CAMPINS: And they have gone up in polls.
SCIUTTO: He is leading among women up 13 points in the last month.
CAMPINS: So, why is that?
SCIUTTO: So, I want to ask Ben and S.E. why they think that is. Ben, let's give S.E. a chance to answer.
CAMPINS: You know why that is? You know why that is? Because he is speaking truth.
FERGUSON: Katrina, Katrina, it's okay.
CAMPINS: Can I answer as a woman?
FERGUSON: No one is calling you ugly or mean or anything else.
CAMPINS: Can I answer as a woman?
SCIUTTO: Let's give S.E. a chance to respond.
CAMPINS: You can call me mean all you want. I have thick skin. It's not about that. It's about women are voting for him because they understand that he is speaking truth. He has the best chance of fixing the political corruption in this company because he is not tied to any lobbyists or independent groups.
SCIUTTO: Okay, Katrina --
CAMPINS: Or special interest groups -- wait. Wait. Let me finish. Let me finish. Let me finish. And for you to tell me and every other woman that's supporting him that we're doing -- let me finish. Let me finish. Have respect for women. And let me tell you one thing, you by telling every woman that supporting Trump that they're in love with him and that's why they are supporting him, talk about chauvinist. Who is being chauvinist now?
FERGUSON: I'm saying --
CAMPINS: Please, have respect for women.
FERGUSON: I'm saying, it's a little --
CAMPINS: Practice what you preach.
[19:10:38] FERGUSON: You are not listening to any of us. So, let me say it very clearly and slowly. Okay?
CAMPINS: I'm listening loud and clear.
FERGUSON: I think it's sad that you are sitting here defending Donald Trump for calling a woman who is a conservative --
CAMPINS: That's not what I'm saying. That's not what I'm saying.
FERGUSON: -- that's running for president, that was a CEO of a company, ugly.
CAMPINS: Listen.
FERGUSON: That's what he did. Why would you not denounce that and say that has no --
CAMPINS: Let me ask you --
SCIUTTO: Katrina, Ben -- Katrina, Ben, because we have limited time.
CAMPINS: Let me ask you a question.
SCIUTTO: Katrina, Ben, you have had your chance. And I appreciate it. But S.E., I want to give you a chance to pipe in.
CUPP: Yes.
SCIUTTO: Because you look at the numbers and women are still supporting him. In fact, he is up 13 points in just the last month. How is that possible?
CUPP: Yes. You know, two things. I would like to see polling after the Carly comments. Because I think what he said about Megyn Kelly could have been dismissed as somewhat ambiguous. I think what he said about Carly Fiorina was very, very clear. That said, it's possible that a lot of women, men, the political people who are being called to weigh in on polls aren't paying attention as closely as we are to the mudslinging. And all they see is Donald Trump is on TV a lot. He is ahead in the polls. And so, they think, this is a guy talking about wanting to make America great again. That sounds good. And that's really as deep as they get. But as the political cycle moves further on, I am sure that one time Trump supporters are going to be a little less impressed with his lack of political knowledge, his lack of political ideas and the terrible indefensible ways that he is talking about other people.
SCIUTTO: Listen, S.E., Ben and Katrina. I want to thank you for speaking honestly. And what we're seeing here is the emotions that this race and certainly this candidate bring out. And I want to thank you for speaking so directly about that. We will going to have to leave it there. Thank you for this.
Coming up at the top of the hour, find out which of the candidates, including Donald Trump will be on the stage during CNN's republican presidential debate next Wednesday. The big reveal will be coming up on AC 360.
And OUTFRONT next, Donald Trump slamming Ben Carson, after his opponent questioned Trump's religious faith. Why is Carson pulling back?
Plus, more shootings today along the same stretch of Arizona road. We are live from that location.
And a tennis star says, he was tackled by five New York police officers arresting him in a case of mistaken identity. Did the officers use excessive force?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:16:12] SCIUTTO: Tonight, Donald Trump taking aim at a new political target, this time his closest republican rival, renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson. After Carson accused Trump of exaggerating his religious commitment, Trump now questioning the sincerity of Carson's faith. But it is Trump who continues to win that all important republican voting block, evangelical Christians. So, is Trump though faking his faith?
Sunlen Serfaty is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's round one for the GOP front-runners, a fight over religious authenticity.
DR. BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The biggest thing is that, you know, I realize where my success has come from. And I don't in any way deny my faith in God. And I think that probably is a big difference. Humility and a fear of the lord. I don't get that impression with him.
TRUMP: If you look at his past which I've done, he wasn't a big man of faith. All of a sudden he has become this man of faith. And he was heavy into the world of abortion.
SERFATY: Ben Carson is a man known for his deep faith. He surges in part powered by evangelicals especially in the all-important early state of Iowa.
CARSON: When I pick up my Bible, you know what I see? I see the fairest individual in the universe, God. SERFATY: But among evangelicals, Donald Trump is still on top.
DAVID BRODY, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, CBN: I think they want a candidate that is going to explain how their faith is interwoven with their public policy decisions. But of Donald Trump can actually do that, he has a chance to potentially walk away with the evangelical vote.
SERFATY: But while Trump insists he is religious, he has had some stumbles in his record and rhetoric among evangelicals.
TRUMP: People are so shocked when they find this out. I'm Protestant. I'm Presbyterian. And I go to church. And I love God. And I love my church.
SERFATY: This church in Queens is where trump went to Sunday school and was confirmed.
TRUMP: I'm a Sunday church person.
SERFATY: He says he now attends this church in Manhattan.
TRUMP: I go to Marble Collegiate Church.
SERFATY: But the church tells CNN he is not an active member. Trump says, he collects and stores bibles that people send him in the mail.
TRUMP: Nothing beats the Bible. Nothing beats the Bible. Not even the art of the deal. Not even close.
SERFATY: But when asked, he refused to name his favorite Bible verse.
TRUMP: When I talk about the Bible, it's really personal. So, I don't want to get into --
SERFATY: And he admits that he never asked God for forgiveness.
TRUMP: When we go to church and when I drink my little wine, which is about the only wine I drink and have my little cracker, I guess that's a form of asking for forgiveness.
SERFATY: He also changed his tune on social issues like gay marriage and abortion. In 1999 --
TRUMP: I cringe when I listen to people debating the subject. But you still, I just believe in choice.
SERFATY: But now.
TRUMP: I am pro-life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SERFATY: And today, Ben Carson claimed that his comments were not intended to be a personal attack on Trump. He says, he does not want to get into any sort of gladiator fight about faith. But I have to say a Carson campaign official tells me that within the campaign there is a feeling that they would like to respond to Trump more forcefully. But it's Carson that's not comfortable with this and stands in the way of doing that. Jim, this official adding that Trump's comments they believe were over the top.
SCIUTTO: And he's not first candidate to try to respond to Trump as well. We're seeing that, Bush, Jindal and others. Sunlen Serfaty in Washington. Thanks very much.
OUTFRONT, Russell Moore, and ordained minister and leader with the Southern Baptist Convention, that is one of the most influential Christian organizations in the country. And Katrina Pierson, she is the spokeswoman for the Tea Party Leadership.
Katrina, we'll start with you. Because you heard Ben Carson's comments there. When he says that it's his humility that separates him from Trump, does he have a point?
KATRINA PIERSON, SPOKESWOMAN, TEA PARTY LEADERSHIP FUND: Well, I think they are very different, yes. But I think where people are getting a little bit antsy about this is, you know, nobody likes a Christian -- a Bible thumping person to go out there and judge other people. And that's essentially what Ben Carson did. So, I don't think that it's his humility that's really going to separate the two. Because Trump has this big boisterous personality that people are attracted to. Because that's the fighter in him. That's why probably Ben Carson is number two. Because you have the strong fighter who is an outsider and then you have this sort of humility person in Ben Carson who is also an outsider. And so, these two are neck and neck for that reason.
SCIUTTO: Russell, I want to ask you. Because in a column in "USA Today," a former democratic strategist Christian Powers called Trump an evangelical scam artist in her words. In your view, is he a scam artist? Is he faking his religious faith?
RUSSELL MOORE, ETHICS AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY COMMISSION, SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION: Well, yes. I think he is a scam artist. I think we have a category of cultural Christianity in this country of people who don't have a theology that connects with their political lives and their civic lives. And I think that's what we are seeing in this phenomenon right now. You have someone who speaks in brash egotistical terms, speaks a women with contempt, openly brags about having the morality of an alley cat and says he has nothing for which to ask God for forgiveness.
[19:21:20] SCIUTTO: But then, I have to ask you, why is he doing so well with the evangelical vote?
MOORE: Well, I think right now we're in a mode where people are simply communicating that they are tired of what's going on in Washington. And anyone can see why that's the case. But I do think you see a great contrast with Ben Carson. Someone who wasn't attacking Donald Trump. He was simply differentiating himself from Donald Trump and talking about his own sense of humility and the way that he wants to approach things. And I think that is a very stark contrast.
PIERSON: Well, let me tell you why Donald Trump is doing so well with the evangelicals. Because what we have seen over the last few election cycles, every single republican out there that runs always starts out with a Bible verse, always talks about their Christianity. But guess what, every republican right now, elected right now, they won't even defunct Planned Parenthood. Evangelicals are tired of politicians who go out there flaunting their Christianity and they go to office and they do exactly the opposite. That's why Donald Trump is getting support right now. Because in the last election, it was evangelicals who stayed home. And now they have somebody they want to go out and support.
SCIUTTO: Russell, do you think -- do you see the same phenomenon?
MOORE: Well, I see Donald Trump who speaks of Planned Parenthood as having done many good things, someone who has been multiple choice on the issue of abortion over the years, has recently come around to saying he is pro-life but isn't able to speak to it with any detail. Someone who ridicules evangelical missionaries infected with Ebola and saying, they shouldn't be treated because they chose to go oversees in the first place.
SCIUTTO: Katrina, I want to ask you --
MOORE: He built his life on a casino industry that is spreading vice all over this country. And yet then turns around and wants to say that somehow he is a Christian, he is a protestant, he's a Presbyterian, even though he doesn't go to church. I find that really startling. And I think the issue here isn't who is qualified to be Sunday schoolteacher. But I think the issue is, who has character. And we have to have leaders with character.
SCIUTTO: I do want to ask you, Katrina --
PIERSON: But if that were the case, Mike Huckabee would have been the nominee. Right? If that were the case. But that's not the case here. Evangelicals are smart too. They are tired of being lied to, they are tired of seeing these politicians run around, quoting Jesus and then going into office and funding things like Planned Parenthood --
MOORE: Oh, I agree with you.
PIERSON: -- just like they did in the omnibus program.
MOORE: I agree with you. But I don't think we saw that that by hiring someone who comes in and just simply says, nothing beats the Bible and I have my little cracker and wine and then goes about with this sort of ridiculous attack politics, the denigrating of women, the boasting about sexual conquests, that's a lack of character.
PIERSON: But he is being honest and people respect that. SCIUTTO: We're going to have to leave it there. It's true that
the one common theme with so many voters is frustration with Washington in typical politics. Thanks to Russell Moore and to Katrina Pierson.
OUTFRONT next, a source tells us that's two new shootings on an Arizona highway may be the work of a copycat. This is armed private citizens go on patrol. Are police any closer to finding the shooters?
And a pro-tennis star says, he was gang tackled and arrested by five police officers after being misidentified as a criminal. Was it a legitimate case of mistaken identity or simply bad police work?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:28:28] SCIUTTO: And breaking news. Arizona police now investigating two more possible shootings along the busy Phoenix Interstate. These latest attacks bring the total number of shootings to 13 over the last 12 days. Police are calling this an act of domestic terrorism. And adding to the urgency tonight, fears of copycat shootings. Local officials have told us the highway is safe, but with the shooter or shooters still on the loose, some residents are taking security into their own hands.
Sara Sidner is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Terror in Phoenix. Police investigating 11 shootings in 12 days along Interstate 10. The latest target, a big rig. Thursday morning, two more shootings reported. But a source with knowledge of the investigation tells us, those incidents may be the work of a copycat. This after mounting evidence someone is targeting drivers on I-10. A bullet hole in a truck window. Another piercing a car door. Yet, another shattering a headlight. Police say at least eight vehicles have been hit by bullets, three by projectiles of some kind.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know if it's a pellet. I don't know if it's a bb.
SIDNER: So far, one person has been hurt, a 13-year-old girl cut when glass flew at her face after a bullet hit a windshield. Police say, the incidents happening at seemingly random times and random targets in the eight-mile span, making some resident think twice about taking I-10.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I've heard and seen is that people are taking different routes.
SIDNER (on camera): So, they are going a different way?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're staying to the circus street.
SIDNER (voice-over): The Department of Public Safety calling the incidents acts of domestic terrorism. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are Arizonians who are frightened,
they're scared, they are concerned about their safety and those with their loved ones. That's terrorism.
SIDNER: While a tip line flashes, an army of police patrol from both the sky and the ground. Along interstate 10 and the back alleys, it's not just police who are looking for the shooter. A whole group of citizens are as well.
They call themselves Bolt Force.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are an armed volunteer crime fighting force.
SIDNER: Their founder Bolt jokingly describes them as guardian angels on steroids. Some are bounty hunters. Most are former law enforcement or military. They are all armed to the teeth.
(on camera): Are you a vigilante force?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People have used that term in the past. I don't like that term, because we don't go above the law. We're not out here slamming people to the ground.
SIDNER (voice-over): For five years, the volunteer ground has been patrolling the crime-ridden neighborhoods. But now shifting to I-10, looking for possible places a shooter might hide and take aim.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER: And we asked Bolt Force what might by some chance will happen if you actually find the shooter? The first thing they would do would be to call their contact at the Department of Public Safety. We do know the Department of Public Safety is getting hundreds and hundreds of people calling in with tips. They do not yet have that one tip they need to try to find who is responsible for this -- Jim.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Sara Sidner along the dangerous stretch of highway there.
And OUTFRONT now, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton.
Mayor Stanton, thank you for joining us tonight.
MAYOR GREG STANTON, PHOENIX: Happy to do it.
SCIUTTO: So, Mayor, you have two more shootings today. Total of 13, possibly more than one shooter now. No suspects. How close are you to finding who is behind this?
STANTON: Well, the Department of Public Safety here in the state of Arizona are doing an outstanding job with the investigation. Phoenix Police Department, because the stretch of I-10 where these unfortunate shootings and projectiles have been launched is occurring in my city, the part of the I-10 that cuts right through the heart of my city. So, the Phoenix Police Department is putting the maximum number of personnel and resources, everything is going into finding this person or persons who are doing this.
So, I'm satisfied after having been fully briefed by the Phoenix Police Department today that they're doing an outstanding job in this investigation. Look, it's a scary time in Phoenix right now. It's a time of uncertainty.
SCIUTTO: It is no question. This is an important stretch of highway. I don't want to diminish that. But two more shootings today, no suspect in sight. Should you close the highway?
STANTON: No. This is -- this is a very important highway to our economy. Thank the Good Lord no one has been seriously hurt or killed as a result of these 11 or more incidents along this highway.
No, this is an important economic thoroughfare for our city. I think the main thing is for everyone to be vigilant. So, those that continue to use this very important thoroughfare to have the tip line, the DPS tip line on their cell phone. You see anything, get that information right away to DPS or to Phoenix PD.
We're going to catch these people. They are not going to get away with this trying to terrorize this community. We're going to catch these people, and it's going to be done because the people of this community are frustrated, they're unhappy and some cases scared. And they're going to do their part to find these perpetrators.
SCIUTTO: Are you still driving that highway yourself?
STANTON: I drove that highway to come for this interview just a few moments ago. I would recommend that people continue about their daily business.
The DPS has described it as domestic terrorism because whoever is doing this is trying to disrupt people from engaging in their daily lives of going to work or school or going to doctor's apartments. We can't let them get the best of this community. We're not going to let them get the best of the community. We're going to catch these people sooner rather than later.
SCIUTTO: You notice that you have public -- private citizens now basically patrolling, becoming the law in effect, a vigilante force. Are you comfortable with that?
STANTON: I'm not happy about that. Look, we have plenty of resources, both manpower and equipment, all the things we need to catch whoever is doing this through the combined partnership between the state Department of Public Safety and the Phoenix Police Department. We have -- we're putting everything into this to find who is doing this, who is trying to terrorize our community. We don't need the help of this group called the Bolt Force.
SCIUTTO: Mayor Stanton, thanks very much for taking the time tonight.
STANTON: Thank you. We're going to catch these guys.
SCIUTTO: OUTFRONT, former U.S. marshal Arthur Roderick. He was involved with the investigation into the D.C. sniper attacks.
I want to ask you, Arthur, what do officials need to do right now to catch this shooter or shooters?
ARTHUR RODERICK, FORMER ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, U.S. MARSHAL: Well, I think the key -- the two key elements here are going to be ballistics and trajectory. When you look at the time frames one of these shootings have occurred, it's been off of rush hour.
[19:35:02] So, traffic is moving along at a pretty good pace. And a lot of these shootings, the individuals don't actually see what's going on or get to their location and then, all of a sudden, they notice they have a hole in the side of their vehicle. So, it's not like they are being shot at and then, all of a sudden, they are jamming their brakes on and pulling over to the breakdown lane. So, the ballistics is very difficult.
But if you look at that map and saw the shooting strung out along I-10, east to west, and you had a couple that were north and south, I would be interested to know which ones they believe are the copycat shooters and which ones are the actual sniper.
SCIUTTO: Are you seeing or not seeing, rather, anything that you believe authorities there should be doing, including the possibility of closing the stretch of highway?
RODERICK: No, I think they are doing everything that they possibly can.
I mean, for those of us that lived here in D.C. and were involved in the D.C. sniper case or even the general public, I think we all remember the fear that it put into the public around here. You know, this is a real case of domestic terrorism. They are right on with that particular nomenclature for this type of crime.
SCIUTTO: No question. I remember living through those as well.
Arthur Roderick, thanks very much for joining us from Washington tonight.
RODERICK: Thank you.
SCIUTTO: And OUTFRONT next, a tennis legend says police officers tackled him during a wrongful arrest. Why was he targeted? What were they looking for?
And a Nevada family facing eviction tonight from a property that's been in their family for generation. What does the government want to add their land to the mysterious Area 51?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:40:35] SCIUTTO: Breaking news: the New York police commissioner personally apologizing to retired tennis star James Blake. And Mayor Bill de Blasio doing the same on local TV. Blake says that he was tackled outside a hotel in broad daylight,
slammed to the ground and handcuffed by a police officer searching for a suspect in a fraud case. Blake, who is of mixed race, says he is not sure that race was a factor but that police at a minimum in his words used excessive force.
Jason Carroll is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Known on the court for his powerful forehand, tennis star and former Olympian James Blake once ranked fourth in the world, now the victim of a clash off the court after being roughed up by the New York City Police Department.
REPORTER: What would you like to hear from them?
JAMES BLAKE, EX-TENNIS STAR: An apology.
CARROLL: Blake was leaving his hotel Wednesday, the Grand Hyatt in Manhattan, around noon. He was headed to the U.S. Open when suddenly, an unidentified man ran toward him.
BLAKE: He picked up and body slammed me. Put me on the ground. Told me to turn over and shut my mouth.
CARROLL (on camera): Blake went on to say he was handcuffed out here on the ground and he told the man who tackled him that he was cooperating. Blake also says at no point did that man ever identify himself.
BLAKE: Didn't have a badge in any way showing. Not around his neck, his belt, anything. The police officers that walked later I saw a couple badges on belts, but none were really displayed.
CARROLL (voice-over): Police say this is a case of mistaken identity.
New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton says the plain clothed officers were working a case involving fraudulent credit cards. They say Blake fit the description of a suspect.
As for the officer who tackled him --
WILLIAM BRATTON, NYPD COMMISSIONER: The use of force was such that I'm comfortable it's in the best interests of the department to place the officer on modified assignment until the investigation moves forward.
CARROLL: Blake is biracial. The question is whether police would have used such force had Blake been white.
The father of the tennis greats Serena and Venus Williams is doubtful. RICHARD WILLIAMS, FATHER OF VENUS AND SERENA WILLIAMS: I feel
that they were not surprised. So many things happen to people of my kind and my color. It's not surprising.
BRATTON: I don't believe at all that race was a factor. That's not involved in this incident at all.
CARROLL: Police would not release the photo of the suspect.
Whether or not race was a factor, one thing is clear, Blake says he was angered and humiliated by his experience.
BLAKE: I thought about what I would be thinking if someone did that to my wife. If someone tackled her in daylight, paraded her around in a busy crowded sidewalk in New York City with handcuffs behind her back, taking away her dignity. I just -- I couldn't accept that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: And, Jim, there is video of the incident. But police have not released it. As for the suspect, police believed they were looking for, I have seen a picture of that man. He does look very much like Blake.
But the point is, was that much use of force really necessary? And again, would that type of force, would that have been used had the suspect been white? Those are some of the questions being asked of police tonight -- Jim.
SCIUTTO: The suspect in this case, fraud, it wasn't a violent crime as well.
CARROLL: Exactly.
SCIUTTO: Jason Carroll in New York.
OUTFRONT tonight, Harry Houck, he's a former NYPD detective.
So, Harry, look at this -- we know a police job is tough. But were there two mistakes, not only getting the identity wrong but gang tackling a guy in the middle of the street? Not a violent criminal, right?
This is a credit card fraud case.
HARRY HOUCK, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: No, but any criminal -- I mean, police officers has been killed going after shoplifters. So, you know, we throw that out that it's a credit card case. It's really got nothing with it.
The fact is -- the fact is that there's the identification -- once a police officer hears there's an identification, that's the guy, the police officer now has probable cause to make an arrest. Now, whether or not that officer acted correctly or incorrectly in tackling him -- I would have went over to the gentleman and told him I was a police officer. Apparently --
SCIUTTO: That's the question.
HOUCK: Right. Apparently what had happened -- listen --
SCIUTTO: Because that's required. We looked up the law. The arresting police officer must inform such person of his authority and purpose and reason for such an arrest.
HOUCK: Yes, exactly. You should definite -- I always did it. I don't know why these guys didn't do it. The fact that they tackled him for no apparent reason that we know of -- I haven't seen the video, and I still haven't seen the police officer's story about what happened here.
[19:45:03] Remember, we've got one side of the story right now. So, I want to see both sides.
SCIUTTO: Although you have the police commissioner apologizing which we presumes --
HOUCK: Right, exactly, what we know it was all wrong. I mean, even though the stop was legal. The force the officer might have done might have been illegal. So, we don't know yet.
SCIUTTO: Fair enough. Many questions to be answered.
Harry Houck, as always, thanks very much.
And OUTFRONT next: the government wants a family's 400 acre property in the Nevada desert, threatening to take it if they refuse to sell it. It happens to be next to a famously secretive base, Area 51.
And the band that went ballistic when their song was played at a Trump event.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCIUTTO: Tonight, a battle over one of the most sensitive and mysterious military sites in the country. A Nevada family has been neighbors to the military testing ground best known as Area 51 for decades, and while they have never seen any aliens, they say they have weathered nuclear tests, bombing runs and gunfire.
[19:50:08] Now the U.S. military wants them gone. But the family is actually fighting to stay.
Dan Simon is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Area 51, along with its alleged aliens and UFOs, may be fictionalized in Hollywood, but the top secret military site two hours north of Las Vegas is now part of a real life drama. JOE SHEAHAN, PROPERTY OWNER: This place means everything to us.
SIMON: Joe Sheahan and his family have owned land near the site for 130 years, decades before the federal government made it a testing spot for nuclear weapons and training area for fighter pilots that surround the property.
The Sheahans and relatives are not allowed on the property without military escort. And now, the Air Force wants the family gone, saying it can't guarantee their safety.
It is preparing to seize their 400 acres through imminent domain if the Sheahans don't accept what the Air Force is a very generous buyout, $5.2 million.
(on camera): Why not take the $5 million?
SHEAHAN: Because we believe it's worth more than that. We believe it is worth fighting for.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No part of me says to settle. I won't.
SIMON (voice-over): Won't settle, because the family wants people to know they're not wealthy nor crazy says the government owes them far more for decades of alleged atrocities and abuse.
This is home vide of their property where they have come close to exercises. The family has collected numerous bullet casings over the year. The fight dates back to the 1950s when the Sheahans alleged a military jet destroyed an ore processing mining mill, the remnants of which can still be seen.
SHEAHAN: It was either a missile, or a bomb or something of that nature.
SIMON: And nuclear weapons testing back then exposed their property to dangerous radiation.
SHEAHAN: I would describe what they have done to us as nothing short of criminal.
SIMON (on camera): The family is basically saying that you guys are a bunch of bullies.
COL. THOMAS DEMPSEY, U.S. AIR FORCE: Our intent was, and is never to be that bully.
SIMON (voice-over): Colonel Thomas Dempsey oversees the 2.9 million acres that surrounds the family's property. He says none of their allegations can be substantiated and the Air Force has negotiated in good faith.
But the situation has become untenable.
DEMPSEY: We have tried every way that we can to include canceling missions when they come out on the range. And that is at tremendous expense to taxpayers.
SIMON (on camera): Do you acknowledge that you have interfered with their operations?
SHEAHAN: No. No. I didn't create this mess. They did. They surrounded us. They built that facility there. We were there.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIMON: While the family is taking a huge risk here by not accepting the government buyout they could wind up with far less than $5 million being offered, split between 20 relatives. The Air Force says it will soon begin condemnation proceedings where at the end of the day the court could decide they should wind up with a lot less.
This is a true David and Goliath story where you have the government basically with unlimited resources against the family that hasn't even hired an attorney -- Jim.
SCIUTTO: Dan Simon in Nevada.
OUTFRONT next, after Trump used one of their hit songs at a rally. The band went all Donald Trump on him, calling Trump a clown, moronic and more.
Jeanne Moos has that story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:57:53] SCIUTTO: This year, it seems no campaign stop is complete without a theme song. For their rally against the Iran deal, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz chose REM's "The End of the World As We Know It". For REM, that felt like the end of the world.
Here's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It ain't the end of the world, you would think it was after Donald Trump helped resurrect a 28-year- old song.
(MUSIC)
MOOS: This is what the band REM is losing sleep over.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Businessman Donald Trump!
(MUSIC)
MOOS: It played for only ten seconds.
(MUSIC)
MOOS: Oh, no, they don't. REM bassist Mike Mills called Trump the Orange Clown. And the
band's frontman, Michael Stipe, went nuclear. "Go bleep yourselves. The lot of you sad attention grabbing power hungry little men. Do not use our music or my voice for your moronic charade of a campaign."
(MUSIC)
MOOS: The group's official statement on Facebook was less apocalyptic, asking that these candidates cease and desist.
It's unlikely Trump himself was picking the music. After all, the anti-Iran rally was organized by the Tea Party Patriots.
"Memo to all Republicans," wrote one commenter, "unless you are using a song by Toby Keith, Lee Greenwood, Ted Nugent or Kid Rock, just assume the artist will stage a public hissy fit about you using it."
GREGG "OPIE" HUGHES, CO-HOST, "OPIE WITH JIM NORTON": If I was a musician and Donald Trump who is red hot right now is, you know, playing "It's the End of the World", I would think that's kind of good for sales.
MOOS: Legal experts tell us this is a really gray area of law.
It pits the candidates First Amendment freedom of speech rights against the musician's copyright rights. A lot depends on whether rally organizers paid licensing fees, which we couldn't find out. It may be REM's song, but it's not music to their ears when they hear it over the Donald's face.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Thanks for joining us tonight. I'm Jim Sciutto.
And "AC360" starts right now.
