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Tornadoes Tear Through Homes in Plains States; New Video Surfaces of Texas Gunman; Report: Pentagon Credit Cards Used for Escorts; Interview with Sen. Tim Kaine; Tom Brady Implicated in Deflategate Report. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired May 07, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have...

[07:00:03] CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): Debris launching into the sky.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mike, we have a roof that just flew through the air here. I don't know where it came from.

MYERS: Tornados wreaking havoc yet again across the plains.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Large tornado north of Verdon, Oklahoma.

MYERS: Residents in the heartland...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got trees coming down, power flashes. I got to back out of here.

MYERS: ... waking up to disaster as the Red Cross and emergency personnel begin combing through the neighborhoods, damaged or destroyed in Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw two clouds meet as one. And then we could hear the sound of a train. Our ears started popping because of the air pressure.

MYERS: For the first time in history, the National Weather Service declaring a flash flood emergency in Oklahoma City. The massive storm causing up to eight inches of rainfall in a matter of hours. The main airport in Oklahoma City shut down as employees and passengers evacuate through a pedestrian tunnel.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need to take shelter immediately. This is a large tornado, which is continuing to grow in size.

MYERS: South of Oklahoma City, the hardest hit. Lightning flashing through a wall of clouds as tornadoes rip roofs off buildings, including the side of this hotel.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm in the middle of tornado damage right now.

MYERS: At least three residents in critical condition after a tornado flattened a mobile home park.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got power flashes in front of me.

MYERS: The tornado emergency including the city of Moore.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The entire strand is a tornado, folks.

MYERS: Where two years ago a massive EF-5 tornado killed dozens of people and demolished over 1,000 homes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MYERS: So the severe weather switch got turned on yesterday. It's because there's a Jet Stream. It's coming up like this. When that happens moisture from the Gulf of Mexico interacts with cold air from this direction.

So we have severe weather today. We have severe weather tomorrow. And even more severe weather on Saturday. Could even be the most severe day on Saturday compared to where we've been.

There's an awful lot of weather out there. One more thing, the potential for a tropical system. I know it's not even tropical storm season, but this could be Ana before the end of the week. The Carolinas picking up a lot of wind, a lot of rain. Although not expected to be a hurricane. Anything tropical this early could portend to a pretty busy season.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Ominous. OK. Thanks so much for that, Chad.

Well, new details about one of the gunmen who tried to ambush that Prophet Mohammed cartoon contest in Texas on Sunday. We're learning more about Elton Simpson's motivation from a friend who knew him well.

CNN national correspondent Kyung Lah is live from Phoenix for us this morning. What have you learned, Kyung?

KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, we've been hearing all week from the people who know him best that Simpson was -- Elton Simpson was mild-mannered, that he was very calm, very measured. Well, now we're actually seeing it in a 2012 video as he reflects about faith.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELTON SIMPSON, GUNMAN KILLED IN TEXAS ATTACK ATTEMPT: Recharges you, as well, when you come together and pray five times a day with the brothers.

LAH (voice-over): For the very first time we are seeing and hearing from Elton Simpson himself. Known as Ibrahim to his fellow Muslims, speaking in a 2012 video to raise funds for his new mosque, reflecting on his faith.

SIMPSON: It provides to you a form of weaponry to go out into the real world and use that weaponry to shield you against the tricks of the Sheitan (ph).

LAH: Sheitan (ph), or Satan. CNN is also learning the FBI is calling in members of the mosque for what's described as friendly interviews, trying to find out why this seemingly soft-spoken man would take this violent turn.

Vocab Malone believes he knows. He's the pastor at Roosevelt Community Church. He also worked with Simpson for three years as a delivery company. Pastor Malone recalls arguing theology with Simpson for hours upon hours.

PASTOR VOCAB MALONE, KNEW ELTON SIMPSON: I was surprised but not shocked. I wouldn't put it past him, because I understood the sincerity of his beliefs. And he had expressed to me admiration, specifically for Osama bin Laden. He used the word "hero."

LAH (on camera): Why do you think he took that step?

MALONE: My guess is he felt as if no one was doing anything to defend the prophet's honor. Something must be done. He was the one to do it.

LAH (voice-over): But no one else -- not the mosque, not neighbors, friends or Simpson's family -- say they saw any signs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a big surprise to the family. He converted to Islam, but they didn't know how extreme or how detailed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAH: Here in Phoenix, we have learned that the FBI has begun making inquiries into people who are at the mosque, asking some of them, those who knew Simpson, to come in for what is being described to us as friendly interviews -- Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Kyung, thank you for that.

Now to potentially embarrassing revelations at the Pentagon. And the word "potentially" probably not needed. According to Politico, a "Defense Department" audit shows government credit cards being used for gambling and adult entertainment.

CNN's Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, joins us live with the latest. Is there any good explanation for this?

[06:05:06] BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, that remains to be seen right now as to exactly what transpired here, Chris.

Here is how it is supposed to work. Military personnel, civilians working at the Department of Defense, they get government credit cards. They go on a business trip. They pay that bill. They submit their legitimate receipts for reimbursement to get paid for their legitimate government expenses. Just like we do here at CNN. Just like so many companies do when employees travel. But a government audit has turned up information according to Politico

that some employees, some military personnel in fact charged Atlantic City, Las Vegas gambling so-called adult entertainment to that government credit card. The question now is did the government wind up having to pay those expenses? We don't know.

One of the thoughts is that, in fact, these people went ahead and paid it themselves. They simply put it all on their government credit card so their spouses wouldn't see what they were charging. Embarrassing to say the least -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: It sure is, Barbara, thanks so much for that. Let's talk more about it. We want to bring in Senator Tim Kaine. He's a Democrat from Virginia on the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committee. Senator, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY.

SEN. TIM KAINE (D), VIRGINIA: Absolutely.

CAMEROTA: What about these credit cards being used for gambling and, I don't know, porn, prostitutes, adult entertainment? What's going on?

KAINE: Well, the reports are troubling, and you've got to get to the bottom of them. But the thing that we're focusing up here right now is today is the end of the ninth month of a war that was declared by a president...

CAMEROTA: That's too bad. We just lost his satellite feed. We'll get back to Senator Tim Kaine as soon as we can. Let's get over to Michaela right now.

PEREIRA: All right. I'll carry on with some other headlines here. Voters are heading to the polls in the United Kingdom today. It's one of the closest races in decades. Conservative David Cameron is seeking a second term as prime minister. His main challenger, Ed Miliband of the opposition Labour Party. Polls close at 5 p.m. Eastern. Please do stay with CNN tonight for full coverage as those results come in.

CUOMO: Baltimore's mayor says a collaborative review of police by the DOJ is not enough. She wants a full-scale justice investigation with teeth in the wake of Freddie Gray's death.

But the real headline may be that the police are now saying their findings don't support some of the charges. So that's going to get even more sticky there.

CAMEROTA: Well, mysteries surrounding a Nebraska baby found inside a Dumpster outside an apartment complex. We're told a man heard the 11- month-old crying and alerted authorities.

Police say the boy was covered in lint and was not wearing clothing. At this point it's unclear where his parents are or how he ended up in the Dumpster. Despite scrapes and bruises, he's currently in good condition, we're happy to report, at Children's Hospital. PEREIRA: I have to admit these are the stories that I find the

hardest to cover. We usually can sort of put a wall between our emotions what we have to do, but it's those stories, babies being abandoned like that, I think, because there by the grace of God went I, but it's horrifying. I'm so glad they found him.

CAMEROTA: So many people will want that baby.

PEREIRA: Oh, my goodness.

CAMEROTA: I think they'll be able to identify who he obviously looks -- he's older than just a newborn, so they'll be able to identify him; and people will want him.

CUOMO: I don't know if it makes it more or less shocking, but you'd think something like this would never happen. But it happens so often.

PEREIRA: Unfortunately, it does.

CUOMO: The good stuff about the officer who found a baby; thought it was a kitten because it was literally just born.

PEREIRA: They have safe surrender laws in so many areas. It doesn't make sense why people don't...

CAMEROTA: Use those.

PEREIRA: Yes. Exactly.

CAMEROTA: We're going to try to get Senator Tim Kaine back as soon as we can figure out our satellite goblins.

Meanwhile, a State Department official calling Hillary Clinton's private e-mail use while in office, quote, "unacceptable." But Clinton says she'll testify about those e-mails to Congress. What does it mean for her campaign? "Inside Politics" explores all that.

CUOMO: The chatter is that Tom Brady's going to get pinched by the NFL over Deflategate. The investigation found that it was more probable than not that he likely was at least generally aware of what was done. What? We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:13:11] CAMEROTA: We want to go back now to Senator Tim Kaine. Senator, sorry about that. Clearly, somebody tripped over a wire somewhere on your satellite.

KAINE: I'm sure my tie shorted out the camera or something.

CAMEROTA: It could have. Senator, thanks so much.

When you were rudely interrupted by the satellite, what you were saying is that we have been at war tomorrow for ten months against ISIS. And you think it's time to call it a war. KAINE: Yes. I think that we got a real scandal up here in Congress

that not many people are talking about.

Today -- today is actually the last day of nine months of the war against ISIL. And as your reports this morning have shown, this ISIL threat is spreading from Iraq and Syria to attacks in Libya, attacks in Afghanistan. The claims of people at this Texas shooting that they're at least ISIL-inspired.

But Congress hasn't even done the job we're supposed to do by Constitution to authorize the war. We haven't even had a debate on the floor of either the House or the Senate about it.

So I'm going to take the floor later this morning and talk about what it means to be engaged in a war for nine months. American service members have lost their lives. We spent over $2 billion, 3,300 bombing runs, and Congress hasn't even been willing to talk about this or authorize the military action. This is a big scandal, in my view.

CAMEROTA: But, Senator, we have been at war now for ten months. There have been hundreds, if not thousands, of bombing runs. We spent, I believe, $2 billion. So maybe we don't need Congress.

KAINE: Well, you know, the framers of the Constitution said, no, you can't have a war without Congress. That Congress is supposed to declare a war.

The president started this war on the 8th of August. He didn't send even an authorization proposal to Congress until the middle of February. And I've been hard on the administration about that.

But at least since the middle of February now, two and a half months coming up on three months, Congress has had a proposal before it; and there hasn't even been committee action.

The only committee action taken on this was a resolution I introduced in September, did get a vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Commission -- Committee in December. But then it expired when the Congress adjourned. And in the new Congress, we haven't taken it up.

We are not supposed to be at war in a declared war on the say so of a president without a congressional vote. And this is a very dangerous thing. Very disrespectful of the troops we're asking to risk their lives that Congress won't even do the job to debate about whether the mission is worth it.

CAMEROTA: Well, that's a great point in terms of what it does to the troops' morale. However, is this the president's fault for acting and going around Congress? Or is this Congress's fault for not being willing to stand on the courage of their convictions about this?

KAINE: You know, I'd put some blame on both shoulders, but I'd put more on Congress's shoulders.

The president started this bombing campaign on August the 8th. He had congressional leadership telling him -- and this is of record. It was in "The Washington Post" and "The New York Times." They were telling him, "Mr. President, we don't want to talk about this before the midterms. So just do it and don't bring us to it." That was outrageous.

Once the midterms were over, though, it was up to Congress to take this matter up if we hadn't done it before. But we're now, you know, five months into the new year, and Congress hasn't said a mumbling word about it. It's disrespectful to the troops.

And next week allies from the Middle East are coming to meet with the president here in Washington about the Iranian threat. And they're also going to talk about the war on ISIL. And they're going to look at America and say, "Hey, so Congress hasn't talked about this at all? Do you think ISIL is a threat or don't you?"

The events of recent days have shown that, if anybody here in Congress thought ISIL was going to go away or this problem was going to solve itself, they're sadly mistaken. This is going to go on for a while. And Congress needs to define what this mission is and then put our thumbprint on it so that the troops out there risking their lives know that they have Congress behind them.

CAMEROTA: You've been beating this drum for many months, calling for the War Authorization Act. What do your colleagues say to you? Are you getting pushback?

KAINE: I got a lot of pushback in the fall. They didn't want to take it up before the midterm election. And I said, "Look, this is our job." And then I continue to get some pushback.

I will say there's a glimmer of hope. In the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, we just acted in a very bipartisan way to put on the floor a bill about reviewing an Iranian nuclear deal. And we acted very in a nonpartisan way on an important issue.

The chairman of the committee, Bob Corker, and the ranking Democrat, Ben Cardin, say we next need to turn to this authorization for a war against ISIL. They earnestly want to do it. We have some differences of opinion, but there's an overwhelming consensus in Congress that we need to take military action.

So it shouldn't be hard to get to the place where we can have a bipartisan support where our allies, our adversaries and our troops all know that Congress supports this mission.

CAMEROTA: All right. We will be watching closely to see what you can do there on Congress with wrangling your colleagues into action. Senator Tim Kaine, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY.

KAINE: You bet. Thank you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Let's get over to Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Now to the latest in the Deflategate scandal. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has denied any knowledge of how his game balls became deflated, but a bombshell NFL report says otherwise, somewhat.

Let's bring in Mel Robbins, CNN commentator and legal analyst. Also with her is Tim Green. He's a former NFL defensive end for the Atlanta falcons and "New York Times" best-selling author of "Football Genius." What a duo I have on this story today. I love it. Thanks for joining me, guys.

I've got to talk about the language, Mel. First off, good to have you here, Tim. The Wells Report says Brady was at least generally aware of the release of air from the Patriots game balls, Mel. I know that you are lit up about this. You think the report doesn't go far enough.

MEL ROBBINS, CNN COMMENTATOR: I think the report got it all wrong because the report, Michaela, is not this little cream puff report where it proves that, hey, maybe something happened here. They prove that this was intentionally done with scientific certainty to the tune of 99.6 percent likelihood. Just look on page 114, if there would even be...

PEREIRA: She's got the page number and everything.

ROBBINS: I do. I read the whole thing. And here's the thing about Tom Brady. He was handing over signed balls, giving gifts to the two knuckleheads that were busy doing this.

And on top of that, three days before the investigators seized the phones of the assistant equipment manager, guess who spent 55 minutes on the phone and sent dozens of text messages to them? Mr. Tom Brady.

PEREIRA: All right. Well, let's get -- let's get Tim involved in this because, Tim, I have a feeling you do not agree. Is too much being made of this?

TIM GREEN, FORMER NFL DEFENSIVE END: Right. Well, I think that -- like Mel, I'm also an attorney. And I think it's interesting that Ted Wells who did the investigation, who is a criminal lawyer, used the evidentiary standard of a civil case instead of a criminal case.

In other words, he came out and said it looks more likely than not that Tom Brady may have known something. He didn't come out and say beyond a reasonable doubt.

Still, I think that anyone with good sense is going to look at this circumstantial evidence and say, yes, he at least knew about it, and he probably was behind it. However, it wasn't proven...

PEREIRA: But why hedge such language, Tim?

GREEN: Pardon me?

PEREIRA: The language is -- why hedge? Why the soft language?

GREEN: Well, I think -- I think you hedge because -- because there isn't a certainty. And if we're going to say someone's guilty -- we have made a big deal out of this. And if we're going to say someone's guilty of something, you know, we have to use the evidentiary standard of beyond a reasonable doubt, and it's probably not there.

So look, I think at the end of the day, the big thing was, was there a conspiracy on the part of the team? And I think we know that that's not the case anymore. Did Tom Brady know or have something to do with deflated footballs? Yes, he probably did. How big of a deal is it? Probably not that big of a deal.

CAMEROTA: OK.

GREEN: Was he cheating? If he did it, yes, he was. And so in the league when I was a player in the league, people would put Vaseline or silicone on their jerseys to keep you from grabbing them. People would use cleats that were a little bit longer than regulation. So I think...

PEREIRA: But that's not right.

GREEN: No, it's not right. But I'm just saying it's not that big of a deal. If you're talking about a criminal case, it's not a felony; it's a misdemeanor. And you're probably going to get a fine.

And I think at the end of the day, you know, people who are Tom Brady supporters and people who are football fans are going to realize, look, the guy's a phenomenal quarterback. He's done all these great things. And at the end of the day people are going to see this as a footnote to a great career.

PEREIRA: Well, I do want to talk about legacy in a little second. So you're saying let's put this in the category of severity. It's not high on the severity meter.

But I actually want to dig in a little bit and look at some of these text messages that were released as part of this investigation in this report. There were several exchanges between the players involved, the key players in Deflategate, if you will.

And this is one exchange on January 19, Mel, I want to look at after the AFC championship game between Tom Brady and John Jastremski, who was an assistant equipment manager.

Check this out. Tom Brady, "You doing good, Johnny boy? Doing good?"

JASTREMSKI: "Still nervous. So far so good, though. He then goes on, "FYI, Dave will be picking your brain later about it. He's not accusing me or anyone. Trying to get to the bottom of it. He knows it's unrealistic you did it yourself."

I mean, that is damning, Mel.

ROBBINS: Yes, it is. And three days later, Jastremski's phone was turned over to the investigators. Tom Brady, of course, didn't turn his phone over and didn't cooperate with them.

And, you know, here's the thing. I agree with Tim. In the scheme of life, is this a big deal? Of course not. It's sort of like jaywalking, you know, versus a felony. It's not a big deal. What is a big deal, though, is you have somebody that people look up to that is clearly lying.

PEREIRA: OK.

ROBBINS: Imagine if at the press conference, Michaela, that Tom Brady gave where he denied any knowledge at all, and then he walks off the set and goes and spends three days talking to the assistant equipment manager about it after denying he knew anything.

PEREIRA; Right.

ROBBINS: Imagine if he had said, "You know what, guys? I like my footballs slightly deflated. Tell you what, I've been doing it forever. Take away the first 17 points in the first half of the game, we still beat the Colts 28-7 for crying out loud."

PEREIRA: Good point. Good point.

CAMEROTA: With regulation balls. Sue me, for crying out loud.

The fact that you sit here and pander to us and lie, that's the thing that's annoying.

PEREIRA: Is that the issue, is the fact that -- Tim, is that the issue, that he lied about when Brady was asked. He said that he had no knowledge of it. He wasn't involved in any such thing. And then he also refused to give his text message and phone records and e- mails. That's got to look bad.

GREEN: Right. Yes, I mean, it's going to look like what probably happened is what happened. I mean, again, but it's not that bad. The fact that he -- that he was not truthful and said, you know, that he had no idea, yes, that's disappointing. That's discouraging.

We've seen other public figures with a lot more important jobs than Tom Brady, you know, go in front of the American public. I can think of a president. And, you know, deny knowledge of anything or, you know, basically say something that wasn't true. And, you know, as Americans we tend to forgive that.

PEREIRA: We do.

GREEN: And I think, look, Tom Brady -- Tom Brady is a guy who has, like, everything, right? He's known as a great guy. He's this handsome guy with a beautiful wife and family. He's a superstar football player. And so there's going to be a lot of people who are going to, you know, look at him and say, "Look, he did this wrong or this is horrible."

He did do -- he was wrong. It's not that horrible. I think -- I think in the end we're going to laugh about it and move on.

PEREIRA: All right. A great discussion from the two of you. Tim, Mel Robbins, of course, there's going to be a lot more examination of this going forward, I'm sure. We've got to wait to see what the NFL decides. They are contemplating the issue right now.

Great to have you both with us.

You at home, I know you are screaming at your television right now. What's your take. Tweet us. If you're a Patriots or not, use the hashtag #NewDayCNN. Or go to Facebook.com/NewDay and put your comments there -- Chris.

[07:25:04] CUOMO (HOLDS UP A NEWSPAPER WITH THE HEADLINE "NFL PROBE HAS BRADY BY THE BALLS!"): Can you get it better than that? It gives you the levity and kind of the long view on what this is going to be about at the same time.

All right. So Governor Christie is heading to New Hampshire today. Is he wasting his time because of the Bridgegate scandal? Or will time just make it water under the bridge? John King has insight and insults for that word play ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: A burst of 46 tornadoes causing major damage across Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. Heavy winds tossing trucks like toys and flattening homes. For the first time in its history, Oklahoma City issued a flash flood emergency. And the airport there forced to shut down. Thirteen injuries reported after a mobile home park destroyed. Fortunately no deaths to report.

CUOMO: Phoenix police and the FBI were tracking Texas gunman Elton Simpson since last year. This according to the "New York Times." Simpson, as you know, one of the two attackers killed trying to ambush a Prophet Mohammed cartoon contest last weekend.

The "New York Times" reports that authorities, despite their tracking, say they never suspected Simpson and his accomplice were even planning an attack. And somehow failed to stop him from buying the weapons they used.