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South Carolina Confederate Flag Coming Down; House Scraps Confederate Flag Vote; Comey: Terror Suspects in U.S. Going Dark Online; Trump Fires Back at Rivals; Iran Nuclear Talks to Extend Into Weekend; Severe Storms Hit Northeast, Midwest. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired July 10, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOV. NIKKI HALEY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: The bill has been signed.

[05:58:48] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This flag on the State House grounds must come down.

HALEY: These nine pens are going to each of the nine families of the Emanuel Nine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All those opposed, no.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The surprising center of debate in Congress.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Eager to protect the status of the Confederate flags on National Park Service grounds.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Speaker, I ask for a recorded vote.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: U.S. law enforcement thwarted several terror threats tied to the July 4th weekend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was even one that was within hours or minutes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It doesn't take a sophisticated plot for hundreds of Americans to be killed.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Bush is weak on immigration. Marco Rubio is somebody who is extremely weak on immigration.

I could be much more offensive to Rick Perry. But the fact is, he was governor of Texas. The border's a disaster.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michael Pereira.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: One more to go. Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Friday, July 10, 6 a.m. in the East. Alisyn's off. But history will be made in South Carolina today. In just hours, the Confederate battle flag coming down from the state capitol, where it has flown in defiance since the 1960s. Where will the flag go? To a museum.

PEREIRA: The contentious battle over the Confederate flag certainly doesn't end in South Carolina. Petitions are spreading across the nation, and the battle is now ratcheting up in the halls of Congress.

We begin our coverage with CNN's Alina Machado. She's live in Columbia, South Carolina. Good morning, Alina.

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela.

The governor signed this bill into law by some of the very lawmakers who helped make it a reality.

Also present, the families of those nine victims killed in that massacre in Charleston 23 days ago. Each of those families will be receiving one of the pens used during the signing ceremony. The governor made some remarks before she signed the bill. Listen to what she had to say about this historic moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALEY: This is a story about action. This is a story about the history of South Carolina and how the action of nine individuals laid out this long chain of events that forever showed the state of South Carolina what love and forgiveness looks like.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACHADO: Now the governor will not be making any remarks during the flag removing ceremony. The flag is still flying behind me. It just has a few more hours left before it is removed. This morning's ceremony is not expected to take a very long time. And we're told that the flag will be removed by the director of South Carolina's Department of Public Safety. It will then be furled and taken to the Confederate Relic Room, which is a museum that's just a few blocks from here -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right. So the ceremony is one thing, Alina, but really, is it about the debate right now? Is South Carolina the end of this? It doesn't seem so, because the debate is going on even on Capitol Hill.

House Republican leaders were forced to put a funding bill on hold because of a push to keep Confederate symbols on display at national cemeteries.

Let's pick up that part of this situation now with Athena Jones, live in Washington. So what is happening right now?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Chris.

That was an embarrassing moment for Republicans on Capitol Hill yesterday, having to pull that bill over an amendment that would allow Confederate flags to fly nationally in Park Service-run cemeteries. It created a problematic split-screen image of Republicans in South Carolina leading, helping lead the effort to remove the Confederate flag, while Republicans on Capitol Hill seem to be going in the opposite direction.

So the House leadership had to pull that bill. Later on -- you're seeing right now just a little while after that, another contentious moment on the House floor, Democrats loudly protesting when Republicans decided to table, essentially delaying indefinitely, a vote on another measure that would remove the Confederate flag image from the Capitol. That speaks specifically to the Mississippi state flag, which includes the Confederate flag.

But there was a lot of anger and emotion about all of these issues on the House floor yesterday. Let's play for you what New York Congressman Hakim Jefferies had to say in an emotional moment. Play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKIM JEFFRIES (R), NEW YORK: Had this Confederate battle flag prevailed in war 150 years ago, I would not be standing here today as a member of the United States Congress. I would be here as a slave.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: That's just one of the emotional moments we saw pretty much all day on the House floor and afterwards.

Now, House Speaker John Boehner has said he wants to see a conversation among adults happen about what to do with these Confederate symbols. You have a lot of Democrats saying, look, what needs to be discussed? That these symbols are a sign of racism, brutality and oppression.

PEREIRA: One of those congressmen, Athena, is going to join us today to make that very point. He'll join us here on NEW DAY this morning. Thank you for that.

Well, a call for terror attacks on the U.S. by the new leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. This as the FBI announces it foiled several ISIS-inspired plots aimed at killing Americans on the Fourth of July. How safe are we if the FBI director is saying dozens of people influenced by ISIS has simply gone dark?

CNN chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto live in Washington -- pardon me, Washington with the very latest.

Good morning to you, Jim. Tell us what we need to know.

SCIUTTO: Good morning to you, Michaela.

We really get a sense as to why we had those alerts before July 4. The FBI saying that they foiled several plots in the weeks leading up to July Fourth, including plots timed up to the holiday weekend, and that they made more than ten ISIS-related arrests as a result of those plots. Again, some of them tied to the holiday.

And here's a problem in terms of preventing these attacks. Because more and more ISIS sympathizers here in the state communicating with their handlers, their recruiters in Iraq and Syria by encrypted messaging, which the FBI, U.S. law enforcement cannot monitor. Here's the FBI director on the Hill earlier this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: This is not your grandfather's al Qaeda. This is a group of people using social media to reach thousands and thousands of followers, find the ones who might be interested in committing acts of violence, and then moving them to an encrypted -- end-to-end encrypted messaging app. Our job is to look at a haystack the size of this country for needles that are increasingly invisible to us because of end-to-end encryption.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:05:10] SCIUTTO: And beyond ISIS, AQAP -- that is al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula -- it has a new leader, replacing the leader killed by a U.S. drone strike last month. And the first thing he says in his first video is to encourage his supporters to attack the United States wherever they can.

I'll tell you, Michaela, when I speak to counterterror officials, they say that ISIS most likely to carry out an attack here in the U.S. But AQAP has the greatest capability. They're the ones that try to put bombs on airplanes. Two very big threats today. And that threat still, I'm told, very high, Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Jim, important distinction there. Thank you for the reporting. Appreciate it, as always.

So now we want to talk about the Trump effect. We are seeing his inflammatory statements outraging immigrants, of course, and also a growing number of his GOP rivals. Why? Here's why. Take a listen to what he said to Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Let me read you what some of your fellow Republicans have said. Bush says, "Trump is wrong in this. He's doing this. He's not a stupid guy. Don't think he thinks every Mexican crossing the border is a rapist. He's doing this to inflame and incite and to draw attention."

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So look, Bush is weak on immigration. Forget about his stance on common core, which is a total disaster. He's very weak on immigration. And that's his prerogative, if he wants to be. But he doesn't get it.

COOPER: Marco Rubio: "Trump's comments are not just offensive and inaccurate but also divisive."

TRUMP: Marco Rubio is somebody who is extremely weak in immigration. He all of a sudden toughens his stance, because his poll numbers went down. If he ever got elected, you would have people flowing across the border.

COOPER: Perry, Rick Perry: "I was offended by his remarks. He's going to have to defend those remarks. I never will. I'll stand up and say that those were offensive, which they were."

TRUMP: I could be much more offensive to Rick Perry, but the fact is, he was governor of Texas. The border's a disaster. He could have done much more as governor of Texas to make the borders strong.

COOPER: Lindsey Graham just today tweeted, "Why would any group vote for a party if it embraces that view. I sure as hell wouldn't."

TRUMP: Well, look, Lindsey Graham, I think he's always been very nice to me. But you know, he wants to bomb everybody. All I know is every time I watch Lindsey Graham, he wants to bomb everybody. "Let's bomb everybody."

COOPER: I just want to give you a couple of other...

TRUMP: Fine.

COOPER: Carly Fiorina?

TRUMP: Well, you know, she came out very weak yesterday, in my opinion, on immigration. A little bit harsh on me because, you know, I'm very strong on the immigration situation. But she lost her job at Hewlett-Packard, viciously was fired. Viciously. She then ran for Senate...

COOPER: You don't think she did a good job at Hewlett-Packard?

TRUMP: No, she didn't do a good -- you don't generally lose your job when you do a good job.

COOPER: You don't think she could run the country?

TRUMP: I don't think she's the right person. I think she's very nice. She then ran for the Senate in California against Barbara Boxer, got killed. She got killed in a landslide. Now she's going to run for president.

COOPER: Ted Cruz, who has backed you up on...

TRUMP: Well, I have great respect for the fact that he had the courage to back me up and to say that what I'm saying is right. And all I'm saying and all he's saying is that we have to stop illegal immigration. It's causing tremendous problems, including crime. I have great respect for the fact that he was willing to stick up.

And Carson. He stuck up, too. He came out the other day, very strongly. So I have great respect for that.

COOPER: Bernie Sanders? TRUMP: I think he's a character. I mean, he's doing well. He gets

people. I think, actually, that -- I'm not sure Hillary is going to get the nomination.

COOPER: Really?

TRUMP: You know, if you go back to pre-Obama, when nobody heard ever heard of Obama, Hillary had the same kind of power she did now. It was going to be sort of, you know, almost a foregone conclusion she was going to be running for president on the Democratic line.

And all of a sudden, Obama came along and beat her. Well, now, it's the same thing.

COOPER: Chris Christie?

TRUMP: A friend -- as he said, he's a friend of mine and everything else. I really -- and I told this to Chris; I told it to his people. He missed his time. I think -- and I was trying. I was pushing him four years ago.

COOPER: You thought he could have won?

TRUMP: I thought he could have been wonderful. I don't know what the hell he did. I said, "Chris, what are you doing?" People wanted him. I was pushing him; other people were pushing him. He just didn't want to do it. He wanted to wait. I don't understand it. I think it's going to be very, very hard for him. Too many things have happened, too many problems.

But he's a good guy. As he says, "Donald Trump is a friend of mine." He's a good guy. He missed his opportunity.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: You have to appreciate a man who misses no opportunity to criticize somebody in politics.

All right. Let's discuss the Trump effect. We have CNN Politics senior digital reporter, Chris Moody; and CNN senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny.

PEREIRA: Morning, gentlemen.

CUOMO: Jeff, I'm shifting from Donald Trump as a person to an effect. I think that's the right way to look at it. What is he going to mean to this race? What do you see so far? Is it about him and his aspirations and his potential as a candidate, or is it just about what he does to the others in the race?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, so far, Chris, I think it's what he does to the others in the race. First of all, he's consuming all of the oxygen or most of the oxygen in the field. And it's such a big field, there wasn't much oxygen to begin with for some of these candidates. So now we've seen something sort of interesting. The best way to get

attention for a lot of these Republican presidential candidates is to start sort of piling on him, is to start saying, he needs to be quiet and shut up.

[06:10:08] But the reality is, he is a factor in this race, like it or not. A lot of Republican Party elders do not like it. And it's probably not all that good for the long-term health of the party here.

But it looks like he's not going anywhere. I mean, he's talked a lot about running for president before. Now he's finally doing it. And it sure looks like, to me, he's having a good time.

PEREIRA: Well, Chris, you talk about the effect, and you talk about what's going on within the party. I know that the GOP -- we've been talking about this -- has been struggling to make itself more appealing to a wider, diverse array of voters.

I understand you spoke to the Hispanic Leadership Fund last week, and they were sort of in turmoil about how they were going to undo the damage that he's done.

CHRIS MOODY, CNN POLITICS SENIOR DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Republicans and conservative groups have spent millions of dollars in the past few years making inroads or attempting to make inroads with Latino communities around the country, particularly in very important electoral states such as Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, Nevada. And they see Trump's comments on immigration really setting them back.

And it's not even so much about the policy in this case, because Donald Trump was asked just a couple of weeks ago what to do about immigrants living in the United States who are here illegally. And he said give them a path. They should be able to succeed. It's not about the policy, as much as it is about how you talk about these issues. And Mr. Trump has been disparaging a large group of people. That is the kind of message that gets across. And as these conservative groups that have been doing outreach to Latinos would say, is really taking down a lot of the efforts that they've worked so hard for over the past few years.

CUOMO: There's a growing sentiment that Donald Trump is the price that they are paying for not having carved out their own position sooner and not being enough out there on this issue. And that's what they're going to pay.

So let's turn to the people who are the top of this race, Bush and Clinton, and we had them in the same place.

PEREIRA: Not that Bush and Clinton.

CUOMO: Kind of. Kind of. We had former President Clinton and former President Bush 43rd. They were together. We got some interesting sound from former President Bush about his brother in the race. Let's take a listen to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The

relationship really is a warm relationship. A lot of it had been my case for how he treated my father in the post-presidency. He was very gracious. And that meant a lot to me. I mean, some of the worst years of my life were watching my dad be criticized. And I'm confident that my brother will be criticizes, as well, I suspect. And it's always more painful when a loved one gets criticized than when you yourself get criticized.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: That's the truth. Isn't that interesting?

CUOMO: It is. Which is what makes politics and family so difficult (ph).

So Jeff, you have him there explaining the continuing friendship with former President Clinton, even though they are now, as families, in opposition to each other. How do you think that plays?

ZELENY: Well, it's going to be pretty awkward. I mean, if Hillary Clinton happens to win the Democratic nomination, and Jeb Bush happens to win the Republican nomination, which is pretty likely, just given the history of both parties. We're not sure yet, of course. It's going to be very awkward.

I mean, there basically has been this friendship that's formed. They've sort of gone from odd fellows to old chums. And I was at an event. The reason I was in Dallas this morning, I was at an event last night with both of these former presidents. And they were genuinely liking one another.

But they haven't quite gotten to the point of what happens when Bill Clinton has to go out there and campaign against Jeb Bush, if it comes to that point. But former President Bush made a bit of news. He said, "Look, I'm not going to be a surrogate for my brother. I'm not going to campaign." So he's going to stay a bit on the sidelines if his brother happens to win the nomination.

PEREIRA: There was a bit of a light moment from last night. I think they were both relating to one another as grandparents. Can we play that sound? It was a nice moment between the two former presidents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Last night, my granddaughter, 9 1/2 months old, for the first time when I walked in the room, she said, "Oh, there's your granddad, and she turned around and pointed at me." That was worth more than anything anybody had said or done for me or paid to me or anything else. And I don't know about the (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Everything you said about it is true.

BUSH: Yes. Last night my granddaughter spoke to me in Mandarin.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PEREIRA: Oh, a little one-upmanship. But it just -- it just shows how different things are, really. What is your reaction, Moody -- Chris?

MOODY: You know, for presidents and for past presidents, they really have a bond. And this spans generations. It's been written about quite a bit. Presidents go through so much that no one who has -- people who have not been in the Oval Office, they have no idea what they go through. And so there's a very small club of people that can actually understand what you're saying.

Which is why I think we've seen these presidents really get along. Even people who had fought bitterly on the campaign trail, there's no one else they can talk to about these issues. And I'm not talking about grandkids; you know, about being president of the United States.

[06:15:04] And we saw that with Clinton and the first Bush president, as well as now with the second. And honestly, it doesn't surprise me at all. And I think you'll see more of that in the future.

PEREIRA: They were having a good old time on that stage. My goodness.

All right. Jeff Zeleny, Chris Moody, great to have you with us.

And of course, for you at home, for all of your political news, rely on CNNPolitics.com.

CUOMO: All right. So we're going to have a pretty active race. We have Donald Trump. He's having an effect. So is the man on your screen. He's been on the show plenty. It's Senator Bernard Sanders, obviously, of Vermont. In the 8 a.m. hour, he's going to come on our show, and he's going to be tested, because he's making a push on the left. People are arguing about whether it can be sustained. We'll have him lay out the case for you, and you can decide.

PEREIRA: Right now, some more headlines for you we're watching. Greece: lawmakers there set to vote today on a proposal to deal with the country's debt crisis. It asked for a $59 billion loan from the Eurozone bailout fund. In return, Greece would agree to some austerity measures, including hiking sales taxes and cutting back pensions.

E.U. leaders will review the bailout proposal tomorrow. A final decision is due on Sunday.

CUOMO: Breaking just moments ago, a development in the Iran nuclear talks. Let's get right to CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson, live in Vienna. What do we know?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Chris.

Well, a little while ago, Secretary Kerry met with his counterpart, the Iranian foreign minister. They had about an hour-long meeting. And then the Iranian foreign minister came out on his balcony, shouting down to reporters here. He said he didn't think that there would be a deal today. And of course, there's sort of a deadline of sorts, but we seem to have blown through so many of those.

He was asked how the meeting had gone. He said the it was constructive. He was asked would he still be here on Monday. He said he hoped not.

The clearly indications are these talks remain tough. I was in a briefing with senior Iranian officials, and they said it is up to the United States to make and take the tough decisions at this stage.

Secretary of State John Kerry, however, puts it the other way. He says that the decisions are there for the Iranians to take, and his team is not going to hang around forever waiting for them to take those decisions. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We are not going to sit at the negotiating table forever. We also recognize that we shouldn't get up and leave simply because the clock strikes midnight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Well, how many hours, how many days are they going to wait? A senior diplomat involved in the talks was asked that question. She said it was going to be hours. We're already almost a day beyond when she said that. These talks, the positions are entrenched. How long are they going to keep going? Even the participants don't really seem to know -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: We'll be watching it with you, Nic. Thank you for that update.

Back here at home, House Speaker John Boehner is calling for President Obama to fire the head of the Office of Personnel Management, Katherine Archuleta. It comes after it was revealed a massive computer breach of government records affected more than 21 million people, more than five times the initial estimate. So far, the White House is standing by Archuleta. U.S. officials suspect that China was behind that hack attack.

CUOMO: Severe storms coming to parts of the country. We're already seeing damaging winds there, ripping apart a school in Berks County, Pennsylvania, as you can see here. Severe storms rolling through the area Thursday, causing heavy damage, leaving thousands in the dark. So what does this mean for the weekend?

We have CNN's Chad Myers with the forecast. What do you see, my friend?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I see a delightful hot, sunny forecast for the northeast, for the southeast, kind of stormy in the northwest. But take a look at some of these tower cams this morning.

Sunshine in Atlanta. Sunshine coming out in New York City after kind of a bumpy afternoon. And another sunny day coming out in Washington, D.C. Beautiful weather there.

The storms from yesterday that moved through Bucks County, Berks County, Philadelphia, South Jersey, they've already had enough of the power outages down there, already. Finally, this has moved on by. Not too many additional power outages there. People without power in south Jersey tonight, ten days straight. Finally, they're getting it back now.

Here you go. Storms across parts of the Midwest for today. Later on this afternoon, the storms roll into Louisville. They'll grow into Kansas City. It could be kind of a bumpy afternoon here. But this will be the last real bumpy day, I think, of the weekend.

A couple storms through the Midwest. The rain, heavy. Could be rain heavier in the Ohio Valley. But look at the northeast. This is the next 72 hours, not a drop in the sky. This is going to be a sunscreen kind of weekend. Going to be hot, going to be hazy, and it's going to feel like summer, because it is.

Hey, ticker-tape parade going on today. Highs almost 80 degrees here by the time we get the ticker tape going up for our girls coming back home. Champions.

PEREIRA: Yes. One is going to join us today. Champine [SIC]. The champine [SIC].

CUOMO: Are you on board now?

MYERS: I was always on board.

CUOMO: The whole Canada Day thing. Is that over? You're an Americain [SIC], again?

PEREIRA: Really Chad? Really? Don't support him. Don't give him...

CUOMO: I only speak the truth.

PEREIRA: ... any support.

CUOMO: I only speak the truth, Chad.

PEREIRA: All right. Ahead here, the battle to remove Confederate flag imagery certainly does not end in South Carolina. It's being taken up in the halls of Congress, as well. We will speak with a Mississippi Democrat who's on the forefront of that fight, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:23:54] PEREIRA: Just as South Carolina prepares to remove the Confederate flag this morning, there's a new battle brewing in Congress. Democratic lawmakers are proposing to remove all Confederate imagery from the U.S. House chamber, including the state flag of Mississippi.

It's just one of a number of efforts nationwide to wipe away the flag. Joining me now is Democratic congressman from Mississippi, Mr. Bennie Thompson. He filed the House resolution.

Congressman, thanks so much for joining us this morning.

REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (R), MISSISSIPPI: Thank you for having me.

PEREIRA: I want to play a soundbite from the former president, Bill Clinton, who spoke Thursday quite passionately about the flag. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I almost cried when I saw that picture of the South Carolina legislature yesterday with the Republicans and the Democrats and the African-Americans and the white people embracing each other, and making that vote and seeing the decisive speech made by a woman who is a direct descendent of Jefferson Davis. Don't tell me that we can't get together across the lines that divide. We just have to keep working at it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Well, and working on it, it happened. We know that members of Congress were debating, the House floor. There was a lot of debate yesterday, very passionate votes on both sides. What is your message to the members of Congress that are still sort of hanging onto these merits of the Confederate flag, in their opinion?

[06:25:14] THOMPSON: Well, I think, given the events of Charleston and what we've seen breaking in South Carolina now, this is our moment here in Washington to make a statement, to say those symbols of racism, bigotry, they have no place in the halls of Congress.

And what you see the Democrats doing is putting the idea forward that we can do better as a country. And the best thing we can do is put those relics of the past in museums so that anyone who might want to see them. But to put them in a public spaces and of honor is not the place for them to be.

PEREIRA: You don't feel that there's really any room for review or debate, do you? You feel it should just be done?

THOMPSON: Well, we've debated this since the Civil War, to be honest with you. My state had more African-Americans in it than whites in 1860, but they were all slaves. So we fought a war over it, and my state lost.

And so, what it's time for us to do is to look at this Confederate battle flag as a symbol of that division, put it in a museum and let's move forward.

Speaker -- Leader Pelosi made a wonderful effort yesterday with a privilege resolution, which really was an expanded privilege resolution that I offered two weeks ago to do the same thing. We thought our Republican leadership got it. But obviously, in the

dead of night, they figured that, you know, "We still have to fight for the assembles, because that's who we are." And they demonstrated by the overwhelming support to support the flag.

PEREIRA: Well, it's interesting to see beyond Capitol Hill that this issue -- and beyond South Carolina, this issue is spreading nationwide. There are hundreds of thousands of people that have signed petitions on both Change.org and MoveOn.org.

And it's interesting, because you look at what's going on in your own state. There's talk about the Confederate flag within the Mississippi flag, and that's something that you want changed. In fact, I understand you don't even fly that flag in your office. Are you seeing a sea change even within your state and within the lawmakers there?

THOMPSON: Well, there's -- there's movement. There -- two Republican senators from my state have said we need to change the flag. The speaker of the Mississippi House has indicated that we need to change it, also. We have cities and counties that have decided that "We're not going to fly this flag, because it's a symbol of the past. And we are a better state than that."

So, the groundswell is on the way. I hope my state get the fortitude to make the tough decision. We don't need another Charleston, South Carolina, incident in my home state before we change the flag.

PEREIRA: I'm curious. Put on your futuristic eyes for a minute. What do you think the history books will say about this time, this conversation, this national debate we're having, say 100 years from now?

THOMPSON: Well, this is our moment in time, as a country. As I said, we're better than that. The world is watching. And if we do it right, we will continue to set the pace for being the best country in the world.

PEREIRA: Senator Bennie Thompson, thanks so much for joining us. We know you have a busy day ahead of you. Thanks for making time for us on NEW DAY.

THOMPSON: Thank you for having me.

PEREIRA: Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Mick. ISIS has a new weapon, forms of communication and encryption allowing terrorists to go dark but remain very active. The challenge and the changes that may be necessary to fight it, ahead.