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Former President George H.W. Bush Hospitalized; Obama Challenges Critics of Iran Deal; Inside El Chapo's Prison Cell & Escape Tunnel; Caitlyn Jenner's Moving Award Speech; Top Israeli Official Critiques Iran Deal. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired July 16, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President George H.W. Bush hospitalized after a fall.

[05:58:10] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His spokesman says Mr. Bush, quote, "fell at home in Maine."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has a broken bone in his neck.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the bed that El Chapo slept on here. That's the access point that El Chapo used to escape.

It stretches for more than a mile. Remarkable feat of engineering.

MAJOR GARRETT, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Can you tell the country, sir, why you are content?

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The notion that I'm content?

GARRETT: To leave the conscience of this nation, the strength of this nation unaccounted for?

OBAMA: Nobody's content. That's nonsense, and you should know better.

CAITLYN JENNER, OLYMPIC ATHLETE: I am so, so grateful to have all of you in my life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The big moment that not everybody is celebrating.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a tabloid play.

JENNER: Trans people deserve your respect.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira. CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY.

It's Thursday, July 16, 6 a.m. in the East, and we do have breaking news. Former President George H.W. Bush in the hospital this morning. The 91-year-old breaking a bone in his neck after falling at his summer home in Maine. The patriarch of the Bush family is said to be stable right now, but he also suffers from a form of Parkinson's Disease, and he has had several health scares in the last few years, so the situation is dicey.

Let's get right to CNN's Sunlen Serfaty, live from Washington with the latest -- Sunlen.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris.

A big scare for George H.W. Bush. Aides say he is in stable condition but spent the night at a hospital in Portland, Maine, and is still there this morning.

He took a fall yesterday while at their family home in Kennebunkport, breaking a vertebrae in his neck. Now his spokesman tweeting overnight, quote, "His condition is stable. He is fine, but he will be in a neck brace."

Now over the years we have seen many photos of the former president skydiving, jumping out of helicopters, most recently just last year on his 90th birthday. But Bush is the oldest living former U.S. president, and he has battled with his health in the past.

Last year he was hospitalized for shortness of breath. In 2012 he was in the hospital for two months for a bronchitis-related cough. And he does have Parkinson's Disease and is wheelchair-bound.

Now, just last week Bush did make an appearance at many events in Maine with hundreds of donors to his son Jeb Bush's presidential campaign, but he did miss his son's big campaign announcement when he declared he was running for president in June. His wife attended that announcement without him -- Alisyn and Chris.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Sunlen, thanks for all that. Let's bring in now Dr. Roshini Raj, associate professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center. She's also contributing medical editor for "Health" magazine.

Dr. Raj, thanks for being here.

DR. ROSHINI RAJ, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE, NYU LANGONE MEDICAL CENTER: My pleasure.

CAMEROTA: So President Bush broke a bone in his neck.

RAJ: Right.

CAMEROTA: That sounds serious.

RAJ: It can be very serious. We're talking about the vertebrae, which is the bone to protect your spinal cord. And of course, if it impinges on the spinal cord or damages the spinal cord in any way, you can have paralysis or even death.

In this case it sounds like it was a mild fracture of one of the vertebrae in the cervical spine. That's the part of the spine that's in the neck. And he's going to have to be in a neck brace for about six to eight weeks, but luckily, it wasn't more serious than that.

CAMEROTA: Any complications from what he's already dealing with?

RAJ: Well, so he has this form of Parkinson's which is called vascular Parkinson's, which is really a form caused by several mini strokes, small strokes that can, you know, cause paralysis or difficulty walking. He's in a wheelchair, apparently, because of that. That may have led to the fall that precipitated this fracture, but they're not really related. The fall is something -- the fracture is something different. He just needs to recover by immobilizing or keeping the neck straight until that bone heals.

CAMEROTA: So in other words, it sounds like, for a young person, this would be a relatively minor injury. However, at 91 years old, is there anything as a minor injury? I mean, I know from just watching my grandparents, it can have a cascading effect.

RAJ: Right.

CAMEROTA: Because if you stay in bed for a long time, there are complications, as well.

RAJ: Absolutely. I think that's the key. Staying in bed is very dangerous for someone of any age, but particularly for the elderly. You can get blood clots. You can develop pneumonia, other problems. Hopefully in this case, even though the neck has to be kept in a certain position, he can still move about and will be able to ambulate.

CUOMO: ... next generation and now renewed with modern -- modern scrutiny of medicine, about sepsis. Being in the hospital is once again feared as often more dangerous than what put you there in the first place. Not to, you know, unfairly punish our healthcare systems.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely.

RAJ: No, he's right.

CUOMO: But is that a risk, that you want to get him out of there?

RAJ: Absolutely. So hospital infections that are caused by being in the hospital are common, unfortunately. There are also medical errors that occur. You generally want to be out of the hospital, particularly an elderly person whose immune system isn't as good at fighting infection. They are prone to developing complications when in the hospital.

CAMEROTA: I remember my great-uncle, Uncle Johnny, who lived to the ripe old age of something like 90, he always said the hospital is no place for sick people.

RAJ: That's right.

CAMEROTA: Because he had that same feeling.

But you know, President Bush has had some health complications in the past couple of years.

RAJ: Right.

CAMEROTA: He was hospitalized for shortness of breath in December.

RAJ: Right.

CAMEROTA: He was hospitalized for two months for a bronchitis- related cough in 2012. He has Parkinson's, and he is wheelchair- bound. So all of this just seems as though recovery will be harder.

RAJ: It will be harder. He's 91. And let's face it: for a 91- year-old, any medical injury or complication is serious. We have to take it seriously. But hopefully, considering that this this something in his neck, it's relatively minor compared to what it could have been.

CUOMO: He's also no average. I was going to use an -- Alisyn Camerota. Whatever the fancy word is for ninety-year-old, something- genarian? But, you know, he's jumping out of planes.

CAMEROTA: I know.

CUOMO: He's a hearty guy. I think he's in a motorized scooter. I don't even think he's in a normal wheelchair. He's a very hardy guy, and that helps, right?

RAJ: Absolutely. And of course, just the physical condition you're in, the way you're sleeping, the way you're eating, all of these things can help fight off any type of injury.

CUOMO: We wish him the best. He is a fighter. We want him around. Nonagenarian. Alisyn just wrote me a note. Nonagenarian, a ninety-something-year-old.

CAMEROTA: I knew that.

Dr. Raj, thanks so much...

RAJ: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: ... for all the information.

CUOMO: All right. So President Obama as you have not seen him before, as he sells the Iran deal to the country and Congress. The president not playing the usual political games of couching answers and skirting questions. You know the deal. He went at Israel. He went at Cosby. He even took a reporter to task. Let's get to CNN's Michelle Kosinski. You're lucky it wasn't you

as you're live at the White House with more. How'd it go?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I could have handled it.

CUOMO: Of course you could.

KOSINSKI: This is what we keep saying. This is the president we haven't seen before, over and over again.

But you can also say that the president needed to do this on this subject. To get out there and just take on these tough questions. And not those carefully-worded, diplomatically-crafted sort of company lines that we do hear repeatedly from the administration. I mean, this was plain talk, laying out why the preventive aspects of this deal outweigh Iran's terrible behavior.

[06:05:06] The president, you know, exhibits some of that looser style that we've seen from him many times in the recent past. Although when he disagreed, he absolutely let it be known.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OBAMA: Please have a seat.

KOSINSKI: President Obama openly addressed the proverbial gorillas in the room.

OBAMA: This deal is not contingent on Iran changing its behavior. It's not contingent on Iran suddenly operating like a liberal democracy. It solves one particular problem, which is making sure they don't have a bomb.

KOSINSKI: The president challenged, chastised critics in Congress.

OBAMA: Explain specifically where it is that they think this agreement does not prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon? And why they're right and people like Ernie Moniz, who's an MIT nuclear physicist and an expert in these issues, is wrong; why the rest of the world is wrong. And then present an alternative.

KOSINSKI: But that's not all he took issue with. His annoyance reaching a head in this exchange.

GARRETT: There are four Americans in Iran, three held on trumped-up charges and, according to your administration, one whereabouts unknown. Can you tell the country, sir, why you are content, with all the fanfare around this deal, to leave the conscience of this nation, the strength of this nation unaccounted for in relation to these four Americans?

OBAMA: I give you credit, Major, for how you crafted those questions. The notion that I'm content, as I celebrate with American citizens languishing in Iranian jails -- Major, that's nonsense, and you should know better. I've met with some of the families of some of those folks. Nobody is content.

KOSINSKI: He even took one question on Bill Cosby, on whether his Medal of Freedom should be taken back. And he answered it.

OBAMA: I'll say this. If you give a woman, or a man for that matter, without his or knowledge, a drug, and then have sex with that person without consent, that's rape.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSINSKI: So on Iran, the president basically laid out comparison of what happens with a deal with Iran, versus what could happen without one. And he also admitted that, once Iran is flush with cash and sanctions lifted, that yes, it is likely they will use at least some of that money to continue to fund terror.

But the president said that's not a game-changer, that it's more important to stop them from getting a nuclear bomb. And that the arms sales and the funding could be stopped through other means.

Also, today marks the first time a sitting president visits a maximum-security prison, as President Obama travels to Oklahoma.

Back to you guys.

CAMEROTA: That will be interesting to see, Michelle, and we'll talk about the president's new attitude, if in fact that's what we saw at the press conference, with our political panel in just a few moments.

Meanwhile, 10,000 police and soldiers on the hunt in Mexico for the most wanted fugitive in the world, escaped drug lord El Chapo. This morning, CNN takes you inside the maximum-security prison cell that he broke out of. And we travel through the now-infamous escape tunnel.

CNN's Nick Valencia joins us live from Mexico.

Nick, tell us what you saw down there.

VALENCIA: Good morning, Alisyn. It took us hours of waiting in a maze of checkpoints, but we finally made it inside Mexico's most maximum-security prison. A 30-minute walk from the prison's front door, we came upon a hallway housing its most ruthless killers and criminals. It is there where we encountered El Chapo's cell.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: This is where he kept his belongings.

(voice-over): For the first time, our cameras are allowed inside Cell No. 20.

(on camera): This is some remnants of what he left behind. The sink that he used to wash himself.

(voice-over): For nearly a year and a half, Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquim "El Chapo" Guzman was imprisoned behind these bars.

(on camera): That's the access point that El Chapo used to escape outside of this maximum-security prison. This wall providing a blind spot for that 24-hour surveillance camera.

(voice-over): Just five days ago, that camera captured one of Mexico's most notorious drug lords vanishing below the shower floor.

(on camera): Here we go.

(voice-over): A mile away from Mexico's maximum-security prison, I climbed into the tunnel's exit.

(on camera): There's another ladder leading down to another part, a deeper section of the tunnel.

(voice-over): It's hard to estimate just how long and how many people it took to create this remarkable feat of engineering.

(on camera): You see here there are electricity lines. It's very difficult to breathe down here. A lot of dirt, dust. This is here for the ventilation system.

This motorcycle is on a track here. This is the bike that El Chapo used to ride out of the prison. It still has gas in it.

(voice-over): The track also affixed with carts, used to carry out thousands of pounds of soil.

[06:10:06] (on camera): Go back and forth. You see that? There's buckets left behind. And look at this: left behind oxygen tanks, as well, in order for them to survive down here.

It is a very tight space. I can't even stand up. I'm about 5- 10. I can't stand up all the way.

(voice-over): But the tunnel just right for Mexico's 5-foot-6- inch most wanted fugitive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: This marks the fifth day since El Chapo's escape. The last time he broke out of prison, it took authorities 13 years to find him. This time, they might not be so lucky -- Chris.

CUOMO: Thank you for that. It really took us inside what went down there. Appreciate it.

Want to tell you this morning about violence in Greece. Protestors clashing with police on the streets of Athens after the parliament voted to accept the Eurozone debt package. Why? Well, people are upset, because there are going to be painful new austerity measures, meaning more hardship ahead for the Greek people, enduring severe pension cuts and tax hikes as part of that deal.

CAMEROTA: Listen to this story: new this morning, a scare in the skies for several commercial pilots over New Jersey. WABC reporting that five separate airline pilots reported having lasers aimed at their cockpits around 9 p.m. last night.

My husband was on one of those flights. He said it was the scariest flight he's had in 10 years. Air-traffic control at Newark Liberty International Airport had to reroute the approach for two American and three United flights to land. State police and the FBI, they are investigating, because lasers were flashing into the pilots' eyes.

CUOMO: We hear about this happening more and more, which is obviously accountable to stupid people. But how did he describe why it was scary? Did they tell him?

CAMEROTA: He said -- yes, he said that it was so scary, because they were coming in really fast. He didn't know what the problem was. They got a few hundred feet from the ground, and they took off again. And there was no explanation. He didn't know why. Only now is he realizing that he was one of those planes.

CUOMO: Oh, boy.

CAMEROTA: I know, scary.

CUOMO: All right. Other news: Caitlyn Jenner, accepting the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs last night. It was the first major public appearance since transitioning to a woman. And Jenner used it to call for tolerance and to quiet critics. CNN's Stephanie Elam live in Los Angeles with the highlights.

Big night of awards. Big night for Jenner.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, definitely, Chris. Good morning to you. There were a lot of highlights from the 2015 ESPYs. But definitely the standout, Caitlyn Jenner, who did not walk the red carpet; but she was there in bright white, ready to take center stage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM (voice-over): In the world of sports, Bruce Jenner made his mark in 1976, winning gold in the Olympic decathlon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The courageous, the stunning, Caitlyn Jenner.

ELAM: But at the ESPYs it was Caitlyn Jenner who took center stage as the recipient of the 2015 Arthur Ashe Award for Courage.

JENNER: This transition has been harder on me than anything I could imagine.

ELAM: In her speech, Jenner joked about women's fashion.

JENNER: Picking out this outfit, OK, girls, I get it.

ELAM: Yet used the spotlight to focus on people who are transgender like her, but who live without the protection of fame. JENNER: If you want to call me names, make jokes, doubt my

intentions, go ahead, because the reality is I can take it. But for the thousands of kids out there coming to terms with being true to who they are, they shouldn't have to take it.

ELAM: Jenner got emotional when she addressed her family.

JENNER: The biggest fear I've resented in coming out is I never wanted to hurt anyone else. Most of all, my family and my kids. I always wanted my children to be so proud of their dad.

ELAM: On the red carpet, some of the athletes talked about the focus on Jenner.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's amazing. You know, life is always about happiness.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everyone can choose who they want to be, and he had what opportunity.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I certainly knew who he was. Even prior to the Kardashians, I knew who he was. And I am very happy with what she is doing now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think she's definitely stolen the headlines.

ELAM: Stolen headlines about the ESPYs for what Caitlyn's doing. Not for what Bruce has done.

JENNER: We're all different. That's not a bad thing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM: And you definitely heard on the red carpet, some people who were having issues trying to make sure that their pronounces were correct. And some people who really just didn't want to give their personal opinion. But for the most part, the people I spoke to, and based on the standing ovation she got at the end of her speech, the athletes that were there, for the most part, very supportive of Caitlyn Jenner -- Chris and Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Thanks, Stephanie. What a moment. I mean, just what a moment to watch Caitlyn up there, to hear Caitlyn, to hear the story. It's just, you know -- whether or not you support Caitlyn, it's still just a moment in history.

CUOMO: And it's just -- there are so many aspects to it. I mean, Jenner probably still arguably the best -- the best resumed athlete in that room, right?

CAMEROTA: Sure.

CUOMO: Even at this stage. It's been hard to eclipse his feat as Bruce Jenner. The fighting with the pronouns, this was going on before Jenner,

and it's going to go on a long time after Jenner in terms of acceptance of this. And he did -- it was a good message made by Caitlyn there, that he can take it -- she can take it. Anything you want to say is fine about Bruce Jenner. But not for all those other kids who are struggling out there. I've covered their stories, how they're ostracized by their families.

CAMEROTA: Sure.

CUOMO: How they're left on the streets.

[06:15:22] CAMEROTA: And that's why Caitlyn says she's doing it. So we'll talk more about in the program. We'd love to hear your thoughts about it, as well.

Meanwhile, more fallout from the nuclear deal with Iran. One senior Israeli official calls the -- calls the inspection guidelines in the agreement, quote, "worse than worthless." He makes his case, live from Tel Aviv, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Significant headline. "The New York Times" reporting that President Obama is offering to increase military aid to Israel to kind of help cushion the blow of the Iran deal. But Israeli officials say there's no way to make up for what they say is helping Iran get its nuclear program off the ground.

And one of those officials criticizing the information is Yuval Steinitz. He's Israel's minister of national infrastructure and Prime Minister Netanyahu's point man on Iran issues, and he joins us on NEW DAY now.

Thank you very much for joining us, sir. How do you see this situation?

YUVAL STEINITZ, ISRAELI MINISTER OF NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE: Good morning.

[06:20:00] Well, we think this is a very bad agreement for these loopholes. And as you say, there is no real compensation for the unguarded (ph) nuclear threat from Iran to the state of Israel or to any other state in the region. We are afraid that this agreement, first enables Iran to become a legal nuclear state in the next few years, but a decade from now, a legal critical nuclear state that will be able to take (ph) only a few days for many nuclear bombs. This is, of course, something that we are extremely despaired. It's about global security but also extremely relevant to our national security.

CUOMO: Just so we can understand the state of play between Israel and the U.S. accurately right now, "The New York Times," "Haaretz" reporting this. Is it true that President Obama offered Prime Minister Netanyahu more aid to help equalize and keep the advantage of military might that Israel has and that the prime minister did not say yes or no to that offer? Is that all accurate? STEINITZ: For instance, I appreciated that we have the backing

and cooperation of the United States on a variety of issues, including military aid and including on intelligence.

But let's -- let's face it: there can be no real compensation for a nuclear threat from Iran. And this deal, as we evaluate it, as not seriously blocking or curbing Iran's capacity to produce nuclear weapons now or in the future, we have to fix it; we have to change it.

It is true that, in addition to the nuclear threat that this agreement is producing, given Iran, approximately $150 billion in the next few months, but lifting the sanctions is like pouring (ph) fuel on the burgeoning (ph) Middle East all around us.

It will be used, also, for Iran conventional military armaments against Israel and also in order to supply Hezbollah and Hamas and Islamic Jihad and the Houthis in Yemen with much more military assistance than before. And this might inflame even farther on the fire that is building all over the Middle East...

CUOMO: By most accounts...

STEINITZ: ... by threatening Israel and other states, as well.

CUOMO: By most accounts, that is a fair point. However, isn't it also fair to separate these two issues? Yes, I know it's hard to do that, because once you give Iran access to money, you have to be accountable for what is likely that they do with that money.

But this agreement, from the beginning, even to the perspective of Prime Minister Netanyahu, was about stopping the ability of Iran to create nuclear material at the rate that they were. Not to stop them from their terrorist activities. And isn't it a fair assessment that this deal does things that we're not capable of before the deal. Cutting the number of centrifuges, and getting rid of the enriched uranium, and of slowing them down and making them open to checks that you didn't have the ability to do before.

STEINITZ: First, you are technically right. It's -- the initial and main aim of the negotiation was to dismantle the Iranian nuclear capabilities. Unfortunately, instead of dismantling, we are sticking now on the verification of inspection. And we think that there are many nuclear... (AUDIO/VIDEO GAP)

CUOMO: Shoot. All right. We lost Minister Steinitz there.

You understand the points that he was making, though, that -- oh, I think he's back. Good. Minister, I think I lost your signal there for a second. If you can hear me, please continue your point.

STEINITZ: OK. Yes, so I say that first, clearly, the aid was to dismantle Iran's nuclear capability. But, you know, instead of dismemberment of the nuclear infrastructure, what we get is verification.

But also, the verification is totally insufficient. Because if on a suspected military site you discover something, and instead of having rapid access to verify, you have to wait 24 hours. You have to give the Iranians every warning and then wait 24 hours before inspectors can get into the site. This is, of course, a totally useless inspection method.

So you have very nice title, inspection and verification. But when you check the procedure, it's totally useless.

But you cannot ignore the chief aid was to curb Iranian military -- nuclear military ambitions. You cannot ignore the situation in the Middle East.

[06:25:10] The Middle East is burning all around us, and you have to be extremely naive to believe that, if in this very situation, you allow Iran to get immediately $150 billion, some of it will not be used to supply Hezbollah and Hamas and the Houthis in Yemen and other Iranian proxies all around the Middle East with more weapons, with more aid, and actually, we'll get the result you cannot ignore the realities on the ground.

You are doing an agreement. The immediate result will be to pour -- to pour fuel on the fire that is burning all around the Middle East. You might inflame the Middle East: you know, Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, even further.

So it's true that the main aim was to stop Iran nuclear project. We think that this was not achieved. Unfortunately, this agreement looks more similar to the agreement with North Korea in 2007, vis-a- vis (ph) inspection, rather than to successfully deal with Libya in 2003 of dismemberment.

So not only you don't achieve something significant in the nuclear front; now what is going to happen, that we are going to inflame the entire Middle East with much more money to Iran, and some of this money will go, not just to the Iranian military armament, but also to its terrorist proxies all around the Middle East.

CUOMO: Minister Steinitz, I understand the point. It's being made by many allies of the U.S. This is a complex situation. We look forward to see what Israel does with the United States moving forward to deal with what you say is the Middle East burning all around it.

Thank you for coming on to offer your perspective. Appreciate it on NEW DAY.

STEINITZ: You're welcome. Good morning again.

CUOMO: All right. So in our next area -- hour, we will get the State Department's take. We have deputy secretary of state Tony Blinken. This is a very complex situation. There are at least two sides to it. There are probably more like four sides to the analysis. So stay tuned for that -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK. Well, the search for El Chapo is intensifying. The nation is captivated by the drug lord's second escape. But few people provide answers, fearing revenge from the cartels that dominate the streets. Could this manhunt stifle economic growth in Mexico?

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