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Donald Trump's Presidential Candidacy Analyzed; Video of Police Shooting in Ferguson Released; Hillary Clinton to Release Private Server; Upstate New York Prison Facing Abuse Allegations; Will The Iran Nuclear Deal Pass?; Interview with Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton of Massachusetts. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired August 12, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: -- she has resisted for months.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: How is it going to affect Clinton's run for office? This as Donald Trump gets a big reception at his first campaign event after the debate. We have complete team coverage for you starting with CNN's senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny. Good morning once again, Jeff.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela. After five months of say no, Hillary Clinton is finally saying yes. She will surrender her private server and a thumb-drive that contained copies of her email from her time as secretary of state. It's all in a part of a Justice Department investigation into how classified information was handled and whether it was kept secure.

Now, this marks a major change for Clinton who has maintained the server contains only personal e-mails. But you'll remember she was defiant when all this was first revealed back in March. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I have no doubt that we've done exactly what we should have done. I think we have more than met the requests from the State Department. The server contains personal communications from my husband and me. And I believe I have met all of my responsibilities, and the server will remain private.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: But so much has changed since then. The Justice and Congressional investigations into the e-mails have expanded. Now, Republicans have been asking for access to this server for months. House Speaker John Boehner said in a statement in morning, "It's about time. Secretary Clinton's previous statements that she possessed no classified information were patently untrue. Her mishandling of classified information must be fully investigated."

But perhaps even more important here, this morning we're also learning the inspector general for the U.S. intelligence community told members of Congress that top secret information was contained in at least two e-mails. Top secret is the highest level of classification. Clinton has maintained any information was not marked classified at the time she read or sent her emails.

Now, all of this has taken a toll on her campaign, particularly her trust and credibility with voters. For the first time a new poll in New Hampshire has top Democratic rival Bernie Sanders leading Clinton by seven points. He's at 44 percent to Clinton's 37 percent in that survey of likely Democratic voters in New Hampshire.

Now as the e-mail server is turned over, the question is whether there is anything on it and whether anything will put this controversy to rest with so many investigations still ongoing. Michaela?

PEREIRA: That remains to be seen. We'll be watching Jeff. Thank you so much.

Donald Trump meanwhile back on the campaign trail and back on the attack, the GOP frontrunner with choice words for his Republican and Democratic rivals. This as new polling shows Trump tightening his lead in early voting states. CNN political reporter Sara Murray is live from Michigan with that. Sara?

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Good morning, Michaela. Yes, Donald Trump is still on top, and despite these controversies, these fights with Megyn Kelly, it just does not seem to be hurting him, at least here in Michigan. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our next president of the United States, Donald Trump.

(APPLAUSE)

MURRAY: A raucous crowd raring to see the GOP frontrunner.

TRUMP: We're going to have a little fun tonight. We're going to talk about some terrible things, but we'll have funny anyway.

MURRAY: For Donald Trump it was another day on top of the polls. Trump taking the lead in Iowa, drawing 17 percent support in a new Suffolk University poll, five points ahead of his nearest rival, Scott Walker. In New Hampshire, Trump once again ahead of the pack, leading Jeb Bush by five points in the latest "Boston Herald"-Franklin Pierce University poll.

TRUMP: So what would Jeb Bush do? He'd probably say this is not a good thing. And if he ever said it strongly, which he wouldn't because there's no energy there, no energy.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: We need energy. We need tone. You know tone?

MURRAY: So far Trump's latest controversy appearing to leave him unscathed. Here in Michigan his recent feud with FOX anchor Megyn Kelly a nonissue.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a professional woman. I'm a physician. And I believe that Trump will be very fair with women.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think people should thicken up their skin a little bit.

MURRAY: But Trump is still offering reassurances that he can win over women.

TRUMP: I cherish women, and I will be great on women's health issues, believe me.

MURRAY: And telling CNN's Chris Cuomo he has the record to prove it.

TRUMP: I have many women executives. And I've always said, you know, when I was back in the construction days, the big construction days, I had women in charge of big development.

CUOMO: Do you pay them what you pay the men?

TRUMP: So I was very, very pro-woman many years ago.

CUOMO: Do you pay the women at the top of your organization the same way you pay the men.

TRUMP: Yes, I do, absolutely.

CUOMO: Because that's what it comes down to.

TRUMP: Yes, it is.

CUOMO: It's not that everybody's equal. It's that equal when you deserve it.

TRUMP: In many cases I pay the women more. I have women that get paid a lot of money.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[08:05:04] MURRAY: Now, I just asked the Trump campaign again if they were going to put out any more details about how he has compensated women versus men at the Trump organization. Once again they punted, saying details and specifics will be coming in the future. Last night we didn't get a lot of policy details either, so we'll just have to keep an eye out for more of those hopefully in the next couple weeks. Back to you, Chris.

CUOMO: You can always argue it's too early for policy. But for proof it may not be too early. And Donald Trump did say on NEW DAY that he would provide it, so we'll stay on it. Thank you, Sara.

All right, let's go through this with CNN political commentator and former Reagan White House political director Mr. Jeffrey Lord and CNN political commentator and Jeb Bush supporter Ana Navarro. It's good to have both of you. Let's take a look at the numbers, shall we? When we look at likely Iowa Republican voters, after the debate somebody said that Trump did amazing. I think it was him, but others echoed it, Jeffrey.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: The numbers say 55 percent less comfortable, 23 percent more comfortable, 18 percent no difference. What did you see? What do you like and not like? You.

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know, frankly, Chris, I think it's just way too early for this kind of thing. If this poll were, say, in January, this would be a very different thing. I mean, all kinds of things are going to happen. There's a CNN debate that's next month. This story is going to change and the numbers will change to reflect it many, many times over. So, frankly, I don't make too much of it.

CUOMO: Jeffrey has my head spinning and he has Ronald Reagan sitting over his right-hand shoulder, both powerful images.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: But, Ana, I must go through more numbers with you. Your two friends on opposite ends of the scale of perspective here. You have in the impressed by debate, Rubio 23 percent and Bush two percent. What do you see in the vagaries of this campaign and those numbers? Not you, Jeffrey. You spun my head. Your name is not Ana.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't think this is too complicated, right. I think Marco had a very good debate. I think he stood out. I think he had good moments. He had humor. He had soaring rhetoric. And I wasn't surprised by that. Anybody who knows Marco Rubio know that he is one of the best, political skilled people that we have today. He has incredible retail politics skill. And he is an able orator and debater. So I think that's what it shows. It showed that Marco had a very good debate. Carly Fiorina had a very good debate, the previous one, and it has made a bump in their numbers.

CUOMO: Carly Fiorina, let's look at her numbers. Favorability among likely Iowa Republican voters, favorable 70, unfavorable, eight, never heard of her, 15. Strong, and a big increase. Your take, Ana?

NAVARRO: She was in the under card debate, the kids' table debate. But she shows that even being in that debate you could shine and it could make a huge difference. She had tremendous room to grow, right, because she had practically no name I.D. and there was no expectations on her. So when she hit it out of the ballpark, and she did, it's made a, to quote Donald Trump, huge difference.

CUOMO: Who's the bigger and better business person in this race, Jeffrey, Donald Trump or Carly Fiorina?

LORD: I would have to say -- I mean, Donald built a company. Carly was a hired hand, basically. And there's a difference. CUOMO: All right.

LORD: Chris, one thing I noticed last night with all that exuberant crowd, I was on with someone from Senator Cruz's office who is from that area, and she described that area and audience filled with a lot of blue collar union types, Democrats potentially. I wondering if we're not watching the birth of a phenomena moving from Reagan Democrats to Trump Democrats. It's probably too soon to tell, but I thought that was an interesting observation.

CUOMO: Jeffrey, did that idea just come across on e-mail from Donald Trump himself? Is that the sound I just heard there?

LORD: No. Actually, Chris, I thought of that all on my own.

CUOMO: Is he emailing you during these segments and telling you what to hit me with?

LORD: No.

(LAUGHTER)

NAVARRO: I will tell you that if I was a Democrat, I'd be figuring out where to run, because his idea that the frontrunner is having to hand in her server to federal investigators would have me pressing the panic button. It's a constant drip-drip-drip that's been going on now for six months. It's time to call Joe the plumber to fix the drip. And Joe the plumber is Joe Biden.

CUOMO: You thought about that in advance, Ana. You hit it very hard.

[08:10:00] NAVARRO: Plan b, they need plan b.

CUOMO: Do you agree that this is something that won't go away?

LORD: Yes. You know, I went back and took a look at the whole Whitewater deal. There was a great book by two "Washington Post" reporters, and they talked about how close Hillary Clinton came to being indicted in that. And the prosecutor staff decided she had lied but there wasn't quite enough evidence to indict her.

Here we are again. And I think this goes to a persona and a perpetual problem Hillary Clinton has. I have to believe, I think Ana is right, a lot of these donors are starting to look at Joe Biden and maybe make a phone call or two.

CUOMO: I worked with one of ABC's best investigative reporters, Chris Vlasto, and he would always talked when the Clintons came up about the Whitewater investigation and the billing record that disappeared and then reappeared on a credenza. You think, Ana, that this smacks familiar of that and it may be a permanent stain?

NAVARRO: I think it's familiar to all voters. We all remember all the ethics questions and scandals and investigations. And I actually think it probably sounds familiar to the Clintons. Nobody knows better than they do that investigations can lead to very embarrassing and difficult revelations to deal with.

And the timing of this revelation and her having to hand over the server to the Department of Justice, I think it's not a coincidence. It also happens to be the week when Joe Biden is with his family on a family vacation supposedly mulling over the question. So I suspect Joe Biden is following this very closely and that something like this would have an influence on the ultimate decision that he makes. Run, Joe, run. They need a plan b.

LORD: Joe Biden and Obama conversations.

CUOMO: That's a good insight also. Ana Navarro, thank you so much. Jeffrey Lord, President Reagan. And if you speak to the Trump campaign, put that idea about putting out the proof about what he pays women in his organization. That would be a very powerful demonstration of his commitment, Jeffrey.

LORD: Yes, sir.

CUOMO: No, no. All the best. Appreciate the perspective as always. Now we'll be talking more about Donald and what he means in this race and whether he'll have staying power with Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri. She's got a book out about her life. Very interesting stuff in there, Ana.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thanks Chris. Police in St. Louis County, Missouri, have just released a surveillance video that they say shows a teen pulling a gun from his waistband just before officers shoot him. Now, police say 18-year-old Tyrone Harris began firing at the detectives in their unmarked car. This incident happening near protests that marked the anniversary of Michael Brown's death in Ferguson. CNN's Ryan Young joining us live from Ferguson now with more. Ryan?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of people are happy that this video is out because there are some questions about what exactly happened before that shooting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

YOUNG: Dramatic surveillance video released by police shows people scattering after gunshots rang out in Ferguson late Sunday. Look closely. You can see what police say is 18-year-old Tyrone Harris grabbing a gun out of his waistband moments before being shot by police. The teenager, critically wounded. Police say he drew his weapon first, shooting a remarkable amount of rounds. From this angle you can see Harris running across the parking lot. The individual identified by police as Harris crosses behind the darker colored SUV. And you can see what appear to be muzzle flashes coming from that area.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was shooting back at them. He had a gun. And the police shot back at him.

YOUNG: The hood and windshield of unmarked police vehicles peppered with bullets. HARRY HOUCK, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: We've got to wait

until the ballistics get back from the bullets that did hit the police car. If we find out that's the same gun, then we've got pretty much an open and closed case.

YOUNG: Police releasing a video to refute claims the teen was not armed. Officials believe this Facebook photo is of the 18-year- old holding two guns in the air.

AREVA MARTIN, LEGAL COMMENTATOR: I don't think that video is dispositive proof that Harris shot at those cops. And given the tension, given the distrust in that community, I think the community is going to want more evidence before they conclude that Harris, in fact, did shoot at the cops.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YOUNG: Michaela, there are actually reports throughout the neighborhood that this was actually a dispute over a television, the price of a television. And then those shots were fired. Over the course of next few days it will be interesting to see what else comes out in terms of this investigation.

PEREIRA: All right, Ryan, thank you for that.

Well, this morning officials are look into allegations of abuse at the very same prison in upstate New York where two murderers escaped. More than 60 complaints filed by inmates claiming severe physical abuse by the hands of guards after those killers broke out of jail. Let's get to CNN's Boris Sanchez who is here with the latest. Sixty complaints.

[08:15:01] BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela. That's right, 60 complaints against these officers at the Clinton correctional facility. Inmates telling "The New York Times" these officers unleashed their frustrations against them after the escapes of Richard Matt and David Sweat.

The inmates alleged that these officers used brutal tactics to try to gain information about how these inmates got out of the prison. Inmates say they were physically abused, placed in solitary confinement and stripped of privileges.

They also claimed that their cells were ransacked with property damaged and destroyed. Many of them saying they were transferred out of the prison without due process. And the most incendiary allegations, that they were beaten during some of their interrogations.

One of the inmates giving this account to "The New York Times," saying, quote, "An officer jumps and grabs me by my throat, lifts me out of my chair, slams my head into the wall. Then he starts punching me in the face. One officer pointed to a plastic bag hanging on some pipes and saying, do you know what waterboarding is?"

That's from Patrick Alexander. He was an inmate on that honor block where Richard Matt and David Sweat were staying.

Meantime, the New York Department of Corrections has indicated they want a full investigation, saying in part, quote, "any findings of misconduct or abuse against inmates will be punished to the full extent of the law."

Very important to point out, CNN is still working to independently confirm some of these claims from the inmates, very strong allegations against these officers.

PEREIRA: Absolutely. All right. Boris, thank you for that.

CUOMO: All right. Breaking overnight, a hard landing for a U.S. military chopper with 17 crew members aboard. The helicopter was landing on a military ship 20 miles east of Okinawa, Japan. Now, at the time, six of those onboard are said to be injured. That's what we know right now. The extent, however, unclear.

Japan's Coast Guard got a rescue request from a U.S. Marine Corps camp in Okinawa that started this. We'll stay on it.

CABRERA: Iraqi forces could be on the verge of recapturing Ramadi from ISIS. U.S. military officials tell "USA Today" that the Iraqis have the city surrounded and they're now preparing for a final assault to retake the city. About 10,000 Iraqi troops are in position for this offensive and about a third of them are trained by U.S. advisors. ISIS took control of Ramadi back in May.

PEREIRA: The head of the EPA is now apologized for that chemical spill that turned a river yellow and dangerously toxic. Gina McCarthy is expected to visit affected areas in Colorado and New Mexico today. You'll recall last week's spill released lead, arsenic, cadmium and other dangerous pollutants from an abandoned mine into a creek that then flows into Animas River.

CUOMO: The president ramping up the pressure on lawmakers to support the Iran nuclear deal. Will it work? Does he have the votes? We're going to talk to a lawmaker who just got back from Israel to hear their concerns. Does he support the deal?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:21:42] PEREIRA: The Obama administration starting a new round of pressure this week to try to increase support for the Iran nuclear deal as a group of lawmakers visit Israel to hear that country's concerns about the deal.

Where does Congress stand?

Joining us now is Congressman Seth Moulton, a Democrat who just returned from Israel. He has come out in support of the Iran nuclear deal and he joins us now.

Good morning to you, Congressman.

REP. SETH MOULTON (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Good morning, Michaela.

PEREIRA: So, we'll talk about your trip to Israel in a moment. But what was it that made you decide to accept this deal and believe that Iran is going to abide by the terms?

MOULTON: Well, this was not an easy decision. It took a lot of time. I had a lot of conversations with the administration, with national security experts, with people in the military that I trust.

At the end of the day, I think that the deal is imperfect, but it's the best option we have on the table today to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. And that is an incredibly important goal.

PEREIRA: I think it will please people that it was a struggle to come to a decision, that you were thoughtful about making it for yourself.

So, let's talk about your trip. You recently returned from Israel. You met with the president there and the prime minister. They have concerns that this deal will put Israel in grave danger.

What do you say? Did any of your conversations with those leaders temper your - thoughts?

MOULTON: Well, actually, they have very legitimate concerns. We all have concerns. Iran is an enemy of the United States and an enemy of Israel. And this deal does not change that.

But you have to be willing to negotiate even with your adversaries. And while the deal is imperfect, it puts us in a better position than any of the alternative on the table.

There are really two alternatives. Either we go to war immediately with Iran or we try to impose new sanctions and negotiate a better deal. But even the Israelis will admit that some of the sanctions regime if not all of the sanctions will fall apart if we reject this deal.

And no one offered an alternative for how you would negotiate a better deal with less leverage, with fewer sanctions. So, I returned from the trip sharing the concerns of the Israelis and feeling very strongly that we have to reaffirm our partnership with them and stand up against Iran and its terrorist activities and other nefarious things that it does to America and our allies across the globe.

But I'm reconfirmed that this deal is the best option we have on the table right now today to prevent them from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

PEREIRA: A quick question on that issue of Israel. So, you are affirming that the deal is less than perfect, but you agree that we have to be able to work with those players in the Middle East, Israel paramount among them. How do we continue even though they are not with the U.S. on the side of this deal?

MOULTON: Well, absolutely. Several of the leaders you know in private conversations emphasized that they want to work with us to strengthen our relationship. In some ways, it's in their interests to oppose the deal right now, because it puts the pressure on the U.S. and our allies to reaffirm that partnership, to make sure we're committed to providing them the military and economic support they need to protect their borders and stand up to the threats that Iran and other enemies present.

[08:25:00] So, what we need to do is talk about how we repair and advance that partnership going forward. That was actually my question both to the prime minister and to the president of Israel.

I said, what can we do in America after we move past this deal, after we affirm it, to restore, renew and advance our historic partnership?

PEREIRA: Well, I know your Democratic colleague in the Senate Chuck Schumer is opposed to the deal. He believes that using sanctions is a better route.

Another group that is opposed to the deal is a group called Veterans Against the Deal. And I want to play the ad that they released and really want your reaction and I'll explain why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STAFF SERGEANT ROBERT BARTLETT, RETIRED, WOUNDED IN IRAQ 2005: I was blown up by an Iranian bomb. It cut me in the half from the left corner of my temple down through my jaw. It took my gunner's legs off. Total devastation.

Every politician who's involved in this will be held accountable. They will have blood on their hands. A vote for this deal means more money for Iranian terrorism. What do you think they're going to do when they get more money?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Congressman, you, too, are a veteran. You served the four tours in Iraq. Incredible service on your part.

What do you say to your fellow veterans like the man we just heard that say, you know, anybody that's been a target of Iran cannot trust Iran? What do you say to them?

MOULTON: Well, first of all, I respect that veteran's service. He's obviously made incredible sacrifices for his country.

I fought in Iraq and I actually fought in the southern part of Iraq that was infiltrated by Iranians. So, I too have friends and colleagues who were killed and maimed by Iranian weapons.

But what I would say to him is what do you propose as an alternative? If you actually believe that we need to go to war with Iran, signing this deal actually gives us a stronger case to go to war, one, because it gives us more credibility to do so internationally and domestically if we have to take a vote in Congress. And two, it gives us far more intelligence about Iran than we have today because of the inspections regime.

And the second thing I'd say is this deal is not about trusting Iran. I don't think we should ever trust Iran. This is about verification.

And I asked a lot of tough questions both in a classified and unclassified setting to understand exactly how we're going to verify that Iran complies with this deal. And over time, I became confident that we have the measures in place to do so, to make sure all of their pathways to a bomb are shut off.

But this is not about trust. This is about verification. Make no mistake, we are dealing with an enemy here and we can never forget that.

PEREIRA: Congressman Seth Moulton, there will be people that won't agree with you, but I think they have to appreciate the fact that it took a great deal of thought and exploration and asking tough questions to all involved. We appreciate you joining us here on NEW DAY this morning.

MOULTON: Thanks, Michaela.

PEREIRA: Chris?

CUOMO: Interesting take there on how signing this deal could embolden a case for Iran. Good interview, Mick. Thank you for that.

Donald Trump is telling us on NEW DAY that he'll be, quote, "so good to women". But do females buy that?

We have Missouri Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill here. She has a very interesting life to tell you about that she's still living to the fullest. We'll get her take.

Hello, Senator.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)