Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Prosecutor Decides Not to Charge Mom in Gorilla Incident; War Against ISIS In Iraq & Syria; Stephen Curry to Sit This Summer; GOP Leaders Condemn Trump for Judge Attack. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired June 07, 2016 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:32:12] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We do have some breaking news now.

Overnight, a car bomb targeting a police bus rock a historic quarter during rush hour in Istanbul. At least 11 people were killed, seven of them police officers. Dozens more are injured. So far, no claim of responsibility.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Florida is under a state of emergency after a direct hit from Tropical Storm Colin. The storm making landfall early this morning. Some streets along the gulf coast of swamped, soaking rains have millions bracing for flash flooding. You have pounding winds also that have left a trail of damage and debris, thousands of without power.

CAMEROTA: The gorilla exhibit at the Cincinnati Zoo reopening with a new beefed up barrier, a day after prosecutors decided not to charge the mom whose son fell into that enclosure leading to that prized animal being killed.

CNN's Brynn Gingras is live in Cincinnati with the very latest.

Good morning, Brynn.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, good morning to you.

Later this morning, when we go into that exhibit we'll see two main things that are different. First, the fence. While zoo officials boosted that up to 42 inches high, that's six inches higher than it used to be, maybe more importantly what we'll see is that knotted netting underneath that fence. That's very important, because that's how that 3-year-old boy crawled underneath and got into the zoo exhibit in the first place.

And as you said, Alisyn, yesterday, the Hamilton County prosecutor Joseph Deters said he will not file charges against the mother in this case. He basically just said this was just a tragic accident, and he also said if anyone is a parent and has a child of that age, you would know it's very possible how this could have happened.

He said his office interviewed four different people. They went to the zoo four different times and realized the mom turned away for just seconds, and that's how the boy ended up crawling into that exhibit and the family said now they're looking forward to putting this behind them -- Chris.

CUOMO: Well, Brynn, the mom says it, witnesses say it, common sense says it, but in situations like this that seems so wrong, people want blame and they were looking at this mom. But it's no surprise. The prosecutor's office said no charges here.

All right. Up next, the bloody fight to liberate Fallujah. All eyes have to be on this situation. It is a metaphor for the situation in Iraq. ISIS is now using human shields of the people who are trying to flee the city.

We'll discuss what's going on, next on NEW DAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:38:40] CUOMO: The war against ISIS is active and taking on new phases in Iraq. You have the Iraqi government trying to force ISIS out of Fallujah. The terror group is said to be shooting at fleeing civilians, even killing some of their own fighters as the U.S. steps up its bombing campaign.

Let's discuss with CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen, and CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

Thanks to both of you for being with us on this.

Fred, you understand this situation right now, as does Barbara. This report that they're either trying to stop people from leaving the city, shooting at people leaving the city, taking them as human shields, how much of that is real?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly, from the reports we're getting, Chris, it seems as though that is very real. I mean, A, groups are saying, these people who fled the city are saying this as well, is that apparently, a lot of the civilians who are still inside Fallujah and there are still tens of thousands who are there, many were brought to inside the city center to act at human shields. They're forced to act as human shield. And those who refused the orders were then immediately shot.

Other people apparently shot because ISIS believed they were traitors, might have been giving information to the Iraqi government, possibly also to some others fighting with the Iraqi government as well. It is an absolutely dire situation there.

[06:40:01] I think one thing to keep in mind this is a population, a civilian population, caught in the middle of this. That's already weak. They've already endured so much, they don't have much on the way of food, they don't have much on the way of water, probably no medication whatsoever if they're sick and many of them are.

So, certainly, the reports most probably are just as bad as we're hearing. CUOMO: And, Barbara, as we've learned in the past, what is left after

the conflict? Even if you win and get them out is just as important as the primary battle. So, tactically, what can be done to help these people stuck in between ISIS and the armies?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, what the U.S. is doing continue to bomb ISIS targets from the air to open up some of that space for Iraqi forces on the ground to make their move right now to move beyond just what may be their control of the southern edge of the city, get into the city, get ISIS out and start rebuilding.

Fallujah, very strategic, as you just pointed out, Chris, on the battlefield. It's about 40 miles or so west of Baghdad. This has been the ISIS stronghold from which they've been launching many of those attacks into Baghdad. So, both for the Iraqis and the U.S., a very strategic goal to get Fallujah back. For ISIS, it is a place they are desperate to hold on to, specifically because of that access to Baghdad -- Chris.

CUOMO: Also, Fred, the air campaign, the strikes. I mean, that's a big part of the coalition involvement, certainly the U.S. involvement. You got a close-up look at it. How does it work?

PLEITGEN: It's certainly working very, very well and very efficiently at this point in time.

I want to build on something that Barbara was saying, because she's saying that the U.S. is stepping up its air campaigns trying to get ISIS out of Fallujah, trying to bomb them out of there. At the same time, the pilots we spoke on the USS Harry Truman, which is now right in the vicinity of here in the Mediterranean Sea, they say they're very aware of the fact as this battle in Fallujah moves more towards urban combat, you have ISIS hiding among the population. So, they at the same time have to hit ISIS hard and try and stop civilian casualties from happening.

So, what they're doing is, one hand, they have their targeting procedure, minimizing civilian casualties, but they're also actually using smaller munitions, 500-pound bombs as opposed to 1,000-pound bombs trying to keep impact area limited, to make sure to minimize civilian casualties. But that becomes more and more difficult as the combat area gets smaller, as you move towards the city center, and you have more ISIS fighters hiding among the civilian population.

But I do have to point out, what we saw on the USS Harry Truman, 24 hours that they were there, the crew there very efficient, working 24 hours making sure those planes are in the sky all the time, Chris.

CUOMO: Fred and Barbara, as you know well from reporting and being on the ground, first-person exposure, you can do a lot from abroad, but to finish the job, people have to be on the ground, especially when the civilians are in harm's way.

Thanks to both of you for reporting. We'll check back soon.

Alisyn? CAMEROTA: OK. We will segue now to sports. Steph Curry's won back-

to-back MVPs and he may be on the second back-to-back title. But one thing not on his resume. We'll tell you about that in our bleacher report, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:47:34] CUOMO: Finals, finals everywhere. You got finals in the NBA. You got finals in the NHL.

The Pittsburgh Penguins just one way away in their quest to hoist the Stanley Cup.

Coy Wire has more in this morning's bleacher report.

What do you got, my friend?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Chris. They want to hoist Lord Stanley of Preston Cup, been around since 1893. That thing is sweet.

Not looking good for the sharks. Down 3-1, knowledge of the day, only one thing in history of the NHL has ever come back from that deficit in the finals. The 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs. Listen to this.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

WIRE: That's Metallica rocking the national anthem. But there was more head banging. Watch this. Almost enter sand man for Patric Hornqvist. A shot straight to the helmet. Could have knocked him out cold. A 100-mile rocket of vulcanized right to the dome, using his head. Sharks trying to rally late. The icing on the cake.

Get outta here, Sharks. Pittsburgh wins 3-1, they can close it out Thursday in Pittsburgh.

To the NBA, a unanimous MVP of the league Steph Curry announced he is not going to the Olympic Games in Rio. He withdrew his name from consideration in a statement yesterday stating several factors including recent ankle and knee injuries led him to the decision. He says after the season, he wants to heal up, get that body ready for next season.

Alisyn, his Warriors have a 2-0 series lead over the Cavs, dumping a mud hole in them. Game three tomorrow night in Cleveland.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much, Coy. It looks exciting. Talk to you soon.

All right. Donald Trump defying GOP leaders and telling campaign surrogates to continue the attack on the federal judge and the media, or at least not to apologize. We will weigh the risk and reward of that strategy with someone who knows all about running for president. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[06:53:08] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think I'm going to do very well with Hispanics, but we're building a wall. He's a Mexican. We're building a wall between here and Mexico.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Those were some of Donald Trump's comments about that judge over the weekend, and sources tell CNN that Trump's message to his surrogates on a phone call was to continue the criticisms on the judge in the Trump University case as well as the media.

Let's discuss. Mr. Steve Forbes, he's the chairman and editor in chief of Forbes Media. He ran for president himself in 1996 and 2000.

Mr. Forbes, great to have you here on NEW DAY.

STEVE FORBES, CHAIRMAN & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, FORBES MEDIA: Good to be with you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Did you think the comments about the judge being Mexican and about his heritage standing in the way of good ruling, in Trump University, were those racist?

FORBES: Well, what it did, play in the hands of the far left who make race everything. You know, Yale, a university student said he shouldn't have to read Shakespeare because he's a dead white man. That kind of thing has to be fought and the he fell into what the far left does.

What he should have done and needs a communications team and get an organization in that campaign, which is not up to speed yet, is have his lawyers make the case, if the judge contributed to Hillary Clinton or something like that, there are judicial ways to deal with something if you don't think you have a fair judge.

CAMEROTA: But forget the way the left spun it, on the face -- on their very face, were his words racist?

FORBES: Well, what they were has made it sound like judged the man by his appearance, not by what he's done. What he should have led with, that man apparently gave contributions to Democrats and Hillary Clinton, how can I get a good trial here? We've got a good case. We need a new judge.

That people would have understood. But to lead with the fact, because Trump wants to build a wall, therefore this judge in Indiana --

CAMEROTA: Who has Mexican heritage.

FORBES: Well, as "The Journal" point out the other day, you can't build a wall around Indiana.

CAMEROTA: I mean, he's American. The judge is American.

FORBES: Sure. CAMEROTA: He was born I Indiana.

So, do you understand why those comments are seen as racist and why it's giving people pause?

[06:55:05] FORBES: What it does, sound like what we have too much of today, and that is by judging people by your sex, your ethnicity, your race, instead of as Martin Luther King Jr. said, judge us by the, our character. Not by the color of our skin or any of these other external things. It was a blunder. Back off.

CAMEROTA: OK. So, given that blunder, are you still comfortable supporting him for president?

FORBES: I think what it shows is, he's got to ramp up his game and he's got to focus on -- in this past two weeks should have been a disaster for Hillary Clinton between that terrible jobs report, that devastating report from the I.G. at the State Department, and instead Trump stepped on his own story. He should have pulled back, let her flounder out there and explain why after eight years, the economy still sucks, and instead of stepping on his own story.

CAMEROTA: So I mean, a miscalculation, strategically by him is what I hear you saying.

(CROSSTALK)

FORBES: Miscalculation.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

FORBES: The key thing is what does he do about it from here? Is he going to get a real communications group, team, in his campaign? Instead of reacting, instead of going ad hoc day to day, you need a strategy, you need to take a forward approach. Go on offense instead of always acting on defense, and when you feel you're going to get a problem like the Trump University, you figure out how you're going to deal with it. You don't respond off the cuff.

CAMEROTA: So, if the election were held today, would you be comfortable voting for him?

FORBES: I said I'd back the nominee and the answer is I would support him. But the key thing, it's not just one blunder. The key thing is, one, what you do about it, and two is, getting your positive message out there, on taxes, on health care.

There's been very little discussion on the disaster unfolding in health care in this country. So, you got to define your agenda, otherwise, you're going to see what happens in the past two weeks when Hillary Clinton should have been on defense it was Donald Trump on defense.

CAMEROTA: The attacks on the judge from Donald Trump do seem to have created a bit of a groundswell in the GOP itself about people who say they can't a sport him. Senators Tim Scott, Ben Sasse, Senator Lindsey Graham. Some not fans to begin with but being more vocal.

Here is what, though, interestingly, Michael Reagan, son of President Reagan, just said about this -- he tweeted, "This most likely would be the first time if my father was alive that he would not support the nominee of the GOP." Those are strong words.

FORBES: Well, this is where -- again, I don't think Donald Trump is a racist, or a misogynist. You look at his hiring practices. He brought in several women that can do construction projects, which was not done 20, 30 years ago in that industry.

But perceptions are key in politics. I don't think he's fully grasped that yet. If you don't think in advance how you're going to deal with certain issues, like he blundered over abortion several months ago nap should have been down path several months before that. You can't be off the cuff.

And this is where he's got to define himself. He's got the convention coming up, an opportunity to do it. What he did on that judge is a blunder. How he responded to it was a mistake.

CAMEROTA: Why do you think he's making so many blunders?

FORBES: Because at the -- people don't fully realize, when you're running for president, especially when you look like you're going to be a finalist or one of the top finalists, the pressure on everything you say is intense.

CAMEROTA: But wait, are you saying more scrutiny is making him blunder or something within him.

FORBES: No. Well, scrutiny, and the press is now focusing on him in a way they never did when you had 16 others running. You've got to realize what got you here is not going to get you to the general election successfully.

You have to bring in an organization. You have to show you can delegate. You can't do everything on your own. It's true in business. It's true in a campaign.

In fact, the candidate cannot run the campaign, really, hardly at all. You have to have a trusted team in, there otherwise, you're going to get run into the ground, responding here, there, and not going on offense, not defining yourself.

By the way, Ronald Reagan never made that mistake. He'd made statements you could use against him in the '50s and '60s and had some crazy supporters, but he knew how to put his agenda out there. So he defined his agenda. He defined himself.

This is what Donald Trump has got to learn to do. He thinks everyone knows him. No. You have tens of millions of voters, here, there, don like either candidate. You've got to define yourself in a positive way instead of always being on defense.

CAMEROTA: Steve Forbes, thanks so much. Great to have you on NEW DAY.

FORBES: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: We're following a lot of news including Hillary Clinton clinching the Democratic nomination. Let's get right to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We're going to have quite an election, aren't we?

CAMEROTA: Clinton makes history as she crosses the delegate threshold.

CLINTON: We are on the brink of an historic, unprecedented moment.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't want to speculate who will end up having more pledged delegates.

CLINTON: I know we've never done this before. We've never had a woman president.

SANDER: Our focus right now is running and winking.