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Who Will Be Britain's Next Prime Minister?; Boris Johnson Won't Run For Prime Minister; Could Brexit Be Reversed?; Alleged Planner Of Istanbul Airport Attack Identified; New Trial Granted For Subject Of "Serial" Podcast; Adnan Syed Has Served 16 Years Of Life Sentence; Trump Escalates War With GOP Over Trade; Loretta Lynch To Accept Decision In Clinton Email Case. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired July 01, 2016 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:33:00] JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Well, Britain in a political crisis just a week after voting to leave the E.U. Several candidates vying to replace the outgoing prime minister, David Cameron, but it does include two key players who actually pushed for Brexit.

Here to break it all down, Richard Quest. He's the anchor of CNN International's "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS". So, Richard, you have a quirky rule-breaking, wild-haired political revolutionary. In effect, gets what he wants with Brexit and then walks off the stage.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": At the last --

SCIUTTO: Is that how to explain it to America?

QUEST: At the last minute, this man, Boris Johnson, who had been mayor of London -- and this is how the morning newspaper puts it this morning. "Brexecuted" is the phrase that they are using and they are calling it the night, "An act of midnight treachery." Tory "Day of Treachery" because Boris Johnson, in a way that you just don't get --

[07:35:00] Maybe for the Speaker of the House, occasionally, but you just don't get, in the United States, he was knifed in the back right at the last minute by his number two, who announced that he was going to stand because Boris wasn't up to the job.

And so, Boris goes out the door and this other man, Michael Gove, who had been the justice secretary and the education secretary says -- now, by the way, this guy, Michael Gove, has spent the last 10 years telling us he didn't want to be prime minister, including, Jim, saying that he would sign a parchment in his own blood that he doesn't want to be prime minister. Now, he says, oh, by the way, can I be the prime minister?

SCIUTTO: So, what's interesting, too, is that you have a leadership crisis in the Labor Party, too. I mean, to put it in American terms it's like the Democrats and the Republicans both lost their leadership or had a huge internal war at the same time. I mean, this must be really unsettling for British voters.

QUEST: It is more than unsettling. You've got the Labor Party, which is Her Majesty's loyal opposition, in total disarray. Look, the best personification of their disaster -- the leader of the party holds a press conference against anti-Semitism and in doing so manages to make an anti-sematic comment comparing Israel to ISIS. Now, doesn't that just tell you the state of British politics?

SCIUTTO: Yes.

QUEST: We have -- I mean, look, the ruling conservatives are having a disorderly, but at least they're getting on with their leadership campaign. Labor is a complete and utter mess. The governor of the Bank of England stepped in yesterday and said interest rates will probably have to be cut in the summer.

It has been a week. A famous British prime minister once said a week is a very long time in politics. I venture to suggest we're talking about minutes, rather than weeks.

SCIUTTO: So, let me ask you this. American's attention got focused on British politics a week ago when Britain surprised everyone, including on this side of the pond, by leaving the E.U., but you've had all this talk since then that maybe it was a political ploy. Maybe they'll find a way around it.

Partly, you know, which was on the shoulders of Boris Johnson because people thought he was pushing for it but really didn't want it deep down inside. Now he's gone. Is that a dream to imagine that Brexit doesn't happen or is Britain locked on this path?

QUEST: Watch my lips, as George Bush liked to say. Read my lips. Wishful thinking. The leader who's likely to be -- I won't put money on it but the person who's more than likely to be the next British prime minister is the home secretary of the interior minister, Theresa May, a very sensible woman. She doesn't do showy, she told us yesterday. But she said yesterday, quite clearly, Brexit means Brexit. No staying in the E.U. by the back door, no second referendum.

Now, if she is elected prime minister or leader of the party then look, it is just wishful thinking from the remainders, those who wanted to stay in. But the reality everywhere I see it at the moment -- we are heading towards leaving the European Union and that's what people voted for.

SCIUTTO: It's a big deal for the U.S., too. Our closest ally, arguably in Europe.

QUEST: Absolutely, and very difficult --

SCIUTTO: Richard Quest, you make it understandable.

QUEST: And very difficult -- very difficult for whoever becomes U.S. president to determine what that relationship -- to walk the line between the U.K. and the E.U.

SCIUTTO: Goodness gracious. Richard Quest, great to have you all the time. Alisyn, back to you. ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Understandable and entertaining, I feel, Richard Quest always make his reports. So, what do we know about the mastermind of that attack in Turkey? What we have learned this morning and what this information means. We have the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee joining us next, about where this guy was on the radar.

[07:39:05]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:42:25] CAMEROTA: CNN has new information about the identity of the mastermind of the Turkey terror attack. It turns out he is well- known. Joining us now is CNN national security commentator and former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Mike Rogers. He's also the host of the new CNN series "DECLASSIFIED". Good morning, Mike.

MIKE ROGERS (R), FORMER CHAIRMAN, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY COMMENTATOR, CNN HOST, "DECLASSIFIED": Good morning, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Tell us what we know about this Chechen named Ahmed. His nickname is Ahmed One-Arm.

ROGERS: Yes, he's from the North Caucasus and why this is significant -- if you look back in the early days of targeting al Qaeda with airstrikes in the tribal areas of Pakistan and along the Afghan border, a lot of those airstrikes were targeted and actually hit Uzbeks, Kurdsis (ph), Chechens who were coming down to get fighting experience to fight for the cause -- all of that.

Matter of fact, the intelligence always seemed to be better on what people in that region would call foreigners. So, an Uzbek would come down, would still be a foreign fighter for them in that region. And so, they've had this long history of engagement in this -- throughout this entire region in terrorist activities.

They had pledged to al Qaeda, they had fought for the Taliban, now they're fighting for ISIS. They tend to like to be at the front end of this fight. So this is somebody who had been wounded along the process of all of that fighting and had taken some stature in the organization as somebody who had leadership qualities and capabilities.

So, he is a top lieutenant in what is the ministry of -- the war ministry for ISIS, meaning his job is to put out and do offensive operations, so this doesn't surprise me. I think what is surprising about this is that through Syria they were able to send folks into Turkey.

CAMEROTA: Well, why is that surprising, Mike? I mean, we've heard that that is one of the conduits.

ROGERS: Well, it's only because he's not used to targeting Assad forces and/or other forces within Syria. So what they're using now -- and this is something that Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, has talked about for years. He and Zarqawi, the head of al Qaeda, got in a fight because Baghdadi wanted to attack outside of Syria and Iraq. Zarqawi didn't want him to do that. He wanted him to focus on Assad in Syria.

So, what this is an extension of what Baghdadi has been trying to do, which is why you see attacks in the United States, Istanbul, Paris, and Brussels. And so, this operation clearly is a different cell than we might see in others. The problem here is, Alisyn, this is a multiple-layered problem, especially -- well, for all of us.

[07:45:00] There are some 250,000 missing documents for travel, everything from residency stamps to blank passports, all across Europe. This is a huge problem. That means that they were able to get in, clearly, very easily. And if reports are correct that they took the weapons and vests with them, that complicates Turkey's problem even more and extends into Europe because if they can get into Turkey, they can move west pretty easily from there so this creates a whole bunch of problems.

CAMEROTA: It sure seems like it, and Mike, what's so interesting is that at the same time we hear about the successes that the U.S. and the coalition are having on hitting ISIS targets in Iraq, but not everyone thinks that this has been a success. In fact, our own Barbara Starr spoke with the Air Force Chief of Intelligence this week. She asked him to rate on a scale of one to 10 how you think we're doing in this fight, and let me play for you his answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GEN. ROBERT OTTO, U.S. AIR FORCE: I would give us a five, which means we have a lot of work to do. The problem is not having enough fighter jets to drop bombs. The problem is having enough legitimate targets that we can strike that can put ISIL on their heels.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Right, so we've heard this problem before. You need boots on the ground in order to call out the targets to the fighter jets.

ROGERS: Yes, the longer we let this go -- I mean, every time we get a press release that this town fell, that town fell, Fallujah -- that is not a small undertaking and it was a good victory for Iraqi Forces and the coalition, but it's never enough. The tempo of this is not enough. We have lots and lots of experience on how to dismantle and disrupt al Qaeda. It worked. A very high tempo.

In this, we don't have that. We have fits and starts, and then the Iraqis pull back, and then they're engaged in the fight, they take a town, they lose a town. This is not a campaign for victory and unless we do something about the command center in Raqqa --

CAMEROTA: Yes.

ROGERS: -- this is going to happen again. They're clearly able to plan, finance, recruit operations from Raqqa and other places in eastern Syria. Until we have a coordinated plan to actually deal with this problem -- CAMEROTA: Yes.

ROGERS: -- then you're going to see long lines at airports where everybody's nervous here in the United States, and Istanbul, and Brussels, and Paris. I don't know how much longer we should take this without putting together a more aggressive, high-tempo plan to get rid of ISIS.

CAMEROTA: Mike, let's talk about the next episode of "DECLASSIFIED". You take us behind the scenes of the hunt for al-Zarqawi. Tell us a little.

ROGERS: Well, the timing of this couldn't be better if you see what's happening in Syria and western Iraq. Zarqawi was the godfather of ISIS. He is the one whose big mentor was al-Baghdadi, who is now head of ISIS, operating in eastern Syria. And so, Zarqawi is the one who brought all of these -- all the brutality to the battlefield.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

ROGERS: Beheadings, cutting off arms, bombings, killing innocent men, women, children. He just slaughtered anybody he could find. This is the story of the intelligence and the special operators trying to put together a plan to find somebody who didn't want to be found, and a lot of people didn't want him found.

CAMEROTA: Wow.

ROGERS: And it is all of the intrigues of a great spy novel, only it's told through the stories of the people who really lived it. And, as I said, it couldn't be more timely given all the efforts that are happening in eastern Syria and Iraq. I think people are going to love it and should tune in Sunday night at 10:00.

CAMEROTA: Mike Rogers, will do. Thank you for that preview, very much. And just to reiterate it, be sure to watch Mike's show, "DECLASSIFIED" this Sunday, 10 p.m., right here on CNN. Thanks, Mike. Let's get to Jim.

SCIUTTO: We've got another great story coming up. Adnan Syed, he's the man featured in the wildly popular "SERIAL" podcast -- will get a new day in court. His attorney will join us live to talk about this latest incredible twist in his case.

[07:49:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:52:45] SCIUTTO: A judge is granting a new trial for Adnan Syed. He became a household name as the subject of the wildly popular "SERIAL" podcast. The program questioned his conviction for the murder of his ex-girlfriend.

Joining us now is C. Justin Brown. He's Adnan Syed's attorney. He's been with him throughout his several appeals going back eight years now. Justin, thanks very much for joining this morning. C. JUSTIN BROWN, ADNAN SYED'S ATTORNEY: Thanks for having me.

SCIUTTO: So first, congratulations to you. I imagine this is an enormous achievement after the work that you've put into this, but let me ask you about Adnan. Does he know about this? Has word gotten through to him, and have you been able to speak to him to get his reaction?

BROWN: I have not been able to speak to him. We have been trying to contact him at the prison yesterday afternoon and we didn't have any luck. But I think it's fair to assume that word has gotten to him by now. He's pretty well-liked at the prison so I think once the guards become aware of it they're going to share the news with him.

SCIUTTO: So, I listen religiously to the "SERIAL" podcast so I know these details well. A lot of folks at home might know the general outlines of this but don't know the details. There were two key pieces of evidence that really seemed to turn this. One, being that cell phone tower technology was used -- at a very early stage of information we had of cell phone tower technology -- to put him at the scene of where her body was found.

And the other was that there was a witness who saw him somewhere else when the murder was believed to have taken place. Were those two factors that turned the judge on this?

BROWN: They were, and specifically, the judge granted the new trial based on the cell tower evidence and questions that we raised about whether it was reliable or not. We presented to the court a fax cover sheet that said "incoming calls are not reliable for location status". And it was specifically those incoming calls that the state had relied upon in obtaining their conviction. So, the post-conviction judge agreed with us that that disclaimer or instruction on the fax cover sheet was significant enough to merit a new trial.

[07:55:00] SCIUTTO: Now, this, of course, comes down to the law. There was a decision made in court by an experienced judge. But, without the "SERIAL" podcast -- without putting this into the public conversation the way that that remarkable piece of journalism did, do you believe you could have gotten not just this decision, but the chance to have a decision like this?

BROWN: I think that without "SERIAL" and without other investigation from even other podcasts, like "UNDISCLOSED", I don't think we would have gotten as far as we did get. We're here today in this position, in a large part, thanks to "SERIAL", "UNDISCLOSED", and other people who have investigated this case.

SCIUTTO: That is right, and you mentioned "UNDISCLOSED" because actually before "SERIAL" there was another podcast, but by an attorney and a family friend of Syed who first got at the cell tower information, so we should give credit where credit is due.

But this other piece about Asia McClain. She was a friend of Adnan's who was at the library that day and says she saw him there, but she was never interviewed during the previous trial. How did that happen? BROWN: Right. So we were able to establish that, number one, this person, Asia McClain, had come forward to say -- and she had written a letter to Adnan saying that hey, I remember seeing you at the library that day. And the time frame that she said she remembered him from was the exact same time that the state theorized that the murder took place.

We were able to establish that that information was in the defense file, so the defense attorney should have been aware of that. However, for whatever reason, and really we will never know why, the attorney failed to do the simplest thing and pick up a phone and call this alibi witness and find out whether their story was legitimate.

SCIUTTO: So, we've got some time now before this trial and, of course, the trial takes time. Are you going to push for bail for Adnan Syed in the time in between, and do you think he could win it?

BROWN: We haven't made a final decision on that because, quite frankly, I've got to talk to my client about it. But I think that if we do pursue it we could put together a very compelling argument. We would argue very strenuously that he is not a threat to flee and he is not a danger to the community. And that some type of precautions can be put in place to allow him to be out on bail.

SCIUTTO: You know, a lot of folks are still split on this case. Even Sara Koenig, who did the "SERIAL" podcast, can't just decide in her own heart whether she thinks he did it or not. I want to ask you. Do you believe he's innocent?

BROWN: Yes. I mean, I've known Adnan for seven years now. I know the case in great detail, as well as anyone. I believe in his innocence and I believed in it since I first met him seven years ago. And we --

SCIUTTO: Justin Brown --

BROWN: -- look forward -- we look forward to a day when we can prove that in court.

SCIUTTO: Well, we look forward to following the story. Justin Brown, thanks very much. We are following a lot of news. Let's get right to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It's almost, in some ways, like I'm running against two parties.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump's big theme for his whole campaign is let's build walls.

TRUMP: That could be a Mexican plane up there. They're getting ready to attack.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Donald Trump was not my second choice, he was not my third choice. TRUMP: We don't play the game the way they play the game.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The three bombers came to Turkey a month ago from the ISIS stronghold city of Raqqa.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are people who were committed to seeing this attack out to its completion.

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A strong chemical smell emanating from the flat rented by the attackers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Security is being ramped up at U.S. airports.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're concerned at public events and public places across the nation.

SCIUTTO: The terrifying moment caught on camera.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.

CAMEROTA: OK, so we'll tell you the outcome of what happened there in that video.

SCIUTTO: In that video -- incredible, yes. Welcome to your new day. It's Friday, July 1st. Great to be alongside Alisyn Camerota, once again.

CAMEROTA: Great to have you here. Happy July 1st. Jim Sciutto is here, in for Chris today. Up first, Donald Trump's riff with fellow Republicans deepening over trade. Trump lashing out at the party establishment saying to him it feels like he is running against two parties.

SCIUTTO: This comes as Hillary Clinton's campaign faces a firestorm of criticism over Bill Clinton's private meeting with the attorney general. So, will Loretta Lynch recuse herself from the Clinton email probe that's still underway?

Let's begin our coverage with CNN's Jason Carroll. Lots of news in both parties this morning.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, absolutely. Good morning to you, Jim. Donald Trump certainly has strong --