Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

July 4th Forecast; Two Hundred Dead In ISIS Attack In Baghdad; Historic Baseball Game At Fort Bragg; Sources: Senator Joni Ernst On Trump VP Shortlist. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired July 04, 2016 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, the British politician who led the charge to leave the European Union is resigning. Nigel Farage says he never wanted to be a career politician and the time is right to step aside as leader of the U.K. Independence Party.

Now top actors of the "leave" movement, they've garnered (ph) criticism for backing away from leadership after the Brexit vote leading England out now of the U.K. How do you do that? Now they are just all abdicating including London Mayor Boris Johnson, who has essentially refused to run for prime minister.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We have an update now on that terrible alligator attack at Disneyworld. The father of this 2-year-old boy who was killed by the attack at that resort says a second alligator attacked him as he fought to save his son.

According to the "Orlando Sentinel," Matt Graves, the dad, shared the details with authorities as they brought him to the hospital for treatment that day. His son, Lane Graves, was dragged into a lagoon at the Grand Floridian Resort last month. The little boy's body was found 16 hours later.

BERMAN: All weekend, cities across the U.S. putting on eye-popping celebrations. You can see right there dazzling fireworks display in Milwaukee, drawing thousands of spectators out to Lake Michigan. Huge crowds turned out for Denver's independence eve fireworks show.

CAMEROTA: Wow.

BERMAN: That's very good.

CAMEROTA: Very pretty.

BERMAN: Go, Denver. Biggest 4th of July displays will happen tonight. The best of them all, of course, is in Boston. They'll also be going in New York City and Washington, D.C., as well.

CAMEROTA: Isn't the best of everything in Boston, John?

BERMAN: The best of everything.

CAMEROTA: I know that. Well, the threat of severe weather could soak some of those 4th of July fireworks celebrations.

BERMAN: No.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

BERMAN: No.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Let's get to meteorologist, Chad Myers, for a look at the forecast. Which one of us is right, Chad?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You. Boston is good, but Alisyn, you are correct. Even New York City will get rain. That should be after the fireworks are over. If you live in D.C., Boston, Baltimore, Richmond, what I would say for you is to get to the park early and get to that shelter as fast as you can and reserve it.

Because there will be either sunshine bright, bright, lots of UV out there or rainfall coming in. Right now, it's raining in parts of West Virginia. It will rain in New York City later on tonight. I think around 10:00.

[06:35:07]But it will rain in D.C. around noon today and rain most of the day, but should be over by fireworks time. There will be fireworks in Cincinnati as well, but there may be lightning. Watch out for that.

Make sure you're close to your car so if the lightning does come through, you can get out of the way of that. There will be heavy rain in parts of West Virginia. It will be hot across parts of Texas.

But look, what the rain and clouds do across the northeast, D.C. only to 72, New York City today a beautiful 82 degrees -- John.

BERMAN: A patriotic advice from Chad Myers. Thanks so much, Chad.

All right, a series of deadly attacks, ISIS taking responsibility for several of them, this as the group gets squeezed out of areas it controls in Syria and Iraq. Is it shifting strategy? We'll ask the U.S. military next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: This morning three countries reeling after ISIS attacks in the space of one week. Terrorists attacked Turkey, Bangladesh, and Iraq, leaving hundreds of people dead. This as ISIS continues to lose ground in Iraq and Syria.

Joining us now is Colonel Christopher Garver. He is the spokesman of the anti-ISIS coalition in Iraq, Operation Inherent Resolve. Colonel, thank you so much for being with us on this 4th of July.

COL. CHRISTOPHER GARVER, MILITARY SPOKESMAN, ANTI-ISIS COALITION IN IRAQ: Thank you, Alisyn. We'd like to extend a happy independence day to everybody back in the United States. CAMEROTA: And to you as well there. So this Baghdad attack just sounds God awful, Colonel. At least 200 people killed, including many children. These were -- this was in a middle class neighborhood. These were families that had come together for the weekend to celebrate together.

[06:40:07]It was the end of the school year. It was families just doing what we all hope that we can do, and they were slaughtered. Does it -- when something like this happens, does it give you pause as to whether your mission is working?

GARVER: Well, it certainly gives us resolve as to why we must accomplish our mission. As we saw and we have seen before, ISIL is a group of terrorists who will attack us in any of our capitals, in any of our countries, anywhere across the globe given the opportunity to do that.

The Iraqis, unfortunately, saw that, but we also saw that in Bangladesh. In Turkey we've and seen bombings, in Paris, in Brussels. We've also seen people inspired by this terrorist group that conduct attacks in the United States and then all of our capital.

So it certainly gives us resolve as to why we must accomplish our mission and defeat them here in Iraq and Syria.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about that. These three attacks in the space of one week in different continents. I mean, this was an attack in Asia in Bangladesh. This was in Turkey, that straddles Asia and Europe, and then of course, the Middle East in Baghdad. What do you think of the scope of ISIS? Because it feels as though it's expanding.

GARVER: Well, ISIL is a global problem. We've known it's a global problem. They've wanted to have global impact for the last two years. As they get squeezed in Iraq and Syria, as we take terrain away from them and defeat them and they have not won a battle in Iraq in the last seven months.

Ever since the fall of Ramadi last year, they have not won a battle, and they have only lost ground. They're trying to remain relevant on the global stage, and they're trying to show that as they attract crazies and sickos from across the globe, they're trying to show that, hey, we're still a viable threat, we're still a viable force.

So that's why, again, it's important we defeat them here to help cut down this exportation of terror across the globe.

CAMEROTA: And your mission, of course, is to shrink that physical space that they occupy. But how important is that physical space, since it does seem as though regardless of physical space, they're able to perpetrate these global attacks?

GARVER: Well, it's important because they declared themselves an independent country, what they call a caliphate, in between Iraq and Syria. Kind of between the space that wasn't being governed very well, and they conquered some more space. They're showing, or trying to show, the crazies around the

world, hey, we are a viable state. This is the caliphate as it's been declared. You need to come to us, and we will train you and make you a foreign fighter as we call them here.

We have to break that. We are not only trying to beat a force on the battlefield but beat an ideology as well. We're trying to prove that ISIL does not have anything of value to offer the world. That's why we have to defeat them.

CAMEROTA: Colonel, some in the military have suggested the air campaign that you're a part of, obviously leading, is not as effective as it could be. Barbara Starr sat down with the air force chief of intelligence, who said on a scale of one to ten, he would only give it a five. Let me play for you what he said about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GENERAL 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: Colonel, is that a problem, which is not having people on the ground to point out exactly where the fighters are and the targets, to make the air campaign more successful?

GARVER: Well, we do both what we call dynamic targeting, which is the targets that develop in the middle of the fights, and we do deliberate targeting, which is as our intelligence finds those viable targets, as he was just talking about just there, we then go in and strike those targets.

But we're being very careful about hitting civilians. We're being very careful about making sure when we go attack something that is ISIL, it's what we want to attack. We have a very stringent vetting process to make sure we're hitting exactly what we think we're hitting.

In the middle of fights, we'll roll fighters in, I support of the Iraqi Security Forces and in support of our opposition partners in Syria and attack targets that way. But it is -- it's something we're constantly working at and constantly working to get better at. So absolutely, it's something we're continuing to improve.

CAMEROTA: Colonel, thank you for your time today. We wish all of you there on the front lines a happy 4th of July. Thanks for being here.

GARVER: All right. Thank you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Let's get over to John.

BERMAN: All right, thanks, Alisyn. Some of our military heroes and their families honored with a Major League Baseball game just in time for the 4th. This was wonderful. We'll explain what's going on here and why this Marlins/Braves game made history. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:47:41]

BERMAN: For the first time ever, a Major League Baseball game was played at a military base. A special night at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Andy Scholes has more in the "Bleacher Report." Good morning, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. You know, this was a really cool moment for all these guys. In four months, Major League Baseball turned an overgrown golf course into a beautiful baseball field surrounded by temporary stands at Fort Bragg.

More than 12,000 service members and their families packed those stands to watch the Braves take on the Marlins. The 82nd Airborne doing an awesome flyover before the game. Check that out. The Marlins would go on to win it 5-2.

After the game, CNN's own Hines Ward talked with some of the players about this historic game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HINES WARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How do you feel about your first impressions of playing the first ever baseball game here at Fort Bragg?

J.T. REALMUTO, MARLINS CATCHER: It was awesome. I mean, it meant a lot to all of us guys, especially this morning getting to go and hang out with the troops. I thanked those guys for what they do for us. None of us would be here if it wasn't for them protecting us. It means a lot to put on a show for them.

ADAM CONLEY, MARLINS PITCHER: This is an incredible thing. It's an eye-opening experience for us and a reminder which we need all the time of the sacrifices the men and women in the military make for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Not only did Hines get to go to the game, he got to go up in a plane with the Golden Knights and jump out of it. Guys, he called this his initiation to CNN.

[06:50:09]John and Alisyn, I don't know about you, but I did not have to jump out of a plane to join the team at CNN. Lucky for me because I don't know if I would have been able to do it.

BERMAN: He's got a lousy agent. I didn't have to do that either.

CAMEROTA: Right. That would have been a deal breaker for some of us but not him. Andy, thank you very much. All right. Donald trump days away from announcing his running

mate. Now a rising star in the Republican Party is said to be on his short list, but is she ready for this? We'll tell you who she is and who the other picks might be.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: So the 4th of July always cause for celebration, but we are in the midst of another quadrennial celebration, the vice presidential selection process. Happy Veep stakes, everyone. Some of the traditions include wild speculation, deliberate leaks, and the trafficking of hypotheticals. Let's do it.

Joining us right now is CNN political analyst and presidential campaign correspondent for "The New York Times," Maggie Haberman, and CNN political commentator and political anchor of Time Warner Cable News, Errol Louis.

Guys, let's start with the Republican side. Let's put up the list right now that's being floated of possible Donald Trump running mates right now. You can see all the faces right there.

I want to highlight two that really are the most current in terms of wild speculation at deliberate links. Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, who we're now told in the last 24 hours she is definitely on the list and being vetted. And Mike Pence, who played golf this weekend with Donald Trump in New Jersey. What's going on here?

MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Ernst is definitely new. She was not seriously being vetted as of last week. In fact, she was at some kind of Republican senatorial retreat a couple weeks ago or a week and a half ago and seemed almost disappointed according to one attendee that she was not being vetted.

[06:55:05]So that is definitely a change. Look, as I've had it said to me, there is no consensus candidate in Trump land. There is no also top choice. It was described it last week that Newt Gingrich is a top choice. That's not my understanding. He is being vetted, as is Chris Christie.

But remember, you're dealing with Donald Trump, who is famously mercurial. He keeps his own council. If people went to him and said, we all think this is what you should do, you could see him doing the exact opposite. So we're not going to have clarity on this for a couple more days.

CAMEROTA: But Joni Ernst is pretty strategic. A woman, she might be able to deliver Iowa in that thinking that your VP pick can deliver the state and she's obviously a conservative. Is that a good, wise choice?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Sure, sure. The other thing that a traditional pick would bring is the ability to do combat including on television. She's pretty feisty. She's shown her chops pretty well. Another good reason to think about her. And then of course to the extent that Trump in the polls at

least seems to have a major problem attracting women, this takes a little bit of the shine off that.

And frankly, even takes a little off of Hillary Clinton's potential to make history by saying, look, one way or another, a woman will be either the president or vice president. So come make history with us in this particular way with this conservative woman.

BERMAN: Maggie said something I don't want to let slip by here. You said we could learn something in the next couple days. The timing is upon us. The Republican convention is in two weeks. I mean, Trump could name someone soon.

HABERMAN: Yes. We're running out of days here. Just to add on to Errol's point, Joni Ernst is also a combat veteran. That would make her much more appealing, or she might just be a veteran. I'm not positive she served.

But she balances out in terms of military experience, where is an area where he is seen as lacking. In terms of the timing, originally, Trump had wanted to do this during the convention. Then he realized that was not going to be great.

It would likely overshadow everything else that happened. He does want this convention to be pretty memorable. We're now looking at, you know, a ticking clock of the next ten days or so.

CAMEROTA: Here's John's favorite moment from this weekend. In reference to whether or not Newt Gingrich is going to be chosen. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'd like to ask one question before we begin. Newty going to do it? That's all I want to know. I want to get to the important things off the bat. I think he needs the help, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Joe Biden going off script.

BERMAN: Newt Gingrich is in the audience there. Joe Biden was heckling Newt Gingrich.

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: So I couldn't tell what Newt Gingrich said.

BERMAN: He said, should I? Basically he said should I?

LOUIS: Pretty good question. Should he do it? From the point of view of the candidate, of the main candidate, NEWT GINGRICH brings some pluses and some minuses. The pluses, of course, he was there for the impeachment. He drove some important parts of moving the Republican Party forward.

Perhaps with hindsight, more of the party might appreciate what Newt Gingrich brought to the table. He, of course, has been famously divisive and controversial within the party.

The other thing he brings is the history Professor Newt Gingrich, the guy who likes to speculate and freelance on issues, the guy who likes to think for himself and maybe surprise and startle people a little bit. You don't necessarily want that in a vice president.

BERMAN: All right, we're three weeks away from the Democratic convention. Hillary Clinton has to pick a running mate also. Let's put up the board there of some of the people being considered so can see some of the names out there, Cory Booker, Sherrod Brown, Tim Kaine, Julian Castro, Elizabeth Warren, Deval Patrick, et cetera, et cetera.

Maggie, any sense of who's in the lead right now? They seem to be playing this close to the vest.

HABERMAN: They're playing this close to the vest, as is the Trump team, to be clear. I still think that Tim Kaine, based on all my reporting, is the likeliest choice at the moment, bearing in mind this could change.

CAMEROTA: Despite the fact of the $160,000 gifts that he disclosed. That's not baggage enough to be disqualifying.

HABERMAN: It's going to come up, and it will be a problem. If you pick Cory Booker, you're going to get attacked that he's too close to the same donors that she's criticized for being too close to and he doesn't get too much geographically.

At the end of the day and I think they are concerned about having two women on the ticket. Hillary Clinton continues to have some problem with working class white voters. Not all of the party has coalesced after Bernie Sanders has effectively ended his campaign without endorsing. Tim Kaine could help them with a lot.

BERMAN: Progressives, though, a lot of progressives not fans.

HABERMAN: They believe that progressives are pretty much coming back into the fold anyway.

CAMEROTA: Maggie, Errol, thank you. Great to have you guys here. All right, we're following a lot of news this morning. So let's get right to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Beefed up security for the big Independence Day celebrations.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a pretty tight security plan for the 4th of July. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A suicide bomber struck Baghdad.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Officials there expect the death toll still to rise.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ISIS claimed responsibility for the bombing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A scene of total devastation.

BERMAN: Donald Trump facing new questions about a tweet that included anti-Semitic imagery.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This tweet originated in a white supremacist web site.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is political correctness.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hillary Clinton came to FBI Headquarters. Officials who are investigating --