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New Day
Deadly Police Shooting Sparks Protests & Outrage; Trump Accuses Clinton of Bribing A.G. in Email Probe. Aired 7-7:30a ET
Aired July 06, 2016 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Following the breaking news for you this morning. There's outrage over a deadly police-involved shooting. This was caught on video. Let's get right to it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hands up, don't shoot!
[07:00:15] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our lives do matter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is an ongoing investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He didn't deserve to be shot like that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This may definitely be the next Ferguson right here in Baton Rouge.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hillary got me fired up.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's like a carnival act.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is a president who knows how to keep us safe. Compare that to Donald Trump.
TRUMP: Her enemies may have a blackmail file on Crooked Hillary.
JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: There is evidence that they were extremely careless.
TRUMP: Stupidity is not a reason that you're going to be innocent.
OBAMA: There has never been any man or woman more qualified than Hillary Clinton.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Morning everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. We do have breaking news for you, because of protests in Baton Rouge after a man is repeatedly shot by police while pinned to the ground and during a confrontation. CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: The deadly encounter between two officers
and the African-American man captured on cell-phone video. That is now obviously viral as the community and the man's family demand answers. We have CNN's Polo Sandoval live with the breaking details -- Polo.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Chris, good morning.
Well, as you mentioned that video is graphic. It is obviously going to be very important for the investigation here. Offered in context, the city was actually shot by somebody that was in the parking lot at the time of that early-morning shooting. It's short, but it's prompting some serious questions and a call for transparency.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANDOVAL (voice-over): Hundreds of protesters taking to the streets in Baton Rouge after this graphic video circulated on social media of a deadly encounter between police and a man at a convenience store.
According to police, two officers responded to an anonymous call just after midnight on Tuesday. The caller said a man selling CDs outside of the store threatened him with a gun. The officers attempted to subdue 37-year-old Alton Sterling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get on the ground! Get on the ground!
SANDOVAL: The store owner says that one officer used a Taser, but Sterling remained on his feet. Sterling is then tackled by an officer over the hood of a car. As officers wrestled to restrain Sterling, someone yells...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's got a gun.
SANDOVAL: Sterling was then shot several times at point blank range.
ABDUL MUFLAHI, STORE OWNER WHO KNEW STERLING: I was actually maybe two, three feet away when that happened.
SANDOVAL: The store owner says while Sterling lay in the parking lot, he saw officers pull a gun from his pocket. Sterling's family now demanding answers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really want to know more about what happened about the whole situation, because my brother didn't deserve it. He didn't deserve it at all.
SANDOVAL: CNN affiliate WAFB reports the officers in question were wearing body cameras, but they apparently fell off in the alteration. Baton Rouge Police have placed the officers on administrative leave.
CORPORAL L'JEAN MCKNEELY, SPOKESMAN, BATON ROUGE POLICE DEPARTMENT: This is an ongoing investigation. We've got to review the video; we're going to review the audio. We have witnesses, non-biased witnesses here. We're going to bring them down to our station and interview them. SANDOVAL: The coroner ruling that Sterling died of multiple gunshot
wounds to the chest and back.
MUFLAHI: God bless his soul. It could have been handled much differently. On both sides, it could have been handled differently.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANDOVAL: And of course, very important to remember, it is still early in this investigation. But despite that, we do have at least one congressman, local congressman asking for the Department of Justice to launch its own investigation, as well.
Meanwhile, we are told, at least according to local reports, that this is the third deadly officer-involved shooting in East Baton Rouge parish.
CUOMO: Certainly cause for distrust in these situations, Polo. That's why we want to stay on it from the beginning. Appreciate the reporting.
Let's bring in Edmond Jordan, the attorney for Alton Sterling's family. And a Louisiana state representative, joining us there. Sir, thank you for joining us.
What is the family's immediate reaction to this in terms of what they want people to know about Sterling?
EDMOND JORDAN, ATTORNEY FOR ALTON STERLING'S FAMILY: Well, they want to know that Alton was a respected man, beloved in his community. That he did not deserve the treatment and the excessive force that was exerted on him by the police department.
CUOMO: Let's play this video. Obviously, without this cell-phone video, a lot of this discussion wouldn't be happening right now. So let's play tell me what you think you see.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get on the ground.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JORDAN: Well, I've seen the video several times. The police officers Tased twice, according to witness reports, and then they tackled him. But as they have him on the ground, I mean they have him in a position where they can subdue him. There's no reason to shoot him at this point.
And if they thought that he had a gun, which witnesses say that he did have a gun on him, then to me that shouldn't have been the way that they approach him. There are other ways that you can disarm an individual, simply by asking if they have a weapon and, even if he doesn't tell the truth in that situation, there are other ways you can go about still disarming him. CUOMO: What can you tell us about whether or not the family can
substantiate that Sterling even owned a gun, that he might have been carrying the gun. We know there is an open carry law allowance in that part of Louisiana. But what can you confirm?
JORDAN: I can't confirm anything on that right now. And I've spoken to several relatives, and they weren't aware that he had a gun. So, you know, that differs from the witness accounts. So, we're still investigating that.
CUOMO: You're wearing two hats here. You're counsel for the family. You're also an elected official, putting on your elected official. What's your concern in this situation?
JORDAN: Well, I will tell you this. My main concern has always been when we talk about criminal justice reform, a lot of people think about sentencing and things of that nature, but what we really are concerned about is the way that law enforcement interacts with the community, and so that's one of our biggest issues. I think we need to get back to community policing.
We need make sure that police officers know the people in the community, and if they were patrolling their community in such a way, they would have known Alton, because he was well-known and respected throughout the community.
CUOMO: This does smack familiar here to other stories that we've seen, and the obvious question people are going to have is just the shortest one, which is why? Why in the position that they had Alton Sterling, did they need to then use deadly force? Do you think that there is an answer that will come to that question that will justify the shooting?
JORDAN: I don't. I've looked at the video several times, and there's nothing that I can see to justify that. And what I'll tell you is this. Listen to the shots. That police officer fired two shots, and he seemed to pause for a while and shot him two more times. I don't think any of those shots were justified, but I am curious as to why he paused for such a long period of time and then fired two more times.
CUOMO: Family's going to come out this morning, we understand, and make a statement. What do you -- what should we anticipate?
JORDAN: Well, I think what you will see is a family grieving and mourning for an unnecessary loss of life. Alton was out there selling CD's, trying to make a living. He was doing it with the permission of the store owners. He wasn't involved in any criminal conduct.
And for the officers to come in and, without explanation, just attack him like that, I think that the city is going to have to give us some good answers; and I don't know if they'll be able to.
CUOMO: You say you don't know if they'll be able to. There are local reports that this is the third such shooting in a pretty abbreviated time frame. How deep do you believe the problems with the police force go? JORDAN: You know, I'll let the Justice Department get into that. I
won't speculate on that.
But what I will say is this: We had an incident on Earth Day that certainly drew some local attention. I'm not sure if it drew national attention. But -- and we've had other incidents, as well.
We need to get to the root of it and look, as a city, we can't continue to sit back and allow this to happen. I mean, we need to take some action. I think it needs to be peaceful, and it will be appropriate, but we certainly need to take action now.
CUOMO: We're hearing from the police force that they haven't reviewed the tape yet. I mean, that could just be officials, right? I mean, it's all over the place. What's the chance they didn't look at it? But what's your reaction to their saying, "We haven't looked at the tape"?
JORDAN: Well, I'm more curious as to why they confiscated the tape and returned it to the store owner. Look, at this point, there cannot be any charges brought against Alton Sterling. So, this is not a criminal investigation as it relates to Alton.
And if there is a criminal investigation related to the police officers, obviously, we haven't heard that, then why not just release the surveillance tape that they confiscated from the store?
CUOMO: The concern in these kinds of situations is obviously justifying the action but also then justifying the reaction. There have been protests. This is just coming to light, this situation. What is your word to the community about what to do and what not to do in response?
[07:10:06] JORDAN: Look, we had a peaceful protest last night. I think it needs to remain peaceful. I can understand that tensions are high, but we need to respect Alton's memory, respect his family. And I certainly don't oppose protests. I think we should be out there protesting, but it should remain peaceful.
CUOMO: Edmond Jordan, thank you very much for giving us the word from the family. We look forward to hearing from them this morning, albeit under the worst of circumstances.
JORDAN: Thank you.
CUOMO: Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: All right, Chris. Now to our other top story. Donald Trump accusing Hillary Clinton of bribing Attorney General Loretta Lynch after the FBI recommended not charging Clinton over her email server. Trump also inviting some new controversy by praising Saddam Hussein.
We have the race for the White House covered, starting with Sara Murray, live in North Carolina for us. Give us all the latest, Sara.
SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Alisyn.
Donald Trump spoke here for over an hour last night, and you could tell he really wanted to focus on hammering Hillary Clinton over her e-mail scandal to seize on the decision by the FBI not to recommend charges against Hillary Clinton. But he took a couple detours along the way.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: She lied.
MURRAY (voice-over): Donald Trump touching down in the stormy Tar Heel State to land a searing attack against Hillary Clinton.
TRUMP: Stupidity is not a reason that you're going to be innocent, OK? It's not a reason. Today is the best evidence ever that we've seen that our system is absolutely, totally rigged.
MURRAY: Trump attempting to cast Clinton as a corrupt politician, all after FBI Director James Comey said he won't recommend charges against Clinton for using private e-mail servers, while offering pointed criticism.
JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: There is evidence that they were extremely careless.
MURRAY: Trump leapt at the chance to pile on.
TRUMP: She sent vast amounts of classified information, including information classified as top secret. She was extremely careless and frankly, I say, grossly incompetent. She will be such a lousy president.
MURRAY: Trump even suggesting Clinton may have bribed her way to this outcome.
TRUMP: She said today that we may consider the attorney general to go forward. That's like a bribe. Isn't it sort of a bribe?
MURRAY: That's after a "New York Times" story, not Clinton herself, cited unnamed Democrats, saying Clinton may decide to keep Loretta Lynch as attorney general. But Trump didn't stop with Clinton. As she campaigned alongside President Obama, Trump took aim at Obama's penchant for golf.
TRUMP: Golf, golf. More, more. Learning how to chip, learning how to hit the drive.
MURRAY: The acronym he uses to describe ISIS.
TRUMP: He says ISIL. He says ISIL, and you know, it's almost like he does it to make people upset.
MURRAY: And his demeanor in the White House.
TRUMP: We've got a person in the White House that's having a lot of fun. A lot of fun. I watched him today. It's like a carnival act.
MURRAY: But even as Trump tried to stay on the offensive, he again set off controversy by offering his accolades to former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, a man who maintained a vise grip on power, in part by financing terrorism, torturing opponents, and targeting minorities.
TRUMP: We shouldn't have destabilized. Saddam Hussein was a bad guy, right? He was a bad guy, really bad guy. But you know why he did well? He killed terrorists. He did that so good.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MURRAY: Now, Trump's comments about Saddam Hussein remained all the more awkward, because that's not the view shared by many in his own party, and he was campaigning alongside Senator Bob Corker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
But Trump tried to change the conversation, turn things back on to Hillary Clinton overnight. And he took to Twitter to do that, saying, "I don't think that voters will forget the rigged system that allowed Crooked Hillary to get away with," quote, "'murder.' Come November 8, she's out."
Back to you, Chris.
CUOMO: There's no question that this is going to play very differently based on what your political calculation is. There was no mention of the emails as President Obama took the stage with Hillary Clinton at a campaign rally just hours after the FBI announcement.
We have CNN's Michelle Kosinski on the scene now live at the White House with Michelle.
MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, there are times when your silence is way more conspicuous than anything you could have said. And it's one of those time, you know, given that Hillary Clinton's good news also came with some bad news, the White House said nothing about it.
Even though they've weighed in before. Hillary Clinton had two campaign events yesterday. Said nothing. It was her campaign that just put out a quick paper statement saying that they're glad the matter has been resolved now with them wanting to keep shadows away from this big day on the campaign trail.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[07:15:03] KOSINSKI (voice-over): These are the pictures Hillary Clinton's campaign has been waiting for, the arrival with the president on Air Force One. Then...
(MUSIC: "FIGHT SONG")
KOSINSKI: ... side by side on the stage. BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hillary! Hillary!
Hillary!
CLINTON: This, my friends, is a president who knows how to keep us safe and strong. Compare that to Donald Trump.
KOSINSKI: This is President Obama returning the favor after the rivals back in 2008, then united in New Hampshire.
CLINTON: We stand shoulder to shoulder.
OBAMA: With this.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I believe in Hillary Clinton.
KOSINSKI: Came after a surreal day in politics. You'd never know here that Hillary Clinton was now not facing criminal charges. Not a word mentioned of it, as if it hadn't been the story of the day or that the FBI announcement hadn't happened, coincidentally two hours before the two took off together.
OBAMA: I'm with her.
KOSINSKI: This appearance pure cheerleading.
CLINTON: He's made difficult, even unpopular decisions for the good of our country.
OBAMA: There has never been any man or woman more qualified for this office than Hillary Clinton. Never. And that's the truth.
I'm here today because I believe in Hillary Clinton. I want you to help elect her to be the next president of the United States of America.
KOSINSKI: A chance, too, to hit Republicans plenty of times and once again, even now the president would not say Donald Trump's name.
OBAMA: Even the Republicans on the other side don't really know what the guy's talking about. You ask them, they're all like, "I don't know."
KOSINSKI: President Obama now out on the trail showing the energy he's known for.
OBAMA: I'm ready to pass the baton. And I know Hillary Clinton is going to take it, and I know she can run that race.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOSINSKI: What the White House has said on the email situation in the past, they've reiterated that Hillary Clinton said that that her use of private e-mails was a mistake, that she didn't intend to mishandle information. And President Obama himself said that he didn't think that this put national security at risk. It's hard for the announcement there by the FBI to be any kind of a
vindication when you have the director saying things like it is possible that hostile actors did access her emails -- Alisyn.
CAMEROTA: Absolutely. And we'll debate a lot of that coming up. Michelle, thank you for that.
Well, we're following breaking news for you right now, because the results of Great Britain's investigation into that country's role in the Iraq War have just been released.
A scathing report, it finds that Saddam Hussein was not an imminent threat and did not warrant war. It also says that former Prime Minister Tony Blair's decision to invade Iraq was influenced by the U.K.'s close relationship with the U.S.
This was an exhaustive report. It was commissioned by Blair's successor, Gordon Brown. It took seven years to complete. Blair is blasting this report and will speak out later today. We'll bring you that when we get it.
CUOMO: So, when it comes to the email situation, legally, Hillary Clinton may not be held to be criminally responsible, but can she escape the cloud over her judgment? How damaging could this issue be going forward in the campaign? The Trump campaign is betting big on it. We'll debate next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[07:22:35] CAMEROTA: The FBI releasing their long-awaited findings on Hillary Clinton's email use as secretary of state. FBI Director James Comey debunking several claims by Clinton on her email practices.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I did not email any classified material to anyone on my email. There is no classified material.
JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: From the group of 30,000 emails returned to the State Department in 2014, 110 emails in 52 email chains have been determined by the Owning agency to contain classified information at the time they were sent or received.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: OK. So, let's discuss this. We want to bring in our CNN political and former campaign manager for Donald Trump, Corey Lewandowski; and CNN political commentator, the vice chair of the New York state Democratic Party, Christine Quinn. She is a Hillary Clinton supporter.
Christine, let me start with you. This was not a criminal indictment, but it was an indictment on Secretary Clinton's judgment and honesty. How damaging do you think this is?
CHRISTINE QUINN, VICE CHAIR, NEW YORK STATE DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Hillary Clinton has long said that it was a mistake to use the server that she used, and she wouldn't do it again.
CAMEROTA: Just address that right there, because she said, "I never emailed any classified information." That was proven false yesterday.
QUINN: So the secretary and her campaign says that, as did the State Department say that same fact.
The emails that the FBI director is referencing, the campaign has not seen. So we can't speak to what he's referring to.
But I think the critical issue here is that this question -- the questions around the server have been out there for a while now. And I think the attack that the Republicans have been putting out that she was going to be charged with criminal offenses is gone. The director said, in essence, what she herself said, that this shouldn't have happened. It was a mistake. He would have said there were no criminal acts, nothing here indicated that there were criminal actions knowingly doing anything wrong.
CAMEROTA: He said she was extremely careless. He also said something we hadn't heard before, that a small number of the emails did contain the designation of classified. So we had never possessed before.
But moreover, Christine, it -- what he said is that someone in her position should have known that the material, the content was sensitive and classified. Don't you see this as affecting her judgment and voters' impressions of her judgment?
[06:25:05] QUINN: Look, I don't see that at all. First of all, as it relates to voters, there's not a lot new in what came out from the director yesterday, except for putting the issue of criminality and putting this real investigation, I would say, to bed and putting it to rest.
The FBI director, notwithstanding some of the outrageous comments Donald Trump made about his character is a lifetime American public servant. He is a guy above reproach, a completely nonpartisan, apolitical guy.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
QUINN: So he's the guy you want to say whether something was criminal or not, A. B, the voters clearly know about this issue. You can't miss it if you're an...
CAMEROTA: OK.
QUINN: ... you know, an interested voter. And in all the polling, they say this is not a critical issue to them. So this is going to further put an issue they said is not a priority to bed and put it away.
Now, on the issue of trust...
CAMEROTA: The voters do believe that's an issue.
QUINN: ... the secretary herself recently said she recognizes that that's a challenge, and she has to work to get trust back.
CAMEROTA: OK.
QUINN: Let's not forget this is a woman who, for 30 years, has had a cottage industry attacking her, questioning her. She has borne up against endless Republican investigations, none of which has ever yielded any charges or any definitive findings.
CAMEROTA: Find. Yesterday was different. I mean, this wasn't a right-wing conspiracy. This was a man with a sterling reputation...
QUINN: Absolutely.
CAMEROTA: ... saying that they did find careless behavior.
QUINN: But...
CAMEROTA: I want to bring in Corey.
QUINN: But the whole -- the position of what may be a trust issue isn't related to this. It is more fundamentally related to the 30 years of a cottage industry of attacks against the Clintons. That set the stage from which she is going to respond.
CAMEROTA: Corey, Director Comey certainly gave Donald Trump material with which he could make hay, but Donald Trump went further. And he said that he believed that Hillary Clinton had bribed Loretta Lynch, the attorney general. Let me play that for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The attorney general's sitting there saying, "You know, if I get Hillary off the hook, I'm going to have four more years or eight more years, but if she loses I'm out of a job." It's a bribe. It's a disgrace. It's a disgrace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: It's a bribe. What did he go there?
COREY LEWANDOWSKI, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, "The New York Times" reported yesterday that a source close to Hillary Clinton said that there was the potential that if Hillary Clinton was elected president, that she would consider keeping Loretta Lynch on as the attorney general.
CAMEROTA: And that rises to the level of a bribe to you?
LEWANDOWSKI: I think what that says is, you know, do we have an ulterior motive here in making sure that the right finding is put forth so that I want to keep my position? Now, that's a source close to Hillary Clinton in "The New York Times" saying that.
CAMEROTA: But do you -- but do you feel confident with Director Comey's findings? LEWANDOWSKI: Well, here's what I think. I think the director's job
was not to say that a prosecutor would not move forward with the case, which is what he said. His job, as the director of the FBI is to lay out the case to the best of their ability, to do the investigative work, and then turn it over to the prosecution for the prosecutor to determine if they're going to...
CAMEROTA: He said he makes recommendations all the time on cases.
LEWANDOWSKI: Well, he doesn't do them publicly. And so what he does privately is very different. I've never seen -- I don't think anyone's ever seen an FBI investigator -- an FBI director come out and have a press conference like what we say yesterday or say that there's no belief in his own mind that a prosecutor would move forward that case.
I think it's the job of the FBI to do the research and to present to the prosecutors for their information to determine if they're going to move forward. And what they're doing instead is he's become the judge and the jury, and he is saying that he doesn't believe any prosecutor would move forward. I don't think he can say that from his perspective. He can say that the evidence has led me to this. It's up to the prosecutor to determine if they're going to move forward or not.
QUINN: A couple of things. You know, Donald Trump's behavior yesterday is just classic Donald Trump. When he doesn't like the outcome or sees things maybe heading in a direction he doesn't like, he attacks the people who are part of the process.
"The New York Times" said an unnamed Democratic source. Who knows who that is, and who knows if they are, in fact, even close to Hillary Clinton? Said she might possibly consider.
CAMEROTA: Keeping Loretta Lynch on the job, which is what he's basing his bribery accusation on.
QUINN: We don't know who said it.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
QUINN: And it was in no way definitive.
But beyond that, Loretta Lynch is a woman who was twice a U.S. attorney and the attorney general of the United States. And to say that unsourced statement in "The New York Times" is Hillary Clinton bribing Loretta Lynch is so offensive and insulting, but it speaks to Donald Trump. When things don't go his way, he just starts whining.
But let's go further than the FBI director, and I agree with you, a man of sterling reputation. He came out, I believe with that press conference, as we understand it, no notice to the White House, because he wanted to have a public...
CAMEROTA: He said, "I did not talk to anyone about this. In fact, the Justice Department doesn't know what I'm about to say." So, no coordination.
LEWANDOWSKI: At 11 a.m. yesterday morning when he stepped to the podium, I think when he began to lay out the case of the facts that he found, most people who were watching that press conference thought that charges would be filed. He was very clear and very concise about the fact that there was classified information on that server. There were multiple servers, that the email system was so insecure that Gmail was more secure.
