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Federal Charges Filed Against Bombing Suspect; FBI Investigated Bombing Suspect Ahmad Rahami in 2014; Wells Fargo CEO Grilled On Capitol Hill; Interview with Sen. Sherrod Brown; Candidates Fight To The Finish In Pennsylvania. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired September 21, 2016 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:33:30] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the investigation into the terror bombings in New York and New Jersey. Bombing suspect Ahmad Rahami now charged with federal crimes, including the use of weapons of mass destruction.

CNN justice correspondent Evan Perez joins us with more. Good morning, Evan.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, Ahmad Kahn Rahami is now facing multiple federal charges in New York and New Jersey, including using weapons of mass destruction and bombing of a public place. Criminal complaints filed yesterday are offering new insight into how the alleged bomber carried out this weekend's attacks, in addition to what may have motivated him and the potential for the bombings to be a lot worse.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEREZ: (Video playing) Federal investigators say this weekend's bombings were in the works for months. According to a criminal complaint, alleged bomber Ahmad Kahn Rahami bought the components for the explosives on eBay over the summer, including citric acid and circuit boards, and shipped the materials to his workplace.

Then, just days before the attacks a video shows Rahami experimenting with explosives, officials say. The video, recovered from a family member's cell phone, shows Rahami igniting incendiary material in a cylindrical container, then billowing smoke and laughter.

The bomb that ultimately exploded Saturday night in New York City, powerful enough to propel this 100-pound dumpster more than 120 feet, shattering windows three stories high and 400 feet from the detonation.

[07:35:00] Twelve fingerprints on the unexploded bomb found four blocks away ultimately leading authorities to Rahami. Another key piece of evidence, a handwritten journal found on Rahami when he was captured in New Jersey which authorities say references terrorists, including American-born al Qaeda cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki and Osama bin Laden. Rahami writing, "God willing, the sounds of the bombs will be heard in the streets." The complaint also references a social media account officials believe

to be Rahami's, showing that the suspect favorited two videos related to Jihad.

These details coming as authorities confirm that Rahami came on the FBI's radar two years ago. U.S. Customs telling CNN that they notified the Bureau about Rahami after he returned from a trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2014. Later that year the FBI investigated a tip alleging the suspect's father was calling his son a terrorist.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why did you call the FBI to your son? What happened?

MOHAMMAD RAHAMI, SUSPECT'S FATHER: Because he doing bad.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's doing bad? What did he do bad?

RAHAMI: Yes, he stabbed my son, he hit my wife, and I put him to jail two years ago.

PEREZ: His father, ultimately, retracting that accusation, leading authorities to conclude it was a domestic matter. A friend of the suspect says that Rahami and his family have been at odds since he got his girlfriend pregnant in high school.

EHSAN, FAMILY FRIEND: For him, it was his father and it was just -- it was just tension. It was on -- it was his part, too. He should have listened more to his father and maybe, you know, stayed in school.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREZ: According to a U.S. official, Ahmad Rahami's wife left the United States before Saturday's bombings. She'd been scheduled to fly back to the United States this week. She's currently in the United Arab Emirates where she is cooperating with investigators -- Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN Ahmad: All right, Evan, so we have who knew, who may have pushed him to do this -- that underlying motivation -- and then the most vexing question is how are you supposed to stop someone like this?

CNN chief national security correspondent Jim Scuitto is here and CNN terrorism analyst and editor-in-chief of "CTC Sentinel", Paul Cruickshank.

Jim, we've collectively covered so many of these. A guy this like -- unless the family -- unless the family or a friend who knows what he's up to comes forward, very tough to catch them. A unique challenge for the NYPD. They did brilliantly in finding Rahami after the fact, but it's a tough job for this new commissioner to find him before.

JIM SCUITTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: No question. Keep in mind, he was sworn in just the day after these attacks. I mean, literally, at the beginning of his job. So I asked him, are they still looking to see whether he had a support network. Here's what James O'Neill had to say yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCUITTO: Do you believe -- do you still believe that he acted alone with these attacks and attempted attacks?

JAMES O'NEILL, NYPD POLICE COMMISSIONER: Jim, it's very early on in the investigation so as we move through this we're going to determined who his acquaintances were, family, friends. Go through his social media, see if he had any phones. We'll go through all of that to make that determination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: And really you have two questions here, right? Active support -- did someone give him money, help him build the bomb, et cetera. But then the other one is the sin of omission, right? I mean, here's a guy who was lighting off explosives in his backyard two days before the attack.

CUOMO: What's up with the family phone having video of him, Paul -- of him testing this? I mean, who -- you know what I mean? Like where is your head when you decide to take video of your brother or your sibling doing something like that?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "CTC SENTINEL"; Well, the question with that was, was he borrowing one his family member's phone and recording this himself? That's certainly possible. Or was there another family member who was fully aware of this and was recording him and aware of that's what he was going to do. We just don't have the answers to those --

CUOMO: How about the wife taking off just days before?

CRUICKSHANK: Well, again, I mean, that begs all sorts of questions. But they've not, so far, suggested -- the authorities -- that she had any knowledge of what was going to happen. But they're certainly going to want to question her and find out at least about what her husband was doing in the weeks before this attack.

CUOMO: Now, Paul has been talking about this but I know you've been reporting about, as well. The devices, themselves, are still the strongest suggestion that someone had to help him because everything in terms of how he carried this out shows that he may well have been alone because, thankfully, it was done very poorly.

SCUITTO: Right. Well, listen, you can get the recipes for these bombs online. You can buy the materials, as we know, on eBay and put them together. So the -- but, these are volatile explosives. To do it well takes some work.

Now, he could have done it on its own -- on his own -- but as Paul has -- as Paul has reported, we haven't seen that kind of explosive yield in the U.S. in some time. So the possibility he did have some help, particularly when he was traveling to places -- for instance, in Pakistan there are known to be areas of support for the Taliban, for instance -- it certainly makes that credible.

CUOMO: You are drawn to the explosives. You say that this is different than what we saw in Boston.

[07:40:00] CRUICKSHANK: Absolutely. I mean, this was high explosives. This was significantly more powerful than the Boston device. I mean, this could have produced absolute carnage if it was let off in a crowded space in New York on a subway. Thank God it appears to be left in this heavy-duty dumpster because that appears to have contained quite a lot of the force of the blast.

But nevertheless, there was fragmentation patterns 650 feet away. This was a very powerful bomb, very, very concerning to investigators. And something with the components HMTD, which he was buying the citric acid for -- that's tricky to make, as Jim was saying.

A lot of this has parallels to the Faisal Shahzad case, right? The guy who tried to bomb Times Square in 2010. He was someone with a very similar travel pattern to Pakistan. In the end, it turned out he'd been trained by the Pakistani Taliban and directed to launch the attack. So we'll have to see if there was that connection with a terrorist group.

CUOMO: Now, something that the audience doesn't get to hear that often but is very true, is that a big reason that law enforcement in this country is able to stop things is because of the Muslim community. They reach out, they do talk. The assimilate of excellence of America that we are altogether transcending religion and race matters here.

And that's pretty much their best tool with someone like this, Jimmy, because unless he's actively talking with bad guys how are you going to know? The FBI's flooded with tips about guys like this.

SCIUTTO: I hear that so often from the law enforcement community -- counterterror community. They depend on these communities, right? I mean, if you see something, say something. That's everyone's responsibility. But, of course, it's the people closest to the potential terrorist who are most valuable and you don't want to antagonize them. You don't want to create the impression that everybody is a suspect, right, because you need their help.

And keep in mind here, his dad, two years ago, did talk to the authorities about possible terror, although he was --

CUOMO: But, in shaky -- in shaky circumstances. He like stabbed his brother or something and the father was angry about that and he recanted.

SCUITTO: And he later -- and he later recanted, but you do at least -- you did have some contact there.

CUOMO: Right.

CRUICKSHANK: Yes.

CUOMO: Jimmy, Paul, thank you very much. Appreciate it, as always -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Well, a high-powered bank CEO smackdown at a Congressional hearing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D), MASSACHUSETTS: You should resign. You should give back the money that you took while this scam was going on and you should be criminally investigated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That is Sen. Elizabeth Warren ripping into the head of Wells Fargo. What exactly was she talking about? That's next.

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CUOMO: Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf was pummeled on Capitol Hill after the bank created more than two million fake bank accounts under customer's names without their knowledge. Senator Elizabeth Warren eviscerated the bank chief in what is quickly becoming an epic eight- minute smackdown. Here's a taste.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WARREN: Have you returned one nickel of the millions of dollars that you were paid while this scam was going on?

JOHN STUMPF, CEO, WELLS FARGO: The board will take care of that.

WARREN: Have you returned one nickel of the money you earned while this scam was going on?

[07:45:00] STUMPF: And the board will do --

WARREN: I will take that as a no, then. So you haven't resigned, you haven't returned a single nickel of your personal earnings, you haven't fired a single senior executive. Instead, evidently, your definition of accountable is to push the blame to your low-level employees who don't have the money for a fancy P.R. firm to defend themselves. It's gutless leadership.

And when it all blew up you kept your job, you kept your multimillion dollar bonuses, and you went on television to blame thousands of $12 an hour employees who were just trying to meet cross-sell quotas that made you rich.

This is about accountability. You should resign. You should give back the money that you took while this scam was going on, and you should be criminally investigated by both the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Joining us now is Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio and the ranking member on the Senate Banking Committee. SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D), OHIO: My name -- my name is -- Chris -- Chris, hang on a second. My name's Sherrod, not Sherrad.

CUOMO: Oh, I'm sorry. Thanks, Sherrod.

BROWN: Thanks, Chris. That's all right, Mr. Cwamo.

CUOMO: (Laughing)

BROWN: Go for it.

CUOMO: I'll take it. A little levity is well-intended in this conversation. So, Sherrod, let's talk about what this was about up there on Capitol Hill. What is the goal of what we saw Sen. Warren there embodying in terms of outrage? What do you want here?

BROWN: Well, the first goal is that the customers be made whole. The guy that's doing the camera work today, where I am at the Capitol, was one of those customers that got an unauthorized, unwarranted account. We hear all over the place. They need to make every one of those customers whole, including if it affected their credit rating, number one. Number two, they need to claw back the $120 million going-away package that Carrie Tolstedt got from Wells Fargo, and she was in charge of this unit.

And third, they need to do something about the huge contrast in wages. Ninety percent of the people who were fired, of the 5,300, were non- managing people. They were personal bankers making, maybe, $35,000 to $40,000 a year or less. They were tellers making $12-$13 an hour while bank executives benefitted from that.

The low-level workers are the ones that took the heat, lost jobs. And many of the low-level workers -- I say low-level -- I mean low-wage workers -- just resigned. They walked away because they didn't want to be victimized by those high-pressure tactics and sort of forced into committing what might have been illegal acts.

CUOMO: Senator, in the interest of precision, why should people have any faith in your ability to make anything happen here when you sent no one to jail for the huge financial scandal that launched the 2008 depression.

Senator Warren was born out of the scandal. I know because we went to her when I was at "ABC NEWS". She was at Harvard as a professor, saying these people should go to jail. That was her introduction into politics, was being our official advisor on it at "ABC NEWS". No one went to jail. Why should the people believe that you'll get any accountability now?

BROWN: Well, that's a good -- that's a very good question, Chris. I mean, I -- some people should go to jail. The Department of Justice should be more aggressive, there's no question about that. We saw a very aggressive Los Angeles prosecutor, Mr. Clark, who was there. I applaud what he did.

I don't know if there will be criminal charges here. The more light we shine on them the more likely that is to happen. I'm not a lawyer and I'm certainly not a prosecutor. I'm not in a position to do that but I look at what's happened and what -- the people on top have shown little contrition, have had few wage clawbacks, and they keep going. That was the point of this hearing.

We're going to continue this, especially if I'm chairman of this committee if the Democrats take the Senate next year. We will continue shining these lights on hoping and pushing the Justice Department and local prosecutors to do more than they've done.

CUOMO: But again, the confidence in that. Look at what's happening in this election.

BROWN: I understand.

CUOMO: You've got Donald Trump who has no business, by political standards, being where he is right now but for his ability to harness the anger of hardworking people towards people in government like you -- that the bankers win. Sure, they'll get an angry slap on the wrist but that guy Strumpf isn't going anywhere.

Nobody has any confidence that there will be any real change because in 2008 you had the worst actions by so many different banks on so many different levels and nobody went away. And the people blame you guys for the lack of accountability --

BROWN: Chris, I understand.

CUOMO: -- and it's driving why Hillary Clinton is in the fight of her life right now.

BROWN: Well, I don't disagree with any of that. I take a backseat to nobody in standing up to Wall Street. I mean, they spent -- they and the Koch brothers spent $40 million to defeat me in 2012 so I understand what they do and how they play hardball.

[07:50:00] I also -- my wife and I live in zip code 44105 in Cleveland. My zip code in 2007 had more foreclosures in the first half of that year than any zip code in the country. I know people who have been foreclosed on. I'm in that neighborhood.

You could see the anger that a lot of us felt yesterday towards the kind of abuse that these Wall Street executives have gotten away with. And we're going to keep coming down hard on them until they're either -- there are resignations, there are clawbacks, and there's also eventually -- and I'm not saying this case. I don't know if there should be criminal indictments in this case but there need to be -- the Justice Department needs to be more aggressive than it's been. You're exactly right about that.

CUOMO: But the laws that the Department of Justice acts on comes from lawmakers like yourself. What are you going to change?

BROWN: Well, I -- first of all, you beat back what the Republicans in the House are doing as this. As the Consumer Bureau levied their record $100 million fine -- last week the House Financial Services Committee, in a party-line vote, Republican leadership passed a bill to undermine the CFPB -- so, the Consumer Bureau.

So we're playing defense with this Republican Party in Congress who suffered from collective amnesia, as if there was never a bank crisis. And they're -- so many of them are in the tank with the big bankers and with Wall Street.

We try to do things -- I'm the author of the original bill to break up the big banks back in 2009. It was beaten back with two Republicans -- got only two Republican votes. Some of my Democrats went south on it, too.

CUOMO: Yes.

BROWN: But, as I said, I take a backseat to nobody on this and I'm going to continue to be aggressive in this Congress. You know, you look at the Koch brothers spending hundreds of millions of dollars to elect pro-Wall Street, pro-oil company, pro-tobacco, pro-NRA senators, and it's a fight.

And "The New York Times" today -- yesterday -- came out saying that the Republicans now are slightly favored to hold the Senate because of that big money. So that's where -- that's where the target should be -- the anger should be directed. It's big money, including Wall Street money, including money from some of these big bankers -- these CEOs that are making $15 or $20 million a year.

CUOMO: And that's part of the criticism of Hillary Clinton, as well. That she's taken that campaign money. Senator Sherrod Brown --

BROWN: Well -- Hillary Clinton -- Hillary Clinton is -- she has a much better plan than Donald Trump on Wall Street. He's thrown in with this group that wants to deregulate. He'll take us back to where we were in the Bush days. Hillary's got a step forward on this that, I think, makes a lot of sense and that's why people like Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders, and Jeff Merkley and I support her.

CUOMO: What I'm saying -- if the money corrupts, she's taking the money. That's why it raises suspicion. But, Senator, thank you for the conversation. We'll continue it.

BROWN: Sure.

CUOMO: Senator Sherrod Brown.

BROWN: Thanks, Chris.

CUOMO: Thanks for being with us -- Alisyn.

BROWN: Thanks.

CAMEROTA: All right, Chris. It looks like a fight to the finish in the Philly suburbs. Coming up, we'll take a look at the critical swing state of Pennsylvania. What do voters there think about Trump versus Clinton?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [07:55:25] CAMEROTA: Forty-eight days to go until Election Day. All this week we're giving you a ground level look at the race in crucial battleground states. So, today is Pennsylvania where recent polling has Hillary Clinton in the lead, but the state is still very much in play for Donald Trump.

CNN's national correspondent, Miguel Marquez, is live in Philadelphia with more -- Miguel.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning there, Alisyn. Now, while she is up in the polls her campaign is taking exactly zero chances in Pennsylvania. She has opened up 55 offices in the state this week -- the latest one this week -- 55 in total. Hundreds of campaign workers. They have a massive data-driven campaign to get the vote out.

And while it's tough for any Republican to win in a blue state like Pennsylvania, apparently Donald Trump has decided that the Keystone State is a must-win.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm expecting a huge turnout in November and we're going to have Donald Trump and we're going to make America great again. Thank you.

MARQUEZ: Pennsylvania Republicans counting on enthusiasm --

PETE BECKLEY, TRUMP VOLUNTEER: You want to knock on that door, I'll knock on 722.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

BECKLEY: Great, thank you.

MARQUEZ: -- in an uphill battle to turn this blue-collar state red in November.

BECKLEY: It wasn't won by Republicans for the last few presidential elections. We think Trump's going to win this state.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you going to vote for Donald Trump?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Probably, it's the only choice.

MARQUEZ: The last time Pennsylvania went Republican, 1988. The latest poll shows Clinton ahead in the state. But with exceptionally tight races in Ohio and Florida, Republicans, here, sense momentum.

MARQUEZ: If Donald Trump wins Pennsylvania?

TERRY MADONNA, DIRECTOR, FRANKLIN AND MARSHALL COLLEGE POLL: He wins the presidency. Here's why. Pennsylvania is more Democratic than both Florida and Ohio.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you, whoa, whoa. MARQUEZ: If he wins here, he wins there. Trump running strong in rural Pennsylvania but needs support in vote-rich Philadelphia and its suburbs, where one-third of the state's voters live.

MADONNA: You cannot lose the Philadelphia suburbs. Not only are we talking about a large number of votes, but we're talking about the largest pool of swing voters.

TRUMP: Child care is such a big problem.

MARQUEZ: Trump announced his child care initiative, appealing to swing voters, women, and moderates in those Philly suburbs.

TRUMP: And we're going to solve that problem.

MARQUEZ: He and his running mate, Mike Pence, have already been to the state nine times.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hello, Philly.

MARQUEZ: Democrats, too, have descended on the Keystone State, fighting to keep its 20 electoral votes in their column.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So let's go out. Let's make our case. Let's win the election. Thank you.

MARQUEZ: Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine have been here 11 times and that's not including the Democratic Convention held here in July.

And her most powerful surrogate, President Obama, made his first solo campaign event on behalf of Clinton right here in Philly.

OBAMA: I need you to work as hard for Hillary as you did for me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, thank you all so much for coming to help out with our 2:00 p.m. shift.

MARQUEZ: Voter registration in July and August ahead of 2008, a banner year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I do it right now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, yes.

MARQUEZ: So far this year Democrats have registered 418,000 new voters to Republicans' 321,000. For both candidates, turnout critical.

CLINTON: If I'm in the White House, young people will always have a seat at any table where any decision is being made.

MARQUEZ: Clinton seeking support from younger voters, many still burned out from a primary in which their guy didn't win. Jordyn Tannenbaum was a Bernie Sanders delegate. Like many, she says fear of a Trump presidency is a bigger motivation than love for Clinton. JORDYN TANNENBAUM, CLINTON VOLUNTEER: It's not an election that it's OK to sit out, you know. You can't -- protest votes aren't going to do much this election. It's too risky.

ANDREW CHANG, CLINTON VOLUNTEER: But it's our job to talk to them about why they feel that way and hopefully change that into positive energy.

CLINTON T.V. AD: How do we make the economy work for everyone?

MARQUEZ: And the ad wars have finally come to Pennsylvania. Clinton has spent nearly $12 million in the state. Her latest ads focus on jobs and the economy.

TRUMP T.V. AD: Donald Trump's America is secure.

MARQUEZ: Donald Trump, after spending zero through August on T.V. advertising, has spent nearly $3 million on ads focusing on immigration and security.

Voter registration here ends October 11th. With no early voting in Pennsylvania, it will be a race to Election Day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: Now, a big issue for both Trump and Clinton will be enthusiasm at the polls.