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Dozens of People Missing After London Inferno; Secrecy Surrounds Senate Health Care Bill; Cosby Jury Deadlocked After 4 Days of Deliberating. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired June 16, 2017 - 06:30   ET

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

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: -- working to confirm whether al Baghdadi was one of those killed.

[06:30:07] Now, it would be very surprising for two reasons. First of all, would such a high profile leader of the group have been in a meeting with so many others? Does ISIS hold meetings on that kind of a scale now?

And secondly, how were the Russians going to find the evidence to prove they did this? They need to prove to the world that al Baghdadi was killed and it will be difficult if the air strikes were on this kind of scale -- Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Diana, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Now, another big story we need to keep track of abroad. Families in London demanding answers following that deadly fire that's killed 17, OK? But that number is really qualified. Dozens more are still missing.

Queen Elizabeth visited the site this morning. The country is dealing with this tragedy and pain of the unknowns.

CNN's Erin McLaughlin live in London with more.

And we've been following the reporting here, how hot this particular fire was, what it may have meant to those inside were literally incinerated, but still unaccounted for. And that will not stand.

What's the latest?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Chris, I'm standing outside of a community center, one of many makeshift memorials popping up in the area. People are stopping here to leave flowers and light candles, leave notes sympathy. But they are also posting photos of missing.

I was speaking to a woman earlier today by the name of Suzanne Shakar (ph). That's her family there. Six family members, her sister, her mother, her brother-in-law, their children were inside the building at the time of the fire. Suzanne said she was here because she is desperate for information. She doesn't know what else to do.

We are hearing so many stories like Suzanne's. Authorities are working out to figure out the number of missing.

But the conditions inside the building are particularly hazardous. Yesterday, crews had to evacuate the building because the fire restarted. So, that gives you an idea of how difficult the conditions are that authorities are working under as they assess the missing and number of dead -- Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Oh my gosh, Erin. The number can be just staggering. We will wait for updates from you.

Meanwhile, to this story. Learning details about Otto Warmbier. He's the American prisoner released by North Korea on Tuesday. Doctors say the 22-year-old is now in a, quote, unresponsive wakefulness condition, meaning a vegetative state.

The family and doctors refute North Korea's claim that botulism led to this coma. His father is speaking out. He's criticizing the Obama administration while thanking President Trump's State Department for, quote, bringing Otto home.

CUOMO: Yes. One of the early medical findings is Warmbier is missing parts of his brain tissue. Not physically, but that it's not active. It doesn't sense. It doesn't comport with botulism.

CAMEROTA: We just don't know what happened to him.

CUOMO: But it seems suggestive of something present over time. So, we will stay on that.

Republican senators right now are supposedly working behind closed doors on a new health care bill. You haven't heard much about it because they don't want you to. Not even fellow Republicans know what is in this bill.

Do you remember the criticisms by Republicans of how the Democrats went too fast on Obamacare? Why are they going faster now?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The House of Representatives has passed on to the Senate and the Senate's getting ready to do something. Hopefully, it will get done, where we will come up with a solution and a really good one to health care.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: That's a big if right now.

You know, for all of the talk that the Russia investigations are a distraction, that's a bad thing. It has been a good thing for Republicans. It kept a lot of media focus from what is going on with the health care bill. Both parties are criticizing all the secrecy surrounding what is going on with your health care.

Joining us to discuss is Sarah Kliff, senior policy correspondent for "Vox", and Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent, working with the Kaiser Family Foundation.

It's good to have you here. Julie, let's start with my premise, the secrecy is a bad thing. It's raising question about what's going on and it's certainly contradictory to what the Republicans said they didn't want to repeat from with Obamacare.

Fair premise?

JULIE ROVNER, CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, KAISER HEALTH NEWS: Yes. They spent day after day during 2009 and part of 2010 complaining there was too much secrecy and the Affordable Care Act got passed. But it had hundreds of hearings and months of public mark-ups before it went to the floor. And the Republicans are doing what they criticized the Democrats for doing, which is trying to write this almost entirely behind closed doors in the Senate without any committee consideration and with the possibility that because of the procedure they are using, they can rush it to the floor with literally hours for people to look at it before there's a final vote.

CUOMO: You know, and, Sarah, can you confirm this? And the context that one of the quotes that jumped out at me in your piece was that, well, our priority here is to get something to get the votes on. We are not worried about selling the American people on it. Is that the case in your reporting?

SARAH KLIFF, SENIOR POLICY CORRESPONDENT, VOX.COM: Right. It really seems like the thing senators are concerned about with is passing something and less concerned about what that something actually is. And, you know, Julie and I were there in 2009 and 2010. You would see a lot of Democratic senators and House members, they wanted to tell you about the affordable care act and talk about the people they would cover with insurance. They wanted to sell the bill.

And this feels very different. When you talk to Republican senators on the Hill, what they will say when you say, what's the problem, they'll say the problem is we don't have 51 votes. They won't actually identify a particular policy problem. And I think that is -- that's really telling.

The goal is to pass something, and there is less concern about what that something actually is.

[06:40:04] CUOMO: And, Julie, how much of it is they want to stay away from the reality of the CBO scores and that they know the more that's known, the more they're going to get hit over the head with these tens of millions of people that are going to lose care and who those people are and there's a nice job done in the "Vox" piece about at least itemizing one elderly man. Not really that old, what was she, 62? And one child and how they may be affected by the changes in the bill.

Are they trying to hide from reality, Julie? ROVNER: Well, they have a fundamental problem. They spent seven

years to repeal the law. And then when they sit down to actually do it, they realize they cannot keep the promise to repeal the law and help people. There were some people who were hurt by the Affordable Care Act. They can't really help those people and really the taxes in the law.

So, they are sot of faced with the conundrum of what they can actually do, and I think that is what they are behind closed doors trying to figure out. They have these goals to make health insurance cheaper. Give people more choice. That turns out to be really difficult.

Health care as the president discovered is very complicated. So, Republicans are strung up by their own promises and trying to figure out how to sort that out in some way that they can get a majority for in both the House and the Senate.

CUOMO: And I take your point, but I wonder if the word conundrum, Sarah, is the right one, only on this way, that this is not a problem for them. They know what they want to do. They want to take money out of the system. They want the political score of saying we said we would repeal and replace. We did. Really what you care about is repeal. That's what we really did.

And we sucked money out of it that will help us on the tax side. It's going to tell you that we're being fiscally responsible. And then over the course of months and years, you're going to find out that you actually lost on this as an American who needed it.

KLIFF: Yes. I think this is -- I mean, as you describe it that way, it is a very tough sell to make. And it describes the challenge that Republicans are facing right now. You have seen that poll after poll finds the American health care act, the bill the House passed, is not popular at all. The poll came out this week that said 20 percent of Americans approve of it.

You even see Donald Trump souring on it. He told senators in a closed door meeting this week that he thought it was a mean bill. That he thought they would come up with something more generous.

It is very hard however to both get rid of the Obamacare taxes and create something more generous. You have to give on one of those. That is the place where Senate Republicans are very stuck right now.

CUOMO: And so, Julie, not to stick you with the unknown, but what is your best reporting and understanding at this point about what is in there that people need to know about? What do we know about what is being done in the secrecy?

ROVNER: Well, one of the big things they have been talking about is what happens with the Medicaid program for people with low incomes. Everybody talks about phasing out expansion that was in the Affordable Care Act for people who are just above the poverty line. But what this bill would do, at least the House-passed bill is it would cap the Medicaid program for everybody who is on it. It's enormous cut to Medicaid. That's kind of flown under the radar. That is still under discussion amongst the Republicans. Whether they

want to do that and if they want to do it and how tight the caps will be. That is a big story that is getting subsumed by the rest of it.

CUOMO: Medicaid subsidies, lifetime caps, the ability to wave some of the provisions that are protected right now. They all matter.

Sarah, thank you very much. Julie, you are both invited back on the show.

I know there is a temptation to ignore this because of the shininess of the Russia investigation. Not here. You are welcome to come back to discuss this. It matters too much. Thank you.

KLIFF: Thank you.

ROVNER: Thank you.

CUOMO: Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: All right. There's this dramatic moment of the U.S. Open. Not on the green, but in the air. An advertising blimp crashed to the ground. We have the details, next.

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[06:47:49] CAMEROTA: All right. The U.S. Open gets underway with plenty of drama on and off the course.

Andy Scholes has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report".

What happened, Andy?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

You know, a lot happened yesterday at the U.S. Open. This is actually the first major without both Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson since 1994.

So, perfect timing for one of golf young stars to put on a show. That is what Rickie Fowler did yesterday, conquering the waist-high rough at Erin Hills. He scored a record tying 7 under par 65 in the first round. You know, some say Fowler is the best player in the world without a Major championship. Maybe that title goes away this weekend.

Some of the best players in the world may not be sticking around long. Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day all in danger of missing the cut today.

In the meantime, a blimp pilot is recovering from serious burns after his airship crashed and burst into flames near the course. Investigators say the blimp may have had mechanical problems. Now, the pilot was trying to return to an airstrip when he went down in a field about a half mile away from the U.S. open. No one else was injured in the crash. All right. Finally, Conor McGregor will pay a steep price if he does

anything other than box Floyd Mayweather on August 26th. UFC President Dana White says that there is a clause in the contract that would penalize if McGregor heavily if he were to try to elbow, kick, or knee or do anything MMA wise to Mayweather that would break boxing rules.

And, Chris, of course, Mayweather a heavy favorite going into this match. It is a boxing match. Most don't think it will be much of one.

But is it weird I want to see it?

CUOMO: No, I wanted Alisyn --

CAMEROTA: Oh my gosh, he's been educating me about --

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: I was trying to sell her on the significance of it. It worked for you. This is finally the face-off everyone talked about. Not so much McGregor and Mayweather, they're both phenomenal fighters. But boxing versus UFC, you know, mixed martial arts.

CAMEROTA: UFC, MMA.

CUOMO: Dana White, the man they're talking about, this legend for the UFC. He is bringing the fight to us.

This is the moment. Everybody is taking sides. Conor McGregor -- the elbow, that's all legal in MMA. It's not like he's a dirty fighter.

But can a guy who is used to being able to put someone on the ground and all that, can he win with a sweet science and its rules?

[06:50:06] A lot of people are saying no. But if he wins that fight, everything changes.

CAMEROTA: I'm most intrigued by the outfits. He's basically in a bathing suit. Did you notice that?

CUOMO: I like the chest tattoos.

CAMEROTA: Me, too. Moving on.

CUOMO: I'll leave it there. Let that linger with you.

All right. So, fireworks outside the courthouse. A Bill Cosby accuser confronting his supporters. This was an epic clash. The jury, by the way, has been ordered to keep deliberating for a fifth day. They are into their 40th hour.

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CUOMO: Jurors are beginning their fifth day of deliberations in the Bill Cosby trial. They have been unable to reach a verdict in 40 hours thus far of deliberations. Dozens of Bill Cosby accusers wait with baited breath.

Two of them now join us. Lili Bernard, she was a guest star on a Cosby show in the 1990s. And Victoria Valentino, a former Playboy bunny who met Cosby in the late 1960s.

Ladies, thank you very much for being here. I know these past days have been very intense for you.

Victoria, what is it like waiting for a verdict?

VICTORIA VALENTINO, ACCUSED BILL COSBY OF SEXUAL OFFENSE: Well, it has been frustrating and we still have hope though.

[06:55:02] Just wondering and waiting. It's a real cliff hanger.

CAMEROTA: I bet.

I mean, Lili, what does it mean to you? Or how are you to understand how the jury has been deadlocked thus far?

LILI BERNARD, ACCUSED OF BILL COSBY OF SEXUAL ABUSE: Yes, it's is deeply disappointing. I'm here in support of Andrea Constand, my survivor sister, whom I've come to know, a dear friend over the course of two and a half years. We spent time together and the disappointment I feel is that some of the jurors or one of the jurors have bought into the rape mix thrust upon them and that have been distracting the jury from knowing what really happened, which is drugging and sexual assault.

So, that's my disappointment. If Oscars were awarded to trial attorneys for their performance in court, Brian McMonagle, Bill Cosby's attorney, would win one.

CAMEROTA: Lili, I know you have confrontation with some of Bill Cosby's supporters outside of the courthouse yesterday. Let us play that moment and you can tell us what was happening. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNARD: And you, for example, who are sitting here and blaming and shaming me and doubting me and calling me a liar is a testimony of why it took me so long to come out. Several black celebrities -- several black celebrities -- excuse me, sir. Several --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A rape kit. A rape kit. A rape kit.

BERNARD: You know what? I was traumatized and I was hurt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So, Lili, for people who could not hear that audio in the heat of that moment, he was saying, a rape kit, a rape kit, meaning where is the evidence? If you had some sort of evidence.

What is your response to him? BERNARD: I do have evidence. I have evidence in the form of audio

consent recordings and journals. I have hard core evidence. I have witnesses who have given me videotape testimony. And I took that evidence to the detectives in Atlantic City in the spring of 2015.

And despite the very compelling evidence that I saved and witnesses who were willing to testify on my behalf, the prosecutor couldn't even consider pressing charges because of the statute of limitations on rape and sexual assault.

As for getting a rape kit, I was drugged and raped, and all I could think of was surviving. You know, Bill Cosby also threatened consequences to my life when I told him I would report him to the police and go to the hospital and find out what he had slipped into my sparkling apple cider to incapacitate me. He gave me threats I interpreted as death threats.

So, that was I was contending with, my survival and the fear that I had for my safety and my life.

CAMEROTA: Understood. And, you know, it seems as though that Cosby supporter didn't really know the long history of how long it often takes rape victims to come forward and tell their story. Never mind going against, you know, a megastar. He didn't seem to know that context.

So, Victoria, what is this -- I know you have been there as well. What is it like seeing the supporters outside?

VALENTINO: Yes. Well, it's very hurtful to see them because you want to go up and take them one by one and shake them and try to really connect with them. One of our sister survivors Jule Allison (ph) did that yesterday as well simultaneously to Lili being out there and being confronted by this horrendous person.

Well, I can't say he's a horrendous person. He is an uninformed person. And, you know, everybody is buying into the race card.

The real message behind all of this is that no matter how wealthy, no matter how famous, no matter how powerful you are, you are not above the law. And it doesn't -- this is not about race. This is about rape.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

VALENTINO: And rape is not about sex. Rape is about power and control and denigration of its victim.

BERNARD: Yes, and race does not negate rape. That's extremely important. So, that's something that I hope that the jury is considering if someone is throwing that race card in the jury pool.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

BERNARD: But what I saw the revictimization that I experienced outside was just the reflection of the injustice that I saw played out in the courtroom.

CAMEROTA: So, Lili, what does it mean if the verdict comes back today not guilty?

BERNARD: Well, it means that rape culture is persisting. Misogyny is persisting. Patriarchy is persisting. It means that we have so much more work to do.

This is bigger than Andrea Constand. It's bigger than Victoria and me. And that there's just so much more work to do. But that it's just a reflection of the inhumanity of the humanity.

CAMEROTA: And, Victoria, in our final question --

BERNARD: It is deeply saddening and disappointing that it is the state of things.

CAMEROTA: Understood. What does it mean if it comes back guilty?

VALENTINO: Well, we'll all be very sad. We'll be depressed. We'll be angry.

CAMEROTA: No, I mean guilty. If you hear them say --

VALENTINO: Oh, if it becomes back guilty. Oh, I think we will be dancing in the streets because we will feel vindicated and validated.

CAMEROTA: Yes. Well, we wait a long with you. Lili and Victoria, thank you.

VALENTINO: But the work goes on.

CAMEROTA: Understood, understood. And you've always made that clear in all of our segments.

Thank you, ladies, for being here and being willing to talk this morning.