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New Day Saturday
Police Find New Evidence in Illinois Shooting; Attacks have Cops Feeling under Siege; Europe Struggles to Handle Refugee Crisis; Deadly King Cobra on the Loose. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired September 05, 2015 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: You mentioned it, Christie, he is such a polarizing character. I think the NFL is a better place when Tim Tebow is in it. We'll see how it plays out.
CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: We will. All right, Coy, thank you so much and thank for your voice in that as well. We appreciate it.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: We have a lot going on this morning, so much coming in from around the world really.
PAUL: We really do. The next hour of NEW DAY starts right now.
BLACKWELL: A trek for freedom and a better life, thousands of migrants now arriving in Austria crossing over from Hungary, many more following the same pattern.
PAUL: Also defiant even in jail, a Kentucky county clerk sits behind bars this morning for not handing out marriage licenses. However, her attorney says the shocking that the new marriage licenses that have been granted are not valid.
BLACKWELL: And Hillary Clinton again defending her use of a private server while secretary of state, but there is a new report out this morning that a State Department staffer may have actually help her run that e-mail server.
PAUL: We are always so grateful for your company. Thanks for making some time with us this morning. I'm Christie Paul.
BLACKWELL: Great to start this Saturday with you. I'm Victor Blackwell.
PAUL: We want to begin this morning at a train station in Austria with you here. Thousands of refugees are trying to get on trains that will take them to Germany. These folks arrived in Austria this morning. Hungarian authorities finally bused them over when they started to try and walk to Germany from Budapest.
BLACKWELL: And compare this to the desperate situation over the past two days waiting for days at a Budapest train station. Hungarian authorities refused to let them go without a visa and other proper documents. These refugees are some of thousands streaming into Europe from conflict zones every day. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is at the border. Fred, give us an idea
what are you seeing there?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Christie, there were some unbelievable scenes as these refugees finally made it to the border between Hungary and Austria. They're so tired, exhausted, they have had such a difficult journey here.
And even though they were that tired, they got off the buses and they made their way on foot, those final couple of hundred yards over the border. There was nothing but smiles. People were laughing, children were carrying soccer balls.
People were giving us victories signs finally having made it here and that is of course because of their journey up until now has been so difficult especially as they were trying to get through Hungary, as they were stranded at the railway station in Budapest.
Where the Hungarian railway company refused to take them here to Austria and to Germany saying first they have to apply for asylum in Hungary. Many didn't want to because they felt mistreated. Then the government finally relented.
Many of the refugees here did not believe that they would bring them here to the border with Austria. The buses did finally make their way, and the folks here are either going to be put into shelters on the Austrian side or if they want, they'll be taken first to the Austrian capital and then on trains on to Germany. Many people want to make Germany their final destination -- Victor and Christi.
BLACKWELL: Fred Pleitgen reporting for us there. Fred, thanks so much. Let's go now to this controversial Kentucky clerk, Kim Davis. She is waking up for the second straight day in jail. She is there for a contempt of court charges for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples in defiance of a Supreme Court.
Davis says licenses issued in her absence including the ones that went to couples married yesterday are worthless and she says at least one very famous supporter, presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee, he will be there on Tuesday to visit.
There will also be a rally. CNN's Alexandra Field is live in Grayson, Kentucky following this story and I wonder beyond former Governor Huckabee, what has been the reaction of the jailing of Davis there.
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's been a very emotional reaction from both sides when it comes to this fight. I've spoken to some of the couples who picked up their marriage licenses yesterday, and they said their objective was never to see Kim Davis go to jail.
That wasn't within sort of the scope of their interest. Their interest was to obtain the marriage license that they were entitled to in Rowan County. Because of that they say that was simply what they were after.
But it is Kim Davis' supporters who believe her religious liberties are being trampled. Her attorney came to visit her in jail yesterday and he said that she is committed to fighting this fight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATHEW STAVER, ATTORNEY FOR KIM DAVIS: Obviously she never anticipated being here in an orange jump suit, being treated like a prisoner in Cell 151. She is here, she accepts that. She doesn't know how long she is going to be here.
[08:05:01] But one thing she does know and that is she loves God, people, her job, and she can't violate her conscience. If that means she is going to be here for a longer period of time, she is prepared to be here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FIELD: A judge has said that Kim Davis could leave jail if she agreed to authorize those marriage licenses that her deputy clerks are now issuing or if she agreed not to interfere with the process.
But that was not an acceptable outcome to Kim Davis who remains in the jail today. However, her attorney says that he will appeal the contempt of court order that sent her here in the first place -- Victor.
BLACKWELL: All right, Alexandra Field, thank you so much.
PAUL: OK, let's bring in A. Scott Bolden into this. Because we hear there, Scott and wonder, is it possible in any way that those marriage licenses over the last few days that have been granted are invalid?
A. SCOTT BOLDEN, ATTORNEY, REED SMITH, LLP: No, they're more than valid, Christi, and thank you for having me. The federal judge issued an order on this issue. That judge's order given the judiciary and their role and our separation of the executive and the legislature will be in force until it is overturned, if it is overturned by the court of appeals.
But I must tell you that it is going to be a very difficult time for Ms. Davis and her attorney because no court who has looked at this has ever indicated that religious freedoms will trump what the law of the land is, and that impacted law on either same sex couples or any law regarding any issue in this country.
We have a separation of church and state and that's as old as the forefathers when they came to this country.
PAUL: Now, a lot of people are wondering about her religious freedoms and her religious rights as well. Ryan Anderson, the fellow at Heritage Foundation, a Washington based conservative think tank, says that Kentucky accommodates conscientious objectors for other types of licensing. The question should be if we can accommodate someone, why shouldn't we in this case? BOLDEN: Well, the court has indicated an issue or statements consistent with that. But it is Ms. Davis who is driving the action here. She is can be conscientious objector if she wants to be, but she has to go follow the law. She swore to uphold it when she became county clerk.
She has a right to her religious beliefs, but she doesn't have a right to be a county clerk if she is not going to uphold the law. If she agrees as you indicated earlier in your piece, if she agrees to allow those licenses to be issued and not to on obstruct the issuance of those licenses then she can leave jail.
The contemptors in every case whether you are being held in civil contempt, they hold the keys to the jail cell. Ms. Davis holds the keys to the cell. She has to just agree to implement, uphold and enforce the law, and today, she's refused to do that and that's why she's in jail right now.
PAUL: OK, so when we look at how long she could be in jail, is it until January when the legislature meets again and could do something about this, or the end of her term as clerk?
BOLDEN: Yes, that is a really interesting question. It could be either or. I can tell you that behind the scenes there is a ton of deals and discussions trying to be worked out to avoid her staying in jail. No one wants her in jail.
The reality is that if her term is up, there will have to be an election, or she will be brought back to court on Tuesday and the questions will be presented to her again.
And the alternative, the state legislature could call a special session, although, that will be expensive, but ultimately, she can be impeached or simply she can resign from the position and say her religious believes are more important to her than serving the public.
PAUL: And just for clarification principles here, Davis' attorney says legalizing same sex marriage, I want to get this quote right, "irreparably and irreversibly violates her conscious." Help us understand her personal religious rights when negotiating her role as a public servant. Is there any negotiation there or is it black and white?
BOLDEN: It is black and white. The federal courts and the state courts of this country have said that. Now that being said, when you juxtapose her religious rights to her public duty then it is black and white.
Her religious rights, though, are protected under the constitution. That's why our forefathers came here and see these are mutually exclusive issues.
What's happening here is Davis, her attorney, and her supporters are trying to link the two and say she can have it both ways. She has a right to believe in whatever religion she wants to believe in and those beliefs.
She also has the right to be the county clerk and to impose that belief on the public where she fundamentally doesn't and herein lies the problem. So Ms. Davis is going to have to decide what is most important to her.
Because otherwise she has to be impeached, elected, or defeated in some election or she will have to resign and remain in jail. None of those are attractive or appealing but those are her options.
PAUL: All right, A. Scott Bolden, thank you so much for all of the clarification today. We appreciate it as always.
BOLDEN: Thank you for having me.
[08:10:00] PAUL: Of course. In our 10:00 hour, by the way, we'll talk to the attorney for Kim Davis about how long this legal fight could potentially last and how long she in for it, and talk about statements she made when she was elected last November and if those statements might be coming back to haunt her.
BLACKWELL: Looking forward that. Also Hillary Clinton says she will continue to provide answers about her private email server, but there is a new report suggesting someone in the State Department was paid to run her private e-mail server.
Plus could 2016 be the year of the Republican outsider, Donald Trump, Ben Carson at the top of the polls? Carly Fiorina is racing up many of them. How far are voters prepared to go to reject the Washington establishment?
And new evidence in the killing of an Illinois police officer, could this help identify these three men that police are looking for.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAUL: It is 14 minutes past the hour. New details this morning in the ongoing Hillary Clinton e-mail controversy. An official from Clinton's campaign tells "The Washington Post," the Clinton family personally paid a State Department staffer to maintain her private server.
The arrangement reportedly ensured that taxpayer dollars were not spent on a server. In the meantime, that staffer, Brian Pagliano (ph) is scheduled to appear at a hearing next week. He will not answer any questions. His attorney says he will invoke his Fifth Amendment rights.
BLACKWELL: Now Clinton apologized for the confusion surrounding the e-mail controversy, but what was enough to satisfy her critics. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is live in New Hampshire this morning. We know that Clinton is now offering these words of contrition, a change in tone. What are we expecting as she arrives in New Hampshire and as the days and weeks go on?
[08:15:08] SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Victor. It certainly has been a small shift in tone from Clinton. She is starting to show a bit more remorse as this controversy over her e- mail server continues to dog her and her campaign.
In an interview yesterday, she expressed some sorrow for all the questions and the controversy that her use of a private email server has created, but important to note, she did not and she refused to flat out directly apologize for making the decision to use that e- mail server in the first place. Here is more of that interview yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: At the end of the day, I'm sorry that this has been confusing to people and has raised a lot of questions. But there are answers to all of these questions and I will continue to provide those answers.
And those answers have been confirmed and affirmed by the State Department and by other government officials. Eventually I will get to testify in public and I'm sure it will be a long and grueling time there, but all the questions will be answered.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SERFATY: And Clinton will try to change the subject here in New Hampshire today. She is making a big push in the state today and that's in part to minimize a lot of the gains that we have seen Senator Bernie Sanders, a senator from Vermont, make here in the state.
He is drawing big crowds and garnering a lot of attention. We saw Clinton really take her first shot at Sanders yesterday in that same interview noting that anyone as a candidate can make big speeches and wave their arms around.
But questions whether you're really connecting with voters. Now this was a very similar argument that Senator Clinton would make against then Senator Obama in the 2008 presidential campaign so certainly, Victor, one small sign that Sanders does seem to be getting under Clinton's skin.
BLACKWELL: Yes, good reminder there. We also know that the Clinton campaign is spending $4 million on ads in Iowa and New Hampshire. We'll see how that turns out. Sunlen Serfaty, thank you so much -- Christi.
PAUL: It's a really tough morning for high school students and families in Louisiana. One of their football players died yesterday during the game. We're going to tell you what happened.
Also, do cops have targets on their backs? Why a recent wave of officer killings has left some feeling under siege in the line of duty?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:20:55] BLACKWELL: Sad news coming in this morning from Winnsboro, Louisiana. That's where high school football player at Franklin Parish High School died from injuries while playing a game last night. According to the coroner's office, Tyrell Cameron died shortly after being transported to Franklin Medical Center.
This is the tweet from his high school, "Tyrell will live on in the memory of those who loved him. Prayers for his family. Support from throughout the state is greatly appreciated."
PAUL: We'll continue to follow that. Hopefully give more information on what happened. Meanwhile in Florida this morning, Caleb Jackson was sentenced to 48 months for his role in the hazing death of Florida A&M University Drum Major Robert Champion.
Jackson, a former band member will be out in less than a year now after he was given more than three years credit for time served. Champion collapsed and died in Orlando back in November of 2011 after being beaten during a hazing ritual. Plus --
BLACKWELL: A sorrowful goodbye to a husband, father, deputy sheriff. Thousands of mourners from all over the country gathered in Houston, Texas for a final salute to Deputy Darren Goforth, a ten-year veteran of the Sheriff's Office there. He was shot in the back and killed execution style while fuelling his patrol car. He leaves behind a wife and two children, ages 5 and 12.
Police in Illinois are now in day five of their manhunt for a slain officer. There is new significant evidence that's being classified as it may provide some big leads in this case.
Also, officers across the country are on edge after a spike of recent officer killings. What is behind the attacks and unique challenges facing them today?
PAUL: On Labor Day, new faces versus old. Favorites will face off in the CNN quiz show. This time it is the TV edition. Here are your match ups.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": It doesn't get any better than this.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": They're calling it the summer of Camerota and Cuomo.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC 360": Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota, great chemistry.
CUOMO: We deal with world events, politics --
COOPER: Mike Rowe is playing for the first time.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: I like really enjoy this partner of mine. He is a little bit more -- wise, mature. MIKE ROWE, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, mature.
COOPER: I'm very happy to have Mike Rowe and Brooke paired together.
ROWE: Come on knock on our door --
BALDWIN: I'll be waiting for you.
ROWE: Where the kisses are hers and theirs and -- it's like an orgy.
COOPER: Don Lemon is yet again paired with John Berman.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR, "EARLY START": We're like the returning champions.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: We're not cocky but --
COOPER: They're the team to beat.
BALDWIN: I'm not intimidated by the Don-John. We can take them down.
COOPER: We have good teams, we'll see.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: CNN quiz show, TV edition airs Monday night at 8:00 Eastern.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:27:49]
BLACKWELL: Approaching the bottom of the hour now. Let's go to Fox Lake, Illinois where police say they have new surveillance images of people they believe are connected to the shooting of Lt. Joe Glieniwicz. They are looking for three men, two white, one black, and the officer's weapon was also recovered at the scene.
It is unclear at this point if he was shot using that weapon. There is also a $50,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those who killed Glieniwicz. Let's go Rosa Flores who is in Fox Lake. Rosa, what do we know about the new evidence?
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Investigators are calling it significant evidence. They are telling us very little about what they actually recovered, but we do know that it was recovered four days after the crime happened.
This was recovered at the scene while they had evidence technicians go back and look for more evidence. They were scouring the scene inch by inch trying to figure out if they could find more clues. They're not telling us what it is, Victor.
But about the surveillance video that you mentioned, they had videos from businesses and homes, but now they say they have video from the DOT, the Department of Transportation here.
So presumably they have video of vehicles and foot traffic in that area and they're hoping they can find the faces of the three alleged killers.
BLACKWELL: Yes, and still waiting for description of what that video shows essentially, but I understand that you spoke with some of the lieutenant's friends, what have you learned from them?
FLORES: They are his army buddies so these guys just absolutely admire and are here from different parts of the country to honor Lieutenant Gliniewicz. They had so many stories and they tell me, Rosa, we looked up to this man. He was Captain America to us.
He said they met him when they were 17 and 18 years old in basic training and they looked up to him so much. They said, he taught us what we know now. We are the men that we are because of Lt. Gliniewicz. Take a listen --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES HOGAN, SLAIN OFFICER'S FRIEND: Immediately he became one of the guys that we want to be just like -- we wanted to emulate. They called him GI Joe for a reason. He's as hardcore as they came. He was a role model to young soldiers. He taught us not only how to soldier but he taught us how to be men.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FLORES: Now they are here for Gliniewicz's funeral. It is scheduled for Monday. They plan to be here; more than a thousand law enforcement from around the country are expected to be here. Those three friends who I talked to, they're also law enforcement from the region.
So Victor, you know, as thousands descend on this town to mourn, we can't forget that three suspected killers are still on the loose.
BLACKWELL: Yes, that investigation continues as we see that memorial behind you continues to grow.
Rosa Flores -- thanks so much.
Christi.
PAUL: You know this wave of high profile cop killings have left officers across the country feeling as though they're under siege; that they're vulnerable on the job.
CNN's Nick Valencia has been looking into this. They feel like essentially they have a target on their backs.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And it's something that we've talked a lot about, covered a lot about on this program. It prompted us to look into the numbers to see if really there is a spike in officers killed in the line of duty. And according to the Officer Down Memorial page -- that's a non-profit
that tracks officers killed in the line of duty -- 2015 is on pace to be the lowest -- one of the lowest totals of officers gunned down in the line of duty in the last 25 years. Even still with the numbers down, it seems like across the country fear among officers is at an all-time high.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VALENCIA: A manhunt in Illinois for three wanted in connection with the killing of a veteran police officer. A sheriff's deputy gunned down at a gas station near Houston, Texas. A Memphis policeman shot and killed during a traffic stop in Tennessee. And that is just in the last five weeks.
Already this year, at least 24 officers in the United States have been shot and killed in the line of duty. By comparison, it is still less than the number of officers shot and killed all of last year when 47 were victim to gunfire according to the nonprofit Officer Down Memorial page.
While the numbers may be down, it is a sentiment of vulnerability among officers in 2015 and that's cause for concerns, says CNN law enforcement analyst Cedric Alexander.
CEDRIC ALEXANDER, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: There are some real challenges out there in this country right now. It is a very tough time to be a police officer at this moment.
DERAY MCKESSON, BLACK LIVES MATTER ORGANIZER: The only charged rhetoric of the movement has been about holding officers accountable. It's been about fair police contracts and independent investigators and body cameras.
VALENCIA: Activist and organizer DeRay McKesson says the Black Lives Matter Movement is not to blame for the recent violent attacks on police.
MCKESSON: It has been specifically about ending violence.
VALENCIA: Even so, chants like this from a Black Lives Matter march this month in Minnesota --
CROWD: Pigs in a blanket, fry them like bacon.
VALENCIA: -- and ominous graffiti like this in Texas have made more and more cops on edge.
RON HICKMAN, HARRIS COUNTY SHERIFF: This rhetoric has gotten out of control. We've heard black lives matter, all lives matter. Well, cops' lives matter too. So why don't we just drop the qualifier and just say "lives matter".
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Valencia, some may blame the Black Lives Matter Movement rhetoric on the recent wave of police killings, others just don't believe that. Even still officers that I have spoken to say the current climate is certainly enough to take notice across the country -- Christie.
PAUL: All right. Hey -- Nick, thank you so very much.
We wanted to get some perspective here from Matthew Horace, who's joining us now -- a former ATF executive and senior vice president at FJC Security Services. So in that story we just ran, Matthew, CNN law enforcement analyst Cedric Alexander there said it is a tough time to be a police officer at this moment. Do you agree with that and why?
MATTHEW HORACE, FJC SECURITY SERVICE: Well, I think -- I think that it is for several reasons.
Number one as we talked about the other day, the optics of our lives have changed now and we're under a lot of scrutiny for a variety of reasons. Social media makes things very instantaneous. Things that that people once heard they can now see. So, officers' actions when they're on that very critical patrol are at as high of influence and their just being profiled.
And if you look at the numbers, the numbers show us very clearly that they are very consistent from 1980 to now with an average of 63 officers who are killed by gunshot every year. So the numbers haven't changed but the optics certainly have.
PAUL: So I would assume that that anxiety they feel about work is certainly carried into that workplace. What are the conversations being had in police departments across the country right now. What is the biggest concern?
[08:35:01] HORACE: Well, I think you see it. I think you see it playing out every day that a lot of departments have officers that are just feeling like no one cares about what they do. And I think something -- another very interesting, telling statistic here is if you look at the idea that nothing has changed in terms of the number of officers killed in patrol. In patrol you're at that level where you're dealing with people at their level. And we're still targets. We're targets when we're out there. We're visible. And that's where you have that violent interaction with people most often.
PAUL: So what is hindering -- a lot of people say part of the answer here is community, you know, getting some sort of cohesive attitude between cops and between the community that they serve. How do you do that?
HORACE: Well, I'd have to agree with my colleague and friend Cedric Alexander. As you're aware I'm also a member of NOBLE and we have to get to the point where we're all understanding each points of view -- our points of view.
It is very difficult to be a law enforcement officer, not only now but it has always been difficult. When I went through the police academy the first thing they tell you is two things. You will be sued, number; and you have to go home at night preserving your weapon and ensuring that you don't become a victim. So that has not changed in 30 and 40 years.
But now, we have to get to the point where the community understands our jobs and we understand community. I think a big way that we can get through the people is through these citizen academies -- putting people in a position where they understand what law enforcement officers face day in and day out and try to get to a place where we quiet the rhetoric down on both sides of the fence because I've never met a police officer that went to work saying I want to kill someone today, but there are a lot of people out here that will target police.
Fortunately there are less people that would actually carry through with it than not, or the numbers would be a lot higher.
PAUL: All right. Matthew Horace -- really appreciate your voice in this. Thank you for being with us.
HORACE: Great -- have a great day.
PAUL: Thank you, sir. You, too.
BLACKWELL: Thousands of refugees are getting on trains to go to Germany from Austria. They were stuck in Hungary, you'll remember for days unable to leave without proper documents. We'll take a look at the refugee crisis facing Europe right now where all of these people will end up eventually.
Plus Donald Trump flubs on foreign policy. The question is are GOP voters so determined to nominate an outsider that they're willing to overlook those flubs? Coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:40:48] BLACKWELL: This morning thousands of refugees are rushing on to trains in Austria -- here's the video -- desperate to get to Germany where they have been were promised asylum. They spent days, you'll remember, at a Hungary train station before they were allowed to leave the country. And now every day thousands of them are flooding into Europe from war zones.
Here is the map. The EU has a pretty high rate of acceptance of asylum seekers. Germany is one of the countries that's welcoming them. They've allowed 42,000 -- nearly 42,000 to come to Germany. That's just this year and they're promising to take in more.
CNN's Brian Todd has more for us, Brian?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christi and Victor, some analysts are saying that right now this migrant crisis is a victory for ISIS at least a temporary one. Migrants are streaming into European Union countries through Eastern Europe; some coming from the Mediterranean. Most of the migrants right now are coming from Syria. It is chaos, mass desperation, and from the perspective of ISIS, its enemies in Europe are taking a major hit.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) TODD: Confronting police, throwing stones, getting tear gassed, slammed up against fences, scrambling to board trains, they're desperately walking long distances on highways suffering and dying along the way. Hundreds of thousands of migrants have streamed into Europe, the largest influx there since the end of World War II. Where are they coming from? Where are they going?
According to Europe's Border Monitoring Agency, the top countries they're coming from are Syria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the route where most of the Syrian migrants are coming from. They are traveling -- and let me show you where they're traveling. They're either coming from Syria by land through Greece, some of them are coming across to Greece, up to the Republic of Macedonia through the Western Balkans. And then they're getting stopped in Hungary.
What they want to do is go onwards through Austria -- Germany is their ultimate destination.
TODD: Germany expects roughly 800,000 migrants by year's end -- almost as many as the population of San Francisco. The fact that so many are now fleeing Syria has analysts pointing tonight to a common and disturbing thread.
SETH JONES, RAND CORPORATION: I think without a doubt, ISIS is a major factor here that is contributing to this crisis.
TODD: There are other factors: the atrocities of Bashar al-Assad's regime, the turmoil in Libya, but analysts say the war against ISIS, which President Obama labelled a JV team last year made has made Syria almost uninhabitable for anyone not wanting to fight. Analysts say this refugee crisis is a win for ISIS because it's driven out people who don't sympathize with the terror group and destabilize ISIS' enemies.
JONES: It's created friction within governments and then among them in Europe. And I think as ISIS looks at this, it is chaos in Europe right now. And it is being played out hourly around the clock on television shows. So this is -- it is a psychological and it's an information victory at least in the short run for ISIS.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: A victory for ISIS and possibly another opportunity. Analysts say with so many migrants streaming into Europe, ISIS could infiltrate these groups, could smuggle their sympathizers or event heir operatives into Europe with them -- Christie and Victor.
PAUL: All right. We appreciate it so much -- thank you.
Back to politics here: some gotcha questions they have been dubbed by some. Outsiders are leading the Republican presidential polls. Will voters look past policy to get their candidate, their outsider, into the White House? BLACKWELL: Plus a deadly snake in Florida is on the loose and
causing, understandably, a lot of concern. They've got a king cobra out there somewhere.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: GOP Front runner Donald Trump facing questions about his knowledge of foreign policy; also the fight against terror. It comes during and after this interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
Now Trump admitted to Hewitt that he was not familiar with the names of terror group leaders. He also had this exchange over a hypothetical situation involving China. Listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
HUGH HEWITT, RADIO HOST: If China were to either accidentally or intentionally sink a Filipino or Japanese ship, what would a commander-in-chief Donald Trump do in response?
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I wouldn't want to tell you because frankly they have to -- you know somebody wrote a very good story about me recently. And they said there is a certain -- it was actually another businessman. He said there's a certain unpredictability about Trump that is great. And it's what made him a lot of money and a lot of success.
You don't want to put -- and you don't want to let people know what you're going to do with respect to certain things that happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Let's talk more about this with CNN political analyst Josh Rogin along with CNN political commentator and Trump supporter Jeffrey Lord. Good to have both of you. And I want to start with you Jeffrey.
Considering that voters don't know much about Trump's approach to foreign policy and the fight against terror, doesn't he need to offer more so that voters can make the right decision?
JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think that right there, that bite you had there on China, that is straight out of the art of war which is, you know, one of the oldest text books of how to fight a war. Be dark and impenetrable as night -- I believe it says in the chapter on maneuvering.
So Donald Trump is exactly right and, you know, this whole business about what he does or doesn't know on foreign what we need in the White House always is judgment. You don't have to know all the details, but you do have to have the basic sound judgment, you know. And it's not as important as I think Ronald Reagan may have alluded at one point that he knew all the names of the bad guys but it's important that they know his name. BLACKWELL: Josh let me come to you. You wrote about Trump's responses. Let's put up part of your writing here on the screen. "His stumbling on foreign policy questions combined with his disdain for greater knowledge are clear indications he is not up to the job as leader of the free world. It's 3:00 a.m. in Donald Trump's campaign and he isn't ready to answer the call."
Now, Trump says as we heard from Jeffrey there, you just need to have judgment. He will learn the names when it matters and he will have the right advisers. He hires great people. What do you make of that?
JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, well first of all, I don't think that the current diplomacy with China is relevant to the art of war because what we're trying to do is avoid war and that is based on diplomacy and that's based on assurances and deterrents and a system of checks and balances that we have established over the last hundred years. That Trump doesn't seem to be aware of and that's a problem.
But the greater problem here is that, you know, Donald Trump's answers to all these questions are well, it's a secret, I can't tell you, which just doesn't cut it and then trust me I will figure it out later. And that also just doesn't cut it.
I mean, you know, the 3:00 a.m. phone call is a reference to a Hillary Clinton's ad in 2008 when she was attacking Barack Obama and she said well, you know, there's a call in the middle of the night at the White House. Your vote determines who picks up that phone. And voters want to know that if Donald Trump is president, then when he picks up that phone, that he will have those answers already.
BLACKWELL: Yes.
ROGIN: And it won't be then delegating to someone else. That's a problem.
BLACKWELL: Obviously a reference to preparedness and being ready on day one.
And Jeffrey let's put up -- guys in the control room -- the latest numbers from that Monmouth national poll of GOP primary voters in which Donald Trump has 30 percent. You have a businessman here at 30 percent; a retired neurosurgeon at 18 percent; you throw in Carly Fiorina's four percent there and more than half of GOP respondents here want someone from outside Washington to win the White House.
How much are GOP voters willing to allow these candidates some wiggle room, some leniency when it comes to foreign policy because they want an outsider so badly -- Jeffrey.
LORD: A lot. And one of the reasons, you know, and listening to that reference there to the 3:00 a.m. phone call. Well, so we got the quote/unquote "experienced Hillary Clinton", the secretary of state, the 3:00 a.m. phone call came, and with Benghazi and she botched it. It came to President Obama and he botched.
So much for, you know, this experience. I mean this is the classic Washington insiderdom. I mean Ronald Reagan used to drive the arms control people crazy because they would have all of these detailed plans and they go on endlessly about this stuff and he would sum it up and say my philosophy on the Cold War is we win, they lose. They would call him a simpleton.
So you know, we've sort of been here and done this. The Republican base is tired of all this kind of thing. It doesn't work, it's people overly impressed with themselves and they have had it.
BLACKWELL: Josh finally to you, we know that every cycle there is a different priority for the electorate. Sometimes it is national security, sometimes it is jobs and the economy. In 2008 it was just change. They wanted to go in a different direction, the country did at that time.
Do we have any indication of how important foreign policy and this approach to terror, how important they are to the electorate this cycle?
ROGIN: Right. Well, what we know is that because Hillary Clinton is likely to be the Democrat candidate, that foreign policy will feature prominently, and it will be part of the debates and the discussion. And the question is, is Donald Trump prepared for that and is he about to get ready for that. And it doesn't seem that he really is taking it very seriously at all and that is the most troubling aspect here.
I mean we've seen his answers -- ISIS -- this is a big problem and his answers are just all over the map. They don't really make any sense on their face. So people don't necessarily need an insider; they don't necessarily need someone with experience. The voters want to know that it's someone who is thoughtful and who's actually studying and actually has people around them who are smart.
It's not going to be enough for voters to say ok, I'm going to be great with the military, you're so great your head will spin. It is insulting and it's condescending and when that moment comes, whatever it is, they want someone who's going to give a vision of the world, tell us how they think about these things --
BLACKWELL: Well --
ROGIN: -- that we could have some expectation of what kind of President we'll need.
BLACKWELL: There are still several months left to convince the American people.
Jeffrey Lord, Josh Rogin -- thank you, both.
LORD: Thanks, Victor.
BLACKWELL: And be sure to tune in for the next Republican presidential debate hosted by CNN. It is Wednesday, September 16th starting at 6:00 Eastern.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAUL: An eight-foot king cobra snake missing in Orlando. Here's Alina Machado.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's eight feet long, the size of most doorways, not too big as far as king cobras are concerned, but this missing reptile which vanished from an Orlando, Florida animal farm has venom powerful enough to kill an elephant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're scary. I understand they have poison. And they will attack.
MACHADO: Neighbors on edge and on alert as teams of snake handlers scour the 10-acre property belonging to the cover's owner they look for the snake belonging to the owner, Mike Kennedy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go, look at that.
MACHADO: This YouTube video is one of many online showing Kennedy handling snakes, crocodiles and other wild animals. Kennedy a pilot, and host of Discovery's "airplane repo) is also passionate about rescuing exotic pets, telling CNN that he is licensed to own the deadly animals.
Florida Fish and Wildlife official say the Cobra slithered out of its cage following recent strong storms which Kennedy tells us damaged the building where the reptile was housed. He reported the stake missing on Wednesday and since then it's been all hands on deck.
On Friday searchers posted this picture on Twitter showing Box traps they hope will help capture the cobra which experts say won't be easy.
JEFF CORWIN, ABC'S "OCEAN MYSTERIES": King cobras have very large home ranges. And in this case, this creature despite being very large in size can quickly disappear in the undergrowth. It literally is trying to find a cobra in a hay stack.
MACHADO: Then there is the possibility it will never be found -- the thought of that unnerving to those who live nearby.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That worries me that they'll give up, we'll never hear any more about it. And then what, we just have to like watch where we step.
MACHADO: Kennedy did not want to talk to CNN on camera but told us he has not had the animal for very long, adding that the cobra is afraid of humans and is more likely to shy away from us than attack.
[09:00:10] Alina Machado, CNN Miami.
BLACKWELL: Thanks for watching this morning.
PAUL: "SMERCONISH" starts now.
