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New Day Saturday
Police: Nine Victims, Gunman Dead In Shooting Spree; Clinton To Formally Introduce Kaine As VP Today; Report Suggests Pilot's Act Of Mass Murder-Suicide; Obama To Speak At DNC Wednesday Night; Clinton to Introduce VP Pick Tim Kaine; WikiLeaks Released 20,000 Hacked DNC Emails; Rio Olympics Threatened by Terrorism; Friend of Louisiana Gunman Talks About Shooting. Aired 6-7a ET
Aired July 23, 2016 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:00:02] CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. You made it to Saturday. Take a nice deep breath. I'm Christi Paul.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. It's good to be with you this morning.
PAUL: We want to start to quick politics here. Hillary Clinton's new running mate. That's in a moment, actually.
BLACKWELL: First, though, we want to update you on the shooting rampage in Munich. You just saw part of that news conference.
PAUL: This is new video that we want to show you here as people are laying flowers and candles near the shopping mall where nine people were killed yesterday. The mayor of Munich has declared today a day of mourning.
And right now, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is meeting with her security cabinet. They are discussing this attack. This is obviously the topic of their discussion.
Right now Munich, police are holding a police conference though as you just saw. Officials saying there was no indication the attacker was linked to ISIS.
CNN's Will Ripley is live in Munich. Will, so now we know that he does not have, as far as they can tell, any connections to ISIS, but what else do we know?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christi, Victor, we know for sure, according to police that he did act alone. Even though there were rumors flying yesterday up to three gunmen, it was an 18-year-old with possibly illegally obtained .9 millimeter-handgun able to cause this, a scene that the next day is still closed off.
An entire city of 1.5 million people on lockdown for seven hours. So many questions about why this teenager of German and Iranian descent would look up documents to carry out a rampage, targeting children and foreigners. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY (voice-over): German police say the sole suspect in the Munich shooting took his own life. The chief calls the chaos caused by the 18-year-old German-Iranian his hardest day in 40 years of service.
HURBERTUS ANDRAE, MUNICH POLICE CHIEF (through translator): The events of yesterday, of this night makes us sad and speechless. Our thoughts are especially with the victims.
RIPLEY: An intense exchange with who appears to be the shooter turned up on social media. The suspected attacker seems to have a disturbed mental state insulting Turks and other foreigners. Shots rang out Friday at a popular shopping center. Witnesses describe the gunman targeting children.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Killing the children. Nothing but children were sitting to eat.
RIPLEY: Another apparent target, foreigners. This witness says he actually aimed mainly or only at foreigners as I could see it because all the dead bodies that I've seen on the ground and the young man who passed away next to me, they were all foreigners.
The response massive. Special Forces from Bavaria, reinforcements from other German states. Authorities locked down the city searching for the gunman, urging people to stay inside and avoid public areas.
Restaurants and other businesses closed. Public transit shut down. For President Obama, a new attack, a familiar message.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Our hearts go out to those who may have been injured. It's still an active situation, and Germany is one of our closest allies, so we are going to pledge all the support that they may need.
RIPLEY: This attack the latest in a series of recent tragedies in Europe. Last week 84 people died in Nice, France, when a man ran a 20-ton truck through Bastille Day crowds.
Earlier this week, a 17-year-old Afghan refugee with an ax injured several people on a train in Southern Germany. ISIS claims responsibility for both attacks and is calling for more bloodshed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL: I want to thank Will Ripley for that. We will continue obviously to monitor what the mayor is saying and we will bring you more as soon as we get it.
In just a few hours, Hillary Clinton will be speaking live in Miami introducing her vice presidential candidate, Tim Kaine. She made the announcement on Twitter saying this, "I'm thrilled to announce my running mate, Tim Kaine, a man who has devoted his life to fighting for others." Some are calling Kaine a safe choice for the Clinton campaign saying their joint ticket provides a stable alternative to the unpredictable Trump campaign. That's one perspective.
Here's what we know about Tim Kaine. The Virginia senator is one of only 20 people in American history to serve as mayor, governor, and senator, and he's co-sponsored the Iran nuclear agreement review act.
Here's something else you might not know. He plays the harmonica. A little bluesy there. He's actually pretty good at it.
PAUL: Yes.
BLACKWELL: Let's bring in CNN's senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny. In addition to his harmonica skill, Jeff, what else do we know about him?
[06:05:07]JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Victor, I'm not sure if we will hear that harmonica here today when he take stage here in Miami with Hillary Clinton to be introduced for the first time as her running mate.
Almost certainly we are going to hear Spanish. He is a fluent Spanish speaker. It's one of the reasons that Miami was chosen for this announcement. At Florida International University where some 60 percent of the student body is actually Hispanic.
It's a critical slice of this electorate for Hillary Clinton in a critical battleground state. But last night, Tim Kaine got the call from Hillary Clinton at 7:32 p.m.
After that, she called a few others who were on the finalist list. She asked Tim Kaine to join her ticket. He said yes. He'll join her today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are we ready for Hillary?
ZELENY (voice-over): Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine, new partners on the Democratic ticket.
SENATOR TIM KAINE (D), VIRGINIA: Do you want a "you're fired" president or "you're hired" president?
ZELENY: It may be an antiestablishment year, but Clinton's running mate is an insider, U.S. senator from Virginia and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee.
KAINE: And if I have anything to do with it, we'll win again.
ZELENY: By selecting Kaine, Clinton is betting that experience in government not sizzle is the best way to defeat Donald Trump.
KAINE: Elections are just the beginning. The real work starts tomorrow. ZELENY: He's neither flashy nor show boat, a seemingly safe pick and steady hand, just what Clinton told Anderson Cooper she's looking for in a vice president.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to be sure that whoever I pick could be president immediately if something were to happen. That's the most important qualification.
KAINE: I'm Tim Kaine.
ZELENY: Who is Timothy Michael Kaine? A decade ago as governor of Virginia, he introduced himself in the Democratic response to President Bush's state of the union address.
KAINE: I worked as a missionary when I was a young man. I learned to measure my life by the difference I can make in someone else's life.
ZELENY: It was that stint as a Jesuit missionary in Honduras that shaped and now distinguishes him. He learned fluent Spanish and still speaks it today, which makes him a different kind of attack dog against Trump.
KAINE: If you're a Latino, he's going to trash talk you.
ZELENY: Born in Minnesota and raised in Kansas.
KAINE: The best decision I ever made was moving to Richmond to marry my wife, Ann, 26 years ago.
ZELENY: He built his political career in Virginia, rising from city councilman and mayor of Richmond to lieutenant governor and governor. He's 58, ten years younger than Clinton. Known well inside the party but not beyond.
KAINE: I'm not the one with the biggest profile. I'm not the one that's the best known.
ZELENY: He signed on with Clinton early. This time around. Endorsing her in 2014, more than a year before she declared her candidacy. For an original Barack Obama supporter, it was a chance to make up for lost time.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Give it up for Tim Kaine.
ZELENY: His politics are more moderate than the liberal strain driving today's Democratic Party. He's Catholic. Outwardly moved by Pope Francis' visit to Capitol Hill last year. His views on abortion are far more conservative than most Democrats as he explained in this interview.
KAINE: I'm personally opposed to abortion and the death penalty and I've lived my life that way. Law is what it is. I'm going to carry out the law and protect women's legal rights to make their own reproductive decisions.
ZELENY: He's also spoken out forcefully against the administration for failing to seek congressional approval to fight the Islamic State.
KAINE: War against ISIL is just, it's necessary, it's noble, but it's illegal. There's been no congressional authorization for this war.
ZELENY: It's an open question whether Kaine fits the mold of today's red hot politics. Yet his selection could help soften Clinton's partisan edges.
KAINE: When it comes to our leadership in the world, trash talk ain't enough. We need a bridge builder and we've got a bridge builder in Hillary Clinton.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZELENY: So Tim Kaine is viewed as a governing partner should they win the White House in November. I talked to a top senior Clinton adviser last night to say, what really led her to pick him in the end. They said simply a comfort level.
She liked his experience but simply, they said, he is someone she would like to have around the west wing, someone she gets along with, trusts, and is loyal.
So they appear today in Miami on the stage together this afternoon and then, of course, that Democratic Convention begins in Philadelphia next week.
BLACKWELL: All right, Jeff, what more are we learning from the Republicans, their reaction to this pick?
ZELENY: Of course, Republicans are responding, Donald Trump in particular is responding saying, look, this is a couple of insiders. This is a guy who has been in elected office most of his life. So pretty typical response.
More interestingly though perhaps is the response from some progressive and liberal groups. They believe that Tim Kaine simply is not liberal enough. They think he's too moderate on many issues like Wall Street reform, some other things.
So there will be definite discussions at that Democratic Convention next week. He's certainly not a Bernie Sanders liberal Democrat. But that's probably why Hillary Clinton selected him -- Victor.
[06:10:07]BLACKWELL: All right, Jeff Zeleny in Miami for us. Jeff, thanks so much. Don't miss the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Our live coverage begins Monday at 4:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
PAUL: An explosive new report could offer clues in the mystery of the crashed MH-370 flight. Yes, we're still talking about this because we're just learning of the possibility that this could have been a premeditated plot of mass murder and suicide. Our Matt Rivers is following that for us.
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's the big question after a "New York" magazine report claims that the pilot of MH-370 flew a simulated flight just one month before MH-370 disappeared. That simulated flight closely resembles the suspected flight path of MH-370 itself. I'll have those details coming up.
BLACKWELL: Another blow to this year's Olympics, with the Rio Games now just less than two weeks away fears of terrorism and a doping scandal dominating the conversation. Now authorities are scrambling to keep the games safe and drug free. We'll tell you how.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: It's 14 minutes after the hour now. There's this explosive new report that suggests the pilot who flew the downed MH- 370 plane intentionally crashed it. Now this is according to documents obtained by "New York" magazine.
According to those documents the pilot flew a similar route on a home simulator just a month before it went down. It's important to say that CNN has not independently confirmed the contents of the reported document.
[06:15:04]PAUL: But you may remember that the plane disappeared in March of 2014 on that flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing and although there's no official cause for the crash this could be the strongest evident yet that this was a premeditated act of suicide and mass murder.
Again, CNN has not corroborated this, but Matt Rivers is with us from Beijing. Matt, what else can you tell us about this report and what's in it?
RIVERS: Well, "New York" magazine published this article claiming that it had obtained a previously unseen document generated during the Malaysian police investigation into this disappearance.
And this article claims citing that document that there were several hard drives that were connected to an in-home flight simulator belonging to the pilot of MH-370. Those hard drives were taken away from his house and turned over to the FBI.
Now the FBI did their analysis and found there were several deleted data points. When put together those data points apparently showed that the pilot flew a simulated flight that closely matched the suspected route of MH-370 into the Southern Indian Ocean.
So the flight path of the simulated flight and the suspected flight path of MH-370 really line up quite well right next to each other.
And that apparently this document also shows, according to the article, that this simulated flight took place within one month prior to MH-370 disappearing.
As you mentioned, CNN cannot corroborate the authenticity or the content of this document, but it certainly brings up a lot of questions. And we're hearing from family members of people who were onboard. They're claiming they spoke to the -- we spoke to some of them this morning here in Beijing, and they're claiming if this document is authentic, if it is real, why is there a lack of transparency from the Malaysian government here?
Why was this information not put out earlier? And why was the Malaysian government really deflecting attention and blame away from the pilot himself in the first place?
Of course, all of this is ongoing as the search for the plane continues in the Southern Indian Ocean. A major development in this search for MH-370 -- Christi.
PAUL: All right, Matt Rivers, we appreciate it so much. Thank you.
BLACKWELL: So what does this report mean for the investigation? Our Richard Quest read through it and this is his take.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is everything and it is nothing. It is the clearest circumstantial evidence that he was involved in stealing his own plane or hijacking his own plane and flying it on a suicide mission. But it does not prove this in any shape or form.
It is purely the sort of circumstantial evidence that has built up over time. And then with that in mind, and what is very interesting is the Malaysians is they've known about this and they didn't release it. They've never -- they didn't even put it in their first report one year after the event.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: So let's talk about that report. This is the factual report published last March, March of 2015, on the first anniversary of the plane's disappearance. It dismissed accusations against the pilot.
It said that the captain's ability to handle stress at work and home was good. There were no significant changes in his life, his lifestyle, interpersonal conflict of family stresses. So we'll continue to look into that.
PAUL: Meanwhile, President Obama has a lot to say about Donald Trump's vision for America. This, of course, coming as the Democrats are gearing up to attack the GOP at their own convention. Hear President Obama's scathing comments. Those are coming up for you next.
BLACKWELL: Plus, a first-hand account of horror. A witness to the Munich shooting spree describes the chaos.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Yes, he screamed very loud, you (inaudible) foreigners.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:22:28]
PAUL: President Obama is striking back at Donald Trump's vision of America telling CBS the rampage in Munich that we saw yesterday does not validate Mr. Trump's dark world view and that Trump's plan for a religious test for immigrants is a, quote, "betrayal of American ideals." Listen up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ANCHOR: Mr. President, when Donald Trump spoke to his convention he talked about security threats, he painted a very dark picture. Now there's been a terrorist attack in Germany. Doesn't that suggest he's right about the darkness?
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: No, it doesn't. Terrorism is a real threat and nobody knows that better than me. One of the best ways of preventing it is making sure that we don't divide our own country. That we don't succumb to fear that we don't sacrifice our values. And that we send a very strong signal to the world and to every American citizen that we're in together.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Explain how we would sacrifice our haves specifically by being divides?
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, look, if we start engaging in the kinds of proposals that we've heard from Mr. Trump or some of his surrogates like Mr. Gingrich, where we start suggesting that we would apply religious tests to who could come in here, that we are screening Muslim-Americans differently than we would others, then we are betraying that very thing that makes America exceptional.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: President Obama is scheduled to take the stage Wednesday night as part of the Democratic National Convention. The Democrats getting their chance to present their vision for America and our first chance really to hear how Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine's ticket will challenge Mr. Trump and Mr. Pence's.
BLACKWELL: Let's talk about what we just heard. To discuss we're joined by CNN political commentator and Donald Trump supporter, Scottie Nell Hughes along with former chairman of the Washington, D.C. Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton supporter A. Scott Bolden. Good to have both of you back.
Scottie, you're in Philadelphia where the Democrats will convene in a couple of days. Let me start with you. What do you think about what you just heard from the president there?
SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think it's awfully funny that Mr. President is saying this. I mean, considering what is going on in our country today. We've said over the past few weeks and every week has been wreaked by headlines.
And they've been unfortunately headlines here at home. Guess what, we are living in a divided country. So it's really interesting for the president to try sit there and talk about what Mr. Trump's policies would do when look at what's going on in your own country right now.
[06:25:05]So that means what is happening from Orlando to the attacks on the police officers, is that a result of policies, President Obama?
BLACKWELL: Scott, let me come to you -- let me come to you with the latest on the CNN poll because Donald Trump made his case -- he made his case on Thursday night to the American people. Hillary Clinton will make hers on the upcoming Thursday.
But the latest polls as we go in to the Democratic Convention show that voters believe that Donald Trump would better handle terrorism and ISIS and specifically on the terror number, he's moved from a five-point deficit back at the end of April to a six-point lead. Doesn't she -- I mean, it appears she's not making her case.
A.SCOTT BOLDEN, FORMER CHAIRMAN, WASHINGTON, D.C. DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Well, I think she's going to make her case going forward in the next four years. He's going to get those types of bumps coming off four days of doom and gloom --
BLACKWELL: This was before the convention.
BOLDEN: This was before the -- before the convention. Well, of course, because he speaks in platitudes. He speaks in simplistic terms. He's never led. He doesn't really understand terrorism. And these terrorist -- terroristic acts that we are seeing are not all terrorism acts.
As we saw in Germany, these are sole acts and these are acts that really have nothing to do with ISIS, but have more to do with mental illness, if you will. And so he can be ahead on that, but what's his plan.
He is not answer to keeping America safe simply because of his personality. We are going to hear from Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine this week and we are going to hear their plan. We got plans to keep America safe and Donald Trump simply has his personality and no answers.
BLACKWELL: All right, Scottie, let me come to you on Tim Kaine, now the running mate for Hillary Clinton. He represent the swing state of Virginia, was a popular former governor. He can go into Florida, some of the swing states out west and make the pitch in Spanish. A lot of variables here that make him an attractive running mate. Are you concerned?
HUGHES: Well, actually if it just takes recruiting Spanish, learning -- a candidate learning Spanish then let's get Rosetta Stone for Mike Pence and Donald Trump both. I think it takes a lot more. I think it talks about actually having a plan for education, have a plan actually for security (inaudible).
It's the same thing for all Americans right now, but actually when you sit there and look at it, I don't know if I agree with you, Victor, (inaudible) that he was such a popular governor in Virginia.
His replacement, a Republican replacement won by point of 20 -- a margin of 20 points. And when you look at him as a leader of the DNC, he actually cause the single biggest loss in Democrat history since the great depression.
So I don't know. I think him and Hillary Clinton go very well together. They're both very comfortable with each other and I think it's because they look on paper. But we actually look at what they've done, it's not necessarily been as great as what their records are touting.
BLACKWELL: Go ahead.
BOLDEN: I certainly think they make a solid team. They both have strong government experience, strong Democratic credentials. I do think being able to communicate a Democratic message to the Hispanic voters is super important.
Listen, Hispanic voters and black voters, women voters, they are not voting for the Trump-Pence team. They are voting for Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine and so it will be important to communicate that message, but also to mobilize them to get out the vote.
BLACKWELL: Well, speaking of mobilizing --
BOLDEN: Democrats are going to be selling experience over narcissism and experience over a personality.
BLACKWELL: Speaking of mobilizing those voters, there are some on the left who are Bernie Sanders supporters who are disappointed, underwhelmed by this pick. The head of Democracy for America said that, "Making Senator Tim Kaine, our vice presidential candidate, could be potentially disastrous for the efforts (inaudible) Trump this fall citing his support for TPP previously. Are you concerned that you'll lose those voters or Donald Trump or possibly one of the third party candidates?
BOLDEN: Not at all. Bernie Sanders voters simply aren't going to vote for Republican candidate like Donald Trump --
BLACKWELL: How about Green Party? How about the Libertarian?
BOLDEN: That's a possibility, but improbable as well. Listen, Bernie Sanders has endorsed Hillary Clinton. He is going to be on the campaign trail. Tim Kaine is going to be communicating to Hispanic and all voters really quite frankly.
And so I think that this is a solid pick for her for Tim Kaine simply because those constituencies are lined up for her. It's going to take a lot for them to go to Donald Trump. So this is a strong selection.
BLACKWELL: Big announcement coming out later today. Scott Bolden --
BOLDEN: In Spanish.
BLACKWELL: In Spanish. Scottie Nell Hughes, thank you both.
HUGHES: All right.
BOLDEN: Thank you.
PAUL: So we are following the latest on the shooting rampage in Munich. Nine people, remember, are dead. Sixteen are hurt and police are trying to decipher why this teenager opened fire and whether he was indeed targeting not just children but foreigners.
BLACKWELL: Plus, Wikileaks releases 20,000 e-mails sent by Democratic National Committee members and it's raising a lot of questions about the inner workings of the DNC.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:33:36] BLACKWELL: Thanks for staying with us on NEW DAY. And welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world.
I'm Victor Blackwell.
PAUL: And I'm Christi Paul. We're talking about a day of mourning that's been declared in Germany now after that shooting spree that left nine people dead.
Police in Germany there say they're going to have to investigate everything surrounding this lone gunman. Right now, they believe that he did -- didn't have any links to ISIS.
Little is known about him publicly, though, other than the fact that he was 18 years old and have lived in Munich for the last two years.
BLACKWELL: Well, the shooting began where the gunman opened fire outside a McDonald's.
Here's how witnesses describe what unfolded next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(GUNSHOTS)
THAMINA STOLL, EYEWITNESS: People were running around screaming and people were scared. There were a lot of people, like about 50 people running towards our house to seek shelter. And siren --
[06:35:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First, there were people shouting very loud. A lot of people gathered. Then I left the shop and looked to the right, and saw a guy who slowly approached the crowd. And I looked in his direction, and then he shot at two people near the stairs, and I ran away.
I then went on the other side of the street and saw one dead body and one injured body there. It was really a catastrophe.
LAURETTA, EYEWITNESS: My son saw in the toilet, the man loading the gun. It was a pistol.
LYNN STEIN, EYEWITNESS: Germany has always been very safe, so I wasn't fearful. But this is like definitely a surprising and very, very sad and very surreal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Well, a short-time ago, officials in Munich had a news conference. They say that first there's no ongoing security threat. Also, there appears that there's no political motivation for this shooting. They're telling people that there's no reason to avoid holding or attending events across the city.
Hillary Clinton has picked Tim Kaine to be her running mate and in just a few hours, she will introduce him to voters in Miami. Kaine tweeted, "He is honored to be her running mate."
A Washington insider, Kaine is a seasoned politician. He's been a mayor, a governor. He's also now the senator representing the state of Virginia. And he's co-sponsored the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act.
The Virginia senator is one of only 20 people in American history to serve as those three positions: mayor, governor, and senator. And we will, of course, profile him throughout the morning.
PAUL: And we want to wish good morning to all of you waking up in Philadelphia this morning.
Beautiful city there, isn't it? What a sunrise.
The city is getting ready for the Democratic National Convention next week. The event featuring political A-listers such President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, First Lady Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton, Bernie Sanders among others, it's quite a contrast some say to the Republican convention, where many anti-Trump G.O.P. leaders did not show up.
But let's talk to Nomiki Konst. Bernie Sanders supporter and DNC Platform Committee member.
Nomiki, it's good to see you this morning.
On the heels of some of these news that's coming out this morning --
(CROSSTALK)
NOMIKI KONST, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning.
PAUL: Good morning to you. We're hearing that Sanders' supporters are planning to protest at the DNC.
First of all, do we know what exactly they are demanding, and is there anything that Bernie Sanders himself can say to the DNC to placate them?
KONST: Listen, this has been a very heated debate this cycle. I mean, it's been a very heated primary. And I think there are a lot of Sanders supporters who were very frustrated that Bernie Sanders, the senator went and endorse the secretary and it happened quite suddenly and they were expecting to go all the way to the convention.
There are quite a few concerns that Sanders supporters have. You know, I'm a delegate so I'm going to be voicing those concerns in whatever way possible inside the convention, but there are a lot of organizations, whether they're union members, or "Black Lives Matter," or people from the climate change movement, or people who are against TPP, which is a very heated topic right now because the majority of Democrats and majority of Democratic congressmen are against TPP.
But we voted on the platform committee not to strengthen our language around it. So he expects a lot of peaceful, civil disobedience. It's just to send a message to the Democratic Party that we can do better, we can be better and that we are now half of the party. And so we need to be heard as a group. And not only are we half of the party, we are the majority of the future of the party.
PAUL: Does that mean that you're going to be voting for Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine?
KONST: I think she needs to reach out to Sanders supporters and connect with us. Both Senator Kaine and Secretary Clinton have a lot of work to do to earn our votes. And right now there has not been a lot of on the ground listening.
There hasn't been a lot of surrogate reaching out. It's been a lot of symbolism. And we have to move past the symbolic politics.
You know, Senator Kaine is an extraordinary, has an extraordinary record but it is not a progressive record. It's quite a moderate record. It's quite a corporate record and is very much at odds with the future of the Democratic Party.
The current state of the Democratic Party, which is 70 percent more progressive than it was ten years ago. And one thing to keep in mind, you know, Senator Kaine was the chair of the Democratic Party when we started to change the strategy. We went from a 50-state strategy to a party that raises more money than ever that it has lost more seats than ever.
There's a lot of stuff that we have to do to strengthen as a party, and I as a Sanders supporter is invested in making this party better. But there are a lot of Sanders supporters who feel very disaffected and don't feel like they are being heard, listened to or acknowledged.
PAUL: OK, so on that note, I want to bring in this new information about WikiLeaks posting nearly 20,000 hacked DNC e-mails for Democratic staffers are debating how to deal with challenging media request and looking at ways to undercut Sanders during the primary.
[06:40:10] We want to point out CNN has not authenticated these e- mails, but Sanders, we understand, he's going to be speaking. Will these leaks, however, undercut or will they give credence, I guess, to his supporters, to you, that the DNC was biased toward Clinton from the beginning?
I mean, this is really bad timing for the Democrats. This is a time when Secretary Clinton needs to mobilize the Sanders base because the energy, the lack of energy is contagious.
And even though he had 13 million votes and she only needs maybe say 10 million of those votes to win, she still needs to make sure that that base is energized and ready to go to the polls. And not voting for someone like the Jill Stein of the Green Party or libertarian Gary Johnson.
And these e-mails reconfirmed a lot of the beliefs that Sanders supporters and actually some believes --
(CROSSTALK)
PAUL: So how do you think that that -- these -- the WikiLeaks e-mails are going to affect the people going to the DNC and whether they put their support behind Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine, or if they do go elsewhere?
How much of a factor are these e-mails?
KONST: I think it's a problem. I mean, I was up until 2:00 in the morning reading these e-mails and I was getting upset.
You had the chair of the Democratic Party, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Congressman Shultz, essentially calling our campaign manager, calling names, like very nasty comments about the campaign manager Jeff Weaver. Also, untrue comments because they've been validated.
I mean, she was saying that he was lying about the Nevada caucus, which has all been fact checked.
PAUL: OK.
KONST: So, you know, this has reconfirms the notion that the Democratic Party was supporting Hillary Clinton, you know, two years out.
PAUL: OK. Nomiki Konst, so good to see you again.
KONST: Thank you.
PAUL: Best of luck to you there and we'll be talking to you, obviously, throughout. Take good care. Thank you.
KONST: Sounds good. Thanks.
BLACKWELL: Well, the list of problems heading into the Olympics is growing. Terrorism, security fears, of course. This city, this country is facing a lot of challenges.
Rosa Flores is following that story for us this morning.
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, all new overnight, one more Brazilian national now in jail. Turning himself in after what authorities say was a plot, a terrorist plot that was being organized by 12 individuals. How that plot was foiled, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: All right. So this is just coming in to CNN from Afghanistan. An explosion has apparently ripped through an area of Kabul. And we know there are hundreds of people there gathering for a peaceful demonstration.
It's late afternoon there. We're still getting very early details, very early information on this. We've got our teams and our sources on the ground gathering information. As soon as we get that, we will bring that to you. But again, an explosion there struck an area of Kabul where there was a peaceful demonstration that was just about to begin.
PAUL: Also watching this morning, the 2016 Olympics. First marred of course by the doping scandal and now these new found fears of terrorism as well.
BLACKWELL: Thousands of Brazilian Reserve Forces have been drafted after a Jihadi message channel called for its followers to target the Rio Games. Now Brazil's intelligence agency is now reviewing all the threats against the games. And this comes after authorities arrested ten people suspected of planning terrorist attacks just a couple days ago.
Let's get right to our Rosa Flores with new details for us.
Rosa, tell us what we know about this plot and how it was foiled.
FLORES: Well, Victor, let me start with this.
CNN just learning that an 11th suspect has turned himself in because here's the background here. Authorities had been looking at 12 Brazilian nationals because of the chatter that they were creating online and through text messages.
They tell us that these 12 individuals vowed allegiance to ISIS, and they really didn't know each other, but they kept communicating. And this chatter caught Brazilian authorities' attention.
Now, Brazilian authorities are calling them amateurs. And you'll see why. According to authorities, they say that these individuals were trying to prepare by taking martial arts classes. One of these individuals was trying to purchase a weapon online.
Now, as you know, he tried to purchase a weapon online from Paraguay and that's going to leave an electronic footprint. A very clear electronic footprint for authorities. And so what happened here is Brazilian authorities moved in after that chatter increased about these individuals actually plotting and planning a terror attack. Now, they didn't have a set target but, of course, Brazilian authorities seeing this as a success because they tell us that they are gathering intelligence, sharing that intelligence with other countries, with foreign countries, and acting on that intelligence and that's what we're seeing here.
Victor?
Christi?
BLACKWELL: That's a major concern just fewer than two weeks until the opening ceremonies.
Rosa Flores for us there in Rio de Janeiro. Thanks so much.
PAUL: And insight into the mind of a killer with Ana Cabrera.
ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A childhood friend of Gavin Long, the Baton Rouge cop killer, says he was with Long in Dallas just days before his rampage. Coming up, the haunting words Long said before he left.
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BLACKWELL: Thousands of police officers from around the country will be in Louisiana today honoring east Baton Rouge sheriff's deputy Brad Garafola. That's at his funeral. He was one of three Louisiana officers killed by a gunman targeting police.
PAUL: CNN's Ana Cabrera sat down with a friend of the shooter and asked if there was any sign of what he may have been planning.
Ana, what did you learn?
CABRERA: Good morning, Victor and Christi. Felix Omoruyi, who's a rapper and goes by Feva says Long came to visit him in Dallas on July 9th, that was just two days after the Dallas police ambush.
He says Long was carrying thousands of dollars in cash. He was promoting a new book he had authored. And he says Long expressed growing anger over African-Americans' deaths at the hands of police.
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CABRERA (on-camera): He was mad about what happen to Philando Castile and Alton Sterling?
FELIX "FEVA" OMORUYI, FRIEND OF BATON ROUGE SHOOTER GAVING LONG: Yes, he was pissed off. He was pissed. Everybody was mad. Those videos didn't help either. You feel me? One convenience store is what really I can tell really touched him.
CABRERA: Alton Sterling's death.
OMORUYI: Yes, yes. Because, I mean, he basically watched his soul leave his body. You feel me? So it's sick. You feel me? He was tired of it. That's how he felt. He felt like when they was down, he felt like they was killing him. He felt like somebody needs to stand up and do something.
CABRERA: And he expressed that to you.
OMORUYI: Yes, he expressed it, but he wasn't the only one. A lot of people express it.
CABRERA: And you didn't think that what he meant by taking action meant violence, or did you get a sense that he was leaning that direction?
OMORUYI: I mean, it's things that I think about now that I would like, damn, like crazy, like crazy (EXPLETIVE DELETED) he was saying. You know, to my mama. She was like, good luck. And he was like, what did she say?
He was like, I don't need luck when I have knowledge. Then she was like, OK, whatever. Be careful then. He said, I don't like that either. Like stay vigilant, stay courageous, you know what I'm saying? That keeps rewinding, keeps replaying in my head.
CABRERA: Right. And what do you think he meant by stay vigilant, be courageous now in retrospect?
OMORUYI: That's what I feel like that's him telling me that he was going to go do that (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
CABRERA: Did you know he was going the Baton Rouge after?
OMORUYI: Hell no. If he would have told me, I probably would have like beat the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out of him and not let him leave.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CABRERA: Feva also told me Long was not afraid of death. He says Long had become extremely spiritual during his time in the military. He says Long felt he was one with the universe, which is also why he changed his name legally to Cosmo.
Victor?
Christi?
PAUL: All right, Ana, thank you so much.
I want to talk about this very dangerous heat dome. It's covering a big chunk of the U.S. Kind of like a lid on a boiling pot of water. And it's a potentially life threatening situation for some 111 million of us, temperatures soaring to 120 degrees in some places.
Meteorologist Allison Chinchar in the CNN weather center now.
OK, so Allison, where is the dome, first of all and how long is it going to last based on what you can tell? ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: OK. So let's take a look at the area of the country where we have the biggest threat. And you'll notice that the big chunk is really over the central U.S., but we also have some portions in the northeast and we also have some portions in the southwest.
So really you can make the argument, the heat dome really covers pretty much the entire United States from east to west coast.
We have over 110 million people under some type of heat watch warning or advisory, and that includes 26 states. Here you can see that high pressure that is kind of sitting right over the central region of the country, but how does that work exactly?
Let's take a closer look. So here you can kind of see the dome of high pressure that's sitting right next to me. What that does is when you have a dome of high pressure, you have all that heat that the sun brings down to the surface. Heats up the ground, heat rises, it naturally goes up. But thanks to the high pressure system, it acts like a bowl. It covers all of it and prevents the heat from going back up. Essentially shooting it right back down. Making in a lot of cases the temperature much warmer than it would be normally.
And, again, the other issue is that these areas have been dealing with the heat for a very long time. And notice even as we go into the weekend, it's going to stay that way.
So again, Christi, the threat for the northeast, the mid-Atlantic, the southeast, and the Midwest will remain for the next several days.
PAUL: All right. Allison Chinchar, thank you so much. Do stay safe out there.
BLACKWELL: Next hour of NEW DAY is coming up after a break. Stay with us.
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