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Manhunt; Jeb Bush Running for President; Spokane's NAACP President Resigns; Jeb Bush Joins 2016 Race, Vows to "Run to Win". Aired 6-7p ET

Aired June 15, 2015 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:02] BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN GUEST HOST: No apology. Local NAACP president Rachel Dolezal resigns, but she's offering no explanation about her parents' claim that she's white, not African-American. We will be getting the first reaction from the national leader of the NAACP.

And a Bush exclusive. As Jeb jumps into the crowded Republican presidential race, his son is talking to CNN about his father and the shadow of their famous family.

We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. Wolf Blitzer is off today. I'm Brianna Keilar. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

And we have breaking news. Al Qaeda's most dangerous affiliate may have suffered a deadly blow. We're told that the U.S. government is now looking into new claims out of Yemen that the leader of AQAP has been killed, reportedly by a U.S. drone strike. Stand by for new details on that.

Also breaking, a new court appearance by the prison worker accused of helping two cold-blooded killers escape. A local prosecutor is warning that more possible accomplices may be arrested.

And, tonight, those very dangerous fugitives are on the loose for a 10th day, despite a massive international manhunt and 1,000 leads. We have correspondents, analysts and newsmakers standing by as we cover all the news breaking right now.

We go first to our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr. She has more on that al Qaeda leader's reported death.

Barbara, what's going on?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Brianna.

At this hour a U.S. intelligence official tells CNN -- and let me quote specifically -- quote -- "We are looking to confirm the death of Nasser al-Wuhayshi."

Nasser al-Wuhayshi is the leader of al Qaeda in Yemen, the most dangerous affiliate of al Qaeda by U.S. intelligence estimates, the affiliate that has tried to put explosives on U.S. aircraft. They are said to be responsible for the 2009 attempted underwear bombing, the attempt to use printer cartridges on airplanes to hide bombs, a number of events that this affiliate has been behind.

The fact that the U.S. intelligence community says tonight they are looking to verify his death, you can take away from that that there may well have been a U.S. strike against what they believe a location was where he was at. To be clear, that is not being confirmed by the United States. But at least two Yemeni security over fishes are telling CNN they believe he is dead from a suspected U.S. drone strike, the U.S. not willing to go that far, not willing to say more than they are looking into these reports of his death.

But, Brianna, if Wuhayshi is dead, this is the third major kill, if you will, of a major terrorist operative at the hands of the United States. It was just this weekend we learned the U.S. believes it was successful in an F-15 strike against Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the head of the al Qaeda affiliate in North Africa.

And just a few weeks, U.S. Army Delta went against a target in Syria, killed a major operative there, a man that went by the name of Abu Sayyaf. What is going on, U.S. officials say? None of these events are linked in particular, but they say it is hard work, U.S. intelligence, technical means to eavesdrop or watch these people, and a bit of luck, a few tips along the way about where they may be located -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thank you.

And there's also a new U.S. strategy to take on ISIS and it comes from the Iraq war playbook. Sunni tribes that helped beat back al Qaeda forces in Western Iraq almost a decade ago could now play a key role in pushing ISIS out of the same region.

CNN chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto is working this story for us.

What are you finding out, Jim?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, U.S. officials have been talking about this for months, in fact, getting those Sunni tribes involved in the fight against ISIS to broaden the fight away from the Shia-dominated government. And now we're told it's going to begin as soon as this week, that some of those Sunni tribes are going to get equipped, that is, armed by the U.S. and advised and get on the battlefield.

It's part of a broader plan to bring in groups on the ground, Iraqis, Kurds, and now Sunnis, backed up by U.S. airpower, a strategy that to date has had mixed success.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO (voice-over): Kurdish fighters advancing toward a strategic ISIS-controlled border crossing in Northern Syria, a local fighting force backed by Western arms and aid, making a rare success against the terror group.

BRETT MCGURK, U.S. DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: In Northern Syria, as we speak, the Kurds with Arab Free Syrian Army fighters and some Christian organized units, they're taking -- they're really giving a beating to ISIS.

SCIUTTO: This is the U.S. model on both sides of the border.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the way from here.

SCIUTTO: With U.S. troops training Iraqi forces, and now plans in motion to train and arm Iraq's Sunni tribes to take on ISIS.

[18:05:03]

MCGURK: I just got off the phone with some of our commanders in the field. Now that we're based at Taqaddum and we're working with the tribal committee in Anbar, we're going to see over the next week, I think pretty soon, some new tribal fighters coming in to get equipped and to get into the fight.

SCIUTTO: The Obama administration is repeating a model President Bush used in the Iraq War during the so-called Sunni Awakening, when U.S. arms and money helped turn many of the same Sunni tribes into allies against ISIS' predecessor, al Qaeda in Iraq.

The difference, then the tribes were backed by tens of thousands of U.S. combat forces. Today, they're backed only by hundreds of trainers and advisers with no combat role, small numbers also a threat to the safety of the U.S. trainers themselves.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), U.S. AIR FORCE: When you bring forces out, that far out in a front, what you're doing is, you're getting them as close to the front line as you possibly can without actually stepping onto the front line. It's a very risky strategy.

SCIUTTO: As part of a broader reorganization, U.S. intelligence is reworking its strategy as well, the CIA merging its operations, analysts, and cyber-experts into single mission centers to fight threats, including ISIS, the ISIS threat so broad that no fewer than five of 10 new CIA mission centers are working on battling the terror group.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Here are some of the mission centers involved in that fight against ISIS from the CIA, Middle East, South Asia and Central Asia, Africa, Europe and Eurasia, a proliferation group, speaking to the proliferation of nuclear materials, et cetera, counterterror.

That's six right there, Brianna. And it just shows how broad that threat is, both geographically and in terms of capability from ISIS and how the CIA and others are taking it on.

KEILAR: Jim Sciutto, thanks for your report.

I want to get more on this breaking news, the death of the leader of AQAP reportedly killed by U.S. drone strike. We have CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen here with us and

former CIA counterterrorism official and CNN counterterrorism analyst Phil Mudd.

Phil, it's interesting to note here with Yemen the U.S. has no ground presence. There have been these intelligence challenges, to say the least, in figuring out what's going on there. But with this successful strike, does this tell us that U.S. intel is getting better there?

PHILIP MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: I wouldn't say it's getting better, but you have to remember, we have been on the ground there more than a decade after 9/11. You look at places where the U.S. does not have a significant intelligence presence.

That is the tribal areas in Western Pakistan, Somalia. Those places have been the locations of very successful drone strikes. So, it's harder to operate in geographic spaces where you don't have a local partner, because, in the case of Yemen, for example, as you're suggesting, the embassy is closed. But there's still a lot of intelligence you can collect against a target, especially if you have been collecting on it for more than a decade, as is the case with the fellow who was reportedly killed in Yemen.

KEILAR: What does this death mean for AQAP, Peter?

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, one particular leader being sort of killed isn't transformative. But this is part of a campaign in which about 30 leaders of this group have been killed by drone strikes in the last several years.

And so, cumulatively, over time, that does take a toll. But they have already appointed the number two -- the number two's already sort of stepped into this guy's shoes.

KEILAR: And that's their way of saying, you didn't wipe out our leadership or our ability, right, to do it so quickly?

BERGEN: Right. And we have seen look, the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, was killed in an airstrike by the United States in 2006.

That's -- he led the parent organization of ISIS. ISIS has grown in strength since he was killed. So, you know, it can make a difference, but it's not -- these things are not transformative.

KEILAR: OK. I wonder, Phil, how big of a get is this? The death of Mokhtar Belmokhtar in Libya, another one of these successes, how much does this matter?

MUDD: I agree with Peter. There's two ways to look at this, Brianna.

First, if you want to look at the pace of operations over time, you have got to kill these people time and time and time again, because the number two is going to assume the position quickly. And if you allow him to stay in position over the course of, let's say, a year or two or three years, they will gain the respect and experience to be able to stage operations.

That said, you're talking about people, that is Belmokhtar in North Africa. You're talking about Wuhayshi in Yemen. These people are irreplaceable in the organization, regardless of whether the number two steps in. You're talking about people who have been around for decades. They have respect not only in their region of operations, but they have direct connection with the al Qaeda core organization in Pakistan.

There are not people like this who can step into position. So if we maintain pace of operations and keep killing them, these people are irreplaceable.

KEILAR: OK, so he says they're irreplaceable. But I wonder if there's also a bigger issue, in that Mokhtar Belmokhtar was at what seemed to be a meeting of ISIS and al Qaeda perhaps to broker a truce, because they have been at each other's necks, right?

[18:10:03]

BERGEN: Yes.

KEILAR: So, when you look at that meeting, Peter, do you say, OK, maybe these guys are going to start getting along, and this will pose an even bigger problem for the U.S.? Or do you think they're not going to get along?

BERGEN: I mean, there's -- Freud has a term, the narcissism of minor differences.

These groups are very -- similar ideology, but they do hate each other at the leadership level. So we don't -- this is one report that they may have been trying to broker some deal in Libya. But if they brokered a deal, it would be a big problem, because ISIS and al Qaeda control two-thirds of Syria right now, if they actually got together.

Right now, they're fighting each other in Syria. That would be very problematic. I'm not convinced that that's going to happen, because the differences are pretty big. At the end of the day, one of them -- ISIS is saying, I'm the top global jihadi dog. Al Qaeda isn't going to accept that.

KEILAR: Peter Bergen, Phil Mudd, thank you so much to both of you. Great insight on this string of U.S. successes here.

MUDD: Thank you.

KEILAR: Just ahead, we are learning what prison worker Joyce Mitchell is doing behind bars, along with new details about her alleged role in the escape of two brutal killers.

And will Rachel Dolezal's resignation as a local NAACP leader calm the controversy after her parents outed her as being white and not black? I will be getting the first reaction from the national NAACP president, Cornell William Brooks. He is standing by to talk with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:16:10]

KEILAR: Tonight, alleged prison escape accomplice Joyce Mitchell is in a tiny cell. She's monitored around the clock after a new court appearance. There are questions whether she might try to kill herself, although we're told she's not necessarily on suicide watch right now.

We're learning more about her relationship with the fugitives who are on the lam for a 10th day now.

CNN's Alexandra Field is in Upstate New York with the latest -- Alexandra.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Brianna.

She is being closely watched in jail and all eyes were on her in the courtroom today when she made her first appearance since pleading not guilty. Investigators have said that Joyce Mitchell has been helpful, filling them on in the details of a plan that she didn't follow through on. But it's entirely likely she wouldn't know anything about whatever plan B was.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One hundred thousand cash, $200,000 bond.

FIELD (voice-over): Joyce Mitchell back in court today wearing a prison jumpsuit and a bulletproof vest, hands shackled to her waist. The former prison seamstress remains behind bars, a sheriff telling CNN's Miguel Marquez she's being closely monitored 24 hours a day in a six-by-nine-foot cell, her every move documented.

Mitchell is accused of giving the convicted killers some of the tools they needed to make their escape, including hacksaw blades and chisels. She's pleaded not guilty. Tonight, there are new questions about the alleged escape plan and Mitchell's relationship with the suspects.

ANDREW WYLIE, CLINTON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: They had been working on cutting the backs of the cell walls out, going down into the tunnel system of the facility, and working their escape plan. So I think she was relatively involved.

FIELD: Clinton County District Attorney Andrew Wylie says Mitchell told authorities the plan was to meet the two men and drive seven hours. But she says they never told her where they were going. She says she got cold feet.

Mitchell was previously investigated for an inappropriate relationship with David Sweat, but no evidence was found. The nationwide search continues for the fugitives, the brazen escape now the subject of a state investigation ordered by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: We don't know if they are still in

the immediate area or if they are in Mexico by now.

FIELD: More than 800 law enforcement officers are tracking hundreds of tips.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD: At this point, you can still see that the search continuing in this area, officers stopping every car as they pass and searching each of these vehicles.

But you did hear the governor say that these two fugitives could be almost anywhere. That said, the district attorney has said that there have been no break-ins or burglaries in this area that would necessarily connect the fugitives to this area, which, Brianna, only suggests that if they are in the area, they have found some way to get the resources they would need.

KEILAR: Alexandra Field, thank you so much for us in West Plattsburgh, New York.

I want to bring in now CNN law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes. He's a former FBI assistant director. We also have Matt Horace. He's a former ATF special agent in charge, and he's a security expert. And we have Matthew Fogg. He's retired chief deputy U.S. Marshal.

So, Tom, you heard Governor Cuomo. He could be anywhere. He could be in Mexico. So, where does that leave authorities as they search for these guys?

TOM FUENTES, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Searching from here to Mexico.

I think that they were going by the leads of the dogs, finding the scent a couple of days ago, the candy wrappers. But now they're looking at the possibility that maybe they were long gone and the dogs hit on the wrappers from the prison, because half the county probably works in that prison, and brings candy out, and throws wrappers away.

So, possibly, the dogs did hit on the scent coming from the prison and they're long gone. So they just don't know. And they can't rule it out is the other problem. So, even though it still looks like they might be close, they should be close, they probably didn't get far, but they might have.

[18:20:01]

KEILAR: You think they got far, or do you think they're probably still in the area?

MATT FOGG, FORMER CHIEF DEPUTY U.S. MARSHAL: There's two ways, to be honest with you.

KEILAR: Really? You just can't tell.

FOGG: I believe that they -- there's the possibility that they got a place somewhere hunkered down, where somebody had everything, all the provisions there for them, and they told them not to go nowhere for at least 30 days or so, or they could be in Canada or Mexico.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: OK.

So, Matt, that would mean that there would have been other help in addition to Joyce Mitchell. Right? Now, it seems maybe she didn't know about that. But you have prosecutors saying they can't rule out if others were involved.

MATTHEW HORACE, FORMER ATF AGENT: Well, Brianna, you're absolutely right.

So, remember, we have four elements of our current condition an, all of them fall right back to Mrs. Mitchell. First, we have the planning and the execution. Secondly, we have the issue of the security breach. With all those policies and procedures that exist in government, how did that happen? Who was involved? And who helped to facilitate it?

Next, we have the breakout. The breakout was a success because they're still not in custody. And then we have the escape. And, remember, we still don't know whether Mrs. Mitchell's story is actually a plan B or a plan C, and she was being left out in the dark, or if in fact the escape went awry.

KEILAR: Because it sounds like she had some sort of agreement to take them somewhere seven hours away somewhere. It doesn't sound like the details were that great. And so there could be this whole other story that we are not privy to at this point, right?

FOGG: I just think that the prisoners would have told her something totally different, knowing that the authorities would be talking to her.

They were smart enough and understood that, saying, if we get out of this place, then she's going to be the first person they're going to center their attention to, so let's make sure we tell her something, make her believe this is what we're going to do, but we're not going to do that at all.

KEILAR: They were playing her for a...

(CROSSTALK)

FUENTES: ... bringing small tools to them, drill bits and a small hacksaw.

FOGG: Right.

FUENTES: And they went through steel plating and thick walls and all that. So, it sounds like somebody must have helped them with heavier tools.

What she brought them would be like sawing down a tree with a steak knife.

KEILAR: Yes. That's right. All right, very good point.

Tom Fuentes, Matthew Fogg, Matt Horace, thanks so much to all of you.

And just ahead, outrage as new details emerge of the police shooting of a 12-year-old boy. Why didn't officers give first aid as he lay there dying?

Plus, breaking news. A local NAACP leader steps down amid a firestorm over her race. We will get reaction from the president of the national NAACP, Cornell William Brooks. He is standing by here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:27:02]

KEILAR: We have breaking news.

Rachel Dolezal resigned today as the head of Spokane, Washington's, chapter of the NAACP, citing what she calls the unexpected firestorm over her racial identity. Dolezal claimed to be African-American, but last week her estranged parents went public to say she's actually white.

NAACP president and CEO Cornell William Brooks will be joining us.

First, we want to get to Stephanie Elam. She is in Spokane with the latest on this -- Stephanie.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, Rachel Dolezal says that she is stepping down. She says that she will continue to fight for equality, but she still didn't answer what most people wanted to know.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM (voice-over): While Rachel Dolezal didn't answer the burning question about her race...

QUESTION: Are your parents, are they white?

ELAM: ... the president of the Spokane NAACP chapter is stepping down, writing in this letter -- quote -- "I have waited in deference while others expressed their feelings, absent the full story. It is with complete allegiance to the cause of racial and social justice that I step aside. I will never stop fighting for human rights" -- that resignation changing tonight's planned protest into a rally for healing.

KITARA MCCLURE, SPOKANE NAACP MEMBER: We're going to make the conscious decision to forgive Rachel, forgive all the things that have happened.

ELAM: Yet the national conversation continues to brew, with Dolezal's adopted brother calling his sister's behavior blackface. Here he is on ABC.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She took me aside when I was over there and told me to make sure that no one found out where she was actually from and for me not to blow her cover.

RACHEL DOLEZAL, FORMER PRESIDENT, SPOKANE NAACP: This is what we have. We have older white men on our currencies.

ELAM: But this revelation is giving fuel to some of her critic, who now see Dolezal's actions as deliberate and calculating.

ANGELA FINNEY, TEACHER, SPOKANE COMMUNITY COLLEGE: It's a hurtful thing for me, because I believed some -- I believed in somebody who I thought was (INAUDIBLE)

ELAM: Although stepping down, she says she's not backing down from her social activism, a stance some in Spokane honor, despite the dramatic turn.

AYANNA KY FERNANDEZ, STUDENT, SPOKANE COMMUNITY COLLEGE: It doesn't change how we feel about Rachel. And it doesn't discredit her work and everything that she has built and accomplished since -- as long as we have all known her.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM: And just looking back at what we have learned about Rachel Dolezal, we now understand that she filed a lawsuit against Howard University, where she got her master's of fine arts, in 2002.

It's a historically black college based there in D.C.. And the claim -- it claimed that she was discriminated upon for her race, for being pregnant, family responsibilities, and gender. The lawsuit was later dismissed.

But we're learning more about this. I did reach out to Dolezal to see if she could confirm that this did happen. She did not answer her phone. And that may be because we're hearing reports she may have left town -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Stephanie Elam with the latest from Spokane, thank you.

With us now in THE SITUATION ROOM, we have NAACP president and CEO Cornell William Brooks.

And thank you so much for talking with us today.

This is the first time that you have spoken out since this news surfaced.

CORNELL WILLIAM BROOKS, PRESIDENT, NAACP: Mm-hmm.

KEILAR: Tell us what you think about her stepping down? And also, did anyone in the NAACP say to Rachel Dolezal, "You know what? This is a distraction. Maybe this is what you need to do?" CORNELL WILLIAM BROOKS, PRESIDENT, NAACP: Well, the NAACP is focused

on our mission and our work. That's at the heart of what we do. And so our members who looked up to her, appreciated her leadership, are pained. Very disappointed, very disappointed. Mainly because this is a distraction from the work.

From the very day that we announce a major initiative called Americans' Journey for Justice, we have this resignation. But at the end of the day, it's about the work. And that's what people are focusing on. But is there pain and is there need for healing? Most definitely so.

KEILAR: And I certainly want to ask you about the march in just a moment. But I wonder, you know, you pointed out in the break, you said there are many people who work for the NAACP who are not black.

BROOKS: That's right.

KEILAR: And so I think some people have questioned, could she -- and I wonder as a white woman who had four adopted brothers and sisters who were black, that she could be someone in sort of a unique position to provide a bridge between communities. Do you think she would have been more beneficial to the organization and the cause of your organization if she'd instead taken that route?

BROOKS: Brianna, here's the -- here's the thing that's amazing about the history of the NAACP. Race is not a qualifying or disqualifying characteristic of leadership.

So from the very beginning, we've had white branch presidents, Latino branch presidents, Native American branch presidents, as well as African-American branch presidents. And so -- and national, we've had national presidents or a national president who had white skin, blue eyes, and red hair, namely Walter White. So her background is not an asset; nor is it a liability.

At the end of the day, what matters most to us is our credibility, our integrity. People have died, have bled, for the work of the NAACP. And those letters mean something. And so to have anything that detracts from that or that impugns our integrity is painful. And for many of us, offensive, as well.

KEILAR: So you are here in Washington, D.C., today. I want to note you're announcing, as you mentioned, America's Journey for Justice. It's an 860-mile march, and it goes all the way from Selma, Alabama, to Washington, D.C. That is quite an undertaking.

BROOKS: It is.

KEILAR: It's been a huge year. There have been so many controversies. The topic of race has just exploded. What are you hoping that this achieves?

BROOKS: Well, this historic march from Alabama across Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and the District of Columbia, is a march focused on our lives, our votes, our jobs, and our schools matter.

What we're trying to do here is push for a set of concrete proposals fixing the Voting Rights Act, addressing and stopping racial profiling; energizing people all across the south and around the country to bring about positive reform.

And so the point being here, this is not merely a march. It's a public education campaign disguised as a march. We're trying to really reform the agenda of the country. Starting in August, going 40 days, 40 nights, and ending in Washington, and going door to door by the thousands, bringing about our reform agenda.

KEILAR: This is what you want to talk about. Rachel Dolezal has stepped aside. Stepped down. But at the same time, people are focused on her. Do you think if she apologized, it would turn the focus more to what the NAACP wants to be talking about?

BROOKS: I think an acknowledgement of the pain, the real sense of wounding that people feel.

Let me put it this way. All across this country, there are people who have NAACP membership cards. And those cards are like passports to democracy. And so to have anything impugn that integrity is offensive. So some acknowledgement of their pain, some acknowledgement of what we've gone through, could be healing. Would be healing.

KEILAR: Would be healing. There -- this does seem like a lot of drama has come up around this episode. But there's also been this debate that I think a lot of people are interested in, this idea of being transracial. Maybe you are one race, but you identify with another one. What do you think about that conversation?

BROOKS: Well, what I would say here is when you look at this country and look at the ways in which we all borrow from one another's cultures and ethnicities, there's no need to lie; there's no need to misrepresent. When you look at the wellspring of history in the NAACP, it is beautiful. It is as beautiful as the tapestry of the country.

[18:35:05] And so in terms of being transracial, I'm not entirely sure what that means. But what I do know is that the NAACP has stood for a country that is racism-free such as we're able to partake of one another's histories and culture and ethnicities in an authentic and honest and integrity-driven way.

KEILAR: Thank you so much for being with us. We'll be watching the America's Journey for Justice march, 860 miles from Selma all the way here to Washington, D.C. Cornell William Brooks with the NAACP, thank you so much.

BROOKS: Thank you.

KEILAR: And we're also following reaction to disturbing new details about the police shooting of a 12-year-old boy in Cleveland. Tamir Rice was carrying only a pellet gun when an officer opened fire and killed him.

CNN's Martin Savidge is in Cleveland for us on this story.

Martin, give us the latest.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, you know, it's been nearly seven months since Cleveland Police shot and killed Tamir Rice. And there are some who believe that this case should already be in the hands of the grand jury.

In the meantime, while they wait, the frustration rose.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE (voice-over): Cleveland Police responding to a 911 call come under fire from an unknown gunman. Nobody's hit. But rumors spread police have killed someone, triggering angry protests.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A hundred and thirty-seven shots! That's why we call them pigs.

SAVIDGE: It's the latest sign of how the police shooting of Tamir Rice continues to keep the city on edge.

CHIEF CALVIN WILLIAMS, CLEVELAND POLICE: We are in a climate where people, you know, try to find reason to be upset.

SAVIDGE: Saturday the Cuyahoga County prosecutor released the investigation into Rice's death. The report says none of the witnesses interviewed heard police shout commands to Rice before shooting him, contradicting police accounts.

DEPUTY CHIEF ED TOMBA, CLEVELAND POLICE: The officers ordered him to stop and to show his hands, and he went into his waistband and pulled out the weapon.

SAVIDGE: That weapon turned out to be a pellet gun.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's right there by the, you know, the youth center or whatever.

SAVIDGE: A 911 caller said Rice's gun was probably fake, but the information was never relayed to the responding officers. When investigators asked the veteran dispatcher why not, the report says, quote, "She refused (per her attorney) to answer."

The most compelling details come from an FBI agent arriving minutes after the shooting. He said the two officers appeared to be in shellshock, saying they wanted to do something, but they didn't know what to do. The officers had no first aid training and no first aid kit.

Using only a pair of rubber gloves, the FBI agent, also a paramedic, desperately worked on Rice.

"I spoke to him. I told him I was a paramedic, and I was here to help him." He says Rice "actually turned his head and looked at me and acknowledged." A short time later, the agent said, as the 12-year- old's life was slipping away, Rice reached for the agent's hand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: Another common theme that is in this report is the fact that first responders and emergency teams all thought that Tamir was older than he was. He looked that way, they said. And he was also larger. He was about 5'7", 195 pounds.

In fact, the FBI agent said he didn't become aware of his youth until his sister ran up screaming, saying, "He's 12 years old!" And the FBI agent had to look deeply into Tamir's face, and he could see it. And his only reaction was just, wow. It shows you how they were overwhelmed there -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Oh, Martin, that is heartbreaking. Martin Savidge reporting for us from Cleveland, thank you so much.

Just ahead, Jeb Bush joins the Republican race for the White House. Now his son Jeb Bush Jr. is talking exclusively with CNN's Gloria Borger, revealing how the whole family made the final decision on a presidential bid.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[18:43:37] JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ... nothing and no one for granted. I will run with heart, and I will run to win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORIDA: That is former Florida governor, Jeb Bush, officially launching his presidential campaign a short while ago. He's the 11th -- count them, 11 Republicans to enter the race, and there are even more waiting in the wings if you can believe it. But of course, Bush has a unique challenge because of his name and his family.

Our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger, has been digging on that, talking to members of the Bush family. What did you learn, Gloria?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, as you said, Brianna, today Jeb Bush made it official. But he spent months telling Republicans he's not just another Bush. He's his own man with his own ideas. And he's really different from the rest of the clan. But that hasn't been an easy sell.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BORGER (voice-over): What's in a name? Plenty. If you're Jeb Bush and you're running for president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want George Bush! We want Bush!

JEB BUSH JR., SON OF JEB BUSH: After years or months of -- or I guess months now of deliberation, Dad's decided to change his name to Jeb Bushovski.

BORGER: Jeb Jr. Joked about it in an exclusive interview with CNN. But lineage is a serious issue as Bush attempts to renew the family's unusual long-term lease on the White House.

JEB BUSH: Everybody knows that I'm George's boy and Barbara's boy, and that's a blessing. And everybody knows I'm W's brother, and I consider that a blessing, as well. But I'm also my own person. I've lived my own life.

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: On my orders...

BORGER: But now, he's got to live with his brother's decisions. And with the public that's not exactly clamoring for one more Bush, it's tricky.

J. BUSH: My brother, who I love more than life.

G.W. BUSH: The United States --

BORGER: Especially since Jeb can't quite bring himself to second- guess the decision to invade Iraq.

J. BUSH: Of course anybody would have made different decisions. There's no denying that.

Knowing what we know now, what would you have done? I would have not engaged, I would not have gone into Iraq.

NEIL BUSH, JEB'S BROTHER: George W. and Jeb and Marvin --

BORGER: It's complicated, says his other brother Neil.

(on camera): The question is, oh, this is just another member of the Bush dynasty, right? And that --

N. BUSH: They might kill you for using the dynasty word. But go ahead --

BORGER: Go ahead. What's wrong with the dynasty word?

N. BUSH: I don't have any problem with it. Jeb will inherit what his mom says or dad says, all their enemies and half of their friends kind of things. So, it's not like it's automatically a benefit to have a famous name.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Happy birthday, Mr. President.

GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT: I'm glad my family is all with me here.

BORGER (voice-over): Especially when you have to prove you're different.

G.W. BUSH: I think he'd be a great different. J. BUSH: It can't be about my mom and dad or my brother, who I love.

I love them all.

BORGER: Actually, Jeb is a bit of a family renegade. Trading the Yale tradition for UT in Houston, Texas, for Miami, Florida, a state that made him governor.

J. BUSH: I, Jeb Bush --

BORGER: And eventually made his brother president.

ANA NAVARRO, FRIEND OF JEB BUSH: He studied Latin American studies in college. He lived and worked in Venezuela out of college.

BORGER: Ana Navarro is a friend and supporter.

J. BUSH: (SPEAKING SPANISH)

BORGER: He's not just bilingual, he is bicultural. I will be able to break into Spanish with him and maybe tell him something that only a Hispanic would get. This is a guy who in high school went to do an exchange program in Mexico. That's where he first met Columba.

BORGER: Columba, the daughter of a Mexican farmer whom he married 40 years ago.

J. BUSH: I fell madly in love. It was love at first sight. It was head over heels in love. It was I lose 20 pounds in three weeks in love. I couldn't sleep in love. It was -- it was a transformative event in my life.

JEB BUSH, JR., SON OF JEB BUSH: My mom still only speaks to me in Spanish. I respond in English. When mom moved to this country, her English wasn't that great. She really -- I think she probably met her in-laws the first time at the wedding chapel.

BORGER (on camera): Wow, that's hard.

(voice-over): Especially hard when your new in-laws are American political royalty, George and Barbara Bush.

J. BUSH JR.: Mom hates politics, which probably makes her the only sane person in the family. But she's got a servant's heart.

COLUMBA BUSH, WIFE OF JEB: Thank you all so very much for being here.

J. BUSH JR.: She was all in as first lady of Florida. Yes, I know she'll be there to support dad 110 percent.

BORGER (on camera): How was this decision made inside the family?

J. BUSH, JR.: This past Thanksgiving, we all got together in Mexico. We had a candid conversation.

BORGER: What made her change her mind? J. BUSH, JR.: I mean, I think out of love for dad. Love for service.

You know. She kind of had a famous line. This is something that came up during Thanksgiving. Not allowing dad to potentially go and do this is like taking away an instrument from a musician.

J. BUSH: Thanks for being here.

BORGER (voice-over): But playing to the base has been hard for Bush. He's considered too soft on immigration and his plan for a common set of education standards has conservatives growling about big government and calling him out of touch.

(on camera): Is he a little bit rusty?

NAVARRO: It's not like Jeb has been in a cave making fire with sticks for the last eight years. This is a man who is very engaged. He loves technology. He loves technological innovation. He's into it, talks about it a lot.

BORGER: Kind of nerdy?

NAVARRO: He's not nerdy but he's wonky.

J. BUSH: Talk about economic growth.

BORGER: Is there anything about your father that we don't know?

J. BUSH JR.: Well, his favorite movie is "Talladega Nights."

Which is terribly embarrassing. But, you know -- he's a horrible dresser. The guy, he has polo shirts that are older than me, probably. You know, he's not focused on his looks, although mom takes care of him on that front, tried to dress him up, make sure he looks I guess presentable. You know, but hey, he's a total grinder, he loves to work, it's what he does.

BORGER (voice-over): And what he does as a Bush is run for president.

J. BUSH, JR.: He will be running (AUDIO GAP) accomplishments and maybe lessons learned from his failures. He will try and learn -- you know, show people that he is his own man and has his own vision and views of how to move the country forward.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[18:50:02] BORGER: And I think that's what we saw Jeb Bush trying to do today, Brianna, on issues like immigration and education. I think the only question he can't answer right now is whether his party is going to buy it.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: We will see if that is the case. "Talladega Nights," you always get the best little details, Gloria Borger.

BORGER: I know.

KEILAR: I love it.

BORGER: I love that, right?

KEILAR: Great report. Thank you so much.

We are going to talk 2016 politics with CNN chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash, who is there on site in Miami. CNN senior Washington Jeff Zeleny will join us, and we have CNN political contributor Ryan Lizza.

We're going to break this all down. Talk about Jeb Bush's chances after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:55:12] KEILAR: Jeb Bush is officially in the presidential race tonight.

We are back with our chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash. She covered the Bush announcement today. Also with us senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny, and we have CNN political contributor Ryan Lizza, he is the Washington correspondent for "The New Yorker."

Dana, to you first. It's pretty striking when you have Jeb Bush, who -- he's not really the frontrunner in the polls, but I think he was sort of expected to be. Then you have Hillary Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner. They both have this dynasty issue of having a long record. But when polled, people say she is a candidate of future and they say he is the candidate of the past.

Why is that?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It actually is kind of perplexing that that is the case. You know, if you talk to the Bush people, they argue it's because he hasn't been out there as his own person, that they think of the name Bush and they think of his brother, they think of his father, and that was the past. People are much more familiar with Hillary Clinton as an individual.

And that's what Jeb Bush tried to change today. That's what his advisers were telling us all along, that he needed to be Jeb and not just another Bush. That's why he was very sort of aggressive in explaining his record, who he is, what he stands for. And, you know, he did it in a way that might not make a lot of conservatives happy because he didn't get into the nitty-gritty on some fiscal or social conservative issues. But he did it in a way he thinks will make him electable not just in the primary but for a general election if he gets there.

KEILAR: Jeff, we look at how Hillary Clinton is running, certainly, many people look at the polls about who is the candidate of the future. They will say, it's because Hillary Clinton, part is because she's a woman and people think that is of the future. We really see her emphasizing that in every step of the way. You are in New Hampshire following her right now. JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: You are right,

Brianna. That is exactly what voters see her as the candidate of the future, because she would be new, she would be different, and she's doubling down on that and embracing that, so much more so than in 2008. I remember covering her campaign then. She would rarely talk about her upbringing as a woman and the fact that she would be making history here.

But I think that this isn't necessarily locked in stone. When I heard Jeb Bush speaking Spanish today at his announcement, once he does that across the country to a wider audience, that would make him a candidate of the future as well here. I think that to most Democrats, this is not set in stone, not locked in place for perpetuity here.

KEILAR: Yes, that's a great observation. We've even heard Hillary -- Hillary Clinton is not bilingual. She's joked her talents don't lie in other languages.

Ryan, so you look at that. Today, we saw Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush playing off each other, her with her press availability. Do you think that they are treating -- well, certainly Jeb is treating her as the main competitor. Is that the reverse as well?

RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think so. Look, I think if you are Hillary Clinton, you probably want Jeb Bush because he is the one candidate in the entire Republican field who can't make the essential argument against her, the most -- the toughest argument, which is why should we go back to the past? Why should we have this sort of dynastic tradition in passing of presidency from one family member to another?

Jeb Bush is the one person on the Republican side who can't say that. So, I think she might want him as her opponent.

KEILAR: So, do you think that Hillary Clinton folks, they want it to be Jeb Bush then? You think that they think he's the most beatable?

LIZZA: I think they want a candidate who takes that argument away. He is the one candidate who can't make the best case against her, which is going back to another Clinton, going back to a family dynasty.

I think the question for Jeb in the Republican primary is why him, right? We all know he has these great vulnerabilities, his last name, fact he is not conservative enough on a couple of issues. I think today he started to answer that a little bit. He started to remind people that he's got this great record or arguably great record among a lot of conservatives in Florida, number one.

And number two, he's got the sort of demographic appeal. He can speak Spanish. He can reach out to some Hispanic voters that Republicans have had a lot of trouble with. I think he started to make the case, started to overcome some of the obvious vulnerabilities today.

KEILAR: All right. Ryan Lizza, thank you so much. Jeff Zeleny, Dana Bash, covering this today, really appreciate it. And remember that you can always follow us on Twitter. Just tweet the

show. We're @CNNsitroom, and be sure to join us tomorrow in THE SITUATION ROOM. You can watch us live or DVR the show so that you won't miss a moment.

Thank you for watching. I'm Brianna Keilar.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.