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Donald Trump's Crossing the Line; Explosion in Iraq Takes at Least 120 Civilian Lives; Black Lives Matter Movement Protesting against Martin O'Malley. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired July 19, 2015 - 06:30   ET

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


[06:30:02] MARK PRESTON, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, CNN POLITICS: But Donald Trump who talks off the cuff says that he likes to tell it like it is, seems to have gone too far. Donald Trump speaking yesterday at a meeting of social conservatives here in Iowa, attacked John McCain. Let's hear what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's not a war hero. He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured, OK, I hate to tell you. I believe perhaps he's a war hero.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PRESTON: so there you have Donald Trump who has feuded with John McCain often in the past few months criticizing him saying he was not a war hero. Just a short time later that Donald Trump tried to correct that, fix that a little bit. However, Victor, it doesn't seem to have worked. Let's hear what Donald Trump had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If a person is captured they're a hero as far as I'm concerned. Unless they're a traitor like Bergdahl. He was captured, he's no hero. But you have to do other things also. I don't like the job that John McCain is doing in the Senate because he's not taking care of our veterans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Mark, he appears now ...

PRESTON: Donald Trump trying to justify his comments about John McCain. And I have to tell you right now, Victor, there's no question at this point Donald Trump's campaign at the top of the polls yesterday is in now full damage control. Victor.

BLACKWELL: Yeah, it appears that he is now trying to clean that up and shift it to another issue from his service in the military to his service in the Senate. But I wonder if we're going to see something we have not seen for the next couple of weeks we listen to this debate. A Donald Trump on the defensive. You remember he doubled down, tripled down on those comments about Mexicans coming into the U.S.

And it appears that this clean-up job is not appearing to work here.

PRESTON: No. And in fact, what we've seen, not only did he come out to the cameras after he had made those remarks, to try to clean it up a little bit, he did some work on social media, they put out a statement. Even went as far as to get a fellow veteran to come out and defend Donald Trump for making those comments. But their question is right now, Donald Trump, who's not necessarily shy to the media, will he now be a little bit more reserved in the next couple of days. I think that will be very telling, Victor, about what will happen with Donald Trump's presidential campaign as we move forward.

BLACKWELL: Hey, let's listen to what other GOP candidates are saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK PERRY (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As an individual who's worn the uniform in this country I was highly offended what Donald Trump said about John McCain and his years of sacrifice in a dirty, dingy, terrible prison in North Vietnam. Donald Trump owes every American veteran and in particular John McCain an apology.

LINDSEY GRAHAM (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDDIATE: He crossed a line today that will offend most everyone that I know. And in my view, the democratic process is going to lead to him hearing what he is so fond of saying, you're fired.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And let's bring in our political anchor for news, New York One News, Errol Louis. Errol, I wonder if you believe this is the turning point? Is this the beginning of the end of this spike for Donald Trump?

ERROL LOUIS, POLITICAL ANCHOR, NEW YORK ONE NEWS: Well, it's funny, Victor. I think a lot of commentators are a little too hopeful that this is going to somehow cause the collapse of Donald Trump. As far as I can tell the people who support him, and it seemed to be a pretty big chunk of Republican voters, are not supporting him because what he says is logical or fair or kind or generous. They're coming from a very different place. And I'd be very surprised if people suddenly decided to walk away from him. We have to keep in mind, of course, that he's leading in the polls. But that's like around 18 percent of the Republican electorate at this point that are talking to pollsters. So, it's not all that much. I think it's both a floor and maybe a ceiling for him. But I don't see him - first of all, he's not going to back down. That's just not his style. And I don't think the people who are supporting him are supporting him because he's a perfect politician. It's really just the opposite. So, in some way, the gaffes are really kind of baked in, I think, among his supporters. I don't foresee the support dwindling away just because of this one remark.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about the other side - of the Democrats now. Errol and Mark. Talk about something that happened at an event with Senator Bernie Sanders and former Governor Martin O'Malley. Protesters affiliated with the black lives movement, they took over town hall where the governor, former governor there was speaking. Demonstrators started shouting, you can see the video here. And this is what Martin O'Malley said. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN O'MALLEY, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Every life matters ...

(APPLAUSE)

O'MALLEY: And that is why this issue is so important. Black lives matter, white lives matter, all lives matter. Black lives matter. White lives matter. All lives matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So you heard him say there, black lives matter, white lives matter. All lives matter. Boos. And then he said it again. He later apologized for that. Errol, explain what we're seeing here and what you think about this apology for that statement.

LOUIS: Well, you know, what you see there is somebody who is a little removed from a movement that's been developing, including in his hometown of Baltimore. I mean, the reality is, when they say black lives matter, they're talking about a very particular movement with a very particular history that's arguing for better or fairer treatment of a minority in this country. So, then to suddenly flatten it out and broaden it out and say well, the rights of the minority have to be protected and the rights of the majority too. Well, that's mush. You know, politically speaking. And I think the booing you heard was them letting him know that's mush. That's not what we're talking about.

And so, Martin O'Malley has a little work to do, I think. If he wants to talk to that segment of the Democratic electorate -- it's not entirely clear that he does, to be blunt about it. Because the voters who were going to make the difference in the first few primary states up in Iowa and up in New Hampshire, it's not - it's, you know, these are overwhelmingly white states. Frankly. And so, we are not - I'm not sure where this is going to go, but Martin O'Malley has got - I think to go back to his briefing notes on what this movement is about and decide what he wants to do with it.

BLACKWELL: Well, Errol, I'll tell you this. That the people in that room, at that net roots event told CNN that they agreed with what the protesters came in and their point of view, but they don't really agree with the way, in which they did it. The protesters chanted, "If I die in police custody, burn everything down. That's the only way you m-fers like to listen." So, that's the way they came in the room, and then you saw what happened after that. Let me go to ...

LOUIS: And then they got angry.

BLACKWELL: And after that, they really told them how they felt. Mark, let me come to you. What's the lesson here for O'Malley and for other candidates? PRESTON: Well, to be fair to Martin O'Malley, Bernie Sanders followed

him on stage and as well had a tough time with that audience. And at one point it looked like that Bernie Sanders, the Independent senator from Vermont, who is starting to get a lot of support on the left, he almost walked off stage. It was a very frustrating moment I think for both of those candidates on stage. But to this point it shows how explosive this issue is. And when you have folks like that who are going to go in and interrupt an event like that, especially seeing that those are the candidates on stage who are going to be supporters of your cause, it shows you how explosive this is and quite frankly, it is going to be an issue that permeates not only through this Democratic primary, but as we head into the general election next year.

BLACKWELL: All right, Mark Preston, Errol Louis, thank you both.

PRESTON: Sure.

BLACKWELL: And of course, we want to know what you think about Donald Trump, about this turning point possibly for his candidacy, also about what happened there with former governor Martin O'Malley. Tweet us using the hashtag, "NEW DAY CNN". Or go to our Facebook page to share your thoughts.

PAUL: It was a close call for a rescue crew say and I'm quoting here, one blade swipe away from a deadly injury. How the guy survived after falling into a meat grinder.

Plus, thousands turn out to pay tribute to member four, Bet Favre - OK, so here's the question, is the Favre really the best quarterback ever?

BLACKWELL: That is a great question. And we want to know what our viewers think. If you had to pick up, pick up team, and you had one quarterback in there - who you take in and why? Use hashtag, newday cnn. And we'll find out later in the show what you all had to say.

[06:39:04]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: In Iraq, a suicide bomber drove an ice truck into a market pretending to sell ice at a discount. And as people crowded around, blew up the truck, killing at least 120 people. 140 others were injured. What's more, Iraqi officials are calling the deadly blast ISIS's worst single bombing attack on a civilian target in the country. We first reported this story last half hour. But let's talk about it with Lieutenant Colonel Bob Maginnis.

Bob, we know that Eid - Eid al-Fitr, it's a sacred time for people. But there had been warnings that they may attack, that ISIS may attack during this time, and we heard from Joumana (ph) Karachi just a while ago, that this was a different attack, appealing to a direct need. What do you make of the way ISIS seems to be able to evolutionize its attacks? LT. COL. ROBERT (BOB) MAGINNIS, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Yes, Christi. 95

degrees yesterday on Friday. And they took advantage of vulnerable people in a marketplace. They go in there, you know, willing to sell ice at a discount. Hundreds of people understandably gathered around and then they exploded this giant bomb. Killing so many and wounding the others. ISIS, you know, is in a sectarian war. They're doing everything they can to bring bloodshed to the Shia population of Iraq. They've made it very clear of their larger goals of dominating that particular country. They've already claimed Iraq as part of the Caliphate. So I'm not surprised. We've seen this sort of behavior certainly in Syria and we're beginning to see it elsewhere. So, it's something that as General John Allen, the president's envoy in that part of the world has said, this is going to be a generational war. And unfortunately, these sorts of tragedies may reoccur.

[06:45:01]

MAGINNIS: And we just have to be persistent and hopefully the Iraqi security forces will be able to contain and defeat, as the president said, these particular animals.

PAUL: Yeah, we've heard people estimate ten to 20 years it's going to take for this war. But a year ago the U.S. and their allies said, hey, we're going to destroy ISIS. What do you make of the progress that ISIS has made and how strong do you believe them to be?

MAGINNIS: Yeah, General Votel, who is the commander of the Special Operations Command said, look, they are being successful at recruiting from all over the world. Their numbers haven't dramatically increased. It seems as if every time we kill some, they're replenishing from elsewhere. And so, their numbers may be three - perhaps, not as high as 40,000. But they're dead-enders. They're willing to die for their particular cause. And, of course, they tribute that to their claim of Caliphate, their claim of their religious calling. So, what we are going to see, and I think in the coming months is whether or not they're able to defeat Assad in Damascus. Do they take over Damascus or do they share that with al- Nousra and other terrorists groups? You know, how effective is our air campaign with our 60 allies going to continue to be? We've been fairly effective, but I think the linchpin here, Christi, is whether or not we're going to train enough Syrian rebels to get in to the fight. We just had some - entered Syria from Jordan here recently. Are the Iraqi security forces going to be able to take the fight all the way up to Mosul and recapture that country? Those are questions yet to be heard or answered.

And yet, General Dempsey, the chairman of the joint chiefs, made it very clear, at this point we don't see U.S. service member numbers increasing dramatically in the near future. So, it really depends upon the ground forces and those ground forces are indigenous. We will continue to provide help from the air, but this is, once again, a generational war.

PAUL: Lieutenant Colonel, Bob Maginnis, so appreciate your expertise as always. Thank you, sir.

MAGINNIS: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: New this morning, some of the Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray have filed to have their statements thrown out of court. Our legal expert weighs in on why and whether it's a good defense.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:55]

BLACKWELL: New this morning, three officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray want their statements they made to investigators tossed out.

PAUL: And "The Baltimore Sun" is reporting this morning, lawyers for the officers say their clients made statements under duress because they feared their answers could cost them their jobs.

BLACKWELL: CNN legal analyst Danny Cevallos, he's with us now. Danny, I want to start with two of the officers who say that they believed they were speaking as witnesses when questioned and not suspects. On that basis, could their statements be tossed out?

DANNY CEVALLOS, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I haven't read the actual motions, Victor, but what I suspect is going on here is what has been - has come to be known as a Garrity statement. Now, typically police officers are not your usual witnesses. On one hand, as witnesses they may have information about a case. But as citizens they would not be compelled to come in and talk to the police and give a statement. But on the other hand, as police officers, as public employees, the very nature of their job is crime investigation and a big part of what they do is write down factual statements about what happened.

So what does a police officer do when those two worlds collide and he may be compelled to give a statement as part of his job that may be incriminating as a citizen. And the Supreme Court said that these Garrity statements, coming from a case called Garrity v. New Jersey, says that yes, they may be compelled under threat of losing their job to give a statement. But that statement may not later be used against them. So that balances out our society's need for police officers to willingly give statements about criminal or noncriminal events against their protections as citizens just like everybody else under the constitution.

PAUL: OK, well, let me throw this at you. A third officer says that he wasn't advised of his Miranda rights before giving a statement. So, bringing that component in, does that bolster the argument that the officer did indeed believe he was being asked for his statement as a witness?

CEVALLOS: Well, for any person once an interview matures into what is called an interrogation, once that officer believed he was a suspect and believed he would soon be charged, then he like everybody else has Fifth Amendment protections. And it's true that Miranda, and this is the language used in the Supreme Court, is not itself a constitutional rule, but rather a protection. And the Supreme Court used this word, a prophylactic to guard against the violation of someone's constitutional rights. So, if he is correct, if he gave those statements and was not mirandized, of course, the prosecution might argue that who would understand his rights more than a police officer who gives those very same Miranda warnings and read them off the back of a card. He should be aware. But I think a court would disregard that and say that all citizens, irrespective of their job, are entitled to be Mirandize.

BLACKWELL: All right. Danny Cevallos, thank you so much.

CEVALLOS: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: So, Bill Cosby has been trying to keep secret a couple of statements of his own, but now there's a new report revealing disturbing court testimony in his own words - about sex, drugs and women. We'll have a live report at the top of the hour.

PAUL: Also a popular quarterback recognized before 67,000 fans in Green Bay. You are going to see how it played out, but we're asking you, who do you think is the best quarterback of all time? We want to hear your opinion on this one.

[06:55:30]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Well, a California man lucky to be alive after falling into an industrial meat grinder. Thankfully his screams alerted a coworker who shut off the machine moments before its blades - we are told, could crush his head or his neck. He apparently ended up in the grinder after trying to get some meat that was stuck, but it got a hold of his coat and it pulled him in. He's OK. My goodness.

BLACKWELL: So, look at this. More than 67,000 Green Bay Packers fans. They really showered Brett Favre with love. This was at the induction of Favre into the team's hall of fame last night. And you see there, quarterback shed a few tears.

(LAUGHTER)

BLACKWELL: After receiving the long standing ovation. He spent 16 years with the Packers, and is the franchise leader in passing yards, pass completions and passing touchdowns.

So, is he the best quarterback of all time? That's the question.

PAUL: Well, we need to ask an expert about that, somebody who may be played against him.

BLACKWELL: I think maybe we know someone.

PAUL: I think we know - Nine year NFL veteran here. CNN's Coy Wire. What do you say?

COY WIRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let's have a little fun this morning. I mean I can tell you just seeing him across the field there and being on the same field with him, he has that fervor and that flare.

PAUL: Were you nervous?

WIRE: Which has certainly put his name - or, absolutely - here in that bowl, in the hat. Look, he can certainly put his name and have certainly 67,000 people in Green Bay think he could be in consideration. How about Peyton Manning, though? One Super Bowl title, NFL record, five MVP trophies, a slew of passing records, including most passing touchdowns. Just - How about Tom Brady, four Super Bowl rings, three Super Bowl MVP trophies, holding almost every major - season, passing record. Don't forget about some of the old school, though. Joe Montana. Also, four Super Bowl titles. Also, three Super Bowl MVP's. You could go way back to Johnny Unitas and Broadway - a lot out there to choose from. Use the hashtag "New Day CNN." We want to know what you think, who is the greatest quarterback of all time? Love to use your comments later in the show.

BLACKWELL: Looking forward to it.

PAUL: Thank you, Coy.

And thank you so much for sharing your time with us this morning.

[07:00:00]

BLACKWELL: We've got much more ahead in the next hour of your "NEW DAY" starts right now.