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tv   Wolf  CNN  July 2, 2015 10:00am-11:01am PDT

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hello. i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. here in washington. 6:00 p.m. in london. 7:00 p.m. in vienna. wherever you're watching from around the world thanks very much for joining us. we start with serious fears of a potential terror attack here in the united states linked to the upcoming july 4th holiday weekend. those jitters may have contributed to the incident at the u.s. navy yard here in washington this morning. city and federal law enforcement swarmed into action after someone reported hearing gunshots in the facility. no evidence of a shooter was found. let's go to our senior washington correspondent joe johns over at the navy yard right now. so what are the police local authorities, saying about the situation there? what happened joe? >> reporter: wolf we're being told by naval law enforcement authorities that the final all clear has been given here at the
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naval yard and that employees, civilian employees as well as military personnel are reporting back to duty. this started around 7:29 this morning. a scary moment of deja vu looking back at that moment in 2013 where 12 people were killed during an active shooter situation right here at the navy yard. a woman called in this morning reporting that she had heard what she believed to be shots. immediately protocols put into place since 2013 went into effect. ert teams of law enforcement here in washington, d.c., responding to the area. also medical people staging on the outside along with backup law enforcement. there was a search inside building 197 which is the same building where those shootings occurred two years ago, the preliminary search showed nothing found. a secondary search showed
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nothing found. at the end of the day authorities say it was more or less an elaborate fire drill. nonetheless giving authorities an opportunity to see how all of their pred ursocedures work and they do. >> it shows how jittery everyone seems to be especially here in the u.s. capital given the fact there are heightened concerns about some sort of potential isis-inspired attack going into the july 4th weekend. this massive response was that in part because of the extra nervousness that's going on? >> reporter: there are concerns across the washington area especially at u.s. military and civilian political installations that there could be problems due to isis-inspired threats. nonetheless we're told this is standard operating procedure that was put into effect two years ago. as you know wolf there were
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many problems with the response last time around. this time they wanted to be prepared. apparently they were. >> and hundreds of law enforcement authorities swarmed into that area. fortunately it was not anything serious, but it was an important lesson to be learned. thanks very much. the incident here in washington highlights the jitters many are feeling going into this july 4th holiday weekend. and the threats that are out there, the u.s. department of homeland security and the fbi aren't necessarily pointing to what they described as concrete plots but the call for vigilance has increased fears of possible lone wolf attacks by isis sympathizers or operators. let's discuss what's going on. joining us here in washington tom fuentes our law enforcement analyst analyst, our cnn counterterrorism analyst phil mudd he's a former official at the cia and the fbi and former homeland secretary tom ridge is here with us as well. mr. secretary, let me start with you. what's your reaction to the
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reaction that occurred at the navy yard this morning? >> first of all, i thought you never can blame anybody for being overprepared. it's more of a coincidence going in july 4th. when you have two colleagues lose your lives, lost their lives at the navy yard you think you hear gunshots i think there are some lessons learned. you have this massive reinforcement capable. as i said before much better. people said why so many people rushing to the scene? that's our instincts. i don't think you can criticize people for being over prepared. >> peter king a member of the house homeland and intelligence committee was here in "the situation room." he offered this dire assessment of what's going on right now. listen to this. >> there's great concern going back to deal with the fbi and homeland security over the last two or three weeks. i would say this is the most intense level of concern i've seen maybe since 911. >> he thinks it's the most intense level of concern maybe
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since 9/11. do you agree with him? >> i don't have access to the information. i think we are very much at a heightened sense of alert. on 9/11 the growing expanse of isil the incidents that occurred in three different countries a couple of days ago, the fact they're now in the middle east and north africa and they're in asia. so is it a greater threat? i think it is a much more complicated world. i appreciate what peter is saying. i think the circumstances are such now that al qaeda has metastasized there are some cells there. everyone else will tell you, this is a much greater global scourge. i don't think we're doing enough overseas. you didn't invite me to talk about that right now. we're playing defense at home. it's a much more complicated world for the fbi the cia, and everybody else. it's the nature of eyeisil, the expansion of their capabilities. is it heightened? i just don't want america to be hyper about it. it is a permanent condition. it is a norm we're going to have to deal with until we destroy
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them and, right now, we're not making very good process. >> isis in syria and iraq doesn't working out that great so far. what's your analysis phil? i know there's a balance. on the one hand you want law enforcement to be cautious prepared. on the other hand you don't want to overhype what's going on. >> i think the public is more jittery than i would be threatening at the threat table at the bureau. i don't think this is the worst thing we've seen since 9/11 by a long shot. i don't agree with the congressman. we took down transatlantic airliners. five years or more ago faced a backpack plot in new york that was dead serious from al qaeda. i understand the concern. i agree we have a metastasized threat. more than a couple cells, potentially thousands of people following isis tweets but that is different than facing real al qaeda plotters. i wouldn't be fearful. >> the al qaeda operation would
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have been a big operation to try to knock out a plane with 200 or 300 people onboard. the isis threat is much more restricted to go after a soft target and kill a few people. >> that's right. the al qaeda type of attack required coordination it required international financing, command and control which then required two-way communication and you stood a better chance of hearing the chatter, of intercepting that kind of communication. now isis puts out a message to all our followers in the world, go kill. get a knife. get a gun. get a hatchet. use your car, go kill. and how do you know what people are thinking? i agree with phil. the people i'm talking to senior officials, are telling me look we don't see anything greater than normal but normal is bad now because of that. we don't see anything increased necessarily fourth of july except when hundreds of thousands of people congregate that's an invitation. >> how do you explain that you have someone like jay johnson, a
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successor of years, secretary of homeland security puts out a memo to all law enforcement be careful. the fbi director comey to get ready. worst case scenario. jon miller for the new york city police department put out a statement yesterday saying this is the most serious threat on the july 4th weekend we've seen in a long time. these are serious people. they presumably know a lot more have more inside information than any of us now. >> that's also true. i think they're looking at -- it's more circumstantial than real. i think there was specific information we know about and would be focused and targeted on that. i think once we get through this weekend, and i want to remind everybody and i don't want to minimize the threat. i don't want your viewers to think tom ridge, secretary of homeland security minimizes the threat. a couple hundred people -- i know these will happen -- will die on our highways. thousands and thousands will go to the hospital because of injuries over july 4th. is there a possibility of an attack this weekend?
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yes. any specific information about an attack? no. is law enforcement elevated and heightened at the local level? yes. let's just understand this is a permanent -- it's a norm and the threat stream has expanded. now whether or not that leads itself to specific attacks in the united states if there was specific information. >> would you agree with mike more rel, former acting director of the cia, said he wouldn't be surprised if we wake up after july 4th and there will have been an isis-inspired terror attack in the u.s.? >> i would say, chill out. i know him well. let me talk about this for moment. in 2003 i thought we started to get a handle on al qaeda because we had a central organization we could penetrate with means, getting human sources in. the reason you're seeing nervousness across the homeland security spectrum is not because there's a specific threat. it's because when you have runs of people who are acting independently as tom was talking earlier, they are not vulnerable to intelligence means.
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it's a new norm we don't fully understand yet. >> we'll stay on top of the story. let's hope it's a quiet, peaceful wonderful july 4th weekend here. tom ridge, thank you very much for joining us. phil tom fuentes, you have no choice. you have to join us. he doesn't have to necessarily but you guys do. >> i quit! no more. >> still ahead, the nation's unemployment rate at its lowest level in seven years here in the united states. this being the u.s. economy is heating up. we have a team of analysts standing by to take a close are look at the numbers. and later, donald trump is not backing down. he's tripling down on his controversial comments. another republican presidential candidate is calling on republicans to denounce donald trump. we'll have details. the goodness that goes into making a power kale chicken caesar salad is rivaled only, by the goodness felt while eating one. panera. food as it should be.
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>> and that's a good milestone when you look at the jobless rate in particular wolf. when you talk about the lowest since april 2008 that means the labor market as measured by the jobless rate is the best it's been since before the crisis and that's an important place to be. it's been two years in the making, of course when you look at the unemployment rate falling down to 5.3%. look at that. that really tells the story of reversing what was a terrible terrible period. you mentioned wages. only 2% wage growth. that means your paycheck only growing by 2%.
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a lot of folks complaining, come on if the job market is getting so good why aren't wages rising? they haven't been rising yet. many economists think they will start to eventually rise. but 2% you'd like to see a little bit more than that, wolf. >> and they point out, the critics say, yes, the numbers are encouraging, they're positive. jobs created. but fewer people they point out, are in the jobs market right now. those numbers are accurate right? >> those numbers are accurate but there's a lot of discussion and consternation about the reasons, wolf. you have this huge cohort of baby boomers who came in the 19 0s and drove up the labor force rate to the highest levels in the 1990s and now are coming out again. part of it is the baby boomers, part people are just discouraged and have been leaving the labor market. an important thing to look at the under employment rate the people out of work or are working part time a lot working full time people who feel sidelined, that's been coming
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down too. sometimes conservatives call this the real unemployment rate. that is trending lower, too. seven-year lows for the gauges in terms of jobless rates and those are important trends. those are really important trends. >> significant trends and when you think where the economy was job loss when the president took office in 2009 january 2009 800,000, 900,000 jobs a month were disappearing. how that has changed is dramatic over these years. lots of jobs created. not the salaries people want but it's better to have a job with a salary maybe not as high as no job at all. stand by. the political fallout from all of this potentially for hillary clinton if it continues down the road could be significant. >> yeah that's right. i mean you want to be if you're running as a democrat you want to be handed an economy that looks really good. political scientists and historians debate about what the level means for re-election.
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it's not always a straight correlation correlation. if you look at al gore it was like 4%. he still lost. ultimately campaigns and candidates matter. but it also matters that hillary clinton or whoever is that nominee will have a good story to tell about the economy. you did see president obama pivot to some of the other issues like infrastructure growth talking about, for instance minimum wage and i'm sure you'll hear hillary clinton talk about the same sorts of things. >> lost the electoral college and the presidency. he got half a million votes, the popular vote which reminds us about -- now we don't know hillary clinton is going to get the democratic presidential nomination but if she does she's obviously the front-runner a challenge from bernie sanders. we don't know if joe biden will throw his hat in the ring. we'll get a final word from him in august. assuming she gets the nomination is it still the economy stupid as james carville used to say?
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>> you saw mitt romney try to run on this as well in 2012. the unemployment rate was also going down. so he lost a bit of an edge there. so for hillary clinton you're going to hear her, of course campaign on the economy and republicans who came out with statements today talking about the low job participation rate. they have to figure out what their message is going to be if this continues going into 2016. it will also mean people just feel better about the economy and it will also mean you'll hear this refrain bill clinton started in 2012 this idea democrats just do it better in terms of job creation and in terms of the economy. >> i'm sure he will be very pleased with these numbers although he will always say as he says every month when the numbers come out still a lot of work to be done. nia, thanks very much. christine romans thank you as well. george pataki is the first to now openly criticize fellow republican candidate donald and his inflammatory comments. governor pataki says they are
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simply unacceptable. he's standing by. we'll discuss with him when we come back. ♪ ♪ ♪ (charge music) you wouldn't hire an organist without hearing them first. charge! so why would you invest without checking brokercheck? check your broker with brokercheck.
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first he doubled down now donald trump is tripling down on his conversation about mexicans. he said killers and rapists were crossing the border from mexico into the united states. in an interview with our own don lemon last night trump refused to back down. >> don all you have to do is go to fusion and pick up the stories on rape and it's unbelievable when you look at what's going on. so all i'm doing is telling the truth. >> i've read "the washington post." i've read the fusion. i read "the huffington post." and that's about women being raped. it's not about criminals coming across the border entering the country.
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>> somebody is doing the raping don. well who is doing the raping? >> republican presidential candidate, the former new york governor george pataki is calling on other republican contenders to denounce trump and what he has to say. governor pataki is joining us on the phone right now. governor thanks very much for joining us. what's been the response to your open letter to more than a dozen republican presidential candidates calling on them to repudiate trump's comments? >> wolf so far i have to say i'm disappointed. we're getting responses like well i really don't know what he said or i haven't been following it or some wishy-washy response. and this type of speech and in conclusion i'm against illegal immigration. i want to say it's not about illegal immigration. it's about his characterization of the american people. and what he said after calling the ones who have come here drug
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dealers and rapists and thugs and criminals, he said this is a literal quote, some i assume are good people. that's not appropriate language. that's not acceptable in the 21st century. >> after the race for the white house last time when the president was re-elected priebus wanted to reach out, for example, to latino voters. here is the question governor how much of a setback for the republican brand are these donald trump comments? >> you know i don't think it's a setback at all for the brand, wolf because it's donald trump. it's not the republican party. and i don't believe he will be the nominee of the republican party. but what is troubling to me is the other candidates not standing up and denouncing this type of horrible speech. it's so derogatory to an entire class of americans. and, yes, the republican party
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has to reach out to latinos. i did that when i was governor. i actually carried the dominican and puerto rican vote in new york state. but we can't do it by hiding when someone in our party issues a statement or makes comments like this. it's time for them all to stand up. >> he also says he likes mexicans and he says he's employed a lot of mexicans. what do you say about that? >> i just think it's beyond the pale. the people that come here from mexico the vast majority came here the same reason my grandparents did -- to build a better life to make money, to try to have a future for the family in this great country and, yes i believe we have to control our border and stop illegal immigration but we have to recognize this is a country of immigrants. my grandparents were all immigrants and were discriminated against. it's time to set that aside, understand we're all in this together. wolf if the republican candidates won't stand up to
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donald trump when he makes a comment like this how are they going to stand up to isis or some of the leaders of the world when they're negotiating over world power and how are they going to reach out to latinos? >> he's doing well in the polls, though including in our most recent cnn/orc poll. he's second right behind the former florida governor jeb bush. there you see bush at 19%. trump at 12%. everybody else in single digits. why is he resonating with republican voters? >> wolf you and i both know donald. he is a national figure. he is a media star. he is constantly in the limelight. and at this point it's very much about name recognition. i bet you the vast majority of republican voters probably haven't heard of half the candidates but they have heard of donald trump. yes, he scores high in the polls but he also scores low in the polls, the one with the fewest
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number of republicans would vote for. it shouldn't be about donald trump. it should be about our country. it should be about treating all americans equally, and it should be about republican candidates standing up when we're talking about appealing to the latino vote and rejecting this sort of derogatory speech towards an entire class of americans. >> george pataki is the former republican governor of new york state. he's also a republican presidential candidate right now. thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you, wolf. nice being on with you. >> thank you. some democrats are certainly delighted by the effect donald trump seems to be having on the race for the republican nomination. gop candidates are trying to grapple with how to respond to donald trump. here by the way, is what some of them are saying. >> when you label a group of people as rapists and drug dealers, it's more about you than them. i'm not trying to create a
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political issue over this. >> i don't agree. pretty simple. >> i haven't watched donald trump too much. i don't know what he's been saying. apparently is drawing a lot of attention. >> he has a way of speaking that gets attention. i credit him for focusing on an issue that needs to be focused. >> let's talk more about donald trump, the race for the white house. gloria borger is here. so how do republicans deal with this dilemma? >> they have to deal with him now. he's doing well in the polls. chris christie also took on donald trump obliquely. he said we have to lower the rhetoric. we have to stop being negative all the time made the point that this is now what we need to do. as a party nationally. look a problem here. this is priebus' nightmare,
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wolf. he wanted to have sort of a serious, sedate race about issues a lot of candidates in the republican field who have a lot of ideas and instead what they're talking about are donald trump's comments about rapists coming in over the border. and what some of these candidates will do i believe, is start using donald trump as a foil because they can attack him without taking him too seriously. and they will start using him as a foil and say that's not what the republican party stands for. that's what george pataki just did. george pataki is way, way down in the polls. donald trump is taking up all the oxygen in the room right now and so from pataki's point of view he can come out and say, you know what that is wrong. he should not say that. this is not what our party stands for. and as chris christie was saying if you're a party that wants to win more than 27% of the hispanic vote because you have to if you want to win the
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presidency you know you've got to start taking on donald trump. >> donald trump's numbers in a new poll his numbers are going up. look at marco rubio, his numbers are going down. scott walker the governor of wisconsin, his numbers are going down. i don't know if that's a trend. >> if you look inside the polls you see donald trump appeals to an older conservative group of sort of base republican voters because his anger and his kind of stream of consciousness about all of america's issues really strikes a cord with those voters. those voters are looking at scott walker. they're looking at marco rubio so temporarily at least in our polling they seem to be the ones suffering the most. chris christie one could argue, as the so-called tell it like it is candidate also stands to suffer from donald trump's entering into this race. one thing i want to point out which i just looked up in april
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2011 wolf you know who is number one in the polls? donald trump. donald trump. now different, not a declared candidate at the time and all the rest but he does have this way of being a showman and kind of rising up in the polls. but there is a certain amount of gravity here i believe eventually will take hold. >> donald trump is having an impact and we'll see what happens, gloria. thanks very much. up next july 4th terror fears. the intelligence the jitters, the california congressman ed royce, the chairman of the house foreign affairs committee is standing by live. listen up... i'm reworking the menu. mayo, corn dogs... you are so out of here! ahh... the complete balanced nutrition of great tasting ensure. with nine grams of protein... and 26 vitamins and minerals. ensure. take life in.
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let's get back to our top story, the terror threat leading up to the july 4th holiday weekend here in the united states. there's heightened security in many areas especially new york city as well as here in washington, d.c. and today those jitters may have played a part in the massive response to reports of a shooting at the u.s. navy yard here in washington. the area was locked down but
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police found no evidence of a shooting. joining us now from orange county california republican congressman ed royce, chairman of the house foreign affairs committee. you're all the way on the west coast. here in washington for at least an hour or two this morning, mr. chairman there were a lot of concerns about what was going on and the reaction was intense. hundreds of law enforcement personnel swarmed to that area at the u.s. navy yard not far from washington national park. was it overreaction? what do you think? >> wolf what you see is law enforcement on a very heightened state of alert. if anything breaks anywhere they go into action. so far i think we need to say thank you to the fbi. they have arrested 49 isis supporters here in the united states and have taken them into custody to make certain that during this period of time where isis has called for these attacks that at least those 49 supporters who discussed doing it are off the streets. >> are we overreacting to these
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possible threats out there because of what happened on three continents last week in tunisia, in kuwait in france? these isis attacks by sympathizers lone wolves apparently? >> we're not overreacting this is the one-year anniversary of the establishment of caliphate and they've asked their supporters specifically in the united states to create a calamity for the infidels. and so on this fourth of july weekend and going forth the following week they've asked isis supporters to take things into their own hands and get to it. get to these martyrdom attacks. so that's why you see the fbi taking the actions that they're taking right now. i talked with one of the senior fbi lead investigators working on this and he shared with me that you know so far they've been pretty effective in tracing
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down these individuals and taking them into custody. >> let's talk a little bit about these negotiations final negotiations on this iran nuclear deal. secretary of state john kerry is in vienna meeting with the iranians. other members of the u.n. security council and germany. i know you're being briefed. i'll ask you, are you being briefed on what's going on in these talks? you're the chairman of the foreign affairs committee. >> i am being briefed. for many of us the big issue, the first issue is whether or not the international inspectors will have the ability to go on to the military bases anywhere anytime and the point that i'm making to the administration is that the mistake we made in the framework agreement with north korea years ago was that we didn't have this ability for international inspectors to really you know talk to the north korean scientists and go
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to these sites and get access. so here's where we are right now. we have 1,000 pages of documents in the hands of the iaea. they want to talk to the scientists in iran who did these tests to try to develop a nuclear weapon. that's one of the requirements you know get these questions answered these 12 questions, and the other major point is the ability to go anywhere to do the inspections. and you hear these red lines come down from the ayatollah that no no one is going to talk to scientists, no one is going to go on the military bases. so this is the one key point. the other point that the ayatollah is making is he wants the sanctions lifted immediately before the inspections and that would give the regime $50 billion, $60 billion. because they use it to support terror this is a big concern. >> sounds like you're deeply concerned. let me ask you about these inspections. let's say they say, yes, iaea
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inspectors can go to the military bases and inspect. how much lead time though, would the iranians have before the inspectors would show up because there have been some suggestion it could be days if not necessarily weeks before they would actually show up during which time presumably the iranians could shift things around. >> that's the concern and second would be would the international inspectors have this ability to do this or could iran then go through a process where maybe its allies could convince russia or china to run a little interference for them since russia is helping them on their nuclear program. that further slows the process and allows them to move the equipment or get things off site. and this is a key, key question because without verification in the agreement, the agreement isn't worth anything more than what it's written on, and so so
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far we can sense the attitude from the ayatollah. this isn't the only attitude we sense from him. he it inscontinues to mass produce and says death to america. so it's the attitude that's equally concerning and we have to get verification. >> ed rice is the chairman. mr. chairman we'll continue this conversation. thank you. >> thank you, wolf. >> still ahead, new details about the last moments of prison escapee richard matt's life. we'll have a live report from upstate new york. outside the prison. stand by. they make little hearts happy and big hearts happy too because as part of a heart healthy diet, those delicious oats in cheerios can help naturally lower cholesterol. how can something so little... help you do something so big.
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the debate over the display of the confederate flag has dominated the headlines here in the united states. but according to a new cnn poll the american public public opinion on the flag itself remains about where it was some 15 years ago.
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the new poll shows 57% see it as southern pride, 55% favor removing the flag from government property over the 43% who think it can stay. meanwhile, the u.s. attorney general loretta lynch says a series of fires at black churches across the south will have the full attention of the u.s. justice department. >> so recent tragic burnings of the predominantly black churches that have been happening really throughout the south and even the midwest. and if our own state of charlotte recently had an incident there. and we don't have the full details about those, but i want you to know those also have our full attention and this is a serious issue that we will be addressing with the appropriate care and we will see where those matters lead us as well. >> six churches caught fire in the south since the racist killings in charleston south carolina two weeks ago.
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leading to questions whether they could be racially motivated. at this point only two of those fires, these predominantly african-american churches are confirmed arson. other news we're following. the body of a former prison inmate richard matt is being moved to buffalo, new york where he's expected to be buried. meanwhile, we're learning more details about how matt died. jean casarez is learning us from outside the prison in upstate new york. jean we know matt was shot and killed but tell us what you're learning about the events leading up to his death. >> reporter: well we're getting some new information and it is significant. it was almost a week ago today. we do know that tactical unit of the u.s. customs and border patrol heard something was happening. they flew in a helicopter landed started doing a ground search and that is when they discovered matt. and one of the agents moved up and asked matt to surrender because there was a gun next to him. we now know a .20-gauge shotgun. and he not only didn't surrender but now the u.s. border patrol
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and protection is saying he actually aimed that gun at the agent, and that is when they shot and killed him, striking him three times in his head. so that so that is brand-new information that he actually pointed the gun at them. they responded with shots to matto matt, killing him. >> the other inmate david sweat, has given new details about the prison breakout. but there are apparently lots of inconsistencies, right? >> reporter: you know i think there's lots of questions but the main inconsistencies at this point come between david sweat and also joyce mitchell. first of all, he says that they were going to go to mexico but joyce mitchell was going to take them via west virginia first and then into mexico. she solely said to investigators mexico. he's also saying he never had a sexual relationship with her that matt was the one. she has denied a sexual
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relationship with either of them. and david sweat is saying that it was joyce mitchell's idea to have her own husband killed and she's saying i would never do that at all. it was the escaped inmates, matt and sweat that wanted to kill my husband. >> remember this guy is a convicted killer and everything he says you've got to take with a grain of salt because he's obviously a liar as well. jean casarez, thank you very much. airline profits here in the united states remain at record highs even though fuel prices have fallen. that doesn't necessarily fly with the u.s. department of justice. we have new information on the justice department investigation into america's biggest names in air travel.
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and there are no networks. is this a one-size-fits-all kind of thing? no. there are lots of plan options. it all depends on what we need and how much we want to spend. [ male announcer ] call now to request your free decision guide. it could help you find an aarp medicare supplement plan that's right for you. what happens when we travel? the plans go with us. anywhere in the country. i like that. you know what else? unitedhealthcare insurance company has years and years of experience. what do you say? ♪ ♪ i'm in. [ male announcer ] join the millions already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp. remember all medicare supplement plans help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay and could really save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. you'll be able to choose your own doctor or hospital as long as they accept medicare patients. and with these plans, there could be low or no copays. you do your push-ups today?
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♪ whoa what are you doing? putting on a movie. i'm trying to watch the game here. look i need this right now ok? come on i don't want to watch that. too bad this is happening. fine, what if i just put up the x1 sports app right here. ah jeez it's so close. he just loves her so much. do it. come on. do it. come on! yes! awww, yes! that is what i'm talking about. baby. call and upgrade to get x1 today. ♪ we're getting some stunning new details about the crash of the transasia flight that killed 43 people in taiwan back in
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february. you can see it crashing in this video. investigators now say the pilot accidently shut down the plane's only working engine before it clipped a bridge and plunged into the river. the pilot can be heard on the black box saying and i'm quoting, wow, pulled back the wrong side throttle. the report found that the same pilot had failed a simulator training test less than a year earlier in how to respond to an engine flameout. pretty disturbing stuff. some of america's biggest airlines are feeling the heat from the feds. the u.s. justice department wants to know if they possibly conspired to keep ticket prices high by limiting the number of seats available. among the airlines being investigated american, united delta and southwest. together they control about 80% of the u.s. market. but they deny working together insisting they compete to keep seats full. joining us now, cnn's aviation and government regulation
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correspondent rene marsh who is watching what is going on. it's a big investigation right now. it's a serious matter. >> yes. the airline is being asked for documents and communications that could prove whether or not they were in communication with each other to manipulate the capacity of flights. in layman's terms, did they limit the number of available seats to keep planes packed and keep ticket prices high. now, as far as how did doj come to even start this investigation, we know that connecticut senator richard blum men men menblumenthal wrote a letter and in his own words, and i'm quoting, what airlines publicly call discipline is just a fancy term for constraining the flights available to consumers and raising prices and profits
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which should be the investigation's sharp focus. >> what's the response from the airlines? >> we've heard back from a couple of them. they are saying we welcome this investigation. american airlines has the strongest statement saying not only were they going to cooperate but that they were confident that the department of justice would find that airlines aren't working together but are, in fact, in their words, competing vigorously every day. >> that's where we stand right now. this is a serious investigation, that they are going to presumably call witnesses and stuff like that. >> it is a serious investigation, especially when you look at the airlines. they have made record profits. they have been doing really well. billions and billions of dollars combined on fuel. however, when you look attic ket prices many will say why am i paying so much? the ticket prices increased
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16.5% from 2010 to 2014. if they are doing so well why aren't my ticket prices coming down? >> people will always complain and airlines want to make profits. obviously they are in that business. stick around. i want you to listen to this next report. he was a 9/11 first responder, retired new york firefighter and, guess what he's now a millionaire. he was only going to buy one scratch-off ticket but something told him to buy two. good thing. the second ticket won him, get this $5 million. that's before taxes. his daughter is experiencing a windfall. he was forced to retire from the fire department after coming down with lung problems after 9/11. very good story. happy for caramela and the entire family. he's now a millionaire.
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that's it for me. thank you for watching. i'll be back at 5:00 p.m. in "the situation room." "amanpour" is up next. for those in north america, "newsroom" with brooke baldwin starts right now. all right. wolf blitzer, thank you so much. i'm brooke baldwin. you're watching cnn. we begin this hour with the nation on edge as the fbi warns about a possible attack around the holiday. this scene here just this morning, this is outside the naval yard in the nation's capital. look at the colossal crime tape and police cars. it turned out to be, theangank goodness a false alarm. but it struck on the concerns that an attack may strike on this fourth of july weekend. isis is calling for acts of