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Republican House Majority Leader Loses Primary; Bowe Bergdahl Controversy

Aired June 11, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Randi Kaye.

A source this afternoon tells CNN that in the wake of his stunning defeat by a Tea Party Republican, Eric Cantor will resign next month as House majority leader. That's Cantor right there conceding last night. And he didn't just lose. He was clobbered 56 percent to 44 percent, and clobbered by a novice, Dave Brat, an economics professor at little-known Randolph-Macon College.

The defeat of a leader as well known as Eric Cantor, and in a primary election, no less, has analysts going back to the history books today. And as long as we're talking shocking, take a look at this. On the way to defeat, Cantor raised some $5.4 million, most of which he spent.

Now, by comparison, Brat raised nothing, paltry $200,000. Campaign expense filings showed that Cantor's team actually spent more money eating and drinking at steak houses than Brat spent all together. At least one Republican is calling Cantor's defeat an earthquake. Others want to know how in the world this happened.

And you can bet that House Republicans who covet Cantor's leadership job are making moves as we speak.

S.E. Cupp is with us now from Washington, co-host of CNN's "CROSSFIRE," and from Philadelphia with us, Michael Smerconish, host of CNN's "SMERCONISH."

S.E., to you first on this.

Since we have gotten this news that Cantor next will vacate his leadership post, is there talk today of potential successors already?

S.E. CUPP, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": There are.

Folks like Pete Roskam and Jeb Hensarling have been talking quietly, maybe, about throwing their hats in the ring. I talked to a GOP aide about Cathy McMorris Rodgers from Washington State, who I think would be a particularly effective and good move for the GOP.

And she is apparently assessing both leader and whip positions. She's talking to a lot of people. She is hearing from a lot of people. She is figuring out how to best serve the conference and her constituents. And I think she would be a real good pick for the GOP going into both 2014 and 2016.

And it's really important that Republicans fill this leadership gap quickly. It's a crucial time.

KAYE: And she is deeply conservative, right?

CUPP: She is pretty conservative, yes.

But she's -- I mean, she's a great role model. She was picked to give the GOP response after the State of the Union. And people see her as a rising star, and I think rightly so.

KAYE: Michael, to you.

What I'm about to play is really fascinating in retrospect. Listen, if you would, to Eric Cantor. He was asked last December about the ongoing turmoil within the Republican Party and his role in the House leadership.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You addressed your caucus and basically said, come on, guys, we have got to stop eating our own.

REP. ERIC CANTOR (R-VA), HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: Well, I think the message that I was about was saying, look, the differences that may exist between us pale in comparison to the differences that we have with the president and his policies.

BASH: How do you convince, though, the, for lack of a better way to say, Tea Party-backed Republicans to go along with that when they look at you and say, he's just the Republican establishment, why I'm not -- I'm not going to listen to him?

CANTOR: I think that there is a general sense among all of our members and throughout our party. The purpose for our being here is to promote a conservative view that helps people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: All right, so, Michael, what do you make of that? Telling in any way?

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think it's telling in so far as it illustrated the difficulty that he was have -- fitting into either of the GOP constituencies.

It now seems clear that you look back and you say, well, Eric Cantor was insufficiently conservative for the Tea Party, this incarnation of the Tea Party, even though he fostered a lot of that mind-set. And I don't think he quite fit in with establishment Republicans, to the extent there are still establishment Republicans left in that congressional district in Virginia, probably a bit too acerbic, too much of a firebrand for them.

And so I see him falling into a vacuum of sorts that exists in the GOP, not that in that district, but all across the country.

KAYE: Michael, let me just stick with you for one second, because there's lots of talk today that Cantor's willingness to consider immigration reform hurt with him Tea Party voters

And here is something that you tweeted. It reads: "Cantor lesson number seven, without immigration reform, GOP faces long-term existential threat."

What do you mean by that?

SMERCONISH: Well, I tweeted out nine explanations of my own as to what went on here. And that was one of them.

What I meant is that the anti-immigration reform strategy plays very well in a GOP primary among those who come out and control the primary dynamic, but long term, I don't think it in the best interests of the Republican Party, because there's a demographic issue that confronts the GOP of being very male, very white and much older, much, frankly, like the typical talk radio constituency.

And unless they grow that tent, and the opportunity exists with Hispanics, I think then they're going to face an existential threat. So short-term victory, even 2014, a big midterm election, don't mistake that for what happens in 2016 and beyond.

KAYE: And, S.E., CNN's John King, he has been suggesting that arrogance is why Cantor lost.

What's your take on that?

CUPP: There is some valid criticism to the idea that Eric Cantor might have sort of Dick Lugared this campaign and maybe ignored it for too a little long or didn't take it seriously until it was too late.

But I think what is unfortunate is that some in my party, some on the right are far more interested in identifying heretics, rather than converts. And Eric Cantor was always someone who was interested in expanding the party. And in my -- the honor I had of working with him in that capacity, he was really interested in expanding the party and reaching out to women voters, to young voters, to middle-class voters.

This was hugely important to him. And I think that is something that Republicans need to not lose sight of, even as they elect new blood and sort of fresh -- fresh candidates, which is part of the process and all, fine. Let's not lose sight of the fact that expanding the party should still be job one.

KAYE: S.E. Cupp and Michael Smerconish, thank you both.

And you can catch Michael's show at 9:00 a.m. Eastern on Saturday morning, and S.E. tonight at 6:30 on "CROSSFIRE."

Before Bowe Bergdahl was a Taliban captive, before he joined the Army, Bergdahl was in the Coast Guard for one month. A defense official is telling our Barbara Starr that Bergdahl received an uncharacterized discharge.

Another official called it an administrative discharge. "The Washington Post" is reporting friends of Bergdahl say he was discharged for psychological reasons and "The Post" says those friends gave the newspaper journals to prove it. Here's one excerpt from that "Post" journal reporting.

"'I'm worried,' he wrote in one journal entry before he deployed. 'The closer I get to ship day, the calmer the voices are. I'm reverting. I'm getting colder. My feelings are being flushed with the frozen logic and the training, all the unfeeling cold judgment of the darkness.'"

Now I want to bring in CNN's Ed Lavandera. He is in Bergdahl's hometown of Hailey, Idaho.

Ed, nice to see you.

So where are all these writings coming from?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they are coming from a friend who lives in Portland, Oregon, and it's interesting, because they -- she received this in a package just a few days after Bowe Bergdahl -- according to the "Washington Post" story, after Bowe Bergdahl was captured and went missing, and it came in a package in a camouflage bag that included some journals, books and a computer and that sort of thing.

So, this is a friend who was also, according to that article, someone that Bowe Bergdahl had designated as the person who would receive his remains if he were to be killed in action. So, that is kind of an interesting dynamic there, considering we have heard a lot of stories here over the last week-and-a-half or so that Bowe Bergdahl still has not spoken with his parents. but it was this friend who was designated in Army paperwork as the person who would receive his remains if he were to be killed.

KAYE: And, Ed, I want to read another of those journal entries "The Washington Post" attributes to Bergdahl.

Here it is. "'I will not lose this mind, this world I have deep inside,' he wrote a few pages later. 'I will not lose this passion of beauty.'"

Ed, why do you think this friend chose to share the material? I mean...

LAVANDERA: Well, this person, according to the article, was worried that Bowe Bergdahl has been portrayed as someone who was a cold, calculated deserter of the U.S. Army, but instead someone who was struggling with many different issues.

And some of those writings that the paper quotes, Bowe Bergdahl writes that he is: "A wolf, mutt, hound, dog, I've been called these from my childhood, but what good am I? My existence is that of exile, to live on the fringes of this world." So when you read a lot of these writings, a lot of the excerpts that the newspaper published here, you know, you really get a sense of someone struggling with self-confidence, their identity, which kind of goes along with what we have heard for years here in the town of Hailey, the people who have known.

You have got remember a lot of these writings -- these writings went to a very close circle of friends. So, here in Hailey, this is not something that most people were privy to. But Bowe Bergdahl has always been described to us as someone who is a bit of a dreamer, fascinated by the world, wanting to see the world, wanting to experience many different types of adventure. But it is also someone who was grappling with a lot of insecurities as well.

KAYE: Yes, certainly sounds that way.

Ed Lavandera: Thank you very much.

LAVANDERA: You got it.

KAYE: Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel took a lot of heat on Capitol Hill over the deal for Bergdahl. Republicans unloaded on the military boss over the deal that freed five Taliban members.

And while lawmakers are not happy about the swap, the country taking in those Taliban militants doesn't seem to mind at all.

And the truck driver blamed in that accident that killed one person and put comedian Tracy Morgan in the hospital is making a court appearance this very moment. Can prosecutors make their case? We will break it down straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Today, for the first time, we saw Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel defend the White House deal to exchange five Afghan detainees for Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl. And listen as things heat up between Hagel and a member of the House Armed Services.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK HAGEL, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: The intelligence community has said clearly that these five are not a threat to the homeland.

REP. RANDY FORBES (R), VIRGINIA: Mr. Secretary, you have said it here that if they rejoin the fight, they do it at their own peril.

(CROSSTALK)

FORBES: My question is a pretty simple one.

Would we put American lives at risk to go after them?

(CROSSTALK)

HAGEL: We have American lives put at risk... (CROSSTALK)

FORBES: I understand that, Mr. Secretary. My question is, would we put American lives at risk to go after these individuals if they rejoin the fight?

HAGEL: Yes, because...

FORBES: OK. If that's the case, let me ask you just two other questions.

(CROSSTALK)

HAGEL: You could use the same argument, Congressman, on Yemen (ph) or anywhere else.

(CROSSTALK)

FORBES: I could do that, but not because of individuals we released.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Those five detainees were sent to Qatar.

CNN's Erin Burnett headed there to see if the controversy we see in this country over their release is also being felt there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN BURNETT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We visited Doha's main shopping souk on a very hot afternoon. I spoke to several people, but most refused to talk on camera.

This man, though, summarizes the sentiment I heard everywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Qatar is open to everyone and everyone is welcome.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even Taliban?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Affirmative, even Taliban.

BURNETT: Only one man admitted to knowing about the deal, although clearly more people knew about it, most said, no, I have never heard of it and waited for me to lay out the terms. Then, they had something to say.

Here is Ahmed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you want the truth, I don't get involved in politics. Very few of us do, but we normally as a nation leave it to the government.

BURNETT: People we met were quick to say their emir was not to be questioned. They also said something like the Taliban have been here. So what? Who cares? No big deal. They're fine living here with us. This is a nonstory. But when Ahmed referred to leadership, he was talking about something

important. The royal family in Doha is all powerful. The emir helped secure the deal with the Taliban personally.

I spoke to the royal family for the first time about the Taliban deal when I was in Doha, when I met the emir's sister, Sheikha Mayassa Al Thani.

(on camera): There has been a lot of focus on your family. Is that strange for you or pressure for you?

SHEIKHA MAYASSA AL THANI, EMIR OF QATAR'S SISTER: I mean, Qatar is a small nation, has been always in the spotlight, because we decide to be independent in our policies and we do things with conviction. There is no pressure. I mean, take it with a pinch of salt as they say. That's not going to deter our conviction or our determination to move forward.

BURNETT: You obviously went to school at Duke. So, you spent a lot of time in the United States. You're very familiar with it.

So when you look at this situation that is getting so much attention, do you understand why for a lot of Americans, they're very upset about the deal --

AL THANI: What deal are you speaking?

BURNETT: -- about your brother the emir doing the deal with the Taliban?

AL THANI: I don't know the details, to be able to give you a frank description of how Americans feel or the reasoning in our foreign policy. But I know that in the end, Qatar is always doing things for the best interests of everybody.

BURNETT (voice-over): I also went to the Taliban's office in Doha. It's in what is described to me as a posh neighborhood. It's a big villa in an area full of huge homes.

Other than the guard I met, the villa was silent. There was no activity. We circled it, checking all sides for entrances, cars, people in windows.

(on camera): Is there anyone inside?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No anyone.

BURNETT: No one?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) maybe seven months.

BURNETT: No one has been here for seven months? Wow. Do you get bored?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What can I do?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: And Erin Burnett joins us now.

First of all, I am amazed that that they were saying this is a nonstory here.

BURNETT: It's incredible, right?

Every single one of them was saying it was a nonstory. But what was interesting was that they really did, Randi, try to say, oh, I haven't heard about the deal. They clearly knew it was a controversial situation.

Then, when I said, well, the deal where there was an American POW and five Taliban came here, they said, oh, well, if that's the deal, let me tell you, I don't think it's a big deal. And then they would explain it.

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: I got it.

BURNETT: Yes.

KAYE: Well, let me share with you something that our Jim Sciutto got, Rep. Adam Schiff, the House Intel Committee member, telling him it's possible the five Taliban might disappear even during the first year in Qatar, explaining that the Qataris' ability to monitor them is only so great.

He also adds that we have to expect them to return to the fight as well.

You were there. Did you get any indication that this is a place that can actually control them and watch them?

BURNETT: It is a place that is controlled by one man and one royal family.

And that is -- it's very, very clear. The country of Qatar, nothing happens without the emir knowing about it. And that includes if someone is returning to terrorism, using the Internet for fund-raising for terrorist activities or anything like that.

Can they really control that? I guess the question is, will they really control that?

KAYE: Right.

BURNETT: It's a matter of will. There may be laws on the books. It's a matter of whether they are going to enforce them. And that is -- that is the real question, Randi. And we have not gotten an answer to that.

KAYE: Yes. It is just fascinating, considering what a big story it is here. Erin Burnett, thank you very much.

BURNETT: All right, thanks.

While comedian Tracy Morgan remains out of sight healing in a hospital, the man accused of putting him there is appearing in a courtroom this hour. He says some of the headlines about him are all wrong -- more ahead on that.

And how could our government let a humanitarian crisis happen on American soil? That is what is unfolding in Nogales, Arizona. CNN goes there to see what children are going through and what is being done to help them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Actor-comedian Tracy Morgan remains in critical but stable condition at a New Jersey hospital. But the truck driver who police say crashed into Morgan's limo bus appeared in court just moments ago for the very first time.

Kevin Roper, who was driving a Wal-Mart truck, is charged with vehicle homicide and assault by auto. His attorney entered his plea today of not guilty. The crash killed one person and injured three additional people on the bus, including Morgan's friend, Harris Stanton.

He spoke to CNN affiliate WABC after he was discharged the hospital.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS STANTON, INVOLVED IN CRASH: It happened so fast. And when it stopped, Tracy was on top of me and I didn't see anything else, just metal.

And I could see the stars from outside because the top was ripped open. And I heard a driver cursing out the other driver. And I was just saying: "Help me. Get me out of here." I just was trying to get out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: At issue, whether Roper had been on the road too long, fatigued or under the influence, perhaps.

Joining me now to discuss, our CNN entertainment correspondent Nischelle Turner and HLN host Jane Velez-Mitchell.

All right, so the criminal complaint is saying that -- that he had been awake for 24 hours. How can they prove, Jane, that he was sleep- deprived?

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: Well, first of all, they didn't charge him with DUI. So you could extrapolate from that that he was not drunk or stoned.

So, if he got out of the truck and was acting in a bizarre manner, then by deduction, you could say, if he wasn't drunk and he wasn't stoned, why was he acting in a bizarre manner? My question is, did they have videotape at the crash scene that they have of him?

If you have not slept for more than 24 hours, you are going to behave in a certain way that will tip cops off to that. You might be very drowsy. You might stumble. You might slur your words. So, if you can't attribute that to alcohol or drugs, then sleep deprivation could be the answer.

Also, I think cops now have to go and retrace his steps. What was he doing in the last 24 hours? We know he is not legally allowed to drive for more than 11 hours in a row.

KAYE: Right, a 14-hour day.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And all sorts of alarm bells would go off, almost literally, perhaps literally, if he had been doing that.

So, I think it's more about going to, where was he when his shift started. Do they have surveillance video of him going into a hotel to go to sleep? Or was he perhaps at a bar?

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But this is kind of like connect the dots as well, because under New Jersey state law, if you are up in excess of 24 hours, that equates being sleep-deprived.

So, I think it's a game of kind of connect with right dots with them to try to prove that he had -- that it was sleep deprivation, and they consider that reckless driving.

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: How can they prove, though, whether or not this guy pulled over on the side of the road? They're really depending on his word.

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: Maybe he pulled over and slept.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Not necessarily. Let's say he starts at point A 11 hours prior to begin his shift. They go back to that location. They interview people in that area. Did he stay at a hotel? Did he check in?

After checking in to the hotel, did he go out and go get dinner somewhere? So, through possibly surveillance video and witnesses' accounts, they could trace his last 24 hours, perhaps down to the minute, along with cell phone. Where was his cell phone pinging?

TURNER: Where was it pinging? That's right.

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: Or even traffic cameras.

(CROSSTALK) KAYE: Red light cameras.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Exactly.

KAYE: So, Nischelle, what about the fact that there was a major celebrity involved in this?

TURNER: Yes.

KAYE: Is that why this case and him being in court is getting so much attention?

TURNER: There has been speculation of that. Of course it has brought a lot more attention to this case. We do see these death-by-auto cases before. Someone has a fatal accident. We do see that.

In this case, I think, because it was Tracy Morgan and there was so much attention, maybe it is bringing a little more attention to it, and we have seen it happen a couple of other times. Brandy, the singer Brandy was involved where she had a car accident and it killed a woman. There was a lot of attention. So, I think when a celebrity is involved, you are going to see more attention to it.

I'm not sure if that affects the charges, but I do believe that it brings more attention to the case.

KAYE: All right.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: We got to look at it. More than 30,000 people are killed on the highways every year. This is a deadly weapon. A vehicle is a deadly weapon.

KAYE: Yes. Now they just have to prove it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.

KAYE: All right, Jane, Nischelle, nice to see you guys. Thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: Eric Cantor was coasting toward reelection, right up until he lost yesterday's primary. Now all of Washington is scrambling to deal with the fallout from a result that no one saw coming.

And in California, a judge's decision just as shocking as Cantor's loss. Children in four neighborhoods took on their own schools and they won. Now several teachers who have been on the job for decades could be out of work.

That is ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)