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Malaysian Searchers Find More Plane Debris; GOP Candidates Prep for Debates; Bill Clinton Talked Politics with Trump?; Movie Theater Attack in Nashville; Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired August 06, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:03] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Whether it was spot on or not.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Fair point. Fair point.

COSTELLO: Yes.

STELTER: But he has -- he's been a very effective media critic. I would say that. You know, sometimes Stewart takes cheap shots, there's no doubt about it. Whenever my face would pop up on the "Daily Show" and have that flash of terror, I got very nervous about what he was going to say, but I found myself agreeing with him more often than I found myself disagreeing when it came to the media critiques.

COSTELLO: Really? I'm the opposite.

Brian Stelter reporting live. Thanks so much.

STELTER: Really. Well, we always have to give him the raw material, didn't we?

COSTELLO: We did. We did.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, new plane debris. What Malaysian searchers say they just discovered. Are we closer to solving the mystery of MH-370?

Plus --

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: All of us who are running owe voters an explanation about who we are and what we plan to do if we're elected.

COSTELLO: Two debates, 17 GOP candidates. Will any of them be able to get their message to voters?

And --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We thought it was a scary movie. COSTELLO: Police take down a man wielding an axe and a pellet gun in

a Nashville movie theater. Is it safe to see a movie?

Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

We do start with breaking news this morning. Investigators may have found new clues in the search for that missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. The press secretary from Malaysia's Transport Ministry telling CNN a Malaysian search team has found airplane window parts and aircraft seat cushions on Reunion Island in the west Indian Ocean. They say they've also found aluminum material from an aircraft, so let's talk about that.

Lets head live to Saima Mohsin, she's in Toulouse, France with more. Good morning.

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Yes, we were expecting, of course, when we first heard about that flaperon last Thursday that more debris may turn up. A surprising admission from the Malaysian Transport Ministry because so far the teams down on Reunion Island that CNN has been told that there was nothing significant. But now the Malaysians are saying that they have found plane parts which they say are like windowpanes, aluminum material, and other parts that they say do relate to an aircraft.

However, Carol, they have said that they do not say whether that is part of MH-370. They cannot confirm that but they do say it's from an aircraft. That debris, window panes, aluminum foil and seat cushions according to the Malaysian Transport Ministry. Thye say they'll be sending it here to France to this laboratory run by the Ministry of Defense which is already running investigations on that flaperon identified late yesterday evening, Carol, as part of MH-370 -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Saima Mohsin, thanks so much. Saima Mohsin reporting live this morning.

Let's talk with CNN aviation analyst and former inspector general of the Department of Transportation, Mary Schiavo.

Good morning, Mary.

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Good morning.

COSTELLO: So as you know, family members, they don't even believe that flaperon is the real deal even though Malaysian authorities say it is. So should we believe them this time around when they say they found all of that debris on Reunion Island suddenly?

SCHIAVO: Not without careful investigation and proof, and probably the best entity to do that is going to be Boeing because, for example, starting with the seat cushions, they have to meet U.S. aircraft seat flammability standards. And so Boeing will know whether or not these are seats from a 777. And even though it was a Malaysia Airlines 777 since it was manufactured here, it will meet our standards and they'll be able to tell if this is an aircraft seat or not. Everything else would have to float.

I did see online from Reunion Island somebody posted a picture of the window parts. It did look like -- it did look like it could be a window part, but, again, and there's just so much trash in the ocean, it's difficult to know if that would be it for sure. It has to meet very exacting specifications. Boeing engineers will know whether that is a part or not. It may not have a serial number on the window part. It could be what's called a standard part.

So, yes, they should be skeptical unless and until tested and fully vetted, but if it is the parts from that part of the plane, that would mean that the fuselage was broken open and that probably should end speculation that who -- that if somebody did this intentionally, they settled it onto the ocean floor so no trace would be found. That would mean the plane was broken apart.

COSTELLO: Broken apart in the air before it landed you mean?

SCHIAVO: No, it could have been -- it could have hit the water at a high rate of speed and broken at impact, but there was some -- there was some speculation that someone scuttled it by landing it gently on the ocean and it sunk to the bottom without a trace. This would blow that assumption or that theory anyway out of the water.

COSTELLO: Do you think the flaperon came from Flight 370?

SCHIAVO: Oh, without a doubt. And I even went so far as to check -- online you can buy used parts and used aircraft parts. And there was actually a shortage of 777 parts. You could not readily go buy a flaperon on the Web site, so if no other 777 had crashed in that part of the world and you can't readily get the parts, it just absolutely has to be MH-370 and I think that the French investigators did a disservice by not just telling them why they said there are indications.

In this case I think the Malaysians should have just gone one step further and said, look, we have the measurements, we have part numbers, we have this and we have that and just told them, that the mystery is just -- it's painful and cruel to the families.

COSTELLO: Mary Schiavo, thanks for your insight as always. I appreciate it.

On to politics now. 17 candidates are descending onto Cleveland. Some are already there. You know that big show kicks off at 9:00 p.m. The 10 candidates deemed ready for primetime will be packed onto the debate stage, each given one minute per question to convince voters that their vision for America is best.

Biggest challenge may not be in messaging, though, but taking the spotlight away from Donald Trump. But for all the potential GOP infighting, the head of the Republican National Committee says all that attention is a good thing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REINCE PRIEBUS, CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: We're probably going to have 12 or 15 million people in this country tune in to a Republican-only debate in August, and I think that in some ways it can be very helpful to our party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So will it be helpful to the GOP? Let's talk about that. I'm joined by the communications director for Mike Huckabee for President, Alice Stewart.

Good morning, Alice.

ALICE STEWART, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, MIKE HUCKABEE FOR PRESIDENT: Good morning, Carol. Thanks for having me.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here. Are you nervous for your candidate?

STEWART: Well, there's more of a sense of excitement around the air in the past several weeks as we have been gearing up for the debate as it is for every debate that he's ever participated in. And preparation like many others is to get together with the staff and do debate prep that's going over material and potential questions, and reviewing different scenarios on how the questions will be posed to you.

But what Governor Huckabee has been doing is gearing up for this event tonight and having an opportunity on a national stage to share his views on the issues and reinforce his record, show a contrast between the other candidates but it's something that he's very comfortable with doing. He's got a long history as a debater and this is a great forum. It will be tough, though.

COSTELLO: Well --

STEWART: There'll be some tough questions and a lot of serious contenders.

COSTELLO: I know. And, Alice, you know Donald Trump is there which is different from every other debate because Donald Trump is a unique person. So has Governor Huckabee prepared differently for this debate than in past debates?

STEWART: Donald Trump is his own man up there on the stage, and he doesn't need anyone else to help talk about him. As you mentioned, Carol, each candidate has one minute to answer these questions, and Governor Huckabee is going to talk about himself in the limited time that they all have up there and there's no premeditated effort to go after Donald Trump or any of the candidates because the time is so short. We're going it use the time to get our message out there and speak to the American people. COSTELLO: Do you think that the format of this debate is fair because

the governor and the rest of the candidates will get very little time to respond to questions. They won't even get to rebut unless someone specifically asks -- you know, calls out their name.

STEWART: Every debate has different rules and regulations. Your CNN debate coming up next month had different rules and regulations, and that's part of the process. And you go about each one looking at how you use your time wisely and you take your minute to answer the question and you have a concise answer that addresses the issues and when you have the opportunity to rebut, you jump in there and do so.

But all the debates are different. Every candidate up there is more than anything, they're thankful for the opportunity to get their message out. They've been campaigning across the country in Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina talking about voters and talking with people about what's important to them. And they're going to share that on the stage. This so happens -- it will be a much, much larger audience.

COSTELLO: In Governor Huckabee's mind who is the person to beat on that stage tonight?

STEWART: It's about him. He's up there for himself to get his message out there. We're not -- he doesn't look at any of the other candidates. That's not a factor in how he prepares and how he goes out there --

COSTELLO: Really?

STEWART: -- and delivers his answers. Absolutely. And that's the way he's always been. He's been a debater for many, many years. He goes out there, this is his opportunity to get his message out there. That's how he prepared for it. That's how he will go up on the stage and that's what we'll see tonight at 9:00.

COSTELLO: All right. Alice Stewart, thank you so much for being with me this morning. I appreciate it.

[10:10:00] Coming up in the NEWSROOM, it's the phone call everyone is talking about. Former president Bill Clinton gave Donald Trump a call right before Trump decided to jump into the presidential race. Let's talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: A little political intrigue before the big debate. Guess who called Donald Trump before he decided to run for president? Bill Clinton. Yes, that Bill Clinton whose wife was already in the 2016 race at the time.

According to "The Washington Post," quote, "The tone of the tall was informal and Clinton never urged Trump to run, the four people said. Rather they said Clinton sounded curious about Trump's moves toward a presidential bid and told Trump that he was striking a chord with frustrated conservatives and was a rising force on the right," end quote.

With me now to talk about this, CNN political commentator and Jeb Bush supporter Ana Navarro, and CNN political commentator and political anchor for New York One, Errol Louis.

Welcome to you both.

[10:15:02] ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good to see you.

COSTELLO: So I'm really intrigued by this.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: What do you make of this, Errol?

LOUIS: Well, I think it's fascinating. I mean, clearly Bill Clinton wanted to maybe get a little intel, sort of measure the waters. I think, though, as one of the best sort of politicians of the last generation, he's probably right, that there is some rising force of conservatism that Trump represents or at least is in line with and that we would all do well to try and figure out what that's all about if we want to understand the dynamics of both the debate tonight and the unfolding GOP presidential campaign.

COSTELLO: It's interesting that Bill Clinton gave that great piece of advice to Donald Trump, Ana, but hasn't seemed to communicate a great strategy to his wife Hillary Clinton since his approval -- her approval ratings are going down.

NAVARRO: Well, it seems maybe Bill Clinton is giving more advice to Donald Trump than to Hillary Clinton lately. Look, I'm -- it's intriguing, it's surprising, it's entertaining, but let's remember that Donald Trump and the Clintons have had a long-time relationship. Donald Trump is one of the big donors to Hillary Clinton, also a big donor, six figures, to the Clinton Foundation.

The Clintons were at the front pew of Donald Trump's last wedding, whatever it was, number three, number four, and so, you know, it's a long-standing relationship. It's a New Yorker thing, I think, and if you know anything about Bill Clinton, you know the guy loves to talk politics, so I'm, you know, not surprised. If I were a conspiracy theorist, hmm, maybe this is something that we can attribute to the vast Clinton wing conspiracy. Maybe Trump is a double agent.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Oh, geez. Who knows. All right. I want to talk about one of Donald Trump's advisers. His name is Roger Stone. Here he is on the cover of "The Weekly Standard" with Richard Nixon tattooed on his back. The magazine called Stone the professional lord of mischief. Others call him a political hitman.

Stone reportedly tipped off the FBI about former Governor Eliot Spitzer's visit to a prostitute and most recently he had some choice words for you, Ana Navarro. This is what Stone tweeted. "Ana Navarro, the dumbest person on TV since CNN fired moron Roland Martin. Both quota hires."

Ana, care to bite back?

NAVARRO: What can I tell you, Carol? You know, I really don't like to stoop to that level. I -- you know, I think that guy represents everything that's wrong with politics. A hatemonger, a Twitter troll, and -- but I think it tells you a lot about the kind of people that Donald Trump is surrounding himself with. People that threaten others, that, you know, just spew out venom against other people who may have a disagreement with them.

You've seen that he has fired at least two aides in the last few days over hateful comments on social media. So, you know, sometimes you have to wonder whether Donald Trump is running for president of the United States or president of Twitter trolls. And as far as, you know, being a quota hire, which is what Roger Stone I guess accuses me and Roland Martin of being, sorry, Roger, I guess the, you know, quota for the weird bleach blond swinger was taken.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: OK. I just want to ask one more question about Stone and I'll pose this question to you, Errol. Stone told Jeffrey Toobin in 2008, politics is not about uniting people, it's about dividing people, and the polls this time around certainly proves he's right, right?

LOUIS: Well, it suggests that you can win some things. You can't necessarily unify the country, move the country forward, and, frankly, you'd probably lose about as many races as you try to win that way. But Roger Stone, I mean, you say he's into political dirty tricks. He would be the first to acknowledge that. I've interviewed him many, many times. We have a friendly relationship. He's actually quite good on men's fashion. That's probably where you can get something out of him that won't offend anybody.

COSTELLO: Oh, Errol.

LOUIS: But honestly, he's -- you know, I mean, this is the politics of, you know, 50 percent plus one is what has really brought the country to a very low place in the last decade or so. And, you know, this election like the last three, we're going to ask ourselves, are we ready to move beyond this? Are there leaders who are ready to move us beyond that? Could Donald Trump be such a person? As always, we can only say we hope so.

COSTELLO: Can Donald Trump be a uniter when he hires a guy like this?

LOUIS: Well, I mean, it's not a promising start. If he wants to lead the country and bring the country together, this is not a promising start. On the other hand, people do change. People do change their political style, their political philosophy, and the political outcomes that we want, you know, it's really up to us. We can't always look to the candidates. We will have the final say about who succeeds and who does not, and those who want unity, those who want a different tone, a different direction, the time to get involved is right now.

[10:20:02] COSTELLO: All right. Errol Louis and Ana Navarro, you know, I reach out to you often and ask for advice so I think you're one fantastic, incredibly brilliant person, and I'm glad that you're employed by CNN.

Ana Navarro, Errol Louis, thanks so much.

NAVARRO: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Checking some other top stories for you at 20 minutes past the hour.

A manhunt underway in Louisiana after a Shreveport police officer was shot and killed. The officer was responding to a call about a prowler when he was shot several times. Six dozen police units are now combing the area and a helicopter is assisting in the search.

Bill Cosby going on the record later this year. A California judge is ordering the comedian to give a sworn deposition in a civil suit against him. Judith Huth says she was 15 when Cosby molested her at the Playboy mansion. This will be the first time Cosby has been forced to testify in 10 years. More than two dozen women have come forward accusing him of rape.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, another movie theater attack, this time at the hands of a young man with a history of mental illness. So is it safe to go to a movie? We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:25:34] COSTELLO: We turn now to that horrific attack inside a Nashville area movie theater. Movie goers in shock as a man who appeared to be carrying a real gun began attacking them with a hatchet and pepper spray. Within minutes he would be shot to death by police.

Police say Vincente David Montano pointed this gun at them, pulling the trigger. Well, it turns out it wasn't a real weapon. But it was a pellet gun and it sure looked like a real weapon, right?

Montano's mother said he had a long history with mental illness. He'd been committed at least three times. The man he struck with a hatchet offering this prayer moments after he was attacked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVEN, VICTIM OF THE THEATER ATTACK: I am eternally grateful, excuse me, for Metro Police Department for their fast response today and the fact that no one else got injured other than the person who did this. I would ask anyone to pray for his family because he obviously has some mental problems or something else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Nick Valencia is in Nashville this morning with more.

Good morning, Nick.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Police here in Nashville being praised for their actions in preventing an incident that certainly could have been much worse.

At about 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday the suspect identified as 29-year-old Vincente David Montano came into this movie theater. He purchased a ticket and then he proceeded to carry out his attack. He was armed with a pellet gun, an axe, and also wearing a surgical mask presumably to protect himself from the pepper spray he used to douse the patrons inside. Some of those frantic moments captured on 911 audiotape.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED 911 CALLER: So I was in the movie theater, like literally a minute or two ago. And this guy, this shady looking guy stood up with like two bags and he walked toward the back of the theater. And he pulled out a hatchet and started attacking this family. And then he pulled out a gun, and we all ran out of the theater.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

VALENCIA: According to police, Montano has a lengthy history of mental health issues being committed in mental health institutions. At least four times since 2004. Police say they believe he was homeless.

We just got off the phone with the National Rescue Mission who tell us that he has a record of being checked in there a couple of days ago but no record of him staying overnight.

As recently as Monday his mother filed a missing persons report telling authorities that her son was a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic and, quote, "had a hard time taking care of himself." Police here in Nashville, well, they're still working on a motive here -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Nick Valencia, reporting live from Nashville this morning, thank you.

It does make you wonder, though, is it safe to go to a movie? This happened right on the heels of what happened in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Here to talk about that is Matthew Horace, a former ATF executive and former police officer.

Matthew, welcome.

MATTHEW HORACE, SENIOR VP, FJC SECURITY SERVICES: Good morning.

COSTELLO: So I wanted to talk to you because I want you to put this into perspective for us. Should we be afraid to go to the movie? HORACE: Well, I don't think we should be afraid to go to the movies,

but we should be aware of the current climate. As security professionals and practitioners, it's our job to assess vulnerabilities of facilities and then create security plans that make sense to clients and make sense to the public.

Everyone wants to feel safe when they go in movie theaters or other places.

COSTELLO: OK. So that's what you do for a living right now. So how do you do that in a movie theater?

HORACE: Well, remember, security is a very touchy business. It's something everyone wants but someone has to fund, and I don't know if America is ready yet for magnetometers as you go into movie theaters, if they're ready for screening processes as you do that. I don't know. Most movie theaters have police officers that work Friday, Saturday, Sundays, high volume times. A lot of movie theaters employ the use of private security, but right now I think America is going to take a good, hard look at strengthening these soft targets.

COSTELLO: Yes. Well, is a way to strengthen a soft target like a movie theater, you know, to have somebody search your bag? I mean, I just can't even imagine that, but should movie theaters do that?

HORACE: Well, if you think about that, look how far we've come since 9/11. I mean, could we have ever imagined in a million years taking off our shoes and belts before we go through security checkpoints at airports? So it very well may in fact be the answer. At some point we have to reconsider our security. And also remember this, as we change our targets from soft to hard, it leaves other soft targets vulnerable for things just like this.

COSTELLO: OK. So there has been a suggestion that maybe people should be allowed to take guns into movie theaters. Is that a good idea?

HORACE: That is absolutely not the answer in my view. Because just because you have a gun doesn't mean you're trained how to use a gun.

COSTELLO: And it's a dark theater and let's face it, if somebody attacks somebody, it's difficult to get your bearings, right? You're watching a movie.

HORACE: It is absolutely difficult.

COSTELLO: It's dark in the theater.

HORACE: Absolutely. 100 percent. And if you look at what happened yesterday, the Nashville Metro Police Department responded but they train for incidents just like this. They are full time team, they know what to do.