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Pope Francis Declares Abortion Can Now Be Forgiven; Carson Ties Trump for First Place in Iowa; Carson's Calm Versus Trump's Brashness; Funeral for Darren Goforth Set; State Department Releases 7,000 Pages of Clinton E-mails; Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired September 01, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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


[09:00:01] CAMEROTA: That's so great.

BERMAN: So wonderful.

PEREIRA: That's special. Thank you for that, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: You're welcome.

PEREIRA: All right. With that, we send it over to "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello. But a bit teardrop for the end of the show today.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I know. That was a nice way to end the show. Thank you so much. You already made my day. Thanks so much. Have a great day, guys.

NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, tied with Trump. Ben Carson catapults to the top of the polls in Iowa. His secret weapon?

ROB TAYLOR, IOWA STATE REPRESENTATIVE: Yes, I think what Dr. Carson brings to the table frankly is the power of nice.

COSTELLO: Can Mr. Nice Guy knock Trump out of the top?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Can't hit him. He's been so nice for me.

COSTELLO: Plus, just weeks ahead of his visit to America, Pope Francis says women who have abortions can be forgiven. How will pro- life candidates react?

Also an officer shot 15 times in the back while pumping gas.

SHERIFF ROB HICKMAN, HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS: We find no other motivation other than the fact that he was wearing a uniform.

COSTELLO: This morning, new information about the suspect's mental health history.

Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM. (END VIDEOTAPE)

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

We begin with a groundbreaking announcement by the Catholic Church. Just days before an historic visit to the United States, Pope Francis has announced women who have had an abortion and have been excommunicated or kicked out of the church can be forgiven. Not only that, that forgiveness can be granted by a woman's parish priest.

That's not to say the church no longer considers abortion a moral sin, it does, a mortal sin, rather, but Pope Francis says he has met so many women who bear in their hearts the scar of this agonizing and painful decision.

All of this as the Pope holds a rare virtual meeting with Americans in three different cities hosted by ABC News. It was an extraordinary spectacle as the Pope asked a young girl with a skin condition to sing for him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE FRANCIS, CATHOLIC CHURCH LEADER: I would like to hear you singing. May I ask you to sing a song for me? Be courageous.

(APPLAUSE)

POPE FRANCIS: Thank you very much. So kind of you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That brought the audience to tears but I want to bring in Vatican correspondent Delia Gallagher now to talk about the Pope's big announcement this morning. She's live in Rome.

What do you make of this, Delia?

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Look, Carol, this is a significant change for Pope Francis with regard particularly to an issue that has been really a stalwart issue in the last few decades in the Catholic Church.

In particular, what the Pope is saying is this. A woman who has had an abortion, according to the Catholic Church, receives an automatic excommunication. She doesn't have to have a letter from the Vatican. It is just automatically assumed that she has excommunicated herself from the Catholic Church by the fact that she has had an abortion.

To lift that ban of excommunication, previously you needed to go to a bishop and have a bishop's permission to lift the ban of excommunication. What Pope Francis has done today is said any priest can lift the ban of excommunication on a woman who has had an abortion in the confessional. So she goes to confession to any priest, the priest can absolve her of her sin and effectively lift that excommunication so she is back in the church. It's important to say and you said it in the intro that there's been

no change to the actual church teaching on abortion. It's still considered a grave evil, a sin. And it still carries with it this ban of excommunication. But the Pope has made it easier today for a woman in the Catholic Church to receive absolution, to be brought back into the Catholic Church.

And this is precisely what we've seen as the theme for Pope Francis this year, and since the beginning of his pontificate to bring back those people who have felt alienated. The big news about today is that he's doing it even on abortion, which has been one of the main fundamental topics for the Catholic Church -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I must say I was rather stunned as a Catholic.

Delia Gallagher, thanks so much. We'll get back to you next hour.

On to American politics now. Move over Donald Trump or at least get ready to share the political wealth because in one critical early state there's now a little competition for the hearts and minds of Republican voters. And his name is Ben Carson. A new poll of likely Republican caucus goers in Iowa shows Carson is tied with Mr. Trump for first place. Carly Fiorina, another outsider, comes in third, while Ted Cruz and Scott Walker and Jeb Bush round out the top five.

[09:05:11] CNN senior political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson is here to break down the numbers.

Good morning.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. It's only a good morning for Ben Carson who is on vacation now. But when he returns to the stump next week, he will find a different landscape. There in Iowa he is tied with Donald Trump and if you look at the rest of the field, what you see is sort of the folks who had -- who were supposed to do well in Iowa, people like Scott Walker, people like Mike Huckabee, not doing as well as Ben Carson.

And you also see that if you turn back the clock a couple of months ago, he wasn't doing as well. He was at 8 percent earlier in the summer. He's obviously at 23 percent now. And he's sort of mounted this quiet ground game in Iowa and as a result has been able to catch up with Donald Trump and take the wind out of the sails of folks like Scott Walker.

COSTELLO: Ben Carson isn't the only one showing a steep reversal in support either, right?

HENDERSON: That's right. And that's where you get Scott Walker. If you look at their numbers, I mean, they're almost in reverse. Right? I mean, in July, Walker was at 22 percent. Now he's at 7 percent. And a lot of that support may be going to Carson. There's always a figure in Iowa, it was Huckabee before, it was Santorum as well, who was able to galvanize evangelicals. And that looks like what Carson is able to do at this point. And if you're Scott Walker, you've got to be worried. That was

supposed to be his ticket. Iowa. He's obviously from a neighboring state, gave some real barn burner speeches earlier in the year and really was an early favorite. But this recent poll showed that he's got some trouble in Iowa and that he should be really looking closely at folks like Ben Carson.

COSTELLO: All right. Nia-Malika Henderson, thanks for breaking it down for us. I appreciate it.

HENDERSON: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Some Carson supporters say part of his appeal is his demeanor, along with his seeming unwillingness to attack his rivals. That was on display during Carson's closing remarks at the first Republican debate. Words that drew praise from the pundits.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm the only one that separates Siamese twins. The only --

(LAUGHTER)

CARSON: The only one to operate on babies while they're still in their mother's womb. The only one to take out half of a brain, although you would think, if you go to Washington that someone had beat me to it. But I'm very hopeful that I'm not the only who's willing to pick up the baton of freedom because freedom is not free. And we must fight for it every day. Every one of us must fight for it because we're fighting for our children and the next generation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Carson's tone in stark contrast to what we've come to expect from Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: When I look at Jeb raising hundreds of millions of dollars, which is honestly the only thing he has. Who would you rather have negotiate with Iran, Trump or Jeb? Trump or Hillary? I couldn't care less about Lindsey Graham. He's registered I think zero in the polls. Rand Paul, think of this guy. He calls me up a year ago. He wants to play golf. I said, who is he? Who is he?

Rick Perry from Texas, who is up in my office a few years ago, I just posted a picture of him shaking my hand, looking for money and looking for support. You know, people who say, yes, I call it a hypocrite.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. You don't hear any of that from Ben Carson, right?

Here to talk about this and more Rob Taylor, Iowa state representative and Iowa state co-chair for Carson for America, and Ellis Henican, columnist and co-author of "The Party is Over: How the Extreme Right Hijacked the GOP and I Became a Democrat."

Welcome to both of you. I'm glad you're here.

(LAUGHTER)

ELLIS HENICAN, COLUMNIST: Hello to you.

TAYLOR: Thanks so much for having me.

COSTELLO: Thank you for being here. So, Rob, what's Ben Carson's appeal in the eyes of Iowa caucus goers?

TAYLOR: Well, you know, he has many things that he brings to the table. But being non-establishment, being real, answering people's questions directly, I mean, that appeals to the electorate and he's approachable. And as I said last night on another program, he's genuinely a nice guy, a nice man.

COSTELLO: It's interesting, though, Rob. He hasn't outlined really any of his policy positions. Does that matter to Iowa caucus goers?

TAYLOR: Well, I think if you've been a part of some of our rallies here in Iowa, he actually has outlined many of his stances. If you go to Carson America or BenCarson.com, they're all laid out. They're straightforward. They're matter of fact. And they're real. So I think he has laid out a very good strategy and an effective strategy.

COSTELLO: His strategy against ISIS, for example, what is it?

TAYLOR: I mean, we need to eliminate ISIS. I mean, bottom line. And where we at right now militarily --

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Well, yes, but how?

TAYLOR: Well, where we're at right now was a very weak military. And he wants to -- he wants to embrace the military. He wants to build the military up. And he knows that ISIS needs to be destroyed and we need to work with our allies to do so.

[09:10:14] COSTELLO: OK. So, Elis, I'll move onto you. A lot -- some pundits say that what people like about Ben Carson is he's a nice guy. And everybody else is caustic. Trump is all about anger, Ben Carson is all about hope and aspiration. Is that it?

HENICAN: Well, he has a nice personality. But I think it may be more important what he's not. Now what he's not is a politician. I mean, look at the folks in that poll who were doing well. It's all the ones who do not hold normal political office.

I got to tell you, Carol, I think that right now there are game show hosts and professional wrestlers and maybe a couple of taxi drives kicking themselves, and saying, I should have run for president this year. This is my year. People do not like politicians. That's the message.

COSTELLO: So wouldn't matter if it was Ben Carson or Donald Trump? It could be anyone who's not part of the establishment and they would be leading the polls in Iowa?

HENICAN: Well, here's how I would describe. I mean, there are a diversity of people who are not politicians. And Trump has the bombastic ones and the ones to whom that kind of approach appeals. And Ben Carson has a more brainy kind of approach. And maybe even if you include Ted Cruz, who although a politician is kind of the anti- Paul politician who thumbs his nose at the Washington establishment.

There may be room for all of those. But the thing they have in common is that they're not a senator, a governor, a congressman, and they never were.

COSTELLO: OK. Another part of Ben Carson's appeal, and I read an article on the "Christian Science Monitor," and I want to address this to you, Rob, is that Republicans are looking for a viable black candidate because they're kind of tired of being called racist.

TAYLOR: Well, I don't think it has to do with black, white, purple, green, yellow. I think they're looking for a real candidate, one that stands up for real issues and is a real candidate. I don't think by Dr. Carson being black, I don't think that has anything to do with why he's a viable and good candidate. He's a neurosurgeon. And as you saw in the last debate, when he's operating on the most complex machine in the world, the human brain, he doesn't look at color when he's looking in terms of human brains. So I don't think that he looks through the purview of black versus white.

COSTELLO: OK, and I'm just --

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Well, it is indeed, but I'm just quoting from this "Christian Science Monitor" article, and I'll address this to you, Ellis. It says, "Republicans consider Carson a more authentic African-American because President Obama was raised in Hawaii by white parents." You know, Ben Carson was raised in Detroit, was raised by a single mother. He has truly an aspirational story.

HENICAN: Well, yes. He's got a nice story. And clearly there's again a diversity of people who have the African-American experience. I'm not sure how we would say one is more authentic than another.

It is worth remembering, though, Carol, he holds political views that are unusual in the black community in America. The vast majority of African-Americans are still Democrats, still tend to be more liberal. You have to look far and wide to find Ben Carsons in there. But you know what? Maybe that's what appeals to the Republican electorate this year.

COSTELLO: We'll see. We'll see if -- if the numbers hold because it's such a strange political season. And you just never know what's going to happen next. Thanks to you both, though.

HENICAN: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: Ellis Henican and Rob Taylor, I appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a disturbing history of violence, new details about the man who allegedly shot and killed a Texas deputy.

And we're just about 15 minutes away from the Opening Bell on Wall Street. And right now the futures are pointing down by about 400 points. We'll take you live to the New York Stock Exchange in minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:17:47] COSTELLO: All right. We're getting word about a terrible accident at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island. A building under construction simply collapsed. There were construction workers inside this building. We don't know about any injuries. But we do know there's a news conference going on right now so let's dip and listen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A steel structural collapse here at Bryant University at a facility under construction that's called the Indoor Practice Facility. They just started construction on it. They were erecting steel. Something happened at the site and the steel structure that was in place fell over.

We're not sure why that happened. It's still under investigation at this time. When we received the call, we responded up here. The fire department, police department. Our first arriving apparatus called for additional rescues. We called in what we call a level one response, which immediately gets us five more EMS rescue vehicles. And then we called a couple more after that.

Ultimately we transported six patients to Rhode Island Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. And I'm going to let Captain Jonathan Pollock, our EMS coroner, just quickly explain what type of injuries they have.

COSTELLO: All right. We're going to dip away but thankfully these six people who were injured in this building collapse suffered injuries but they're non-life threatening, as you heard. They were taken to the hospital. Of course we'll keep you posted to this terrible accident at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island.

In other news this morning, that murdered Texas Deputy Darren Goforth will be laid to rest this Friday. Goforth was ambushed and shot execution style on Friday while pumping gas. President Obama called his widow yesterday to express his condolences. And now we're learning disturbing new details about the alleged gunman who's been charged with capital murder. Prosecutors say he shot Goforth 15 times even as the -- as the deputy lay on the ground. And he once spent six months in a mental hospital following a violent assault against a homeless man. CNN's Rosa Flores joins us from the gas station where Deputy Goforth

was killed.

Tell us more, Rosa.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, good morning. We're also learning that the DA has requested all of the health records for Shannon Mills, for that man charged with capital murder from the Harris County Psychiatric Hospital. Now all this as we're learning more about his criminal past and also his history with mental illness.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[09:20:18] FLORES: This morning, new insight into the mind of alleged cop killer Shannon Miles. Miles appearing in a Houston courtroom Monday. The clanking of his shackles the only thing breaking the silence as dozens of deputies stared him down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He unloaded the entire weapon into Deputy Goforth.

FLORES: Prosecutors say the 30-year-old ambushed Deputy Darren Goforth at a gas station. The suspect shooting him execution-style, a total of 15 times. The motive, prosecutors say, is still unclear.

BRIAN MCCULLER, FRIEND OF DEPUTY DARREN GOFORTH: Let's hope that it wasn't because of uniform. Let's hope that it wasn't race related.

FLORES: Now CNN has learned the suspect was previously ruled mentally incompetent back in 2012. Miles was charged with aggravated assault against a homeless man. Miles, also homeless at the time, was sent to a mental institution for six months. He then ruled competent, but the case never went to trial.

Even given the suspect's mental health history, one Texas sheriff suggests the killing could have some relation to the Black Lives Matter movement and ongoing uprising against police brutality.

HICKMAN: It isn't a very far stretch to believe that that kind of rhetoric could influence someone.

FLORES: Leaders of the movement say calls for police reform cannot be blamed for this senseless murder.

RASHAD ANTHONY TURNER, LEAD ORGANIZER, BLACK LIVES MATTER ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA: Our mission is to end violence against black people and the fact that every 28 hours a black body is killed.

FLORES: As the Houston suburb community continues to mourn the loss of their deputy President Obama called Goforth's widow Monday to give his condolences, saying he will continue to stand up for the safety of police officers wherever they serve.

DEVON ANDERSON, HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: This crime is not going to divide us. This crime is going to unite us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES: Now I want you to take a moment to notice something because pump number eight is the scene of the crime. Now it is a memorial for this deputy. But take a look beyond the pump, beyond the greenery that you see back there. This is a residential area, Carol. You can see that there's a window there. There are homes. So these 15 shots that we've been talking about, these homeowners probably listened to those shots. They probably heard these shots.

Now a lot of these people from this community are coming together. You see them at a table. They've been here since very early this morning, collecting donations for this deputy's family. And we know he is survived by his wife and also two children.

And, Carol, this morning we can tell you that that memorial fund is at more than $213,000 -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Rosa Flores, reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a new glimpse into the e-mails from Hillary Clinton. A mountain to pore through. Some interesting tidbits to glean. We take a closer look, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:27:32] COSTELLO: The State Department unleashes a new avalanche of e-mails that passed through Hillary Clinton's unsecured server. More than 7,000 pages in all, no bombshells but a few interesting insights. For example, Hillary Clinton was keenly attuned to criticism on cable news, eagerly sought advice from a former aide to her husband, and kept tabs on her favorite television shows including a sitcom that seemed equally fascinated with her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMY POEHLER, ACTOR, "PARKS AND RECREATION": We are a power couple. Like the Roosevelts or the Clintons. This is the life we chose. And I'm sure there are many nights when Hillary e-mails Bill and says, I'm sorry we haven't spoken in a while. But I've been fixing something in Pakistan and you've been giving a lecture in Africa. And I'll call you when I call you. I love you. Don't forget to feed the dog. Bye.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Of course, that's "Parks and Recreation." And supposedly one of Hillary Clinton's favorite shows. And you can see why.

Elise Labott is CNN's global affairs correspondent. She joins us from Washington to talk more about what was gleaned from these e-mails.

Good morning.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER: Good morning, Carol. Well, one of the things that really stuck out at me was, as you were mentioning, the relationship between former Secretary Clinton and Sydney Blumenthal who was a former advisor to then President Clinton. Secretary Clinton wanted to bring Sid Blumenthal over to the State Department at the time when she joined, as an adviser to her.

The White House nixed that because they thought there was too much of a conflict of interest because of his former work. But it -- the relationship is really brought out in the last batch of e-mails. And then again -- I'm just going to read a couple. In May 2010 Sid Blumenthal sent an e-mail to Secretary Clinton after getting an e-mail from him on the British elections. Clinton sent him a reply that said, "I shared your e-mails with Bill, who thought they were brilliant. Keep them coming when you can."

So it was clear she was continuing to rely on his analysis, his advice. But he was not only involved in foreign affairs. He was also involved in a little bit of a domestic political arena. In November 2012, very tough message from Sydney Blumenthal to Hillary Clinton slamming John Boehner, you know, the speaker of the House. It was labeled "post midterm strategy." Had a long list of insights that Blumenthal said he received from Republican sources.

I want to read you a quote, "Boehner is despised by the younger, more conservative members of the House, Republican conference. They're repelled by his personal behavior. He is an louche, alcoholic, lazy and without any commitment to principles."