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CNN Republican Debate on Wednesday; Trump Touts Wealth; Delta State Campus Shooting; Rules for the CNN Debate; Forbes: Dallas Cowboys Most Valuable Sports Team. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired September 15, 2015 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Security Council resolutions, international norms and conducted ballistic missile launches that have brought wide spread condemnation from the international community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KATHY NOVAK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. and South Korea working closely together, of course, and South Korea also says it is watching these developments very closely, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Kathy Novak reporting live this morning. Thank you.

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

In a little under 36 hours, the gloves will come off at the latest Republican presidential debate, but will any of the candidates be able to land a knockout punch or, in some cases, get enough air time to get a boost in the polls? Our CNN national political reporter Maeve Reston joins me now with some debate dos and don'ts. She's at the Reagan Library, the site of tomorrow night's event.

Good morning.

MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: Good morning.

A rainy morning in California of all things.

COSTELLO: Wow.

RESTON: So -- but there's a lot of excitement out here for CNN's debate coming up this week. And, obviously, a real high-wire act for a lot of these candidates, including Donald Trump. So some of the dos and don't that we've been talking to the Republican strategists about here, particularly for Trump, he really has to project an air of seriousness that he has been digging into some of the policy details. He needs to try to avoid some of the blunders that he's had on factual errors in recent weeks. And at the same time figure out what that line is between going after his opponents and looking -- not looking too much like a bully. So he's got a lot of challenges coming into this.

And we did just learn also that Jeb Bush is going up -- the super PAC supporting Jeb Bush is going up with ads. It will be a $24 million ad buy in Iowa and New Hampshire. So that could change the dynamics a little bit as well.

But as far as the candidates that we'll be looking to here, it's also Fiorina, Jeb and Ben Carson. Fiorina, obviously, had a really strong debate performance a couple of weeks ago. She's shown the ability to kind of have a little bit of charge and flash on that stage that really brings people in. She certainly has a command of policy, but has to show that she belongs up there on the big stage with these other candidates now that she's made her move up.

Jeb Bush certainly needs to show donors and his supporters that he's really got the fire to take on Donald Trump. Channel that anger and frustration that's out there. He's been in very intensive debate prep over the last couple of days and is trying to synthesize a lot of his policy points to show that she's feeling empathy for a lot of what people are going through out there.

Lastly, Ben Carson, I think, will be one of the most interesting people to watch. We've seen new polls this morning showing him just surging and possibly getting close to overtaking Donald Trump. He was a little bit quiet in the first debate, but he certainly has shown that he's got some great zingers that he can put out there and shown a little bit of humor. And he's had a little bit of back and forth with Trump, but we'll have to see how that goes for him because a lot of people do like the contrast of his personalities to Trump's.

COSTELLO: Absolutely. I cannot wait.

RESTON: So it will be a lot of fun out here.

COSTELLO: It certainly will. Maeve Reston, thanks so much.

RESTON: Thanks.

COSTELLO: Well, there's no doubt about this. Rich guys rule in 2016. For Donald Trump's $10 billion boast, it's a winning strategy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Did you see my certified financial statement, what I made with "The Apprentice." When I give up "The Apprentice," I mean, I made $213 million. Can you believe it? From a television show.

I could have hundreds of millions of dollars of special interest and lobbyist money within two weeks if i anted it. I don't want it.

This is a self-funded campaign. We have our heart in it. We have our soul in it. I don't need money. I don't want money.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

It is a strategy that's caught on. The Dallas Mavericks owner and multimillionaire Mark Cuban, who hosted Trump's big campaign bash there in Dallas, is ready to his own riches. He says, "it's a fun idea to toss around. If I ran as a Democrat, I know I could beat Hillary Clinton. And if it was me versus Trump, I would crush him. No doubt about it." Some might have laughed at Cuban's boast a few years ago, after all, Mitt Romney, who boasted a car elevator lost miserably because he was, in part, considered a rich out of touch guy. So why is it different in 2016?

Let's talk about that. Eric Fehrnstrom was a senior advisor on Mitt Romney's 2016 presidential campaign. Jeffrey Lord is a Trump supporter and CNN political commentator.

[09:35:08] Welcome to both of you.

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Hi, Carol.

ERIC FEHRNSTROM, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER, ROMNEY 2012 CAMPAIGN: Thank you. Nice to be here.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here. So, Jeffrey -- actually, both of you, I want you to listen to Mitt Romney talking about his wealth during a 2012 GOP debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, FORMER REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I went off on my own. I didn't inherit money from my parents. What I have, I earned. I worked hard in the American way and --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK. So, Jeffrey, Trump never says that. He never says that. He just -- he just brags about he has $10 billion. So why does Trump's money resonate with blue collar voters and other voters in ways Romney's didn't?

LORD: Right. Well, you know, number one, Donald Trump is originally from Queens, New York. You know, he's a pretty down to earth guy. But in terms of the substance of what he's saying, I think he is has struck an aspirational note --

COSTELLO: Come on, Jeffrey.

LORD: Well, I mean, believe me, you know, just sort of --

COSTELLO: Come on. He's from Queens.

LORD: Well --

COSTELLO: He's always been wealthy. His family is wealthy.

LORD: You don't think -- you -- I -- no, I understand, but I'm talking about his cultural background.

COSTELLO: OK.

LORD: He's a plain-speaking New Yorker, Carol. I mean you can't be much more plain speaking than this. There are cultural differences in this country and, you know, being a New Yorker, I've got lots in New Yorkers in my family, they're just like Donald Trump and they're not billionaires.

My point to you is, he's touched an aspirational nerve for people. People look at Donald Trump and say what he's saying. They want not necessarily to be Donald Trump, but they want their own shot at the American dream. That's the nerve he's struck, I'm convinced.

COSTELLO: Well -- well, but, Eric, couldn't you argue that Mitt Romney was trying to do exactly the same thing? I mean he grew up in Detroit. And, you know, I'm from the Midwest, so maybe I'm partial, but they're plain-speaking folks that I can totally understand.

FEHRNSTROM: Sure. Well, Carol, my view is that wealth doesn't really matter. What matters is, does he care about people like me? And on that score, I think Donald Trump is connecting with people who think our immigration system is broken, that our political class is corrupt, that our domestic and foreign policy is inept and that we need somebody coming in from the outside to fix things. We almost have the perfect laboratory environment for a tough talking businessman like Donald Trump and so he's connecting on that level.

COSTELLO: So -- so, Jeffrey, are the days gone what --

LORD: Hey, Carol --

COSTELLO: Are the days gone when candidates say things like, you know, my parents, they grew up in poverty. They had to work really -- are those days gone and you just brag about what you have right now and (INAUDIBLE)?

LORD: Well, now, if you really did it -- not -- not if you really did. I think that's very effective for -- for Marco Rubio, you know, who says, you know, my -- my parents came over here from Cuba and my dad was a bartender. You listen to Ted Cruz on his family. I mean it is still very effective. The point is, they want everybody to be able to do it.

You know, I'm standing here in the Reagan Library. Ronald Reagan said on one occasion, he was asked why so many people liked him and supported him and everything and he says, you know, if you want to know the truth, I think they see a lot of themselves in me. I think that was true. I think in this case, as (INAUDIBLE) as it may seem, but a lot of Americans see themselves in Donald Trump. They want that right to succeed and they want to be proud of that success. They want to work hard.

COSTELLO: But -- but --

LORD: The American dream.

COSTELLO: No, I get what you're saying, Jeffrey, I do, but, Eric, Donald Trump was born with many things most of us were not. And you could argue that it was a lot easier for him to become a very wealthy man than it is for the rest of us.

FEHRNSTROM: Yes, I think that's -- that's true. But, you know, if wealth was a barrier to office, then Ted Kennedy never would have been elected. Jay Rockefeller never would have been elected. Mitt Romney would not have been elected governor of Massachusetts. I really do think that the connect occurs at a much more fundamental level, as Jeffrey was saying. People can identify with Donald Trump because he's talking about the issues that they care about.

COSTELLO: All right, I have to leave it there. Eric Fehrnstrom and Jeffrey Lord, thanks to both of you.

LORD: Hey, thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: An interesting (ph) conversation. Thank you so much.

FEHRNSTROM: Thank you.

LORD: You bet.

COSTELLO: I know. I know.

You can catch all the action right here on CNN tomorrow night. The main event with the top tier candidates begins at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. And before that, the first round with Pataki, Santorum, Jindal and Graham. They face off at 6:00 p.m. Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:43:50] COSTELLO: The man suspected of killing a fellow professor on a college campus is dead. Just as officers were closing in on Shannon Lamb at the end of a day long manhunt, he reportedly made good on his threat to never go to jail and shot himself. Investigators also suspect Lamb of killing a woman he lived with. CNN's Alina Machado is here with more on this.

Good morning.

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Authorities in Mississippi are still investigating both homicides. They say at this point they don't have any indication that either victim knew each other. And the motive behind the professor's killing remains a mystery.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MACHADO (voice-over): Authorities say Dr. Ethan Schmidt was shot in the head. The gun, missing from the scene. Two shell casings left behind. And in the two minutes it took officers to get there, the killer had vanished.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's one of the scariest things I've been through.

MACHADO: Immediately following the shooting Monday morning, students and faculty at Delta State University took cover, remaining in lockdown for hours. Authorities scoured the campus, going building to building searching for the suspect identified as Shannon Lamb. Lamb was also an instructor at Delta State. As the manhunt continued into the night, police vowed to find the alleged killer. [09:45:02] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are not going to stop until we have

Mr. Lamb in custody.

MACHADO: Hours later officers spotted Lamb near Greenville, Mississippi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They did not pursue him. They were following him. And at a point is when he pulled over and decided to get out of his car and run. That's when they heard the single gunshot.

MACHADO: Lamb was also suspected in the killing of the 41-year-old Amy Prentiss. Authorities in Gautiet, Mississippi, some 300 miles from campus, found her body earlier Monday morning. They say Prentiss lived with lamb. A student who says he's known Lamb for about a year tells CNN affiliate WMC (ph) he is stunned by the allegations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, you never would have thought anything like this would ever happen. I saw a picture on TV. I said I not believe this.

MACHADO: Classes at Delta State are canceled today. A candlelight vigil is planned for tonight. Grief counselors will be on campus to help those struggling to cope with the loss of a beloved professor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to be shocking because I have Dr. Schmidt three days out of the five. It's going to be a lot different without him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought the world of him. He was a star on our faculty here at Delta State as an assistant professor of history.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACHADO (on camera): And we know that Schmidt and Lamb taught together at Delta State. They were colleagues. A photo on the school's website shows them standing side by side smiling at the holiday party a couple of years ago. Carol.

COSTELLO: Alina Machado reporting live this morning. Thank you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, before the candidates take the stage tomorrow night, they sign off on rules and regulations. We'll show you what to expect, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY FALLON, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON": The remaining candidates are gearing up for the second Republican debate, which will take place this Wednesday at 8:00 on CNN. Looking forward to that. Starts at 8:00 p.m. and ends when Donald Trump runs out of air.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Thanks for the plug, Jimmy Fallon. Well, the stage is set, the rules in place, so how will things unfold in tomorrow's crowded showdown? CNN's Tom Foreman takes a look at what to expect when that bell rings.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The same ten candidates we saw last time around will be on stage with the addition of Carly Fiorina, who was in the earlier so-called earlier happy hour debate, who's now jumped up to the bigger group.

What are they going to have to work with in this contest? They can't bring any phones with them, no tablets, no notes, no props. Each candidate will have a pad of paper and a pen and a glass of water. And what will they be facing? Our panel will be comprised of our moderator, Jake Tapper, also CNN's Dana Bash, and Hugh Hewitt from radio. They will be posing questions, along with some questions that will be taken from social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and so forth.

The subject matters are going be foreign policy, domestic policy, and politics. Big, broad topics. And with so many people on stage, they will have narrow windows in which to answer. One minute per answer, 30 seconds if it's a rebuttal to something else that was said about you. And we will use timing lights to show the candidates if they are running out of time.

And lest you think the people who are in the earlier debate are at a huge disadvantage, yes, they may very well have a smaller audience but they'll also have a whole lot more time to express their ideas. And under the rules, if one of them says something that is particularly sharp or interesting, that video clip can be played in the larger debate and those candidates will have to answer to it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Thank you, Tom Foreman.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, how much money is your favorite football team worth? You might be surprised.

[09:53:03]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: They say offense wins games and defense wins championships, but you don't always need either to be the most valuable sports franchise in the whole entire world. The Dallas Cowboys, a team that hasn't even been to the Super Bowls in two decades, was just named the most valuable team of all professional sports. Really, Rachel Nichols?

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, I want to throw a number out at you, Carol. $4 billion. That is how much the Dallas Cowboys are worth, according to Forbes magazine. They do an annual report of the value of sports franchises. And take a look at the list here, who they are above. You've got the Dallas Cowboys; they moved into the top slot above Real Madrid. Then the New England Patriots at about $3.2 billion, you know, just $3.2. Then the New York Yankees and FC Barcelona, another soccer club.

So this is rarefied air. But here's the number, Carol, that really threw me the most. Forbes says that the -- overall the NFL franchises have risen in value the past year 38 percent. Nearly 40 percent. So, we've been talking on this show all year about the NFL's, quote, "horrible year", right? The Ray Rice scandal, the Adrian Peterson scandal, then of course Deflategate, and people not having confidence in Commissioner Goodell. Guess what? Nearly 38 percent increase in the value of franchises.

I don't know; I think we got to pool our money and buy an NFL team. It seems like a good investment.

COSTELLO: That would be fantastic, although I don't know that many people with that much money.

NICHOLS: With $4 billion?

COSTELLO: Exactly. So is the Minnesota Vikings one of those valuable teams? Because it didn't look that way last night.

NICHOLS: It was rough for the Vikings and Adrian Peterson. He did of course return to the field after nearly a year off. He was suspended of course for the incident with his son. Now, when he came out, kind of muted reception. And listen -- look at this, this is what Adrian Peterson can do that gets people so excited. I think he's carrying, what, the entire team on his back, and he made it over to get the first down.

But it wasn't a great night after that. 31 yards totals on 10 carries. It's going to take him a while to get back to form.

And that's what's going to be interesting in this new era of Roger Goodell giving players these long suspensions, is it not only affect the time they're off the field, but what does it do to their careers long term?

[10:00:03] And that's why a guy like Tom Brady, when he was able to successfully fight that four-game suspension, it wasn't just about missing those four games, it was about what kind of long-term damage did he not do as well?