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U.S. Troops Staying in Afghanistan; Second GOP Congressman Reveals Clinton Targeted by Benghazi Committee; Clashes Erupt at Trump Event in Virginia; Tensions Rising in Israel Amid Violence. Aired 9- 9:30a ET

Aired October 15, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00] PEREIRA: A little bit can make a difference.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

CUOMO: And remember this before you condemn the whole next generation. As is often done. Very nice. Thank you, young people, for being the good stuff.

CAMEROTA: Time now for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello.

PEREIRA: Hey, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It's a great story. Have a great day.

NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, another Benghazi bombshell.

REP. RICHARD HANNA (R), NEW YORK: A big part of this investigation that was designed to go after people. An individual, Hillary Clinton.

COSTELLO: A second GOP congressman saying the panel intends to hurt Hillary Clinton who is set to testify on Capitol Hill in just days. Also, lines drawn at a Donald Trump rally.

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: Dump Trump. Dump Trump.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That's OK.

COSTELLO: Clashes in the crowd. But Trump stays on message.

TRUMP: I watched last night as Hillary and Bernie Sanders, they just couldn't give things away fast enough.

COSTELLO: Plus brothel employees give new details about what Lamar Odom was doing before his collapse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seems a little upset about a TV show that he was on with the Kardashians.

COSTELLO: What we know about his condition this morning?

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 this morning.

A sobering reality check on America's longest war. President Obama announcing that his long-promised withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan is now on hold. After so many American lives lost, insurgents there are now stronger than at any time since the post-911 invasion.

CNN's Joe Johns is at the White House with more. Good morning.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. The administration deciding to go with a new plan, the very same as the old plan. The status quo in Afghanistan.

The plan right now according to administration officials is to keep current levels of military personnel inside Afghanistan at around 9800. That all the way through 2016. Then to reduce down to about half, 5500. That about the time the president of the United States is leaving office.

That is a big change. And almost a reversal from what the administration had hoped which was about 1,000 U.S. military personnel inside Afghanistan around the time the president was leaving.

The reasons for this? And there are many. First of all of course the stubbornness of both al Qaeda and Taliban in Afghanistan, as well as the need to continue the train-and-equip program that's been going on there in that country.

There's also a big concern of course about emergencies, including of the type we saw very recently in the city of Kunduz where the Taliban temporarily took over the city. There is as well that concern. And the possibility that the incoming president might want to have options of his own by keeping that many people inside Afghanistan, it increases options for the incoming president.

We do expect to hear more from President Obama himself sometime today to talk a little bit about his plans for Afghanistan -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes. And when the president addresses the nation, of course, we'll carry that live.

Joe Johns reporting live from the White House this morning.

A new twist in the Benghazi investigation that hangs over Hillary Clinton and her presidential run. Just days before she testifies in front of the investigating committee there is a new charge that that committee is politically motivated. And it is coming from another Republican lawmaker, Congressman Richard Hanna.

Here is part of his stunning call to a New York radio show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANNA: I think that there is a big part of this investigation that was designed to go after people, an individual, Hillary Clinton. And, you know, I think there is also a lot of it that is important that we needed to get to the bottom of this. But this has been the longest investigation, longer than Watergate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So who is Congressman Richard Hanna and what impact will his blunt comments have?

Chris Frates of CNN Investigations joins me now from Washington with more on that. Good morning.

CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Hey, so good morning, Carol. Richard Hanna is a New York congressman and the second House Republican now to suggest that the Benghazi committee was created to take down Hillary Clinton. And Democrats have already jumped on Hanna's comments as proof of that.

A Clinton spokesman said House Republicans aren't shy about admitting that the Benghazi committee is a partisan farce. And here is what Clinton said about the committee earlier this week at CNN's Democratic debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This committee is basically an arm of the Republican National Committee. It is a partisan --

(APPLAUSE)

CLINTON: -- vehicle as admitted by the House Republican majority leader, Mr. McCarthy, to drive down my poll numbers. Big surprise. And that's what they have attempted to do. I am still standing. I am happy to be part of this debate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:05:17] FRATES: And Carol, that was before Hanna made his comments yesterday. Remember about two weeks ago as Clinton said in that sound bite, Kevin McCarthy, the number two Republican in the House who was running for speaker, said that the Republican-controlled committee was responsible for bringing down Clinton's poll numbers. He later tried to walk those comments back and blame the gaffe as part of the reason he dropped out of the speakers race.

But from Clinton's perspectives Hanna's comments couldn't be better timed. She's scheduled to appear before the committee next week and what could have looked more like a tough, impartial questioning about Clinton's private e-mail server and her response to Benghazi will be framed much more as Republicans attacking the Democratic candidate as part of presidential politics.

In fact Clinton's camp saying that she still plans on attending next week's hearing but that the inquiry has zero credibility left. So the Republicans' self-inflicted wounds here, Carol, are very good news for Hillary Clinton.

COSTELLO: All right. Chris Frates reporting live from Washington this morning. Thank you.

Major clashes at a Trump rally in Virginia and it all starts with calls to, quote, "Dump Trump."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Which is so important --

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: Dump Trump. Dump Trump. Dump Trump.

TRUMP: That's OK. That's OK. Don't worry. That's all right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK. So a little later on this video shows one Trump supporter actually spitting in the face of this protester. Another heated exchange also caught on camera this time with an African- American woman forced out after she started shouting, "black power."

CNN's Athena Jones is in Washington with more on this. Good morning, Athena.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Those are not the kind of pictures you see every day thankfully. But I got to tell you that it's not been uncommon to see demonstrations outside of Trump's events almost from the very moment he launched his campaign. That "Dump Trump" slogan or chant we've been hearing that ever since back in June. Last week I was at a campaign event in Iowa, a speech of his, and that was briefly interrupted speech by a climate change protester. But this latest protest certainly went further.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONES (voice-over): What started out as the standard chanting and fanfare for Donald Trump --

TRUMP: That's OK.

JONES: -- quickly turned heated Wednesday night, with nearly 20 protesters shouting "Dump Trump".

TRUMP: That's why we have freedom of speech, folks, you know.

JONES: One protester getting into an altercation with a Trump supporter while being escorted out before a crowd of nearly 5,000. The protesters against his "A wall will fix it" stance on illegal immigration. A stance he reiterated while lambasting the Democratic debate. TRUMP: Hillary and Bernie Sanders, they just couldn't give things

away fast enough. And they are giving them to illegal immigrants.

JONES: Trump suggesting Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders are far too easy on undocumented immigrants.

TRUMP: They want healthcare for illegal immigrants. They want driver's license for illegal immigrants.

JONES: The billionaire even calling Sanders a maniac and a communist.

TRUMP: I call him a socialist/communist, OK, because that's what he is.

JONES: This as new polls show Trump still outfront but with a possible challenge looming. He leads Ben Carson by double digits in South Carolina and Nevada in the new CNN-ORC poll but he and his chief rival are neck-and-neck in this FOX News poll, at least the third national poll in as many weeks to show Carson inching closer.

DR. BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I kept falling asleep.

JONES: Carson on FOX News Wednesday night making his own snide remarks about Tuesday's debate.

CARSON: When people come around and start talking about free college and free phones and free this and free that, it is not free. And unless you are not very bright you will be able to see what's going on.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: So Carson there getting his digs in. Meanwhile in other candidate news Jeb Bush plans to release his third quarter fundraising numbers, his 2014 tax return and his health record today. So we'll be looking for that -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Athena Jones, reporting live, thank you.

The new target of Donald Trump's bombast, Bernie Sanders. But Bernie Sanders is dancing. The audience at "Ellen" cheered as the man opposed to casino capitalism boogied to what else? "Disco Inferno."

That's some bad dancing. Sorry, Senator Sanders. That turn on the dance floor, though, coming as the Sanders campaign makes a move of its own. Stepping away from big arenas and into smaller, more intimate meet and greets, to try to convince voters he can make it all the way to the White House.

[09:10:06] So let's talk about this and more. I'm joined by Democratic strategist Nomiki Konst and CNN political commentator and former White House political director, Jeffrey Lord.

Welcome to both of you.

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning, Carol. COSTELLO: Good morning. Jeffrey, before we talk Sanders, I want to

talk a little Trump. The scuffle at his events. This makes at least the eighth time something like this has happened at a Trump event. Why does it keep happening?

LORD: This kind of thing happens at political rallies. You know, listening to them say "Dump Trump," I hate to say this but I'm old enough to remember when there were leftist demonstrators protesting Hubert Humphrey and the Vietnam War and they would disrupt Humphrey rallies by saying, dump the hump. So I have to say, this is your basic long American tradition that happens to candidates. It will happen to Donald Trump, it will happen to Hillary Clinton. That's just the way of the world. And frankly it's free speech. God bless it.

COSTELLO: Nomiki, do you agree?

NOMIKI KONST, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, sure, everybody has a right to organize and to protest. But you know, the way that his security detail has handled a lot of these protesters is probably borderline crossing the line a little bit. I think that he's been a little bit forceful and it doesn't look good. It just doesn't look good at all.

COSTELLO: But when you get thousands of people together, Nomiki, I mean, something, you know, is, I guess, it's more possible for something like that to happen.

KONST: Especially with the rhetoric that he puts out there. And he's unapologetic about spending multiple populations of people so he's bound to get a few angry people.

COSTELLO: I think you're probably right about that.

OK, so, Jeffrey, back to Donald Trump for a second because he's begun attacking Bernie Sanders. And I was a little confused by that but I want to show you what the Trump people put out. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The world is a dangerous place. We need a tough, strong leader. And it's not this guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So, Jeffrey, why is Donald Trump attacking Bernie Sanders and not Hillary Clinton?

LORD: Well, you know, first of all Bernie Sanders is a legit candidate here. I find it really fascinating here, genuinely fascinated that focus groups, FOX, CNN, I believe as well, with Democrats after the debate. While all the pundits were giving the debate to Hillary, the focus groups were giving the debate to Bernie Sanders.

I think in essence what we're seeing here is that she's won people's heads sort of reluctantly. But he's winning their hearts. So of course this puts him right up there. He's an opposition candidate. So Donald Trump brings it up. So I think it's -- you're perfectly legit. This is what candidates do and he's doing it.

COSTELLO: OK. Perfectly legit. So I think you are right about that. Because he's certainly raised a lot of money after his appearance in the first Democratic debate. Listen to what Bernie Sanders said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have over 650,000 people who have made individual contributions averaging $30 a piece.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

SANDERS: Just as a result of last night's debate I am told that we have raised $2 million.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So Nomiki, put that into perspective for us.

KONST: So what that means now is he's absolutely legitimate candidate. There's no doubt about that. You know, he has operations in all of the March 1st states right now. He's setting up operations in all the primary and caucus states, the only one that they get to is Nevada and they have staff on the ground. There is a full operation in place here. This -- his campaign is structured. They have press secretaries on the ground. You know, they are ready to go and fight Hillary.

And what they said, you know, I was on the phone with them earlier today, is that they were really inspired by the -- by the debate and that Hillary was talking about the issues that Bernie brought up. She was responding to his strategy. His platform. And, you know, and I think that is really what Democrats are responding to right now. And why the pundits I think got it wrong.

I mean, really is. When you look at the substantive issues, Bernie Sanders laid out the platform on stage and Hillary was put in a position where she had to.

COSTELLO: Fascinating election season. I must say.

KONST: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Nomiki Konst, Jeffrey Lord, thanks to both of you. I appreciate it.

LORD: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: Still to -- you're welcome.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, increasing violence in Israel. But can it be stopped before things really spiral out of control?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:18:39] COSTELLO: Israel taking drastic measures to end the wave of lone wolf attacks largely by Palestinians before they spiral out of control, as in an all-out war in Israel, between Israel and Gaza.

Take a look at what's been happening on the streets of Jerusalem. This video taken by NBC is just horrific. Here you see a 19-year-old. He's running down the steps. You can clearly saw the knife in his hands, he was running from Israeli security officials and he was eventually shot and killed.

Here are a pair of similar incidents occurring on the streets of Jerusalem. Authorities reveal that since the beginning of October, seven Israelis have been killed and dozens more wounded in these kinds of attacks. This has now prompted there to encourage residents to arm themselves for their own protection and officials are reportedly calling out more troops as the situation continues to escalate.

CNN's Erin McLaughlin has more now from Jerusalem.

Hi, Erin.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. Well, today, there's been in new reports of so-called lone wolf attacks, but there's been plenty of fear and plenty of apprehension -- an example of something that unfolded on a train in Haifa. A false alarm.

Israeli police say there were a group of Israeli soldiers on the train. They say they thought they saw someone who looked out suspicious and they yelled out terrorist. And another soldier opened fire shooting his gun.

[09:20:03] The train stopped just before are reaching the main train station. Everyone got off, the train was searched and they found absolutely nothing.

It's an example of how people here are on edge. Keep in mind, yesterday, there were two attacks. One outside the Damascus gate entrance to the old city. The other outside a central bus station in Jerusalem. In both cases, the suspects, Palestinian men, tried to stab people. And in both cases, Israeli forces shot them dead in public.

Three Israelis were injured in those attacks and people here are unnerved. And this is happening despite increased security presence, thousands of additional police out on the streets, checkpoints that have been established and predominantly Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem.

Israelis say they are scared. But so do Palestinians. Some Palestinians telling me that they're worried about what could happen if they, say, to get their cellphone, and Israeli forces mistake that for something else.

So, plenty of fear, plenty of apprehension and people are bracing for what could come next.

COSTELLO: Erin McLaughlin, reporting live from Jerusalem this morning -- thank you.

So why exactly is this happening? Both sides are pointing the long finger of blame. The Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas accusing Israel of executing any Palestinian suspect without the benefit of a trial. Israel accusing Abbas of inciting more violence.

With me now, Yousef Munayyer, he's the executive director of the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, and a policy analyst at the Arab Center of Washington, D.C.

Good morning, sir.

YOUSEF MUNAYYER, EXECUTIVE DIR., U.S. CAMPAIGN TO END THE ISRAELI OCCUPATION: Thanks for having me, Carol.

COSTELLO: Thank you for being here.

Why is this happening now?

MUNNAYER: Well, you know, in your introduction to this you mentioned that seven Israelis have been killed since October 1st. I think it is also important to note that in the same period of time, 30 Palestinians have been killed, around 17 of them in the course of demonstrating against Israeli occupation. Some 1,300 and more have been injured by Israeli fire and 600 have been arrested.

These heavy-handed tactics Israel is using in response unfortunately only reinforces the very reasons that Palestinian discontent exists. And that's the inequality and violence, really systematic violence of the Israeli occupation which has persisted now in the occupied territories for nearly half a century.

And the reason this has escalated most recently is because of Israeli policies in the epicenter of this issue. And that is in Jerusalem, particularly around the holy sites, as there are continued call for an increased Jewish presence, Jewish religious presence literally in the spot where the Noble sanctuary is. And a series --

COSTELLO: But still, Yousef -- still, Yousef, I mean, is there any excuse for stabbings of random people, unarmed people simply walking down the street?

MUNNAYER: No, of course not. But if we reduced the conversation to that, it would be like reducing the conversation around race riots in the United States simply to condemnations on attacks on store owners without talking about the systematic racism that exists that underlies all of this, causing this kind of political violence.

So, I think we understand that here in the United States that there are more to these issues just in these random acts of violence. We have to look at what's happening underneath, the system of inequality, the system of oppression. COSTELLO: Let me ask you this question, because these attacks appear

to have a no political agenda, supposedly they are being organized on social media. Doesn't that also point to the idea that people in the Palestinian territories are not -- are not satisfied with their own government, as in the Palestinian Authority? Because what's it done for them lately.

MUNNAYER: Of course, Palestinians are not satisfied with their own government. And unfortunately a lot of that has to do with the fact that the government, the Palestinian Authority has staked its reputation on negotiations with Israel that have only resulted not in the promised independence and sovereignty of a Palestinian state but the deepening of occupation and expansion of settlements.

So, at a time when the Israelis really need the Palestinian Authority to have some sort of legitimacy with the Palestinian people, they found out that their very own policies have undercut that legitimacy. And the young people in the streets who are frustrated by Israeli occupation and don't see any end to it are not going to be listening to leaders which have been rendered ineffective.

COSTELLO: Is that why Mahmoud Abbas didn't come out and condemn the violence? Because he isn't doing that. The Israelis accuse him of ratcheting up things.

MUNAYYER: Of course the Israelis are going to do accuse him of that, because it is very difficult for them to accept any responsibility for the situation.

COSTELLO: But he didn't condemn the violence, he didn't condemn the violence.

MUNAYYER: Look, if you are a Palestinian leader who is seeing all of the violence against your own people and you come out and you condemn violence against Israelis when there is no Israeli condemnation of the systematic violence that is inherent in occupation, you are only further de-legitimatizing yourself.

[09:25:17] So, this is a two-way street here. The reality is that the situation on the ground is devastating for Palestinians and has been that way for decades. And to expect the Palestinian leader who's been completely undercut by Israelis and by Washington in fact because of the failure of these negotiations is really probably not the smartest way to approach things.

COSTELLO: Well, my last question and it is a scary proposition. Could the dissatisfaction out there among Palestinian youth with their own government, could it force the collapse of the Palestinian Authority?

MUNAYYER: I think things have been headed in that direction for some time. You have to remember that the very reason for being for the Palestinian Authority was to transition the occupied Palestinian territories into an independent sovereign Palestinian state. But as we've had 20 years now or more of negotiations towards that end and nothing but a deepening of the occupation and expansion of settlements and no progress towards that state, the very reason for being for a Palestinian authority is being under cut.

Palestinians see a Palestinian Authority as being essentially a subcontractor for the Israeli occupation. That's not the way to run a legitimate government that is going to transition to a state.

So, the bigger picture here is that until there is Palestinian independence, until there is an end to the denial of Palestinian rights, you are going to see an escalation of violence, sometimes escalated periods, sometimes less escalated periods.

But if there is a system of violence called occupation, these kinds of periods of Palestinian violence are also going to exist.

COSTELLO: Yousef Munayyer, thanks to your insight.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM: Fighting for his life -- new details about what happened to former NBA star Lamar Odom in the hours before he was rushed to the hospital.

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