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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Hurricane Patricia; Trump Toppled from Top; American Killed in Iraq; Clinton Campaigns After Benghazi Grilling. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired October 23, 2015 - 12:00   ET

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


[12:00:00] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, I'm Randi Kaye, in today for Ashleigh Banfield. Thanks for joining me.

We begin now with breaking news, the strongest hurricane ever recorded now just hours away from landfall in southwestern Mexico. Hurricane Patricia has an extremely dangerous Category 5 storm with sustained winds of 200 miles an hour and even more powerful gusts. All flights to and from the Puerto Vallarta Airport have now been suspended. Meteorologist Chad Myers live at the CNN Weather Center in Atlanta, tracking all of this for us.

Chad, hello to you. Where is the storm right now?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is headed towards Manzanillo, Mexico, Randi, and I think one thing that we need to really focus on with this storm is just 36 hours ago it was only a tropical storm. It wasn't even a Category 1 hurricane yet. This exploded overnight. Really leaving the people there unaware of how big it got overnight because they weren't making preparations as of yesterday for such a big storm.

Well, also, what we're seeing in the past couple of hours is the storm has turned to the right will truly affect Manzanillo, much more than it will effect Puerto Vallarta, no question about that. There will be significant storm surge. We could be 30 to 40 foot storm surge. It will look like Bay St. Louis and Gulfport and all of that after Katrina. But this storm is so stronger, it's stronger than Katrina. It's stronger than Andrew. It's stronger than Gilbert, Mitch, all the storms you've ever heard of. There's only one storm in history that had a lower pressure, and that was Typhoon Tip in 1979. And this storm is - with 200-mile-per-hour winds, is like an EF4, EF5 tornado that's about eight miles wide and it's going to drive itself right into Mexico.

Now, away from the eye, the wind speeds will go rather down. So Puerto Vallarta may see 75 miles per hour, and farther to the south, maybe 60 or 70 miles per hour. But it's the storm surge, then it's going to be the inland flooding that I'm so worried about. There could be 18 to 20 inches of rain in the mountains here. Understand we go from the ocean, the ocean, to about 9,000 feet rather quickly. You put all that water on top of the mountain and all of a sudden it has to go back downhill and it's going to go right through the towns that the saltwater storm surge affected just a few hours before that. So a major storm system here.

Didn't talk about it much yesterday because it wasn't much of anything. But today, boy, did it crept up on us to 200 miles per hour and some higher gusts. A hurricane hunter aircraft is on its way there to check if it might be the strongest storm ever. They're going to fly through it in just a couple of hours.

KAYE: So, Chad, though, help me understand, I mean how did it go from 85 miles an hour -

MYERS: Yes.

KAYE: To this over 200 in -

MYERS: Sure.

KAYE: You know, basically overnight?

MYERS: Well, two things. I think the biggest thing is going to be el Nino. El Nino has forced warm water off the coast right there. That's the wind kind of coming across the Pacific, forcing warm water. The water is one or two degrees Celsius warmer than it should be. So that's maybe three to four degrees warmer than it should be. And that is the heat. That's the fuel to the fire and there's no real wind. There's no jet stream. There's nothing to tear it up. This storm is just continuing to get stronger.

KAYE: All right, Chad Myer, thanks very much.

MYERS: You're welcome.

KAYE: Meanwhile, Republicans in the battleground state of Iowa tell Donald Trump to move over, there is a new favorite candidate there. His name, Dr. Ben Carson.

We do have some pictures from Overland Park, Kansas, where he's signing his book. We'll get those to you as soon as we can.

Meanwhile, two polls taken in Iowa over two consecutive days both put Carson over Trump, one of them by as much as 9 percentage points. Ben Carson is the only one in the field of GOP hopefuls so far to even get close to Trump's numbers.

Nia-Malika Henderson is our senior political reporter. And also here with us, someone who can help us understand Iowa's Republican voter mindset, Kathie Obradovich, columnist for "The Des Moines Register."

Ladies, nice to see you both.

Let's take a look at some of these numbers first, shall we? Yesterday the Quinnipiac Poll has 28 percent of Iowa's GOP voters favoring Ben Carson. Donald Trump behind there, 20 percent. Meanwhile, today's poll from "The Des Moines Register" and Bloomberg, even stronger for Ben Carson, 28 percent to Trump's 19 percent.

Nia-Malika, what is this more about, a swell of support for Ben Carson or a weakening of the base for Donald Trump?

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: I think it's got to be both in some ways. Ben Carson has certainly had a stretch of good days in many ways. The media might not have thought so, but certainly caucusgoers, Republican caucusgoers, thought what he said, for instance, about Hitler and guns, most of them agree with what he said, which was that if there were guns in Nazi Germany, Hitler might not have been as successful. They like the fact that he said that it wouldn't be acceptable to have a Muslim president, something like 70 percent. So he knows this audience.

[12:05:00] The irony here, and I just talked to some of his advisers about this, the irony here is he hasn't spent that much time in Iowa. He'll be in Iowa this weekend. But it's been almost a month and a half since he's been on the ground there. His wife has been there, Candy Carson, and she apparently plays very well to those audiences there. But he knows this audience. The irony is that he isn't really there, but he does have this national brand, which, in some ways, he's working even now when he's in Kansas on this book tour.

KAYE: And, Kathie, let me ask you, I mean, do you expect his support to continue to erode there, Trump's support that is, in the state given that 25 percent of caucusgoers would like to see Trump drop out of the race according to the poll? I mean that's more than any other candidate.

KATHIE OBRADOVICH, POLITICAL COLUMNIST, "DES MOINES REGISTER": Yes, you know, I think the pundits have realized that predicting Donald Trump's demise is not necessarily, you know, a great way the look smart. This maybe just be a blip for Donald Trump.

The thing that Republican caucusgoers aren't liking about him, that they are not - that's a little different from Ben Carson is, that they don't like that Donald Trump attacks other Republicans. They love that he is outspoken. They love that he's not politically correct. But those attacks against the other Republicans are dinging him in Iowa. And I've that Trump has actually said that he's going to tone that down a little bit. Well, we'll see if he really can, even if he wanted to.

Ben Carson is softer spoken. He is saying, yes, things that are getting him sort of inflammatory reaction. But I think that caucusgoers see that as a sign, again, that he's not a politician. The same thing that they liked about Donald Trump, not being politically correct. You know, maybe using a hyperbole in support of gun rights and in some of those conservative issues that caucusgoers care about. I don't - I don't know that it's necessarily that they agree with everything that he says, they just love that he's free to say it.

KAYE: And, Nia, let me turn back to you. I mean Trump slammed Iowa's voters in this re-tweet that we've all been talking about, suggesting something in the corn may be affecting the brains of folks living there in Iowa. The tweet reads, "Ben Carson is now leading in the polls in Iowa. Too much Monsanto (ph) in the corn creates issues in the brain." That tweet now deleted. Trump blames a young intern. Do you think this is going to hurt him there? HENDERSON: Maybe so. And I think that goes to the previous point, which is, these - these sort of insults that Trump likes to lodge not only at other - at other Republicans who are in this race, but apparently Republican caucusgoers, or likely Republican caucusgoers, who have come to this decision, at least in this poll, that they like Carson a little better than Trump. Trump obviously knows he's got a problem with Evangelical voters. Early on he talked about, you know, his relationship with Christ, saying he hadn't really sought forgiven. I think he referred to the body of Christ at some point as a cracker. So these are some of the issues. And you saw him in later events come out. He was talking about the scriptures. He was - he was waving a Bible that apparently his mother had given to him.

But the thing of it is, Carson has always been there. He has cultivated a steadfast audience among Evangelicals, really going back years. And I think we're seeing the fruits of that in this poll.

KAYE: All right, many thanks, Nia-Malika Henderson and Kathie Obradovich. Thank you both.

HENDERSON: Thank you.

OBRADOVICH: Thank you.

KAYE: Jeffrey Lord is here, CNN political commentator and Trump guys. Also Lanny Davis, former White House special counsel during the Bill Clinton administration.

Let's talk more about this, shall we?

Jeffrey, no candidate needs Iowa to make or break their run, of course, but can Trump salvage this, especially after that deleted tweet?

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Sure. I think he can. I was talking in to some folks in Iowa just yesterday and one of the interesting anecdotes they told me is that in Burlington, Iowa, which has a population of about 25,000, four years ago Rick Santorum won Burlington with 388 - the grand total of 388 votes. The other night, Donald Trump was in Burlington and he attracted 3,000 to 4,000 people at a rally in a local gymnasium or whatever. People are very, very, you know, supportive of Donald Trump. They are turning out for him. Evangelicals included.

And it was also pointed out to me, I asked about Evangelicals, and they said that he's doing very well with Evangelicals. They're not stick figures. Actually, one of the biggest issues that they're concerned about is illegal immigration, which has nothing to do per say with being an Evangelical. So, absolutely, I think he'll continue to do just fine.

KAYE: So you're saying the poll's wrong then?

LORD: Sure. I think it's probably a blip. I mean polls are going to go up and they're going to go down. But I don't see any kind of pattern here at all. KAYE: Let me ask you about this, because in another poll 78 percent of

Republican caucusgoers in Iowa say that they could be swayed to choose a different candidate. Does that concern you at all, 78 percent?

[12:09:59] LORD: No. No, no, it doesn't. I mean, you know, we've seen is - is unfavorable were very high at one point and then they turned around by - in a sort of startling fashion. You know we're -- I hate - I hate to say this, but we're starting to cruise ever so gently into the holiday season where a lot of this hype is going to disappear in favor of Thanksgiving and Christmas, and then it will pick up again with a vengeance in January. So we have quite a ways to go yet.

KAYE: Yes, we sure do.

Lenny, let me bring you in here. It may be too early to ask this question, but I'm going to ask it anyway. With Carson's lead in Iowa, who would you rather see the Democratic nominee run against in the general election, Carson or Trump?

LANNY DAVIS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE SPECIAL COUNSEL: Well, I hate to make headlines on your show, but I'm organizing Democrats for Trump as much as I possibly can. I think Mr. Trump would be the easiest candidate to beat. I think probably Jeb Bush and Governor Kasich would be the most difficult.

KAYE: And why do you think is that?

DAVIS: I just don't think you can insult your way into the presidency. And Donald Trump gets a lot of publicity. Mr. Carson, as the prior commentator says, thinks that hyperbole and exaggeration and inflammatory rhetoric does you well in the Republican small electorate that votes in the primaries. But when you get into the general election, people think of you as the president of the United States representing the United States of America. I just don't think insults are where most of the American people are to see in a president.

KAYE: All right, thank you very much, Lanny Davis -

DAVIS: But I'm still for Donald Trump.

KAYE: Oh, you're still for Donald Trump. There you go. Democrats for Donald Trump. I like it.

LORD: We'll (INAUDIBLE).

KAYE: All right, thank you both, Lanny Davis, Jeffrey Lord. Have a great weekend, guys.

LORD: Thanks.

DAVIS: Thank you.

LORD: Thanks, Randi. Bye-bye.

KAYE: And one more note from the political frontier. This one from the Jeb Bush campaign. CNN learned a short time ago that team Bush is actually slimming down now, cutting expenses across the board and getting rid of some people. Across to a statement today from a Bush staffer, the campaign is making changes, downsizing, reducing staff or moving people to early battlefield voting states, all with deep pay cuts. Team Bush is also chopping travel costs. A spokeswoman says, quote, "we are moving our resources into the states."

And make sure to watch "State of the Union" this Sunday, 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time. We'll hear from presidential candidates Donald Trump, Marco Rubio and Bernie Sanders.

We are learning more about the daring raid that freed dozens of hostages and led to the first U.S. combat death in Iraq in four years. That's ahead. And we'll preview a news conference with Defense Secretary Ash Carter, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:16:45] KAYE: We are learning new details about a daring and deadly rescue mission in northern Iraq. The Pentagon has just identified the American service member who was killed while helping free dozens of hostages from an ISIS-controlled prison. Thirty-nine-year-old Army Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler is the first American killed in combat in Iraq since 2011.

Let's bring in our chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto.

Jim, what more do we know about Sergeant Wheeler?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: This was - this was a gentleman who was in the military for 20 years. He enlisted in 1995, joined the special operations command. He was a member of the Elite Delta Force, the most elite special operations team in the entire U.S. military. And during that time, he had the military says 11 deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. And that is the kind of career you often see in these special forces operators, decades in the military, multiple missions, dangerous missions to the field.

And here you have this one yesterday, which, Randi, officially a train, advice and assist mission. They were meant to be behind the Kurdish commandos who went into this compound to rescue these captives. When those commandos came under overwhelming fire, the commander on the ground made the decision to go in and help defend his Kurdish partners. They went into a firefight inside a walled compound. We're told that Master Sergeant Wheeler was shot inside that compound during that firefight. He was evacuated. But, unfortunately, he died of those injuries later.

KAYE: So, Jim, I mean, regarding this mission, I mean did it change because, as you said, it was supposed to be an advice and assist, and the next thing you know they're in combat there?

SCIUTTO: It did change. I meant he fact is, it did change. Their role was meant to be in support behind the Kurdish commandos who were the tip of the spear so to speak. But under the rules of engagement, U.S. forces are allowed not only to defend themselves, but under certain circumstances to defend their partner forces. In this case, the Kurdish commandos. They're known as Cobras. Also U.S. trained. When they came under - under overwhelming fire, I'm told by a senior U.S. military official that it was the decision of the commander on the ground to go ahead and enter that compound.

Now, the bigger issue here though is this. The administration has said consistently, U.S. forces do not have a combat role in Iraq. The fact is, they have many missions there that are quite close to combat. You have some of them in training missions outside of Baghdad and Irbil. For instance, in Anbar province. But you really get no closer than this, to be on a nighttime mission to rescue hostages in a fortified position, highly defended. They get into a firefight. I mean that's not just close to combat, that is in combat. And, unfortunately, we saw the results of combat here. We saw U.S. special forces operator, Delta Force member killed in combat. The first time in four years.

KAYE: All right, thanks very much, Jim Sciutto, for the update.

SCIUTTO: Thank you.

KAYE: And be sure to watch CNN's special report on Iraq. It airs Monday, 9:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

After a break, Hillary Clinton survived her day in the lion's den. Now she's back on friendlier turf. And we'll go there live, coming up.

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[12:24:07] KAYE: Hillary Clinton is back on the campaign trail this morning after weathering a marathon grilling over the Benghazi attacks. The Democratic frontrunner is holding a rally in Alexandria, Virginia, this hour. There are some live picture there. She'll be taking the stage soon.

Earlier, a clearly elated Clinton spoke at her party's Women's Leadership Forum.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's been quite a week, hasn't it? Well, thank you all so much. I am absolutely delighted to be here. As some of you may know, I had a pretty long day yesterday, but I finally got to answer questions. Something I've been pushing for, literally, a year. And I am just grateful I recovered my voice, which I lost a little bit. But as I said at the start, I wanted to rise above partisanship and reach for statesmanship.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[12:25:08] KAYE: Clinton is clearly riding high after a surge of good news by all accounts. She stood her ground during 11 hours of questioning. The day before, Joe Biden announced that he won't challenge her for the Democratic nomination. And just last week, polls indicated that she won the first Democratic debate.

So let's bring in our senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, live in Alexandria. Jeff, hello to you. So did she emerge from this, would you say, this hearing, unscathed, or is there any short or long term impact possibly from the hearing on her presidential campaign?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Randi, good day to you from Alexandria.

I'm going to lower my voice a bit. We are in the middle of the "Star Spangled Banner" here at this Hillary Clinton rally. You can see behind me, people are singing the national anthem.

But I can tell you, these Democrats are so excited at how Hillary Clinton's hearing went yesterday. They thought it was a partisan exercise, but they believe that she was presidential. They believe that few other people could have withstood this grueling 11-hour exercise.

But your question that she emerged unscathed, I think she largely did. You talk to Democrats and Republicans alike, they said that she answered all the questions, she kept her cool, there were none of those moments that we heard a couple of years ago when she testified when she had a bit of an outburst. So she was very practiced for the hearing. She was very well prepared. But I think, without question, she emerged from this unscathed.

KAYE: And what do you expect, Jeff, that we will hear from her today there in Alexandria?

ZELENY: Randi, I can tell you, as I said, Democrats are excited - I'll raise my voice now that the national anthem is over. But the people who have been wanting Hillary Clinton to sort of gain a spark of enthusiasm, they believe that now she has finally done it. It's been the strongest ten-day stretch of her campaign beginning with that debate in Las Vegas and then, of course, the decision this week from Joe Biden not to jump in the race. And then, of course, they're hearing yesterday.

So what they're expecting to hear from her today is a bit of a confidence, a bit of a victory lap. She'll be taking a few shots at Republicans, I believe, happily to do so. But she really is trying to consolidate this mood inside the Democratic Party.

Now it's important to remember, though, there are still other candidates in this race. Bernie Sanders, of course, that Democratic socialist senator from Vermont, has lot of support. There's a new poll out in Iowa this morning that shows that she has the lead, but he's just about 10 points behind her. So she knows that she still has to work for this nomination. They're not over confident. The Clintons have been in this business far too long to be over confident.

KAYE: All right, many thanks. Jeff Zeleny there. Appreciate the update.

Yesterday, Patricia was a tropical storm. Today, it's a Cat 5 hurricane, the strongest ever seen in the western hemisphere. It is on track to slam western Mexico and we'll get an update when we come back.

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