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Clinton, Sanders Spar at Iowa Fundraiser; Texas Record Rainfall; DUI Charges in Parade Crash. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired October 25, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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


(MUSIC)

[07:00:08] VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Bernie Sanders on the attack. Star power supporting Hillary Clinton. We will tell you about the Democrats getting real in Iowa.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: And torrential rain on top of the rising floodwaters already in Houston. That city is getting soaked and that rain is moving along the East.

BLACKWELL: And watch this. The dramatic new video showing the Iraq hostage raid that claimed the life of an American commando. Does it show a change in the mission for U.S. soldiers of fighting in Iraq?

PAUL: It is so good to have you on board this morning. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you.

PAUL: Yes. We begin with this morning with the 2016 race for the White House. Senator Bernie Sanders is ratcheting up his fire against Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Sanders took a veiled shot, let's say, at Clinton during his speech at the Jefferson Jackson dinner in Iowa and criticized her vote in favor of Iraq war, implicitly characterized her as an inconsistent candidate.

BLACKWELL: Meanwhile, Clinton at this event did not respond in kind. I mean, she also made her case she would be best equipped to take on the Republicans.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny is live in Iowa with the latest on the event.

Good morning, Jeff.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Victor and Christi.

It was a festival of politics here in Des Moines last night with a touch of Hollywood as well. Now, Hillary Clinton is on a confident campaign streak but Bernie Sanders made it clear he's not going to let her have -- he's not going to let her have this nomination.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY (voice-over): Fireworks in the presidential race. Democratic rivals descending on Iowa 100 days before the first votes of the 2016 primary. Hillary Clinton seizing on the star power of Katy Perry.

KATY PERRY, SINGER: Fight on! 2016 is right around the corner!

ZELENY: And the political power of Bill Clinton in his campaign trail debut.

WILLIAM J. CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT: I've never been the warm-up act for Katy Perry before! But I'm well aware I am the warm-up act!

ZELENY: The biggest week yet of the Democratic presidential race ended in Iowa where Clinton had plenty of company and competition.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People power! Woo!

ZELENY: Senator Bernie Sanders has become a Democratic star of his own. His campaign chartered a plane to fly over their dueling rallies, calling for a revolution, before marching side-by-side with his followers.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is a march which will end up in a year when you will join me in the White House.

ZELENY: A festival of politics coming to a full boil at the Jefferson Jackson Dinner, a marquee event for Democrats. It was at this dinner eight years ago where Illinois Senator Barack Obama jumpstarted his presidential campaign.

BARACK OBAMA, THEN-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If we are really serious about winning this election, Democrats, then we can't live in fear of losing it.

ZELENY: Sanders said history could repeat itself.

SANDERS: About eight years ago, all of the political experts talked about how another Democratic candidate for president just couldn't win. He was unelectable. Do you remember that guy? What is his name? Oh, it's President Obama!

ZELENY: Sanders presented himself as a principle progressive, drawing a sharp contrast to Clinton's votes on Iraq, gay rights and Wall Street reform.

SANDERS: I will not abandon any segment of American society just because it is politically expedient at a given time.

ZELENY: Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley said it's time for a new generation to lead.

MARTIN O'MALLEY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: New leadership or the same old battles of our past? Actions or words? Do we want to get things done? Or do we just want to keep kind of shouting past each other? ZELENY: But Clinton argued her experience makes her the party's

strongest nominee.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's not enough just to rail against the Republicans or the billionaires. We actually have to win this election.

ZELENY: In Iowa, Clinton has an edge in the polls, but Sanders is capturing the enthusiasm, a sign this Democratic race is not yet settled.

(CROWD CHANTING)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY: With a hundred days remaining before the Iowa caucuses kick off the road for the White House, there is no question Hillary Clinton is in the driver's seat. But as you can see there, Bernie Sanders is going to make clear, he's going to make her fight for this nomination and his supporters are loyal, committed, and they are going to stick with him. The question now is if she'll be able to convince other Democrats still on the sidelines to join her campaign -- Victor and Christi.

BLACKWELL: All right. Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much.

Let's try to get some answers to these questions now and talk about the dinner and the race with CNN political commentator Errol Louis.

[07:05:05] Errol, good morning to you.

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning, Victor.

BLACKWELL: The recent polls show that Hillary Clinton is maintaining her lead in Iowa and riding high on this wave of momentum. We've got the numbers up for you. But we heard this really critical, just call it a critique, and it was very pointed from Bernie Sanders. He said everything but her name.

Are we seeing this more aggressive change now and are you expecting that to be sustained?

LOUIS: Well, I mean, absolutely. The whole basis of Bernie Sanders success in his campaign. He says that on the Keystone XL pipeline, on the Defense of Marriage Act, on the Iraq war especially he harps on, he says, look, I had differences with Hillary Clinton. He doesn't say her name but he points to a different approach to a lot of these issues, including the trade deals from the 1990s like NAFTA and CAFTA.

And he says, if what you want is progress, if what you want is revolution, changing the way that the Democratic Party has moved forward on these key issues and more, I am your guy. And there are a lot of people who didn't like any of those decisions in the past and who now have a champion who is going to go out there and fighting for them now. So, he represents a serious difference within the Democratic Party. Now, the question is whether or not he can convert that into a victory in Iowa in a hundred days.

BLACKWELL: What we heard and saw last night was what many people are calling the most aggressive approach that we've seen from Bernie Sanders, although it's the same narrative. Do you think the Clinton campaign is rattled at all by this?

LOUIS: Well, they've got to be a little bit concerned. Let's remember that back in 2008, she didn't just lose to Barack Obama, she also lost to John Edwards who had a populist appeal that's somewhat similar to what we're hearing from Bernie Sanders, and it was coming in third in that primary that really sort of knocked the Clinton campaign reeling in that year.

Now, she is doing much better now. She's got opponents who are not nearly as aggressive or as charismatic, say, as Barack Obama was back then, but they've got to be a little bit concerned. I mean, they have a very interesting, very sort of Clintonian argument, the centrist Democrat agreement which is that, you know, do you want revolution or do you want results? And she is going to keep saying that until the caucuses are over.

The real question, though, is also partly organizational, Victor. I mean, you know, you've got to turn people out and that is really what the Jefferson-Jackson dinner is. It's the chance to talk to the activist Democrats who are going to turn people out for those caucuses, that very strained, very long, very difficult process to get people to stand in public and on a cold February night next year and argue for their candidate and stand for their candidate over a period that could last hours.

BLACKWELL: Yes, much more difficult than going in and pushing a button on a screen.

You mentioned the 2008 campaign, something else important happened yesterday. David Plouffe, President Obama, then Senator Obama's campaign manager, endorsed Hillary Clinton yesterday. He said she is the right person to protect President Obama's legacy on health care and so much else.

Any real impact on this?

LOUIS: Well, I think it shows you some tea leaves. That happening the same week that Vice President Biden steps out of the race, sort of lets you know to the extent there is going to be an attempt to sort of grab a lot of fire or what is left of the fire, or the argument for a third Obama term or a legacy argument to extend and protect what Obama has done, Hillary Clinton is making a very strong play for that and it seems to be a successful one.

We haven't seen anything comparable from Bernie Sanders. We haven't seen sort of major Obama supporters standing next to Bernie Sanders and until we do, you've got to assume that most of the Obama legacy organization and support is going to end up with Hillary Clinton.

BLACKWELL: More than Obama legacy there. Just a couple of elected members of Congress who are standing with Bernie Sanders. Hillary Clinton has more than a hundred congressional endorsements.

Errol Louis, thank you so much.

LOUIS: All right. Thank you, Victor.

PAUL: Meanwhile in the Republican race, Donald Trump is speaking with CNN's Jake Tapper in an exclusive interview that's airing this morning on "STATE OF THE UNION." Trump addresses what separates him from Carson and also talk about Carson's recent surge in the polls. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I was really surprised to see because three nights ago, I was in Iowa. We had a packed house. We had 4,000 people and it was a love fest. And I have done really well with the evangelicals and with the Tea Party and everything, and I just don't understand the number.

But you know what? I accept the number. It means I have to work a little bit harder in Iowa.

I think it's just the same. I mean, I'm going to make our country great again. We're going to do trade pacts that are incredible instead of like incompetent, because what we have right now with China, with Japan, with everybody is just incredible and nobody is going to be able to do what I do in terms of making our country wealthy again, so we can do all of the things we want to do, including the military and the vets and taking care of people.

[07:10:02] So, I'm just going to have to work a little bit harder in Iowa. I was very surprised to see the numbers. You know, I had a lead and it sort of flip-flopped a little bit with Ben Carson and I like Ben, but he cannot do with trade like I do with trade. He can't do with a lot of things like I do. So, we'll just have to see what happens.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, STATE OF THE UNION: Well, you guys disagree -- you two disagree on a number of issues. Immigration is one of them. Are you going to start contrasting your positions with his more?

TRUMP: Well, I think so. I mean, you just bring up one. He's very, very weak on immigration and I'm very strong on immigration and I feel -- you know, when I made the announcement, I took a lot of heat and then everybody found out I was right.

With Kate -- beautiful Kate in San Francisco being killed by somebody that just walked into the country at least five times. They say five, but it was probably much more than that. And the veteran, a 66-year- old woman raped and killed in California three weeks ago and just by an illegal immigrant again. And so much. This is so much.

And I brought it up and Ben Carson is very, very weak on immigration. He believes in amnesty strongly. He believes on citizenship, I mean, he is going to give citizenship to people that are here illegal and you can't do that. And, you know, we disagree on other things also. But I think the big

thing also is he's not going to be able to do deals with China, to do deals with Japan. These countries are all ripping us like nobody has ever ripped us before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: You can see more of Jake's interview with Donald Trump on "STATE OF THE UNION." He'll also have exclusives with Bernie Sanders and Marco Rubio. That starts at 9:00 a.m. Eastern today, right here on CNN.

I want to tell you about the record rainfall across Texas. Look at some of these pictures we are getting in. The remnants of the most powerful hurricane ever are turning streets into rivers there in the Lone Star State. And they are moving. We'll tell you where.

Also, a toddler is among the victims at a deadly crash at a university homecoming parade. And new this morning, the woman behind the wheel still in jail and charged now with DUI.

Also, police in California chasing their own cop car. How a suspect got behind the wheel of a squad car loaded with weapons.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:15:18] PAUL: Fifteen minutes past the hour right now.

And this morning, the Houston area is under flash flood warnings as it braces for more rain. As much as 6 inches of rain from the remnants of Patricia. Already, there are 50 areas with confirmed high water. The city's emergency management spokesperson told us last hour that it seems people are heeding their warning to stay home and off the roads which is the good news.

Our Ryan Young is in Houston this morning, though.

Ryan, well, can I see it's still raining. Talk to us about the conditions there and are the people really staying off the roads?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, constant rain everywhere and, in fact, we've seen this the last 24 hour or so. As we've been driving around, we have seen the conditions change when we were driving around. You can see places we were allowed to drive before have now been blocked off and people cannot take their cars that way.

Now, we are at the bayou. And you look over here, you can see the water that's been flowing everywhere. Constantly water in some places around here is up to 25 inches. I mean, you see, this is a popular bike trail near downtown and people use this all the time but you can see the water is high and moving pretty quickly.

The good news here this has dropped at least a foot in the last few hours. But as we drive around and we have seen the water continue to rise in some other spots, there have been drivers who decided to take a chance and go through the waters and we know that's a bad idea. Cars have been stalling out and completely submerged by all this water. And, in fact, even down south, they are being impacted by this rain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are so low right here to begin with we can't tolerate a lot what is above normal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are moving furniture around and everything. We have heard there has never been water inside the garage or anything except for hurricane Ike, so --

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: So, this is where you hold, another 6 to 10 inches expected, more than 45 road closures and emergency management has stayed on top of it. But as you see, the water moving very strongly through the area, the big concern as people get up early in the morning and start driving around you hope they are able to avoid these areas. Of course, emergency officials telling them to stay home. A lot of church services have been cancelled on this Sunday. People want to worship but they are telling people to stay home if you don't have to be on the roads to avoid this wet stuff.

PAUL: All righty. Hey, Ryan Young, thank you so much for bringing us the latest. Stay safe there with your crew.

BLACKWELL: Houston is not the only city, of course, being pounded by more rain.

Meteorologist Jennifer Gray is tracking the storm.

How long, Jennifer, is this going to go on?

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, Houston is going to see the rain throughout the entire day. We'll slowly start to slip to the east, but a lot of areas, especially southeast Texas and southern Louisiana will get the bulk of it as we go through the day today. The 48 rainfall total just south of Dallas from yesterday, the day before, Powell, Texas, 20 inches of rain. They received several inches on top of that, Corsicana, Texas, 18.9 inches, and then Waco more than 10 inches of rain.

And look at this, over the next 48 hours, as we go forward in time, we are going to see the bulk of it right around the Houston area on into Louisiana and even into Mississippi. Look at that bull's-eye, 10 or more inches of rain along the gulf coast of Mississippi and Alabama. So, it's not over yet.

Let me take you back to the wall. We can show you what we are dealing with and what is causing all of this. That surge of moisture. We have the remnants from Patricia. We also have this coastal low, and that's pulling in a lot of moisture around the Gulf and that's what's bringing in all of this rain. Now, it will slowly start to slide to the east as we go through the

next few days, but that humid Gulf moisture is in place and that is going to cause a lot of rainfall. So, the flooding risk does not go away. It starts to shift, if you will, a little bit more to the east.

So, Dallas, your rain is tapering off. We still have the flood watches and flood warnings in effect. Houston, you have received quite a bit of rain, could possibly still see 6 to 10 inches of additional rainfall. Along the coast, we could see tides of four feet above normal and not to mention that the wind, 30 and 40-mile-per-hour winds are going to come along with this.

So, along the coast, Galveston, watch out for that and Houston, it's going to be very windy in your area. But Dallas, we're starting to clear out. We're getting quite a bit of rain along the coast. You can see the darker shades of green and yellows that's heavier rainfall.

Even New Orleans, we could see 6 to 10 inches around that area. This is far from over. It is going to slowly slide to the east, but a lot of flooding between now and then.

BLACKWELL: All right. We'll be keeping those people in our thoughts.

Jennifer Gray, thank you so much.

PAUL: And also these people. Children and infants are some of the victims when a car crashes into a crowd at an Oklahoma homecoming parade.

[07:20:04] We have some new information about that accident that killed four people.

Also, an inside look at an Iraq raid that saved the lives of 70 hostages. Look at this. There are men in bloodied clothes really about to die, that is, before a U.S. commando unit joins the fight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Twenty-three minutes past the hour.

And the death toll from that horrific car crash at a homecoming parade at Oklahoma State University is rising this morning. Police say a fourth victim, a 2-year-old boy has died in the hospital. Forty-four people were hurt when police say 25-year-old Adacia Chambers slammed into a crowd of spectators in Stillwater, Oklahoma, yesterday. One witness saying, this is how it was characterized -- people were flying in the air.

Sara Ganim is following this story for us.

And, you know, Sara, for these people, I just cannot imagine these have to be things that they're never going to forget these images.

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Police are identifying the other people who were killed in this crash along with that 2-year- old boy, 23-year-old Nakita Prabhaker, she was a student at the university, according to the University of Central Oklahoma there at their university, also 65-year-old Bonnie Jean and Marvin Lyle Stone were also killed.

And police updating us on the conditions of those other 44 who were hurt. Five adults this morning, Christi, still in critical condition. Six more adults still hospitalized, along with six children who are still in the hospital this morning.

[07:25:03] The victims range in age from 1 to 66.

And now, officials are working to reconstruct the scene and figure out how such a happy day turned into such a horrific one.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GANIM (voice-over): What was meant to be a celebration Saturday morning turned into a horrific scene. Authorities say a driver sped through a parked police motorcycle and crashed into a crowd of spectators at the Oklahoma State University homecoming parade. What eyewitnesses say they saw clearly chaotic.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A car just like -- just went in through the crowd, just burst into the crowd.

GANIM: A crash reconstruction team now trying to figure out exactly what happened and asking for anyone with video or information to come forward.

KYLE GIBBS, POLICE LIEUTENANT, STILLWATER POLICE DEPARTMENT: It's just a horrible incident. It's very unfortunate that we have to do this. Just work through it as expeditiously as we can and keep the families and the victims in this incident in our prayers.

GANIM: The driver, identified as 25-year-old Adacia Chambers is suspected of drunk driving and arrested at the scene. The university president said he struggled with the decision to go on with the homecoming game, but, ultimately decided not to cancel. Players knelt on the field before kickoff to honor the victims and the flag was lowered to half-staff.

BURNS HARGIS, PRESIDENT, OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY: The Oklahoma State homecoming parade is probably one of the most wholesome, happy events in the country, and to have it fouled like this and these victims, it's a terrible tragedy. We reach out and embrace the victims and their families.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GANIM: Now, Adacia Chambers was taken to jail yesterday. Her first court appearance expected Monday and Stillwater police saying they do expect she'll be charged with more than just the one DUI. They've told us about and especially in light of these deaths -- Christi.

PAUL: All right. Sara Ganim, we appreciate it. Thank you. BLACKWELL: U.S. Special Forces saves the lives of 70 Kurdish

hostages. And now, we are getting a unique look inside the raid that claimed the life of one of those servicemen. Could it suggest a shift in tactics against ISIS?

Plus, police go on a high-speed chase after another police car. What they did to catch the suspect who stole it.

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