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Ben Carson Insists Media Is Out To Get Him By Digging Deeper Into His Past; Six-Year-Old Shot Five Times As Father Was Chased By Two Officers In Car; About Half Of University Of Missour Football Team Says They Will Boycott Future Games; Russian Security Auditors Arrive In Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt; SNL's Take On A Trump Presidency; 2016 Candidates Blanket Sunday Shows; Cowboy's Greg Hardy To Play Despite Abuse Photos. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired November 08, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:13] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thanks for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson is not letting up on his flame that the media is out to get him by digging into his past. After speaking at a political rally in Puerto Rico today he talked with the press and remained defiant regarding questions about his account of violent temper as a child.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You're asking me about something that was 50 years ago. You expect to have the details on that? Forget about it. It is not going to happen. But let's talk about some things that really are important today. See, that -- if I can get people to focus on what's important today it will be worth all of this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, CNN national correspondent Sunlen Serfaty is traveling with the Carson campaign. She joins us now from Fajardo.

So Sunlen, what more is Carson saying?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, Ben Carson is really disputing the notion that this period of intense media scrutiny is getting under his skin. This is despite in recent days, his fears and aggressive push back from many of the media reports. And that's something that he repeated here again today, launching into an angry and at times mocking critique of the media. And I asked him earlier today why not produce some of the evidence that we're asking for to back up many of these accounts, what is really in large part prompting a large part of these questions being asked. Here's how he responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARSON: It's not particularly getting under my skin. Obviously it's helping it. But I simply cannot sit still and watch unfairness. I'm always going to call that out when I see it. So, you know, obviously the political thing was a hit job. No question about it. The kind of investigations that were done, you know, talking to the wrong people, not going to, like, Wilson Junior high school where the lock-ins occurred, (INAUDIBLE), this is just stupid. And I mean, if our media is no better than investigating than that, it's sick. You know, the "Wall Street Journal" thing that comes out and says, there's no such course, obviously. How come with all of their tools they can't find it but we can? That doesn't make any sense. Really.

The burden of proof is not going to be on me to corroborate everything that I've ever talked about in my life because once I start down that road, every single day from now until the election you're going to be spending your time doing that and we have much more important things to --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: Now, Ben Carson is also taken to his Facebook page in a series of posts. Last night and into this morning really detailing what he thinks is wrong with specific media questions about his past that's, of course, in addition, Fred, to asking for campaign contributions. He said today that he believes this is already helping him - Fred.

WHITFIELD: Right, in fact, Sunlen, isn't he crediting the most recent $3 million that his campaign has received over the past week in large part to the donors who have been inspired by the kind of scrutiny that he's been put under?

SERFATY: That's exactly right. He was telling that again today. $3.5 million to the Carson campaign has raised in this last week. They say that's 10,000 specific donations a day, totally out to 70,000 donations this week. This is clearly a point that he believes helps galvanize his supporters that not only to support him but to donate money as well -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Sunlen Serfaty, on the campaign trail with Ben Carson. Thanks so much.

So among the reasons why Ben Carson stories of a troubled violent past are coming under scrutiny is because of the reporting CNN's Scott Glover and Maeve Reston have done. They spoke with people who knew Dr. Carson from childhood and none of those people that were interviewed by CNN recalled seeing an angry or violent side of Carson, despite stories that he tells many his auto biography about attempting to stab a friend and attacking his mother with a hammer.

CNN national political correspondent Maeve Reston joining me now from Los Angeles.

Maeve, it was a lot of your digging and that of Mr. Scott Glover that brought us to this point. Meaning the point where Ben Carson feels like he is constantly being dogged by these questions and having to defend his accounts and his memories.

MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: Right. You know, I just want to take our viewers and our readers back to kind of how this all came about. These violent incidents and what Dr. Carson has called himself his pathological temper when he was a teenager are things that he has talked about repeatedly on the campaign trail as part of his narrative of spiritual redemption. He says that God intervened and at that moment cured him from any other angry outbursts.

So we set out to talk to people about what was clearly a pivotal part of his childhood, his history, something that would tell us about his temperament, what kind of person he was. And if you go to CNN.com and read our reporting, what we said is that, you know, the ten classmates that we talked to On the Record, said that the behavior that he has described was really out of character for the person that they knew.

At the same time, you know, as we said in the story, none of them said that it's impossible that these things happened. They just never saw any indication of Dr. Carson going around hitting people with bricks and rocks and baseball bats. And we have been very transparent with the Carson campaign from the very beginning asking them to connect us with people, eyewitnesses, people who knew him at this time just to help explore this part of his life. They have refused to do that so far. And so we're still looking for more people.

We have reporters, you know, who are out there today talking to additional classmates. And we'll continue looking into this period of his life as we would for any other presidential candidate.

[14:06:12] WHITFIELD: And while you're continuing to look, there have been conflicting messages coming from the Carson, himself, and his campaign who have said he has been in contact with at least one of these people, you know, maybe day before yesterday, Bob, he said he had just talked to Bob. The campaign said that if any of these people are willing to talk they would come forward. He re-iterated today in an interview that he is not asking any of these people to come forward. But if they want to, they are going to do that on their own.

So what are you hearing directly from the camp in terms of, you know, in terms of your pressing questions about whether the camp would help lead you in the right direction so that you can get people to corroborate his story and stories?

RESTON: We have been constantly in touch with the campaign for this whole period on a daily basis.

WHITFIELD: But have they changed their -- have they changed the way they're reacting with you on those requests?

RESTON: Well, they suggested this weekend that someone might emerge and talk to the press who was involved in these violent incidents. But, you know, again, there have been new developments, new information that Carson has set forward. For example, the boy that he described in his book as Jerry who he hit over the head with a lock and Bob who he attempted to stab, he then came out and said those were fictional name. What we wish the campaign had told us that two weeks ago when we asked about it. So he will continue as Dr. Carson had suggested talking to more people who knew him in Junior high school and see how this story develop. WHITFIELD: All right, Maeve Reston, we know you will keep us posted.

Thank you so much.

RESTON: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, meantime, a very different tone, very different story straight ahead. A Louisiana town now reeling as it prepares to say good-bye to a 6-year-old boy gunned down by police. Coming up, one of the boy's teachers talks about her star student.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was just an innocent little boy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He always was an angel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[14:11:13] WHITFIELD: A funeral will be held tomorrow for 6-year-old Louisiana boy killed during a heroine police pursuit. Jeremy Mardis was shot five times in the head and chest as his father's vehicle was being chased by two officers Tuesday in the town of Marksville. Those officers are now behind bars charged with his murder while we have heard disturbing allegations about the officers' action. One person who know them is shocked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHI AWADLY, GAS STATION MANAGER: I know Derrick and Norris like my brothers.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tell me - Tell us about them because we don't know anything about them.

AWADLY: They are good people, man. They're nothing bad, sir.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Nick Valencia is live for us in Marksville, Louisiana with more on what you have learned. You talked with people there. What else, Nick?

VALENCIA: Hey, there, Fredricka.

According to the local newspaper here at least one of the officers charged in the death of that 6-year-old has a troubled history, a checkered past. 32-year-old Derrick Stafford was indicted on two counts of aggravated assault, according to the local newspaper here. Those indictments were eventually dismissed without prejudice, meaning charges could still very welcome forward against Derrick Stafford.

Also the other officer who is currently in custody, Norris Greenhouse, he is part as well along with Stafford of some pending civil lawsuits tied to excessive force. You mentioned that I had been talking to people in this community. Many of them don't want to talk about the police officers as troubling as their actions appear to be on the surface. They would rather talk about this 6-year-old little boy. And I caught up with his first grade special needs teacher. He was an autistic child, someone that went to school here at a local elementary school. Somebody who lit up the room when his smile.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just brought this cute bag, puppy dog, read from the autism network. When a child in our community, you know, needs something, we're there for them.

VALENCIA: What goes through your heart and your mind when you look at this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just --

VALENCIA: For Jeremy?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just know he's watching over everybody. He always was an angel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: There was a handful of people there at the scene of the shooting just paying their respects, putting down teddy bears. You saw there in the video, putting wreaths down at the side of the shooting. Now, the funeral for Jeremy Mardis is expected to happen tomorrow sometime in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Meanwhile, we heard earlier today from the hospital that the condition of the father is improving though he is still in the hospital - Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: Nick, the head of the Louisiana state police say the footage of the shooting they've seen is the most disturbing thing he has ever seen. Where does this investigation go now?

VALENCIA: Well, they haven't ruled out that there could be potentially more arrests. Those two officers that are in custody here at the parish detention center behind me were the only two arrested of the four that were there at the scene, at least four marshals I should say at the scene. We were there just a little while ago. Still there was markings on the floor of where the police officers had their cars, where that Chris, the father of the 6-year-old child, had left his vehicle.

There was reports early on that the father backed in, reversed into those police officers which resulted in them shooting. CNN has not been able to confirm that or verify that information. But according to the head of Louisiana state police, this investigation is ongoing and there could potentially be more charges coming forward -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Troubling none the less. Thank you so much, Nick Valencia there. All right, dozens of University of Missouri football players are

planning to boycott their games over a series of racist incidents at their school. Why they're so angry at the university's response. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:18:38] WHITFIELD: All right. Racism injustice and inaction. Three reasons why nearly half the University of Missouri football team says they are boycotting all future games unless the school president resigns. Students say President Tim Wolf has been negligent in responding to racist incidents on campus including a swastika drawn out of human feces on a dormitory wall. The incident now getting attention from the state governor, in fact. Within the last hour, Governor Jay Nixon released a statement saying quote "racism and intolerance have no place at the University of Missouri or anywhere in our state. Our colleges and universities must have havens of trust and understanding," end quote.

CNN national correspondent Polo Sandoval is following this developing story.

So Polo, what other alleged incidents have happened on campus and what has the school done? How is it responded?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We know, Fred, that's something that we are still waiting to hear from the University of Missouri system to actually confirm. But in the meantime, I can tell you Jonathan Butler, a graduate student at that school, is laying out what he calls a very long list of grievances. And one of the several reasons why they want action done immediately. The students actually laying out what he calls a series of sexist, homophobic and racist incidents that have happened on campus. The student body president, for example, being called the "n" word. Also Planned Parenthood services being stripped away from several students. And of course, there is that the very disturbing incident that you just mentioned at the dorm.

But really, what it all boils down to is at the root of these demonstrations is really this concern that the president of the university, Tim White, perhaps not necessarily listening to the concern of these students or doing much to really fix the situation. And that's one of the reasons why at least half of the football team is now saying that they will not play or practice until he either resign or actually is fired.

Now, we do need to hear from the president himself. He is saying that he is actually responded to some of these grievances and even recognize that racism is, in fact, a problem on his university campus.

I want to read you a portion of one of his several statements that he has actually posted on the university's Web site. He says quote "racism does exist at our university. It is a long-standing, systemic problem which daily affects our family of students, faculty, and staff. I'm sorry members of our university community -- rather, I am sorry that this is the case. And I truly want all members of our university community to feel included, valued, and safe."

And I should mention, finally, Fred, that much of the frustrations here also have to do with the homecoming parade that happened really several days ago here in which the students feel that the president perhaps ignored their frustrations. Some of the amateur video that is on You Tube right now which students actually blocked the path of President Wolfe's vehicle. Wolfe then going online though saying that he really is apologizing to students, that he, in fact, should have really gotten off that vehicle and had a conversation with some of these students.

So again, this is really just one of several components in what is a very interesting story that is unfolding right now in Missouri. Of course, will the rest of the team play come next Saturday and will this issue be resolved? One that is more than just a sports story.

[14:21:59] WHITFIELD: And so Polo, as it pertain to that threatened strike by the entire football team, can they really do that? I mean, many students who are on scholarship, you know, where do the teams' coaches play into this in terms of encourages or employ that they play or not be a part of the team, the university sport at all?

SANDOVAL: Absolutely. It is a very interesting question here. I will tell you there is actually plenty of support for not only the students but also the players that have really attached themselves to this cause. In fact, just in the last hour and a half or so, the head coach of the football team, Gary Pinkle, actually posted a picture on his twitter account saying that they stand behind some of the students and their right to actually protest what again has been recognized by the school president as racism on that campus.

So it's going to be a very interesting to see exactly what kind of support we can expect from other faculty. And, of course, from the president himself who does continue to stay in contact with the student body. However, the students want to see him gone.

WHITFIELD: Yes. All right. Polo, thanks so much. I know you're going the stay on top of it. Thanks so much. Bring us up to date as you can.

All right. Coming up, a U.S. official telling CNN they are 99.9 percent certain a bomb caused that Russian airliner to crash in Egypt. We will go live to Sharm el-Sheikh for new developments in the investigation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:26:26] WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitefield.

Just in to CNN. Russian security auditors just arrived in Sharm el- Sheikh, Egypt, where that doomed Russian plane departed one week ago and crashed. This as the U.S. is expressing growing confidence that a bomb caused that deadly crash. A U.S. official tells CNN they are 99.9 percent certain a bomb brought that jet down. That theory is largely centered around intercepts of ISIS chatter

before and after the crash. This morning Reuters is quoting an unnamed member of the investigation as saying the noise heard on the plane's cockpit voice recorder was likely an explosion caused by a bomb. But the head of the investigation in Egypt is deny that report.

Let's get to CNN's Nima Elbagir. She is in Sharm el-Sheikh.

So Nima, What new information is coming out of the investigation that we're able to report and confirm?

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are retaining yet again to that last second of noise picked up by the cockpit voice recorder with sources in the U.S. telling CNN that that is one of the reasons, one of the avenues of investigation that is pushing them very strongly to the conclusion that this, indeed, was an act a of terror, this was a bomb that brought down the plane. And we're hearing this from a variety of sources. There is a variety of reports out there that the Egyptians so far, Fredericka, are pushing back very strongly. They are saying they don't believe as yet that this is true.

WHITFIELD: Well, the "Associated Press" is going as far as saying that the security at the airport is lax. That there were just a lot of gaping holes. What more is being said about that? Any confirmation and any response from authorities there?

ELBAGIR: Yes, the civil aviation authorities spokesman again has been hitting back very strongly at this saying what they've been dealing with over the last few days is a variety of what he called generalizations, falsification, and presumptions.

You have to understand how crucial Sharm el-Sheikh is to the Egyptian economy, how crucial it is in terms of broader regional impact. For the Egyptians to acknowledge in any way that they failed fundamentally to secure this airport through which so many travelers come in and out every day, thousands of holiday workers most Egyptian and from around the world, this is going to be a very tough one for them. And of course, you know, while all of this is happening, we still don't have any definitives as to when the remains of that plane can be taken to Cairo where they're going to be looked at much more closely.

WHITFIELD: And then, Nima, a number of passengers who were able to fly out, return to Russia or other places, but without their luggage which means a lot of that luggage, does it remain at Sharm el-Sheikh, is that a problem?

ELBAGIR: Well, again, Egyptians aviation authority has been quid clear, reassuring us that these cases are being put immediately on to cargo planes and sent to the ultimate destinations. But we've seen a number of holiday makers who didn't seem convinced. A few of the Russian were even sitting on their bags refusing to hand them over. And this was suddenly undermines the messaging that's coming out from the Egyptian authorities that the airport is fully secure because we're seeing a lot of international carriers, all of them saying we are still not allowing whole luggage on to these planes, Fredricka. WHITFIELD: All right, Nima Elbagir, thank you so much from Sharm el-

Sheikh. Appreciate that.

[14:30:00] All right. So let's talk more about this investigation with CNN global affairs analyst Kimberly Dozer and Mike Pool. He is a data recorder analyst expert.

So Mike, first to you, a lot of back and forth about whether or not the noise heard in that voice recording was indeed an explosion. You're hearing from Nima, Egyptian authorities may be saying we're not so willing to conclude anything.

So how should this be analyzed? How unusual would it be that the last voice transaction on a box would sound like an explosion but perhaps could it be something else?

MIKE POOLE, DATA RECORDER ANALYSIS EXPERT: Well, first of all, almost all voice recordings end with a sound. So having a sound in the final second isn't itself that surprising. Anyone who says they have listened to that sound and sounds like a bomb, I would suggest probably does not have first-hand experience doing this type of work.

We have a very large international committee for many years look at, Pan Am Lockerbie, the explosion over in England, the Aloha Airlines where's the door blew off, explosive decompression, sudden loss in cabin pressure sounds kind of similar.

And there haven't been that many cases internationally for the last 20 years. So we looked at them all, a number of years ago, with the mission to see if we could determine through spectral analysis if you could determine the signature of bomb.

And if so differentiate between the signature of explosive decompression because a lot of people theorized you could do this and you see "CSI" shows where's the high-tech stuff, can we do it?

So the result of that research which included many countries, the United States, France, Australia, and doctoral thesis from the U.K. concluded that it, in fact, was noise. There was no structure to that sound.

So it certainly doesn't surprise me that the Egyptians are saying we don't know, and that's probably true, they don't know. And unfortunately or fortunately we're going to have to go to the physical wreckage to determine this type of information.

WHITFIELD: OK, contrastly, Kimberly, a U.S. official says they are 99.9 percent sure a bomb caused this crash. Egypt of course not willing to confirm that and as Mike just kind of underscored, all that is still uncertain.

But let's talk then about the likelihood of anyone potentially being responsible for putting a bomb onboard, namely ISIS which continues to claim responsibility, how troublesome is that and how porous does that mean Sharm el-Sheikh likely is? KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, a couple of things that they're looking at that make them go to this conclusion, the ISIS claim of responsibility, the intercepted communication where ISIS was apparently talking about where an ISIS operative was apparently talking about some sort of explosive device and a trigger mechanism.

And also just the fact that according to the flight data recorders everything was working fine until that noise on the black box so that leads you to believe that there wasn't anything mechanically going wrong.

WHITFIELD: Except, can I interject for a second, Kimberly, and maybe there has been another response, but remember initially, I mean, this happened a week ago. Remember initially officials said THAT a pilot radioed in and said there were technical problems.

And then analysts poured over that saying that's unusual language, et cetera. We haven't heard anything since that. Now it is an explosion or the likes of an explosion.

DOZIER: Which is why you have so many U.S. officials kind of scratching their heads, why didn't they have anything on the recordings that pointed to something going wrong? Because of that, in the abundance of caution, until they figure out what kind or if this was a device that got on the plane, they've got to start overhauling all procedures.

A U.S. official I spoke to today though said one of their issues with trying to determine what is going on with Sharm El-Sheikh is since they haven't had any carriers flying directly from there to a U.S. point of entry, they haven't been on the ground and gone over those security procedures with Egyptian officials. So they don't have first-hand knowledge of what might have gone wrong.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ms. Dozer, Mr. Poole, thank you so much to both of you. Appreciate it.

DOZIER: Thank you.

POOLE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:38:21]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: General, how are we doing in Syria?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ISIS is completely eliminated, sir. Countries are at peace. All refugees have returned and they have great jobs as black jack dealers in the Trump Hotel and Casino in Damascus.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, the president of Mexico is here to see you.

TRUMP: That's great. Send him in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald.

TRUMP: Enrique.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I brought you the check for the wall.

TRUMP: I'm so proud of you and changing Telemundo to all English for me, you changed that to all English is the greatest thing. Jimmy, how is the economy?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Amazing, sir. In the words of our new national anthem, it's huge! I have no idea how you did it, sir.

TRUMP: Well, you know what? I don't have to get specific. With me, it just works, you know? It's just magic.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: OK, so that was Republican Donald Trump willing to poke fun at himself while hosting "Saturday Night Live" last night. With just over two months before the first caucus and the 2016 presidential race, the candidates from both parties were all over the place. They were on the Sunday talk shows today making their cases for why they ought to be president. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Plan, anybody can write a plan. Anybody can put a plan on a website. It's another thing to say, you know what I think we need to do and say it over and over again in public --

RAND PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Young black man has been in jail in 15 years for crack, cocaine, and a young white person got six months or no time in jail.

CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The city against executive orders, but with this one I wouldn't change it. The point is the president has engaged.

BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need a political revolution. We need to stand up to the top 1 percent. We need to transform American politics.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[14:40:02] WHITFIELD: All right. Also making the rounds Republican candidate, Ben Carson, except in his case in large part he was going after the media's questions about his past.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Every single day or every other day or every week, you know, they're going to come out with, well, you said this when you were 13 and you did this and you did -- the whole point is to distract, distract the populous, distract me.

Why do people put this stuff out there to make the accusation to try to maybe somebody seem dishonest. Then when it is disproven, let's talk about something. You said this when you were in kindergarten, give me a break.

(via telephone): I am very hopeful that people in your business, the media, will soon recognize the role that they play in helping to restore the American dreams.

(on camera): I have never seen this before and many other people who are politically experienced tell me they've never seen it before, either.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't think that Bill Clinton or the president with his birth certificate, people who still --

CARSON: No, not like this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- refuse to believe.

CARSON: Not even close.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is this fun for you?

CARSON: Would I have preferred to be doing something else? Certainly, but it is important to me. And when I think about the sacrifices that were made by those who succeed us in order that we might have the freedom that we have now, it's the very least that I can do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: OK, so let's talk about a lot of things that you want here. Republican strategist, Brian Morgenstern, and columnist and author, Ellis Henican. Good to see you, guys.

Brian, all of the candidates out there, they're trying to, you know, get out in front only a couple months to go. But really it's Ben Carson who is kind of in the biggest hot seat right now.

And he's saying he's being treated differently, Brian, and that no one has, I guess, been questioned like he is being questioned before. So when it's his personal record, you know, that he is running on and has been running on, should he not expect that it may get even hotter?

BRIAN MORGENSTERN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: He can expect a little. Actually, Ellis, I want to point out that Ben Carson did what we talked about. He dedicated this controversy to the troops, which I think is amazing thing for him to do.

No, Fred, to your question, it is fair for him to expect some heat. It is not fair for false articles to be published. "Politico" looks pretty bad on this one, I think, because with the West Point thing, he never claimed to have applied there.

Attributing that to him and then saying he lied I think puts a little egg on their face there. And as we saw, he raised 3.5 million bucks off of attacking the media. It's working for him. Here's where I think he's going wrong though.

WHITFIELD: Where?

MORGENSTERN: I still have no idea why he's running or what he wants to do other than giving everybody health savings accounts. That seems -- because he criticized Obamacare. That seems to be something that's cut through.

WHITFIELD: But you're saying he's not using his time in the spotlight wisely? Talking too much perhaps about his biography or having to defend the biography as opposed to pushing issues, and helping people understand why he's in it in the first place?

MORGENSTERN: Bingo. He hasn't cut through and pivoted and used this platform to his advantage to get his message out there.

WHITFIELD: Well, then, isn't that, Ellis, part of the test of anyone seeking the presidency? They have to figure out how to pivot, whether be on the stage, you know, during a debate, or whether it's with a microphone in your face.

ELLIS HENICAN, COLUMNIST: Ben Carson, if that really is his name, needs to quit complaining about the media, right? I mean, he needs to run a presidential campaign. What does he expect us to do, honestly? We should all be issuing love sonnet or let me count the ways that I admire Ben Carson.

WHITFIELD: You're saying especially since he doesn't have the political record? Because he doesn't have the political record he only has the biography. That's what he's running on that's kind of the basis of his identity, right?

HENICAN: That is absolutely true. Perhaps it explains his inexperience might explain the fact that he thinks this is unusual. But let me promise you this, Mr. Carson, Dr. Carson, excuse me, when you run for president, people are going to claw over every single thing in your life.

And if you have told stories that are not true about it, they're going to be thrown back in your face and you're going to be asked to explain. It has ever been thus in politics and it will continue to be as long as he's a candidate for president in 2016. This is not going to change. Stop complaining.

WHITFIELD: I wonder, if he didn't know it his people should know that that essentially is what happens on the campaign trail, Brian. I mean, that you have to be steely, expect that there is going to be a lot of digging. There is going to be a lot of dissecting of who you are, what your record is, et cetera, and you have to be really for that. MORGENSTERN: Sure. I agree with that. I don't think anything in there that you just said was controversial. But, it is also -- you have to understand in a primary it is to his advantage to point out bias. A couple of weeks ago Hillary testifies to Benghazi. We see the e-mail prove that she lied about it.

[14:45:02]Here a couple weeks later it's Ben Carson lied and here's the documentary proof that he didn't lie with the quote from his book. This is something, it's a strong argument for him to make.

WHITFIELD: Talking about the Westmoreland, the scholarship, that promise that part.

HENICAN: Come on, guys. It's pretty slippery. First of all, two or three of the key points in his biography are apparently completely un- confirmable. The stabbing, nobody can find the stabbing victim.

MORGENSTERN: That was 50 years ago.

HENICAN: Half true, half not true?

WHITFIELD: It doesn't matter in your view. It sounds like you're saying.

MORGENSTERN: There's a very important point why because what they've come up with is not evidence of lies, but a lack of evidence that from something that happened 50 years ago. They interviewed people who were not there and have no reason to remember what happened. When you are talking about things that happened 50 years ago, that's understandable.

WHITFIELD: OK, and what's interesting, too, Ben Carson said it on various networks today that if these people decide to come forward, they will in their own time, but he's not going to press them and encourage them.

HENICAN: Not good enough.

WHITFIELD: He's standing by.

HENICAN: That's not good enough.

WHITFIELD: Let's talk about Donald Trump, just being on SNL last night. Mixed reviews in terms of how funny he was. There was a lot of drum-up and SNL is celebrating huge, huge ratings. I wonder, Ellis, how does this best benefit someone who is out in front or maybe any candidate?

He's getting special treatment that he gets a chance to do this. How does he make sure that this is all in his favor? It turns into more support, it turns into more hopes.

HENICAN: I'm not sure that it will. Running for president is easy. Comedy is hard and I think this is the analogy, right? We had huge hype about this performance. Maybe it will be like the Trump presidency. It was supposed to be huge, but then when we actually get it, it was like, it was OK.

WHITFIELD: All right, Brian, you get the last word on that. Was it huge?

MORGENSTERN: With three Trumps on stage all at the same time, it was -- it was pretty good. The opening sketch was good. Monologue was good. But overall, I don't think it's a win or a loss. It was OK.

WHITFIELD: OK, all right, fun stuff. Thank you so much, Brian, Ellis, good to see you. We'll be right back.

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[14:51:39]

WHITFIELD: All right, public outcry after Dallas Cowboy defensive end, Greg Hardy, is kept on the roster for tonight's game despite pictures surfacing showing his ex-girlfriend bruised.

"Deadline" posted photos online and we want to warn you that they are hard to look at. They show Hardy's ex-girlfriend, Nicole Holder, with multiple bruises. And now there's renewed outrage over how the NFL handles o allegations of domestic abuse.

Let's talk about this with "USA Today" sports contributor, Christine Brennan. All right, good to see you, Christine. In your column you say let's hope the release of these photos will do what the NFL could not do, punish Hardy as he should be punished by losing his career for good.

It hasn't happened. He's on the roster as we just said. What do you think and how should the U.S. be responding at this point?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, "USA TODAY" SPORTS: Well, of course, there are those who say that he was already punished and it's true. He received a four-game suspension. Roger Goodell gave him a ten-game suspension and then the union actually having seen some of those photos, the union still went ahead against that and fought for the four-game suspension.

So I think that's one of the reasons why this is not the same reaction that we saw with the Ray Rice video exactly 14 months ago today. That was an instantaneous reaction, he was done. In this case --

WHITFIELD: And the photograph, the video in large part contributed to why he was -- we don't know if the NFL, they acknowledge they knew about this alleged incident. But they -- we don't even know if they ever saw these photos.

These are pictures that are now becoming public. So do you believe that they had never seen the photos and now they are seeing it for the first time, that there may be a similar course of action to when the video, you know, was publicly seen involving the Ray Rice situation? BRENNAN: It's a great question. Actually the NFL did see a few of these photos. I reported that back in April. The NFL saw them and also the National Football League Players Association, the union saw them. That's I think the key point.

Again, Roger Goodell saw them and that's why he threw the book at Greg Hardy, gave the longest suspension they have given ever on something like this, for domestic violence, ten games.

The union also saw the photos and decided to go against the suspension, which is mind boggling to, but I think the sense that he's already suspended and now moving forward. I think he's a monster. I think if anyone else did this in their line of work they would not have their job back.

WHITFIELD: Is that true? Is that the case? I don't know if, you know, people are really talking about sports or this particular sport, if indeed there is alleged domestic assault that they should lose their job, don't know if that's necessarily applied to every field of work.

Maybe feel like it's different here. You do write, you say, you know, if you've seen the photographs then tell me why Hardy should ever be allowed to play another down in the NFL.

BRENNAN: Right. Of course, why does it take pictures? For those of us, we've been talking about this for a long time. The words themselves, the story of what he did and it's awful. People should look it up. It's just terrible behavior towards Nicole Holder.

But, yes, I think that's what I think personally. And the difference here is we're not seeing protests by fans in Dallas. No one is turning in their season tickets.

[14:55:07]And He will play tonight and he will probably get a sack or two, and the Cowboys fans will love him. And I think it's important to have this conversation. I think that's victory in and of itself, Fredericka, the sense we're talking about this, seeing the pictures.

People can get a sense of exactly what domestic violence is and the National Football League is taking us too to this important national conversation.

WHITFIELD: All right, Christine Brennan, the conversation is not over at all. Thank you so much.

BRENNAN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up, a mysterious light in the skies over California had a lot of people on edge. What the U.S. government is saying about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. Checking your top stories, the votes of historic election in Myanmar are being counted. Today beam lined up to cast ballots in what is considered to be the country's first free election in a quarter of a century.

The majority is expected to back the National League of Democracy Party led by activist Ansan Suchi, and that would weaken the military's grip on the government. The constitution bars Suchi from becoming president, but she says she would assume a role, quote, "above the president" if her party were to win.

And in the mysterious light in the sky rattled some nerves in Southern California, the police were flooded with calls and people posting video of this strange light all over social media. U.S. military officials say not to worry.