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President Obama Meets with Benjamin Netanyahu; Ben Carson Criticizes Media; University of Missouri President Quits. Aired 3- 3:30p ET

Aired November 09, 2015 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:02]

JOSHUA FEUERSTEIN, PROTESTING STARBUCKS HOLIDAY CUP: And now, with this video going viral, what, 13 million views in three days, it's been shared over and over.

It's a trending hashtag for the last two days on social media. I think that what we have tapped into here is that there's a large demographic of Christian Americans that are saying, we are fed up with being politically correct and it's time to just be correct.

I mean, look, if this was a not a Judeo-Christian society, then why did Obama have to pretend to be one in order to get elected?

PETE DOMINICK, SIRIUSXM RADIO: Oh, there it is. There it is. There -- that's what I'm talking about, Brianna. He doesn't even have to hear me. There it is.

(CROSSTALK)

We invited him on. There it is. Obama pretends to be a Christian.

Good luck there, buddy. Good luck. He has got a Chaz Bono impersonating -- sorry.

(CROSSTALK)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: OK. Hold on just a moment, because we're having audio issues. I'm going to button this up before we go.

I do have to fact-check you, Joshua, because the president is a Christian. But I will tell you, I know that you have touched a nerve. And we certainly appreciate -- we appreciate you being on. I'm sorry about the audio problems.

I wish we could have a wider discussion here. But I'm going to leave it there.

Pete, Joshua, thank you, guys, so much for coming on.

Now to the major shakeup at the University of Missouri. The president has quit. It's not for what he did, but for what he admits he failed to do in the wake of a series of complaints of racial bias against minority students. The pressure had been building. Students protested. Football players

threatened to boycott, as seen in this tweet here. And then just today, faculty called for a walkout of classes. Then, at the university curators meeting today, president Tim Wolfe announced he's resigning. He actually broke down at one point over the rising controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM WOLFE, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI: So, the question really is, is, why did we get to this very difficult situation? It is my belief we stopped listening to each other. And I take full responsibility for this frustration and I take full responsibility for the inaction that has occurred.

And my decision to resign comes out of love, not hate. I would like to read some Scripture that's given me strength. I hope it provides you with some strength as well.

Psalm 46:1: "God is our refuge and strength and ever-present help in trouble."

We need to use my resignation. Please, please use this resignation to heal, not to hate. And let's move forward together for a brighter tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Then, just moments ago, Jonathan Butler spoke. He's that graduate student who has been on a hunger strike as he protested against the university. And here's what he had to say about Tim Wolfe's resignation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN BUTLER, STUDENT: In terms of answering the question about the community, I definitely want to make sure that everything is centralized about the message of why we got here.

Please stop focusing on the fact of the Mizzou hunger strike itself. Look at, why did we have to get here in the first place and why the struggle and why did we have to fight the way that we did.

(APPLAUSE)

BUTLER: At the end of all this, after all the letters we have seen, all the in-person interactions, after all the forums we have attended, after all the tweets and D.M. that we have sent telling the administration about our pain, it should not have taken this much. And it is disgusting and vile that we find ourselves in the place that we do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Listen to this, some more reaction from the campus at word that the university president was stepping down. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have a leader that doesn't care. How do you expect other people to follow suit?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just like the beginning of it. This was just their way of getting attention.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And on this university, we have had some problems. So, for those to be addressed, it's good.

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: It is our duty to fight for our freedom.

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: It is our duty to fight for our freedom!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would love to see these other universities around the country, all of us work together to really make the change from the outside in, from the top down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: What triggered the President Wolfe's decision to leave the University of Missouri? Many believe that the final straw came from the football team threatening to boycott this weekend's game.

The tweet from coach Gary Pinkel, "The Mizzou family stands as one. We are united."

And joining me Ben Frederickson. He's a columnist for "The Saint Louis Post-Dispatch."

[15:05:03]

Ben, thanks so much for being with us to talk about this.

What's your reaction to the resignation of President Wolfe and also what do you see this as, as really just a beginning of something larger?

BEN FREDERICKSON, "THE SAINT LOUIS POST-DISPATCH": I think the reaction from the sports side of it is certainly interest in the football team taking the stance that it did early this weekend and then actually having the support of its football coach, Gary Pinkel, who came out and by standing with his players technically stood against his school's president.

And it wasn't for long because Tim Wolfe resigned this morning, but just the impact that that made and the ripple effect it will cause. That's something that is going to be examined because we're constantly talking about student athletes, collegiate student athletes having more and more power. You know that they are no longer on video where they don't get any money for using their likeness.

They are starting to realize that they have these ways to express themselves. When they band up together and decide they want to change something, a lot of times, people are going to listen, because it's their actions that result in a lot of money for their universities.

So how will that power be used moving forward I think is a really interesting question that we are going to have a pretty fascinating case study here in Columbia.

KEILAR: Sure. Yes. You say there might be a ripple effect. You said it will be interesting to see. But do you have any idea? Would you surprised if other teams, if other athletes didn't sort of follow suit and use this power that you describe in your column today?

FREDERICKSON: Yes, I think that everybody is waiting to see. Right? Will this open up Pandora's box?

I think one thing that will be really important for student athletes to realize is that, yes, you have this power now, but how are you going to use it? I think there's an argument to be made that maybe the football team weighed in before Tim Wolfe had a chance to maybe make some of the changes.

That's certainly that argument to be had. Did they put on their foot on the gas too fast and not give a chance for change to be made before they called for his job? That is something that can be discussed at length.

But they made that decision and now the big question is, will other teams follow in their path? It's one of those things with great power comes great responsibility. If you have football players striking and boycotting over small issues, then it's going to kind of lose its luster a little bit and then it could become problematic.

But I don't think this was that. I think these student athletes put a lot of thought into their decision. I think we're not sure whether they reached out to the organizers or the protest organizers reached out to them. Hopefully, we will have some more light on that this afternoon, when the football team will actually talk to the media for the first time at their media day.

But that's going to be a question is, now that this has happened, what's going to happen from here on out?

KEILAR: What happens next? And I wonder, Ben, and this is something we have been talking about sort of amongst ourselves -- should it have taken the football team or why isn't it that a walkout would be enough?

Why does it really -- it comes down to the football team making this statement? What's the commentary on that, do you think?

FREDERICKSON: Well, it's money. Let's be honest and call it for what it is.

There was a -- you mentioned Jonathan Butler. He was going into week two of a hunger strike. And this was still ongoing. And the football team basically forced the president out the door 48 hours after it announced its boycott. They missed one practice. They missed one practice. They canceled Sunday's yesterday's practice. They were not actually scheduled to practice today. It's a regular

off-day. They will have really kind of helped make this change come about by skipping one practice. The game is still on for Sunday -- or -- excuse me -- Saturday against BYU.

So that's what it takes. If Mizzou had to cancel that game against BYU, they would have owed a million dollars to BYU alone by the cancellation of the contract. And that's not taking into account the money lost by concessions, the money on ticket sales, all those things that come in as added surplus that they would have made.

You look at Tim Wolfe's salary, it's somewhere around $400,000. So, his annual salary was worth less than two BYU games, when you look at the dollars and cents, so that you can see why this it group has so much power and also why Gary Pinkel, as the coach of the Missouri football team, felt the need to back his players.

He didn't really have a choice. I think he will be celebrated for his stance. And maybe he should be, but he didn't really have a choice. He has to go out in these communities and recruit black athletes. Mizzou's student percentage of its undergraduate population is 7, 8 percent. That's about 69 percent of the scholarship football team when you look at the numbers on that side.

He had to be on the right side of this issue. It's going to be used against him in recruiting anyway. But at least now he can say, look, I was on their side.

KEILAR: Yes. You said it, money talks. I guess in this case, it's spoken. Right? Great column today, Ben Frederickson. Thanks so much for being with us.

FREDERICKSON: Thank you.

KEILAR: And we have more on our breaking news. Killer whale shows like ones that you maybe have seen certainly have been controversial in recent years, something like this, they could soon be a thing of the past as SeaWorld decides to phase out these orca shows in at least one park anyway.

[15:10:08]

This is coming after some major backlash that followed the CNN documentary "Blackfish." It exposed alleged mistreatment of orcas and also the deadly attacks on their SeaWorld trainers.

CNN's Paul Vercammen is back with me now.

Paul, it doesn't necessarily -- this is the thing we're trying to get at, right? It's not necessarily the end of killer whale shows completely because SeaWorld has said there's going to be some sort of orca experience and we don't really know what it is.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And that's exactly right.

And, in fact, just within the past five minutes, the CEO of SeaWorld came back to the investor relations conference and he told the questioners and people in the audience that they were listening to their guests and that they wanted a more natural experience for the orcas. He said basically that this show is going to be less theatrical, but he didn't go so far as to say that this would occur at other SeaWorld parks.

And in fact he also suggested also, talking about the bottom line, which they talk about at these investor conferences, he said perhaps it will be less expensive to put on such a theatrical show.

He also reminded everybody that SeaWorld has some 800 animal species, but again this orca show has been the centerpiece of their main drawing attraction for years and years. We're waiting to hear still more details as they begin to hash this out at an investors conference, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, this is ongoing. We know you're watching it. Paul Vercammen, thank you so much.

Let's talk about Ben Carson, because he says he's facing tougher scrutiny than any other candidate right now. One of his rivals says, are you kidding me? Why Chris Christie says he has no sympathy for candidates who complain about the media.

Plus, a new twist in the case of two police officers charged with murdering a 6-year-old boy. Did one of the cops know the father who was driving the car? Hear what happened in court moments ago.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:16:25]

KEILAR: We are a year out now from the 2016 presidential election. At this point, the Republican race is still wide open.

The current front-runner, Ben Carson, is slamming the media saying he's being attacked unlike any candidate in history and he says the burden isn't on him to prove that the details of his biography are accurate. But will unanswered questions hurt him because right now he's surging?

Just check out South Carolina, where he's now neck and neck with Donald Trump. Meantime, Jeb Bush could only hope for this kind of media and voter interest. He's trying to reboot, trying to shed his nice guy image, all of this as the next Republican debate is tomorrow.

And with me now, my office mate and chief political reporter Dana Bash.

And Patrick Stewart, he's an associate professor of political science at the University of Arkansas. He's also the author of "Debatable Humor."

Patrick, you did have this very interesting op-ed that I want to get to in just a second. But, Dana, first to you. I know you're there with Jeb Bush in

Waukesha, but let's talk about Carson. He's really running on his life story. There's all these questions about them. Are they going to hurt them?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So far, it doesn't seem to be the case if you just look at one test of that, which is money. He says that he's raised $3.5 million over the past several days, probably he says because of the media scrutiny.

There's no better target, as you well know, Bri, than the media, particularly when you're a conservative running as a conservative sort of to the right in a Republican primary season. But you know what, some of his rivals who have been politicians for awhile, who have been under the spotlight for awhile are basically saying, give me a break. Welcome to the big leagues. Listen to Chris Christie on "NEW DAY" this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R-NJ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have said this all along about Dr. Carson. We're all responsible for our own personal stories.

We are responsible for our own personal stories. We bring that personal story to you in the media to say, this is me, and this is why that makes me qualified, unique for a particular position that I'm seeking. So it is of course his burden. It absolutely is his burden. And I heard him this morning saying he's been more scrutinized than anybody in this race and it's unfair. Is he kidding?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And that really is the point, Bri, particularly when you're talking about outside candidates without a record of public service, without a voting record, without a record of proposing legislation or governing.

You only have to go on what they present and particularly in the case of Ben Carson, his whole reason for running and his whole celebrity is his personal story, some of the things that are now being questioned, whether it was the fact that he had a bad temper when he was a kid and he kind of redeemed himself, or the way that he kind of made his way into the Ivy Leagues from the urban area of Detroit.

That's why of course these issues are fundamental questions and even his business manager said so on "NEW DAY" this morning, Bri.

KEILAR: Patrick, you're hearing Ben Carson say that some of these questions he's getting are unfair, kind of alluding to the fact that they are gotcha questions. But you actually say some of these -- quote -- "gotcha questions" are helpful for candidates. How so?

PATRICK STEWART, UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS: Well, they are incredibly helpful for the public. And it also helps the candidate essentially address issues and show that they are intelligent and capable of responding to issues, but also having thought through who they are and how they present themselves. So, I think it's important for both the candidates and the general public.

[15:20:02]

KEILAR: How should they -- I guess here's my question. When you look at the sort of controversy over some of the things that Ben Carson has said recently, do you consider these to be gotcha questions?

STEWART: Oh, no, no, not at all. I think it's something we have seen since at least 1988 with Gary Hart and Donna Rice, where he said, look at my personal life. Since that time, we have looked at our candidates' personal lives and we vetted them because it has become more of a personalistic sort of system, where we look at our presidential candidates, we want to know them and we want to follow them as individuals.

KEILAR: Patrick Stewart, thanks so much. Dana Bash, thank you.

We have some new developments in the fatal police shooting of a 6- year-old. First, a judge set bond for two police officers at $1 million each. Both have been ordered to surrender their badges and their weapons. This is a high bond that is stemming from a shooting last Tuesday where a first-grader, Jeremy Mardis, was shot multiple times as police pursued his father's car.

Also new today, Jeremy's father, Chris Few, has just been upgraded from serious to fair condition. Jeremy is being laid to rest this afternoon in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Then there's this. Sources are telling CNN that one of the officers knew Jeremy's father.

And there's a lot obviously to talk about when we're looking at that little tidbit.

CNN's Nick Valencia joining us now from Marksville, Louisiana.

So many questions here, Nick, about what happened. We spoke to the mayor of the area. He really -- he had no idea, which was really surprising to me. This is a small town. I know there's a lot of rumors flying around. But what are you hearing definitively about what may have happened here?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly a bizarre set of circumstances, Brianna.

And everyone is asking questions. The two big ones, why police would have even begun to pursue Chris Few, the father of that 6-year-old boy who was fatally shot, and why would they use lethal force? Chris Few was found to be unarmed at the time of the shooting.

There have been several allegations, lots of rumors in this community. Lots of allegations of corruption. Hours ago, during the first hearing for the first court appearance for these two marshals, city marshals who were charged in the murder of the 6-year-old, people kept coming up to us, telling us stories that they had unfavorable encounters with either one or both of the officers. And now this, just a little while ago, I spoke to the mayor of Marksville, who has his own allegations of corruption in this city.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: There's a lot of allegations of corruption in this city, Mayor. Is this city corrupt?

JOHN LEMOINE, MAYOR OF MARKSVILLE, MISSISSIPPI: It depends on the way you look at it. I think, to an extent, it is. And there's some things that need to be taken care of and there's some things that need to be looked at very seriously.

VALENCIA: How do you address that as the mayor? Even the mayor of this city is saying that there's potential corruption in the city.

LEMOINE: I plan on meeting with the colonel from the state troopers and to get him to sit with us with the police department and see how we can iron things out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Adding to the confusion and perhaps making this situation even more bizarre is what a source told me yesterday. A source with close knowledge of the investigation saying that Norris Greenhouse, who is one of those arrested and charged with the murder of this 6- year-old, actually knew the victims prior to the shooting.

The extent of the relationship that he had with Chris Few and his girlfriend, Megan Dixon, how well they knew each other, for how long, that's all part of the Louisiana State Police investigation. It's certainly a big part of it. They're really focusing on this relationship between the city marshal and the victims, Brianna.

KEILAR: I will tell you in your interview there, Nick, I am struck by the nonchalance of that mayor in addressing corruption. It's really fascinating. We know you will continue to dig on this story. Nick Valencia in Marksville, thank you so much.

Next, President Obama meets with the Israeli president for the first time since the nuclear deal with Iran. Hear what happened behind closed doors.

Plus, damning photos emerge allegedly showing the aftermath of an attack by NFL star Greg Hardy on his former girlfriend. Now the Dallas Cowboys are forced to defend their choice to give him a second chance.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:28:17]

KEILAR: At the White House today, if a picture could tell the story, this really one might be it.

President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met today for the first time in more than a year and it was all business. The relationship is a tense one and has been for some time. But there was a lot of business to cover. And this is a visit that comes amid fresh violence between Israelis and Palestinians, including some in a video that we're about to show you.

I do want to warn you that this is pretty shocking video. Walks up to a checkpoint in the West Bank. She pulls out a knife and attacks the guard. She was shot and wounded. And the guard suffered some minor injuries.

So that is one of the things that we have seen going on as we look at this video. All right, you see it there, really disturbing video.

I want to bring in now CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski. She is at the White House.

This is really the context in which this meeting is happening.