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GOP Debate; Mizzou Tensions; Teen Killed in Chicago; Chicago Killings. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired November 10, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:17] BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there. I'm Brianna Keilar, in for Brooke Baldwin. In just a few hours, eight Republican candidates will take the main stage for their next big test. A national debate, the first one since the candidates and the Republican National Committee lashed out over supposed gotcha questions that CNBC moderators asked just 10 days ago. Jeb Bush has so much on the line tonight. Will he focus on the issues and risk coming off as wonky and, as Donald Trump likes to say, low energy, or is he going to try to come off as a more natural attack dog than he did last time? Ahead of the debate, his campaign is trying to show off a cooler candidate. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When I left, there were $9 billion in reserves. We reduced the state government workforce by 13,000. The one thing that Barack Obama and I would say Hillary Clinton and their philosophy, the people of their ilk, have proven is that the progressive agenda run amok has failed. What I proved as governor was that you can cut spending and still prioritize towards the things that matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: I want to bring in Maeve Reston now.

So, Maeve, this is interesting, and I'll tell you, I sort of smiled to myself when I see him start out in that ad running. It - we - it's sort of the same Jeb Bush I think a little bit. He's a little more energetic there off the top of the ad, but he's sort of struggled, obviously, to energize voters. You know, policy over this low energy thing. Is this really a change?

MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: Right.

KEILAR: Is this just the sort of gussied up Jeb Bush with some graphics and music?

RESTON: I think that's kind of a great way to put it. I mean we are seeing, obviously, Jeb Bush trying, as he has for many months, to show more energy and, you know, beat back against the Donald Trump attack on his - his low energy candidacy. But I think that - that he still will focus heavily on policy in this debate tonight and we will see still a feisty Jeb Bush. I mean even though in the last debate his attack on Marco Rubio kind of seemed to backfire a little bit on him, he hasn't backed away from taking Rubio to task for missed votes in the Senate. And I think we'll expect to see more from that tonight. And, of course, many of his donors and potential supporters will be watching. So there's a lot on the line.

KEILAR: Oh, there is so much on the line. It's really the thing to watch. Although you never really know what's going to happen at this - at these kinds of things. So we've heard a lot from Bush. We've heard a lot from his supporters and they're targeting Marco Rubio. Now he is responding. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Who has, I think, is something that the Republican Party needs to have, which is a hopeful, optimistic message based on our principles. I'm a huge Marco fan. He's probably the most articulate conservative on the scene today and the fortitude to be a good president. So proud of his high-voltage energy. I'm so proud of his enthusiasm. I'm so proud of his eloquence. I'm a huge Marco fan.

MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm Marco Rubio and I approved of this message.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: That is one effective ad, Maeve. That is, I mean -

RESTON: I mean it's -

KEILAR: It's amazing.

RESTON: Yes. It's - it's a - I mean it's a very smart strategy by his camp. And you saw a little bit of that from Rubio in the last debate, kind of reminding Jeb Bush, hey, wait a minute, you used to be a big supporter and fan of mine. And this is a very risky strategy for allies of Jeb Bush if they decide to go as hard as has been reported after Rubio. There are a lot of Bush supporters, particularly donors, who are very uncomfortable with that strategy. They don't want to see Rubio, who is a potential - you know, very much a potential nominee, be damaged in this early process. And this is sort of the tricky navigation that you see often in the Republican primary. So Jeb Bush has a very fine line to walk tonight. And Rubio may end up benefitting if the attacks do keep on coming.

KEILAR: Yes. Jeb Bush getting a preview of Marco Rubio's playbook there.

All right, Maeve Reston, thanks so much. Always good to see you.

RESTON: Thanks.

KEILAR: And, you know, there's a different kind of pressure on every candidate. Plenty of must-dos to go around. I want to discuss now with Daniel Halper. He is the online editor at

"The Weekly Standard." And we also have Jackie Kucinich. She is senior politics editor for "The Daily Beast."

So, Daniel, what do you think that Jeb Bush needs to do tonight so that he can change the narrative?

DANIEL HALPER, ONLINE EDITOR, "THE WEEKLY STANDARD": Well, look, nobody's going to come out there and win the Republican nomination tonight. Let's get that over with, right? So and no - it's not going to - nobody's going to win the rest of the contest and it's not going to be over. But there are going to be some people perhaps who might lose their chance at winning the Republican nomination tonight.

Jeb Bush is in that category. If he has another bad night tonight, there's going to be a lot of calls among a lot of Republicans for him to, you know, maybe step aside. This year wasn't his year. Maybe he shouldn't tarnish his family name. Those sorts of things. So there's a lot riding on here.

[14:05:01] How he gets beyond that is very, very tricky. As you say, if he starts attacking Marco Rubio, well, he could - he could look like, you know, he's attacking this - his former mentee. If he doesn't attack him, then it looks - could look like he's low energy. So it's very tricky. I think he can't really attack. I think He's best sort of laying out a positive vision for America and how he will lead people there and forget about the candidates on stage, he needs to look presidential if he's going to be able to do it. I do think it's a tall task. It's perhaps possible, but we'll have to see.

KEILAR: Yes, it - he's really in an unenviable position I think going into this debate.

But when you look past Bush and Rubio in this dust-up there, there's another really interesting matchup we'll see tonight between Donald Trump and Ben Carson. And Trump actually went after his fellow frontrunner last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You stab somebody and the newspapers say you didn't do it. And you said, yes, I did. I did it. No, you didn't. Yes, I did. I stabbed him and it hit the belt. And they said, you didn't do it. If they said I didn't do it, I'd be so happy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Jackie, you can argue that Trump really effectively branded Jeb Bush as low energy. Now he seems to be taking this to other candidates. He's been hitting Marco Rubio over the moment, we actually have some video of it, in 2013 when he gave the Republican rebuttal to the State of the Union and he reached for water during his televised response. Are - do you think that Marco Rubio and others are in danger of being defined by Donald Trump? JACKIE KUCINICH, SENIOR POLITICS EDITOR, "THE DAILY BEAST": You know,

the test in - what we've seen with other candidates is when they engage Donald Trump, it is a losing proposition. So Marco Rubio has sort of chosen the high road when it comes to Trump so far, at least on that debate stage, where he just talks about himself. He talks about - he fends off Jeb Bush, but mainly sticks to his message. So I would be surprised if he pushes back against Trump.

Now, Carson's been really interesting. Before he was sort of just absorbing the Trump putdowns and talking about himself and saying I'm not going to get dragged down. That was a very different Ben Carson than we've seen in the last two weeks with his life story under attack. So you have to wonder if he's going to push back tonight because as we all know, it's highly unlikely Trump is going to pull any punches.

KEILAR: Yes, highly unlikely. I think that's a good - a good bet. That would - that leads me to my next question, which would be, just from both of you, before I let you go, what is the surprise going to be tonight? What do you think? Jackie, you first.

KUCINICH: I don't know if it's a surprise, but with Carson and Trump fighting, and Jeb and Rubio fighting, Ted Cruz, keep an eye on him. He is someone that conservatives like. And the establishment is starting to raise their eyebrows because Ted Cruz has done so well in this debate. He's shown that he can raise money. So keep an eye on him. I bet he'll have a good debate.

KEILAR: OK. Daniel, what do you think?

HALPER: Yes, look, I think the Rubio/Bush dynamic is going to be huge and probably the story of the night. Certainly either one of them and obviously you have to look out for Carson. How is he going to respond now that he's under - now that he's, you know, now that there's all these questions about him and his autobiography and how he's described it. So I'm going to be looking very closely to see how Ben Carson can respond and whether or not he's effective.

KEILAR: All right, we will see tomorrow what shakes out of this evening.

Jackie Kucinich, Daniel Halper, guys, thanks so much.

HALPER: Thank you.

KEILAR: And be sure to watch tonight at 11:00 p.m. Eastern. We have a special post debate wrap up. You can join Anderson Cooper for a look at the issues that dominated the discussion, the surprise moments that we are expecting. See who came out ahead. We'll have that right here for you on CNN.

Mizzou students making new demands after they forced the resignation of their president. I'll be speaking live with a former Mizzou receiver who says the resignation is ridiculous. Hear why.

Plus, a teenager leaves Chicago to escape violence and when he comes back he's shot to death walking home from the barber shop. You'll hear from his mother as violence there spirals out of control.

And as the U.S. gets more confident a bomb took down that Russian passenger jet, are American flights at risk? CNN goes inside a bomb factory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is how many feet per second are we talking about there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thirty thousand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:13:25] KEILAR: The leadership fallout at the University of Missouri is not stopping some faculty from walking out today. And this is a sign that the resignation of University President Tim Wolfe and Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin is supposed to be the beginning and certainly not the end of changes at the campus. The chancellor said that he would leave at the end of the year. Student protesters accused him and President Wolfe of not doing enough to address their complaints of racism on campus. But many believe the breaking point really came when Mizzou's football players threatened to boycott Saturday's game against BYU if President Wolfe did not step down. A no show would have cost the university a million dollar fine and after this leadership shakeup, Coach Gary Pinkel spoke about why he backed his players.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY PINKEL, FOOTBALL COACH, UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI: I just know my players were suffering and they felt awful. And again, I'm like their dad, you know, and I'm going to help them in any way I can. They asked me if I would support them and then I said I would. I didn't look at consequences. That wasn't about it at the time. It was about helping my players and supporting my players when they needed me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: I'm going to turn now to a former receiver for the University of Missouri Tigers. T.J. Moe with us here.

And, T.J., you said that Coach Pinkel, he really had no choice but to back his players. But you're citing - some people have said it had to do with money, but you're citing a different reason. Why do you think he had to back his players?

T.J. MOE, FORMER FOOTBALL PLAYER, UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI: Well, to deal with recruiting. I mean you look at the - any given position group. I don't know that there's been a starting corner at the University of Missouri that has been a Caucasian, a white player, in years. There's very few white receivers, very few white defensive linemen. And if you want to continue to recruit African-American players, and you're showing them that you won't stand behind them and something that they believe in, I don't know that you'd be ever - ever be able to do that again.

[14:15:18] KEILAR: Yes, it's an interesting point you bring up. Actually one that a local sports columnist there brought up yesterday as well saying part of it was money and part of it is just what you described there. But I also know that you say it's ridiculous that President Wolfe resigned. Why do you say that?

MOE: Well, I mean, let's be honest, he didn't resign by choice. This wasn't a voluntary action. He came out with a statement yesterday - well, two days ago now, stating that he wants to come to the negotiation table and he'd like to get this thing together and work as hard as he can to come to a solution. The very next day he walks out and says, the buck stops here, I'm resigning. So let's not act like he just said, you know, I can't do the job anymore.

I think it's sort of ridiculous that we're blaming a man who is in charge of 35,000 students and there's been three documented cases, and let's not act like there's not racism everywhere, there is, but there's been three documented cases and I don't know how you stop those people. If we're always going to blame the leaders of what's going on, then we need to remove the president of the United States and the governor of every state because there's a lot of murders that happen frequently and if we're just going straight to the top and blaming that person, I think that's an issue.

KEILAR: I do - I want to ask you about something, and this was eye opening to me when I saw this video. This is Tim Wolfe talking to students, kind of confronting them, on the Kansas City campus. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM WOLFE, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI: I will give you an answer, and I'm sure it will be a wrong answer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You gonna Google it?

WOLFE: I will give you an answer, I'm sure it will be a wrong answer.

(CROSS TALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tim Wolfe, what do you think systematic oppression is?

WOLFE: It's - systematic oppression is because you don't believe that you have the equal opportunity for success.

(CROSS TALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you (EXPLETIVE DELETED) did you just blame us for systemic oppression, Tim Wolfe?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: I mean you can kind of see there, T.J., how he sort of steps in it because he's dismissing the students' concerns. He says, you don't believe - it's sort of this like, I'm sorry that you feel this way kind of apology, which is, you know, never goes over well. I mean isn't it in some way might he be a part of the problem?

MOE: You know, honestly, I don't know that he wasn't a part of the problem, but I don't think we know that he was either. And just now they asked him a question about his definition of systemic oppression. How do we know that he was talking directly to those people. He was giving his definition, which, by the way, is very wrong and something he needs to go look up. That's not what systematic oppression is. But he's not talking directly to these people. And I don't know that having a wrong definition of a word is cause for firing.

KEILAR: I do want you to hear now from Payton Head. He is the president of the Missouri Student Association. He says the incidents of racism are not on the rise. But it's really the students and their response that has changed. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAYTON HEAD, PRESIDENT, MISSOURI STUDENTS ASSOCIATION: We are not seeing more incidents. What we're seeing is students who are empowered to speak about these incidents on their campuses around the nation. The University of Missouri is by no means a bad school. What we're seeing right here is that students are empowered to speak up about what is happening here. And it's empowering other students around the nation to speak up about what is happening on their campuses as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Payton Head - I mean Payton Head is basically saying, it's not that things - there's been some uptick in this. It's that we're finally fed up and we feel like we're empowered to do something about it. I know you - you went to Mizzou starting the 2009-2010 school year. What - did you see anything that sort of rings true to what you've heard about?

MOE: Well, I don't think he's wrong at all. In fact, we're living in 2015. This is probably the least racist time in history. Like, we progress every year. Imagine going back to the '70s with today's generation. Everyone would be fighting in the streets. It would be absolute chaos. So we're in a position right now where we're in the least racist time in history, but because of the national media, because you have people like Dylann Roof who is willing to murder nine people in a church just because of their color, there are some big instances and we have some issues. Now, they're being reported and there's more awareness to them and that's great, but I think he's absolutely right. I don't think there's any difference from today. In fact, I actually think it's better and we still need to work to minimize that. But I don't know that -

KEILAR: Is there - I guess I'm getting at - wasn't there some sort of incident while you were there that had to do with the black cultural center?

MOE: Yes.

KEILAR: Tell me about that.

MOE: That was 2010 actually. There was a group of ROTC white member students who I think it was 3:00 a.m. in the morning decided it would be funny to go to Walmart, get some cotton balls and throw them in the bushes of the black culture center. They were later caught. I think it took a few months. They figured out who it was and I think they were expelled and charged with a hate crime.

[14:20:19] KEILAR: OK. So that's something that you sort of witnessed firsthand. I know you say that you feel like these things sort of exist across the board. We heard some of that from Peyton Head as well. I am curious, having taken this stance where you say it's ridiculous that President Wolfe resigned, are you getting any backlash from that? Social media backlash or criticism?

MOE: Yes, go read my Twitter. That - you know, what's -

KEILAR: Tell us about it.

MOE: This is - this is the most upsetting part of this whole thing, right? So when this whole thing started, what I did - the first thing I did before I sent out any opinions or even formed my own opinion, is texted some of my good friends. Kim English (ph), who's a former black player, a basketball player at Missouri. Wes Campel (ph) is a receiver with me. Ladanian Washington (ph) was a receiver with me. Tommy Sanders (ph). And there's a group of guys that I wanted to get their input and try to figure out exactly what their side of the story is. And you see that people have no understanding of what the other side is like. And if we just seek to understand each other, then people will then have a much higher tolerance, right? Like it doesn't make sense just to look at somebody and say, well, obviously, that guy is - is way too sensitive and forget about him. Like, you know how many people I've had say, fine, if they don't want to play football, take all their scholarships. Well, that's a ridiculous idea and assessment.

And there's white people on my Twitter timeline that are saying, forget all these people. They don't matter. They're so sensitive. They're ridiculous. There's no such thing as oppression. Clearly, they are wrong. There's also black people on my Twitter that look at me and say, not only are you an idiot, be the world would be better without you, kill yourself. So you have both sides, right? And then there's a lot of people that just say, thank you for your input. And that's where I am.

KEILAR: Yes.

MOE: I can disagree with people and try to understand where they're at. And after talking to a few of my close buddies who hold differing opinions, then I have a better understanding and I feel like - like it's OK. We don't have to agree on everything. We're never going to have the same experiences in life, therefore I'm going to see it through my eyes differently than you're going to see it through your eyes and it's OK to disagree. We can love each other just as well without agreeing on everything in life.

KEILAR: Yes. And that's why we wanted to have you on to sort of seek out some understanding here. T.J. Moe, really appreciate it. Thank you.

MOE: All right, thanks for having me.

KEILAR: And next, a heartbreaking day in Chicago as the city mourns the loss of a nine-year-old boy. He was laid to rest today. He was lured into an alley and shot to death, an apparent victim of gang violence. And today emotions were running high.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just leapt up out of this church, saw a nine- year-old boy lying in a casket. Where is the Black Lives Matter movement now?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Susan Johnson is going to join me next. She is the executive director of a group that is pushing for peace in Chicago. And she spoke today at the service for this little boy. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:27:15] KEILAR: Just moments ago, family and friends said good-bye to nine-year-old Tyshawn Lee in Chicago. Police say he was lured into a dark alley and brutally gunned down last week by gunman suspected of being his father's gang rivals. Hundreds filed into this church on the city's south side. CNN's Ryan Young reports that police officers were stationed on every block around the church. Tyshawn's killer is still on the loose.

And to add to this tragedy, there's now another mom in Chicago mourning the violent death of her teenage son. Police say the 14-year- old was killed just days after moving back to Chicago. His mother moved her family to Virginia to escape the city's violence, but recently decided to come back home. CNN affiliate WLS' Michelle Gallardo has more on this tragic twist of fate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIE J.R. FLEMING, COMMUNITY ACTIVIST: Today a mother's worst fear became a reality.

MICHELLE GALLARDO, WLS REPORTER (voice-over): J'Quantae, a 14-year-old boy's name is spelled out in candles on the Anglewood (ph) sidewalk where last night he was gunned down, shot in the back near 59th and Oakly (ph) as he walked home from a local barbershop with friends. Tonight, dozens gathered to remember J'Quantae Riles. His mother, inconsolable. His grandmother, furious.

CAROLYN MARSHALL, GRANDSON KILLED: Whoever know who these kids is that were shooting at my grandchild, I want them to speak up. I want them caught and go to jail because my grandson didn't do nothing to nobody.

GALLARDO: Police say the shooting was gang related and believes J'Quantae may have had gang ties. His friends deny it. In an interview earlier today, his mother, Franika Marshall, who is six months pregnant with twins, told ABC 7 the family moved back from Virginia just 10 days ago. She had left Chicago precisely to get away from the violence. But things just didn't work out.

FRANIKA MARSHALL, SON KILLED: I am so tired of being scared for my baby. I was so tired of being scared, I just - I tried to leave everything. I left everything. I did.

GALLARDO: Franika says last night she helped her son with his homework, then walked him to the barbershop. She thought he'd be OK walking home because others were with him. Instead, just after 9:30 came a knock on the door. J'Quantae was dead.

F. MARSHALL: He was a friendly kid. Like, he always wanted to fit in, you know, and just be cool with everybody.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Joining me now is Susan Johnson. She's the executive director of Chicago's Citizens for Change, which has started a new anti- violence program called Chicago Survivors.

Susan, tell us about your group. I know they've been working with Tyshawn Lee's family. That's the nine-year-old boy who was shot in an alley near his grandmother's house. You just spoke at the funeral today. How's his family doing?

[14:30:05] SUSAN JOHNSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CHICAGO'S CITIZENS FOR CHANGE: His family is devastated. They're coming together around Tyshawn's death, but it will be years before the family can make a - any serious kind of recovery from this.