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Reports of Armed Person at UNC Chapel Hill; War on ISIS: U.K. and Germany Vote on Expanding Roles; Jury Expected to be Seated in Cop's Trial. Aired 9-9:30a ET
Aired December 02, 2015 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[09:00:06] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, new poll, Donald Trump hammering the competition and still hammering his 9/11 celebration claims.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There were a lot of happy people over in New Jersey.
COSTELLO: His campaign claims there's proof.
TRUMP: And things are all of a sudden materializing.
COSTELLO: So what's he talking about?
Also, protesters claiming a cover-up in Chicago over the shooting death of Laquan McDonald. The top cop is out.
SPIKE LEE, DIRECTOR, "CHI-RAQ": They are calling for Rahm's neck, too. His head.
COSTELLO: Could the mayor be next?
MAYOR RAHM EMANUEL, CHICAGO: I think I'm doing my job and I try to do it every day.
COSTELLO: Plus, a dire warning about ISIS.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our luck is going to run out and they're going to be able to achieve something along the lines of what we saw in Paris.
COSTELLO: Right now, Secretary of State John Kerry urging NATO allies to step up the fight. As our allies put it up to a vote.
Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.
New polls are out this morning and new shockwaves are rippling through the Republican presidential race. This one coming from Quinnipiac University. Donald Trump surging, building on his lead, picking up from a few points from last month. Marco Rubio also, though, also gaining and now sitting in second place. And Ben Carson he's fading, sliding into a third place tie with Ted Cruz.
Trump credits the unwavering support of his backers, even in the face of claims that many are questioning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They say that I have the most loyal people. You know, others if you sneeze, they drop you. Me, I can sneeze. I can say things that I think are right. But you notice what's happening in New Jersey? They're now finding a lot of people are saying yes, that did take place in New Jersey, right? I wasn't going to apologize. I wasn't going to apologize. A lot of things happened today where they were dancing and they were happy. There were a lot of happy people over in New Jersey. And I saw it and a lot of people saw it. And I'm getting hundreds of phone calls and a lot of other people are, too. And things are all of a sudden materializing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Those comments in a rally last night in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire. That's where we find CNN senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny and here in Washington, senior digital correspondent Chris Moody.
Welcome to both of you but, Jeff, I want to start off with you. Good morning.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol. I mean, Donald Trump says his supporters are the most loyal. And on that count he might be right. For months now he has led all national Republican polls but he has not expanded his lead in the ranks of other candidates. He stayed right around 25 percent to 30 percent. But last night at an appearance here in New Hampshire, he spent more time talking about the Democratic side. Hillary Clinton's in particular. A lot of bravado when he said he is the strongest candidate to take her on. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Very importantly, I'm killing -- we are just destroying Hillary. We're beating Hillary. Badly. We're beating her badly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: But let's put our fact-checking hats on this morning, Carol. In this new Quinnipiac Poll that's out, he's actually not at all. Clinton is ahead of him by some six percentage points. This head-to- head matchup shows that she is at 47 percent and he is at 41 percent. Bernie Sanders is beating him, too. So on that score at least, he was not right when he says that he's beating her badly. But he did spend a little bit of time attacking some of his other Republican rivals.
But, Carol, he is still leading this Republican field. It's causing so much frustration to party leaders who worry about what he will do in the general election should he become the nominee.
COSTELLO: All right. Jeff Zeleny, thanks.
Now to you, Chris. Marco Rubio in this poll is gaining ground, and not just among his fellow Republicans. Tell us about that.
CHRIS MOODY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, as opposed to Donald Trump who Mr. Zeleny said is losing to Hillary Clinton in a national head-to-head matchup, Marco Rubio looks at this poll, and if he's looking at the long game, and I know that he is, he's seeing something he likes. He is in a statistical tie with Hillary Clinton, according to this poll, which is something he can show to donors, it's something he can show to the GOP establishment and say, hey, look, I'm your guy if you want to play the long game here. We can make it to November. And I can have a chance against Hillary Clinton. But for Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton's advancement is really widening against him.
COSTELLO: All right. Chris Moody, Jeff Zeleny, thanks so much for parsing the polls.
Trump says his followers are loyal. And that may be true. Trump's support is at 27 percent, as Jeff said, but it's not growing much. It's kind of stuck there. In the meantime, Cruz and Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are surging. And on the other side, Hillary Clinton's support is growing. It is now at 60 percent.
So let's talk about this with Katrina Pierson. She's with the Trump campaign. Welcome.
[09:05:01] KATRINA PIERSON, TRUMP CAMPAIGN SUPERVISOR: Hi, Carol. Thank you.
COSTELLO: Thanks for being here. Why can't Mr. Trump get past 30 percent?
PIERSON: Well, because of all the candidates in the race. And you'll notice that as candidates shift, those points move. There's really not much competition over on the Democrat side. But I would like to do a little fact-check for CNN considering the last report. Donald Trump was beating Hillary Clinton in the last poll. In fact five Republicans are beating Hillary Clinton. So it's really not fair for CNN to say Donald Trump was lying.
COSTELLO: We're talking about this Quinnipiac poll. And it does not show Donald Trump destroying Hillary Clinton.
PIERSON: What came out this morning --
COSTELLO: And this doesn't show that.
PIERSON: Carol, that poll came out at 6:00 a.m. And you guys used footage from last night. That is not fair.
COSTELLO: So is the poll wrong? This Quinnipiac poll? PIERSON: No. CNN's reporting is wrong. You used the video clip from
last night when Trump said he was beating Hillary Clinton because he was.
COSTELLO: No.
PIERSON: This poll came out at 6:00 a.m. this morning.
COSTELLO: So Trump would now say today that he is not destroying Hillary Clinton?
PIERSON: Yes. The poll today says she's now beating the other Republicans but the poll that he was speaking to before 6:00 a.m. said five Republicans were beating her. So I just wanted to correct the record.
COSTELLO: OK. So let's go back to my first point about why Donald Trump remains at 27 -- 30 percent support. Some cites Pat Buchanan ran for president in 1996. He won in New Hampshire, he finished second in Iowa, but he lost to Dole once the other candidates dropped out. Some analysts say that's going to happen to Donald Trump. That when the other weaker candidates drop out, the support won't go to Donald Trump but might go to Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.
PIERSON: Well, I think it could go pretty much anywhere at this point, Carol, considering the analysts have been wrong on Donald Trump since day one. But Donald Trump actually went up in this poll. And here we are in December. So I do think we're going to continue to see more shifts as other candidates drop out.
COSTELLO: Well, Donald Trump in this most recent poll, this Quinnipiac poll, it did find that 59 percent found Trump untrustworthy. Might that be a reason why he's not gone past that 30 percent support?
PIERSON: Well, not necessarily. When you consider all the media coverage like I just pointed out has been not really fair. But I will say that in this poll, Carol, Donald Trump is winning among the women --
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: Let's go back to the untrustworthiness thing, the 59 percent.
PIERSON: Sure.
COSTELLO: Find him untrustworthy. You say that's the media's fault and not Mr. Trump's?
PIERSON: No. I said it's not surprising considering the media coverage. But let's also not forget to point out some very important numbers in this poll, considering support among women. You've had the media saying for months that Donald Trump is alienating women. He's not getting women's support. He wins women in this poll and more importantly he wins on jobs, the economy and terrorism. And those are going to be the determining factors when the voting begins.
COSTELLO: OK. Well, let's go back to the untrustworthy number because that is important when you come to a general election and a primary, right?
PIERSON: Sure.
COSTELLO: Those numbers are important. Hillary Clinton by the way is at 60 percent untrustworthiness. Right? So Donald Trump has to think about this number.
PIERSON: Absolutely.
COSTELLO: Rudy Giuliani, we had him on yesterday, he's the former New York City mayor. He had this to say about Donald Trump and his record of sometimes questionable claims. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: What's going on in this election? Why is Donald Trump allowed to say things had you said that when you were running for president, what would have happened?
(LAUGHTER)
RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: I would have been thrown out of the race. He's judged by a different standard. Maybe it's because of his background on "The Apprentice" and an entertainer, and the fact that all -- he's been a big personality. He almost, like, speaks in headlines, gets your attention. And then -- and then a lot of the points he makes are very substantive. But the headline turns out to be exaggerated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: OK. So the headline turns out to be exaggerated. Might that lend to his untrustworthiness among some voters?
PIERSON: Well, I'm sure that does to some people. But just, you know, pointing off what Rudy Giuliani was talking about, particularly here on your show as well, was the 9/11 claims. And I just like to point out that we have since flipped the script on that topic considering that headline was the simple fact that it did not happen. Every anchor on CNN was saying that there were not Muslims cheering in the streets in America on 9/11. It did not happen. All of a sudden, these reports and claims came out, Carol.
COSTELLO: No, no, no.
PIERSON: Let me finish.
COSTELLO: There were not thousands of people cheering.
(CROSSTALK)
PIERSON: When these reports came out -- no, you're absolutely right. COSTELLO: There just weren't.
PIERSON: You're absolutely right on the comments today.
COSTELLO: That is wrong.
PIERSON: But let me point this out. That was not the original claim by CNN and other networks. The claim was it did not happen, period. And since then we have found out --
COSTELLO: OK. So -- OK, lay it out then. Lay it out then.
PIERSON: Now we're talking about the quantity --
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: Then lay it out. What exactly is Donald Trump saying about Muslims celebrating? Was it six, was it a dozen or was it thousands and thousands? What's his line now?
PIERSON: Well -- what Mr. Rudy Giuliani couldn't even tell you. He said 12, 15, nobody really --
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: He said anywhere from a dozen to 40. That's what he said. Bernie Kerik backed him up.
[09:10:05] PIERSON: But he doesn't know either.
COSTELLO: What's Donald Trump saying now?
PIERSON: But he doesn't know either. Donald Trump is saying what he remembers seeing, which now several other people on networks, including anchors, say they remember seeing. It wasn't in intelligence report.
COSTELLO: Nobody remembers seeing thousands and thousands of Muslims celebrating in the United States after 9/11.
PIERSON: Carol, it was not an intelligence report that he went out to the American public and said a video started the Benghazi attacks. It wasn't something like that. It was something he recalled and he simply said it. You guys changed it and made it out of quantity instead of quality.
COSTELLO: Doesn't quantity matter? Doesn't six people celebrating differ from thousands and thousands? Isn't that different?
PIERSON: So you're saying there were only six now? You have confirmed reports of six?
COSTELLO: I don't know. I don't know.
PIERSON: Exactly. Mr. Trump was saying what he saw. There was not an intelligence report saying that. He was simply just telling people what he saw. But since we found out that these things did occur, all of a sudden the media is focused on the number of people who were there. No one took a head count. And that's what's so disturbing when it comes to some of these media reports.
COSTELLO: OK --
PIERSON: At first you said it didn't happen and it did.
COSTELLO: This is the last thing I'm going to say about this. If no one took a head count, including Mr. Trump, why would he say that publicly as a man running for president?
PIERSON: Because he's saying what he saw and what he remembers, which many other people have said that today as well, Carol.
COSTELLO: All right.
PIERSON: So all I'm saying is, don't say it didn't happen and then accuse Mr. Trump of lying about something that did happen and then not go back and correct the record on what actually happened.
COSTELLO: We've been correcting the record ever since that's why we had Rudy Giuliani and Bernie Kerik --
PIERSON: So how many are there? How many?
COSTELLO: According to Rudy Giuliani, there was maybe a dozen or maybe as many as 40. Bernie Kerik says --
PIERSON: And even he says he doesn't remember. They say they don't remember for sure.
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: They don't --
PIERSON: There are a number of reports.
COSTELLO: They did not see it with their own eyes. They did not.
Katrina Pierson --
PIERSON: But you agree it happened, right?
COSTELLO: Thousands and thousands of Muslims were not celebrating after 9/11, no, that did not happen.
Thanks for being with me this morning. I appreciate it.
PIERSON: Thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: OK. Let's move on to Chicago now. Outrage in Chicago. The mayor forcing the police superintendent out and now protesters say Rahm Emanuel could be next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: Show us your hands. Show us your hands.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Protesters claiming a cover-up accusing Rahm Emanuel of protecting police during his run for re-election. Here's "Chi-Raq" director, Spike Lee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEE: For me, from afar, it looks like head had to roll. And was it going to be Rahm? So he had to go. Who made the decision why this tape was held so long and who saw the tape? So the day before the judge orders the tape be released, the officer gets indicted? Shenanigans to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: McCarthy's dismissal following angry protests over the police killing of a black teenager shot 16 times last year. Now the Department of Justice is being asked to step in.
Ryan Young is in Chicago with more for you. Good morning.
RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Tough times here in Chicago. In fact, a small number of protesters went to city hall yesterday trying to push their way into the mayor's office. That didn't happen. But a lot of people are chanting, one down, two to go.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
YOUNG (voice-over): Days of protests in Chicago leading to one official calling for a federal investigation into the Chicago Police Department. Illinois's attorney general sending a request to the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. This as a Chicago Police Board is set to begin a nationwide search for a new superintendent.
EMANUEL: He has become an issue rather than dealing with the issue. And a distraction.
YOUNG: The firing of Chicago Police Superintendent Gary McCarthy continued fallout over the city's handling of the brutal shooting of Laquan McDonald by Officer Jason Van Dyke. The video of the teen who died in a hail of 16 bullets igniting days of outrage and growing distrust.
EMANUEL: Now is the time for fresh eyes and new leadership.
YOUNG: Reacting to the pressure Tuesday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced a new task force to review how the city trains its officers. But many now wonder if the mayor and Cook County prosecutor's jobs could also be in jeopardy, accusations swirling that the city tried to keep the shooting under wraps during re-election season, shelling out a $5 million settlement to the McDonald family before a lawsuit was even filed. EMANUEL: I think I'm doing my job and I try to do it every day and do
it in a professional manner.
YOUNG: A second dash cam video shows McDonald running across a Burger King parking lot moments before the shooting, also fueling suspicions of a cover-up, allegations that Chicago police deleted footage from that Burger King surveillance camera that may have captured moments leading up to the shooting.
MICHAEL ROBBINS, ATTORNEY FOR MCDONALD FAMILY: There was about, I think, it's 83 minutes of video that was missing.
YOUNG: The prosecutor insisting that the tape was not tampered with.
ANITA ALVAREZ, COOK COUNTY STATE'S ATTORNEY: At this point, we don't know whether or not, you know, there could be any other evidence obtained from them. It doesn't appear that they've been tampered with and did not reveal that kind of evidence. However, the investigation will always continue.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
YOUNG: Carol, we wanted to show you that last part right there about what happened with this video at Burger King. We're told an audit, a forensic audit has been done. It doesn't show tampering but, of course, we are focusing on that partially because we're trying to see if the 86 minutes that are missing from that was tampered with or what happened to it. Something that we're still waiting for a comment from Burger King about to officially find out what was going on with their system.
But we did do a physical audit went out there and didn't think the cameras pointed in the direction of where the shooting occurred -- Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Ryan Young reporting live from Chicago -- thanks so much.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
COSTELLO: All right. I do have breaking news to tell you about. There are reports of an armed person at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The school has issued an alert. There is a heavy presence on campus. I'm talking about police, but students and faculty and other people are being told to remain inside at the university. We're still gathering information on this story and, of course, will pass it along as we get it in house.
Still to come on the NEWSROOM: today could be a game changer in the war against ISIS. Two major U.S. allies debating whether they will expand their role in the fight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:20:40] COSTELLO: New developments overnight in the war on ISIS. Officials say four men have been arrested in Luton, England, for their involvement in acts of terror. Searches now underway in connection with the investigation.
In the meantime, just 30 miles south in London, a major debate is taking place in the house of parliament. British lawmakers are deciding whether to expand airstrikes against the Islamic State.
All of this as Germany gets set to vote on deploying reconnaissance aircraft to help countries pinpoint ISIS targets. Secretary of State John Kerry has applauded both country's initiatives and specifically cited Prime Minister David Cameron who spoke before his parliament this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We face the fundamental threat to our security. ISIL have brutally murdered British hostages. They've inspired the worst terrorist attack against British people since 7/7 on the beaches of Tunisia, and they've plotted atrocity after atrocity on the streets here at home. Since November last year, our security services have foiled no fewer than seven different plots against our people.
So, this threat is very real and the question is this: do we work with our allies to degrade and destroy this threat, and do we go after these terrorists in their heartlands for where they are plotting to kill British people, or do we sit back and wait for them to attack us?
(END VIDEOI CLIP)
COSTELLO: CNN's Max Foster live in London with more on this.
Good morning, Max.
MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Carol, very emotive language coming from the British prime minister today, describing ISIS as rapists, as butchers, those medieval monsters, even. What he's trying to say is this is a case of self-defense. ISIS are planning attacks on the U.K., and as a result, Britain needs to join the international coalition to take on ISIS in its homeland in Syria.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAMERON: Daesh have been trying to attack us for the last year as we know from the seven different blocks that our security forces have foiled. The terrorist threat level to the U.K. was raised to severe last August, in the light of the threat from Daesh, meaning attack is highly likely, two minutes. Eight hundred people, including families and children have been radicalized to such an extent that they traveled to this so-called caliphate. The house should be under no illusion, these terrorists are plotting to kill us and radicalize our children right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: The vote for air strikes in Syria, probably going to go through. He has actually suggested anyone that votes against it is a terrorist sympathizer, which hasn't gone well with the opposition parties here. Also, hours of debate to go before that vote, and what he needs to do is convince all the parliamentarians here is this can work without ground forces.
He's urging though, there are rebel groups on the ground. There are effectively ground forces for the coalition troops. But they don't really coordinate together. So, you have to convince a few MPs of that.
And then if the vote does go on later tonight and it's a yes, you could have British warplanes in the skies over Syria by tomorrow -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Max Foster reporting live from London this morning.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM: the jury in the Freddie Gray trial should be seated by day's end. With such a public case, can any jury be unbiased? We'll talk about that, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:28:18] COSTELLO: All right. This just in to CNN, an important update.
The University of North Carolina issuing an all-clear after unconfirmed reports earlier of an armed person on campus. That notice coming after classes were temporarily suspended on the threat. The UNC campus will resume normal activities. Again, everything back to normal and safe at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Good news this morning.
In Baltimore, a jury is expected to be seated today in the trial of William Porter. One of the six officers charged in the killing of Freddie Gray. Attorneys spent the last two days sifting through 150 potential candidates trying to find a fair and impartial group. But new details about the jury pool are raising skepticism over how well that process is actually working.
Out of the 150 people questioned, all say they knew about Gray's death. And all but one say they were aware of the city's financial settlement with Gray's family. Perhaps even more concerning, at least two people admitted to knowing the victim, Freddie Gray. It's unknown whether they were dismissed.
CNN's Jean Casarez is covering this. She's in Baltimore. Good morning.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
You know, late yesterday afternoon, when it was finished, I saw the attorneys come out of that conference room where they had been doing individual questioning, along with the judge and the defendant, I saw a sigh of relief just in their body language as they came out. So, I think they believe they have to final jury pool where they can select the final jury. And that is starting right now in the courthouse behind me. The final jury for the Freddie Gray case with the defendant William Porter is beginning right now.
Now, the defendant, William Porter, he is charged with very serious offenses, involuntary manslaughter, second degree assault are the two most serious. They both are ten years maximum in prison and so, he could serve at least 20 years if convicted of those two alone.
