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Mix Up at the Mss Universe Pageant; Lindsey Graham Drops Out of 2016 Race; Newest Star Wars Breaking Box Office Records; Americans Killed in Afghanistan Suicide Bomb Attack. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired December 21, 2015 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00] BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Watching as Miss Universe 2014 placed it on the head of winner Miss Philippines, the show abruptly cutting to credits. Some of the other judges taking to social media. Judge Niecy Nash tweeting this video.

NIECY NASH, MISS UNIVERSE JUDGE: Oh, my God, this is crazy right now. It's pandemonium in here.

SANCHEZ: Harvey himself tweeting after the show, saying, quote, "I'd like to apologize wholeheartedly to Miss Colombia and Miss Philippines for my huge mistake. I feel terrible." Even posting a picture with Miss Philippines backstage, saying he was able to apologize to her and Miss Colombia personally, who tearfully also spoke out after the show.

ARIADNA GUTIERREZ, MISS COLOMBIA: Everything happens for a reason, so I'm happy.

SANCHEZ: But the newly crowned Miss Universe perfectly summing up the shocking turn of events.

PIA ALONZO WURTZBACH, MISS UNIVERSE: It's a very non-traditional crowning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, isn't it?

WURTZBACH: Yes. It's very --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my gosh.

WURTZBACH: Very 2015.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Non-traditional is right. The pageant organizers put out a statement saying, quote, hey, it's happens. That's actually not a quote but they say, you know, it happens. It's live TV. You can't really plan for things like this.

We also got a shot from online, I believe we have it, of the actual card that Steve Harvey was reading off. Hope we have that. On the left hand side, you can see, it says second runner up, USA, first runner up, Miss Colombia. And then on the other side of it is says the winner, Miss Colombia. He may have just -- or rather Miss Philippines. He may have just read the left side of that, Carol. CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, I just -- I -- oh, there it is. I just

-- I just feel for him because he made this major mistake in front of millions of people watching. The women, though, were quite gracious.

SANCHEZ: They certainly were. Miss Columbia saying, you know, everything happens for a reason. Miss Philippines still in shock. She said she didn't believe it. Even when she got off the stage, she couldn't believe she still had the crown on her head. So, obviously, moments of disbelief.

COSTELLO: But all is well. They'll get over it, but, man, that must have been painful for Miss Colombia.

Boris Sanchez reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.

Checking some other top stories for you at 31 minutes past. Five arrests in Belgium overnight related to last month's terror attacks in Paris. Belgian police say two brothers and a third person were taken into custody in Brussels. The arrests were based on suspects' phone records. Two more people were arrested this morning. Police say no guns or explosives were found at either location.

And a wild story out of New Jersey, where a trio of Boy Scouts helped save their scout master after he was attacked by a black bear. They came face-to-face with the bear while exploring a cave.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): We have a gentleman in the cave with the bear. He has been injured by the bear. He is bleeding from his neck, his arm, and his head.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The troop leader says he hit the bear twice in the head with a rock hammer while his scouts lured the animal out of the cave with food. Officials tracked the group due to smoke from a fire the scouts started. The scout leader was air lifted to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The scouts were not injured. But, boy, talk about heroes! And they did follow the Boy Scout manual. Awesome.

All right, let's talk politics right now. President Obama, as you know, is vacationing in Hawaii. Before he left, he sat down for a face-to-face interview on NPR and he talked about the politics of ISIS and how some of the candidates running for president were using scare tactics to attract voters, especially Donald Trump. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Blue collar men have had a lot of trouble in this new economy where they're no longer getting the same bargain that they got when they were going to a factory and able to support their families on a single paycheck. You combine those things and it means that there is going to be potential anger, frustration, fear. Some of it justified, but just misdirected. And, you know, I think somebody like Mr. Trump's taking advantage of that. I mean that's what he's exploiting during the course of his campaign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

COSTELLO: All right, we're going to get into the remarks from President Obama, but we do have breaking news on the political front to tell you about. Kate Bolduan is about to break that right now.

Good morning.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR, "AT THIS HOUR": Good morning, Carol.

So we've been told Senator Lindsey Graham, he is dropping his bid for the White House. He is ending and suspending his presidential campaign today. He's announcing that to his supporters this morning. And he sat down with me for an exclusive interview to lay out his reasoning why and to make that announcement. Listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Well, I -- my campaign, I will suspend my campaign. I'm not going to suspend my desire to help the country. I'll probably go back to Iraq and Afghanistan and get another update, 36 trips has informed me. But the one thing I feel really good about is I did it with a smile on my face. I talked about things that are important to me and somebody better fix it one day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:35:12] BOLDUAN: A wide-ranging interview. We sat down for quite some time to discuss his reasoning why, Carol. And he gets into the reason why, what he -- some of what he blames for why he never could break through. And also on the crucial questions of what -- what it looks like for him going forward, who he's going to endorse and why. But I really noticed throughout the interview is a very serious, very sober, very emotional Lindsey Graham. Different from what you often see. The -- the jovial, kind of quick-whited, one-liner.

COSTELLO: A big (ph) joke (ph).

BOLDUAN: Yes, exactly, different Lindsey Graham you saw in this announcement.

COSTELLO: Well, it's interesting, because he -- he held a town hall meeting in New Hampshire and he said a lot of interesting things, and I have his quotes. He actually told voters in New Hampshire that he would work with a hypothetical Hillary Clinton, which I found fascinating because I'm thinking at the time, why would a Republican candidate running for president say such a thing? But now with your breaking news, I kind of understand.

BOLDUAN: It gives you a little window into it. And he said that again when I asked him in this interview. I asked him -- because he went over and over again, he wanted to return to the point that he wanted to make was that even though he's suspending his campaign, he very much wants to be part of the conversation going forward, especially with regards to how to take on ISIS, the direction of the Republican Party. But when I asked him about -- about his plans and about what he wants going forward, he says he wants the Republican candidates that want to be president to check out his plan because he has the best plan. But he also said he's making a prediction that he thinks Hillary Clinton and all the candidates will be moving closer in his direction and he said, Hillary Clinton, if you are president, even though I don't want you to be, I will work with you to take on ISIS, to win a war that we cannot afford to lose. So he said that.

COSTELLO: Something -- something tells me that the other Republican candidates are not going to be listening to Lindsey Graham. Something else Lindsey Graham said in that town hall meeting in New Hampshire, he called -- he said Ted Cruz is appeasing evil and he said Donald Trump makes no sense. And this -- this as it applies to both men support of Vladimir Putin.

BOLDUAN: Now, this is one of the more fascinating parts of our conversation, especially with regard to Donald Trump. This -- as everyone knows in following Lindsey Graham's campaign, there has been no love lost between Lindsey Graham and Donald Trump. Lindsey Graham telling me at one point calling Donald Trump in a jackass in an interview he had, even saying, go to hell and many other choice words for Donald Trump. And Donald Trump famously giving out Lindsey Graham's personal cell phone number in retaliation for what Lindsey Graham said.

But in this conversation, a markedly different tone. A softer tone from Lindsey Graham towards Donald Trump. Even at one point he told me, you're doing really well. I'm impressed with your campaign. This is not something you would have heard, I don't think, from Lindsey Graham toward Donald Trump at any point until -- at any point prior to this, though he has some very strong parting words for Donald Trump, kind of warning him that if you're the nominee and you have the opportunity to be, you have the Republican Party's future in your hands. If you become president, Lindsey Graham says, you will have the nation's future in your hands. And he said very clearly, this is not a game show, this is not a reality show.

COSTELLO: OK. So for our viewers just tuning in, tell us again the big news, Lindsey Graham is --

BOLDUAN: Senator Lindsey Graham, the Republican presidential candidate, he is dropping his bid for the White House, suspending his presidential campaign as of today. He's making that announcement as we speak.

COSTELLO: OK, stick around, because I want to bring in CNN political commentator Kevin Madden, senior political analyst David Gergen, CNN's chief political correspondent Dana Bash and Jeff Zeleny, CNN's senior Washington correspondent.

Thanks to all of you for being with me.

So, David Gergen, you're the most experienced guy on the panel. What do you make of this? DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I think it was almost

inevitable. And it's good that he's leaving with a -- with his head high. He's conducted this campaign honorable. He brought humor to some of these debates. Very importantly, he brought the seriousness of foreign policy and taking a toughness stance on ISIS to the campaign.

And he -- he maybe -- he's leaving the campaign but he's not leaving the stage. He will be working with whoever the next president is. And if it's Hillary Clinton, you know, he and John McCain and Hillary Clinton were sort of a trio there for a while when she was in the Senate and I think that there -- it's possible to build bridges among them.

COSTELLO: So, Dana Bash, Kate just said that Lindsey Graham still wants to have a voice in the Republican race for president, but will any of the candidates actually listen to him?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, they might. They might. But, look, Lindsey Graham is somebody who is a constant presence, even before he ran for president, on TV, because of his senior status on Capitol Hill, on issues of national security. And just knowing him really since the McCain presidential campaign back in 2008, that's how I got to know him because he was constantly by McCain's side on the -- on the campaign plane, it has been his passion, national security. And in the beginning of this campaign, he decided to run, he said, because he wanted to be on the debate stage talking national security.

[09:40:12] And, remember, it seems like 100 years ago, but six month ago when he started running for president, national security wasn't the top of the agenda for the American people or in the campaign narrative as it was now. And so in many ways he did help steer the conversation, helped, of course, unfortunately, by attacks in Paris and San Bernardino lately. But, you know, I think one thing that has been kind of remarkable in watching him is that he's had this dichotomy of being maybe Mr. Doom and gloom, but also really funny. I mean there were times when you'd watch him on the campaign trail and it was like, is he doing standup or is he running for president? So he did have a light-hearted way about him and I think -- I know that there was just frustration that he was always in the kind of happy hour undercard debate, that he couldn't get to the main stage to say the kind of things to Donald Trump, for example, that he has been saying from afar to his face.

COSTELLO: Well, you heard President --

BOLDUAN: You sensed that frustration in the interview.

COSTELLO: Yes.

BOLDUAN: He said that that actually was one of the biggest sources of his frustration is that he has prepared for so long to be commander in chief. That he prepared so much and he believed so much in his abilities to be commander in chief and then he says you cannot believe the frustration that I felt in being, in his words, being pushed to the kiddie table in these debates. COSTELLO: Well, OK. So, oddly enough, you heard President Obama, you

know, at the beginning of this block. He said that Donald Trump was kind of stirring fears in America, you know, and kind of acting irresponsible. President Obama, also in that same NPR interview --

BOLDUAN: Yes.

COSTELLO: Singled out Lindsey Graham for being responsible. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, NPR REPORTER: Are you avoiding more force because you are concerned that even a little more force might call for the demand for even more force and you would end up with a large war?

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, I -- what's interesting is, is that most of the critics have not called for --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ground forces.

OBAMA: Ground forces. You know, to his credit, I think Lindsey Graham is one of the few who has been at least honest about suggesting, here's something I would do that the president is not doing. He doesn't just talk about being louder or sounding tougher in the process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So, Jeff, that certainly was a kiss of death for Lindsey Graham, right?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Sure. I mean, but he is right, though. I mean Senator Graham is one of the few people who has articulated a real policy here in the Middle East. But, I mean, the bigger picture here, I think, on Senator Graham, he is, you know, the latest in the string of Republican candidates who actually have experience. He's been in the U.S. Congress for some two decades, beginning in the House and then in the Senate for -- he's in his third term now. And this campaign has not rewarded experience.

I mean Dana is absolutely right, when he jumped in, some six months ago ono June 1st, he presented himself as someone who has the experience right now to be commander in chief. The issues that has changed for that. But voters have not rewarded experience. He's not an outsider.

But even more important, the context of why he's doing it today on December 21st, important to note here, South Carolina still allows candidates to have their names taken off that critical South Carolina primary ballot if they drop out by December 21st.

COSTELLO: Right.

ZELENY: So if he wants to, he can be off the ballot in South Carolina, which certainly would save himself, you know, a lot of embarrassment. He knew he was not going to win that critical South Carolina primary, which comes in February after Iowa and New Hampshire. So this allows Senator Graham to save face I guess a little bit and allows him to go forward in being, you know, the senior senator from South Carolina.

And he is not going anywhere, as he told Kate. He is going to be in this conversation. And I think actually some Republican candidates will listen to him. He has a lot of experience. He has, you know, more experience than almost anyone else on these central issues here. So -- and his endorsement will be huge in South Carolina. If you're Marco Rubio, you want that endorsement. Everyone else wants it as well. So, you know, he's not -- he's still an important figure.

COSTELLO: OK. So that's really interesting because Sean Hannity, the other day, said that he couldn't wait for the day that Lindsey Graham would become a Democrat. So conservative Republicans are not so into Lindsey Graham.

BOLDUAN: It shows the -- it shows the range of opinion in the Republican Party right now. And I think you're seeing that amongst candidates. I mean Lindsey Graham said to me, he said, if I can't win in my state, I'm not going to win outside of my state. He's -- he was very, very honest and candid about that.

On that December 21st deadline, Jeff, I asked him specifically about it. And he had said that, no, that wasn't a factor. He also said that he would risk it if he saw a path. He doesn't see a path.

ZELENY: Sure.

BOLDUAN: If he can't make it on to the main debate stage --

ZELENY: Sure.

BOLDUAN: He doesn't see that there's time now before the first primaries to get there. But, of course, his campaign is very aware of this deadline, let's just say.

COSTELLO: OK. So -- so Senator Lindsey Graham has dropped out or suspended his campaign.

[09:45:02] BOLDUAN: Dropped out, yes.

COSTELLO: Right. Rick Perry has dropped out. David Gergen, who's next?

GERGEN: Well, I think what -- people who have -- in the bottom tier, you know, like the Santorums and the Huckabees and the others who just don't have any money, they're going to have a hard time sustaining this.

They'd like to stay in through New Hampshire. I think a big -- the big winnowing is going to come after New Hampshire, or certainly Iowa and New Hampshire. But I don't think we know for sure, I just think you have to look at their bank accounts and see who can -- who has the money to keep going.

COSTELLO: And the last question I have for Dana Bash, will Lindsey Graham dropping out help Donald Trump and Ted Cruz?

BASH: Unfortunately for Lindsey Graham, I don't think it will make much of a difference for either of them. You know, I think I get what you're getting at with Donald Trump. Graham is kind of a...

COSTELLO: Yes, it's like a victory, right?

BASH: Tight, right. He's a nice foil for Donald Trump. So, in that way, maybe but, you know, it's actually interesting, the people who Trump has sparred with the most, once they drop out he's been incredibly friendly to them on Twitter. So, can't wait to see what the Donald Trump tweets are like about Lindsey Graham.

COSTELLO: And I left out Kevin Madden, and I so apologize. Look at you being so very, very patient.

KEVIN MADDEN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I'm just trying to be polite. I'm listening to everybody else's expertise.

COSTELLO: You should break in, just like the candidates running for president on both sides.

MADDEN: Well, look, I will agree real quick, Carol, with something David Gergen said. You know, Lindsey Graham did not win one vote, he did not get one delegate, but he definitely did shape the conversation when it came to the issues of national security and foreign policy.

And I think that's something that he's going to continue to do throughout this campaign. He is, if anything, he is the conscience of a national security conservative and I think many of the other campaigns are going to look to him to be an aggressor against those like Donald Trump that are not serious and are not substantive on the issues of national security, and could potentially really weaken a Republican brand.

COSTELLO: So, Kevin, will he align with other candidates and will they sort of like join forces against Donald Trump?

MADDEN: I expect he could. I think every campaign will be reaching out to Lindsey Graham today, even if not just to thank him for his contribution to the campaign, but to get some of their -- of some insights and advice from him on national security issues. There's no doubt he's an expert on those issues. And I do think that....

BOLDUAN: And Kevin, Lindsey Graham wants that to happen.

MADDEN: Absolutely.

BOLDUAN: He made that -- and you know that very well. He made that very clear that he says he thinks all of the candidates, the eventual Republican nominee he says he predicts will embrace his plan and his articulation in how to take on ISIS. And he says if Hillary Clinton is the nominee, he thinks ---- he predicts that she will embrace his plan on how to take on ISIS as well.

MADDEN: Yes, Kate (ph), anybody who saw Lindsey Graham on the campaign trail knows that he really did enjoy it. And if you look back to the 2000 campaign, the 2008 campaign, he was probably the most formidable surrogate for Senator John McCain in those races in New Hampshire. So, he could have an impact.

COSTELLO: All right.

BOLDUAN: And he does talk about John McCain. You want to hear that part of the interview.

COSTELLO: I'm going to do that at the top of the next hour. Kate Bolduan, thanks for breaking the news on my show. I appreciate it.

Thanks to Kevin Madden, David Gergen, Jeff Zeleny and Dana Bash. I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:51:33] COSTELLO: Oh, the force. The force is so strong, it's calling millions of people to the movies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO (voice-over): And 'm not kidding. The seventh installment of the Star Wars series is breaking box office records left and right. "The Force Awakens" has already raked in an estimated $238 million at U.S. theaters. That would be the biggest opening weekend ever. Brian Stelter, how can you even stand it?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: And actually, got new data. It's actually even bigger than that.

COSTELLO: Holy cow.

STELTER: In the last few minutes from Disney. It just goes to show that this film is like a snowball. You know, it's rolling down the hill and becoming bigger as it goes. And it's thanks to the fact that it's actually a good movie.

You know, the reviews have been positive, and of course the fans are loving it. The new total, actually, $247 million here in North America. And over -- around the rest of the world, the movie has now made more than $500 million.

COSTELLO: Holy cow.

STELTER: Now, that's important because that's a worldwide record as well as a U.S. record. So, it goes to show in this globalized world, this movie is the kind of movie that people want to see all around the world.

Although, there's one place it hasn't opened yet and that's China. It's going to make a lot of money in the Chinese movie market, which is the number two movie market behind the U.S. when it opens in two weeks. So, in other words, Disney is just starting to make money from Star Wars.

COSTELLO: Have you seen it?

STELTER: You know, I'm going to go see it right now.

COSTELLO: You are? I'm jealous.

STELTER: Are you free at 11:00?

COSTELLO: Yes.

STELTER: Okay.

COSTELLO: Oh, I've got a date. Thanks, Brian Stelter.

STELTER: Thanks.

COSTELLO: I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:56:15] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

COSTELLO: Some disturbing and tragic news out of Afghanistan this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO (voice-over): Officials now say American troops were killed in that suicide bomb attack in the Bagram District of Afghanistan. Barbara Starr is with me now, she has more from the Pentagob. Hi, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Good morning, Carol. The Pentagon is acknowledging that six service members from the mission in Afghanistan were killed. This was a mission that included U.S. personnel and Afghan personnel.

All they're able to say officially is that six service members were killed. They do believe that Americans were amongst the killed, but they're not able to say yet whether all six were Americans. Three also injured.

This happened outside of Bagram air base which is the major U.S. NATO base in northeastern Afghanistan. Apparently the troops were on a mission to hold some sort of meeting, we're told, with local Afghans. This was a suicide car bomb. Obviously, a very major attack. Six killed and still waiting for the official word on whether all of those who perished were American troops.

Very difficult news, obviously, at this holiday season. Right now Afghanistan has just under 10,000 U.S. troops there. They will remain there through all of 2016. The Taliban very definitely showing their effort to launch attacks here. Also in northern Afghanistan and in the south, in Helmand Province, reports that the Taliban again are able to take over some small areas down in that part of the country. Carol?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO (on camera): All right, I know you're still gathering information for us, Barbara, so I'll let you go. Thanks so much.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)