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Lindsey Graham Drops Out of Presidential Race; Trump Demands Apology From Hillary Clinton; President Obama on War on Terror; Driver Plows into Crowd on Vegas Strip; Bail Hearing Today for Terrorist's Friend; Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired December 21, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:01:04] (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, mowed down on the Vegas Strip.

CHIEF BRETT ZIMMERMAN, LAS VEGAS POLICE DEPARTMENT: We have determined that this is an intentional act.

COSTELLO: The driver, a woman with a toddler inside the car.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It looked like she wasn't even trying to stop the car.

COSTELLO: Investigators say this isn't terror.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All you can see is her driving away and people are like bouncing off the front of car.

COSTELLO: So why did she do it?

Also, President Obama talks about America's ISIS fears.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Keep things in perspective. And this is not an organization that can destroy the United States.

COSTELLO: And accuses Trump of preying on blue-collar fears.

OBAMA: There's going to be potential anger, frustration, fear. I think somebody like Mr. Trump has taken advantage of that.

COSTELLO: What will Trump have to say about it?

Plus --

STEVE HARVEY, MISS UNIVERSE 2015 HOST: Miss Universe 2015 is, Colombia.

COSTELLO: Don't get too comfortable in that tiara. The wrong queen is crowned. Oops.

HARVEY: I have to apologize.

COSTELLO: Are you cringing yet?

Let's talk, live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And good morning, everyone, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

Breaking news in the race for the White House. Republican Lindsey Graham says he is ending his campaign for president. Graham makes the announcement to supporters just moments ago, writing in part, quote, "This has been a problem-solver's campaign. I have tried to be honest with the American people, look for realistic ways to get things done and inject a little humor along the way. While we've run a campaign that has made a real difference, I have concluded this is not my time."

Kate Bolduan talked to Graham about his decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My campaign, I'm going to 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. Thirty-six 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 one day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: With me now, CNN political commentator and "New York Times" columnist Ross Douthat and Ben Ferguson, CNN political analyst and conservative talk radio host.

Welcome to both of you.

BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

ROSS DOUTHAT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Good morning. So, Ben, will many Republicans feel bad that Lindsey Graham is ending his campaign?

FERGUSON: No, not at all. He was not one of the candidates that most in the conservative movement wanted. In fact he was looked at as an establishment guy. Outside of him being a wonk on foreign policy, he really just didn't bring much to the table that people were inspired by. He never did well in the polls from the beginning. I think it's a good thing that he's dropping out now, especially. And I think you'll probably see some others looking at this race the same way as Lindsey, they're the bottom of the barrel.

They may want to stay until that first -- you know, that first election date, but in reality there's a lot of people in this race that just don't have a shot. Lindsey Graham is one of them, he made the right decision. COSTELLO: All right. So, Ross, Jeb Bush tweeted this about Graham

after his announcement. Bush said, "Nobody is more clear-eyed about ISIS than my friend Lindsey Graham. As he leaves the race, I hope our party and country listen to his counsel." John McCain says Republicans lost, quote, "our most qualified, thoughtful, fearless, and honest presidential candidate."

What do you think?

DOUTHAT: Well, I mean, I agree with Ben. That this isn't likely to have a big impact on the race because Graham was polling between zero and 1 percent, depending on the polls. So there's going to be a point in the race where people start to drop out and their support actually goes to other candidates. And that makes a big difference in how the race shakes out. But since Graham doesn't have any support, there isn't going to be a big ripple effect on the field.

[10:05:01] In terms of his qualifications, I think it's appropriate that Jeb Bush tweeted out support because Graham, in many ways, embodied a certain style of George W. Bush era Republicanism, in the sense that he was on the one hand extremely hawkish on foreign policy. He was probably the most hawkish if not the most hawkish candidates in the field, and at the same time he was a strong supporter of comprehensive immigration reform. And in fact, spent a lot of his campaign hectoring Republicans for not being sufficiently supportive of massive immigration reform.

And that combination, I think, was particularly poorly suited to where the Republican Party is now. You do have a lot of hawkishness in the Republican field but it's hawkishness joined to a skepticism about sending in ground troops and doing the kind of things George W. Bush did. And then you have deep skepticism about immigration, especially given the way that debate combined with terrorism. So Graham, in addition to not being a big -- you know, not being a polling leader was not really in step with where the party's debates were right now.

COSTELLO: Ben?

FERGUSON: Yes, and Carol, I think there's one big thing, when you just said here are the two people that are talking about him, Jeb Bush and John McCain, that is exactly why he was at zero to 1 percent. He was an establishment pick for the White House. And I'll give him full credit on foreign policy but a lot of conservatives did not feel like he had fought hard enough for fiscal values and fiscal conservatism in the Senate. They felt like he was one of the other guys, one of the John Boehners, one of those type of individuals. And that's why his campaign never took off.

COSTELLO: But, Ross, Lindsey Graham -- with all of that said, Lindsey Graham says he still wants to have a voice in the race. He wants the other candidates to listen to him, especially on foreign policy. Will they?

DOUTHAT: No, probably not. I mean, the candidates -- part of the problem with Graham's campaign, too, I think when he got in originally, he sort of saw this more libertarian turn in the party. It was a time when Rand Paul was more ascendant, this was, you know, a year ago now or so before ISIS became a big issue. And I think Graham didn't expect this sort of two-tiered debate stage model that we've had, where people polling at zero to 1 percent aren't on the main stage with the other candidates. So he expected to sort of get into the main debate.

And even if he wasn't doing well in the polls, he would still able to sort of make some noise on foreign policy issues. But as it stands, because he's been in this sort of lower tier debates for the entire time, he hasn't really been mixing it up. The debate on foreign policy is really Ted Cruz versus Marco Rubio. Graham's closer to Rubio. So Rubio will make Graham-like arguments. But Graham himself hasn't had a lot of impact on the race.

COSTELLO: I have to leave it there. Ross Douthat, Ben Ferguson, thanks to both of you.

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton now trading insults. Trump calling Clinton a liar. Clinton calling Trump a recruiter for ISIS. It's a battle royale that was not lost on anyone including Ay Poehler and Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton from 2008 advising Hillary Clinton in 2015.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMY POEHLER, COMEDIAN: Now hold on, Hillary. Even if you beat Bernie, aren't you worried about the Republicans? Who's their frontrunner?

KATE MCKINNON, COMEDIAN: I will tell you but only if you grab onto something to brace yourself because you are going to hit the f'ing floor.

POEHLER: I'll be fine. Just tell me.

MCKINNON: No, you need to hold onto something.

POEHLER: Hillary.

MCKINNON: I am warning you.

POEHLER: Just tell me.

MCKINNON: Donald Trump. I told you.

POEHLER: Oh, my god, we're going to be president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: In this political season, sometimes it's just good to laugh because, yes, Clinton did assert ISIS is using Trump to recruit even though there is no evidence of that.

Athena Jones is here with more. Hi, Athena.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, carol. That's right. I mean, this political season has been a boon to political satirists but this is not something that Donald Trump is laughing about. We know, of course, that Donald Trump's name comes up all the time, no matter who you talk to when it comes to talking about presidential politics. Republicans are hitting him, Democrats are hitting him. But it was Democrats Saturday night in Manchester that were talking a lot about Trump.

Hillary Clinton is one of them. Take a listen to what she had to say on that stage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He is becoming ISIS' best recruiter. They are going to people, showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: So it's a strong line, a strong assertion from Clinton there. The problem is there is no evidence of that. She didn't cite any evidence. Her campaign staffers were asked about this in the spin room after that debate on Saturday night. They cited an NBC News report, they cited an expert who tracks some of the ISIS communications in social media, but the problem is neither the expert nor NBC News actually cited an actual video.

[10:10:10] Take a listen to how Donald Trump is responding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will demand an apology from Hillary. OK. You can be the messenger. I will demand an apology from Hillary. She should apologize. She lies about e-mails, she lies about Whitewater, she lies about everything. She will be a disaster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: So there, very strong response from Trump. Not only in that interview. He also gave an interview over the weekend and he's on Twitter demanding an apology saying there never was a video, so it's not a good position for Clinton to be in. It's an unforced error really to be talking about a video and having Donald Trump fact- checking you.

It may be true. Certainly administration officials and others have said that Donald Trump's rhetoric on Muslims is not helpful to the fight against ISIS and could, in fact, help ISIS. The problem here is there's no evidence so far that such a video is actually being shown of Donald Trump by ISIS to potential recruits.

And, Carol, you've got to remember, this is just the latest nonexistent video to be part of the political conversation. One of big ones is this non-existent video of thousands of Muslims in New Jersey celebrating after 9/11. That is one of Trump's most famous assertions. So interesting to have Trump justified here in some ways in criticizing Hillary Clinton -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Athena Jones, reporting live from Washington. Thank you.

Lindsey Graham may have just dropped out of the presidential race, but actually President Obama praised him for his measured comments on the war on terror, saying, Graham doesn't just talk about being loud or sounding tougher in the process, he actually has ideas.

But as I said Graham has now dropped out of the presidential race while the candidates who talk loud and tough continue to soar in the polls. In the president's mind, that's adding to America's anxiety about ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I think that it is very important for us to understand this is a serious challenge. ISIS is a virulent, nasty organization that has gained a foothold in ungoverned spaces, effectively, in Syria and parts of western Iraq. We have to take it seriously. They've shown in Paris what they can do in an organized fashion. And in San Bernardino what we've seen is their ability to proselytize for their perverted brand of Islam and spur small-scale terrorist attacks. And those are very difficult to detect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Joe Johns has more for us from Washington. Good morning.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. The president's interview with NPR digging down on the low-key approach to ISIS that's gotten some harsh criticism from his political opponents who say the administration just simply isn't doing enough. He says from a policy perspective, he isn't making apologies for going after terror groups in a way that's consistent with American values.

And there was also some talk of election year politics in that interview. Of course the president zeroing in on his critics, including Donald Trump suggesting the Trump campaign is tapping into working class fears in the race for the White House at a time of economic stress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Blue-collar men have had a lot of trouble in this new economy where they're no longer given 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 I think somebody like Mr. Trump is taking advantage of that. I mean, that's what he's exploiting during the course of his campaign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: The president also really acknowledging there in that interview that the administration hasn't done the best job in messaging which is something they really have been trying to turn around with some appearances by the president over the last couple weeks or so.

First family is on vacation but the president did that interview last week here in Washington -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Joe Johns reporting live for us. Thank you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a deadly hit-and-run injures dozens on the Las Vegas Strip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I liked looked over to the right. All you could see her driving away and people like bouncing off the front of the car. You could hear it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Witnesses now describing the chaos. But why did this woman driver do this? We'll talk about that next.

[10:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: A deadly hit-and-run on the Las Vegas Strip. Police say a woman intentionally drove her car into a crowd killing at least one person and injuring 37 others. The driver repeatedly jumping the sidewalk in the area you see there in red. That's a popular part of the Strip between Planet Hollywood and the Paris Hotel and Casino. The driver taken into custody nearby. A 3-year-old inside the vehicle the whole time.

Stephanie Elam is in Vegas. Does anyone know why this woman did this?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is the million-dollar question, Carol. No, we do not know the answer at this point. And for the people who are out there, some of the witness testimony it sounds like she was very focused, looking out the window and that she just was plowing into these people.

Of those 37 people that were injured, we know five of them are Canadians. Now we also know four of them are from Pacific University in Oregon. Three of them were hospitalized, two of them already have been released and one is still in the hospital at this point. But when you listen to the accounts of what witnesses saw, it sounds like a very terrifying moment. Take a listen to this one person's account.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN COCHRANE, WITNESSES LAS VEGAS CRASH: We heard a commotion on my left. I turned, stand up to see what's going on. I thought it might be a show. And a Buick, Oldsmobile-type car, tan maybe, silver, starts just mowing through people. And people are flying. And yelling at it. And the window crashed out on the front of the car. Mainly just mowing through, like what I saw was like children because the kids weren't moving. You know, they didn't get out of the way.

And then the car proceeded to go past us, right in front of us, through the people and then off to the right I look and it's going toward like a truck or something that's pulling out of right past one of the (INAUDIBLE) which is in front of Paris.

[10:20:11] And the car proceeded to slow down, veer around it and then accelerate again into the people on the sidewalk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: Now we know at least one child has been hospitalized at one local hospital here. But we don't know yet the identity of the person who died or more about these other people that were injured here. The Strip is once again open, but the investigation continues.

And Carol, they say they are looking to check this woman's blood to see if she had drugs or if there was alcohol in her system. But just trying to find clarity and find out why she was doing all of this with a 3-year-old in the car along with her.

COSTELLO: So was the 3-year-old her kid?

ELAM: I don't know that. I do know that the 3-year-old was not hurt. That part I can tell you. And I know that people along the streets were saying that they were trying to stop the car so they could get the child out of the backseat but we still don't know the relationship or why she was even doing this at that time.

If you think about it, this was happening at the same time as the Miss Universe Pageant was going on inside Planet Hollywood. And this happened right on the Strip right outside of it just before that separate debacle happened. All of this, so there were a lot of people here on a Sunday. Those young guys from Pacific University were here for a tournament. So a very busy time on the Strip. As you know, Carol, it's a city that doesn't really shut down.

COSTELLO: That's true. Stephanie Elam reporting live from Las Vegas this morning.

More than a dozen schools are closed in Nashua, New Hampshire, this morning over what school leaders called a detailed threat of violence. The threat was e-mailed to a school administrator. They called it a specific threat but would not say anymore but as you can see the bomb squad moved in. Bomb squad doesn't know whether the threat is credible either. But just to be safe, school officials canceled classes. This comes a week after Los Angeles canceled classes in something that turned out to be a hoax.

In a matter of hours a bail hearing will be held for the friend of San Bernardino killer Syed Farook. Enrique Marquez, seen here, is facing charges of conspiring to provide material support to terrorism, making a false statement in connection with the acquisition of firearms and immigration fraud. With me now to talk about this is CNN legal analyst Mel Robbins. Hi,

Mel.

MEL ROBBINS, CNN COMMENTATOR AND LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, Carol. Good morning.

COSTELLO: Good morning. So what will go down in court tomorrow?

ROBBINS: Well, you know, it's going to be really interesting because the judge in this case has a wide range of latitude in terms of what kind of bail can be set. And of course in the bail hearing what you're going to hear are both the charges, and these are very serious charges. Not only related to the fact that he bought and supplied guns to Farook and that led, of course, to 14 people being killed, but also there are charges, Carol, that date back to 2011 and 2012 around another attack that he and Farook had been planning regarding dropping pipe bombs on Freeway 91 out in California and then a plan to fire at motorists as they tried to get out of their cars. So this guy is in a ton of trouble.

Now here's what I think is interesting. You could easily see because of the seriousness of the charges in this case and because of the fact that 14 people lost their lives in this terrorist attack, the judge throwing the book at him, remanding him, setting bail extremely high. However, what you will also hear is the fact that he is a long-time resident. He has no criminal record. He actually went to the FBI himself, he spent 11 days talking to the FBI confessing and that he is not a flight risk. So I think there are going to be pretty detailed arguments tomorrow. Where this nets out is anybody's guess. I wouldn't be surprised if you see a $1 million bail, home confinement and electronic monitoring brace, those considerations.

COSTELLO: Interesting. I know that he's been waiving his right to an attorney. They finally -- a public defender is now defending him. So the court appointed an attorney. His name is Yang Kim. Why do you suppose, though, Marquez was saying, you know, I don't need an attorney? And he also -- on social media he said, no one really knows me. I lead multiple lives. And I'm wondering when it's all going to collapse on me.

And the reason I kind of find that quote intriguing is because he also checked himself into a mental facility. So he denied his right to an attorney. He said that on social media and he checked himself into a mental facility. Why?

ROBBINS: Well, clearly he was having a massive mental breakdown. Apparently, according to reports, right after the attack took place, Carol, he called 911 and confessed that he -- that his neighbor was the one doing the shooting and that the guns would be able to be traced back to him.

[10:25:08] He then went to a psych ward, as you mentioned, 60 miles away, checked in, claiming to be drunk. They kept him involuntarily overnight and then released him. His mother picked him up. That's when he went straight to the FBI. So I think that this is a very obviously troubled person who went to the FBI. Sometimes we see these kinds of confessions happening when someone's life totally unravels. They finally can't hold it together anymore and they just want to come clean.

This is probably not a case that we're going to see go to trial. This is probably a case where he's going to cop to everything but you never know. I mean, now that he has an attorney, things could change. But this looks like a man who wants to take responsibility for what happened, who wants to get this all off his chest and who wants to basically, you know, get this over with and go to jail.

And you see this when the feds get involved in particular. When you're dealing with the FBI in terms of material support to terrorism. He bought the guns. He gave them to his neighbor. I mean, there's really no defense here.

COSTELLO: All right. Mel Robbins, thanks for your insight.

And again, Mr. Marquez will appear in court later on this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a terrifying ordeal for airline passengers heading to Paris. A fake bomb forces an emergency landing and police say an ex-cop might be responsible.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

We're back with news out of Afghanistan where officials say American troops were killed in a car bomb attack. Actually, the suicide bombers were on a motorcycle.

Barbara Starr has more from the Pentagon. Goo morning.

(END)