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Cruz's Iowa Bus Tour; Inside North Korea's Science Center. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired January 08, 2016 - 10:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:31:14] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Ted Cruz is waking up yet again in Iowa this morning as his bus tour of the state enters its fifth day. These are live pictures from Mason City, Iowa where Cruz is said to hold a town hall, the first stop in a jam-packed schedule. He'll greet supporters at five more events today; the last one starting at 8:45 p.m. Eastern time.

Cruz is trying to increase his share of caucusgoers. A recent CNN/ORC poll shows 33 percent of Republican voters in Iowa back Donald Trump as compared to 20 percent for Ted Cruz. And Cruz isn't taking jabs from Donald Trump or anyone else lying down, the Texas senator fighting back and offering his own theory about why he suddenly has become a target.

CNN's Athena Jones is in Washington with more on that. Good morning.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning -- Carol.

That's right. Cruz is blanketing the state of Iowa right now. There are more recent polls that show that he's actually moved into the lead and so he's trying to solidify his strength there.

And what's interesting is that he seems to be relishing all of this attention. Whether it's attacks from people who are running against him right now, like Donald Trump or Marco Rubio or attacks by -- or questions being raised by others like Arizona Senator John McCain who said that it's not illegitimate to look into this question of whether Cruz is a natural born citizen and eligible to be president, having been born in Canada.

Any time he's asked about these attacks it gives him a chance to say, look, everyone is panicking because I'm doing so well. Take a listen to what he had to say about all this yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think there's no doubt that the Washington cartel is in full panic mode. They're in full panic mode because they're seeing on the ground conservatives united.

The Washington cartel thought there was no way that would happen. They thought conservatives will always remain divided. We can write a few big checks, buy the primary and follow the same failed election strategy that keeps losing over and over again.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the forum. This election cycle is playing out differently than the way the cartel had counted on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: So, here you hear Ted Cruz talking about the Washington cartel. This gives him an opportunity to paint himself as the outsider, which is what he's running on even though he's an elected senator. He's, of course, been a thorn in the side of the Washington establishment.

And so when he's asked about these attacks, it allows him to say, look, they're afraid because I'm out in front here in Iowa. I'm the one to beat. It also allows him to kind of pooh-pooh the media for focusing on these silly side shows that he says -- this talk about his citizenship is.

So it's kind of a win-win for Cruz being attacked, being able to paint himself as someone who's making the powers that be in Washington afraid -- Carol.

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

Now to the man who sparked those questions about Cruz's Canadian birth -- that would be Donald Trump. The Republican front-runner drawing thousands to a rally last night in Vermont. Once one problem, the venue only held 1,400 people. You see that long line.

So security gave attendees a bit of a loyalty test, asking them if they were Trump supporters. If they were not Trump supporters, some of these people were turned away. Some people said they were Trump supporters so they got in anyway but they really in reality were not so much Trump supporters.

So, they heckled Donald Trump during his event and this is how he responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Get them out. Get them out. Get them out. Get them out. Now, there's a remnant. Yes, he's right there. Yes, throw him out. Throw him out into the cold. You know, don't give them their coat. No coats.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:35:06] COSTELLO: Ok. And in a statement issued later, Trump said, quote, "We have more than 20,000 people that showed up for 1,400 spots. I'm taking care of my people. Not people who don't want to vote for me or who are undecided. They are loyal to me and I am loyal to them." So, let's talk about this and more. Larry Sabato is the director

of the University of Virginia Center for Politics and Ana Navarro is a friend of Marco Rubio and a supporter of Jeb Bush and is also a CNN political commentator. Welcome to you both.

LARRY SABATO, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Thanks -- Carol.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here. So Larry, have you ever heard of another candidate telling attendees they had to take a loyalty oath before they got into an event?

SABATO: The irony here, Carol, is that Donald Trump is strongly opposed to the loyalty oath that's being applied in the Virginia Republican presidential primary where voters have to sign that they are, indeed, a Republican before they can vote. By the way, I think he's right about that. I don't think there should be a loyalty oath here.

But he's in favor of a loyalty oath for at least some of his events and the one last night in Vermont is a classic example.

He didn't have 20,000 people show up, by the way. The local police said it was 2,000. I'm going to side with the local police.

COSTELLO: They also say 700 of those people were protesters, right?

So, Ana, isn't a rally like this supposed to convince those who are undecided, so why wouldn't Donald Trump want them in his rally?

NAVARRO: Well, look, Carol, I think anybody who's watched me knows that Donald Trump and I aren't exactly on each other's Christmas card lists. That being said, you know, most campaigns, many campaigns try to weed out hecklers and protesters out of their events because they become a distraction.

I actually think hecklers work in Donald Trump's favor when it comes to his base. They like the way he confronts them, treats them, you know, tells them to go away, tells them to get thrown out. I think, you know, it's part of his persona, part of his bluster and part of his showmanship.

COSTELLO: Ok. So let's go back to Ted Cruz because Donald Trump has been attacking Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz has not really been attacking Donald Trump strongly. He just says all of this is freaking out the establishment, Trump and Cruz. That's all to show -- that's to prove a point -- Larry.

SABATO: Yes. Look, Trump obviously is drawing and Cruz is also drawing strongly from the anti-establishment majority in the Republican base. They want to be attacked by the establishment and they have reason to say that the establishment is deeply concerned about either one of them being nominated. Now, look, maybe the Republicans in the establishment that is

people who are either in high party office or who have been elected to high office -- maybe they're wrong. But almost unanimously they think that Trump, in particular, and Cruz for the most part, can't be elected in November. So, that helps Trump and Cruz battling for the nomination. It may hurt them in the fall if one of them is indeed, nominated.

COSTELLO: Ok. So Ana, you are in favor of establishment candidates -- right. Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush. How worried are they?

NAVARRO: There's no doubt that the idea of Ted Cruz or Donald Trump at the top of the ticket gives a lot of us heartburn. Not only because we think it's handing the election to Hillary Clinton but also because of the concern that it might affect adversely those running down ballot. There's a lot of senators running in purple or blue states -- Republican senators this year and folks running statewide. You know, we're concerned about what that effect will be.

I think that Ted Cruz and Donald Trump -- Ted Cruz much more ably, take that concern from mainstream Republicans and try to turn it into an asset. I saw him today make these allegations about John McCain.

Look, John McCain didn't raise the question. He was responding to the question of whether Ted Cruz was eligible or not to run. Let's remember that John McCain comes at this as a guy who was born in a U.S. territory in Panama and who had to face a lot of the same questions.

I spoke to John McCain last night. He said to me, look, you know what, there was a legal complaint filed. It's going to be an issue. When you're running for president, everything is looked at. So, yes, it's going to be a legitimate issue that needs to be looked at.

I saw where Ted Cruz said today, John McCain is going to endorse Marco Rubio. I don't think that's the case. I think John McCain is very focused on his own re-election. I'd, be surprised to see him endorse early in this race.

[10:40:02] COSTELLO: Ok. So Larry -- last word. Does John McCain have a point? Will it become an issue, this birther thing?

SABATO: Well, anything can become an issue, but I strongly disagree with him. It is not a legitimate question. I personally researched this -- did it years ago.

Ted Cruz and John McCain and other candidates like Barry Goldwater and George Romney who have been challenged on this basis of natural-born citizen. They are all qualified to run for president. This is absolute nonsense.

COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there.

NAVARRO: Larry, do you -- Larry, do you agree there's going to be -- there could very well be legal complaints filed, whether they go anywhere or not? I agree with you. I think Ted Cruz is a natural born citizen, but I can tell you that one of the very liberal congress people from Florida, Allen Grayson has already announced that he intends to file a complaint, a legal brief on this issue.

SABATO: And I think it will be almost immediately dismissed. Not jut because it's nonsense but also because they won't have the standing to asks for it. If Ted Cruz became president, for example, then you could challenge it in the courts -- I think the Supreme Court would very quickly dismiss it. You can't go into court and ask a theoretical question about a situation that doesn't exist.

NAVARRO: I totally agree with you.

COSTELLO: I have to leave it there. Ana Navarro, Larry Sabato -- thanks to both of you.

SABATO: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Still to come -- you're welcome -- still to come in the NEWSROOM, North Korea invites CNN to tour its new science center. So, what did the rogue nation want to show us?

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[10:45:30] COSTELLO: CNN is now learning that the United States is sending Air Force sniffer planes to gather samples in the wake of North Korea's claims it tested an H-bomb.

CNN's Will Ripley, by the way, is the only U.S. reporter inside the North Korean capital city of Pyongyang where he just toured a science center there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If there's one thing we know about the regime here in North Korea, it's that they very much want to control all of the information and even the music that their people consume.

Listen to this. This song plays multiple times a day here in Pyongyang. It is to remind the people here of the sacrifices that their leaders have made for them. Their leaders are everywhere, including on the front page of the state newspaper, where you see Kim Jong-Un signing the order, authorizing that nuclear test earlier this week that has triggered so much tension on the Korean Peninsula.

And now a response from the South Korean government -- they are blaring their own propaganda on giant loud speakers across the border between North and South Korea, known as the demilitarized zone. Those propaganda messages are within earshot of hundreds of thousands of North Korean troops.

This is infuriating for the Pyongyang regime and we still don't have an official response or idea yet of what they might do. Although over the summer, when the loudspeakers were turned on, they sent troops to the border and the situation escalated almost to the point of an armed conflict.

Meanwhile, we talked a science center in Pyongyang today to talk to young people about this nuclear test and all of them told us that they're very proud of their country and they believe the message that their government is telling them, that these nuclear weapons and missile technology is necessary for North Korea to protect its national sovereignty.

These students told me that they believe that if their government didn't spend so much money on developing these weapons, that their country might be invaded by the United States and its allies. So, it just goes to show the propaganda war on the peninsula is a very real part of life here and it certainly has a great influence over how things are done.

Will Ripley, CNN, Pyongyang, North Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Will Ripley -- that's something.

For the first time since World War II, Hitler's manifesto, "Mein Kampf" or "My Struggle" is being republished and sold in Germany. Mein Kampf has been available online in other countries but it's being republished in Germany because the copyright expired in December.

The institute republishing the manifesto so this new edition is heavily annotated; they say it will expose the quote, lies, half truths, lies and vicious tirades of the murderous dictator.

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[10:51:32] COSTELLO: If you missed last night's episode of Spike TV's Lip Synch Battle -- well, it was epic.

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COSTELLO: That's Channing Tatum. He was channeling his best Beyonce. The Queen B later joining him on stage. Beyonce's appearance, coming just before reports that she will indeed perform alongside Coldplay at the Super Bowl. And if Super Bowl 50 is going to be anything like this weekend's playoff games, she better bundle up.

Andy Scholes -- I'm still laughing. Ok, take it away. I'm laughing at Channing Tatum.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: Yes, We could see a legendary cold game this Sunday between the Seahawks and the Vikings. I mean it's going to be below zero right before kickoff for this game on Sunday. If we take a look at the forecast, luckily for the fans right at about kickoff it's going to warm up to 2 degrees. The wind chill will be about negative 17, so the fans are going to need to wear like 20 layers for this one because it's to be going to go down as one of the coldest games in NFL history. And despite the frigid temperatures, Vikings head coach, Mike

Zimmer he says they need the fans to give them the home field advantage. And you know, he has an idea of how the fans can stay warm. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE ZIMMER, VIKINGS HEAD NFL COACH: We need our fans to make an advantage for us. They need to be loud and make sure they have some tailgating before they can come out so they can stay warm.

RICHARD SHERMAN, SEAHAWKS: I'm sure it will be cool. You know, a good coal sources. We're not consciously thinking about that honestly, going into a game like this. They always say think warm thoughts. There you go. I'll be on the beach in object a beach in Tahiti somewhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Warm thoughts, we'll see if that works. Now the Vikings are going to do what they can to try to help out the fans this weekend. They're providing a pregame shelter at the nearby arena for the fans so they can stay warm before the game. Then they're also going to be handing out free hand warmers and free coffee as well.

Now, the playoffs kick off on Saturday. First game features my Houston Texans hosting the Kansas City Chiefs, followed by Steelers and the Bengals. Then on Sunday, we'll have the Ice Bowl, part two -- Seahawks and Vikings and the Packers and the Redskins.

Carol back to that Beyonce news you mentioned earlier. She's featured in Coldplay's "Hymn for the weekend and according cording to multiple reports, the speculation is she's is going to show up to perform that song with him -- Coldplay.

And of course we all remember how awesome she was when she headlined Super Bowl XLVII half time show. That was in New Orleans so that should be awesome.

And another artist that could be joining Coldplay as well -- Bruno Mars. He's reportedly going to get on stage for a song or two. He of course, headlines Super Bowl XLVIII in New Jersey.

You know, there were mixed reactions when Coldplay would announced the performers but, you know, now it's really shaping up now to be a star-studded event.

COSTELLO: Oh my gosh, I'm setting my DVD, or whatever you call it these days no.

Andy Scholes, thank you so much. That was so much fun.

SCHOLES: Have a good one -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And I needed a laugh. Thanks -- Andy.

SCHOLES: All right.

COSTELLO: Coming up next, pants for pets, completely sold out. What started as an Internet joke just got really serious.

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[10:57:49] COSTELLO: Which way would dogs wear pants, if dogs were to wear pants? Here's Jeanne Moos.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Who wears the pants in your relationship, you or your dog? Now you both can.

This is the story of how a jokey doggy diagram that went viral led to bonanza for muddy mutts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Business is a little ridiculous crazy.

MOOS: But first the ridiculous question, a 19-year-old student in Belgium claims his girlfriend's dog Rocky got him thinking. If a dog wore pants would he wear them like this, on four legs or like this on his two hind legs? The Internet went nuts joking about and debating the question. Would pants on just the hind legs be shorts or both wrong since pants are supposed to cover your butt?

Then Muddy Mutts unmuddied the argument. You think you settled the argument once and for all?

TIM SKELEY: It's settled. Four legs.

BOOS: Because pants for dogs already exist. Waterproof nylon waders sold by husband and wife company in Canada for $50 U.S.

SKELEY: It looks really funny, but when you get tired of cleaning a dog for 20 minutes after a walk, it's really practical.

MOOS: It was a niche product until the diagram went viral and Tim Skelly jumped 2,800 percent.

SKELLY: I would love to show you one but I even sold the one that was on our model dog.

MOOS: Now there's a waiting list as Tim races to make more Muddy Mutts.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dogs, like people, have to put their pants on one leg at a time.

The easiest way to put on a muddy mutt is to start with the front legs.

MOOS: you put on each leg and fasten the velcro cups. There are three straps. Then your dog can look like a studly fireman. The original diagram led to spoofs like, how would a ferret wear a tube top? How would an earth worm wear a bra? But the idea of dogs in pants wormed its way around the web and now even the owner of Rocky, the dog that inspired the debate, is considering buying a pair of Muddy Mutts, though we doubt Rocky himself is panting for pants.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Happy Friday. Thank you for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

"AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan starts now