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Obama's SOTU to Address Gun Violence Epidemic; Are Trump, Cruz Good for the Republican Party; ISIS Suicide Bomber in Istanbul Kills Germans. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired January 12, 2016 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00] TRENNA MEINS, WIDOW OF SAN BERNARDINO SHOOTING VICTIM: Since this has happened, we have found a lot of loopholes that we didn't know existed and we would like those loopholes to become tighter so that not everybody has to worry about this or at least it's more difficult for them to go ahead and do this.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Do you feel executive actions have gone far enough for you?
MEINS: Not for me, but it's a good step.
The pushback -- I was just in Virginia with the president and Anderson as part of this town hall on gun violence in this country. As a member of Congress, one of the questions or critics would say is what these executive actions will help prevent a killer couple from murdering 14 people potentially or getting a gun. What's your response to that?
REP. MARK TAKANO, (D), CALIFORNIA: Just because you can poke holes in some of these proposals that they won't with 100 percent certainty guarantee that a crazy person or mentally ill person will get a weapon is no reason not to try to tighten loopholes. This guy Farook went to this other guy because he felt that he couldn't pass.
(CROSSTALK)
TAKANO: Yeah. So that suggests to me that background checks are important. They can work. We need to tighten up the whole chain of ownership in California if I want to transfer ownership of my automobile to another person, I have to go to the DMV and register it.
BALDWIN: That's the point the president made about titles to automobiles the other night.
TAKANO: We should be able to trace this. This is not taking away people's Second Amendment. The minds like many of my constituents are respectful of the Second Amendment, but it's common sense things, like we should be able to have tighter background checks. Had this young man Marquez even thought the consequences of what he was doing potentially and knowing there was tighter penalties for transferring a weapon with out a -- so there needs to be tighter background checks. There needs to be better accountability on who owns what weapons and that sort of thing.
BALDWIN: Congressman Takano, thank you so much.
Trenna, thank you so much. I appreciate your time.
MEINS: Thank you.
BALDWIN: Do not forget we want you to catch the president's final State of the Union address this evening. Coverage starts at 7:00 eastern. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:37:00] BALDWIN: Three weeks, folks, three weeks. The Iowa caucuses three weeks away. It's time for crunch time for these president candidates. On the Republican side, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are running away with it. Not just in the heartland, but South Carolina, too, nationally. Is what's good for them deadly for the party?
My next guest says it is, indeed. He is Mr. Bill Press, host of the "Bill Press Show" and author of the "Obama Hate Machine." Also joining us this afternoon Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union.
Gentlemen, good to see both of you.
(CROSSTALK)
Bill, let me get to your opinion piece in "The Hill" today. The unsolicited advice, quote, "Convince all other establishment candidates to drop out and unite behind one and stop saying they'd accept Trump or Cruz as the party's nominee." I think there was also a line in there about how the inmates have taken over the asylum.
Any who, if you told Jeb, Christie, Kasich, step down, let's give it to Marco Rubio, yeah, I think you'd hear crickets.
BILL PRESS, HOST, THE BILL PRESS SHOW & AUTHOR: I'm not saying they are going to rush into it, but let me say, I come into this as somebody who loves politics. Been around it a long time. I'm a Democrat but I've worked for Republicans, voted Republican. We need two strong political parties. I'm afraid that the Republican Party by going for Trump or Cruz will be committing collective suicide. I don't think that's good for the country or for the party or for the Democrats either. I think the Republican Party is better to shape up and say we could lose everything if one of these two guys becomes the nominee.
BALDWIN: Matt, as a former Bush 43 adviser, can you respond?
MATT SCHLAPP, CHAIRMAN, AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE UNION & FORMER GEORGE W. BUSH POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I appreciate Bill's advice. We'll take it under advisement. I wonder what you guys are going to do when Bernie Sanders wins in New Hampshire and maybe in Iowa. I want to have another segment on this.
Look, we have decided long ago after the Ford and Reagan battles of 1976, moved on to 1980, that we are a conservative party. I think we've always known we're a coalition. There are moderates in our party and there are people not on the far right and we have to weave it together. The fact is there are more Americans who are OK with the idea of an outsider, maybe someone who has never held elected office, having the highest office in the land. It's an indictment on a lot of people in Washington, but mostly an indictment of Barack Obama.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Well, hold on. Let's not involve President Obama for a second.
Let me just stay with you, Matt, because you talk about weaving. I see no weaving. Do you think your party is getting taken over?
SCHLAPP: It's a conservative party. This is a settled matter. Look at the numbers. It's a conservative party. Conservatives need to understand that they alone can't get the job done and get to 51 percent. We have to bring in moderates and more Independent voters that have to be part of our plan. There's no way to get there without doing that. But the base of the party is a conservative party. By the way, the Democrats, it's clear what their base is. It's a very left wing liberal party. And that's the way it is in America today.
(LAUGHTER)
[14:40:09] BALDWIN: Bill, are you laughing?
(CROSSTALK)
SCHLAPP: Bill, you have to --
PRESS: No. First of all, as far as Bernie Sanders, if Bernie is the nominee, Democrats will win with Bernie Sanders. I just want to get that out of the way.
But look, of course, it's a conservative party. My point is you have lots of good conservatives who could win. Marco Rubio, I believe, could win. I think Jeb Bush could win. The problem with Donald Trump is, Matt, be honest, he's no conservative. He's a buffoon. In some cases, he's like a Democrat. He opposed the Iraq war. He's for single payer. He's given lots of money to Democrats. You can't tell me Donald Trump is a conservative. And Ted Cruz is so far out there he's just not where the rest of America is. You've got conservatives. Go for a conservative who can win. That's my advice.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: So hold on. That said, Matt, do you think if Trump were to win the nomination, would he win the presidency?
SCHLAPP: I don't know. I don't have a crystal ball. All these candidates have a good shot to win.
BALDWIN: Oh, come on.
(CROSSTALK)
PRESS: No. That's a no, Brooke.
(CROSSTALK)
SCHLAPP: Hold on. Let me finish. Let me finish here.
(LAUGHTER)
A campaign is about running against someone else. Whether it's Bernie Sanders, an avowed Socialist, or Hillary Clinton, who is still under investigation by the FBI and looks to be in a weak position, and, Bill, you'd have to agree that there's a huge number of Independent minded voters there in this country who have had enough of this Clinton operation. I think it puts Republicans in a very strong position in November. And I think an outsider will bring in some of these Independent voters, and I look forward to that.
PRESS: No. I don't agree with that at all. There are a huge number of Americans who are fed up with politics as usual, whether it's on the Republican side or the Democratic side. But we're talking about the Republican Party. I think you have to think of the big picture. The idea is to win. And if you want to win, you have to reach out to those Independents. Ted Cruz shut down the government over Obamacare, shut down the government over Planned Parenthood. That's not where the rest of the country is.
(CROSSTALK)
PRESS: I believe with either one of those you lose the Senate, the White House and maybe even the House. If that's what you want, another Barry Goldwater, go for it.
SCHLAPP: Let me just tell you --
BALDWIN: Go ahead and respond, and then we're going to go.
SCHLAPP: Let's be clear, which is the fact that there are more Independents than in a long time. Bill makes the big mistake with people who are Independent. He's assuming they are moderate or they might even lean a little left. The number-one ideological group in the country are conservatives. There's more conservatives in this country than Republicans. And the fact is the person who will be the next president of the United States has to court those voters, Bill, and that's a fact.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: All right, gentlemen, let's have a TV date again.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Bill Press and Matt Schlapp --
PRESS: It's a deal.
BALDWIN: -- fantastic on your perspective. Absolutely awesome.
Coming up next, let's move on from politics for a second because we have to talk about this member of ISIS being blamed after an exPLOsion in one of the world's great tourist spots. We will take you there live, next.
You're watching CNN's special live coverage from Washington. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:47:41] BALDWIN: Turkey rocked today in what officials are calling an ISIS suicide bomber. At least 1O tourists are dead, another 15 injured in this attack launched in Istanbul. A map shows the blast. The attacker hit in an area of historical, cultural significance. At least eight of those killed were German. Right now, Germany is advising citizens in Istanbul to avoid crowds and tourist attractions until further notice.
Let's go straight to the site of that attack to senior international correspondent, Arwa Damon.
And, Arwa, just saying on the note from Germany, so do we know if those German tourists were specifically targeted here?
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We don't know that at this stage, Brooke, but what seems to be apparent is this attacker wanted to go after foreigners. At least that's the conclusion that is derived from the reality that all of those who were killed were foreigners. The injured a combination of both foreigners and Turks. This attack delivered a message that goes far and beyond Turkey's borders. It also sends out the message to other nations that their foreign nationals are not necessarily safe. This is something of an ISIS attack given that they do tend to in some of the other countries we have seen go after these soft targets. The area the attacks took place, we're just outside of the police cordon at the time the attack happened at 10:15 in the morning. That's when a lot of these are beginning when the crowds are beginning to arrive into this area. And not only do we know from the authority that this individual was of Syrian origins, but also that they recently crossed into Turkey from Syria. This is not somebody who the intelligence apparatus had been tracking, which also goes to show how difficult it is and what sort of a big challenge Turkey does face when it comes to not only securing its borders, but also trying to keep tabs on the many that flow across it. Remember, Turkey is home to around two million Syrian refugees. And we're seeing how vulnerable the country is because it's not the first time that ISIS has launched an attack within Turkey's borders in the last year, and it most certainly is not the last time that the authorities have faced difficulties in trying to track down these potential terrorist attackers -- Brooke?
[14:50:30] BALDWIN: It's frightening.
Arwa Damon, in Istanbul, thank you so much.
From Turkey to France. New images have surfaced of the Paris terrorist suspects still on the run. These are images from surveillance video showing Abdelhamid Abaaoud at a gas station in northern France a day after those terrorist attacks. He's seen traveling with two associates. One on his side, the other putting gas in the car. And he appears pretty relaxed. Walking calmly, hands in his pockets. The 26-year-old is suspected of playing a role in the November 13th attacks that killed 130 people in Paris.
Coming up next, brand new video of el Chapo's getaway tunnel. CNN goes inside his secret hideout and the mirror that he ran behind.
Also Sean Penn responding for the first time since the backlash over his secret meeting with el Chapo.
And you heard about this one today? Mick Jagger's ex engaged to another famous trailblazer, this one an 84-year-old media mogul. What's the story behind Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall? We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:55:42] BALDWIN: A lot of us try to keep an eye on what we eat, but did you ever think about what your food eats? The chickens, pigs, cows? Are Cristine Alesci went in search of how our food gets to our tables. This is part of her series called "Raw Ingredients." Today, she found a big problem with what some farmers are feeding the animals we eat.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going this way.
CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is a hog finishing farm in Iowa. It's where pigs get fat. Over the course of five to six months, pigs go from 13 pounds to 270 pounds in this room.
(on camera): Why did they get all quiet?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They want to hear what I have to say.
ALESCI: Wow, that's amazing. That is amazing.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, pigs smell.
ALESCI: Why do they smell so bad?
(LAUGHTER)
I'm not kidding. Why do they smell so bad?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You ever been in an outhouse? They smell bad, too.
ALESCI (voice-over): The smell was awful, but, for me, the most unsavory part of this process is the one you rarely get to examine closely. In fact, it's one of the most opaque corners of the meat industry. It's the animal feed itself. One of the biggest feed- makers is Cargill in Minnesota.
UNIDENTIFIED CARGILL EMPLOYEE: We believe our purpose here is to be able to feed the world. And to feed the world, tough find the most initiate way to grow healthy animals. We spend a lot of time to tackle that question.
ALESCI: Cargill says it can get animals just as fat on half the feed compare d to 40 years ago. But for many in the industry, it's not just about less feed. It's about bigger animals.
How do you get livestock to explode in size in a few months? The industry has a term for it. Rendering. Animal by-products like meat and bone male, leftover grease from restaurants, and even meal made fro poultry feathers. There's one more ingredient that's essential to getting growth out of animal.
(on camera): Where are the drugs?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are in the drug room. They are dumped in each batch of feed.
ALESCI (voice-over): This man says the majority of his customers request antibiotics in their feed. This is where it comes from. Get this. More than 70 percent of all antibiotics sold in the U.S. are for food production animals.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I tell people 75 percent go into the animal food chain, it blows their mind. It's not possible. How can that be? Antibiotics are for humans. It's not possible. That blows their mind.
ALSECI: Here's why using so many antibiotics is a problem. Antibiotics are vital to defend from bacteria to make us sick. But bacteria can evolve. Every time we use antibiotics, some bacteria survive and those drug resistant bacteria can multiply and spread. This can result in what many call a super bug. As we use more and more antibiotics, this problem magnifies, generating more kinds of super bugs and making the ones that already exist even more powerful.
There are already some strains of drug-resistant bacteria out there and public health officials warn it will only get worse if we don't cool it on the antibiotics.
The FDA is changing antibiotic guidelines for animal feed by December 2016. Veterinarians will have to make sure the drugs are used judicially and, quote, "when needed for specific animal health purposes."
Feed-makers I spoke to said they follow FDA regulations, but Dr. Keith Nakman, a public health researcher, isn't satisfied with the FDA or the industry.
DR. KEITH NAKMAN, PUBLIC HEALTH RESEARCHER: The industry may contend that its use of the drugs does not contribute to antibiotic resistant, but it goes to great lengths to make sure we're never able to access the information we would need to connect the dots definitively.
ALESCI (on camera): Brooke, the natural question here is, will the new regulations put any dent in the number of antibiotics used in our food production. And the answer, I'm afraid, many critics have is no way. Look, these regulations are nice. But it's not going to impact the way the industry uses antibiotics.
Now, the government knows this is a huge problem. The CDC has been ringing the alarm bells. That agency says that 37,000 people will die in the next five years because of super bugs.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
