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Christie Aims Attack at Kasich on Campaign Trail; Michigan Government Releases E-Mails on Water Crisis; Buffalo Bills Hire First NFL Female Coach. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired January 21, 2016 - 14:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:32:45] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Just past the bottom of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

On the trail, another political attack to talk about, this one coming from Chris Christie. His target, fellow Governor John Kasich. Both lagging far behind Donald Trump and the rest of the Republican pack in most polls, but a few new polls indicate Kasich gaining in New Hampshire over the last couple days. Kasich has referred to himself as, quote, "the prince of light and hope." But Chris Christie, yeah, he's not having that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R), NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That sounds a heck of a lot more than Satan than the prince of hope.

(LAUGHTER)

I'm known John for a long time. I have been around when his colleagues talk about him. I have heard John called a lot of things. The prince of light and hope has never been one of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let's go straight to Phil Mattingly, who is braving the cold in New Hampshire.

Listen, it gets ugly on the trail. What's this about?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's about the urgency of this moment, Brooke. You mentioned Donald Trump. He's 20 points ahead of the vast majority of the candidates in New Hampshire. But for people like Kasich and Jeb Bush and Rand Paul. New Hampshire is everything. 19 days away from the primary voters going to the polls here. For those four individuals, this state is make or break. What you're seeing from Chris Christie, while a little tongue in cheek, is a reflection of the attacks he's been receiving. Kasich's super PAC spending millions as well as Marco Rubio's super PAC spending millions of dollars attacking Christie. A little bit of frustration flashing there -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: You mentioned Trump as well. One of the questions we have talked so much about Iowa and how this could be a huge indicator of how it goes, a lot of fans, a lot of support for Donald Trump. What are you hearing in New Hampshire as far as the fans turning into actual voters?

MATTINGLY: The amazing thing is regardless of the campaign you talk to, I'm talking on the ground operatives, New Hampshire veterans, the Trump enthusiasm is real. It will turn into votes and he will win New Hampshire going away.

An interesting element, Brooke, it's kind of historic that voters don't decide until late in New Hampshire. They keep a top three or four for a long period of time. Then in the last couple days is when they decide. The latest CNN/WMUR poll out yesterday said 43 percent of likely Republicans polled still hadn't made up their minds. While Donald Trump has a great lead, it sounds like he's going to maintain that, there's a lot of time left. When you talk about the second-tier of candidates, a lot of time left to move and for somebody to break out -- Brooke?

[14:35:20] BALDWIN: Phil, thank you. A belated welcome to the CNN family. Thanks, Phil.

MATTINGLY: Thank you.

BALDWIN: As promised, here in a move to promote government transparency, the Michigan governor, Rick Snyder, revealed 274 pages of his personal e-mails specifically pertaining to the Flint water crisis. It spans 2014 and 2015 and shows, in part, how officials responded to this growing debacle. As things worsened, one e-mail seems to blame the people of Flint. Governor Snyder's former chief of staff writes in September of last year, quote, "State environmental officials feel that some in Flint are taking the sensitive issue of children's exposure to lead and trying to turn it into a political football and trying to shift responsibility to the state. The real responsibility rests with the county, the city and the local water authority," end quote.

President Obama in Detroit said people, parents, you have a right to be angry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You can't shortchange basic services that we provide to our people and that we together provide as a government to make sure that public health and safety is preserved.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: I know if I was a parent up there, I would be beside myself that my kid's health could be at risk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: With me now is Harry Hampton, a Michigan native who lives near Flint. He rounded up a group of friends and bought $500 worth of water to hand out to the people there in Michigan.

Harry, so nice to have you on.

I'm curious, there are people in this world who are talkers and there are people who are doers. Everything I have read about you, you're a doer, sir, and also feel like you have gotten this second chance. Tell me why you have done what you've done.

HARRY HAMPTON, MICHIGAN RESIDENT: Brooke, how you doing? We just felt the need to come out and try to help some people in Flint because this could happen if any city, to anybody's kids. If it were my kids, I would want somebody to reach out and help us.

BALDWIN: I'm not on the ground there in Flint. We talk about this crisis and I have talked to parent who are frustrated. What did you see? How are these folks able to shower? How are people able to cook? How difficult is it to get bottled water where you are?

HAMPTON: It's so difficult. It's so decemberlated. It looks horrible. I can't believe -- how do you run a restaurant, take a shower? I don't understand how you can do it. I don't understand how they are going to fix this problem. Everybody can bring water, but we want to get into the main solution and try to fix the pipes and get to the main solution.

BALDWIN: What makes you unique, Harry, is that you are an ex-convict so your buddies are ex-convicts as well. But you have had this ability to galvanize this movement of sorts from folks from all walks of life to lend a hand there.

HAMPTON: That was awesome. I never expected nothing like that to take place. I got a great set of friends. We all just banded together. We got to do something. That was one our mottos inside the walls. Don't talk about it, be about it. That's what we're doing. Try to help these people.

BALDWIN: We've been getting dish don't know how much you have been plugged in. Talking about the e-mails and talking about folks in Flint initially complaining calling them the anti-everything people and referring to the crisis as merely a hiccup. I imagine you're a proud Michigander. To think your state government failed these people of Flint, are you surprised?

HAMPTON: Well, Brooke, that's a loaded question. I don't want to say anything to make myself or my people look bad, I've seen state officials do this for years. Pass the buck. The governor said the buck stops here. Let's really see that. Because we have heard that in the past. Politicians talk a good game, but the people have been failed. People are dying. They need some help up here.

Harry, how many children do you see day-to-day there in Flint who don't have clean water?

HAMPTON: I'm not a resident of Flint. Let's clarify that. I come here once a week and I roller skate. I skate here. I see a lot of people. I have a lot of friends up here. So the things that I hear, it's horrible. It's really horrible. The children are really suffering.

[14:40:14] BALDWIN: Tell me one story. Help us understand what's happening there.

HAMPTON: Well, I really can't draw any stories for you. I can just tell you what I see. The city is like a ghost town. Nobody is outside. This used to be a really vibrant city. Nobody is really outside. It's just like it's dead here.

BALDWIN: When you knock on these doors -- just final question, when you knock on the doors, you're bringing in this bottled water that you have bought yourselves. What are these people saying to you?

HAMPTON: They are just so elated. They just really happy that somebody cares to come right into the community and bring the water firsthand. It was just really emotional for me e and my friends to see how desperate a person can become just for a bottle of water. It's sad it should come to that.

BALDWIN: Harry Hampton, good on you. Harry, thank you so much. Thank you for all you're doing.

HAMPTON: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: You've got it.

HAMPTON: Thank you so much.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, chilling video of a speeding truck flipping over and over. Look at this. A passenger goes flying right there, spotlighted. You'll see what happens, coming up.

Plus, an NFL team hiring the league's first female full-time coach. Hear where she's going and how the players react, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:46:06] BALDWIN: It is a question one New York man gets all the time, how old are you. When you see him you'll know why. Here's CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, with this week's "Turning Points."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Mario Bosco was pulled from the audience on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," he seemed like a typical kid from Brooklyn.

MARIO BOSCO, ACTOR WITH RARE GLAND CONDITION: He had a cigar. He sat back in his chair and I would come by --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You sure it was me?

GUPTA: But looks can be deceiving.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How old are you? BOSCO: 36.

(LAUGHTER)

GUPTA (on camera): Mario has a rare condition. His pituitary gland was damaged when in utero. It means his gland doesn't make enough essential growth hormones. He spent much of his childhood in and out of hospitals.

BOSCO: When being in the hospitals, I had to watch my sitcoms. I'd crawl up into the bed and watch "Barney Miller," "Maude," "Give Me a Break." Why? Because I wanted to be an actor.

GUPTA (voice-over): Mario got bit parts in movies and on TV in spite of and because of his size.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: How old are you?

BOSCO: How old do you want me to be?

GUPTA: When doctors suggested the actor take testosterone to force puberty, he said no.

BOSCO: My life was OK, my career was moving forward. They say don't break something that doesn't need to be fixed.

GUPTA: At 43, Mario has added author to his list of accomplishments hoping to inspire others.

BOSCO: I'm happy being Mario Bosco, this height, this size, this weight.

GUPTA: All 4'10", 90 pounds of him.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: How about that?

Sanjay, thank you.

Now to this crazy video. This is from Brazil. It captures a driver losing control of his truck, tumbles, and spotlighted, the driver. Flipped four times and hitting the ground. The passenger survived but with broken bones. This happened in southern Brazil where local media is reporting the driver may have been under the influence of alcohol.

In sports, the list of women breaking gender barriers in men's professional sports just got a little longer. The NFL's Buffalo Bills hired their first full-time female assistant coach. Kathryn Smith will be the squad's special teams quality control coach. The NFL hired its first female referee last year.

Joining me now is CNN sports analyst, Christine Brennan.

Christine, good to see you.

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: Great to see you, Brooke. Thanks for having me on.

BALDWIN: Explain to me when we're talking quality control special teams. What exactly will she be doing?

BRENNAN: Brooke, there are so many assistants on top of assistants these days in the NFL coaching that it does get a little mind boggling. What it means special teams are very important. That's kicking, punting, kickoffs and she will be overseeing, as best as I can tell, what's going on there. There's a special teams coach as well. Kathryn Smith will not be that person, but quality control, I'm guessing would involve film, coaching, psychology, chatting with the players, being involved with the team meetings with the other coaches because she is the first woman NFL assistant coach ever. So all the meetings with Rex Ryan, the head coach of the Bills, and has quality status with those other coaches and obviously very involved with all the nuances of special teams.

BALDWIN: Rex Ryan is an outspoken guy and then some. This is his second surprising hire in the off season on his coaching staff. Are you surprised by this?

[14:49:54] BRENNAN: I'm not surprised. They are coming and we see them in our neighborhoods every day playing sports who grow up and go to college and want to be involved in sports and administration. She was at St. John's and graduated in 2007 and was manager of the men's basketball team. We see women with the training squad. Everywhere you look you see women in some kind of staff role around college football, women's basketball, and other sports. They are there. They played sports and want to have careers in sports. And now they are getting those opportunities.

I have to say you asked it being a surprise for the national football league. This is a no brainer. 45 percent of the fan base for the NFL is female. They have to do a better job and are going to do a better job in hiring women and getting women involved in it all levels of the game.

BALDWIN: Wondering about how she'll be received by the players. Let me share this. The Bills' defensive lineman, Richie Incognito, tweeted this, "Congrats, Kathryn. I know you'll do a great job."

We remember Richie Incognito seen as a bully when thought to have harassed a teammate. That said, will she be supported?

BRENNAN: I think so pause the head coach hired her. I can't imagine Rex Ryan would tolerate some hazing of an assistant coach. That's exactly the opposite in the power grid of his team. You have your assistant coach who is supposed to be looked up to. Also these young men now were born in the '80s and '90s. They went to their sister's sporting events. They are not their father's football players. They are from an entirely different era. They are Title 9 men. So maybe I'm being a little Pollyannaish, but they have a different level of respect for women in sports than their fathers or grandfathers. So not only I believe will they respect her and understand that this is the hire by Rex Ryan so that is that. That's the final word. But also I think it's in their nature to be more respectful of girls and women in sports, from the earliest ages watching their sisters play soccer and basketball, and now women are coming, millions of them every year. We're pumping them out because of Title 9. They are going somewhere, Brooke, and here's another example of where they are going.

BALDWIN: Good on those guys. Title 9 men. I like that. I'm going to steal that.

Christine Brennan, thank you.

BRENNAN: Thanks.

BALDWIN: Coming up, cars abandoned in the streets, grocery store shelves cleaned out, gridlock for hours, all of that after one inch of snow last night in Washington, D.C. So are they ready for what could be coming next?

Also, lessons learned from 2008. Is the Clinton campaign now shifting its strategy, playing the long game and setting its sights beyond Iowa and New Hampshire? We'll talk to a Clinton senior adviser, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:57:23] BALDWIN: The Sundance Film Festival opens today in Utah, the largest festival independent film festival, America's most prestigious. This year, the hot films take on controversial issues, race relations, gun violence, ISIS, gay rights.

CNN's Stephanie Elam has this preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's that time of the year when Hollywood types leave the palm trees behind, grab the parkas, and come here to Park City, Utah, for the Sundance Film Festival. That means the parties, the glitz, the glam, but the real draw is the movies.

(MUSIC)

MATTHEW BELLONI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: It really sets the tone for the year in culture.

ELAM (voice-over): For documentary film makers, this festival is the place to be.

BELLONI: It's the only place to get a high-profile launch for a nonfiction film. A lot of these films go on to get caught by television networks and by distributors and make a big difference.

ELAM: Fiction or a documentary, the year's slate of films may ruffle some feathers.

BELLONI: A lot of the most anticipated films are not only controversial but are seeking that controversy. You have documentaries about Anthony Weiner, about ISIS, a film called "Birth of a Nation" about a slave uprising, told from the perspective of the slaves.

ELAM: No matter the topic, every film maker comes to Sundance looking to make a deal.

BELLONI: There are Netflix, Amazon, HBO, Showtime, CNN, all of these different venues that are going to Sundance looking for great movies to buy.

ELAM: The ultimate goal, turn Sundance buzz into gold.

BELLONI: Let's take "Brooklyn" for example.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't the Italians?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BELLONI: This film last year was bought by FOX Search. A year later, it it's in the Oscar race.

ELAM: Stars can get some shine from Sundance. "Boyhood" and "Whiplash" both debuted at the festival and were nominated for by the Academy in 2015 for best film and led to Oscar wins.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Five, six --

(MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Were you rushing --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BELLONI: Jennifer Lawrence was nothing before she had a tiny movie at Sundance. That movie got a lot of attention and she got "Hunger Games" and became a huge star.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: You will find another mocking jay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: A huge star and an Oscar winner.

(on camera): So chances are a few of the films debuting here may be coming to a theater near you.

Stephanie Elam, CNN, Park City, Utah.

(END VIDEOTAPE) [15:00:11] BALDWIN: Stephanie, thank you.

And now starting our next hour here on CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.