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Oregon Standoff Come to An End; Trump Skips Fox Debate; President Obama Calls for Rapid Action Against Zika Virus; Manhunt Expands for Three Escaped Prisoners. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired January 27, 2016 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:30:00] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Leader Ammon Bundy and four of his supporters were arrested during a traffic stop. Details of the confrontation are unclear at this point, but we do know one man is dead. That would be occupation spokesman Robert LaVoy Finicum. I spoke with Finicum just a few weeks ago. Listen to what he says.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT LAVOY FINICUM, PROTESTER: The first thing that we're taught as kids is, do not point guns at people. And so I have no intention in pointing guns at anybody that are not pointing guns at me. So let's just be neighborly. Let's just be kind. Let's just be civil. Please don't point guns at me and I shall not point guns at you. And how about we live it at that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And this morning Finicum is dead.
Sara Sidner is in Burns, Oregon, following the story.
Good morning.
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
That's right, LaVoy Finicum had those words to say about not pointing guns at each other, but he also told us that when he was sitting in front of this Malheur Wildlife Refuge, that he would not be arrested, not alive anyway. And so those were words from him about a couple of weeks ago. He had been very adamant that he wants to stay here until, as he says it, justice was served. He is now deceased. We do not have details from the Oregon State Police or the FBI as to exactly how that went down. Whether shots were fired from both sides or how he ended up shot. There was another person shot. Apparently Mr. Bundy's -- Ammon Bundy's brother, Ryan Bundy, had been shot in the arm.
We've heard those details, some of them, from the Bundy's father. His father talked to one of our sister stations and explained what he said Ammon Bundy told him about the shooting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLIVEN BUNDY, FATHER OF AMMON BUNDY: He said that there was like five of them had been arrested. My -- his -- my son Ryan had been shot in the arm. LaVoy Finicum, they cold-blooded killed him. He was he was out, had his hands in the air. Said he wasn't armed. He hadn't -- wasn't any threat. So they cold-blooded just killed him. They shot him several times I guess. But, anyway, my son said that's what happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: Now, that is their version of the story. We have not heard the Oregon Police or the FBI's version of how one person ended up shot and killed.
What we do know at this point is, we were able to get into the refuge area before they ended up putting up stop points, check points, not letting people in and out unless, of course, you are a resident or a rancher in the area. What we can tell you right now is, we don't see any police or FBI agents around where we are, but we do see this huge tractor here that the guys who have been -- and are still inside the headquarters here, still taking over those headquarters, they have put that there in place to try and create their own barricade, to try, I suppose, and stop any further pushback from the FBI or the Oregon State Police. They're saying that they have decided to stay. But we don't know how many people are still there. We do know at least eight people. One person, who was all the way in Arizona, have been arrested in this case.
Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Sara Sidner reporting live from Oregon this morning.
And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.
Donald Trump backs out of tomorrow's GOP debate saying he won't be treated fairly because of his hostile past with Fox's moderator, one on of them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Megyn Kelly is a lightweight. This is a lightweight. This is not a reporter. This to me is just a lightweight. Megyn Kelly shouldn't be in the debate. I don't care about Megyn. When Megyn Kelly didn't ask me a question -- she made a statement last time -- I thought it was inappropriate. Everybody said I won the debate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: This latest Trump maneuver leaves his GOP rivals fawning over its shrewdness and clambering to be noticed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He has so amazingly manipulated the media in a way that no one ever has. And I have to congratulate him for that. And, look, even right now we're talking about him. We're not talking about the people of Iowa. We're not talking about the economy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, but he is -- but he is the --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And Governor Huckabee is not alone. So-called establishment Republicans also find themselves a tad desperate right now, while more traditional Republicans, like Marco Rubio, struggle. Word is there's now a private push to get the weaker candidates, like Jeb Bush, to drop out of the race, so candidates like Rubio can inherit their support. CNN's Manu Raju is in Des Moines with more on that.
Good morning.
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Good morning.
Now, as one Republican put it to me, when you're the lion, you don't go after the lead zebra in the pack, you go after the weakest zebra in the pack. And what that means from the Rubio campaign perspective is not to engage with Donald Trump right away. That's why you're not seeing him really going after Donald Trump, but going after some of the other candidates who could be a threat later on, like Chris Christie. The hope, if you're Marco Rubio, is that some of those underperforming candidates will eventually drop out of the race after they don't do as well in Iowa and New Hampshire and beyond. Rubio wants to maintain, have a really solid third place finish here in which he can make to that establishment that he is the guy who could take on Donald Trump and eventually see the party coalesce behind him. And that's when he wants to really take the fight to Donald Trump, which could take weeks and weeks on end.
[09:35:36] Now, what Rubio also wants to capitalize on is the anxiety within the Republican establishment. I spent a lot of time talking to Republican senators about a lot of the attacks that have been waged back and forth against some of the more establishment candidates and you're hearing a lot of concern, including from Orrin Hatch, who's a Jeb Bush supporter. He told me that these attacks -- that this -- Jeb Bush's super PAC is launch -- are launching against Marco Rubio are unwise. And, clearly, what Rubio hopes is that if he does well enough, the party will start to get behind him. But he needs money to do that and right now we'll have to see whether or not he has the money to compete beyond the first four states, especially if he does not win any of those first four states, Carol.
COSTELLO: So, Manu, how likely is it that those weaker Republican candidates will say, sure, I'll drop out for the good of the party?
RAJU: Well, it really depends on money. I mean, at the end of the day, an organization, I mean let's say that if you're John Kasich and you really spent a lot of time and energy and effort into New Hampshire and you do not do as well in New Hampshire, how do you continue on to South Carolina? It's going to be very hard for them to do that. Chris Christie too, he's spent a lot of time in New Hampshire as well, but recent polls have him struggling there. The real question for Marco Rubio is Jeb Bush. He will probably still have enough money and organizations to compete. They do share a similar donor base. But, again, if he does not do as well, he will face that pressure, why continue on when there's a very little chance of winning.
COSTELLO: All right, Manu Raju reporting live from Des Moines for us this morning. Thanks.
She's been called Ted Cruz's secret weapon. I'm talking about his wife, Heidi. The Goldman Sachs executive who took a leave of absence from her job to help her husband's campaign. The two, seen here at his campaign kickoff last March at Liberty University. In an exclusive interview with CNN's Dana Bash, Mrs. Cruz talked about her husband's work in the Senate and the controversy over that Goldman loan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Probably not going to come as a surprise to you that your husband is sort of actively disliked by a lot of his colleagues in the Senate, Republican colleagues in the Senate. But you chose to spend your life with him. Why are they wrong?
HEIDI CRUZ, WIFE OF SENATOR TED CRUZ: It's very clear. When you go out and campaign with Ted, you see why they're wrong. When you go to a rally, a town hall, a one-on-one, Ted is personable. He has a conversation with people. He describes the fundamental principles of the founding of this country. He answers people's questions. He listens to them. He takes their advice. He's patient. Ted's incredibly thoughtful and people can tell that he cares about them. And that's been articulated in his career by him fighting for them.
The only people who I have seen say that they dislike him are the people in Congress who have an 11 percent approval rating. That is a great place to be disliked if you want to win this election.
Really important to understand what people are saying about Ted that know him. And those that say they dislike him are the very ones that the American people are trying to vote out of office.
BASH: Donald Trump has begun seizing big time on the fact that you and your husband got a loan from Goldman Sachs during his 2012 Senate run, which may or may not have been reported correctly. But putting that aside, what Donald Trump is saying is the fact that you got a loan from Goldman Sachs is proof that Ted Cruz is now beholden to this big Wall Street bank. He says, quote, "Goldman Sachs owns him."
CRUZ: Well, I can assure you that Ted is in no way beholden to Goldman Sachs. When you're an employee of the firm, it is firm policy that you hold your assets at the firm unless given special, pretty arduous permission to hold them elsewhere. So we have our small account at Goldman Sachs. Employee accounts are not required to be at the same level as client accounts.
When Ted ran for the Senate, we, as a young family, were willing to put it all on the line to elect him to serve our state. And instead of selling our assets, we took out a loan against them, which many people do, especially in a year when the market's rising. That just makes good sense. So we took out a margin loan from Goldman Sachs on part of our assets and from Citi Group on the other. Ted publicly disclosed those loans. He just didn't -- it just wasn't -- it was on one form and not another form. But I don't think that's the heart of your question. I think the heart of your question is, is he bought and sold by the big banks?
BASH: Well, not my question. What Donald Trump is suggesting that is happening.
CRUZ: Yes. So there are a lot of false suggestions out there because I think some candidates are trying to -- are trying to distract from how well Ted's doing in this election.
[09:40:04] When you look at the track record, our financial history is public. We've put it all out there. And we paid back those loans. We were very fortunate to be able to pay them back very quickly. So we are very comfortable with the -- with the fact pattern and we're grateful to you for asking to clear that for people so they understand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Just hours after Jerry Falwell Jr. backed Donald Trump, Tony Perkins, who is head of the Family Research Council, threw his support behind Senator Cruz. The evangelical heavyweight tweeting, quote, "Ted's campaign is about his stand for the principles of conservatism and the Constitution, not his standing in the polls. #cruzcrew."
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, time for rapid research. President Obama urging action on the Zika virus as another case is discovered in Arkansas.
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COSTELLO: President Obama calling for rapid action against the Zika virus.
[09:45:01] This comes after a woman in Arkansas tested positive for the virus, bringing the number of cases to more than twenty in the United States. The virus is linked to devastating birth defects and even death in babies.
In a statement, the White House says President Obama wants to quote, "accelerate research efforts, develop vaccines, and ensure that all Americans have information about the Zika virus."
Overnight the U.S. Virgin Islands and Dominican Republic were added to a travel alert. A total of 25 countries and territories now affected. The CDC is revealing its plan for pediatricians to screen infants in the United States.
Dr. Seema Yasmin is a former disease detective at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Good morning, Dr. Yasmin.
DR. SEEMA YASMIN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Good morning.
COSTELLO: Twenty people have now tested positive for this virus in the United States. How worrisome is this? YASMIN: Well, we have to look at the fact that the mosquito that can
spread Zika is all across the U.S. About 60 percent of the country is where this mosquito live. That means 200 million Americans living that area are at risk of infection at some point of the year. And we have studies saying about 23 million Americans live in parts of the country that are more humid, that are warmer year round, where the virus and the mosquito could persist for a lot longer, so maybe even throughout the whole year.
And we should have seen this coming though, Carol. That's my main concern here, is we have travelers who go to these parts of the world where the virus is circulating. And of course they're going to come back with the virus in their bloodstream. All it takes is for them to get bitten locally and then we see clusters and outbreaks of the infection. As we've seen with the dengue fever and Chikungunya right here in Texas, so we'll see more travelers coming back to the U.S. with the infection. The key is that they don't get bitten while they're here in America.
COSTELLO: That's really scary. You are a disease detective. You've tracked how viruses are spread. We know that some health officials are saying this virus can be transmitted through sexual contact. Is this true?
YASMIN: It's true but it is very, very rare. And it's unlikely we're going to see much more of that. I've done a review of the literature and found one case where that happened a few years ago. So the main way that this virus will spread, the main thing we need to focus on, is people getting bitten by infected mosquitoes. So we need really aggressive mosquito control.
Just look at Brazil, and you can see there's been upwards of a million people infected there and that just shows how difficult it can be a get a grip on mosquito control. It sounds really straightforward, right, getting people to clean up their yards and make sure there's no standing water. But mosquitoes always seem to be a few steps ahead of us. It could be very difficult to control them.
COSTELLO: Absolutely. So United, American and British Airlines are all offering refunds for travel to Zika-affected regions. So how dangerous is it to travel right now?
YASMIN: The thing with Zika virus is actually the symptoms are really mild. They last for a few days, no longer than a week, and it includes rash, joint pains, red eyes, and a headache. Much less severe than Zika virus's cousin, dengue and Chikungunya. But we see that list of the countries where the virus is circulating, it just seems to keep expanding every single day. It started off with ten, and then twelve, and now we're seeing about 25 countries.
For most people, that isn't a huge risk. We are though concerned about pregnant women. And we have to state here very clearly there's been no proven link between Zika virus and a very serious birth defect called microcephaly. But there could be a link. We're waiting for more evidence. Until we find that out, it will be prudent for pregnant women not to go to countries where is the virus is spreading at the moment.
COSTELLO: So President Obama's saying we need to work on a vaccine but how long might something like that take?
YASMIN: It's great to hear the president say this, Carol. And the National Institutes of Health also said a few days ago to researchers across the country they're making more funding available for people to do this essential research on Zika virus.
My question is where was this funding, where these messages a few years ago? We seem to always be a few steps behind these viruses. It was the same with Ebola. In fact, we were a bit further ahead with Ebola because we had a vaccine that was being developed. It was just on the shelf. And we could say, look, there's a really big outbreak in West Africa, let's start rushing that vaccine through development. We can't say the same, though, with the Zika virus. We don't even really have a vaccine in development.
The scientists I've spoken to said it could be upwards of a year, maybe two or three years, until we actually have a vaccine that could be available to people. And even that might be being a bit optimistic. So we need to do more to preempt this. These viruses are out there. We've known about Zika virus since 1947 and it's been causing epidemics in other parts of the world for decades now. So we need to be prepared.
COSTELLO: All right, Dr. Seema Yasmin, thanks so much.
YASMIN: Thank you.
COSTELLO: You're welcome.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the manhunt for three violent escapees in Southern California grows more desperate by the hour. Now authorities are offering a six-figure reward.
[09:50:00]
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COSTELLO: The reward for the capture of three violent fugitives in Southern California has been quadrupled to $200,000. Two of the men are linked to a Vietnamese gang. The third man, possibly the mastermind of the escape, is charged with an exceptionally brutal crime in 2012. Police say all of these men are extremely dangerous.
Paul Vercammen is live in Santa Ana, California, with more. Good morning.
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. What they talk about here at this jail now is this timeline. They had a check, ahead check as they call it, in the morning last Friday right after 5:00 a.m. It's still dark here in California. That's when they believe they escaped.
[09:55:00] Then they don't check again until 8:00 p.m. on Friday. There's also a fight, which is used as a diversion, even delaying that check. That certainly would have given these inmates plenty of time to have gone and tried to make a run to cross the border in Mexico.
Let's look at them real quick. Among them, Tieu, the youngest, 20 years old, suspected of murder. Duong, another one, attempted murder. And the inmate that a lot of focus is on right now is Nayeri. This torturer and suspected kidnapper with unmentionable crimes that included rubber hoses and using a blow torch to torture a man, among other things, he in the past has successfully fled the United States and crossed the border, went all the way to Iran. So they are now looking at him as potentially someone who would be well within his means of masterminding an escape overseas.
Back to you now, Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Paul Vercammen reporting live from California this morning.
The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.
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