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Romney To Give Speech; Flint Water Crisis; Plane Debris Found Off Mozambique Coast; Shocking Video of Baltimore School Police Slapping STudent. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired March 03, 2016 - 09:30   ET

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


[09:30:05] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

Just two hours from now, former presidential nominee Mitt Romney is going to attempt what could be one of the biggest political upsets in history, knocking out the frontrunner, Donald Trump, knocking him off his path to the presidency and maybe even out of the race. Mr. Romney is expected to slam Trump as the phony whose domestic policies would lead to recession and whose foreign policies would make American and the world less safe.

One man who probably will be watching is Dave Yost. He's a Republican who holds elected office in Ohio. Yost says Trump is not -- Yost says Trump is only motivated by claiming power for himself and he will not support the candidate. On his FaceBook page Yost wrote, quote, "this stand will be personally costly. If Mr. Trump becomes the GOP nominee, I won't be welcome in Cleveland this summer. If he wins the presidency, Trump will be certain to use his power to punish those he views as his enemies," end quote.

So let's talk about this. I'm joined now by the Ohio auditor of state, Dave Yost.

Welcome, sir.

DAVE YOST (R), NOT SUPPORTING DONALD TRUMP: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: You're willing to sacrifice your political career and come out against Donald Trump?

YOST: Well, I started my public life as a prosecuting attorney and I'm used to standing up and taking the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. I've been criticized before and taken risks before.

COSTELLO: So what specifically is it about Donald Trump that you object to?

YOST: It seems like the only thing he believes in is power and Donald Trump. My experience as a prosecutor and as the auditor of state working on public integrity is that somebody like that who has no core principles, that they're unwilling to compromise, ultimately is not the kind of person that you can afford to trust public power to. And somebody who --

COSTELLO: So --

YOST: Go ahead, I'm sorry.

COSTELLO: No, no, no, I was just -- I was just going to ask you, but -- but haven't the voters spoken? Shouldn't you support anyone that Republican voters support? Because Donald Trump has won ten states so far.

YOST: Well, two things. Number one is, I didn't sign away my rights as a United States citizen to have an opinion and make my own choices just because I became a member of the Republican Party or an elected official. But more importantly, the American people haven't spoken. Seventy percent of all the delegates still remain to be chosen. And if you look at the 30 to 40 percent of the Republican voters that Mr. Trump has amassed so far, the Republican electorate only represents about a third of Americans. So a third of a third is maybe a ninth. I think the jury is still out. People are just starting to tune in.

COSTELLO: The latest Quinnipiac poll has Donald Trump leading your state, he's five points ahead of the Ohio governor, John Kasich. Why do you think that is?

YOST: You know, he's got a lot of name recognition. He's been sucking up all the oxygen in the room. And mostly the folks that are not named Donald Trump have been talking about each other for the last six months. That's starting to change now and as we've seen, I think, that Mr. Trump, while he did well on Tuesday, did not do as well as expected. People are starting to see that Donald Trump is willing to change his positions to gain power, to try to appeal to the masses, not because of what he believes in his heart.

COSTELLO: And you truly believe that if Donald Trump becomes the next president of the United States, that he'll retaliate against you because of the position you have taken against him?

YOST: Oh, I don't think he has any idea who Dave Yost is. But I think his organization will take on his character. And he's shown that he's a very retributive kind of person. His first reaction when anybody crosses him is, I'm going to sue you. And his mantra for unfavorable press is, he wants to get in and use the executive power of the presidency to somehow trump the First Amendment. If he can close down and intimidate "The New York Times" with federal power, he could also, or somebody else could do that to Fox News or Breitbart. That's why the Constitution is there to be a limit. But a man who believes in nothing will stop at nothing. The conservative -- I want a government that stops at the limits of the Constitution.

COSTELLO: So just my final question. If Donald Trump becomes president of the United States, what's the country in for?

[09:35:02] YOST: Well, I still believe that he will not be the president of the United States. We've got 70 percent of all the vote, delegates yet to be chosen. But we all have free choice and we will see the choices that he makes. I just have to say that based on past performance, his love for power and a large activist federal government, I'm not -- I'm not sanguine about the future if Mr. Trump as president.

COSTELLO: All right, Dave Yost, Ohio state auditor, thank you so much for joining me this morning.

YOST: Thank you for having me.

COSTELLO: You're welcome.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a mission to find the truth. Top Democrats heading to Flint, Michigan. Now, CNN uncovers more devastating effects from the city's water disaster.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Top House Democrats, including Leader Nancy Pelosi, are traveling to Flint, Michigan, with one mission in mind, uncovering the truth about the city's water crisis. Pelosi's trip to Flint comes as the city prepares to hose a Democratic debate on Sunday night. And our team is now learning even more about the effects from Flint's lead contaminated water. Sara Sidner is in Flint this morning with more.

[09:40:18] Good morning.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

The -- behind me you're seeing the Flint River. And the is the water that the city switched to for some time into the water supply. The residents finding out that eventually lead was leeching into their drinking water. That has parents furious because they know that lead tends to affect children more than anything. But one mother is now questioning whether it was the lead that took her unborn children.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, we'll I'll help you out. Just get that on. Yes, put that one on and I'll help you with that one.

SIDNER (voice-over): Nakiya Wakes moved to Flint with her family in 2014, just as the city changed to a different water supply. Wakes eventually became pregnant with twins and was using the tap water like everyone else.

NAKIYA WAKES, FLINT RESIDENT: I noticed that every time that I took a shower or took a bath, I would have breakouts.

SIDNER: Then, at five weeks pregnant, she miscarried one of the twin babies, but the other survived.

WAKES: I was like, you know, this is going to be my miracle child.

SIDNER: Then, at 13 weeks, she miscarried again. Her sorrow turned to rage when she returned from the hospital.

WAKES: I come home and look in my mailbox and I see something from the city of Flint saying that pregnant women and people 55 and over should not be drinking this water. And I'm like, are you serious? And I'm just coming home to losing my babies and now this could have been the water that did this?

SIDNER: Residents still had no idea lead was leeching into their tap water.

When wakes finally did hear about the lead, she had her children tested. Both had lead in their bloodstream. Then Wakes found out lead in pregnant women can cause miscarriages. No one knows for sure if that's what happened to Wakes.

Michigan state officials are now investigating whether the water crisis had had any effect on the number of miscarriages in Flint. So far, it's too early to tell. In the meantime, the fury of residents is only growing. With the recent e-mails released by the governor's office, even before led was discovered in the water supply, one exchange reveals some of his top aides warned there were "problems" with the water supply and that it should be switched back "ASAP."

SIDNER (on camera): In 2014, the governor's deputy council and senior policy advisor e-mailed his chief and staff and several others saying they should stop using the Flint River as a water source due to health concerns. "I see this as an urgent matter to fix," she writes.

SIDNER (voice-over): Minutes later, the governor's legal counsel responds by saying, "my mom is a city resident. The notion that I would be getting my drinking water from the Flint River is downright scary." But it took a full year before officials made the switch back to the original safer water supply.

SIDNER (on camera): What should happen to the people responsible?

WAKES: I really feel like they should be incarcerated or resign is really like a slap in the face to me.

SIDNER: Put in jail?

WAKES: Yes. I think that they should be put in jail.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: And we are hearing that from resident after resident after resident. They cannot believe that the government was responsible for this and they all feel like the government was responsible for poisoning them and their children. The governor has taken responsibility for his staff. He says he apologizes and that this situation will be fixed. Everyone here wants to know just when that will happen.

Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Sara Sidner reporting live from Flint, Michigan this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, we'll hear from the American tourist who found some debris that could be from that missing Malaysian jetliner. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:48:28] COSTELLO: New reports this morning that North Korea fired six short-range projectiles overnight. This less than 4 hours after the U.N.-approved sanctions went into effect in that country. South Korean officials say the projectiles flew about 60-90 miles off the Korean peninsula. South Korea is now investigating.

New images too this morning of a piece of airplane wreckage found by an American tourist off the coast of Mozambique in Africa. U.S. officials believe this debris could be part of doomed Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. That flight vanished almost two years ago now.

The man who found the debris now speaking out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLAINE GIBSON, U.S. TOURIST WHO FOUND PLANE DEBRIS: What went through my mind when I found it is this is something that could be part of an airplane, and could be part of that airplane.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN's David McKenzie is in Mozambique. He has more for us. Hi, David.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey Carol. Yes, I spoke to Blain Gibson in his first on camera interview. He's the American tourist; he's also an enthusiast on the MH-370 flight, the missing Malaysian Airlines flight that vanished almost exactly two years ago in a couple of days. And in fact he said he was in the Mozambique Channel behind me on vacation with a captain on a boat, and they found this piece of debris on the sandback. It's being taken seriously enough that they want to investigate it.

[09:50:01] And he said it is important to take everything seriously for the families.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIBSON: Anything that can help lead to the truth of what happened and give the families the answers that they long for and deserve, no matter what they are, whatever the truth is, anything that leads to that is very good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKENZIE: Well, certainly we saw that piece of debris with the Civil Aviation Authority head here in Mozambique. He was very skeptical. He said that, look, it didn't look necessarily from a larger plane like a 777, that it didn't have any wear and tear. There were no animal life growing on it like we saw in the large piece of metal debris which washed up in Reunion Island last year that was confirmed to be from that plane. Everything really needs to be checked out with this issue of MH-370, but there is skepticism now about whether this is from the plane. Certainly the families in Malaysia, where Blaine Gibson is heading, are wanting any kind of firm proof so they can move on. Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. David McKenzie reporting live from Mozambique this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, shocking video captures the moment a school officer repeatedly slaps a teenager and then kicks him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:55:36] COSTELLO: I'm about to show you disturbing video of a teenager being slapped and kicked by a school police officer. The incident now part of a criminal investigation. It happened on Tuesday on the steps outside of a Baltimore high school. The Baltimore school police chief and two officers were placed on administrative leave after these pictures surfaced. Watch.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

COSTELLO: All right. The cell phone video, as you can see, shows the officer slapping the teenager.

I want to bring in CNN's Miguel Marquez. He's following this story. Good morning.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning there, Carol. Look, this video is only a few seconds long but it is causing shock waves throughout Baltimore. This is a city that is still grappling with the police and the community that doesn't trust it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVES DELETED)

MARQUEZ (voice-over): A criminal investigation underway this morning after the release of this disturbing cell phone video captured on a Baltimore high school campus. In the five-second clip, you can see a school officer yelling profanities while slapping a young man three times and kicking him as he walked away, one slap striking him so hard you can hear it.

MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE (D), BLATIMORE: As a parent of a Baltimore City school student, I was appalled. The video is certainly something you never want to see anyone treated like that.

MARQUEZ: The attorney for the teenage youth says he's a 10th grader enrolled at the public high school and was just trying to attend class.

CHARLES GILMAN, ATTORNEY FOR STUDENT'S FAMILY: Based on the evidence that we have in hand, we are certain that he was a student at that school and belongs at that school.

MARQUEZ: The acting school police chief has a different story. ACTING CHIEF AKIL HAMM, BALTIMORE CITY SCHOOL POLICE: Our officers

were called because of the intruder, and this happened after they escorted the two unknown citizens outside of the territory.

MARQUEZ: The attorney for the on-campus officer said his client was told the teenager did not attend the school and that the young man became belligerent and angry after the officer repeatedly asked him to leave.

KARL E. PERRY, CHIEF OFFICER OF SCHOOL SUPPORTS: As a former building principal, as a father, as a man, I was totally appalled by what I saw.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ (on camera): Now the Baltimore City Police and the state's attorneys office is investigating this. And to be very clear, the Baltimore City Police and the school police are two separate entities. But it is interesting to note how quickly the city jumped on this, how fast this investigation is moving. Clearly, lessons learned in Baltimore. Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Miguel Marquez, many thanks.

Checking some other top stories for you at 58 minutes past. The Texas state trooper who arrested Sandra Bland has been officially fired. Bland was found dead in her jail cell days after Trooper Brian Encinia arrested her for not using her turn signal. Encinia was indicted on a perjury charge after a grand jury didn't believe his story that he removed Bland from her car to conduct a safer traffic investigation. Bland's family said she should not have been arrested in the first place and was treated differently because she was African-American. Encinia is still able to appeal his termination.

A Montgomery, Alabama, police officer is fighting murder charges after shooting and killing an unarmed man. Police say Officer Aaron Smith stopped a suspicious man walking around at 3:00 in the morning. Authorities say the two struggled for a block before Smith shot and killed him. That man's name is 59-year-old Gregory Gunn. Gunn's family says he was just walking home from his girlfriend's house, actually was going to his mother's house, and he was targeted because he was black, they say. Despite the sentiment, Gunn's mother has invited Smith to her son's funeral.

There he is. NASA astronaut Scott Kelly returns to cheers and hugs in Houston this morning. He was greeted with beer and apple pie from Jill Biden, the wife of the vice president. Kelly spent 340 days in space, a record for a U.S. astronaut. The weightlessness allowed Kelly to actually grow two inches, but NASA says gravity will return him to his pre-mission height. You'll have to enjoy it while you can. Welcome home

An 11-year-old boy stuns Tiger Woods. Taylor Crozier hit a hole in one on the course Woods himself designed.

[10:00:03] The little guy is now credited with having the very first ace to be recorded at the playgrounds, as it's called, and it happened on his very first swing.